Final Reflection

Final PLN Report

My PLN is on Symbaloo. What is great about my PLN is everything is color coordinated, so it is easy to find everything. I did not know what a PLN was until this class. Now that I have been using it, I wish I had known about this before. You can add or delete anything off of here. You can even search the Internet. Symbaloo is user friendly and a great place to start a PLN. PlN's can be super easy and organized.

Final Project

Comments for Kids Summary #2

C4K-8
"Where is Nonno? Cisternino, Puglia, Italy"
Mrs. Yollis had a guest blogger this week. It was Nonno, one of her student's grandfather. Nonno talked about where he was and all the different things there. He added pictures of all the different things he has seen and what the place looks like. In my comment, I said that this place looks really neat. Nonno got many comments from other students family members.
C4K-9
"Science Experiments"
This was a video the teacher posted. Students were to come up with an idea of how to separate a mixture without using their hands. The students had many great ideas. I commented that all of the ideas were very good. The students were going to test their ideas the next day. I looked to see if there was a post saying if the ideas worked. The teacher never posted anything. I hope the ideas worked!
C4K-10
For this post, students wrote poems about soldiers or the war. The student's poem I commented on did a very good job writing hers. This student did a great job using similes and metaphors in her poem. It helps the readers get an image in their mind of what she is talking about. This was a very good poem, it held my attention from the beginning.
C4K-11
"Billy's current events"
For this blog I commented on Billy's current event. The student found Billy's current events from nytimes.com. In this post the student talked about two gamma bubbles outside the galaxy. I did not even know there was anything like this. He explained what the gamma bubbles were and how dangerous they were. I told the student what a good job he did explaining about the bubbles.

The last blog I was assigned is Yasmine's blog. No one was commenting on her blog. I commented on her post "This is out of the Ordinary". In this post she comments on how excited she is that college kids are commenting on her blog. Also, she wanted to know what college life was like. She asked what are goals were. She continued in the post telling us what he goals were. In my comment, I answered her questions. I also encouraged her in reaching her goals. I am glad that we were assigned this student's blog. I am also glad that people are starting to comment on her blog.

Summary C4T #3

I commented on Scott McLeod's blog Dangerously Irrelevant. The first post I commented on was a reaction to Russ' comment on this blog. The comment talked about how teachers have become so wrapped up in using technology that they have forgotten about teaching the kids. Scott McLeod posted the comment as a new blog post. It definitely received many comments. I commented that in some ways I could agree with what Russ said. I also agree that teachers should be technologically advanced. Technology is constantly changing and in order to be an affective teacher, I will have to keep up with the technology change.
The second post I commented on gave ten tips on how to be serious about educational technology. I must these tips were great and I know that I will use them in my classroom one day. The tips range from how to keep children safe to how to figure out what families have access to computers outside of the classroom. Everyone should check out this post at Dangerously Irrelevant.

Blog Post 13

"Alabama Learning Exchange"
When first pulling up the Alabama Learning Exchange, or ALEX, there are different links that you can visit. You can go to courses of study, web links, lesson plans, personal workspace, and professional learning. There is also a search if you can find what you are looking for. There is also a section that has podcasts.
ALEX is a great site for Alabama teachers. There are so many different great things on this site that can be used in the classrooms. There are lesson plans available for Kindergarten through 12th grade. You can find lesson plans for any subject too. Podcasts are uploaded from other schools. Podcasts can be found for any subject also. This site will be very useful to me as a future teacher. Every teacher should take a look at this site and take advantage of it.

Additional Assignment 5

The post that really stuck out for me, was the one about teachers shaming students. Teachers do tend to shame students because they do not understand. Spencer talked about that the student really enjoyed his class. The teachers then put the blame on Spencer. The teachers were saying that the reason the child did good in his class is because of the "pencils". I feel that children only succeed when they are enjoying what they are doing. Teachers should make their class as interesting as possible. In the posts "The Medium Shapes the Learning" Spencer is talking about how whatever tools you have, you need to produce. No matter what tools that are used, find a way to make it fun and allow your students to produce. In the first blog, it is talking about students should have a different way to find x. Instead of writing the formula out on the bored, allow the students to draw a picture oh how to find x. Teachers should always get to know their students. This helps tremendously. If a teacher knows their student, they will know how to communicate with them and help them understand things better in the classroom.

Project 15

"The Little White Owl"


"Give That Back Jack"

Blog Post 12

This video was created by Tom Woodward. He is apart of Henrico County schools in Virginia. This video covers many things we have already learned so far in this class. Some of the first videos we watched talked about how China will become the number one English speaking country in the world. I did not fully understand this at first, but now I do. If the U.S. continue have lecture style classrooms, we are not fully preparing our students for many of the jobs out there today. Teachers must begin using technology in the classroom so the students can excel in jobs that do not even exist today.

Choosing South Alabama

I wanted to take this opportunity to find out why students choose the University of South Alabama. Many students choose to come here because of their majors, many come because it is close to home, and then some because of scholarships. Most of the students that took this survey choose South because of its location. Also, many students are enjoying the football program. Every now and then I hear students making comments about South and how they do not like going here. I am not saying that these students are the ones who took this survey, but the students that did take this survey do not go to any on-campus events. I feel that if students became more involved that they might better appreciate the school. After reading the responses one of the things people would change is the parking issue. Since the number of students has increased, parking has become and issue. Students rated their overall experience at South to be a good experience.

Progress Report for Final Project

For the final project, my partner Kayla Salas and I will be doing a Smartboard Lesson. We plan to show how the Smartboard is being used for curriculum. We plan to go to Allentown Elementary School to do the lesson. We also plan to interview special education teachers. We will get information on how the Smartboard helps the students. Also, we plan to go to Westlawn Elementary School, where we observed to video two inclusion classes. We also plan to show how the Smartboard helps first and fourth grade. Before doing any type of recording, we plan to find out from the teachers which students can and cannot be recorded. We plan to make accommodations for the students who cannot be recorded. We plan to show the many different uses of the Smartboard in two different types of classes.

Project #14

How to Make Chex Mix

Blog Post 11

"First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class"
I think Ms. Cassidy's approach to technology is great. I think it is so neat that the first graders are blogging. With the students blogging, I can see where it would help them with their spelling. I also really liked the webpage. I think this is a great for the students to use. All the different games and activities will help the students learn. In the future, I can see myself using the blogs and webpage. These would be great centers for my class. All the blogs would be useful for parents. Parents can see their child's work at any point. I would think by blogging, the way the student writes, spells, and reads would be higher than another student who does not blog.

C4K Summary #2

Video
For the C4K #3, I commented on a video the students made of Leif Erickson. The students are in the 5th grade. For this video, the students dressed up and played different roles. It seems as though they had a great time making this video. I also commented that they learned a lot by acting out the story of Leif Erickson.
Barak Obama
For the C4K #4, I commented on Malik's blog. Malik is 11 years old. The post I commented on was one about Barak Obama. The student said that he liked what Obama had to say and that is all the blog post said. At the time, there were no other blog posts to comment on.
Chile Mine Collapse
For the C4K #5, I commented on Henri's blog. Henri is in the 7th grade. Henri wrote a post about the Chile miners being rescued. He gave a lot of information about the accident and posted pictures to his blog. I think it is great that the students were blogging about this and learning what was going on in this situation.
Christopher Columbus
I think this has to be one of my favorite blogs that I have commented on. This student wrote a post about Christopher Columbus. I think the reason I found it so interesting is because I learned from it. Marti, my student, wrote about many different things that I didn't know about Columbus. I commented that I did not know some of the facts he talked about. I am very glad that I read this post.
OREO Project
This is also one of my favorites blogs to comment on. This post was about Oreo's! I commented on Olan's blog. For one of their math lessons the teacher incorporated Oreo's to help the students learn different things such as estimation. Olan posted that first they had to estimated how many Oreo's were in the bag. Then they did other things like seeing how fast they Oreo would dissolve in their mouth, and licking the cream out of the Oreo. To finish the students took the cookies an made something out of them. I think this is a great way to keep students interested in their work.

Summary Post C4T #3

The first post I commented on was about how no student is alike. David Meister gave an example of shoes. There is not a shoe store that all the shoes are the exact same. We cannot expect students to be the same. He comments that "an effective school must build relationships with its students, parents, and the entire community." I think this is a very true statement. All students cannot be approached the same way because each student is different and they do not learn the same.
The second teacher I commented on talked about "going to the hard places". This post basically said that some educators can be afraid to give critical feedback. They think that this type of feedback has to be negative when actually it doesn't. He went on to say that "honest feedback helps us grow". Giving feedback helps make us be good leaders. These were both great posts and I cannot wait to read more on this website.

Blog Post 10

"An Open Letter to Education"
In Morgan Bayda's post she is referring to Dan Brown's video. In his video, Brown begins to talk about how much technology has changed society. He uses an example of when people want to go on a trip, we now do not have to go to the store and by a map. All we have to do is type it in to mapquest or google maps and the internet will map out your trip for you. Brown then ask the question, "what has education done to reinvent itself?" His answer "nothing!" I totally agree with him. Education is still the same thing it was 15 years ago. We still have classes that we go and listen to a professor lecture, we scribble notes, and there is a great chance that the professor does not even know your name. All the information that we are given in class can be found on the internet. Brown goes on to say that all the facts the teachers give you in class does not help students in the real world. EDM is one class that is completely different than all my others. In this class I have to teach myself. I have learned more from being in this class than my other lecture style classes. I understand that the world is constantly changing and we need to be ready for that change. I also have to apply this change to my classroom. I do not want to be the teacher that the students do not want to have. I understand that students need to use their creativity in order to learn. In EDM, I have learned different ways for students to be creative such blogs and podcasts.
"Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home"
This is a neat blog posts. What was so neat about it was, he did not argue over the problem. Instead, he found a solution. Many teachers do not want find solutions, they just like to argue about the problem. Defending hangman was pretty neat. Yes, it may be a weird game, but students can learn from it. Many times, if students are allowed free time you may find a few of them playing hangman. If it encourages a students learning, why would you want to take it away. I am looking forward to reading more of Mr. Johnson's post.
"Two Questions That Can Change Your Life"
What a great video. These two questions are something I should think about everyday. Everyday I should strive to be a better person than I was the day before. This can be tough sometimes, but I must not let this get me down. I think my sentence would have to be: "I want to encourage my students to be creative in their learning everyday."

Project 13

Additional Assignment #3

"Changing Education Paradigm"
I think the most important thing Sir Ken Robinson said in this video is that we are constantly medicating our children. Teachers constantly get mad at students who are distracted. In today's society is hard for students to not get distracted. Once teachers see this, they of course think the child needs more medication. Maybe instead of constantly medicating the children, teachers could make the lessons more interesting. If the lessons held the child's attention, it would be harder for them to get distracted.I think the College of Education is similar to the factory method Sir Ken Robinson talks about. Not all the time though. In some classes, we are brought in, taught what we need to know, then sent out to produce what we have learned. This is not the case in all classes though. In some classes, we are encouraged to teach ourselves. I think this video is very interesting. If I had to a presentation similar to this one, I think I would be the narrator.

Blog Post 9

"What I've Learned This Year"
I really enjoyed reading this post. I know as a future teacher, I will feel the same way Mr. McClung felt. He gave many great tips on how to overcome this feeling. I agree with him when he says teachers become concerned with the delivery of their lesson. I do feel that teachers think more about themselves when giving lessons. As a future teacher, I must remember that it is not about me. I must understand that all my students may not learn the same way. I also agree that "no lesson plan is perfect." We can think that the lesson plan is perfect, but it will not be if the students do no understand it. I also know that I must listen to my students. If I have good communication with my students, I will understand what works best for my students. And the last point he made, "never stop learning." This is so true. After being in this class, I know that I cannot stop learning. Things will change and I know in order to be an effective teacher I must learn new things.

Skype Interview

Instructional Timeline

Blog Post 8

"This is How We Dream"
This video was confusing for me. I did not fully understand what he was talking about. Miller talks about how we are at a very important change in human history. This change is how we communicate. We do not communicate through pencil and paper anymore. We communicate through something called media writing. Our desktop becomes our computer. It gives us the advantage to research wherever we go. Richard Miller's ideas in the first video were all incremental changes.
In the second video, he says the "we begin to realize that ideas do not belong to us individually but as a culture". I think it is true when Miller says "educators must share ideas freely." The second video was neat to watch. All the different programs that people use.
I am not ready for multimedia writing, if it is what he shows in these videos. I do know that I will have to learn how to do this. EDM310 is helping me with this. I also realize that I am going to have to continue learning about technology once I am out of EDM310. Multimedia writing is something that my students will be doing, I need to know how to do this.

"The Chipper Series" and "EDM310 for Dummies"
The Chipper Series was a good video to watch. The present and future stuff as the beginning was very confusing. This video was an encouragement to not turn in things late. The video stresses how important it is to turn things in on time. It will affect how you will succeed in the future. EDM310 for Dummies would have been the first book bought for the semester. This video definitely sums up how I feel about this class. I am finally getting the hang of everything, now that the class is almost over. This book would have really helped though at the beginning of the semester.

"Smartboards"
I think Smartboards are a great for the classroom. Recently I was put in a 4th grade inclusion class for my field experience. The children went crazy when the smartboard turned on! They were constantly wanting the teacher to call on them so they could go and use it. Special education students do great with visuals, and a smartboard is a great visual. Not just special needs children take advantage from this. Other students enjoy it as well. There are many different ways of teaching with it, and different lessons that can be used. Yes, it is something new that teachers will have to learn how to use, but if it is a benefit for the students why wouldn't you want to learn. Here's the Link with positives about smarboards.

Project 11

Additional Assignment #2

Right off, my favorite quote of this video is "Children will learn to do what they want to do". If those that are motivated are kids, I believe they can teach themselves. When kids are interested in anything they will motivate themselves to learn. In order for kids to teach themselves there must be some form of interest. This is the same for anyone who is learning. Computers and internet are the source of interest for anybody. The internet and computers consume people lives today. There are many different search engines that can be used to help people learn. Also with the internet and computers anybody can run into problems. Students can get easily distracted when on the computer. In order to motivate someone to learn, you must learn how the person learns best. Then a teacher can use what helps the student learn in his or her classroom. I am motivated to learn because I love kids and want to become a teacher. I know that if I'm not motivated to learn I will not become a teacher. I think if the motivation is not there, a person will not learn. If it is something the person is interested in, he/she will become motivated.
As a student I do teach myself. I do not just teach myself in my classroom, but I also I teach myself outside of the classroom. Somedays the motivation is there, somedays it isn't. I know this will help me as a future teacher. I know that in order to learn new things, I will have to teach myself. Teachers are there to help and encourage their students. Teachers are the ones who do the motivating. Without teachers, students may not be motivated. I believe that children will learn to do what they want. If students are interested they will be motivated to learn.

Progress Report for PLN

After watching the video of the seventh graders PLN, I decided to us Symbaloo for my PLN. Symbaloo helps keep all my sites organized. With the color coordination, everything is easy for me to find. Different colors stand for different things such as search engines and social networks. Mine looks nothing like the the 7th graders, but I have everything I have used so far for this class on there. I know I will be adding more as the semester goes on.

Blog Post 7

"Randy Pausch: The Last Lesture"
To start of this lecture, Pausch tells us about the ten tumors he has in his liver. He is also very quick to tell us that this is not what he is going to talk about. The basis of the video was achieving your childhood dreams. Randy Pausch shows us his list of childhood dreams. When I first saw them my first thought was there is no way these can be achieved. Well I quickly found out I was wrong. One of his first goals was to be in zero gravity. The opportunity opened up for this to happen. He said that everything was running smoothly until he hit the first brick wall. Usually when people hit brick walls they take that as a sign to give up. Not in Pausch's case. He said that "brick walls are not to keep us out, but to show us how bad we want something." I have never thought of a brick wall like this, but it is true. In most cases people do not give up, but try to find a way around it.
Randy Pausch goes down his list of childhood dreams. One of them was to be Captain Kirk. He goes on to say that he knew that would not happen, so it changed to meeting Captain Kirk. Pausch tells us that it is okay for dreams to change because you do realize some of them cannot be achieved. He also tells us what is so great about meeting Captain Kirk was the fact that Captain Kirk came to Randy Pausch. Pausch says there is nothing more rewarding than having your childhood hero come to you for something you have done. I thought that was very neat. I also thought it was good to hear that dreams can change, but you should never give up on achieving those dreams.
Randy Pausch kept my attention from the beginning of this video. I wasn't excited about having to watch this video because I thought it was going to be full of how he was battling cancer. I definitely was wrong and I am glad I watched this video. I have learned many different things from it. I loved that Pausch was in a good spirits throughout the video. It made me think of how often I am in a bad mood over the smallest things and I let that affect my entire day.
From this video I learned that no dream is to small to achieve. Do not let brick walls hold you back from anything. Also brick walls can be made of flesh and are very easy to knock down. Pausch also realized that some of his dreams were not actually what he wanted. After working with Disney Imagineers for a while, Paush realized that that was something he was not wanting to do. But like he said being a professor allowed him "to have his cake and eat it too."
Pausch also talks about his course on Building Virtual Worlds. That was also very interesting. He had someone come on stage and show how the virtual world worked. That was very interesting to watch. At the end of this video, Randy Pausch comments that he could not have achieved his dream without the help of his parents. This is very true. I would not be where I am today without the help of my parent. Pausch achieved many great things. Pausch inspired many people with the Last Lecture. He talks about one student who wanted to work on Star Wars movies, and he was able to work on three of them. I think more professors should be like Randy Pausch. He held my attention and was great at what he did. I hope I can be remembered like he is today.

TimeToast

Summary C4T #2

I commented on Eric Langhorst's podcast for my C4T #2. Mr. Langhorst is an 8th grade History Teacher in Missouri. I learned something very interesting from Mr. Langhorst's podcast. He talked about one of George Washington's biggest decision that isn't really talked about. Washington made the decision to stop growing tobacco and started growing wheat. Mr. Langhorst spent a week in Mount Vernon as a participant in the 2010 Gilder Lehrman Summer Seminar learning about Washington's decision. Along with the podcast are Langhorst's lesson plans, a student graphic organizer, and a short video. I also listened to Mr. Langhorst's podcast describing Mount Vernon. He talks about how beautiful the sunset is and he adds pictures to prove it. Mr. Langhorst makes a great point about how Mount Vernon has been preserved. He points out that these days you cannot go anywhere without being surrounded by tall buildings and condos. I really liked listening to Mr. Langhorst's podcasts. They were interesting and had lots of information in them.

Blog Post 6

"The Networked Student"
Honestly, I do not feel that I am ready to be a teacher of a networked student. I do know that EDM310 is helping me become prepared for this though. I know that in order to be a teacher of a networked student I must keep up with changes in technology. I understand because of this class that in a year and half when I graduate technology will not be the same as it is today.
After being in the field for sometime, I realize that I may become a teacher of a networked student. To be a teacher of a networked student, I will have to be able to point out to the student what is a good resource for them to use. I will also have to answer questions that they student may have. If I am not up to date on what is new in technology how will I be able to do that.
The one idea I do not like about having a networked student, is I will not see the light bulb go off when a child understands something. Yes, I will know when a child understands something, because of the work they have turned. This is something I will have to face.

"7th Graders PLE"
This 7th grader's PLE video is very neat. I like how she has everything organized. Watching this encourages me to become familiar with Netvibes. Having the PLE is giving this student a lot of freedom, just like EDM310. This is very similar to the checklist we have. Having the checklist gives us plenty of responsibility. We have the choice of whether or not we want to do our work. We also are choosing our grade. If we do not complete our assignments on correctly or on time this will affect our grade in the end. By doing our work on time and correctly guarantees us a better grade.

"The Machine is Changing Us"
The first part of the video is talking about narcissism. This does apply to my personal life because todays generation is an "about me" generation. I like how Dr. Wesch's uses "American Idol" as his example. He also incorporates the word "whatever" into his comments. I think this generation is a major "whatever" user because they want it to be about them all the time. Dr. Wesch says that people are in for a rude awakening when they are not the next American Idol. As a college student, we open our eyes to the reality that it isn't about us 24/7. As a future teacher, of course it cannot be about me all the time.
Dr. Wesch brought up some good points why technology would "deeply matter". Two of them are new media create ways of relating to others and new media creates ways of knowing ourselves. He says that "you come to know yourself through conversations with others." I think this a really good point. We communicate through different networks such as YouTube, Twitter, and Blogger. We create a different self. All the comments Dr. Wesch makes about YouTube are true. People become nervous in front of the camera and become someone they are not.

C4K Summary #1

For this first assignment, I was assigned to a student named Houa. After reading Houa's "About Me" I learned that we did not have a lot in common. Houa has many brothers and sisters, and I am an only child. Something that we did have in common though, is that neither one of us plays sports. Houa is interested in singing and dancing. I love to sing, even though I am not very good at it.

I also commented on Houa's manifesto. There were some really great points in the child's manifesto. After reading the manifesto, I realized that many of the things Houa wrote were things that I could do also. I encouraged Houa to stick to the goals.

Blog Post 5

"The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom"
This video gives great examples of how podcasts can be used in the classroom. Podcasting would be great in the classroom. Podcasting comes in handy when a student misses class. They can get on itunes or class blog to listen to the lecture that they missed. One student says "podcasts make learning fun." I agree. Using a podcast in the classroom allows variety and keeps the students interested. Podcasting is also great for parents. Parents can keep up with what is going on in their child's class.
"Eagles' Nest Radio and Class Blog"
I really enjoyed listening to the different podcasts. I love how the class made their podcast like a radio show. Using the podcast helps the kids be creative while still learning. After listening to these podcasts, I know that I want to try this in my classroom as well. Students' become more interested in learning if they are they ones teaching. This why podcast are very useful in the classroom.
"Langwitches"
I enjoyed listening to the first graders podcast. I think it is neat, that even at a young age, they are interested in doing something like this. Reading what the teacher blogged made the experience sound fun. This encourages me to do podcast in my classroom one day. The teacher pointed out that doing the podcast was a confidence booster for some kids. Students will forget about their shyness and want to be involved in recording the podcast. I thing it is neat they interviewed story characters. This is great way to get students interested in learning.

Blog Post 4

"Don't Teach Your Kids this Stuff"
In this post Dr. McLeod is talking about a different usage for technology. Every other post or video that I have read or watched talks about the advantages of technology. Dr. McLeod is talking about the disadvantages. Some students will take advantage of all the usage fo technology. Students may begin to look at inappropriate things.

Dr. McLeod is and Associate Professor of Education Administrators at Iowa State University. He is also the Director of UCEA CASTLE. CASTLE stands for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education. Dr. McLeod is also co-creator of the "Did You Know (Shift Happens)" videos.

The iSchool Intiative (Mobile Learning)"
In this video, Travis a high school student talks about how his school is suffereing from some financial issues. Travis comes up with a solution. It is known as the iSchool Intiative. he explains that with the use of an itouch, students and schools can save up to $600. There are many different applications that can be used to help students.

I think that the iSchool is a great idea. It is a way to incorporate technology in the classroom. It also meets the needs of those students who still like to take notes. There are many advantages to having the iSchool. One thing that Travis pointed out is that there would be limited internet access. This would cut down on the inappropriate usage of the internet.

"The Lost Generation"
I have seen this video before, but when I first saw it I didn't really understand it. I thought it was cool because of the technique that was used. The video didn't really mean anything to me. Now that I have watched other videos on technolgy and read different post, this video makes sense. With the way technolgy is changing our future is changing. I definitely liked what the girl was saying when the video was in reverse.

"Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir"
I thought this video was very neat. It is amazing to know that with use of technolgy today, we can direct a virtual choir. What makes it even more amazing is the fact that these people have never performed together or met before this. This is why technology is so neat.

Additional Assignment #1

Google Squared is a great way to help students search the internet. Having the graph formation when searching allows for students to find things easier. Using Google Squared puts what you are searching for right in front you, instead of clicking on a link and searching some more. If students are writing reports, Google Squared would help them tremendously. Having the columns would help them find what they are looking for.
Wolfram Alpha is great tool for students to use also. No matter what you are searching for, Wolfram Alpha will be able to find it. This will be great for students to use to help with research projects or papers. Wolfram Alpha is a computational knowledge engine. using this will give you more information that a person will ever need.
I did not know about Google Squared or Wolfram Alpha before this assignment, but I wish I would have known about them. Both of these things would have helped me as a student writing papers and doing other projects. Now that I know about them, I will use them as a teacher. These will definitely help me when trying to teach.
The comments that were made about the "Did You Know" video did not alter thinking. Hearing what Dr. Strange had to say helped me understand the statistics. One thing that really confused me was that fact that China would become the #1 English speaking country in the world. This was kind of confusing at first, but now it makes sense. The reason why China will become the #1 English speaking country is because it's population is larger than the United States. Dr. Strange pointed it that "100% of the USA is still less than 25% of China speaking English.
I have learned from this video that when dealing with statistics, you must know all the information. I now understand the "Did You Know" video more because I understand that China's population is larger than the United States.

Presentation

Summary #1

In the first blog, one thing that really stood out was the video for Google. I am not familiar with many of the things Google has to offer. This video was helpful to let me know what all was out there. I also found the "How to start a PLN" video interesting. These videos will be useful in the classroom one day. They are very helpful right now as a student.
In the second blog, there were more videos that will be useful for the classroom. One that really stood out was the post about storytelling tools. This allows for the students to learn about technology, but still being creative at the same time. Using the Google Forms will definitely be helpful in the classroom one day. There were many different tips of how this can be used. It also would help me as a teacher be more organized. Also there was a video about how to use Google Docs. This is helpful to me as a student now. Learning how to use Google Docs now, will also help me in the classroom.

Blog Post 3

"A Vision of Student's Today"
This video definitely covers what my life is like as a college student. It covers what students today face extremely well. One thing that stood out, was the price students spend on textbooks. It is a frantic rush to get to the bookstore to purchase the books needed for the class, only to find out that you may open it twice the entire semester. If the book is only needed for a few things, then why do we have to buy them. With they way technology is increasing, isn't there some way to just put those few things online?

Another thing that really stood out was attendance. One girl held up a sheet of paper that read "My neighbor paid for class...but never comes". This is true about many large classes in college. Students never come, because often teachers do not take attendance. Yet these students always show up for test day. Also, students have to be multi-taskers. It seems like there are not enough hours in a day for a student to sleep, eat, work, study, and have a social life.

"It's not about the Technology"
The last videos that we have watched have been about technology. I agree that technology should be used more in schools today, but I also agree with Ms. Hines that it is not always about the technology. One thing that is pointed out in this blog is that "teachers are useless without good teaching." Teachers need to be willing to innovate in order to receive technology. One thing that really bothers me is SmartBoards. So many teachers are putting these in their classroom, but they do not understand how to use them. Most of the class time is wasted because the teacher is trying to learn how to use the smartboard. Teachers need prior training before having these put in their classroom.

Another key point is "learning and teaching are not the same thing." Ms. Hines gave a great example. If it is obvious that a student is not learning what is being taught, then a teacher should reconsider how he/she is teaching the lesson. This is where creativity comes in. Teachers could consider coming up with activities to make the lessons more interesting for students. Having the students engage in activities that are not always the same could always grab the attention span of the students who may be struggling.

"The Fischbowl: Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher"
Mr. Fisch points out in this post that it is not okay for teachers to be technologically illiterate. One statement he makes is, "If a teacher is not technologically literate -and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more- it's equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn't know how to read and write." This is so true. In today's society, a person cannot be very successful if they do not know how to use a computer. Teachers need to be willing to learn how to use technology and incorporate it in the classroom. Like Ms. Hines says, teachers do not have to know everything, they just need to be willing to learn.

I also agree with Mr. Fisch when he says that teachers already have a lot on their plate. Teachers and students can learn about technology together. This will also help the students learn different ways to use technology. This is also a great to use technology in the classroom. Mr. Fisch also points out, "you need to have continual learning, lifelong learning- for your students, or you will continue to teach your students how to be successful in an age that no longer exist." Like some of the videos have pointed out, teachers are preparing students for jobs that do not exist today. How can the teachers prepare these students if they are technologically illiterate?

"Gary Hayes Social Media Count"
It is so amazing to see how many times the social media changes. People do not realize how much time is spent on technological things. This is something that has never really crossed my mind. Many people now are spending all their time on the social network, Facebook. Within the last minute over 70,000 pictures have been uploaded to Facebook.

For my professional teaching career this means that technology will be easy to incorporate into my classroom. Many of the things shown in this count will be easy for my students to comprehend, since technology is such a major thing in everyone's life. This may not be necessarily true for some cases.

Blog Post 2

"Did You Know"
The "Did You Know" video shows are how technology changes not just over a decade, but how it has changed over the past 2 years. We obviously know this is true, but I do not think people realize how fast it changes. Technology has changed the way we communicate and the way students are taught.
This video points out that there are over 200 million registered users on MySpace. This means that if MySpace were to become a country, it would be the 5th largest in the world. Another way we communicate is through text messaging. The number of text messages sent and received in a day exceeds the amount of the population of the planet. I definitely contribute to this! Today students are being taught for jobs that do not even exist. This amazes me. And just think, that in 2 years all this information could change because technology will have changed once again.




"Mr. Winkle Wakes"
Mr. Winkle wakes is about Rip Van Winkle who awakes from is 100 year long slumber. He is very surprised when he wakes up because everything has changed. Nothing is like it was when he fell asleep. Mr. Winkle goes to an office building, hospital, and school. At the office building and hospital he notices all this technology. Mr. Winkle is overwhelmed and goes to a school, where absolutely nothing has changed.
This video is talking about how technology has improved places such as office buildings and hospitals, but schools really have not been affected. Students are still taking notes while their teacher lectures. This is how it has always been, and even with the advancement of technology, it seems like this is how it's always going to be. For certain students, this type of teaching is effective, but for most it is not. Mr. Winkle notices that there is a computer in the school, but he can tell it hasn't been used. This is how it is in most schools, there are computers, but they aren't being used.





"The Importance of Creativity
Sir Ken Robinson points out in this video that creativity is just as important as literacy. He goes on to say that if children do not understand something, they will have go and say or do whatever. We must realize that children like to be creative and they are going to take that chance whenever they can. Robinson says that children are not afraid of being wrong, but as they get older, that fear of being wrong gets stronger. He goes on to say that we are educating people out of their creative capacities.
A simple way that educators squash creativity is by simply having a student copy the way the teacher has done something. Teachers should allow the students to create things in their own way. These days if students become fidgety in class, the are automatically assumed to ADD or ADHD. This may not be true, in some cases. That student just may be creative and their creativity is not being used. Teachers should allow more hand-on activities in the classroom instead of always lecturing. Doing more activities in the classroom may hold on student's attention better.

"Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts"
"Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts" is about Vicki Davis, a teacher, who does exactly what the title says. She allows her students to use what ever type of technology they need in the classroom. She allows groups to teach the class. If she says a new term in the class, she expects her students to google the word to find out the meaning.
This style of teaching is useful then the lecturing style of teaching. With technology changing the way it is, students need to know how to use it. They cannot learn how to use technology if they are taking notes with pencil and paper. By using technology in school and using different programs and software, students can come into contact with other students from around the world.

Wordle

Blog Post 1

My name is Alice Reynolds, but I go by Ali. I grew up in the small town of Jackson, AL, which is about an hour north of Mobile. I am an only child, and on most days I wouldn't change it. In my free time, I like to read, watch movies, and hang out with friends. I also enjoy going to the South football games and I'm so glad that the season is about to start.

I graduated from Jackson High School in 2008 and came to the University of South Alabama the following fall. Growing up, I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. I chose to come to South because it was close to home and because of my major. Since being in Mobile, I got a job at Moffett Road Baptist Church Child Development Center. I work with three year olds every afternoon and absolutely love it. I love working with kids and having this job assures me that I am majoring in the right thing. I am in the "new" program at South. At first this was a little overwhelming, but everything is now starting to fall into place.