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.