Sunday, May 1, 2011

Final Report on PLN

I have really enjoyed creating my PLN. I used Symbaloo to make mine. I think a PLN is great because it has all your main and important websites all in one place. I recommend this to anyone because it is just a organized tool. It is a great! This has been one of my favorite things, I have Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, the EDM 310 Class Blog, You Tube,some students and teachers, and of course the South Alabama website. I also have personal stuff that I use on my PLN and think this is great because it is just a click away!

 a picture of a symbaloo

Comment for Teachers Summary 4

I was assigned to the teach Liz B. Davis. I have been following and reading her blog post. Her blog is titled "The Power of Educational Technology."
The first post that I commented on was titled, " Who are you? Who are you really?", this is about a student who was participating in a speech contest and the student was asked "who are you? who are you really?" and he did not really know what to say and was shocked by the question and thrown off well, he finally came up with something but it bugged him ever since. She was talking about how we do not really think about these questions and making out minds think about "who are we? who are we really?" GREAT POST with GREAT MEANING!!! I responded to this post with:
Mrs. Davis,
I am a student of Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class at The University of South Alabama. I think that this a great post with great meaning!! We do not think about this question often and it will definitely make you think! I have loved reading your posts as an assignment, they are very interesting and always have such great meaning.
- Nell Broughton
The second post I commented on was titled, "dare some mighty things" and I absolutely loved this post she was making a point about failure and how we do need motivational things in life to keep us going. I absolutely love this post because I know many people that relate to this. I responded with this:
Mrs. Davis,
I loved this post and thank you for sharing. I am in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class at The University of South Alabama. I love the quote at the beginning. Yes, I do think that we need motivational words to keep us going. Some days there are many of us that have bad days and just words of encouragement can help us. I do a daily devotional that helps me and that I absolutely love. Thank you for sharing your post. Very inspiring!

a picture I got from google images saying education and training

Blog Post 14

Why did I miss the metaphor in Tom Johnson's post? Well, I have no clue as to why I missed the metaphor. I understand them and use them frequently, as we all do. I guess I missed it because it did not seem clear to me and I think that the others in the class missed the metaphor for the same reason, they use them and understand them but it just completely passed us to where we did not understand it completely. Since my teacher Dr. Strange addressed this point to us about missing the metaphor in Tom Johnson's post, I have come across many metaphors Many people use them everyday and I understand them, so as to why I did not catch the point in Tom Johnson's post, I just do not know. As educators, we can get our students to do exercises with metaphors more frequently to make sure our students understand them better and fully. We use metaphors in many ways to make a point and use a figure of speech. I feel like metaphors is just a way we communicate and is a way to shape what we mean and make a point of what we mean.

a

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Blog Post 13

Alabama Learning Exchange after looking through it is an absolutely great site. It has so many resources you can use and will definitely benificial to other teachers. It has different courses of studies, web resources, lesson plans, ways to search exactly what you are looking for, a personal workshop, professional learning, podcast treasury, ALEXville.
I am going to describe some of these for all the different courses of studies it has all different kinds of studies and what you are looking for and for all different grade levels. The web resources well, has different resources for students, teachers, etc... the lesson plans you can create you own or search for one that is in the subject you need a lesson plan for. These first three I have mentioned are absolutely great and extremely helpful. The search part that I have mentioned earlier well you can search all different kinds of things that you are looking for! How Awesome! The Personal Workspace you have to have a username and password but it is for teachers to save lesson plans and see other teachers pages, which in my opinion is extremely resourceful. Professional Learning has many different sites that you can click on and Learn more about Alabama's Learning System, etc... The Podcast Treasury has different contents and links you can click on and the content contains different podcasts for different subjects. The ALEXville link is designed for clicking on a location that you want to interact with. I think that this is a great and very resourceful site that all teachers will be grateful for and the amount of information is extremely abundant. I think that this is awesome! Also searching the web and looking on the website about Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide it has really shown me how much the state of Alabama has many online resources for students, teachers and the classrooms and I think that these are all great ways to improve education!'

 a picture of education connecting with graduation

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Comment for Kids Summary 7,8,9,10

The comment for kids 7 assignment for me was Mr. McClung's Class and Skyping with Mr. Webb Class. This post was about Mr. McClung's Arkansas class skyping with Mr. Webb's New Zealand class. I think that this is great because their students are learning in a fun way and about different areas of the world. Arkansas and New Zealand are so far apart and using skype to learn is a great tool. I enjoyed having the opportunity to being assinged to this blog.

The comment for kids 8 assignment for me was in the Year 6L Class. I was assigned to the comment about how they are learning math different ways. I responded my telling them that i am a student in dr stranges edm 310 class and how i loved reading their blog and other posts and loved reading the one i was assigned too and think it is great that they are learning math in fun different ways while enjoying it !

I was recently assigned to Mrs. Yollis' class for my comment for kids assignment number 9. After reading her blog thoroughly and seeing how she interacts with her students and how her students use blogging it really assured me and made me realize that I definitely want to use a blog in my classroom with the kids I am teaching in the future. She is extremely organized with her blog. She not only interacts with her students in a positive, life-changing way in my opinion, but she interacts with the students parents and with classrooms around the world. When I was looking, reading, searching Mrs. Yollis' blog, I have the privlegde to read about her and her background and what she lies to enjoy out of the classroom also. I got to also meet her "bloggers" and read what ehr third graders enjoy. They live in Los Angeles and I even got to "Learn About California" watching a slide show with pictures and facts about California. She has a video on How to Comment on her class blog giving detailed instructions, which makes it easier for new bloggers and follewers learn how to comment properly on Mrs. Yollis' blog. She has a link on "Learn HTML Code" which thouroughly gives instructions on using the HTML code and was actually even very helpful to me. Like I mentioned earlier about how she interacts with classrooms all around the world, Mrs. Yollis even has a list of time zones of different places to whom her and her students interact with. She also has videos of her students showing other how to learn to shoot great digital images. Mrs. Yollis has fun games and homework links to click on also. I was really intrigued by her blog and inspired in numerous ways. Reading her blog has definitely made it an eye opener to me that I want to be a teacher who interacts my students with blogging.

My most recent kid I was assinged to was Jaden. Jaden is a third grader in Mrs. Yollis' class. I commented on his post about his mascot Mr. California. Mr. California was a chipmunk and had the opportunity to post a comment on Jaden's blog. We even got to read about what Mr. California's hobbies were and who his friends were. I thought that this was a very creative idea.

picture of blogging

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Progress Report on Final Project

For my final project 16, me and another classmate Christina Dunnam are doing this project together. What we came up with and have been working on is making a video on smartboard training.

picture of a smartboard

Blog Post Assignment 12

1. Watch this video on 21st Century Education. (5:36)
2. After watching this very interesting video on education and how technology is changing rapidly, share your thoughts on this video and your feedback.

I created this assignment thinking that this video was extremely interesting.
"21st Century Education"
This video was a great video! I think that it shows how much "the future is accelerating" Yes, the future is accelerating and it is accelerating very quickly. This video makes specific examples and points showing how much it has changed in such a short period of time. I loved when it said; education is about adapting to a changing world because that is so very true on so many levels. I have younger siblings and cousins and I will tell you when I was their age I was not doing what they are doing in the classroom, they are adapting to a changing world with education like this video portrays but yes, how we teach and how we learn do need to make a turn and make a turn for the better. I think this video is great because it is showing how schools in New Brunswick, Canada are already making that change, but ALL schools around the world need to make this change!


this is a picture of the world and a computer portraying technology with the world

Project 15

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Blog Assignment 11

"First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class"

WOW!!!! First Graders. Blogs, Classroom Webpages and Wikis. All I have to say about this video is that this is extremely inspiring about how they are learning and what they are doing in their classrooms! They are learning the right way!!!! We need to have teachers more like Ms. Cassidy. They also use skype, like I am in shock that these first graders know how to use all this. This is one of my favorite videos that I have been assinged this semester in Dr. Stranges' class. I am very glad that he made this an assignment that we had to watch it. Just like the title says "Little Kids...Big Potential''!!! This is a great video! I think the way she apprpoches her students and the way she uses technology in this classroom is fantastic!!! This is the kind of teacher I want to be!! The kids were so excited and loved the way they learned! How marvelous!!! Also watching the skype discussion is great and how she started using technology in her classroom! I would love to use many of her techniques in my classroom when i finish my college career and when i become a teacher in the future!!! Loved this assingment!!!

picture of the changing world, we need to be the change

Blog Post Assignment 10

An Open Letter To Educators

I think that this post and Dan Browns' video was absolutely excellent. I like what Morgan said about how he too feels cheated in the University system. Because I can relate to that and I think most of us can. I will have to say that spending your money on books that we never open and not interating with classmates gets old and that IT NEEDS TO CHANGE. My expierence here in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class has taught me a lot. I will be honest and go ahead and say that I have met people in this class and have interacted with many students in my class and labs and I have never interacted so much in a class in my education at the University of South Alabama as I have in this class and I LOVE IT and it has shown me and helped me out a lot. Now to the video, it started off talking about the beginning of education to the education now and how we can access that informtaion and who could get that information and education were the upper social class and now due to the internet everyone can access the information they want to know about through the internet and how fast the internet age has rapidly grown. Also professors are not concerned about there students as a whole or individually. Just as Dr. Strange said on the first day of class the burp back information we memorize a bunch of information but are not actually learning it just to get a grade that we are satisfied with. THIS HAS TO GO!!!!! Teaching and Learning has to change!!!

Tom Johnson's "Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home"

This post really inspired me. I do feel like that as future teachers that we need to focus on other things than taking away students pencils. I really feel like as teachers we need to step up the plate and me more interactive with our students. I really enjoyed this post and think that this had a extremely good message!

picture of pencils

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Blog Post Assignment 9

"What I've Learned This Year" by Mr. McClung

In this post I really enjoyed reading it. It was very inspiring and it shows that teachers also learn so much in the classroom while they are teachers. He makes make remarkable comments, He starts off by saying that he has learned so much in his first year of teaching and that he did not really know what to think and expect because he was not fully "expierenced". One part of his post was titled "How to Read a Crowd" this paragraph was him basically talking about how that some teachers do not make their classrooms and lessons focused on their students so that they can succeed. He has learned this year how to connect with the crowd and his students. One paragraph is titled "Be Flexible." In this paragraph he is talking about how we need to be flexible with the students and basically meaning we need to be patient. I agree with this because not everyone is perfect and students are there to learn so we need to be flexible with them and if they need help then help them. Communication is a huge key in teaching successfully. McClung talks about how communication is a must and a major factor and that it seems to be easy but it is a task that takes some practice, but we all need to learn how to communicate! He also talks about how we need to be resonable and how we are there to teach and to pick the students up not to make them seem like they have failed. I love this part of his post, because I truly think that we are not here to beat the students up when they are wrong and make them feel like failures but if they do make a mistake just have them try again until they succeed and make them feel worthy and that they are smart!!! He then goes along and talks about how we do not need to be afraid of technology, well absolutely we do not! Technology is a great thing for learning. Listening to students is a KEY! I love the part where one of his students says that Mr. McClung cares about him because he listened to him! That is amazing! He concludes with Never Stop Learning! This is one of my favorite posts that I have read this year. I absolutely love it!

 this is a picture I got that says stay postive, which is in reference to my post

Monday, March 21, 2011

C4T Summary 3

The third teacher that I was assigned to is Lisa Thumann. Her blog is titled Thumann Resources. The post that i commented on was titled "The Purpose of Education." Thumann states that the purpose of education is to help students develop a lifelong love of learning. She discusses about how she remembers loving school and wanting to learn and how her second grader loves school also and how her student loves to research topics about information she is interested in. She asks what happened between 2nd and 3rd grade because her 3rd grade daughter basically keeps being negative about school saying she can't, she hates, she doesn't like school, it is boring, etc... This is very sad that this child hates school so much. We as future teachers need to not only make a difference and teach our children a love for learning but also teach students in work they are interested in. Thumann then asks what can we do? How can we help? She states that our teachers need to have; enthusiasm, empathy, respect, self-confidence, self-awareness, and the ability to reflect. I completely agree with this and think that our students are going to look up to their teachers, teachers will be role models to their students and we need our students to LOVE learning, but that all comes with the way we teach.
I absolutely love this post for so many reasons, I agree with everything she is saying and love how she compared two different kids that were very close in age. Great Post!

This week I was assigned to the same teacher! Her post was titled "Whatever Works- Don't Fight It"

She was talking about her as a teacher and her coming up with 6 steps to a new plan which I thought were great. Her six steps to changing the classroom and the way we learn are:
  1. It’s not a tech initiative, it’s a learning initiative
  2. Digital Portfolios (using Google Sites)
  3. Managing the 1:1 Classroom
  4. Starting a student leadership team in grades 5-8
  5. Sharing success stories with colleagues
  6. Parent/Community training and showcases

I responded to her post saying:I loved this post and I have enjoyed reading your blog posts recently. I think that the six parts of your new plan seem like great ideas! I think yes we need to make a change in the classroom and I extremely agree with your first part of the new plan saying that it is not about tech initiative its about a learning initiative, although I do feel like technology is a huge part, but its all about LEARNING. We need to improve learning and teaching in the classrooms! Thank you so much for sharing!

 a picture about teachers

C4K Summary Post 4,5,&6

The 4th kid I was assigned to was a student in Mrs. Wolfe's class.
It is called Elephants and she describes elephants in this blog post. I responded to her blog comment with telling her how much I enjoyed her writing and etc...
The 5th kid I was assigned to was a student is Marven at Pt. England School. The blog post that i commented on was a animation video that was extremely interesting and creative I think that it is great that kids can make animation videos like this.
The 6th kid I was assigned to was Grace in Ms. Engelhard's class. Her blog post was titled "Dalmatian on Vacation." This is a very good poem she wrote, it is very humorous and creative. She is a very good writer and she needs to keep up the good work!

is a wordle of blogging

Blog Post Assignment 8

This is How We Dream Part 1 and Part 2

We are living in change as also discussed in this video. He says that it is time to changed to be engaged in literacy. He spent his time in how we write, where we work, how we research and where we publish. Where we work now is with multimedia. Technology is growing rapidly, we can go on the web and within seconds we can get results. We are in a time where it is possible to collaborate using technology.

Creativity and collabration is very interesting and where we work now is with digital enviornment. He discusses where there is going to be a time where we will be using digital composing material. Technology is a way to put ideas in our culture. There needs to be a way that we can teach in the way that the world we live in. These two videos are very interesting. The goal of the technology, is it makes it possible to make our dreams and share them with others.

Are you prepared to write with multimedia. Well, I am going to be honest I think that the way that technology is growing is we have so much more to learn. I do not think I am 100 percent prepared to write with multimedia but I am learning more and more and I believe that by the time I am a teacher, I hope to be completely prepared to write with multimedia so that my students will be able to do this. I think my students will be able to do this in the time that we live in and how much we are learning about technology and how fast it is growing.

The Chipper Series
This video shows a student with Mr. Strange and she basically is going downhill taking adventure after adventure because she does not want to take responsibility, but at the end she has a change of heart and realizes pretty much for her to suceed that she is going to have to change and take responsibility.
EDM 310 For Dummies
This is a video of students that are going aboslutely crazy because of this class and how they hate this class. They creating EDM 310 For Dummies and discuss how to be successful in this class and at the end talks about how they would not have been able to do any of this without EDM 310.
The idea in my post that I can think of that I would like to particiapte in would be making a video with a group of what we have learned in this class and our EDM 310 journey. I think that it would be fun anf creative.

Learning to Change, Change to Learn
I think that the arguments in this video are great. They just want to improve the classroom and make a change. These people who are talking in this video show great concern about the classroom and how our students learn. This video is described as "Distinguished individuals in education discuss the need for change in the classroom." Yes absolutely there is a need for change in the classroom. I love this video and agree with their ideas.

RSA Animate- The Secret Powers of Time
This video is basically saying that we are future oriented. When we make a decision about the future its going to affect us. He talks about people that live in the past and the future and makes the point that time influences who we are. This video is all about time and it affects us greatly and what we learn in the world. I think that this video is great.

RSA Animate - Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us
This video is described as " illustrates the hidden truths behind what really motivates us at home and in the workplace." This is so very true and this video makes points that are very interesting. Yes, I completely think that stuff that happens "behind the scenes" in a way really has affect on what motiviates us a person, and what goes on at home and in your personal life but also as in the professional life. This video is great.

this is a picture of a teacher using the smartboard to teach their students, this is they way we need to be taught we need to bring more technology to the classroom

Monday, March 14, 2011

Smart board Instruction Project 13

Blog Post Assignment 7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Dr. Pausch : The Last Lecture: Acheiving Your Childhood Dreams
This video equals amazing! All i can say is, WOW!! I feel like everyonw needs to watch this video. Dr. Paush is a professor and an amazing person, I fell like we all need to be more like this and become more like him. This is called, "The Last Lecture" because he was told that he did not have much longer to live but he is in great health now and that did not stop him from his positive outlook on life. He has lived his life to the fullest and he is such a positive person.

His talk is about his childhood dreams, enabling the dreams of others and lessons learned: how you can acheive your dreams or enable the dreams of others. His childhood dreams were; being in zero gravity, playing for the NFL, authoring an article in The World Book Encyclopedia, being Captain Kirk, winning stuffed animals and being a disney imagineer. He talks about these dreams to the fullest and their significance of each whether he acheived them or not, he accomplished some and did not accomplish others. At the end of this video he points out some very good points in life; he mentions, never give up, do not lose your child-like wonder, loyalty is a two-way street, help others, don't complain, show gratitude, and when you get feedback from others listen to it! What great points. He truly shows us how to become a better pesron.

My absolute favorite quote in this video is," Expierence is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted", this is so true. He is a person with so much passion for others. This video is so encouraging and he is such a man of loyalty and leadership. This is very uplifting. He came up with The Alice project which is to help teach and learn program concepts. He has acheived so much and touched so many peoples lives. He has such a positive outlook on life and has obvioulsy been an inspiration to myself and others.

I want to end this post by concluding with WATCH THIS VIDEO!!! What a blessing this man has been to others and was an inspring and amazing guy!!!

this is a picture of Dr. Pausch

Short Movie Project

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Progress for Project 10

I have been putting my PLN together. I think that this is so cool. I think it is great that I can put all of my websites and information together and organized. I have many websites that I use in this class on my PLN as well of others that I use on a regular basis. This is very good way of keeping things organized! I am loving learning about all of these new tools and looking forward to having my PLN completely put together. I am using symbaloo for my PLN and I think that this is a very great tool that helps everything be right there and makes it so much easier. I have learned loving about all these new ways of technology in this class that I knew nothing about it before, it is very exciting!!!

this is a picture of symbaloo the device I am using for my PLN

Sunday, February 27, 2011

C4K summary post 1,2, &3

My first kid I was assigned to was Jocelyn. The blog post I commented on was about her first time snowboarding! I love reading how kids try new things! I told her in my post that I loved reading about her first time trying something new and how I love trying new things!!!!
My Second kid I was assigned to was Subika. She wrote about in her blog post about how she loves skyping with her relatives! I responded on her post by letting her know that I absolutely love her post. I relate to this also in so many ways because I love to skype with my family and I told her that, I also let her know I love skyping with my friends! I told Subika that I think that it is very awesome how people her age are learning to use a tool that I have just learned about recently, when i mean recently, I mean within the past year! I loved reading her post!
My Third kid that I was assigned to was Ashlee. The post I commented on was a poem about her cousin, it was titled "Acrostic Poem About My Cousin Alibi" I loved reading her blog and how students so young are using technology to broaden their learning skills and I loved reading her poem!
 a picture that says I love blogging

Timeline Project 9b

Blog Assignment 6

The Networked Student by Wendy Dexler

I love this video! I think it shows us how we can use all different kinds of tools through technology to advance our learning. It shows us how we can use different types of data bases, networks, and many online sources to broaden the use of the information we would recieve if we were only in a classroom. I thought that through this class I would need a teacher to tell me what to do and to help me, but it is very reassuring through a class online like EDM 310 that I am teaching myself throughout all the great teachnology I am learning about and learning how to use. I also think that we do need teachers to help us guide us when we stumble. I think that this is a great video! Thanks for sharing!
The network student needs a teacher to help them teach them about what they need to do and how to set up and learn about the networks and technology! Are we ready to be teachers for network students? I think that we will be when we are finished with our education and classes like EDM 310 will really help us and I am looking forward to other classes as well.

7th Graders Personal Learning Environment

I think how she has everything on one page cool on symbaloo. I am looking forward to making mine. I think it is different because she has everything right there infront of her on one page. I think that it is great that 7th graders have learned what we are trying to learn! It really still blows my mind how fast technology is growing!

Why Smartboard are a Dumb Initiative by Michael Staton
Michael Staton talks about how he does not like smartboards at all. He makes two different arguments about how he does not like them. The first argument is basically saying do not change the learning system it just makes everything more expensive and his second argument is saying that technology just wants our money.
Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards by Bill Ferriter
Bill Ferriter is againist smartboards. He thinks that is a waste of money also.
The blog that i found that is for smart boards is http://www.teacherslovesmartboards.com/ Go and check this blog out! I love how they portray the smartboard. Yes the smartboards are expensive but I think that we need to spend money to advance our students learning skills through technology. I absolutely am for the smartboards although some people are not. I love reading the blog that i found and then the negative aspects of the smartboard by Michael Staton and Bill Ferriter but in my opinion I am for smartboards.


a picture of a smartboard

Monday, February 21, 2011

Blog Assignment # 5

picture of a Ipod





Judy Scharf Podcast Collection

I really liked this website and found it very helpful. There is so much information available about Podcasts. This website has everything from defining Podcast to step-by-step information on making your own Podcast. Since I had never done a Podcast before, this information is really helpful for when I make another Podcast. I believe that Podcasts are great for teachers to use. I think it makes learning more fun. Also, if a child were out sick then they could listen to the Podcast about the assignments for the day. This website also has tons of topics you can use for a Podcast. There are also different videos you can watch on this website about making Podcasts. I also liked that they had a Podcast rubric for grading students. This rubric would be very helpful for teachers to use. I really enjoyed this website.

100 Ways to Use Your Ipod to Learn and Study Better

This website is so cool! I always thought Ipods were just for listening to music. I didn't know you could use your Ipod in all these educational ways! This website has 24 different study guides you can download on your Ipod. It also has MANY differnt Podcasts you can listen to, tutorials, applications, classroom help, even MORE downloads and SO much more. This website truly has everything. I would definitely use this website in teaching my students about all the cool ways you can use your Ipod!

The Education Podcasting Network

The Education Podcasting Network (EPN) is another great website regarding information about Podcasts. This website defines what podcasting is. It also has many different Podcasts available to listen to categorized by grade (elementary, middle, high school) and by subjects. There are many subjects to chose from between current events to dance education and so much more! You can also suggests Podcasts you like and think is beneficial to this website and they may post it under one of the many subjects! This is a great website about Podcasts.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Blog Assignment 4

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?

Dr. Scott McLeod wrote the post "Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?" I think that he makes some relevant points about how children can access junk on the internet and how it is right infront of them, but there are many ways to get around it and have those blocked. Also, just because some children might do that does not mean all students will. I think that technology is a very great way to teach and will make more learning more fun and more effective! Thanks to Dr. McLeod for his thoughts. Dr. McLeod is the maker of  "Did You Know?"

iSchool Initiative

I just watched the video iSchool Initiative by a high school senior. He makes VERY good points about how saying goodbye to the old ways and saying hello to the new ways of technology. I think that this is a very smart idea especially coming from a highscool senior. Also, he is in the "now" of learning and knows what needs to be changed, so his perspective is very useful. I think that using technology is a great way to make learning more assessable and it would be a great way to save money in the schools. I think that higher education is just a "touch" away is a great idea!!!! I love this video!

Lost Generation

Ok... so can I start with that I love this video... I love how it captures your attention about it being negative at first and then bring it to a positive ending. I think the way that this video was set up was great. I do think we are in a lost generation and I do think that we can bring it back! I love this video!!!!

Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir

I think that this is very weird. That they have never rehearsed before together? I think that this is taking technology a little too far in my opinion. I think that this is absolute bazaar. This is taking so much out of a choir in my opinion. I used to be in a choir and I think that one of the parts was having friends and meeting new people and also doing something you love, but I do not like it just because of that. This just weirds me out. BIG TIME!!!

Teaching in the 21st Century

I love this video! It is great and makes some very good points using technology. I think that the way he portrays technology is great! One thing I love about this class is how a lot of people want change in the way of teaching and learning using technology and watching so many videos that gets that point across. I love that. I think his ideas are great!!! If you havent watched this video, you need too!

Podcast Project

Our podcast

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Blog Assignment 3

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

The video "A Vision of Students Today" bu Michael Wesch is a great video! I personally think that everyone agrees with this video, I most certainly do. This video absolutely shows us how people look at college today. It is no fun and some even think that it is a waste of time and what they are learning is not even helpful. They spend more time using technology then opening their books and studying. Some even think that what they are paying for such as books should not be done. I love the way that he made this video. It really makes a huge point.
I think that technology can help us, ABSOLUTELY! I think that it can save education as a whole and really get people excited about learning and knowing that they are learning for the future!!! As teachers we need to help make technology make a difference is education for learners so that this problem will not continue to happen!

"It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines

I think that Kelly Hines makes some very good points in her post that she made about "It's Not About the Technology. I also believe that it is not all about the technology although I do think that it is a very big part to it. Kelly Hines makes four points:
Her four points are: first, teachers must be learners. Her second point is learning and teaching are not the same thing. Her third point is, technology is useless without good teaching and the final and fourth point that she talks about is, how to be a 21st century teacher without technology! Check out her post:
http://eduratireview.com/2009/04/its-not-about-technology.html/
It makes some very good points!!!

Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

Karl Fisch made some many great points in this blog post. I suggest that you read this post. He is very strong in his opinion of technology. Check it out: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2007/09/is-it-okay-to-be-technologically.html

Gary Hayes Social Media Count

So, I just read and looked at Gary Hayes' Social Media Count. I have one word to say WOW. This absolutely blew my mind. I can believe it but then again I was like are you serious? I think that these numbers show how fast technology is growing and how this generation is so much about technology!!! This was very eye opening to me and I thought it was fantastic.
http://www.personalizemedia.com/garys-social-media-count/

this is a picture on technology and learning

Google Presenation

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Summary Post C4T #1

For my Comments for Teachers, I was assigned Travis Allen, a student you discusses his life as a student in the 21st century. His post, posted on September 7, 2011 was titled, "iPads, the King of Classroom Distractions?" He talked about how students are being distracted by technology and in the case of this post iPads. Giving students the opportunity in technology would replace the act of the students being more distracted in my opinion then be able to do other things in a way, I think that if we give students technology and they use it in the proper way for learning then I think that students would not be "bored" in class and tempted to be distracted by little things. I think that technology will absolutely get them completely involved in classrooms and broaden their knowledge as a learner.
The second post that I commented on of Travis Allens' was titled, "Interview with Travis:Learn More About iSchool Initiative." In this post he discusses that receiving an iPhone was more then that and underneath he has a article and a link! Go check it out! But he has learned learning through technology devices! He started the iSchool Initiative which is a non-profit organization that includes students using their devices for educational purposes. I think that this is a great way to portray and use your technology in a useful and positive way! Great article!

this is a photo of ischool initiative which part of the post is about

Interview With Travis: Learn More About iSchool Initiative

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Blog Assignment #2

Did you know? 

I just watched the video "Did You Know 3.0" by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod on YouTube. I think that this video is filled with fun and outstanding facts that I did not know. I love this video because it shows us how rapid technology is growing! I think that it portrays where we are going with technology. Technology has grown greatly, it absolutely blows my mind. I knew that technology was definitely growing but I never thought the numbers to be that big. To me it has its good and negative aspects of it. I think that technology is very useful and helps us out big time but then again I feel like everywhere we turn it is based on some type of aspect of technology and in my opinion I do think that we need to bring technology into schools more so that the students can learn in a way that is interesting to them, but also I do not think that the world should be based on technology because to me there are more important things in life then the focus on technology. Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod did an outstanding job on their video!


Mr. Winkle Wakes

This video "Mr. Winkle Wakes" by Mathew Needleman is very great video, I like it! This video shows us that Mr. Winkle wakes up 100 years later and how many things have changed. It shows that technology has changed a lot of things like schools, jobs, and hospitals. The part that I like a lot is it shows that education, which is extremely important, probably the most important has stayed the same. I  love that! I do think that we do need to bring technology in schools as I stated about in my "Did You Know?" summary. I think that technology would be very helpful to students to where they will learn at a pace they enjoy and learn with something that this generation knows a lot about, technology!

The Importance of Creativity

Sir Ken Robinson in this video, makes many very imortant points in my opionon. In this video he talks about education and creativity. He says that all students have extreme talents. He uses an example of a little girl drawing God. With this girl, the teacher said that she was not paying attention but clearly she had talent with art and drawing. Kids take chances obviously and I think that creativity is the part of it all, children are very curious and will do anything to figure it out. I absolutely love this video because it shows us that education today is taking out creativity greatly. For example, schools mainly focus on math, science, history, english. I do think these are very important but they need to focus on other things because it seems like students think they are stupid and teachers think they are not capable of anything if they do not do well. Teachers should not shut their students out and make the students feel like they are not smart or not going to be successful. I completely disagree with how some teachers( I'm not saying all) make students feel, its like some belittle them. I think that God made each and everyone of us with talents and many gifts.Robinson states that "education is taking out creativity", I think this is not how it should be and I think that creativity should be one of the main things in education. It should not be like what edcation is coming to in that aspect, because as the teachers job they need to definitely make sure each and everyone of there students feels like they are succeeding in a way. Everyone has gifts, Some students might be better at different things than other students, that is just how life is. One student might not be good at math and  might be come a mathemitician, but that student that is not good at math might be a phenominal dancer and musician, when the student that was great at math cannot carry a beat or play a tune. I think that this really shows that we need to be putting creativity into education because it is the basis of learning!!! This video is awesome!!!

Cecelia Gault Interviews Sir Ken Robinson

Cecelia Gault is a young women who is a student from Finalnd.This article has many great points! It really shows that The United States really needs to step up their game in the means of education, creativily and technilogically. The video underneath this article is a video where Cecelia Gault is interviewing Sir Ken Robinson. I think that creativity and each persons individual talents are what is important in edcation, not if we made a A+ or if we have a 4.0 GPA. I think that we really need to pay attention more on how everyone can be succesful through the arts and through ideas. I think that this can be used through technology greatly! This interview and article is great!

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

I absolutely LOVE this video!!! Vicki Davis teaches her students through technology and knows that EVERY student can learn! I absolutely agree! Everyone can learn! I love how she looks at each students strengths and weaknesses and ties that into technology and how they can connect with people all over the world! I love how they expierence this first hand and it is a very successful way to learn and connect to the world! This is how education should be!





Friday, January 21, 2011

Blog Assignment #1

My name is Nell Broughton and I attend The University of South Alabama. The University of South Alabama is located in Mobile, Alabama. I have lived in Mobile, Alabama all my life. I love living in Mobile because most of my family and friends live here. My major interests are music, children, church, fashion, family and friends.

My family is absolutely awesome they are loving, supportive and fun! Some of my family lives in Mobile, Alabama. The others live in Monroeville, Alabama. Monroeville is where the famous, Harper Lee who wrote To Kill A Monkingbird is from. I wanted to enter the education field because I have a love for children and truly want to see each of them succeed! I have many passions, as you can see one of my passions is children. Another major passion is church and family.

Practice Post

My first post.