Final Video Reflection Project!!!

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!

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!

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.

Project 16

Copy of Document

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!'

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.

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.

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!

Project 15

Teach Someone Project 14

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!!!

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!

Skype Interveiw Project

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!

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!

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!

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.

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!!!