Thursday, December 2, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
C4K December
For the month of December, we only had one student to leave a comment for.The student that I had is Colby and he is in the second grade and is learning to blog just like we are. His page was very well put together and it was very creative as well. He had pictures of his homework assignments on his page and it made it look very creative. I was impressed with his creativity and the way he used his blog to only be in the second grade. He is better at blogging than I am!
Final PLN
I have been using symbaloo for my personal learning network. It is an amazing
website that allows me to keep all my bookmarks in one place. As of now, I use multiple
websites and sources for my PLN. My favorites and most used are pecentral.org and
pelinks4u.org. I have recently been following blogs of other P.E. teachers through
blogger.com. I use facebook.com and twitter.com to keep up with my social networking on a
more personal basis. I also use mapquest, youtube, and gmail as apps on my iPhone to help
me keep updated on the things that I need to succeed. My iPhone is a device that I cannot
live without because it is the key to my PLN. It keeps all my information organized for me
and it makes it easy to access. This is my PLN for now but it continues to grow daily and it
will never be complete because there is so much information and tools available for me to
use now.
website that allows me to keep all my bookmarks in one place. As of now, I use multiple
websites and sources for my PLN. My favorites and most used are pecentral.org and
pelinks4u.org. I have recently been following blogs of other P.E. teachers through
blogger.com. I use facebook.com and twitter.com to keep up with my social networking on a
more personal basis. I also use mapquest, youtube, and gmail as apps on my iPhone to help
me keep updated on the things that I need to succeed. My iPhone is a device that I cannot
live without because it is the key to my PLN. It keeps all my information organized for me
and it makes it easy to access. This is my PLN for now but it continues to grow daily and it
will never be complete because there is so much information and tools available for me to
use now.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Project #16-Progress Report
I am in a group with Hillary Polchow and Carlis Howze. Our idea came from Hillary who was inspired by Eric Whiticre's virtual choir as well as this project posted on Intrepid Flame's blog. We will be creating a song on Indaba Music without meeting face-to-face. Hillary is going to have two of her musically inclined friends record the instrumental for the song. Then, we will write lyrics and lay the vocals over the music. After we finish the song, we will shoot a video to go with it. We were considering asking for 15-30 second clip submissions (like Mr. Raisdana is), so that we could collaborate with more people, but we figured that students would be too busy working on their own projects. We've broken down the roles as follows:
Musicians: two friends (Talent Recruiter: Hillary)
Lyrics: Brittany
Vocals: Carlis
Sound Editing: Hillary
Videographer (shooting and editing): Hillary
Video Performer: Brittany
Video Performer: Carlis
Musicians: two friends (Talent Recruiter: Hillary)
Lyrics: Brittany
Vocals: Carlis
Sound Editing: Hillary
Videographer (shooting and editing): Hillary
Video Performer: Brittany
Video Performer: Carlis
Friday, November 12, 2010
Additional Assignment #5
Tom Johnson's adventures in Pencil Integration:
Sketchy Portraits: 8th Grade Identity and Pencils;
He Just Likes the Class for the Pencils;
The Medium Shapes the Learning
The three posts that I read from Tom’s blog were better than the last that I read. I felt like they made much better sense and they touched on a subject that I can actually relate to. My favorite was the first that I read labeled” Sketchy Portraits: 8th grade Identity and Pencils.” This post is about the change going on with the students and how they feel erasable because their future is constantly changing. The metaphor that he uses between the relationship of pencils and the students is really funny in a way but it so true. His blog is good to read but I think it can be a little hard to catch onto because everything is a metaphor. All his points are set up to pencils but they make sense and they catch people’s attention.
Sketchy Portraits: 8th Grade Identity and Pencils;
He Just Likes the Class for the Pencils;
The Medium Shapes the Learning
The three posts that I read from Tom’s blog were better than the last that I read. I felt like they made much better sense and they touched on a subject that I can actually relate to. My favorite was the first that I read labeled” Sketchy Portraits: 8th grade Identity and Pencils.” This post is about the change going on with the students and how they feel erasable because their future is constantly changing. The metaphor that he uses between the relationship of pencils and the students is really funny in a way but it so true. His blog is good to read but I think it can be a little hard to catch onto because everything is a metaphor. All his points are set up to pencils but they make sense and they catch people’s attention.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
C4T #4
Royan Lee
Comment #1 The teacher that I was assigned to is Royan Lee and his page is labeled ‘The Spicy Learning Blog’. I commented on his post called ‘Something to Remember’ and I liked it because it was short and to the point. It is about how to deal with teachers who want to use social networking in the classroom but are afraid to do it because they fear the kids will use it for play and not school work. He points out that a part of education is social networking and you must have it in the classroom. I told him that I am in EDM 310 and this class is all about social networking and the importance of technology in the classroom. I told him that I loved his post and that I will continue to follow his blog.
Comment #2 The post that I left a comment for has to be my favorite. Royan (the teacher) gave his students a one line google survey at the start of the year asking them one question-“What should every teacher know about you?” The students had very interesting things to say on this survey. I told him that this was very creative and that I enjoyed reading it. He combined all the students’ answers into a wordle and he posted it under their comments. His page is very creative and I have enjoyed reading it. He has given me great ideas and projects from his page that I will use in the classroom.
Comment #1 The teacher that I was assigned to is Royan Lee and his page is labeled ‘The Spicy Learning Blog’. I commented on his post called ‘Something to Remember’ and I liked it because it was short and to the point. It is about how to deal with teachers who want to use social networking in the classroom but are afraid to do it because they fear the kids will use it for play and not school work. He points out that a part of education is social networking and you must have it in the classroom. I told him that I am in EDM 310 and this class is all about social networking and the importance of technology in the classroom. I told him that I loved his post and that I will continue to follow his blog.
Comment #2 The post that I left a comment for has to be my favorite. Royan (the teacher) gave his students a one line google survey at the start of the year asking them one question-“What should every teacher know about you?” The students had very interesting things to say on this survey. I told him that this was very creative and that I enjoyed reading it. He combined all the students’ answers into a wordle and he posted it under their comments. His page is very creative and I have enjoyed reading it. He has given me great ideas and projects from his page that I will use in the classroom.
Project #6 Google Form Results
Health and Physical Education Survey: Given to 19 college students
1. How would you best rate your physical activity level?
Sedentary 2
Moderate activity 14
Vigorous activity 3
2. On a scale of 1-5, how would you best rate your physical education experience?
1 - least 4
2 2
3 2
4 6
5 - best 5
3. Is Physical Education important in the school’s curriculum?
Yes 16
No 3
4. Should it be required that all school districts develop and implement a planned, sequential physical education curriculum k-12 that adheres to national and state standards for health and physical education?
Yes 18
No 1
5. When schools face budget cuts, which of the following should NOT be cut?
band 3
art 7
PE 9
6. What would be the best choice for getting students involved with PE?
offering aerobic classes 5
having more time available for dressing in/out 1
offering physical challenges 6
giving awards to the highest participant 7
7. Do you think healthy eating habits should be taught in the physical education curriculum?
Yes 18
No 1
8. Should schools disallow substitutions for physical education with activities such as marching band or varsity sports
Yes 8
No 12
9. Obesity is at an all time high in the school systems. Do you think adding more time for physical activity into the curriculum can turn this problem around?
Yes 13
No 6
10. Do you think that by banning snack machines in the schools hall is a better way to fight obesity than adding more time for physical activities?
Yes 2
No 17
I am very pleased with the outcome of my form that I submitted in October to my classmates. My project was a questionnaire that I created asking the importance of Physical Education in the school system. I am majoring in Physical Education so this was a very important topic to me. I had a few students admit to not being active and not caring about their personal health but for the majority of students, they cared about the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
This form shows evidence that P.E is important in the school systems and that it should not be eliminated due to budget cuts in the school systems. I had 19 students fill out this form and as you can tell from the results that I posted above, most of them feel that it’s important to have P.E in the school systems as well as teaching students the importance of healthy living. I also liked the fact that the students admitted that eliminating snack machines in the school halls is not the answer to the high rate of obesity in the school system. It is the lack of physical activities that keep the students over weight.
1. How would you best rate your physical activity level?
Sedentary 2
Moderate activity 14
Vigorous activity 3
2. On a scale of 1-5, how would you best rate your physical education experience?
1 - least 4
2 2
3 2
4 6
5 - best 5
3. Is Physical Education important in the school’s curriculum?
Yes 16
No 3
4. Should it be required that all school districts develop and implement a planned, sequential physical education curriculum k-12 that adheres to national and state standards for health and physical education?
Yes 18
No 1
5. When schools face budget cuts, which of the following should NOT be cut?
band 3
art 7
PE 9
6. What would be the best choice for getting students involved with PE?
offering aerobic classes 5
having more time available for dressing in/out 1
offering physical challenges 6
giving awards to the highest participant 7
7. Do you think healthy eating habits should be taught in the physical education curriculum?
Yes 18
No 1
8. Should schools disallow substitutions for physical education with activities such as marching band or varsity sports
Yes 8
No 12
9. Obesity is at an all time high in the school systems. Do you think adding more time for physical activity into the curriculum can turn this problem around?
Yes 13
No 6
10. Do you think that by banning snack machines in the schools hall is a better way to fight obesity than adding more time for physical activities?
Yes 2
No 17
I am very pleased with the outcome of my form that I submitted in October to my classmates. My project was a questionnaire that I created asking the importance of Physical Education in the school system. I am majoring in Physical Education so this was a very important topic to me. I had a few students admit to not being active and not caring about their personal health but for the majority of students, they cared about the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
This form shows evidence that P.E is important in the school systems and that it should not be eliminated due to budget cuts in the school systems. I had 19 students fill out this form and as you can tell from the results that I posted above, most of them feel that it’s important to have P.E in the school systems as well as teaching students the importance of healthy living. I also liked the fact that the students admitted that eliminating snack machines in the school halls is not the answer to the high rate of obesity in the school system. It is the lack of physical activities that keep the students over weight.
Blog Post #13
ALEX stands for Alabama Learning Exchange and it is a website designed for teachers as well as future teachers. It is a wonderful resource center for teachers because it has lesson plans designed for every subject, grade, and level. The website follows the guidelines outlined by the Alabama Educators Code of Ethics so all lesson plans are evaluated and ready to use. Alex also has web links that teachers can follow to better help them put together their lesson plans and to further research anything that they may want in a reliable way. It also has a link that teachers can sign into so that they can make their own lesson plans with the information that is available from their website.
I love this website because it gives lesson plans that I know that I can trust. There are hundreds of websites available that gives teachers pre-designed lessons but none of them follow the Alabama Educators Code of Ethics like the Alex site does. I wouldn’t change a thing about this website because all the information on it is designed to help teachers. Alex is a trusted website that I will use when I become a teacher and I will recommend it to any if my colleagues.
I love this website because it gives lesson plans that I know that I can trust. There are hundreds of websites available that gives teachers pre-designed lessons but none of them follow the Alabama Educators Code of Ethics like the Alex site does. I wouldn’t change a thing about this website because all the information on it is designed to help teachers. Alex is a trusted website that I will use when I become a teacher and I will recommend it to any if my colleagues.
C4T #3
We Still Use Slates
The teacher that I have been reading about is John Spencer. His blog that I first read was titled “We Still Use Slates”. It is about taking technology out of the classroom for a minute and using good old slate. The students in his class were confused because they didn’t understand his reasoning for this. I, on the other hand, understand his reason for this completely. Technology is great and in a lot of ways students can’t go without using it, but sometimes students and even teachers need to learn from the standard way. Technology is wonderful but when it’s taken away, can the student still learn without?
Taking technology away every now and then is a good idea. I believe this is very important because students need to learn to not rely on it the way they do. Once taken away, can the students learn properly? Can the teacher teach properly? Technology is a blessing and it is used to help us, not hinder our learning ability. Taking it away helps everyone to think for themselves and to dig deep for the answers without finding them with the touch of a button.
How Will People See Us?
This blog left me puzzled even days after I read it. A student asked his teacher what our descendants would think of us if all they seen were our picture. This question can leave you with a million answers because it would all depend on the picture. The question here is “what would our descendants think of us if all they seen were a picture of us at school?” The picture that was taken of this class seemed like the students were very serious and not smiling much. This made them wonder if their descendants would think that they didn’t have fun in school and didn’t laugh much. I guess the answer would be left up to the person who was viewing the picture in the future.
This blog had me questioning myself when it can to my personal experience. If someone walked into my college class and snapped a picture of everyone, the picture would expose a sad truth. Our future descendants would think that were being tortured in class because there probably wouldn’t be smile on anyone’s face. Blank stares would fill the picture and there would be a power-point presentation on the board. This is caused when technology has gone bad. Students are memorizing the slides, spitting the answers out for the test, and then erasing them from their memory completely. It’s like an etch-a-sketch effect but with people. Technology has become a crutch for teachers and we need to remember what it is like to really teach. Human interactions and hands on experiences should be first taught because that is what makes education interesting. If some things would change, more pictures might have smiles on them instead of blank or serious stares.
The teacher that I have been reading about is John Spencer. His blog that I first read was titled “We Still Use Slates”. It is about taking technology out of the classroom for a minute and using good old slate. The students in his class were confused because they didn’t understand his reasoning for this. I, on the other hand, understand his reason for this completely. Technology is great and in a lot of ways students can’t go without using it, but sometimes students and even teachers need to learn from the standard way. Technology is wonderful but when it’s taken away, can the student still learn without?
Taking technology away every now and then is a good idea. I believe this is very important because students need to learn to not rely on it the way they do. Once taken away, can the students learn properly? Can the teacher teach properly? Technology is a blessing and it is used to help us, not hinder our learning ability. Taking it away helps everyone to think for themselves and to dig deep for the answers without finding them with the touch of a button.
How Will People See Us?
This blog left me puzzled even days after I read it. A student asked his teacher what our descendants would think of us if all they seen were our picture. This question can leave you with a million answers because it would all depend on the picture. The question here is “what would our descendants think of us if all they seen were a picture of us at school?” The picture that was taken of this class seemed like the students were very serious and not smiling much. This made them wonder if their descendants would think that they didn’t have fun in school and didn’t laugh much. I guess the answer would be left up to the person who was viewing the picture in the future.
This blog had me questioning myself when it can to my personal experience. If someone walked into my college class and snapped a picture of everyone, the picture would expose a sad truth. Our future descendants would think that were being tortured in class because there probably wouldn’t be smile on anyone’s face. Blank stares would fill the picture and there would be a power-point presentation on the board. This is caused when technology has gone bad. Students are memorizing the slides, spitting the answers out for the test, and then erasing them from their memory completely. It’s like an etch-a-sketch effect but with people. Technology has become a crutch for teachers and we need to remember what it is like to really teach. Human interactions and hands on experiences should be first taught because that is what makes education interesting. If some things would change, more pictures might have smiles on them instead of blank or serious stares.
Blog Post #12
EDM 310 is a class that is made for future teachers to learn more about technology in the classroom. The problem is, some teachers and future teachers are computer illiterate so this makes teaching new technology to the students impossible. If the teacher doesn’t understand it, the students certainly will not so there has to be a computer 101 class to better acquaint the teachers with their systems. For this blog assignment, we will do a basic overview of a computer so the rest of the class will flow more easily.
•Start by using Microsoft word, type a simple sentence (anything you want) and save it as“blog assignment 1”.
•Upload a picture (of anything you want) and save it as “Blog pic #1”
•Send an email from your gmail account with an attachment labeled “practice email”
•Start by using Microsoft word, type a simple sentence (anything you want) and save it as“blog assignment 1”.
•Upload a picture (of anything you want) and save it as “Blog pic #1”
•Send an email from your gmail account with an attachment labeled “practice email”
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
C4K October Summary
The first student that I left a comment for in October is a new student! His name is Tihi and he is in the second grade. I do not know much about him because he is just now getting use to the computer and hasn’t posted a lot of information about himself. I left him a comment telling him who I am that I hope he has a wonderful school year.
My second student is named Indy and she is in the sixth grade. She loves music and she plays the flute and piccolo as well as being in two bands. Another hobby of hers is playing sports and her favorites are softball, netball, tennis, and gymnastics. She is a very interesting student because she loves everything about school and her hobbies. I told her that I have really enjoyed reading all about her and that I hoped she has a wonderful school year.
My third student is named Eli and he is a seventh grader who attends school in Australia. I really enjoyed reading his blog because of the cultural differences in his blog versus mine. He seems to be having a wonderful year at school and his class seems to be doing a lot of fun activities. His blog was well put together and I told him that I liked seeing his page and that I wish him a very well school year.
My fourth student that I left a comment for is in the sixth grade. His name is Josh and he attends school in Iowa. He has to blog in class just like we do. I liked his page because he seemed like a really funny student. His posts were creative and I think that he writes well. I wished him luck in school and I told him that his post were funny.
My fifth student is in the second grade and her name is Sophie. She attends school at Leopold Primary School in Australia. Her blog was very well put together and I was very impressed by this. I must say that her blog is much better than mine! I had a hard time believing that she is only in the second grade because her blog looked amazing. I can tell that at her school, they really teach technology in the classroom. Sophie likes to travel so I commented on her ‘Holidays’ blog. She has been all over the world but her favorite place is Fiji. Her pictures were very cute and I enjoyed reading about all the places that she has been.
My second student is named Indy and she is in the sixth grade. She loves music and she plays the flute and piccolo as well as being in two bands. Another hobby of hers is playing sports and her favorites are softball, netball, tennis, and gymnastics. She is a very interesting student because she loves everything about school and her hobbies. I told her that I have really enjoyed reading all about her and that I hoped she has a wonderful school year.
My third student is named Eli and he is a seventh grader who attends school in Australia. I really enjoyed reading his blog because of the cultural differences in his blog versus mine. He seems to be having a wonderful year at school and his class seems to be doing a lot of fun activities. His blog was well put together and I told him that I liked seeing his page and that I wish him a very well school year.
My fourth student that I left a comment for is in the sixth grade. His name is Josh and he attends school in Iowa. He has to blog in class just like we do. I liked his page because he seemed like a really funny student. His posts were creative and I think that he writes well. I wished him luck in school and I told him that his post were funny.
My fifth student is in the second grade and her name is Sophie. She attends school at Leopold Primary School in Australia. Her blog was very well put together and I was very impressed by this. I must say that her blog is much better than mine! I had a hard time believing that she is only in the second grade because her blog looked amazing. I can tell that at her school, they really teach technology in the classroom. Sophie likes to travel so I commented on her ‘Holidays’ blog. She has been all over the world but her favorite place is Fiji. Her pictures were very cute and I enjoyed reading about all the places that she has been.
Additional Blog Assignment #3
Sir Ken Robinson: Changing Educational Paradigms
This is video was very well put together. By this, I mean that the video covered his issues with education on a level that everyone can understand. It was simple but it had very key point to his idea of changing the educational paradigm. His main point that I believe he is trying to make here is that education cannot go on the way it has been. It has to be diverse because not all kids are facing the same economic and cultural values on the same level. I do agree with this idea of changing education because it is not a one size fits all subject. I would like to think that all children have an equal opportunity to an education but they do not. As far as the video goes in general, I liked it because like I said before, it was put together in a way that everyone could understand it. We were asked what part of the film would we be in if it was ours and I have decided that I would not be in it at all. I do not like putting together videos so this doesn’t pertain to me.
This is video was very well put together. By this, I mean that the video covered his issues with education on a level that everyone can understand. It was simple but it had very key point to his idea of changing the educational paradigm. His main point that I believe he is trying to make here is that education cannot go on the way it has been. It has to be diverse because not all kids are facing the same economic and cultural values on the same level. I do agree with this idea of changing education because it is not a one size fits all subject. I would like to think that all children have an equal opportunity to an education but they do not. As far as the video goes in general, I liked it because like I said before, it was put together in a way that everyone could understand it. We were asked what part of the film would we be in if it was ours and I have decided that I would not be in it at all. I do not like putting together videos so this doesn’t pertain to me.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Blog Post #11
Ms. Cassidy via Skype
Ms. Cassidy is a first grade teacher in Canada. She did a skype interview with Dr. Strange in February of 2010. This interview is about how she became so involved with technology and the importance f it to her. She has been involved with technology for about 10 years now. It started when she received computers for her classroom which was full of 6 year olds. The computers were great, but you couldn’t add anything to them. She started playing around with them and that’s how she became so involved with technology. She has used things like blogging and twitter in her career to help her succeed. Her PLN is something that she builds on everyday and she uses it to connect her with others that will help her further her knowledge in the technology world. I admire her approach to this situation because it was done all by using the technology that was given to her. She used the technology to help her further her knowledge of it so that she can better teach it to the students. I learned a lot from watching this interview because it made me feel like you can overcome barriers with technology just by doing your own research.
Ms. Cassidy is a first grade teacher in Canada. She did a skype interview with Dr. Strange in February of 2010. This interview is about how she became so involved with technology and the importance f it to her. She has been involved with technology for about 10 years now. It started when she received computers for her classroom which was full of 6 year olds. The computers were great, but you couldn’t add anything to them. She started playing around with them and that’s how she became so involved with technology. She has used things like blogging and twitter in her career to help her succeed. Her PLN is something that she builds on everyday and she uses it to connect her with others that will help her further her knowledge in the technology world. I admire her approach to this situation because it was done all by using the technology that was given to her. She used the technology to help her further her knowledge of it so that she can better teach it to the students. I learned a lot from watching this interview because it made me feel like you can overcome barriers with technology just by doing your own research.
Blog Post #10
An Open Letter to Educators
Morgan Bayda is a teacher that received her degree in Canada. She travels all over the world to help other people out in any way that she can. I had to read several of her post for my comment for teacher assignments and I must say that she has been one of my favorites. She has posted pictures of all the places that she has traveled to and with them, she has written summaries about her experiences in those places. I admire her for all the traveling she has gotten to do and for all the help that she has given to people all over the world. I read her blog all the time and there is always something interesting on it. For this assignment, we were supposed to read her blog about Dan Brown’s video. Dan Brown is angry and he wants education to change. Morgan understands where he is coming from but she doesn’t agree with his decision to drop out of school. I also agree with Morgan because Dan has thrown away his future all because he is mad.
Don’t Let Them Take Home Pencils
The problem in this story is the same problem that many teachers face every day. It seems as if people are trying to just band-aid a problem rather than finding a solution to it. The teachers didn’t want the students to bring home pencils because of the low test scores on the standardized test. They believe the pencils are to blame so now the students can’t take home pencils. Instead of taking away the pencils, why not find a way to make the pencils helpful to the students? The cycle will just continue until someone stands up and tries to help the students out.
Two Questions that can Change Your Life
1.What’s my sentence? 2. Was I better today than yesterday?
These are two questions that the video asks its viewers to think about. This video is a type of self-help post to get others to become better people. I get its point, I just didn’t like it. I felt like it was way too short to get any real message across. I am forced to answer “what’s my sentence” so here it goes….
“I am a full time wife, daughter, sister, grand-daughter, and friend who loves life”
Morgan Bayda is a teacher that received her degree in Canada. She travels all over the world to help other people out in any way that she can. I had to read several of her post for my comment for teacher assignments and I must say that she has been one of my favorites. She has posted pictures of all the places that she has traveled to and with them, she has written summaries about her experiences in those places. I admire her for all the traveling she has gotten to do and for all the help that she has given to people all over the world. I read her blog all the time and there is always something interesting on it. For this assignment, we were supposed to read her blog about Dan Brown’s video. Dan Brown is angry and he wants education to change. Morgan understands where he is coming from but she doesn’t agree with his decision to drop out of school. I also agree with Morgan because Dan has thrown away his future all because he is mad.
Don’t Let Them Take Home Pencils
The problem in this story is the same problem that many teachers face every day. It seems as if people are trying to just band-aid a problem rather than finding a solution to it. The teachers didn’t want the students to bring home pencils because of the low test scores on the standardized test. They believe the pencils are to blame so now the students can’t take home pencils. Instead of taking away the pencils, why not find a way to make the pencils helpful to the students? The cycle will just continue until someone stands up and tries to help the students out.
Two Questions that can Change Your Life
1.What’s my sentence? 2. Was I better today than yesterday?
These are two questions that the video asks its viewers to think about. This video is a type of self-help post to get others to become better people. I get its point, I just didn’t like it. I felt like it was way too short to get any real message across. I am forced to answer “what’s my sentence” so here it goes….
“I am a full time wife, daughter, sister, grand-daughter, and friend who loves life”
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