Comments for Teachers

 

 

http://kimcofino.com/blog/
This week I was assigned to a woman named Kim Cofino. From reading her blog, she has an incredible story to tell! The first time her and her husband had to just get up and leave their home was during the protests in Bangkok, Thailand. They were living in the middle of the protest area. Now, she and her husband have had to move again! They had to leave their home which was in Yokohoma, Japan and move to Singapore because of the recent earthquake. In her blog she shows no bitterness. She sees their situation as a blessing that they are alive and well! I think it would be hard for me to have the same attitude! Her story was a brutal wake up call to me. My life is not that bad! I need to realize what I have been blessed with. Mrs. Cofino is such an inspiration! One part of her blog that I really enjoyed was the way technology helped save her life during the earthquake. Because the phone lines were down, she used gmail to contact her husband at work. Twitter and the internet were here sources to the news. She used skype to contact with friends and family to let them know they were ok. Her story is incredible and if you haven't read it, you need to! This is a real life story of how technology truly was a key part in her experience.

Blog Assignment 10

Morgan Bayda posted this video and I learned some awesome things watching it!
http://morgbayda.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/an-open-letter-to-educators/

This video that was posted on Morgan Bayda's wall was about how education has changed and is continuing to change so much! Education used to be completely institutionalized. If you wanted to be "educated" you went to college. If you couldn't pay for it, then you simply weren't educated! You missed out because you couldn't afford it! Universities was the main source of all information and information was limited to the ones who attended college. The internet has completely changed this! Education is now free! Not only speaking in monetary terms, but is also liberated! Students are wasting their time and money in classrooms in which they only learn facts. They are tested on these facts and how many of them they can actually memorize. This isn't learning! Students are also wasting money on books they never even open because all that they need to know can be found online! This is such a good video of how technology is changing our world for the better! It's also cheaper this way! This video was very helpful and simply explained the way things are evolving.


This post by Mr. Spencer was a very humorous way of describing the way students use the tools we give them.
http://pencilintegration.blogspot.com/2010/07/dont-let-them-take-pencils-home.html?showComment=1301445176471#c244689617062055029

This was a very entertaining post. Instead of finding a solution to the problem, we are all too often focused on the actual problem. This gets us nowhere! We can only guide them as much as possible and hope that they use the tools we give them in the most beneficial way. However, if they want to play hangman, that's not in our control! Kids are constantly learning and, believe it or not, kids can teach themselves a thing or two! The same goes with computers and students. We cannot go home with the students and make sure they don't play any online games or visit any "uneducational" websites but we can't keep them from such a useful tool just because of our fears! This was such a lesson to me as a future educator! I hope I keep this lesson in mind as I start my own classroom.

Skype Interview

This is an interview with Jarrod Robinson. He teaches physical education and outdoor education in Australia.

Comments For Kids

The first student's blog that I visited belonged to Reina. She is in year 8 at Pt. England School in Auckland, NZ. She is in Mr. Mike Harris's Room 19. She loves her family and it takes precedence in her life. She doesn't get to see her extended family much but she loves when they visit!

The second blog that I visited was a class from Tauranga, NZ. I read their fifth post. I love this post. It was describing what makes a great post. It was mainly about making sure that a teacher proofreads a post before the student publishes it. This post was heavily focused on the safety of the students. This is priority. They made it clear about how important it is to keep things like your last name and number private

Blog Assignment 9

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

http://attheteachersdesk.blogspot.com/2009/05/what-i-learned-this-year.html

I really enjoyed Mr. McClung's post. He raised some very important points and has seemed to learn so much in just one year of teaching. I loved the part when he was talking about lesson plans not going your way all the time. I can only imagine that things would not always go as planned during the school day. A great teacher is not one that makes sure that everything goes exactly as planned, but is there to improvise and roll with the changes in their plans. Mr. McClung seems to really be there for his students. I love that he realizes that they are just kids and you can't expect them to absolutely perfect. As educators, we are there to help the students learn. If something is not understood by a child, that is our job to step in and do all we can for our students! I completely agree with the fact that we should be good listeners. So many children at school don't have anyone who listens to them at home. It is vital for me to be there for my students! We never know what a difference we are making in a child's life just by being there for them. Lastly, I loved his part about technology. He said it very well the way he explained that it may not come naturally to understand all there is to know about computers, etc. but it is important for us to at least try! Technology is steadily improving and we have no option but to at least give it a shot! I really enjoyed reading his post!

Blog Assignment 8

http://techliterateteacher.blogspot.com/2009/07/dr-richard-e-miller-discusses-writing.html
  In these videos by Richard Miller: This Is How We Dream, Dr. Miller made some great points! These videos emphasized the importance of using the resources we have available to us. Our possibilities truly are limitless!
     We now can communicate instantly, globally. Our workspace is the desktop on our computers. We compose not only text, but also images, film, and sound. Now, even newspapers have live footage online. We are constantly confronting new kinds of material! The only restrictions we have are the ones we place on ourselves! This should be a wake up call to all of us! Especially those who think they just simply aren't capable of learning all of this new technology!
     The beginning of this class, I thought I was going to struggle in this class. This class does require a lot of dedication, but I am capable of learning and doing these things! This video is a great example of a "how to" guide. I may not be completely capable to write with multimedia, but I'm working on it! I think that the students that I have in my classroom in the next few years will absolutely be capable of writing with multimedia! Students these days know so much about the current technology. This is a great motivator for me to continue learning so that I am able to not only keep up with technology, but to also be able to teach my students.

The Chipper Series and EDM 310 for Dummies
http://gallery.me.com/jstrange#101120
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqhMRj-Ne38&feature=player_embedded
     These videos were so funny! While it was hard to take them seriously, they both had great messages! I loved that The Chipper Series was a taste of what procrastination and laziness can lead to! Chipper ended up back in school when she could have just done it right the first time! In EDM 310 for Dummies, it was a portrayal of how most kids feel when they first sign up for EDM. It's overwhelming! I had to take one thing at at a time and go from there! The tutorials are so helpful and so are my classmates!
     If I were to create or help create a video, I think I would like for it to be similar to these videos. A tutorial or a way to explain something in an easier way. Exaggerating things is one way to get students to realize that things aren't that bad and everyone else is feeling the same way!

Learn to Change, Change to Learn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHiby3m_RyM&feature=player_embedded%23!
Times are changing! We can't just refuse to accept these changes! This video was very helpful and raised many great points!! Technology is constantly improving and we will have to make appropriate adjustments to these improvements!

The Secret Powers of Time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3oIiH7BLmg&feature=channel
Drive: The Surprising Truths About What Motivate Us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc&feature=channel
These videos were about perception. How we as humans are all very different. The way we look at situations and scenarios differ from person to person. We are either future oriented people, past oriented people, or present Hedonistic people. Your culture and time zone determines what motivates you because of the different values in different parts of our country and world. The more future oriented you are, the more likely you are to resist temptation! Don't let students sit and listen to a lecture for too long, engage them! Students need to be kept involved in the lesson in order to keep their attention and actually teach them something! Interaction is a huge part in a successful classroom! Let your students be creative! There were some awesome points in these videos that I hope to apply to my students!

SmartBoard Presentation

     This was a very fun project! I loved learning more about SmartBoard. I don't know if I'll ever learn all there is to know about this product, but it certainly is fun experimenting with! I also love the group that I worked with. I love group projects even more since this class. Everyone contributes to the work and one person doesn't carry the burden of doing all the work. This was also a realistic picture of being in a classroom. This is the first project that we've had an audience. It was a bit nerve racking at first but ended up being a complete blast! Since we had to teach this lesson, it was a small taste of what we, as future educators, will experience. This project was both practical and helpful!
     If I were to change anything about our presentation, I would simply practice my section of the lesson more thoroughly and be completely familiar with the information. This would calm my nerves and help me express the most important points to my students. I loved the animation and games that my group had. This was a big contributor to our presentation. Had it been an actual classroom of third graders, I believe we would've held their undivided attention the entire time.
    

Short Movie Project #11

This was a very interesting project! I didn't really understand it's point entirely, at first. Once I completed reading the story, I had an AHA! moment. This is a great way to read children's books to children who are far away. For a parent who is often away on business, for example, the parent can read a book to the child every night as if they were really there with them. There are so many good uses that video podcasts can do! I never realized their potential until I took this class! This is such an amazing tool!

Blog Assignment 7

    

     Randy Pausch's lecture on Achieving Your Childhood Dreams was absolutely incredible. He was hilarious and his lecture was so easy to watch and listen to! It was quite obvious that he loved his job and he took it very seriously. Amazing things were done by him while he was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
     Professor Pausch believed in group projects. He did not teach out of a book. The students were given a project every semester and this was their assignment for that semester. They always worked in groups and every several weeks they switched up their group members. I love this concept! The students get to know each other and learn to work with others as a team. Not only is this important for the assignment, but it is such a life lesson! I love this aspect of EDM because I have gotten to know people in this class and truly work as a team
     I also loved the fact that the students had an opportunity to choose what their projects were about. This benefits both the professor and the student. Through this method, the students can choose a subject that interests them and will enjoy the assignment more. The professor doesn't have to worry about assigning many different assignments to each group of students. Professor Pausch seemed so engaged in his students' work. It is very encouraging as a student to have a professor that cares about you and your work. I loved when Professor Pausch said that when people drive you hard, that is when they care about you. This is a sign that they want you to be better. When you are doing a bad job and no one points it out to you, that is when they have given up on you.
     Professor Pausch stresses that he always set the bar higher and higher for his students. He pushed students to do better. He believed it was a disservice to students to set the bar just anywhere. When you continually set goals for your students, they only will get better. Professor Pausch seemed to stress and practice this in his classroom. I've experienced this first hand in EDM. Many projects that I glance at, I think I'll never be able to complete it or do the required task. I attempt it anyways, and I am able to figure it out with the help of my instructors and peers. If I had never tried, I would not know how to do half of what I am capable of now.
     This video was such an encouragement to me! The fact that he was dying when he did this lecture and he was still having a great time! I want to live my life similarly! Life is short and I need to enjoy every minute of it! The three points that I want to remain in my life are to never lose the childlike wonder, help others, and continue to have fun! His whole point of his lecture was not about how to achieve your dreams, but how to live your life! I feel sure that this lecture and it's lessons will stick with me for quites sometime. What a path he left for others to follow!

PLN Project

I have started my PLN project and I love it so far! I chose to use Symbaloo. I have all of the websites that I frequently use on here. This is so helpful! Instead of having several different internet pages open, I can access everything in one place. Even though this was a required project, I am sure that I will continue using this even after this class is over. It is so useful to me! I not only have my emails and blog website, but I also have things that interest me. I have links to my favorite fitness websites, my online banking, etc. This is a very useful tool and I would recommend this to anyone! I look forward to continue adding to this.

http://www.symbaloo.com/shared/AAAACHbeAygAA42AgaqRng==