C4T # 4 April

I left a comment on Mr. McLaughlin blog post, Switching off the Interactive White Board for good. This post was about the Interactive White Board, what we refer to as the SMARTBoard. Mr. McLaughlin gave his opinion on the IWB, he said "IWB's have had their day. I personally can't see any future for them in classrooms and the sooner schools stop buying them the sooner the money can be spent on better educationally interactive tools."

Hi Mr. McLaughlin, My name is Amanda Warner. I am a student at the University of South Alabama, majoring in elementary education and currently a student in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. I found this post to be quite interesting. Recently, in my EDM 310 class we were assigned to do a project using these boards. Although for our project we only had to show that we know how to use the basic tools. Within the next few weeks we have another project coming up using these boards again, but we have to teach an actual lesson this time. I am looking forward to this project because I think these boards are great, though I still have a lot to learn about them. I actually really enjoy using these boards and think they are very neat. However, I do agree that these boards have been around for a while and most teachers don't use them the way they should be used. For all I know so far, these boards are amazing tools for an educator and student to use and be engaged with. I also agree that newer and better things have come out and will continue to before my teaching days even begin. Technology is amazing and we learn more and more about it daily but it's truly hard for me to keep up with all the great devices out there which can be used to educate and learn.

You can check out his Blog at Steps in Teaching and Learning.

Blog Post #13

Engage in an E-Media Fast 

For this assignment I will be reflecting on how I did with engaging in an e-media fasting process, meaning absolutely no use of any form of technology for 24 hours. I will be honest and say that this was a very difficult task that I was unable to accomplish. Though, I could go without watching the television any day, but it's just so hard for me to not use my iPhone and my Mac computer on a daily basis. E-media fasting is definitely not for me! I decided to wait until the weekend to start my e-media fasting since I'm a full-time student taking a few hybrid classes, which means I'm required to use the internet. I started my e-media fasting Friday night and planned to continue until Sunday morning (today). I was able to stay away from the television and my mac computer for a full 24 hours, but unfortunately I couldn't stay away from my iPhone. I do not have a landline at my house so the only way for me to communicate is to use my iPhone. I literally use my iPhone for so many different things: of course phone calls and texting, the internet, e-mailing, games, an alarm clock, etc. I'm the type of person that has my iPhone with me (mostly directly in my hand) at all times. I'd be so lost without my iPhone!! Technology is so important and very helpful in my everyday life.
As teachers we have to find ways to keep our students engaged in the classroom at all times. I personally think that technology is a wonderful way to excel education for students. So, let's talk about technology being in my future classroom and how my students will be engaged with different forms of technology. I know that I talked about my iPhone and how it's my main form of technology used, but it's not a useful tool for learning in the classroom. Schools do not allow students to have their cell phones in use during school hours. Though there is plenty other devices to use; such as computers, iPads, SMARTBoard's, and others which students may use to be interactive while learning.

PLN-Final Progress Report

Since my first PLN, I have added more websites to my PLN and discovered new things about webmixes. Take a look!!

Project #15 SmartBoard Instruction Part 2

Progress Report on Final Project

For the final project, my group members; Emily Nadeau, Keeley Bryan, Travis Snyder, and I call ourselves Scholars United. We are a group of people who are extremely passionate about learning and educating. As a group, we have been working on creating a video to illustrate the benefits of using various types of technologies in the classroom. Our video will have a narrator who will discuss our goal. Each group member will pick a specific topic which he or she will teach in the future, and will determine which technologies will be the best enhancement for their lesson plan. As of now, each group member of Scholars United has picked the subject they wish to address and the technologies which will be used. This project is centered around the idea of motivating educators to incorporate technology in their classrooms, and to make known the connection between technology and student comprehension. We have used various ways to communicate with one another for this project, such as; Class time, E-mails, text messages, Google Docs, and Google Hangout. I look forward to completing this project with such a great group of people!!

Blog Post #12

I'm very passionate about teaching and I think the technologies we use are wonderful. I find myself thinking about the children who don't have access to technology, how do they learn? For this blog post assignment we are asked to create an assignment that we think Dr. Strange should have assigned. I found this organization called, Building Tomorrow.

Their Mission: We engage students in service-learning, fundraising, awareness and design activities to generate support for the construction of primary-level academies in sub-Saharan Africa. We are currently building in Uganda where our partner communities match the students’ support by donating land for each academy and volunteering approximately 20,000 hours of self-labor to construct it. What a great organization to contribute to, this got my brain really turning. We need to help bring both technology and schools to other students around the world, for they can also build a better feature. Building Tomorrow doesn't give hand-outs. They partner with communities in Uganda and make an investment in them. Ultimately, they provide them with the tools they need to help themselves and then take a backseat.

When we become teacher's I really hope that we all remember this organization. We need to raise awareness to our students about what other children around the world don't have.
A ten-room academy for 325 kids (complete with seven classrooms, an office, a library, toilets, & a soccer field) costs approximately $60,000. Exactly how you raise it, and how quickly you raise it is up to you. How amazing would it be for us teachers to build a school for others who want to learn?

What I would really like to do is help contribute to build a school. On their website they have where you can buy a brick, 1 brick is only $1. If each student in all EDM310 sold 5 bricks which would be $5 than we would be donating $560 that's only one semester not including other teachers and if people sold more. How amazing would it be if the College of Education raised enough money to build a school for the students in Uganda.

My instructions for you is to find an organization that gives back to education and describe how others can help. We focus so much on our needs and forget about helping others, and how someone else will do it. We all need to step up and contribute to giving others the ability to learn. Sometimes people need resources to help, lets find organization or even create one to give back. Inspiring and helping others is what I love to do, and that's why I choose to become a teacher.

This is a video to inspire you.

C4K Summary for April

We have been doing a world blog post challenge for the past three weeks. The student I was assigned to follow and blog to is referred as 18mcse. He seems to be a great student and enjoys blogging. He tends to blog about a variety of things but enjoys it.

Here is his blog, 18mcse.

First post-April 2, 2012 : Dog 

On April 2, he blogged about a dog that he wishes he had. He informs us that he has one dog, though he used to have two but one passed away. He posted a picture of the dog and wonders what breed it is.

Here is the actual comment I left him.
Hey!
It looks like this dog is a mixed breed, maybe lab/hound or something like that. You would have to do some research to find out exactly what breed this specific dog is. It sure is cute though!!
What kind of dog do you have and what is its name? I have one dog, her name is Sadie and she is a toy poodle.
Thanks for posting! I look forward to reading more posts in the future.
-Amanda Warner


Second post-April 11, 2012 : Forest Fires

On April 11, He posted about a very serious and dangerous topic, forest fires. He did a great job explaining what a forest fire is, reasons they are caused, and how they can be prevented.

Here is the actual comment I left him.
Hey there!!
I think this is a great topic to discuss. Forest fires are very dangerous and cause many problems to nature. You did a great job explaining what a forest fire is and the ways which they are caused. As soon as I read this post I remembered that a few years back my family and I were on our way home from a our beach house in Orange Beach, AL and we saw a forest fire in action at the local park. That was the first and only forest fire I have seen to this day. Have you ever actually seen one?
Great picture!!

During the three week blog post challenge my student, 18mcse always commented me back on every post I commented to him. That meant something to me and I have to say that I really enjoyed keeping up with him during the past three weeks.

Now that the three week blog post challenge is over, I was assigned to one last child named Shelly. Shelly is a first grade student in Ms. Cassidy's class. The post that Shelly left was a video of herself explaining the movie she saw called, The Camp. This was Shelly's very first video to ever post and she was really excited about it.
Here is the link to the blogger where you can watch Shelly's video. Little Voices, Little Scholars

Here is the actual comment I left Shelly.
Hi Shelly!
My name is Amanda Warner, and I am a student in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama, located in Mobile, Alabama. I really enjoyed watching your first video ever, you did such a great job! You seemed to really enjoy seeing the camp. I think it is absolutely wonderful to see a student so young use technology like this. I never used technology much until I enrolled into Dr. Strange's class, and now I love it! I did my very first video just a few weeks ago as an assignment. Good luck with your future and always remember learning is fun and important! :)

-Amanda Warner

Blog Post # 11

First Graders in Ms.Cassidy's Class

After watching the video, Little Kids..Big Potential I felt a rush of excitement come over me as I thought about having my own classroom in the future. I found this video to be very amusing because it's great to see and hear the students use and talk about technology. It also made me realize the importance of technology in the classroom and for myself as a future educator learning and engaging in what technology devices have to offer in the teaching field. As an educator, I will always be sure keep an open mind and try to find different ways to incorporate technology in my very own classroom.

Ms. Cassidy's Skype Interview

This video was actually a Skype interview between Ms. Kathy Cassidy and Dr. John Strange. I found this Skype session to be very knowlegable. Dr. Strange first asked Ms. Cassidy how she got involved with technology and how long it's been. Ms. Cassidy said she started using technology about ten years ago, due to being given five computers in her classroom. The computers were Microsoft brand which had monitors, keyboards, internet access, but were unable to put any programs on them. She mentioned that if you have five of anything in a primary classroom then it's known as a center. She made the computers useful by making webpages, blogging and things like that. I wanted to summarize that specific question because I think it's important and neat to know how people are introduced and get engaged with technology. Ms. Cassidy has been an advocate for technology for ten plus years and she has and will continue to do a wonderful job at it! There are so many great technology tools out there that it's hard to choose which ones I'd like to bring in to my future classroom. As of now, I think I would definitely have blogging in my classroom and maybe a Facebook page because I think the idea of having a separate Facebook account for schools is awesome. I think having a Blog, Facebook account, or any other type of PLN will get students to interact more and be excited about learning in fun way.

Blog Post # 10

The first video I watched, Do you Teach or Do you Educate? was created by Josh Bloom, a student at EWYL Foothill College back in 2006. It seems to me that Josh may have created this video as a class assignment. When I first read the title of this video I figured that it would have many helpful tips and be very inspiring. It's obvious that Josh put a lot of time and hard work in to putting this video together, though it lacked the helpful tips and the desire to teach. I found myself confused as to the message he was trying to give. After watching this video a few times, still finding it boring and confusing, I came to the conclusion that overall it really made me think of why I want to be a teacher and be able to educate students. There are plenty of teachers throughout the country that only teach and don't educate. I chose to fulfill the career path as an educator because I want to go the extra mile and an inspiration to students by making a difference in their lives. I want to fully educate my students, and when I teach them how to do something I want to be successful in also teaching them why it should be done that way. I want my students to feel comfortable with asking any questions without feeling dumb, because no question is dumb. I am confident that I will be the teacher that students can feel comfortable around and inspire them to work hard and do the best they can. I will be an elementary teacher so I not only want to teach students their core subjects, but also confidence and belief in themselves.


Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home is a blog post written by Mr. Tom Johnson. This post was very interesting to read because it is written in a humorous quoted conversation which focuses on his reasoning for not allowing students to take pencils home with them. He states that with students taking pencils home standardized test scores will be lowered. He goes on to explain that pencils are meant for learning, but if students take them home parents can learn too, in this low income community. This post is a prime example that teachers have different methods of teaching, which is good. If every teacher is this country taught the exact same way then learning would be so boring. Although, Mr. Johnson doesn't approve of students taking pencils and paper home, he does believe students should still know how and be able to use a pencil and paper to do assignments. I found this post to be as a lesson because as educators we must never be close minded to different ways and methods of learning. I think Johnson's title of this blog post is to make educators think in a different way!

SMARTboard Project # 14

Emily Nadeau and I demonstrate simple tips on how to use some of the basic tools on the SMARTboard.

Blog Post # 9

Joe McClung's blog, At the Teacher's Desk, is a great blog full of many ideas for previous and future educators.

The first blog post I read, What I've Learned This Year 09, Mr. McClung shares his experience of what all he learned from his first year of teaching. At the top of this specific blog, there is an image of a message from Mr. McClung which reads, "An important decision I made this year is to stay positive." I think that's absolutely great and I am a believer in writing yourself simple messages of encouragement. I like the way Mr. McClung formatted his blog and the fact that he titled each topic which he reflected on. Every topic that Mr. McClung reflected on gave great insight but the two that caught my attention the most are: Be Flexible and Communicate. In Be Flexible, he talks about the perfect lesson and how we as instructors and future instructors strive to plan "perfect" lessons. Though, he says, "NO LESSON IS EVER PERFECT. THE LESSON YOU TEACH AND THE ONE YOU PLAN ARE ALWAYS INDIFFERENT." I agree. In Communicate, he starts by saying, "Communication is the best medicine," I couldn't agree more and I believe that applies for any situation in general. He later says, "Communicating is the best way to resolve any issue in the workplace," I think he's exactly right! With the topics he has provided he's given great tips on how to stay positive in situations and to always remember to do the best you can and make the best out of situations while being an educator.

The second blog post I read, What I Learned This Year 09-10, Mr. McClung also has titled each topic he reflected on. He starts this post with writing about being able to adapt, as teachers we will have to adapt the school we will teach at, the grades we will teach, the subjects we will teach, and so on. He then goes on to talk about many other topics, but one that really stood out for me is: Don't Be A Control Freak. He says that, "it is okay to be in control, but some people can go over board with the concept of control," I agree with that point. I can relate to this topic because I can honestly say that to an extent I am a control freak about things. I am very organized and want some things a certain way or I will find myself unsatisfied. Teachers have lots of responsibility and can tend to take complete control in the classroom but like Mr. McClung says, "While control is a good thing, there is such thing as too much of it. I feel as teachers we need to teach our students how to perform tasks in the classroom rather than depend on us to do it for them. This requires them to be responsible and take ownership for the classroom experience." I agree 100% with this.
I really enjoyed reading these blogs by Mr. Joe McClung, because he explained his experiences in an interesting way and gave great tips. I could see myself creating a blog once I start teaching to keep people updated on my experience and the things that may occur in my classroom. Thanks Joe and great idea!! :)

C4T Summary for March

For my March C4T's I was assigned to Liz B. Davis's blog.

For my first CAT, "From Dream to Reality- Making Things Happen," I read Ms. Davis's post about a lifelong dream of her's that finally came true. She posts about her trip to Seattle and her experience at the EdcampIS Unconference for Independent School Educators and the National Association of Independent Schools Annual Conference.

Here is the actual comment I left her..

I am an elementary education major at the University of South Alabama and I am currently a student in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. I really enjoyed reading your post about your trip to Seattle and your experience at the edcampIS unconference for independent school educators following the National Association of Independent Schools Annual Conference. I think it is absolutely wonderful that you made your dream become reality!
You mentioned that you shared it on your PLN. Well one of my latest assignments for Dr. Strange's class was to create a PLN, I created mine by using Symbaloo. I think PLN's are great and I look forward to updating mine and using it throughout my future.
Anyway, Thanks for posting your story and I am happy for you for taking action and letting your ideas about the power of the network come true.

- Amanda

For my second C4T,"Arguments for the iPad in Education," Ms. Davis briefly explains what a 1:1 program is and then follows by giving her thoughts of the possibility of her school becoming an 1:1 iPad school.

Here is the actual comment I left...

Hi Ms. Davis,

I really enjoyed reading this post! I have never heard of 1:1 programs, but you gave an easy understanding of what it is. You shared many great thoughts on educational technology. I think it is such a cool idea to have a 1:1 program using iPad's.
I don't have an iPad but many of my friends and family members do and everyone I know that has one loves it because they are so adaptable and useful in multiple ways. People with iPad's continue to learn things from this amazing tool daily. I hope to purchase one soon!
Under Why the iPad? you said, "The portability and tablet format allow the iPad to double as an e-reader for textbooks. This will lighten student backpacks and lower their textbook costs," as a current college student I couldn't agree more.

Thanks for your post and good luck to you!

-Amanda Warner