Additional Assignment 3

a.  To me, the most important thing that Sir Ken Robinson said was:  "Many brilliant people think they are not."  This just speaks volumes.  So many children (and adults) are truly brilliant and amazing people, who are capable of learning great multitudes, but they just THINK they can't.

b. I wouldn't say that I necessarily totally DISagre with Sir Ken Robinson, but I am motivated to do research on ADHD in the Eastern parts of our country.  I am interested in studying about whether or not medication is the answer and so on.  I am curious.

c.  Well, obviously we are all in college to earn a degree to make a living off of.  Sir Ken Robinson says that we aren't guaranteed jobs with degrees anymore.  I disagree.  Maybe at this point we aren't guaranteed jobs, but I believe they will come about again.  We are taught in EDM 310 about how doing things like they were done in the past (education, teaching in general, lack of technology, technology illiteracy, etc.) is no longer working; Sir Ken says the same thing.

d.  I can first earn my degree, get a JOB, be a successful educator with a purpose.  I can help my generation learn that they NEED technology, especially in the education field.  I can help raise standards- first for myself, then for my students, and my colleagues.  I can help others see how truly brilliant they are.

e.  I loved the presentation; it was SO NEAT!!  If I were to do this in a group, I would like to be the 'author' and/or the 'narrator'.   

Blog Post 10

http://morgbayda.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/an-open-letter-to-educators/


I liked this video; I know we aren't supposed to always talk about looks and sound, but I liked how Dan Brown spoke one sentence in one place in the room, but in the next breath he was in another part of the room.  It made it interesting, instead of him just sitting there talking.  He also had a nice tone, which is always helpful.  

Now on to the more important things.  I have never even considered dropping out of school.  In fact, I have often looked down on those who do choose to drop out of school.  I feel that getting an education is my only option.  Right now in America, I am not even guaranteed to collect Social Security or receive retirement benefits.  Thus why I think that I should get a degree in something that I love and pursue a career in it.  

I do halfway see where Mr. Brown is coming from.  He is fed up with the way "schooling" is affecting his education.  I understand.  But at the same time, should we really consider giving up on a goal or dream because it isn't going the way we want it to?  Maybe if lots of people were willing to take the risk, it would make more sense to me.   But as of right now, there isn't a whole lot in life that could make me quit school.  I could be getting married right now if  a degree wasn't important to me.  

My point:  Set goals and don't get deterred by the world!


http://techliterateteacher.blogspot.com/2010/03/two-questions-that-can-change-your-life.html

Once again, I liked this video and found it both useful and intriguing.  If this video was used more, it could change peoples' perspective on lots of things.  "What's my Sentence?"  My sentence is: "Think, Dream, Set Goals".   I realize that this may be cheesy; but it's what I live by.  When we think, we can have dreams for our lives.  And when we set goals, we can achieve our greatest dreams.  As you probably can already tell, I am a goal-setter.  I know what I want out of life, and I am bound and determined to get it.  

 

Skype Interview

Blog Post 9

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


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

I immensely like this post because of how real and honest it is. I really feel like this gives us, as students, an insight to what our first year of teaching will most likely be like.


Dr. McClung says to be flexible, be communicative, be reasonable, don't be afraid of technology, and listen to your students. Obviously all of these are extremely important to a teacher and to a student. Being flexible is important with children because kids will be kids! We shouldn't gripe at children and make them feel uncomfortable all because we cannot be flexible. Dr. McClung says that communication is important in the workplace, and that it is the best way to resolve problems with co-workers.

I feel like being reasonable is something that takes time and practice to learn. Being a reasonable teacher will make the education of students easier to accomplish. Dr. McClung also talks about how adults are so afraid of technology. After being in EDM 310 for a few months, I have come to agree with his statement. I myself have been some what afraid of technology in general. That isn't going to be possible in my generation any longer.

Listen to your students is probably what hit me the hardest in Dr. McClung's post. I liked how he inserted into the post where the child answers that he or she knows the teacher cares about him or her because "he listens to me". Wow! As a preschool teacher, I wonder how many of my children would say that about me! This has given me something to think about, and it's made me realize what I need to work on.

The last thing he said was to "never stop learning". I love this statement! I have always assumed that once I get my degree, that I will know everything. Oh but how quickly I have realized that is NOT the case. We will always learn something new everyday, especially in the world of educating young minds.

"Our job as teachers is to simply pick them up after they fail, dust them off, and encourage them to try again." This is my all time favorite quote from the blog post. In closing, this has been one of the more enjoyable posts I have read. I feel like I can relate to it and can make myself better from it.

Blog Post 8

EDM for Dummies

The first minute of this video is exactly how I felt the first couple of days of EDM 310. I felt so overwhelmed and even a little CRAZY- although I never actually smashed any computers! But there really isn't an excuse for not becoming familiar with the class. Everything is written out step by step for us in the instruction manual. Dr. Srange are pretty much always available. I enjoyed the video! I like the fact that it's so simple, but yet it holds so much information in the short span of it. I really like and appreciate it!

http://gallery.me.com/jstrange/101120/Chipper%20-%20Medium.m4v?disposition=download

This was a really interesting video. I like how the common ways of thinking of lots of college students was played out so easily. I don't know about others, but I get caught up in the outside world at times and end up becoming a little lazy with my school work. We make all sorts of excuses for ourselves and come up with ridiculous scenarios with how to get out of doing work. I liked the whole thing and enjoyed it. I think it would be fun and rewarding to take part in a video something like this. It's definitely something to think about!

http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2010/05/why-smartboards-are-dumb-initiative.html

I became really interested in this post when the author said: " Smartboards are an administrative cop out". Wow!! Someone who can say this openly is someone who probably very educated on the topic, and that is what made me start over from the beginning and read again. I also appreciated the fact that he slimmed his points down into two points; he cut straight to the chase.
I struggled a bit with this. I've decided that it is because I was under-informed about smart boards. I didn't realize the cons of them, only the pros. The pros are that they do look good in classrooms, and they are 'neat' gadgets. But does this neat gadget improve students' learning environment? Maybe they do, but do they improve the environment enough to pay THOUSANDS of dollars for? Not!


http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2010/01/27/tln_ferriter_whiteboards.html?tkn=Q[RFGmQux6XnMebDMl4nddRDutTae13KtmNE

The writer of this post seems to have 'beef' with smartboards because they cost so much money, but they don't promote collaborative work with students or critical thinking skills. He says that the whiteboards are neat, but they didn't make his job of teaching a required subject any easier. I don't really like that he listed that part as a reason- who said educating was easy? But, he did have another point that I liked. He wrote that if one was to ask a principal what the best classrooms looked like, he or she would say something like: " In the best classrooms, students are involved in creating knowledge together. They’re studying topics, designing experiments, collaborating with peers, and challenging one another’s preconceived notions. While the teacher is always present to guide and to facilitate, the students are empowered to discover and to grow independently.” I like this point, alot.


http://techliterateteacher.blogspot.com/2009/07/dr-richard-e-miller-discusses-writing.html
"This is How We Dream" Part 1 By Dr. Miller

He caught my attention within a minute when he started talking about how we use our laptops in place of pencil, paper, books, etc. This is so true! In the technology world, this is probably a good thing. He went on to talk about how we can learn anything we want within a few seconds and a few clicks on the internet. We can also collaborate on our computers now. We can all get together with a colleague or 2 and collaborate any kind of report using the technology today. And this is how we learn now. I really like videos that are made like this. What I mean is, the speaker is demonstrating what he is also saying.

"This is How We Dream" Part 2 By: Dr. Miller
Dr. Miller continues to talk about all of the things technology gives us, all of the opportunities are given to us from technology. We can compose music using itunes; we compose videos online. We can not only produce them, but we can go behind the scenes and see how things are done. We can then demonstrate that information anyway we want. He starts talking about how he understands that the resources we have here aren't available everywhere; but he sees it in the future.

Dr. Miller says that at the University he teaches at, he doesn't have the ability to teach this way because it has not yet been invented. He says that a "building that is united is better. The future can only be a bright one if it is realize through the shared labor of those who work in the humanities AND the sciences." Dr. Miller says that the goal is not technology in itself, but what technology has to offer.

Podcast

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Additional Assignment 2

If I am honest with myself, I will say that before watching this video I thought that teachers were absolutely necessary in order for a child to learn.  Now I feel that an educator of some sort is necessary to some extent, but Ir realize that children who are less fortunate in other countries are teaching themselves.  I do not know if children in America will be motivated enough to teach themselves, therefore, I think educators are very necessary in America.

In order for one to teach one's self, I would say that some  sort of common knowledge of the subject is required.  If one doesn't know how to do simple math, how can one teach calculus?  But I also understand and respect that children are very intelligent, and when they are motivated, they can do really amazing things.  I'm not totally ruling out that children can teach themselves.  This whole concept makes me really excited to finish school and get into the world of education, so I can better answer these questions for myself.

Internet access plays a huge role in children teaching themselves to learn, in my opinion.  One can google ANYTHING.  As long as a child has the common knowledge of what a given site is saying, I would venture to say that, yes, a child can indeed teach themselves.

In my life, motivation is a huge role while learning.  If I were not motivated to turn my work in on time in EDM 310, I would totally be failing right now.  If a 2 year old in my preschool class isn't somewhat motivated to learn the colors, they won't learn it.  That much I have seen with my own eyes.  I think it is exciting when a child or any student really wants to learn, when he or she really craves knowledge about something.  I wish I had craved like that when I was younger!

I motivate others to learn by telling them how much they can do with the information that they learn!  Just think of all the things in life one can do with KNOWLEDGE.  I am not going to sit here and say that school is a piece of cake, because it isn't, but we in America have so many opportunities to further our education. What better way to better ourselves than this?

I am motivated to learn because I wasn't born an naturally book-smart kind of girl ( as you can probably tell, hehe).  I have to work harder than the average student to know things and to retain information.  I know my capabilities, I set goals, and I go for them!  I know that I can make something of myself, and I'm doing it. 

I would venture to say that someone who isn't motivated to learn could learn.  Obviously, he or she won't learn all that they are capable of; they won't learn to their full potential, but it's possible.  Everyone has some level of intellectual ability, so yes.

My 'concern' after watching this is that one day in my lifetime, paid educators won't be necessary.  We are always learning in this class about all the technology that's available, and it's only growing!  If children can teach themselves now using technology, what will it be like in 10 years? 20? 50?

Timetoast- Malone Family

Teacher 2 Summary Posts

The first post that I commented on was a post about a reading program designed to help children read at a better quality. The post went on to explain how students in some parts of America are being taught to read as quickly as they can, ignoring punctuation and pronouncement. A fellow classmate commented that she has seen this abuse of a great reading program go on in her experience in student teaching. I am embarrassed that a teacher would think that it is more important to read QUICKLY than it is to read CORRECTLY.

The second post that I commented on was about a 2nd grade student that was coloring on her paper during class. The teacher asked her when she had time to color on her paper; the student replied that she colored on her paper while the teacher was playing on the computer. This is both sad and embarrassing! The poster of the blog went on to say that we never know who is watching us, and that only our students know how we really are in the classroom. As I shared in my comment, this post really motivated me to always be my best self in front of everyone, because we never know who is watching us when.

Blog Post 7

I am being very honest when I say that I was not looking forward to watching a 1 hour and fifteen minute video. I hope this honesty doesn't get me in trouble. After the first 2 minutes, I was engulfed into the video. I am instructed to write four paragraphs on this speech; I decided to write about four or five quotes that I find interesting and important.

The first quote that I like is "Anything is possible and that is something we should not lose sight of." With the topic of the lecture being "Achieving Your Childhood Dreams", I think this is a necessary quote to remember. Sometimes in our lives, I think that we write certain dreams off because we don't think of them as reachable. For example, I know of a young woman who has a great talent of singing, but she doesn't try to go after her dream of singing professionally because she doesn't think she will make it. She could be right, but she could also be wrong. We will never know what we are capable of if we don't try to achieve event he simplest of dreams.

Another quote that I thought was important is "Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things." I think this can mean something different to different people. But what it means to me is that not everything is simple and easy. There are always going to be brick walls in our paths that slow us down. But those brick walls prove to us how badly we want things by stopping us and challenging us to break through them. I think once we grasp this idea and the one I mentioned earlier, we will then be able to blast through the brick walls in our paths and better ourselves.

"Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted" is mentioned about half way through the lecture. We all need experience. Without it, it's hard to get even the simplest of jobs. However, experience often comes from a 'failure' of some sort. Those failures and short-comings is what teaches us. Through those experiences, we can learn what to do better next time, or how to change our ways of doing certain things.

The last quote that I thought was appealing to the topic is "Most of what we learn, we learn indirectly." I learn something everyday, without even trying to learn. Today I learned what a safety is in football. Last week I learned how to do a probability math problem in math class. But most of what we learn comes from something we weren't even concentrating on. This happens especially in the lives of children.

I respect this lecture video, and it being 1 hour and 15 minutes long didn't matter in the slightest.

Summary Kids Post 1 and 2

Serenity is the child I was assigned to learn about.  Serenity's first post was an assignment she had been given.  She was telling about a specific rock; she did an amazing job.  As I told her, I honestly got educated in just 1 paragraph by a young student; amazing!

The second post I commented on she told a little about herself.  She shared that she comes from a large family and that she isn't good at math.  I shared with her that I come from a small family- compared to hers.  I also shared that I am not good at math either, which is an understatement.

I enjoyed reading Serenity's posts. I think it's great that blog posts are being assigned starting at a younger age.

Blog post 6

Wendy Drexler: The Networked Student


Wow!!  First off, I really liked the way the video was set up.  What I mean is the way the camera was focused on a white surface, and all that was done was someone was moving the pictures back and forth to demonstrate what the narrator was saying.  Something simple turned into something so wonderful.


What I personally got out of the video is the realization that students use so many other resources to do assignments, write papers, create blogs, and so on.  A student could simply google the information to learn how to do almost anything.  (Actually, I would venture to say that a student  could google the information to learn how to do ANY and EVERYTHING.)  So, why DOES a networked student need a teacher?

When I first thought of this question, I thought to myself; "Oh no, a networked student doesn't need a teacher".  But he or she does need a teacher!  Dr. Strange likes us to use the word "educators" instead of "teachers" and now I see why.  Educators are there for guidance, learning, discernment between good and bad information, and to help with communication.  I am well on my way to being an educator to a generation of amazing and very intelligent children.  It's exciting!






Once again, I am amazed that a 7th grader has done all of this!  When I was in 7th grade (which wasn't THAT long ago), I didn't know how to do ANY of this.  I am almost embarrassed that I am a junior in college and I just now heard of google docs, and this student who is much younger than I has been using  google docs.  Wow.

This is great, though.  She said at the end that she doesn't use paper or a pencil hardly ever.  I really think that this is the direction that our education in schools is going.  We all better get ready for the ride!




I actually liked this video, even though it was long.  I was interested because he compared classrooms to American Idol auditions.. literally.  It saddened me.  It showed how much excitement goes into bad singing, and how NO excitement goes into learning.  He talked about how the classroom is totally disengaged and what we can do to change it. 

He then started talking about the "MTV generation". He described that generation as having short attention spans and being materialistic.  Are all students described as this?

It really got interesting when he started talking about youtube.  The statistics alone on youtube are mouth dropping.  He insists that youtube isn't make up of only youngsters, there are oldies on youtube, too.. And then he played the "Charlie bit my finger" video, which is hilarious.  He really proved his point. 

All in all, I always enjoy his videos. He is an extremely intelligent man, and I know that his students learn so much from him.  He always speaks very well, and I hope that other people take the time to listen to him. 

Blog Post 5

"The Benefits of Podcasts in the Classroom" by Doug Saunders

This short video contained a good bit of information about podcasts. The first thing that jumped out at me was the statistics and numbers of children that use technology already. With the wii, ipods, iphones, and other technological items, children today already are ahead of most adults!

In addition to this, the video explained how podcasts deliver instruction that can be seen anywhere and at any time. Podcasts are a great way of interacting with students. Some children, believe it or not, do not learn best with someone right over them the whole time. Podcasts gives those particular students a way to learn from a distance.

Podcasts are simple to create and upload, so it is great for children in America today. Also Doug talks about how this is an interesting way for parents to see and hear just exactly what their children are learning in school each day.

Eagles Nest Radio Podcast

I automatically loved the background music from the very beginning! This is amazing; I'm so impressed. I like how each child says a paragraph or two each. This podcast really is extremely informational. Throughout the video, the music gets more intense, just as the information and the child's voices gets more intense. This is just another example of how awesome technology is. It also makes me wonder how different technology may be one I finally am able to be an educator myself. Hmm...

Podcast Collection

This site is pretty much a guide to podcasting. Anything a person needed to know is on this site. It starts out by defining what exactly a podcast is. It goes on to talk about how to make one and how to put one up. It explains how it is important to be familiar with items like 'audacity'.

After all of that is covered, it starts talking about how to instruct students to to a podcast. What topics are good topics? How should one direct students? All of these are important questions, and one can find the answers one this site.


After reading and watching these videos and blogs, I am more familiar with how to do a podcast and how NOT to do a podcast. In the future, I can surely see myself coming back for a review!