Last Blog

My EDM 310 assignments are now complete

I wish you all the best in your future educational endeavors and teaching careers!

What I learned in this class

I learned many things in this class the biggest being experience is the most valuable learning tool.I had no idea how to create a blog or why anyone would want to.I learned how create a blog and how to post to it.I learned the many uses for blogging especially in a classroom.For example creating a class blog and the many uses of it like calender,homework,and parent letters.I also learned teachers could blog to each other around the world to share experiences.I learned about pod casting before this class I had never heard one let alone made one.Now i know how to go to i-tunes and u-tube and listen to them.I had never been to these places before.This will be a valuable tool to me as a teacher to be able to go and find educational pod casts and videos for my class.I also learned that many of this sites are free.I learned about the access lab and all the things it has to offer students like online classes so students can take subjects not offered at their schools.I learned about goggle documents and how it saves your information.I also learned about how google earth works and explored some places new york.I learned what foliotek is and how to use it since this is my first semester at south this was extremely useful to me.I must say I learned a lot of thing in this class.I would have liked to learn more about smart boards and geocashing.But I did learn where to go find informative videos on those subjects.

Experience blogging assignment

This assignment was to read someone's blog and talk about your experience and the good and bad about class blogging.I chose to read Dealana Beamis's blogs.She has a good background for her blog.It is a lot more exciting looking then mine.More colors then mine.She is more personal with her blog then I am.I think blogging is mostly good for a classroom but i guess it comes down to the teacher and what the teacher feels comfortable with.I must say I am not the most comfortable person with technology but i think blogging is very easy and useful tool.In a classroom the cons would have to be safety concerns and time restraints.Another con might be not enough equipment to use the technology well.I think these cons can be fixed with rules and parent student contracts.good scheduling,and funding.The pros are unlimited it opens many educational opportunities and gives a home to school connection.The best part is that blogging gives children a chance to share their class with their parents and other family.It provides a window into a big part of the students lives which is spend in their classroom.Letting the students blog gives them a chance to express themselves and be creative without pressure.The pros definitely out weigh the cons.

About class podcasts

The assignment was to listen to the class podcast and critique them.The first podcast I listened to was of course the one I was involved in.Our podcast was about blogging in the classroom.The first thing I noticed was paper rattling this is something I found distracting.It also made us seem like we were not prepared.I will suggest note cards next time.There were also some weird pauses.Music in the background would have helped here.Their was also some talking over each other.But all in all I would have to say for our first experience with pod casting and having to go first we did okay.
The second podcast I listened to was the one about Randy Pausch last lecture also from students in our class.The podcast started off well with directed questioning from the leader Brian.I could tell they really researched their information and sounded like they knew their information well.There were a lot of um's though.
The third pod cast from our class listened to was about access lab this was the one I wanted.It sounded like they were reading a script.They used good clear voices but read most of the podcast needed more conversation.It was very informative.
The last podcast I listened to was about U tube and use as an educational tool. I chose to listen to the group from our class.This was a good subject with a lot of controversy.They had some weird pause in between statements.The conversation was slow in parts w with a lot of um's and some slang.It was good they talked about the pros and cons of U-tube in the classroom.I think for everyone's first time doing a podcast they were good.

The assignment for November the 7th was to listen to podcast from the Maine department of Education called Mathematics with Technology.Both of these podcast would be helpful to me as a teacher.The first one talked about how math teachers are reluctant to try math technology in their classrooms.The podcast speaker Jude Chandler spoke about how technology could enhance and influence learning of math concepts.She said that technology is now one of the six essential principals in teaching mathematics.According to her technology in mathematics provides students with tools that provide feedback and reflection.She said these were to essentials that could really help students learn.According to the podcast using technology could also help gain valuable instructional time.
The other podcast was called thinking mathematically.It compared the use of the scientific method in science to understand science to technology and teaching children to think mathematically.Ms.Chandler said asking questions is important part of the learning process.She says using technology in math can increase critical thinking skills.Technology in math uses visual models,real world experiences,hands on learning to extend the learning process.The podcast even gave resources to look up to find mathematics technology help.

Another assignment we had was to listen and watch a podcast from Stanford university.The podcast was called "Growth vs."Fixed" Minds.The podcast was an interview with a professor of psychology who discussed a recent experiment at the college.It was a experiment in psychology with two groups of students.One group was given a study skills lessons the other group was given growth mindset lessons.These lessons were in eight sessions.
The point of the study was to see if students given growth mind skills would do better in school and they did.The teachers could pick out who had went to the growth mindset sessions.The growth mind sessions showed the students that the brain is continuously growing and just because they didn't know something didn't mean they couldn't learn it.Knowing this is supposed to help the students become better mentors.

The podcasts from WGBH were very colorful videos.I watched three because they were really interesting.My favorite was the energy on coral reefs.The video showed many of the coral reef dwelling animals.It showed how energy is transferred from the sun to the reef.The plants harvest the sun energy.Next the herbivores eat the plants.Then the omnivores eat the herbivores.Last the scavengers and decomposers continue the cycle.
This video cold be shown as part of a science lesson on coral reefs or suns energy or as part of food chain studies.The pictures were really good.As a teacher it is great to be able to show students things instead of just reading about it.Videos like this one can help students have a better understanding of information.This video had alot of information packed into a short amount of time.Time is also of great importance to teachers.There was another good video about the coral reef that could be shown in conjunction with this one.

The next assignments we had were very interesting to me as a future teacher because the podcasts we had to listen to was about a different kind of learning environment.The first one was called an edible schoolyard .The idea come from a restaurant owner who wanted children to have better lunchroom nutrition.I watched to video for this.The podcast and center of the environment was on a garden.The class went outside everyday for first period.The students planted,harvested,and ate from their garden.The garden experience was able to be carried into classroom learning with social studies,science,math,and many other important aspects of learning.The must important being life and social skills.
The other podcast for this assignment was called the global village.It is about another kind of learning environment that does not take place at the school though.It is on a ranch in Arkansas.It is a learning environment where American students became people from other countries poor countries like Guatemala.The students break into groups even a group of refugees.each group is given some supplies but not everything they need the refugees are given nothing.The students must barter with the other countries to get what they need to survive.They also live in housing like those people would live in.Refugees of of course get only shabby tents.The point of this experience is show the students that poverty and hunger are real.It is to make them think about the world outside of what they know and to think about how they can help.

This post is for assignment on six different podcasts .We were to listen to the podcasts and take notes on them.The first podcast was called smartboard lessons podcast the first notable thing about it was the icon to the cast looks like Simpson people.It was episode 150 that is alot of episodes.They started off with small talk weather and football.Which lead up to fall kind of being the end and this being their last episode on smartboard lessons.It was a good lead.They pretty much just had a conversation about links to other education sites like the k12 conference.
The next podcast was kidcast it used music to to begin the cast.The caster also used small talk to start his discussion off.He talked about his recent life changes.He discussed awrds and how to listen to podcasts to make your own podcast became something you want.
The podcast Edtech talk was different from the first one it involved 4 people in different places putting on a news show.I didnt care for this podcast.Each person would say a link to a subject and describe their link site.One subject was the election.Another podcast was connectlearning this was better to listen to and lesss confusing.
Macbreak weekly began the podcast with advertisments.Then a salute to veterans.That lead to a discussion on the past and present highschool boy outlook.They kept it fresh by introducing a new person in the cast and letting him talk about other casters and podcasts.The last podcast I listened to was about photography it also begin with advertisments and music.It was about new camara coming out and contest they had.They had the best conversation out of all the podcasts.They seemed to be enjoying the conversation and it flowed nicely.

Randy Paush's last lecture

This last lecture was interesting.He was given was given two to six months to live when he gave this last lecture.He is upbeat and looks to be in good health during the long duration of this lecture though.He even does some exercise to show that he feels fine.He talks of childhood dreams as motivations for life.He goes through showing how he achieved his childhood dreams.Some of them were achieved in not conventional ways.I really liked the expression he used about "experience being what you get when you don't get what you want."
Well this assignment is supposed to be about the teaching methods Paush used and advocated.Randy believed in hands o activities.He believed you learn more from doing then watching and listening.He taught electronic arts.He taught using stage performances which drew huge audiences.The stage performances would involve the audience.
Randy Paush taught his students to be self reflective he used bar graphs to help them see their social standing with there peers.This was also referred to as a feed back loop.This helped the students see what they should work on to be more accepted socially.This showed the students who had worked together what others thought of their demeanor and work ethics.
Randy's classes were advanced technology classes using the most invative technology possible.He taught about virtual reality and the students used it to create virtual worlds.They did this before anyone else really knew the things were possible.He liked to do group work liked to use students learn from each other as well as themselves and him.He liked to collaborate with each other as much as possible.

blog assignment about ipod

There are many sites about owning and operating an Ipod.There are manuels for all the ipod models.Apple even has ipod FAQ site so you can find the answer to a particular question easily.There is instructions for general ipod useage as well.I think everything is probably covered from transferring music to replacing batteries.There are tutorials available on many ipod features.Duke university gave 1600 students apple Ipods with voice recorders in August 2004.They did this because of a university intuitive to encourage technology in education.The evaluations of the use of the Ipod showed the recording the most popular feature of students for educational purposes.The music database and hard drive storage capabilities were the second most used feature.The IPOds showed to be very useful in foreign language classes and music classes where repetition is a very important part of the learning process.Duke University continues to use Ipods in academics and has increased the classes that use them.

Project access lab

I recently visited Daphne High school's Access lab with another student from my EDM 310 class named Dealana.We went to the lab on September 22 during second block.We checked in at the office and were greeted by Mr.Roh who is in charge of the access lab and the IB program.We followed him to his office and interviewed him about he access lab.There are basically two ways to have classes using the access lab they are web based classes and video conferencing classes.So far at Daphne High the access lab is only doing web-based classes.Mr.roh is teaching Chemistry and AP Biology this way.He uses physical labs though ;because Baldwin County doesn't allow web based labs yet.The access lab is set up for video classes but due to conflicting schedules between schools it hasn't been used yet.The video conferencing equipment has been used however by the educational professional for meetings that way people did not have to drive to one place.The hub of the access lab is Troy university.The teachers of the classes using the lab are paid by Troy.The facilitator is paid by the participating school.Daphne 's lab facilitator is already a teacher there that had a space in his schedule ' that way they don't have to pay for additional staff.The equipment for Daphne was paid for from a grant.The facilitator,and room was provided by the school.
When we went to see the access lab there was a class in there.There were about 16 students in the lab all working on lab tops.The room had about 6 long tables with chairs set up that the students were using.There were two televisions and cameras in the room.The lab has twenty five available lab tops.There was also a Promethean board in the lab.Two of the students were taking a web-based Latin course.The class will have to be elective though because Baldwin county doesn't allow web based foreign language credits yet.The rest of the class were graduation exam practices.The students doing the practice graduation study will use the class as a study hall when they pass the test.
Mr.Roh showed us around the lab and the equipment.He then showed us on the main lab top how to call another school.He chose and called Robertsdale High the monitor then showed the class's at Robertsdale empty.He showed us that he could control there camera and move them where he wanted.He showed us how the screen could be split between Robertsdale and Daphne to show both labs.Mr.Roh said it could up to nine sites at a time.He said he really likes the lab and sees endless possibilities for it.He said that economically especially for things like summer school it could cut down on the number of teachers needed.The students could take failed classes after school, the students would have to pay of course.But it cold really help them make their graduation dates.Students aren't allowed to take classes in the lab that are offered the traditional way on campus.

my presntation

alice christie assignment

Dr.christie's site had many interesting tabs and links.I decided to explore the Geopa project tab.I was very surprised at what I learned.The Geopa project is a project about gaining interest in public art in Phoenix through kid friendly technology.The project hopes to advance art and culture to help various aspects of the community.The project wants to expand the artistic experiences of children.The site has art works to explore,lesson plans,and links to places of public art.The mos interesting part though is the GPs technology using geocaching.I have never heard of this.The technology using satellites to involve students in interactive games.Teachers can use these games to help teach lessons of various subjects.The games involve finding caches which include log book,trinkets.The students use GPS technology to find these caches.The caches can be hidden by their teachers can be related to whatever is being studied.Some examples from the lesson included the subjects of language arts,visual arts,geography.The students use technology and active learning and cooperation with each other in this games.As a teacher this could present a whole new learning environment for my students.The possibilities are endless.This is something I would be really interested in learning more about and using in my classroom.I think using learning and technology outside of the classroom could be very beneficial to students.

Wikipedia assignment

This was a lot of information to sort through.The fact that anyone can change wikipedia without any qualifications makes it not a reliable source for a serious research project.But it is a good source for just general knowledge but it does contain possible errors.When using wikipedia you should also find other reliable sourcess which state the same things to be sure it hasnt been falsely edited.The wikipedia scanner that Griffith invented tracks ip adresses and identifies who edits wikipedia articles.Wikipedia main use as a reaserch tool should be a starting point for finding more reliable sources.The only time you should believe in wikipedia reliablity is if the sources are stated and you check the sources of the article.

fischbowl assignment another month

I chose the month of May to read about.This blog was titled Customer service.The blog is about a phone call from a customer to hp computer company.It has the conversion recorded so you can listen to it.The customer is calling about getting the original software put back on his computer.He begins by talking to a computer then a tech and another.The blogger blog is about the value of good customer service and how it relates to the educational field.The blogger talks about teaching customers to solve their own problems instead of just fixing them for them.The blogger compare the custer service industry to the educational system.The blogger believes that teachers and administers would do better to treat students more like customers.
The concept sounds abit strange but I think it could work.Treating students as important clients and asking about their satisfaction could lead to improvements in the education field.I have had that same generic phone call to hp before.They did not satisfy me and I would never call again.

fischbowl assignment

I am not sure what to write about this blog but here goes.The blog is about teachers who our illiterate about technology.The writer of the blog compares teachers and educational professionals who cannot use computers today to people who were illiterate in the 19 Th century.The blogger says they are the same as far as educational ability.This sounds pretty harsh.I would not go that far to make that comparsion my self.I must say the blogger made the comment of personal computers being around for thirty years;this might be true but I am in my early thirties and did not have a computer in my home until i was in my mid twenties.I know I lot of other people who did not as well.Computers were not in my classrooms as a child and I was not offered a computer class in school until 1993.
I do agree that computers are extremely important now and in the future.I do not understand why a teacher or someone who chooses education as a career would not want to expand their knowledge any way they could.I believe teachers should have some technology skills in order to be a good teacher.I don't believe they need to know everything about technology unless they are technology teachers.

international class blog assignment

One school I found was in Auckland,New Zealand.It is a forth grade class of eight and nine year olds.The blog contains A slide show of self portraits.There is a list of homework assignments.There are links to kid friendly sites like etch a sketch.The coolest thing about this blog is the podcast of the students .They are reading stories they wrote.
The next class blog I chose was from Victoria,Australia.It is a fifth and sixth grade class.It is a very busy blog lots of color and lots of things going on.It said i was visitor number 10226.The site has had visitors from fifty countries.(pretty cool)The blog has many games and links to sites.There is a link to a site called word count which is neat it tells you how a word ranks in usage in the us.The blog also has the activities of the class and home work assignments.
click here

The second school using class blog in us

This next blog is from Noel Elementary School in Noel,MO.This is an excellent blog.This class and teacher put allot of time into it.Everyone should check it out ,It really shows some interesting things you can do with class blog.It has many pictures and videos.It even as a science experiment you can watch the class do.It has a live traffic feed which included New Zealand,Florida,Missouri,and many other places.It has many links to useful educational sites like sti where you can look up students grades.

Two examples of schools in the us using blogs

The first blog I read was from Salem Elementary school it was Mrs.Putnam's 5Th grade class blog.The blog talked about today's events like who got the highest grade on a math test.This week's spelling words are listed on the blog.The fifty states and capitals are also listed just in case anyone left their copy at home.All the homework assignments are on the blog.The teacher's bio is on there as well.There are nice pictures of the classroom and a few of the students.

the fischbowl.assignment

This was a a surprising video.It really goes to show how technology is shrinking the world.I didn't realize just how fast it was happening.It is kind of frightening but exciting at the same time.I have three children the youngest is eight .I guess I haven't thought about how much technology has changed just in the time between the two of them being born.My youngest child knows so much about computers and the Internet compared to my eldest child at the same age.I have often wondered if maybe so much technology is hurting them.But now I wonder if they are learning enough fast enough to be able to compete in this tech world.The numbers expressed in this video for the amounts of exchange is unreal.

access learning lab assignment

Access distance learning is an education initiative of the Alabama dept.of education.The access site is available to any public high school student in grades 9 through 12.Special education students in state facilities can also enroll if registered in school.There is no charge to students.The classes are held on normal school days.The school counselor is responsible for enrolling students in access classes.
The school the students are in enrolled in are responsible for computers, Internet, software,and textbooks.The school also has to have classroom facilitators to assist students.These people do not have to be certified teachers but have to be trained and gone through a background check.If the school wants students to be able to take IVC classes the school must provide a two way audio and video equipment.This allows students and teachers to have video conferences and real time classes.
The main goal of the access lab is to provide Alabama public High school students to engage in AP and elective classes they would not otherwise be able to take.Examples of these are advanced math classes and Chemistry.There is a chem lab available on access with interactive lab simulations.The access site uses white boards,discussion forums,real time chat,and virtual field trips.all of these things are available to help the students learn.All classes are taught by certified teachers.The online teacher is the only person who can grade the students progress.Copies of the students of work are available through email and regular mail.

about alex assignment

Alex stands for the Alabama learning exchange.It is a web based center of educational sites and links. Alex is very easy to use and is laid out very well.The main page has about eight icons on subjects like lesson plans and distance learning.All you do is click on subject icon that you are interested in.This takes you to a page with several tabs relating to the subject .Then you can choose one.Alex includes a personal workspace where you can set up an account to keep and submit lesson plans.Alex also allows you to search for lesson plans on many subjects on grade levels K through twelve.
The Alabama Learning exchange has a link several professional learning sites.These sites can help educators stay in touch with new teaching methods and tools.It even has a tab for grant opportunities.These are only a few of the things Alex can help you find.Alex is a lot of valuable information on the web combined in one easy to use accessible place.

About Me

I am married to my high school sweetheart.I have three wonderful children. Two boys anda daughter.Right now ,I am working as a substitute teacher for grades prek through the eighth grade.I really enjoy my job that is why I am pursuing a degree at South in Elementary education.

My first ever blog

Welcome to my blog.My name is Angelia Heyer but most people call me Angie.