Last Post!

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What I learned

I learned a great bit in this class. The first being how tired and stressed I can get! :) Through the class I was able to get hands on experience with many technologies that will become the future. I was very interested in how the different things are used in the classroom; iPod's, blogs, iPhone, spreadsheets, iGoogle, etc. This class was a wonderful experience! I am so glad I met Dr. Strange and my fellow students.

iGoogle

I love this new iGoogle thing. I have visited my site several times this week. There are many useful things for the classroom in iGoogle applications.
One being the calender application. Students can add a calender to their page. Here they can add important dates. No more I forgot we had a test today!! You can also add multiple calenders for yourself. Which would be useful for a mom who could chart her schedule, her husbands, and that of her children.
The second useful application I found and added to my page was Word of the Day. I love learning new words, and when you use words that aren't normally used you sound more educated. You could turn this into a fun activity for your students. You can randomly pick a day and every time you hear a student use the word in a sentence they can earn a point, when they get to five points they get a prize.
My third application is Windows Shortcut of the Day. At first I didn't think it would be all that useful for children, but then I remembered the video I had watched on our class blog. I remember when I started having to use the computer for class projects my dad taught me some shortcuts in Word that I still use today. It is much easier to do ctrl+c for copy!
My fourth useful gadget is the To Do list application. This is an easy and simple way for students to make a list of their homework, and home chores they need to do for that day or week. It's a cute little application, where you can color code, move items up or down, and totally remove them. Beats the big assignment book I carried.
My next application is the Translate tool. They have almost any language imaginable that you can translate to. All you have to do is type in the word/sentence you want translated and select the language. It's simple and very helpful for students studying a foreign language or foreign students trying to grasp the English language.
My final application is the Sudoku game. Although this is a game I consider it an educational game. You have to think of all the different places a number could go before you add it. if you have ever played it then you understand what I mean. When you are first learning it though it seems like the craziest idea in the world, but once you learn it it can be very addictive. It keeps your brain moving.
All of these applications are available on various websites but with iGoogle it is all on one page. A one place stop for everything you need, kind of like Wal-Mart or Target.

My Blog

My blog has been useful this semester for myself. It has been a great way to think and reflect on different areas of teaching and technology, while Dr. Strange was able to check in on us. I think blogs are very useful in education. Though I do wish there was a way you could set them to private and give user names and passwords to parents. With privacy being a rare commodity these things I think it is a must when it comes to protecting our children. Other than that I think it is a wonderful tool to keep parents updated with classroom happenings, to post pictures, and to allow the children to express themselves. I would like to use blogs as a forum for parents. I think it is an easy way to get feedback from parents. You can ask their opinions on field trips, activities, etc.

My Web site

My website is about my favorite movies. I love watching movies and included a few of them on my website. They include The Notebook, The Break-Up, Just Friends, Finding Nemo, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, The Devil Wears Prada, Failure to Launch, A Cinderella Story, Cars, Where The Heart Is, and The Guardian. My website is not complete at this time. I have a few pictures that need to be made smaller. In our papers it said to use Adobe Photoshop Elements but I do not have Photoshop on my computer so I will have to do this tomorrow in class. If I had more time though I would like to put more graphics on my page including animated ones.

iPhone

I don't think it is a good idea to use an iPhone in education. We would have the same issues that we have now with students talking on the phone/texting, etc. I do think that the phone is awesome! I wish i had 600 bucks to drop because it is so awesome! I think it is a great piece of technology that has taken us to another step.

Comments on my Website

You can leave them here! Thanks! I know there are typo's, that extra link on my home page, and the devil wears prada link is messed up but I've fixed them. Anyway thanks! See ya'll thursday!

Spreadsheets in the Classroom

I started off with visiting a site that had many ideas and examples of how to use spreadsheets in the classroom. There are links to Science, Math, Reading & Language Arts, Social Studies, and Miscellaneous. Kids love to create something of their own, as well as eating candy. On this website under math it has a suggestion of using little bags of M&M's. Let them estimate how many of each color is in their bag and chart in on a spreadsheet through Excel. They can chart one with their predictions and with the actual results. This website also provides links to many other helpful and wonderful ideas.

Another useful website is Integrating Spreadsheets in the Classroom. The first link provides a tutorial for Excel. This is something children can do in their spare time. If they finish other work early they can hop on a computer and go through the steps of learning Excel. I think this is very helpful for teachers as well. I may only be speaking for myself when I say this but I do not know everything and learn something new every time I turn on the computer. So maybe this is the best way for them to learn about Excel. Not that everything should be done by computer but they can learn a little, practice a little. This website has about 75 other useful links about working with Excel. Awesome website!!

Until this class I had no idea there were so many resources available to teachers on the internet. The majority of people I talk to make it sound like you have to come up with everything under the sun on your own. Which makes it sound really difficult! I'm not saying teaching is easy, but knowing these resources are out there make it simpler.

iPod's allowed in class? cool!

Many children have iPod's these days, and most of them have them taking away at school. I yet to have one so I don't have to worry about this, but soon I may be out of place in the classroom. Many teachers are using iPod's in their classroom instruction, tying video and audio together. I went straight to the Apple website to see what they had to say about this new thing. iPod has a program called iLife and with this program teachers are able to create and distribute audio, video, speeches, photos, etc to their students for use outside of the classroom. You can also give quizzes through an iPod now! That's probably the most favorite thing for students however.
Many universities use iPod's in the classroom. One of which is a school known for their quality of education and being on the cutting edge. This school is Duke University into the classroom in 2004 by giving all entering freshmen and teachers . They brought iPod'siPod's to use and experiment with in the classroom. After a year it was decided that iPod's would only be used for specific classes in which the teacher had something designed for. It has helped students in Spanish classes, listening to the accents; music classes, being able to listen to and analyze Bach; and see engineering designs laid out step my step. This link provides links to many website's associated with iPod learning.

Seymour Papert

Seymour Papert is an incredible man who had big dreams. In the sixties many people thought he was crazy when he wanted to teach children with personal computers, that were oh so expensive then. He has accomplished a lot and contributed so much to this world in his lifetime. He has a few degrees under his belt and lived to help others. I am not sure about his current activity because of a wreck he was in in December 2006. He has founded a small laboratory, The Learning Barn, where he lives in Maine. At The Learning Barn is where he develops ways of learning that are too advanced to just through out there. Papert strongly feels that all students in the state of Maine should have a computer. I agree with this. If all students have a computer at home it is much easier to assign online homework and research projects are so much easier. He also spends a large amount of his time working in the Maine Youth Center of Portland. This is a wonderful link to information about Mr. Papert.
Seymour Papert has not only contributed a lot towards the advancement of education. Like previously mentioned he has many degrees, two of which are PhD's in mathematics. In the early 1960's he co founded the Artificial Intelligence Lab at MIT. He also helped create MaMaMedia.com with a former student of his. This website help connect the gap between what parents know and what children know about technology. I had lots of fun on this website!

Blogs in the International classroom, 2

This blog belongs to Ms. Harrington's class at Cefn Fforest Primary School in Wales. There are thirty year 3 pupils in year class. Year 3 is equivalent to ages 7 and 8. Of the blogs I have viewed this one has tho most multimedia content. She has a slide show and a video. The slide show showcases their Pirate Day last Friday. This is a wonderful idea because not all parents have the opportunity to get off work and go to every activity at their child's school. So this way they can listen to what happened from their student, read about it on the blog, and watch a slide show of pictures. Her students also do podcasts (used with a iPod) that students in other countries are able to listen to. Included is a class picture from Pirate Day! The website for this blog is : http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=71986

Blogs in the International classroom, 1

"Voyagers 2007" is the name of the blog belonging to Mrs. Hayes year one and year two students in New Zealand. The student's each have their own blog that they write in. The few I looked at have them writing in their own language, which is pretty much they same as ours just a few words are different. Then under what they wrote in the English translation. Today, June 19th, the children or the Voyagers rather were learning about fruits and vegetables and painted them in watercolor. Included are two pictures one is the inside of an orange and the other is a strawberry. I think they are excellent pieces of art! The blogger includes some information about herself on the right side of the page. In that little box she tells that she has been using blogging in the classrooms for the past three years. I feel so behind times! I didn't know teachers really used them especially three or more years ago. The website is http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1638

Blogs in the classroom in the US, 2

This blog belongs to Miss Dyer's class of North Carolina. Her blog does not showcase a lot of pictures, but she does include a lot of information. Her last blog was April 2-6 which was when their Spring Break started. Miss Dyer tells of a scavenger hunt they had around the school. I personally love scavenger hunts so much! It is a great way to teach teamwork and moving/thinking fast. Her blog is also great for people (grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc) who live at a distance because she informs them of the weather, outdoor activities, number of teeth lost(which is at 22 right now), birthdays, and other great things. She keeps parents up to date as well. Linking them to what books are being read in class. there is also a link to where a child in her class, Ryan, read a book on the news in which he did a wonderful job. Included is a picture of Miss Dyer's class during Red Ribbon week. The web site is : http://elgg.net/dyerkr/weblog/

Blogs in the classroom in the US, 1

The first blog i came to when i googled "classroom blogs" was "Mrs. Cassidy's Classroom Blog." She posts an article between everyday to every few days. I viewed the page this evening, June 19th, and at this time there was a darling video the children had put together about the type of books they had learned about. This is a wonderful way to link the parents to the classroom by showing them what is being learned. Not just telling them with a newsletter. On the fourteenth she posted an article about their eggs being almost ready for hatching, but that one of them had exploded and gotten yolk everywhere. She then posts her e-mail address for someone to e-mail her if they know why it would bust. This is another wonderful idea. Posing a question that you don't know the answer to and letting someone, anyone in the world, who knows the answer respond. By the way the eggs were scheduled to hatch on Monday the 18th, but as unpredictable as children can be they came a day early on the seventeenth when she went in to check on them. The included picture is off this. She also allows the children to post their own blogs which I am sure excited them! i think it is a lot cooler than pulling out a marble composition book! :) The website for this blog: http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337

ACCESS

Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide (ACCESS) is a program that connects students, teachers, and other classrooms to one another for great opportunities. The problem is that not all school offer the same courses. Which is understandable because of teacher shortages, lack of demand for class, lack of funding and/or resources, etc. ACCESS has a strong goal of providing “additional educational offerings for all Alabama public high school students.” Students learn in various ways through distance. Including web based communication, videoconferencing, and blended with face to face sessions.

The state is divided into three sections and each of them have a help center. These help centers hire and offer support and training for e-teachers, as well as students and schools. ACCESS had over 3,000 students in the state of Alabama enrolled in the program. Over 40 courses were available, and 97 schools were offering this program.

Me and Alex

I believe that ALEX is a great resource and one day plan on using as part of my teaching. I love the Lesson Plans tab. I think it is wonderful being able to click and check out someone else's ideas and be able to use them. It's not always easy to come up with a lesson plan for every moment of the day and sometimes you may have something you need to cover but just don't know how to make it work. This website helps with that. I'm sure we will be mandated to have course of study printed out but I believe it is much easier to go to this website click on your subject and grade and scroll or search for what you need. Also you can direct parents to this page for any questions they may have.
Sometimes you run into a brick wall and can not think of any ideas, but that's a problem when you have a test the next day. I found under the web links tab a web site where you could go and get math problems in abundance. There are many other websites I would love to use. If I were to teach at a school that had limited classes and resources I would definitely use Distance Learning. Here students who are not offered AP classes or certain other classes may take advantage of these through this website. Which provides a wonderful opportunity.

ALEX

Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) provides many wonderful sources for teachers and students, as well as parents. Once you arrive at the main page there are eight choices of direction for you to choose. Under "Course of Study" you can browse every course of study for every grade and every subject. "Web Links" is a great resource for looking for information on a specific subject. They have links for parents, administrators, and students. A super wonderful part of the site is "Lesson Plans." This is where as a teacher you are able to go and search for other lesson plans by other teachers. The other links include one to search by, distance learning, personal workspace (this requires you to create an account), help, and professional learning.
The slogan for ALEX is "Quality for Every Facet of Learning" . It is clear from the Welcome page (found at the bottom of the home page) that every member of the team that makes the website possible takes it very seriously. It is a project of the Alabama Department of Education and provides a one stop resource for parents, teachers, and students. When we all work together and put in our input it makes that much easier. ALEX is a great resource and very easy to use.