My EDM 310 Blog Assignments are Now Complete

This has been one of the best classes I have ever had. I really had a great time meeting everyone of you. I learned so much from this class and Dr. Strange. I'm sure I will see some of you in the upcoming semester. Good Luck!!!!

What I learned in EDM 310

Where do I start? Wow, I learned so much in this class!!!

1.) Practice, Practice, Practice!!!! HAHAHAHA
2.) How to create blogs, podcasts and how to set up an igoggle page.
3.) The many wonderful, FREE, things you can do in Google
4.) Dr. Strange's view on Burp Back Education!
5.) How to figure interest rates and loans

And much more!!


There was mot really anything else that I would have liked to learn about.

Plusses and Minuses of Classroom Blogs

After thinking about whose blog I wanted to read, I decided to read Adrienne Lynch's Blog. I think there are many plusses with using blogs in the classroom. I feel that this is the perfect way to keep parents informed with what their children are doing. They can also keep up with what assignments their children have.

The only minus I could think about would be that some students may not have a computer at home. They could though, have a time allowed at school to work on this if it was required.

I will most definetly be using a blog when I become a teacher. I hope this will teach my students as well as help them keep up with their assignments and homework that I will be posting to the blog. I will also use this to help keep my students parents informed.

Overall, I think Classroom Blogs are WONDERFUL!!!!!

EDM 310 Podcast

I really enjoyed creating my first podcast. Even though I was really nervous at first, it turned out to be really fun. The first podcast i listened to was the one I participated in. I think overall we did pretty well, but it made me realize that you really have to know what you are talking about to have a 15 minute conversation about it.

The next podcast I listened to was the one about Randy Pausch's Last Lecture. I enjoyed listening to it as much the second time as I did the first. I think they did a great job. The only thing I can say about it was that they could have been a little more serious.

Next was the podcast about using Facebook as an educational tool. This was very informative to me because I never thought something like Facebook or MySpace could have ever been used as an Educational Tool.

Overall, I think we all had things we could have done a little better, but knowing that it was everyone's first time, I thought we did pretty good.

ACCESS Assignment

I visited the Access Lab or Distant Learning LAb as some may call it at B.C. Rain High School in Mobile. I met with Ms. who is the teacher over the lab.

During my visit, there were no students in the class but she was able to show me a little bit about how everything worked. I thought that the lab was very interesting and I would have loved to have something like this when I was in school.

I wish I would have had the opportunity to visit the lab as class was in session so I could have seen its full benifits. I would like to go back in the future.

Overall, I think it is a good opportunity for students to take classes using the ACCESS Lab that they may have not been offered at their school.

Podcasts

I just watched two podcasts, "The Edible Schoolyard", which is about an outdoor classroom at Martin Luther King Junior Middle School in Berkeley, CA. The students spend the first period outside planting and eating organic foods they have grown. Then they get to cook what they have grown. This teaches them Math, Science and other skills.

The next podcast was "A Night in the Global Village", in Perryville, AR. This is a Global Gateway program which helps the students walk in someone elses shoes. It also raises awareness about the living conditions and hunger that many in other countries go through. It also helps kids see how other live and appreciate what they have.

I think kids learn so much more working "Hands on" like they did in "The Edible Schoolyard." It makes it fun and enjoyable instead of sitting in a classroom all day.

I really enjoyed both of these podcasts and I learned alot from both of them. I think it would be so much fun to actually work outside in a garden to help my students learn as much as these students did.

Podcasts

I think i might know why Dr. Strange gave us a few to listen to. So we know what not to do. The first one SmartBoard Lessons by Ben Hazzard and Joan Badger was very, very boring. It took them forever to get to the point. They really didn't say anything to get your interest at first and I think that might have helped.

This Week in Photography was ok. I guess because I am interested in Photography.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon who was dying of cancer. He gave his "Last Lecture" on September 18, 2007 about "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams."

He gave advice to students on how they could achieve their own dreams and goals as well as lessons that he has learned. He had many childhood dreams, one which was becoming a professional football player and another of developing Disney World attractions.

He stated, "If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care if itself," and "The dreams will come to you." I think this is really great advice.

I thought this was even better the second time I heard it. I had seen pieces of it on Oprah, but it was work watching over again!!!1

My Presentation

"Dr, Christie"

I think it would be helpful to me as a teacher to use Dr. Christie's Online Researching Resources.(http://www.alicechristie.org/search/orr.html)I think it would be very helpful as a teacher to be able to show my students one website that links them to trusted databases, search engines, and even links to ask an expert all from one website.
Also from this link, you can go to the reference tab(http://www.alicechristie.org/search/reference.html)which breaks it down by subjects, such as math, science and history. It would make me feel better knowing that my students could go to this one site and find trusted information without getting unreliable sources.

Wickipedia

Wow!!! Now I know exactly why I was never allowed to use Wikipedia as a source in any of my English classes. I now know it was for the best. I had no clue that anyone can change the information on Wikipedia. That really shocks me. I know that I will not lets my students use Wikipedia as a source when I become a teacher. This was very interesting to me.

180 Days?

I read The Best(?)of The Fischbowl April post about 180 Days?. This post is very funny to me but really true. It talks about how there are 180 days in the school year which are supposed to be for instruction. When you watch the Powerpoint presentation he posted it shows how many days are used or lost in the school year. It talks about the average number or days missed by students and/or teachers and the number of days used for testing. When it comes down to it, how many days are really used for instruction.
I do think there are a lot of days that are not used strictly for instruction, but I also think these "non-instruction" days are needed in order to keep your students happy. Who would want to go to school at all if there were no "fun days" or whatever may take up some of the educational days. Everyone needs a little break every once in a while.

"The Fischbowl"

I would have to completely agree with Karl Fisch. He couldn't have said it any better, "If a teacher today is not technologically literate - and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more - it's equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn't know how to read and write." This is SO true. Almost everything these days require you to be technologically literate.

I also agreed with the point he made about when he was a math teacher, it was almost as if parents were proud that they were never really good at math, but that was acceptable, but not knowing how to read would be totally unacceptable. This is true all the time. I know my parents were the same way and this is really not acceptable in my opinion.

New Articles

Ms. Averitt has located two very interesting articles about RSS Freeds and Podcasting. I have posted them under Syllabus and Handouts, but I am going to also put the links to them here.
The ABC's of RSS Feeds
Just the Basics

International School Blogs

Upon searching the web for International Schools with blogs, I came across Mrs. Fitzpatrick's Blog (http://www.holytrinityschool.org.uk/tiki-view_blog.php?blogId=29). Mrs. Fitzpatrick is a teacher at the Holy Trinity CE School in the UK. She uses her blog to help keep the students and parents informed on things such as the PTA, News and Bulletins and contact information. It even connects to other teachers blogs, some who do not teach at this school anymore but keep in contact with their former students.

The next classroom blog that I came across was at Cooper Perry Primary School which is also located in the UK (http://www.cooperperry.staffs.sch.uk/gallery0708.asp). Cooper Perry Primary uses their blog as a school blog, not just a classroom blog. They list all of their contact information as well as the latest news and each classroom's blogs. They also showphotos which demonstrate some of their children's achievements.

Upon searching the web, I came across Mrs. Putnam's Classroom Blog (http://web2.burke.k12.nc.us/blogs/jputnam). Mrs. Putnam is a 5th grade teacher at Salem Elementary School in Morganton, NC. They use their classroom blog to help keep the students and parents informed on what they went over in class that day and what they will be going over next. She also has posted on her blog links to other classroom blogs at her school.

The next classroom blog I found was Mrs. Nikolic's Blog (http://todd.sd74.org/home/blog/44). Mrs. Nikolic is a 1st grade teacher at Todd Hall School in Lincolnwood, IL. She uses her classroom blog to post links to other websites for the students and parents as well as to keep the parents of her students updated as to what they have been doing in class. She even has pictures posted of their first week at school.

Did You Know?

This video was very interesting to me. The statistics were unbelievable. I had know clue some four year old children had so much access to computers. It really makes you realize how advanced technology has become. Even here at South, things online are becoming more and more available or even required more every semester.

I am very interested to know what changes there will be in a few years as my two children start school. I'm sure it will be even more advanced by then.

ACCESS

The Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide program also known as ACCESS (http://accessdl.state.al.us/) is an online learning center designed for High School students in the State of Alabama. It gives the student a chance to take classes via the web that may not be offered at their school or may not have access to.
Some low-income schools are not able to offer the Advanced Diploma which is a requirement of the State of Alabama, so with ACCESS a student is able to take the classes online that are needed to receive an Advanced Diploma.
I think this is a wonderful program and I'm sure many more schools with have this available in the future.

The Alabama Learning Exchange or ALEX (http://alex.state.al.us/) is an online program available for teachers across the state. Once you enter the site you can create your own personal workspace which allows you to store and submit lesson plans. The site also list different websites available in order to help you as the teacher keep up with the latest news and new teaching and learning tools. You can even learn about ACCESS (Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide), which provides students the opportunity to take web-based courses they may have not had access to.
I think ALEX is a wonderful tool available to teachers now and I'm sure I will take full advantage of the program when I start teaching. It will not only help you stay organized but it will also help you stay up to date with the latest resources available to you.

My First Post

Hello!! My name is Rachel Davis. I am 25 years old. I have been married for almost eight years and I have 17 month old twins (one boy, one girl). I am currently attending the University of South Alabama, College of Education (Special Education). I love going to the beach, and spending time with my family.