Tuesday, December 2, 2008

My EDM 310 Blogs are now complete

To my fellow classmates who are now in the same seat I was once in a word of advice, you should always listen and make sure you are paying attention because this course has alot of information to be covered and not a lot of time to learn it and that is why you should be present for every class meeting if you can sometimes things come up and we can't help it so we have to miss. You should always check your g-mail and see if Dr. Strange has left you a message because it could be very important. It is also important that you check the class blog on line because it has valuable information that can be helpful in passing this course and never get behind on your blog post it is very hard to catch up if you get to far behind. If you follow my advice you sholud do fine. GOOD LUCK!!!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Things I learned

In this class I learned many things just to name a few power point, podcast, blogs and how to create one, i-google and gadgets and spread sheets. I also learned how to use a multiplication table using Excell.

There were some things I still have trouble doing and that's the creating your own web page and the different formulas to use when using a multiplication table on excell and the proper steps to take in doing currency changes.

Plus and Minuses of Blogging

When I first heard that I was going to be blogging, I was a little nervous because I didn't know how to blog or let alone what it was. I admit that I was a little intimidated by this class because I am not very computer literate. This class was a very big challenge for me. I think blogs can be very useful and helpful to anyone not just in teaching. Blogging is a good way to communicate and share information with others. It is also a good way to get opinions about a work or specific subject of interest. Blogs can be use in a lot of ways. In my case it will be very helpful to me as a first time teacher. Not only could I use blogs to communicate with other teachers, I can also use blogs to teach my students.

Minuses of Blogs

I really can't think of many negative things to say about blogs.
The only things that come to mind is that anyone can make a blog and post it and sometimes what people post is not always good. Blogs can be confusing at times. For me it was a little difficult because it was my first time experincing blogging and I didn't know where to start. Using blogs in the classroom may not always be a good thing because some students may not have access to a computer at home and can not do the required assignments. Students may start to get lazy and lose focus on their work and just want to play with the computers instead of using other materials like their books. Some students may not be computer literate and feel like they can't learn that way.

Duke University

I went to Duke University podcast page and I listen to a podcast called In The Middle.
This podcast was about a small town in Harrington, Pennsylvania. The small town was having immigration problems. In 2006 a law was passed on undocumented immigration.
The mayor of this town, mayor Barletto, claimed that the illegal aliens was draining the resources from the small town. The illegal aliens were Latinos and they all got together to file a suit to overturn the laws that was set against immigration.
Angel Grant is a citizen of Harrington, Pennsylvania and she feels that the illegal immigration is a problem and she agrees with the laws. In this podcast they speak of the crime rate increasing because of the immigration but how can they based that on immigration alone. I don't think that's fair at all to assume that all Latinos are what ever race you are should be profiled just because one person believes it.

podcast

I listened to four podcast and though I am still learning about podcast and how they work I think we still can do better. I noticed some people were nervous and that's understandable because it's something new. I also noticed that some were a little unprepared including myself. Now that we all know what to expect we can do better next time. If I ever do another podcast I will make sure I do more research on the subject or assigned topic.
I think having note cards will also help the conversation better in case you may forget what you want to say then you will have the note cards to look back on. It's important that you explain to the listeners what you will be talking about in your podcast so that they will know what your talking about.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Mathematics in Technology

Judy Chandler, a math mentor and trainor did a study on teachers and she found that some teachers were very reluctant to introduce technology in the classroom.
She believes that technology is a valuable classroom resource. She also says in the podcast that teachers find excuses not to use technology with mathematics.

I believe that using technology with mathematics is a very good idea. Math can be very difficult at times and if you can make it a little easier for students to understand it through using technology than teachers should use it.

Mindset

Growth VS. Mixed Minds


Fixed mindset intelligence is a fixed trait. Some students base their intelligence on whether their intelligence will be shown through what they do. Growth mindset students believe that intelligence is something you develop. Growth mindset can admit to mistakes and came overcome them.
i believe there are a lot of people who either have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset.
This podcast was very interesting and informative.

October 24 post

Grades k-5 "City Of Coral" Energy Flow In The Coral Reef Ecosystem

Coral Reefs are found in tropical water near the surface because they need energy from the sun to survive. The plants and algae there convert energy through photosynthesis.
Each small coral is made up of many coral organisms. The brown spots on the coral are their cells. The plant cells collect energy from the sun through photosynthesis.

This podcast was very informative and for me as a teacher i could use this in my classroom when i am teaching my students about different organisms and plant life in the ocean. By looking and listening at the podcast it can give the students a more in depth look at life int he water.

Edutopia

The Edible Schoolyard


Martin Luther King Jr. middle school the spend their first period planting in the garden at their school. The teachers use every aspect in the garden to teach the students. The garden is the center of the teacher's learning environment. The students will benefit greatly from the garden. Students who are very good with their hands will succeed greatly. Alice Waters originally came up with the idea of having the garden and incorporating it into learning. It teaches them the values of everyday life. Teaches them where food comes from and the cycle it goes through to become a plant or vegetable or fruit.

The Global Village

The Rocky Mountain school is a school that allows students and teachers to see how some people live in different countries around the world in one night.
The name of the organization is called The Global Village.
The Global Village raises awareness about hunger. Some of the countries they try to portray are Thailand, Appalachia, refugee camps. They are used to demonstrate how each of these countries live.
The students choose numbers to see which country their going to get.
The students have to be able to work together and learn how to survive off the things they have.
I really enjoyed learning about the Global Village, I think it's very important that students get to see first hand how other cultures live. It will make them appreciate things more and should make them more thankful.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Podcast assignment

Smart Board Lessons episode 147-Student Interaction Using Student Icon

In this podcast hosted by Benjamin Hazzard it talks about the web, combined web pages, power point and how to add your voice to it like your doing an presentation.
You can control the pages as you read and you can also add photos.You can also click on different links with this program. You can import your photos from Flicker and Face book. Students who have trouble writting can use this program to orally tell thier presentation.

Kid Cast

Number 53- Pod casting and Field trips


Dan Schmit wanted to find a way to re-energize field trips. He sated that your experience depends on the teacher they can make the experience fun or bad for the student. He described field trips as being a departure from regular school days. He began to think of the whole experience as interpersonal exchanges.He belived that the learning experience was that of the destination in which you were going. Schmit also gave some tips on how to prepare for a good field trip, set larger contents for the fieldtrip build some collective knowledge of why your going there. Establish them why going can help them understand why their studying it.
He said that students can articulate better of what they know. He wants them to move beyond casual observers to interactive mode.

Ed Tech Talk-Teachers Teaching Teachers Youth Voices


this podcast was about two teachers from different states coming together through the use of photography. They said it is a way of to share the community in a safe way in taking pictures of your school and surroundings. The students can compare and contrast with other students about their school and community.

connect Learning

Episode 90

David Warlick held a NCLMS convention in North Carolina library where he talked about the collaboration with podcast and teachers. Teachers can use podcast for discussions or debates on what they have learned through the podcast through library systems. Some teachers said that they classroom skills and technology skills through the library and teacher podcast.

Macbreak Weekly
Talked about camera lens and Apple stock prices and how Aplle is having a bad quarter in the stock market.

This Week In Photography

Gadgets

Talks about photo journalists James Natawah who set up a project about turburcolosis
and needed help from the internet community to help fund his project.
Also talks about the controversy over negatives in film

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Randy Pausch's last lecture

Dr. Randy Pausch was a professor of computer science who set out to achieve his child hood dreams. He was diagnosed with cancer, the doctors told him that he had ten tumors in his liver. His child hood dreams were that of zero gravity, NFL football player, an author of the encyclopedia, imagineer, meeting captain Kirk and winning stuff animals.
He belived leadership was very important.
He worked in virtual reality, he went to work on the Aladdin project at Disney.
He worked on the project for six months under the supervision of Jon Snoody. Randy learned how to put engineers and artists together. It was very stressful working on the project. He got offered to work there one day a week with imagineer and he worked ten years for them.

Efficiency was very important to him. He started a class called Building Virtual Worlds. This program consisted of fifty students, four people per team, and two weeks to work on a project. They could not have any shooting violence or pornography
in their work. They held a world wide exhibition for the students to show off their work.

Dr.Randy also came up with Hello World, a virtual world controlled by the person wearing the controls. It gave kids a sense of excitement about what their making.
He taught this course for ten years. The students had to perform their work live in order to get a grade.

He worked with Don Marinelli on the dream fulfillment factory. He did this for six years. Marinelli was very hard to work with. The curriculum was five projects and then three more. They had no deans to report to and liscense to break the mold. He also worked on the Alice project. It was a novel way to teach programming had over 1 million downloads and 8 textbooks.

The lessons learned was to help others, loyalty, never give up and never lose the childlike wonders.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Itunes

Itunes University


Itunes University makes it easy for anyone anywhere to experience different Universities through a variety of multimedia content. It enables everyone to hear and see faculty,staff,students and to virtually experience public events, special productions, and lectures that they might not have been able to attend. This is what the University of Maryland itunes provide fir thier students.

This is a good way for students who might have been absent for class and didn't get to hear the lecture from that day. Itunes University gives students the oppportunity to be able to hear that lecture from that day by going to that University Itune page.
It can also help the people in the community see what's going on with their local Universities whether it be games or special productions. Itunes University is a great tool foe students,staff,teachers and the community.
(http://www.umd.edu/itunesu/)

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Ipod Assingment

I came upon an interesting site where teachers in Zambia are using Ipods to enhance professional training in mathematics, science, and English. These Ipods are not your average, everyday Ipods, they are loaded with IRI lessons as well as with audio and video training in their presentation of complex topics.

Ipods also help the IRI team in Zambia address another challenge, how to convey concepts that are more easily explained visually. Using Ipods combination with a foot or solar-powered generator can also broadcast the lessons without being tied to the radio broadcast schedule.(http://les.edc.org/news.articles.php?id=262)



Duke University


Duke University is distributing apple ipods to its incoming freshman, as a part of an initiative to encourage creative uses of technology in education and campus life.
It will be preloaded with Duke related content, such as information for freshman orientation and the academic calendar.
Students can also download faculty provided course content, including language lessons, music, recorded lectures,and audio books. They will also be able to purhcase music through the site.(http://news.duke.edu/2004/07/ipods_0704.html)

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Dr. Alice Christie's Blog assingment

Dr. Alice Christie
Using Technology To Enhance Literacy
In Elementary School Children



The article i read on helping children improve their literary skills through
technology was very interesting. Children have the opportunities to decide what they want to learn rather then what other people think they should learn.
The children are reading from authentic sources not textbooks.
Dr. Christie believe that integrating technology and telecommunications into
Language Arts can enhance Literacy.

Wickipiedia

Who's messing with Wickipedia



Wickipedia is not a very reliable source to search for things.
It's so easy for people to go in and change entries and edit them.
This is not illegal at all so how do we stop it? Wickipedia is not fact checked.
Virgil Griffith invented the tool "Wickepedia Scanner" which helps trace entries and edits back to their IP addresses. By doing this it might help the hackers think twice about editing and changing entries. Now they are not so anonymous anymore.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Why Wireless? The Best Of Fischbowl

Fisch explains in this blog why wireless is important he goes on to say that students will spend the rest of their lives in multi-tasking,technology driven world and they will need information and communication technology literacy in order to be successful in both their professional and personal lives.

I agree with this statement, students of this generation deals with technology on an everyday basis the earlier they get exposed to this technology and how to use it the better they will be off in the long run.

Having access to the internet is very important because it gives students the opportunity to find things and learn things that they may need for school or an assignment. Internet is the best source to go and find things so if you don't know much about it , you might want to find out how to .

Sunday, September 14, 2008

The Best Of Fischbowl September

Is it okay to be a technologically illiterate teacher? Well. that's a very good question. I was reading this blog and they seem to be very harsh against those who were not familiar or in other terms computer illiterate. Fischbowl stated that school inspectors who are not technologically illiterate should b encouraged to find another alternative employment. That's not fair to say because technology has changed drastically over the years and for those teachers who didn't have the technology we have now shouldn't be punished for that.

I think people should know the basics of how to use a computer and for teachers, they should have workshops for those teachers who can't operate a computer properly. I think it really shouldn't affect the way a teacher teach her students if he or she doesn't know how to work a computer. Will it help make their teaching process more easily, yes it will but you can't make it seem like they don't have a choice either you know how to operate a computer or you don't and if you don't well your out of luck. This is how people may perceive it and that's not fair.

International Blogging

The first site I came upon talks about teachers in the U.K. who are debating over whether or not technology hinders or helps them in the classroom. It also states that a disadvantage for teachers is that with new technology comes a learning curve on how to operate it as well as how to profitably integrate it into the classroom. A drama teacher, Steve Powter thinks the new technology, especially the interactive white boards, are engaging students. The other teachers feel that schools shouldn't try to complete with all the technology that kids have outside of school and focus more on the basics.
In my opinion, I think technology in the classroom is a great idea and it can help students learning process easy and exciting. children of this generation are already familiar or somewhat familiar with technology. Many use technology on a everyday bases so introducing technology in the classroom should just teach them more about technology.(www.educationznet.com) this page is did not have a picture)

COMING TOGETHER








Another site i came upon talks about five countries coming together, Azerbaijan,Brazil,Palau, and Zambia, working together to inspire and enrich the lives of young people by playing and excelling at sports.
Teachers are coming together to figure come up with a P.E. curriculum program for the students. This is another example of how technology allows people to come together. (www.london2012/2008/04/15.com)

Monday, September 1, 2008

Blogging In The Classroom



Bill Ferriter teaches sixth grade Language Arts in Wake County,NC, where he was named teacher of the year 2005-2006.
In an Excerpt he explains how he begun to introduce the tools of the Read/Write web to his students. By doing this his class is now Blogging. He says,"Blogging has allowed me to create a forum where my students discuss current events connected to our social studies curriculum while developing language arts skills like critical thinking and persuasive dialogue. It also has given my students an audience for their ideas, which has increased levels of interest and motivation."(teacherleaders.typepod.com/the_tempered_radical/2008/02/using-blogs-and.html)


Blogging Connecting To Parents

Fifth grade students at Pinellas Park in Pittsburgh has a personal website helping parents stay informed with their children at school.
Fifth grade teacher Fred Roemer lets his students write about what they've learned each day in an online journal. Roemer's classroom web journal is among many nationwide. It serves as a model for other teachers who want to reclaim the technology from their students.(www.sptimes.com/2005/08/09Tampabay/Bloggingclassroom_co.shtml)

Did You Know?

Technology is all around us before you know it everything we do in this world will be computer generated. It's amazing how technology plays a major role in our society. Technology is updated everyday it's always changing. It's every where, on our jobs,schools,libraries, and banks. People are so dependent on technology now that we tend to forget how to do things without it. So you see how technology can be a bad thing too. What if a student that only knew how to do math problems using a high tech calculator, what would he do when it came to taking a test that would require him not to use one. what would the student do then?

I'm not against technology because i think it's great. It's advancing so fast that we have to read everyday just to see if their were any changes. If you do not have access to a computer you might want to invest in one. Having a computer or access to one can save you a lot of trouble. You can do on-line banking,apply for a job,pay bills anything you would normally have to leave your home to do you can do it in you home whenever its convenient for you.

Know you know a little about technology and how fast its growing and changing everyday. Everyone should invest in a computer because if you don't have one pr access to one you will be left behind.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

ACCESS Program topic three

The Alabama Connecting Classroom, Education and Students Statewide(ACCESS) is a program designed to help students that need to take a course on-line that may not be offered at his or her school. The program is offered to students grades 9-12 across the state of Alabama.
This program will help students that live in rural areas who may not have many course offerings available to them.
It provides access to high quality instruction and course work by providing a technical infrastructure to deliver sound courses by the internet.
Whats neat about ACCESS is that teachers can bring up a screen that is visible to the class to demonstrate how to work a problem or question, as well. Multiple screens can be shown at the same time and instructors can teach two or three classes at once.

ACCESS Distance Education is a state funded project and is free to all public school students within Alabama. Learning strategies also include the creation of three additional support centers, increasing the number of quality distance learning available to students,developing a blended course model and providing additional computers for on-line course access.

I think this program is very resourceful and can help a lot of students further their education. It can be helpful for students that need to take AP courses to get an advanced diploma and don't have the courses they need available to them. It is a good opportunity for hands on relationships between students and teachers.
To form a good student-teacher relationship is very essential. I hope this program help as many students as possible.

topic 2: ALEX programs

The Alabama Learning Exchange is a communal database of lesson plans created and posted by other teachers. The database is searchable by subjects.
It has knowledge areas in: Core subjects, Themes, Arts, Economics, English, Reading or Language Arts just to name a few.(www.21stcenuryskills.com)

The ALEX program to me is very resourceful. As for a teacher who is just starting out in her career, the ALEX can be a very useful guide. It gives examples on how to do lesson plans. Not only that it breaks it down into subjects. Therefore, if a teacher was looking for a specific lesson plan you can find it here at ALEX. It has valuable information that can be very helpful to you in the classroom setting. ALEX can make your first classroom experience more relaxing and better to adjust.

It also has different links you can go to that can be very useful to you as a teacher.
When I become a teacher I will be using this program a lot. It has so much information from lessons plans to a variety of subjects. I recommend all teachers to use the ALEX program.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

About Me topic one

Hi everyone, my name is Nikita Reed and i am twenty-seven years old. I am a single mother with four children, I know your probably thinking Oh my God!! I get that all the time. It's not an easy job, but their mine and i love them with all my heart. Their names are Cameran, Christian, Kaiyah, and Keelan. They are the light of my life. I'm a very nice person, very quiet and love to be around my family and friends. The reason i wanted to go back to school is for three main reasons: stability,job security and my children. I want to be able to provide for my children and to be independent. I love to read and sometimes i write poems on my spare time, which is not that often. I love helping others, especially children in need. Children are so precious and deserve to be given the opportunity to learn and have things like other children that are more fortunate have. That's about all I can think of for now. Hope you enjoy reading my Blog.

edm night class

If you would like to go to the home page of the university which i attend CLICK HERE

Back to school again

Hi, everyone i would like to take this time and invite you to my blog and feel free to check out my blog anytime. This is my first time blogging so if anyone has any advice about something or just want to share information let me know.