Goodbye Class, Hello World

What a bittersweet ending it has become for me. I'm rejoicing that this semester (especially this class) has come to an end, yet I don't think I would have made it very far as an effective and relevant (can't you tell I love those two words?) teacher without this course. I was basically lost at the beginning of the semester, and I've come a long way. I'm in much appreciation of everything I have learned, and not only will it benefit me in the future, I've already used a number of tools and sources I've learned about in this class.

I'll be looking forward to keeping in contact with many of my classmates as well as other people I've met around the world, and it wouldn't be possible without the use of the wonderful world of technology. Good luck to future students of the class, and job well done to the staff that's done such a great job helping all of us! The class is over, but now it's time to put our knowledge to the test...

Just for fun?

A wordle with a few things a gymnast might need :)

Teaching Using a Voicethread

One of my favorite recipes is cottage cheese salad. Through this voicethread I will teach you how to make it so you may enjoy it for yourself. :)

Skype Me Baby One More Time

This semester I've downloaded Skype but used it very infrequently. I understand the power it has behind it, but I haven't had the need to really use it. My family lives in Pennsylvania and I've talked to my grandmother and aunts using Skype a few times, but it's awkward, hard to hear, and we like to just talk on the phone. Also, my brother lives in Florida, and we keep in touch (sometimes) using Skype. It's not my favorite medium for communication, since I'm usually on the go, but it surely serves a purpose as a tool for many to use.

My Google Earth Project

Results from my Google Docs Form

Here's a link to the results from my Fitness Form I created in Google Docs

comments4teachers weeks 13 and 14

Morgan Bayda is a teacher in Canada. She's completely honest and very passionate about her learning network.

A Prime Example of Learning from our Students

The second I got to this link I realized how embarrassing my PLN is. The (7TH GRADE!) student was able to create (learn from) a network in which she is involved with daily. School projects were constructed with ease, and bibliographies were virtually built in. If feedback was needed, tools like Skype came in handy for peer or scientific review.

The student navigated knowledgeably through the apps, but I thought the digital poster was the coolest thing. She is able to work from the classroom, home, or anywhere else for that matter. The dymanics that is PLE provides are endless, and I am more than thankful to have this (now) as part of my own.

Personally, I find searching for things and endlessly looking at pictures, trying to filter out what information I need from what's being given frustrating, and using tools like delicious, and students sharing their work, collaboration is catalyst to sharing knowledge and learning from sources we would otherwise never encounter. I've become more inspired (and more equipped) to make for a better personal learning environment for myself... thanks for the nudge in the right direction! (and from a student, nonetheless)


The Question

I'd like to just start out noting that I LOVE the fact that a woman started this whole thought provoking video... Thank you for that, Clare Booth Luce...

When my students are grown and productive members of society, I hope they look back and reflect on the impact I had on them...I hope my sentence goes something like this: "She helped me learn about who I was as a person, taught me how to live with integrity, how to learn from others and treat them with respect and kindness, and to strive to live up to my God-given potential."

Substantive Project 14 (made using Windows Media Maker)

Collaborative Interview- Project 15 (made using photobooth and imovie)

Timetoast Assignment

Check out my timetoast project here! Each year family and friends come together for a week of R & R, and our unplanned itinerary always has FUN in every time slot!

iGoogle wonder

One of my favorite things that we've done (aside from comments4kids) in this class is learn the world of google. This class was my first experience REALLY using it, and setting up a gmail account and having an igoogle page has helped me become more comfortable using the computer for other things I would normally just (haphazardly) write down.

I've enjoyed learning docs (which I didn't even knew existed before this class) and doing presentations. Docs has been useful for me in many other classes, and friends not even attending this school are intrigued about my blog and want to make their own presentations. I'm sure I'll be using forms and other features in the future for other classes as well.

Docs, Forms, RSS feeds, and other links are right at my fingertips on my igoogle page, making keeping up with classwork simpler. I'll be using it for a long time and will definitely be sharing the wonder with others.

And the Zax are taken down by the Landslide....

The two videos we watched for this blog assignment were probably my favorite. They were personal, sweet, and powerful. The Dr. Seuss video of the Zax described two Zax, traveling opposite directions, bumping into each other, and both believing that their way is the right way, wouldn't budge to the side to let the other pass. Well, they NEVER budged, and life carried on about them just the same... life progressed...change happened about them, and they were lost...right in the middle of it all. This video is powerful in that it can be applied to almost any aspect in my (your, our) life, and it really inspires me to be more self-reflective.

Pertaining to this technology course, this video teaches us that we can refuse to be technologically literate teachers...but we will have no effectiveness if we make that choice. I do not want to be a Zax, I am not a Zax. I don't have to know everything and I don't really care to, but I know that being willing to learn will carry me through the rest of my life with the impact I want to carry and the integrity I want to uphold.

The second video was amazing. I know that the assignment is to comment on publishing student work on the web, but I can't get over the emotions that these children left me with. Seeing these children coming together, working hard, singing from their hearts, and watching their faces as they followed along with their teacher is what drives me to BE a teacher. I want to work with our future generation and inspire them to learn more about themselves and others. I want to encourage diversity and openness, and one of the best platforms to do this on is with the help of technology.

Showing student's work on the web creates a network of shared information that normally wouldn't ever be seen or heard...like how Mr. C streams his classroom live... this could give many teachers different ideas concerning classroom management, lesson plan ideas, student project ideas, etc. Collaborating and sharing provides a base for knowledge to grow and build upon!


comments4teachers

For this set of comments, I visited Tom Whitby's blog "Island View". His first blog I read was Lead us into Reform and the second was Illigitimi Non Carborundum. Here he discusses how it may be the time to get out of the horse and buggy and ease into the car. YES, it is true a good teacher needs no tech to be good... It is also true that a good teacher with tech can be better!



comments4kids

This morning I left a comment for a student in Mr. McClung's class. The student described a baseball player "Dizzy" Dean, who was a legend that "slipped under the radar". He used online resources to find out factual information about the baseball player, and did a great job leaving his post.

comments4kids week 13

Mary is from Room 14 and she told us about a magnificent trip down a water slide. It was her favorite thing at camp, and she was very descriptive. She did a great job telling her story and I hope she likes the comment I left for her.

Kaia- an Ocean of Ideas

During the semester we've gotten to know Mr. C and seen first hand the outreach and support he provides for many technological newbies (and oldies). Mr. C's class got involved in Kaia's blog and since she was only 3, left a voicethread for her so she could hear what others had to say (and not have to be read to). I think that was special, and I know Kaia and her dad both enjoyed it.

Kaia's blog shared with us a picture essay of a trip to the beach. She did an excellent job narrating the slides her dad put together for her. We got to meet her little sister Skyelar and her family, and it's nice to know someone so willing to expose themselves, to teach others it's okay to share. Kaia's dad Jabiz Raisdana is interesting to me, and I've began following him on twitter. He's shared with us his concerns of exposing his children, which is probably only natural for a parent... He's gotten a lot of feedback which is what I believe he was going for, and hopefully his fears subsided.

Education is waiting for us. It's there to be sought out and shared, built upon and expanded... it's our responsibility to educate ourselves and our children. We should use what we have and strive to be leaders, and understand there are new ways of learning. We should reach beyond the textbook, and see how others live. We could be inspired; we could inspire someone else! I think this is a great way to document a child's life, and I more than likely will do the same when I have children.