Final Reflection

Final Project #16

Project #13

Post Report on Collaboration

My group, June Girls mostly used Google docs in finishing Projects #15 and #16. We discussed which person would be responsible for which task for each project. Haleigh was in charged of putting the movie together and recording us. Chelsea made out the lesson plan for the smart-board. We all had a part in recording a project.We worked very well together and finished our work on time.

Last C4T

Flipped Class – a student perspective

My first assignment, I was assigned to read Jerrid W. Kruse blog.It is about a former middle school students who is now in high school & in a flipped classroom. Her words speak for themselves, but think her words speak to the state of science education well beyond the flipped class model.Her opinion on the flipped classroom varies for certain situations. She enjoys the freedom the flipped classroom gives her and she able to easily keep up with our everyday schedule. But, for students that have trouble learning from just a couple videos don’t do as well. She feels like every other day the teacher is spending the class period catching up the students who fell behind. This method really only benefits that small percentage of students who are able to memorize the notes they take on the videos we’re given.

My name is Hillary Hamlin. I am in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. As you know, we recently had to watch a video about a flipped classroom. I understand that many different teachers have their own way of “flipping a classroom,” but I don’t think the teacher is being helpful by any means. The teacher is not guiding them to learn something. I believe that the flipped classroom only needs to be assigned in certain subjects because sometimes it is difficult to help students reach a certain mastery level. Thank you for the insight

Emotional Sink of Teaching

For this comments for teachers assignment, I was assigned to read Jerrid W. Kruseblog. This semester he had all assignments be “learning experiences”. That is, the assignments were not graded in the traditional sense. When the students turned in assignments he provided extensive feedback for them to consider as they continue to learn. Then, four times throughout the semester he met with each student individually to discuss what they’d learned so far and what they could continue to work on. During these meetings he helped students become more and more adapt at self-assessing. Their final grade was self-assigned.


I am back again! Reading over some of your blog post and I found this one to be quite interesting! I know trying something different like feedback can be mind boggling, but it really seems like you take your work serious! I can only imagining after getting off having to go home and do it all over again, I know soon I will begin to get the taste of it! I am sure that you do get better and more efficient at giving that kind of feedback.

C4K November

Mckenna's Marching Into Fifth Grade

This week I was assigned to read McKenna's blog post. Her post was about October highlights.For the month of October they have had a Halloween party, monster bash, learned decimals in math, and also learned the Revolutionary War. She goes into a lot of detail on what they did inside their classroom. The monster bash is where they do some science projects. They did ghost farts with dry ice. They also did vampire veins with this cool goo.

I replied to this post saying my name is Hillary; I am from the University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed reading your blog post about activities done in October. It seems to me that you and your classmates had a great time! I also loved the video you made to summarize everything up. The Halloween party had to be a blast especially with the chocolate fountain :) yummy! Keep up the excellent work, because you did a tremendous job!

Ten Lies about High School
This week I was assigned to read Sara's blog post. Her blog post was a list of ten lies about high school. The one that caught my attention was all of the teachers care for you. Also high school will be an healthy environment.

I replied to this post saying my name is Hillary Hamlin. I am an Education major at the University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed reading you blog post about "Ten Lies in High School". I recently graduated from high school and I couldn't agree anymore on your facts! I know my high school was far from perfect, it is sad to say that a huge percent of the teachers really don't care! But as a student you have to look at what is best for you and keep reaching for your goal and remember to never give up! Good luck with everything!

Twilight
I was assigned Dakota H's blog post. This blog was very short and simply. She read the book twilight and just explained in short detail what the book was about.

I also replied to her comment saying I am from the University of South Alabama. I enjoy reading Twilight myself! I loved all the books and the movies. If you haven't seen the last movie, I highly recommend it! Thank you for sharing! Keep up the great work.

Final Post for PLN

Since I got my first PLN with Symballo, my computer life has completely changed. I found it to be very helpful to become well organized.Being in EDM310 has especially proven to me the importance of organization skills, as well as staying focused. By making my PLN, I was able to sort my categories out the way I wanted them.I have recently added a few websites to help me out in my new future with education. I have enjoyed adding and deleting sites, and I plan to continue to add sites from here on out! I am so glad that we were introduced to this tool, and I cannot wait to continue the knowledge with my own students one day! By doing this, it will allow my students to stay organized, as well as offering them the idea of having social and fun activities all at the same time!

Blog Post #13

Back to the Future

Back to the Future is a video of Brian presenting a project he did with his fourth grade classroom. First of all, the majority of Mr. Crosby's students speak another language besides English. English is there secondary language. Most of these students don't even what country they live in at the beginning of the school year. Brian knew that itself would be a challenge. He knew that his teaching had to be extremely engaging to help these students out. Each student in Mr. Crosby's classroom has their own laptop for using blog assignments. He also required his students to set goals.

He explains that each assignments are connected like the "High Hopes Balloon Project". The students used history, science, language arts, and also technology with this project. He conducted a hot air balloon experiment with his students. The classmates then recorded and posted about their progress with this project. This brought attention from all over the world. Mr. Crosby's poverty students began to be active learners through technology. An experiment like this empowered the students to learn on their own and also help break the language barrier. Like Brian says, if students have an audience that they know is reading what they write, there is more motivation to do a good job. This was very inspirational to me. This form of learning is a lot more valuable in the long run instead on learning the content to just pass a test. I believe that all children deserve the best education that will prepare them for a successful future.

A Vision of Students Today

A Vision of Students Today is a video about the realities of attending college in today's world. This video has no words just text. This video covered topics ranging from spending hundreds of dollars on textbooks that will never be open to professors never even knowing your name. This assignment was very clear to view this video from a teachers prospective not a students. Some of the things that were highlighted in the video were how students will be in extreme debt by the time they graduate. Also the fear of not been able to find a job after graduating because the job doesn't exist anymore.

As an educator you cannot waste a student's time. Instructors need to think of the needs of the student. This video really connects to me because I am a student myself in college. I have some of the same feelings as the students in the video. Many of these ideas presented in this video are very true. There have been plenty of times in class I seen students do everything besides school related things on their laptops. Looking at things from a teachers point of view, I can see that technology can make classes run a lot smoother. This video should be a wake up call to college professors.I believe more classes should be web based because it forces a student to have power over their own work.

Project #15 Part 2 Collaborative Video Lesson

Progress Report on Final Project

I am working with Kabrina Harris, Chelsea Calvert, and Haleigh Respress on our final project. We have been discussing and brainstorming numerous ideas such as using the smartboard. We finally planned a lesson for the plant cell. We split the vocabulary up into three different parts so we could demonstrate on the smart board. Haleigh was able to record us at different times to finish up our project.

Blog Post #12

My assignment for blog post #12 is for you to find a video about something that inspires you to keep moving forward. Sometimes in life we have many different bumps in our road but we always find away out of them. Also describe the message you gain in this video.

I found this video to be very inspiring! Forgiveness is a huge key to moving forward in life. This video makes me look at things in a different perspective. Sometimes I will get stressed out and feel like its only going to get worse but in reality if one door closes another one will open. We must notice that our future is so much brighter that our past! I gained many inspiring messages in this video. I never realized how powerful words can be.It is for people who always wanted to achieve the best of their ability and fulfill their dreams. Never give up! In this poem he says, "When you were born, you were crying, and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so, that when you die, you are the one that is smiling and everyone around you is crying" These words couldn't get anymore inspiring, I dont believe! We only have one life to live and we only have the power to control our destiny! Everything happens for a reason and the only person reliable is yourself!

Blog Post Assignment #11

Little Kids... Big Potential

This video is about Little Kids...With Big Potential. The children use many different resources in their classroom.I must say I am really impressed upon the fact that the children seemed so interested in their assignments and projects. The first thing they begin talking about is their blogs. The students really seemed to enjoy blogging and receiving positive feedback. The blog is also an online portfolio for their work. Mrs. Cassidy found that she could coordinate homework assignments,writing assignments, and all other information in one website.

Blogging is a great learning experience especially for younger children. Young students love the attention from their peers.It blew my mind to know that a first grader understood the main rules of blogging, which is to never leave a negative comment on someone's blog. Also they were able to explain how they use all different tools of technology everyday. These tools allow the kids to post their own topic or idea they wanted to learn about.

Mrs. Cassidy is very pro technology, she made it clear in her video. She seems to make learning fun, which is a huge key for success as a teacher. She allows the classroom to make videos. These videos would help the student interact with other classmates and also learn at the same time. This helps students learn how to become more connected and communicate with others.

I really think it is a neat idea that the blogs can be used as a online portfolio. As a parent, I would strongly believe in looking at my child's online portfolio. I would love to be able to see what he or she is learning and how well they are doing in a particular area. I would find this to be very beneficial to the parents that want to have a part of their childs learning experience.

This past year I have learned a lot about technology. Anyone is able to do this type of work, it just takes a little more motivation. Overall, I very impressed with Mrs. Cassidy's classroom. When I begin teaching, I want my classroom to be just like hers. I could see that the children were so excited being in her classroom. I want my students to do more hands on activities and engage in every assignment or project. Blogging is another way to view information. Cassidy is showing the world just what a 21st century classroom looks like.

Special Blog Post Assignment

A World Where Grades Will Be Left Behind

This article talks about education in the next 30 years. Everything will be done over the computer, and education will be free. It explains in great detail how technology will take over the classroom. He starts off in a deep thought into the future of education. He wants to teach the students more learning skills so they will be able to understand instead of just memorizing. He goes on about the "failure of the education system" --wont exist! Rather, students will take as much or as little time as they need to demonstrate mastery of a particular skill or concept. He believes this will change the way teaching is been taught for example, "Education will respond to you".

I like most of his points about this article. I agree that grades hinder learning. Grades do become the focus and the goal, not the learning. I do not believe we should completely take away grades. Grades show a teacher where he or she stands in a particular concept. Thrun said, “they aim to make online college education as cheap as a cell phone bill." I would love to see education only cost that much in the future but that is if it really does happen. Mr. Thrun may not have the answer but at least he recognizes the problem. We do need to evolve away from the old education models, but I still highly believe in having a teacher test a student on their knowledge. To me there is more to education than homework and technology.

C4T #3 Post

C4T #3

I was assigned to comment on Mrs. Kathleen's blog. The title of the first blog was 10 Internet Safety Tips for Students. These ten steps for internet saftey went in a very great detail. She believes it is important that students are taught these tips. She says the internet can be very helpful but at the same time very dangerous. Her hope is to teach students the key message at a young age. Check out her list!

My comment I left began like this:
My name is Hillary, I am a education major at the University of South Alabama! I really enjoyed reading and also learning a few things from your blog post. Safety tips are strongly important especially when working with younger students. I think it is important for parents and teachers to help the child understand there are rules. Yappy (the personal information you should not share online)- seems like a great way to help the kids understand the safety procedure. Thanks again for the many intersting facts that need to be spread to parents and teachers.

She responded back to my comment saying:
Thanks for commenting. I have found YAPPY to be an acronym that really resonates with my students. It’s an easy way for them to remember to keep their personal information private. I have used it with students aged 7-10 although I think it could work well with children of all ages.
Good luck with your studies. It sounds like you’re enrolled in an excellent course.

Another blog from Kathleen was Tips and Topics for Student Bloggers she goes in detail about quality blogs and how it is important. She made a poster with tips for student bloggers. It is avaliable for downloading or to print also. Then she also made a document with 20 ideas for blog post topics. I found this to be very helpful source!

C4K October

Ella's Blog

This week, I read a blog post called Dear Santy Claus. This post was talking about how Santa Claus goes on vacation during his off season. Also she made her Christmas list. After her Christmas list, she explains why she deserves everything on that Christmas list. She says she always listens and respects her parents.

The comment I left was:
My name is Hillary Hamlin and I am a student at the University of South Alabama.I really enjoyed reading you note to “Santy Claus”. I am sure they are getting ready for Christmas in a couple months. Also I love you list of extravagant gifts for Christmas.I believe you do deserve it especially since you help do dishes and take care of your parents and animals. I know your parents really enjoy you helping them out. I hope you get everything that you want, just keep giving your mother caramel treats! :)

The USHRS Blog
The week after, I was assigned Michael's Blog. He explains how United States History Research Seminar has been a completly new experience for him. They are using a different kind of learning experience instead of the teacher-gives-lecture-to-student-while-student-takes-notes type of learning, they are doing something called partnering. It's basically a style of learning created to make students more enthusiastic about their work. He says he looks forward to this type of learning inside USHRS.

My comment I left was:
My name is Hillary Hamlin and I am a student at The University of South Alabama. I am interested in this way of learning! This style is something that is new to me! Partnering seems to be very helpful especially in a students point of view. I know as a student myself, I enjoying working with others and sharing different thoughts. I do understand sometimes teachers wont pick the most interesting topic but if you have help from a partner y’all can make any idea creative. I’m also inspired by the fact that students can have their own sense of control over the subject. I believe that is a great thing to teach especially before college! Thank you for sharing!

Stephen's World

This week for comments for kids was really short and simple. Stephen mad a list of his favorite things. His favorite time is Christmas, also his favorite subject is Math.Welcome to his World

The comment I left was:
I really enjoyed reading your post about your favorite things. I do believe we have at least two things in common; my favorite holiday is Christmas. Also my favorite subject is Math. I find math to be real simple and fun at the same time. It is really interesting that you want to become a engineer. Keep up the great work and Im sure one day it will pay off. Dont give up on your dreams!

Vitulli & Santoli: Eyes on Ireland

This about two doctors who went to Ireland. Of coarse everything is different compared to the United States, but one particular thing would be the food. They made a whole blog post just about FOOD! They explained the pictures of food in great detail. Check out all the amazing food in Ireland

My last comment for October was left: First off, I really enjoyed learning about your trip to Ireland.That is a tremendous ammount of food, but since the prices are pretty high I would aspect a great ammount. This food looks magnificent! I'm sure it is a joyful experience to travel somewhere outside of the United States. I hope yall enjoy yourselves!

Blog Post #10

"Adventures of Pencil Integration"

I would be lying if I said I understood this cartoon right away. It seriously took a minute to comprehend John T. Spencer's illustration. After finally understanding, I concluded that you get what you pay for. PCs are inexpensive but they do manage to get the job done. On the other hand, Macs are built to last. I never really knew much about Macs until I began this coarse. I sure wouldn't mind having one, maybe one day I will invest in a new improved computer!

"Why Were Your Kids Playing Games"

The next blog post of Spencer's I read wasWhy Were Your Kids Playing Games? This blog post begins in a dialogue form with a principle and a teacher. He calls the teacher into his office and tells him "No Games!" The teacher quickly responds back by ,"they weren't games, they were advance stimulation." I can totally agree on the fact that students learn more when they are engaged in a activity instead of just memorizing things. As a educator we began to understand the concept about how important it is to engage every student. I could not agree more, that games are a great way for students to understand and comprehend the content that is been taught to them.

"Remember Pencil Quest"
Also, I read a blog post from Mr. Spencer called Pencil Quest. He talks about a field trip that he will always remember. His teacher took him on a "Pencil Quest". The students had assigned sites and the would read pages of material. The teacher described this as a "moving textbook". Mr. Spencer was so excited to began this project. He says that his fellow classmates even loved this assignment.

Mr. Spencer enjoys seeing his students get excited over many different variety of projects. He often sometimes wonders if his students will look back and remember their school days. I believe in this post he is trying to explain that pencils are still relevant in our today's society. He wants his students to become life long learners, which that is why he tries making learning in a fun way.

"Dont Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?"

This blog post is by Scott McLeod. Scott tells this story with a great sense of humor. He addresses this post to teachers, parents, administrators, and board members. He is almost begging everyone not to teach children about social media, blogging, making videos, or anything that has to do with the internet. He blocks it out of the student's life like it doesn't even exist.Then at the end he allows his students to use to useful tools.He as a teacher, learns the student's improvement that is been made. Students need technology learning lesson to help them use the internet in a resourcefulness way. It is important to teach things about the internet because it can be dangerous. The internet explore is a wonderful tool that should be used inside each classroom. It is a great way for a change in education.

Project #14 Smartboard (Part 1)

Book Trailer Project

Blog Post #9

Mr. McClung
Mr. McClung writes his blog post "At the Teacher's Desk." Volume One states how he learned to read the crowd, be flexible, communicate, be reasonable, not be afraid of technology, listen to students, and never stop learning. As a educator, you should not focus on evaluations to be made by your superiors more than your class. He also stresses about communication because it is one of the hardest skills to develop. Learn how to communicate with your fellow teachers as well as your students.

Mr. McClung also explains being reasonable in a classroom is important. He uses goals to describe the classroom aspects. Remeber that you are working with children. Another idea that caught my eye was never stop learning. Educators work in a learning enviroment and they should absorb as much as they can.Adapt your methods, lesson plans, thinking, and style in any way that could possibly help your students.

As I was reading this, I found this to be extremely great advice especially for incoming educators.What our students have to say is important, so listening and getting to know our students better should be the number one top priority. He had some great valid points. I think it is a wonderful idea to keep a summary of reflections at the end of each school year. By doing this, it can show the teacher what he or she has accomplished and not accomplished over the school year. It is very important to learn from your mistakes instead of dwelling on what you could have done better.

The most recent post is Volume 4, it reflects on 2011-2012 school year. There are two underlining main themes that really stuck out to him this year. The first being that he became worried about what the other teachers thought of him, and the second was that he found himself becoming stuck in the same routine he had done in past years. He explains that teacher's should make the class interesting and interactive. It is important to help kids not resent school.He discovered that taking care of his students is what is important and that worrying about what others think of him has never resulted in anything positive.

I discovered after reading this that not only do teachers constantly learn, but they grow. As teachers, it should be our main goal to concertrate on our students. I want my students to enjoy coming to class and looking forward to learning. It is really important to never get stuck in the same routine. Learning should be a wonderful thing to stundents especially learning in many different creative ways. We must remeber our students futures are at stake. After reading volume one and four blog post I really began to have a new prespective all around.

PLN Progress

For my personal learning space, I have created a Symbaloo. This tool is very convienent to use since it can organize everything together in many different catergories. I really enjoy opening up my home page to see symbaloo, because within a click of a button I can go to any websites instead of searching around. Also I love the fact that it is free and I will always be able to have it! This is hands down one of the best organization tools for the internet!

Project #9B Prezi

World War II on Prezi

Blog Post #8

How We Dream
In the video This is How We Dream Part 1 and 2, Dr. Richard Miller tells how modern literacy and language has changed globally. He explains about incremental changes, which is completely different from working with a piece of paper and a pencil. Instead students carry laptops around and write in Word processor. Today, we work on laptops with a variety of programs at our fingertips. He explained that the material we use for research can be updated in a blink of an eye.

Dr. Miller emphasizes in the second part of the video, on how important it is to share ideas with others. Miller also at the end, stresses on how we need be inspired to move forward with technology. We are able to do these things easily due to the global technology change in the past decade. The internet has several different communication tools that allow us to video chat or even simply email. We are allowed to communicate with everyone across the world.

I thought these videos were very helpful especially for EDM310. I will admit, it is sometimes difficult and confusing teaching students through technology. This is a new way of learning not just for the younger students but for every student learning in the 21st century. At this moment, I do feel prepared enough to write or use multimedia.I have a lot of learning left to do before I will be able to use it for the benefit of my students. I also feel writing with multimedia is imperative in today's society. This method of learning is changing the world drastically, and we have no other choice besides becoming familiar with this method. Multimedia is what our society has grown dependent upon whether people like it or not.

Carly Pugh

I absolutely loved reading Carly's Pugh Blog Post# 12. Carly did a great job with writing in multimedia. She definitely has the same idea as Dr. Miller with using YouTube and different visual aids. All sources are online, and since her post are published it will never disappear for viewers. Not only did she go above and beyond with this assignment, she made a creative playlist using YouTube. I will be using this in the future, she did a excellent job on her blog post.

EDM310 is Different
After watching the video The Chipper Series, I felt like this video was on how many of students in EDM310 feel. The Chipper series is about a student who is not willing to do the work that is due for the class. She continues to procrastinate until she takes matters in her own hands. This sends the message that you have to work for what you want in life. The only person that will succeed is the person willing to learn. Otherwise, you end up right where you began in the first place.

In EDM 310 for Dummies, two women talk about important things that you will learn in this classroom. My first month of this course, I felt overwhelmed and frustrated and at times I still do. While it can feel like you're going crazy upon entering this class, the help of others is always useful. Both videos emphasize that when a student puts forth an effort it increase their chances of success.

Blog Post #7

"The Networked Student" By Wendy Drexler

For decades, we have been taught that school is a place where students come together and listen to a teacher lecture in front of the class. However now in the 21st century education is taking a whole new level.The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler is a short informative video about the preparation for online learning. The teaching method discussed in this video are similar to what we are learning in Dr. Strange's class. The teacher is a simple guidance for the students that are willing to explore their own way of learning within networking. This video by describing connectivism, which is a theory of learning based on the premise that knowledge exists in the world rather than in the head of an individual. These students gain tools to utilize by making connections within their classmates. With this teaching method the student becomes more self-reliant and more interactive with their peers.

One important question was raised in this video. "Would a networked student even need a teacher?" Accoriding to the narrator, the student needs a teacher for many different reasons. A teacher is more than a lecturer. These students need the teacher for a various amount of varieties. Among these reasonings are instructions on how to build the student's personal learning network. The creation of a network of learning is extremely larger than a classroom and easier to connect with students.

Teachers are a important part of student's life. Students need to be encouraged,motivated, and guided through the learning process. The teacher is a resource that a student can ask questions and recieve help through networking. This allows students to be pointed on the right path if they are taught the correct direction. I feel like this method would be very beneficel to use in a middle or high school level. This approach to learning seems so much more exciting and interesting than a normal lecture style classroom. However, with freedom defiently comes responsiblity, and that is a outstanding skill to teach students especially helping the students out for college.

Personal Learning Enviroment
After watching this video, Welcome to my PLE, I must say I was very impressed! This video walks you through the tools used in a 7th grade science class. She created a social bookmarking account for example: collect information onto special note taking tools, posting reports, reflection of the classroom, and utlized this PLE in several different ways all in one day! These students are learning in a way very similiar to EDM310. Students are expected to conduct a research and present the information in a project. Like our class, she has a checklist to let them know when everything is due.This is a skill that they will have to use not only in college, but in life as well. I believe this is the future of our education system.

Project #8 The June Girl's Podcast

C4K Summary for September

A Day In A Life with Maddy
For my C4K assignment, I chose Maddy's blog post about her pet. In her post she explains this cat that is really precious and her name happens to be Maxi. She received Maxi from her mother on her birthday day when she was a little kitten. She describes Maxi now as a old grey cat that always goes for a walk and comes back home when she is hungry. Maddy ask at the end of the blog if we had any pets and which one do we believe is the better pet?

In my comment back to Maddy, I introduced myself as a student at South Alabama.I replied first, saying how much I loved the name Maxi she picked out for her cat. I explained to her that I own two dogs myself and they are very adventurous and also loves going to the park. I informed her that I read most of her recent post and really enjoyed reading and learning all about her. Her cat seemed well behaved but perhaps Maxi would like a friend to play with while she is busy at school. The end of my comment I wrote, "You are doing a great job and you should keep up the great work in your blog!"


Lee at Pt England School
My second assignment, I was assigned Lee. His profile is very eye catching and I also enjoyed learning a little about him and his personality. One post that really stood out to me was the one about Usain Bolt's Story. This was a short video clip about the fastest men on Earth. Lee and some of his friend reenacted some things that Bolt would love to do.

In my comment also, I introduced my as a student at the University of South Alabama.I told him that I really enjoyed learning something new about Bolt, I loved when they acted out his favorite sport. This clip was really amazing especially to see children work technology like it is nothing. I am really thrilled and told him to keep up the awesome work!

Blog Post #6

Randy Pausch Last Lecture

After watching, Randy Pausch's Last Lecture at the University of Carnegie-Mellon. His last lecture was very inspiring to me. My first reaction was that I would dread watching this hour long video but once he began talking I became interested into his speech. I really enjoyed learning a few things from Randy Pausch. At the beginning of this video he explains his childhood dreams, how to enable the dreams of others, and the lessons he had learned. Randy Pausch was a very enthusiastic and inspiring professor during his lectures. He talks about helping others and what people need to know to achieve their dreams.

Pauschs' did a lot of dreaming as a child. One of the dreams that really caught my attention is when he said, "I wanted to play in the NFL." Although he never played in the NFL, he did learn something from the hard work that his coach introduced to him. He believed football helped him get through life because of the fundamentals he had learned. He goes through a list of childhood dreams and he proceeds to tell how he accomplished them all. The most outstanding part of his lecture is about the brick wall. He says, "brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things." His perspective is if you want something badly enough, you should go after it. Just because something is standing in your way does not mean there is not a away around it, you will just have to search to find it it. Sometimes in life everything that can possibly go wrong will go wrong, so it is better to prepare for the worse.

In my future classroom, I believe this is something that I can learn from him. I know I will have many bumps and difficult obstacles on the road towards success as a great teacher. I have highly believed in, "if there's a will, there's a way." This is something else that I consider really important to instill in students and also in all different areas of life as well. I want to teach students that it is very important to go after what you believe in or dream about. Every single person has to work hard to achieve and fulfill their lifetime dreams. I want to be the teacher that my students consider fun, I believe it is extremely important to make learning fun. I also think that students retain more information, when they are interested in what they are doing. We as elementary educators should never lose our child like wonders.

One last thing that I certainly agree on with him is on feedback. This is a great piece of advice to accept and appreiciate corrections. As a teacher I find it highly successful and valuable when he says, "we should focus more on others than ourselves." We as teachers are there to help students to achieve their lifetime dreams. It is my goal to never give up on my students or complain about anything. Instead of complaining I will only push harder. I want to be the teacher that the students will remember later on down the road. Overall, I really enjoyed watching this inspiring video. I gained some great knowledge for teaching as well as life in general.

Project #9 Timetoast

Blog Post # 5

Travis Allen

In this video,Travis Allen explains many reasons why iSchool is a great thing for low budgeting. Travis made several amazing points in this video arguing for mobile learning. Travis is striving to promote a digital world in classroom today, he believes it can or will solve our educational problems especially budgets in the classroom. Higher educated students would be able to do anything on their iTouch or iPad as they would be able to in a classroom. He started a presentation about "going green", saving money and conserving natural resources. Travis also explains that is cost around $600.00 per student in a regular classroom, but it only cost students at iSchool around $150.00 per student. The application on the iTouch or iPad can assist in everyday educational learning.

I believe iSchool can be a great idea in many ways, I support going green all the way. I absoutly love the fact that Travis had such an impact on our world today. I would think the apps on the iTouch would catch the students attention. On the other hand, I do believe we still need classroom teaching. As a student I believe it is important to have interaction in between students and the teacher. Also I believe some subjects need to be taught in a classroom, instead of a iTouch. Math is a difficult subject to teach without pencil and paper, math is mainly about problem solving that has to be worked out. Also I believe the information taught over the iTouch wouldn't be the same as learning inside a classroom. I wouldn't like the idea of switching all the way to iSchool, students need to be taught other things besides just how to click a button. Some students would find other thing that would distract them from learning. This is my opinion I just believe students would learn more with a teacher in front of them teaching.


Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

Wow this video by Eric Whitacre's is absolutely speechless. This video is about people all around the world, keep in mind that have never met each other a day in their life, singing together in a choir. It is unbelievable to create a wonderful sound from so many different people. I would never have thought or imagined something like this to happen. This man that put this whole thing together is an absolute genius.


Teaching in the 21st Century In this video, Teaching in the 21st CenturyKevin Robert's made a very mind blowing presentation. He believes we should start teaching students skills instead of just making the students memorize the material. I have never realized that teachers one day will not be the source of knowledge because everything can be found within a click of a button. Technology is taking over the 21st Century and as a teacher we have to learn the latest technology. I still believe children would learn more inside a classroom interacting, it just does not seem real that technology would have a tremendous affect on our society. I personally would love to interact with my students and teach them knowledgeable learning skills that they would be able to take with them in the future. I personally as a educator have learned so much in EDM310; but as a college student you are forced to learn on your own instead of just finding answers on the internet that could be wrong.

Why I Flipped My Classroom
Katie a 8th grade teacher, makes a video called Why I Flipped My Classroom; this idea is brilliant.I think this is a helpful way to help students especially the ones that are struggling and having a challenge learning.The main idea behind flipping a classroom is to help students engage students in web videos and lectures. These students are able to work at their own pace as they are needed. I also believe it would help some parents actually get more involved in their children learning activity's. Parents would be able to watch the lectures for themselves, this would help eliminate the parents not knowing what they teacher is actually trying to teach. Students that had trouble in class can rewind a lecture and listen to it however many times until they understand. Also, if they want to get ahead and listen to a lecture before class they can do so,this will allow them to become familiar with the lesson that will be taught the next meeting. I highly believe this is a great way for students to become more interested in learning. They are also allowed to post comments to their peers or for the teacher to answer questions prior to class. This is a excellent way for both the teacher and parent to stay involved in the students life. I really look forward to using this approach for my students one day, this video was very helpful in so many ways.

Project #6

"This Is My Sentence"

Project #5 Presentation

Blog Post Assignment #4

Podcasting With the First Grade
First I read Podcasting with First Grade. This post was about a teacher that took a step ahead in reading and writing scrips. She teachers her students how to make a read-along audiobooks. Her first example was about Vacation Under the Volcano, a book by Mary Pope Osborn from The Magic Treehouse series. She began to read the short story to the class, and right after every chapter was finished the class wrote a few script about the chapter. The teacher helped her students record the script from the book, and they post it to their class blog and also iTunes. I really found this idea very brilliant, because of instead of having the same boring person speak they were actually apart of the story. As a teacher she observed the student experience with pitch, enthusiasm, speed, emotions,and fluency.

I really believe this has a giant leap forward on student engaging in interaction within the story. As a elementary education major this is something I would love trying with my students. My favorite thing about this blog was hearing the excitement in the children's voice, I really thing this would help children interact more with their classmates and not being afraid to speak out. I would be very interested to use this helpful skill in my classroom one day.

The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom
This video posted by Joe Dale, The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom. Students are allowed to become the teacher and they can decide what is important and what exactly needs to be taught. I really enjoy how podcasting brings the story to life. Podcasting can be used for many different things but one that I really enjoyed hearing about was the project based learning approach. I have to agree with Mr. Dales approach on how it demonstrates higher thinking skills. I also love the fact that the parents can have a better view on what is been taught inside the classroom. This is a excellent way to expand our knowledge as a teacher or a student, and its a great way to keep the classroom filled with motivation to succeed.

Podcast Collection
Another resouce I read was, Podcast Collection; by Judy Scharf. Her site consist on how to podcast, and benefits on podcasting. She gives visual direction step by step how to podcast and she also has printable handouts that are used in the classroom. She has taught be many things about podcasting since I am very new at this. A great tip from her website is to get to learn the software and began to become comfortable with it. I believe every educator should take advantage of the new technology so everyone would be more involved.

I think overall podcasting is a amazing tool to use in classroom's, and I would strongly encourage new student's learning about podcasting to check out her website. Podcasting is a great way to learn, and I agree on how it can make the class more active while learning at the same time. This just shows on how much technology can help students expand their way of thinking.

Project #3-C4T #1

For my first Comments for Teachers, I was assigned Mr. John T Spencer. The title of the first comment I commented on was 10 Differences Between Teaching and Coaching.In this post, he list 10 different reasons why coaching and teaching are different. He begins in clear visual steps throughout his post. Mr. Spencer briefly described his experience as a teacher and a coach. One out of the top ten differences that is really eye catching to me was when he addresses that, "When I coached, I was a visitor in someone else's space. I had little control over classroom culture and climate. If a kid misbehaved, it didn't feel personal. When I'm teaching, I'm part of a community." Before even reading his blog post, I never put much though into the differences between a coach and a teacher if anything I would have thought they were pretty similar.

I truly believe a great teacher has a tremendous amount of an affect on the community. I also believe it is a teacher's job to get involved to help make the community a better place, and as long as we teach children at a young age the right direction and always encourage. I understand Mr. John Spencer’s point on when he coached he felt like he was a visitor in one someone else’s space. He has little control on what happens inside a classroom, but as a coach he was a role model to his students.

In my next assignement for John Spencer, I chose a blog post on "What Does It Mean to be a Great Teacher?"As he instructs top ten reasons, he speaks out saying "He is struck that it takes years to reach." As a student teacher I sure don't have the knowledge as some teachers do with children. He even as a teacher and a coach admit he makes mistakes and he apologies, but when he succeeds he wants the student's to get the credit. This statement just goes to show on how greatly he appreciates his students' because without them he wouldn't be anything.

As I begin my comment, I read over this list and really began to put a little deep thought to what he is actually teaching especially to student like me that are still willing to learn and grab a hold of the useful knowledge. I know teaching will not be an easy road by no means because children from all over the community come from different background and are raised on how the parent is raising them. Children at a young age are very opening minded and if we can teach them the right direction, I believe we can always make that difference in their life. It is so important as a teacher especially teaching elementary to teach the students to learn how to share and manners. S a student myself I have had a lump sum of many great teachers and I have also had the teachers that just are all the time miserable. Teaching should never be looked at as just a job or a career; it is an activity every day to help the children expand their knowledge in many different ways.