This class was very rewarding. Although I took this class twelve years ago, it was not the same. Twelve years ago we learned how to print overheads and how to create Power Point presentations. I found this more beneficial because of the advances and accessibility with technology. creating the formulas within Excel were the most difficult piece in the class. Now I feel more comfortable with the ability to showcase this skill in a classroom setting.
If I were to have one complaint, it would be that I do not feel the due dates of the assignments were fully defined. I felt rushed and under prepared to complete assignment. The mid-term, class assignments and final were all crammed together. I believe it would more beneficial to have each assignment parallel to class lectures. I believe it would be more beneficial to teach the content then immediately assess learning.
In Summation, I thoroughly enjoyed having Mr. Wakeman as my professor. I am leaving this class more confident in my technological skills. He opened my eyes to pod casting,and blogging. This class was also an excellent refresher to commonly used programs, such as word processing, presentations, and spread sheets.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Edutopia
Both of the vodcast that I watched were brought to me by Edutopia which is a wonderful resource for all teachers to have. Please click on the above hyperlink and bookmark it as one of your favorites. There are tons of great ideas and it is a great way to be in the know.
The Edible Schoolyard
The first vodcast I watched was "The Edible Schoolyard" and it actually has inspired me. Alice Water is the brain child behind "The Edible Schoolyard" and said that it was initially started to better the food quality in schools. This video was about an outside classroom dealing with gardening and cooking. In this school the first part of the year is spent outside working on their classroom garden. They would plant, harvest as well as eat from their garden. It was a great example of integrating various studies. Following is not the same vodcast that I viewed but it is dealing with the same school and children:
I found this to be a wonderful way to integrate social studies, math, science and general life lessons. These students learned the basics of ecology within this class, as well as teamwork and how to build a community. One of the teachers mentions that she felt this type of education was a sign of the times. In other words, children are not learning these simple values such as how to cook, set the table and work together as a community. I feel that one of the best things about this type of learning is that the students have fun! They do not realize that they are learning so many valuable tools to help better themselves in the future. They have a sense of ownership of their garden and are willing to work it whenever they can.
A Night in the Global Village
The second vodcast I watched was entitled "A Night in the Global Village." This one was about a school in California that focused on expeditionary learning. In other words these students would be assigned numbers and where later split up into "families" along with one adult chaperon. Each family would then live in structures that were built to represent various poverty stricken areas from around the world. There was even one refugee camp that were given no supplies and where not allowed to speak English or any language that would be understandable to any of the other villages.
In addition to that a member from each family was automatically made pregnant and an additional family member had the loss of one arm. Throughout the evening these families were to work together to get supplies needed to survive through the night. Since on one family was given all the supplies needed they would have to barter amongst one another to make this a success. At the end of the 24 hours the students were brought back together to have a reflection of the events from the night prior. During this reflection time students discussed how they felt, what they could do to help the hungry and even acted out some of the events from the night previous night.
Following is a brief video based on this vodcast:
I found this to be a wonderfully beneficial program. I feel that children are must more receptible to new ideas and change. So, what a great way to enable them with new ideas and hope for changing the future. If you are interested in learning more about this school please click on this link: Heifer Ranch and see what other ways you can help.
The Edible Schoolyard
The first vodcast I watched was "The Edible Schoolyard" and it actually has inspired me. Alice Water is the brain child behind "The Edible Schoolyard" and said that it was initially started to better the food quality in schools. This video was about an outside classroom dealing with gardening and cooking. In this school the first part of the year is spent outside working on their classroom garden. They would plant, harvest as well as eat from their garden. It was a great example of integrating various studies. Following is not the same vodcast that I viewed but it is dealing with the same school and children:
I found this to be a wonderful way to integrate social studies, math, science and general life lessons. These students learned the basics of ecology within this class, as well as teamwork and how to build a community. One of the teachers mentions that she felt this type of education was a sign of the times. In other words, children are not learning these simple values such as how to cook, set the table and work together as a community. I feel that one of the best things about this type of learning is that the students have fun! They do not realize that they are learning so many valuable tools to help better themselves in the future. They have a sense of ownership of their garden and are willing to work it whenever they can.
A Night in the Global Village
The second vodcast I watched was entitled "A Night in the Global Village." This one was about a school in California that focused on expeditionary learning. In other words these students would be assigned numbers and where later split up into "families" along with one adult chaperon. Each family would then live in structures that were built to represent various poverty stricken areas from around the world. There was even one refugee camp that were given no supplies and where not allowed to speak English or any language that would be understandable to any of the other villages.
In addition to that a member from each family was automatically made pregnant and an additional family member had the loss of one arm. Throughout the evening these families were to work together to get supplies needed to survive through the night. Since on one family was given all the supplies needed they would have to barter amongst one another to make this a success. At the end of the 24 hours the students were brought back together to have a reflection of the events from the night prior. During this reflection time students discussed how they felt, what they could do to help the hungry and even acted out some of the events from the night previous night.
Following is a brief video based on this vodcast:
I found this to be a wonderfully beneficial program. I feel that children are must more receptible to new ideas and change. So, what a great way to enable them with new ideas and hope for changing the future. If you are interested in learning more about this school please click on this link: Heifer Ranch and see what other ways you can help.
iTunes' University
Yet another great resource for students and teachers alike. Through my search on iTunes's University I found a plethora of information. Of course the first website I found was the apple . This is a wonderful place to gather information on its iTune's University product. Following is an informational video of iTune's University:
Make sure to watch this video, for it will give you a great idea as to how beneficial iTune's U can be. Another wonderful video that was created by a college level teacher, Catherine Stukel . She points out in her video that iTune's U is not only Universities here stateside, but also abroad. In addition to universities from all over the world you can also learn from various lectures as well as museums! Please take the time to watch er video too:
I believe that students can benefit from this wonderful resource in multiple ways. Not only is it portable education, but it is free and extremely user friendly. Can you imagine being able to learn whatever you are interested in from anywhere in the world? There are truly no limitations to iTune's University. You do not have to have an iPod to be able to benefit. All you need is access to a computer! Students could listen to and/or watch assignments given by their teachers at home, on vacation, from the local library or at work when there is down time.
Let's not forget about the educators. Educators can too benefit from iTune's University. They can add to their lesson plans or learn needed information from this program too! Teachers could search out needed information on whatever the topic maybe. They could use lectures or videos found to introduce or enhance any lesson plan. Let's keep in mind too that teachers do not know everything either. Teachers can learn information on subject that is to be taught to better have themselves prepared to present to their students.
Overall I feel that once iTune's University gets out there and becomes more widely utilized by both educators and students alike, our access to knowledge will be incomparable to any other resource that has every been out there for us to utilize. It is amazing how much technology has grown in such a short period of time.
Make sure to watch this video, for it will give you a great idea as to how beneficial iTune's U can be. Another wonderful video that was created by a college level teacher, Catherine Stukel . She points out in her video that iTune's U is not only Universities here stateside, but also abroad. In addition to universities from all over the world you can also learn from various lectures as well as museums! Please take the time to watch er video too:
I believe that students can benefit from this wonderful resource in multiple ways. Not only is it portable education, but it is free and extremely user friendly. Can you imagine being able to learn whatever you are interested in from anywhere in the world? There are truly no limitations to iTune's University. You do not have to have an iPod to be able to benefit. All you need is access to a computer! Students could listen to and/or watch assignments given by their teachers at home, on vacation, from the local library or at work when there is down time.
Let's not forget about the educators. Educators can too benefit from iTune's University. They can add to their lesson plans or learn needed information from this program too! Teachers could search out needed information on whatever the topic maybe. They could use lectures or videos found to introduce or enhance any lesson plan. Let's keep in mind too that teachers do not know everything either. Teachers can learn information on subject that is to be taught to better have themselves prepared to present to their students.
Overall I feel that once iTune's University gets out there and becomes more widely utilized by both educators and students alike, our access to knowledge will be incomparable to any other resource that has every been out there for us to utilize. It is amazing how much technology has grown in such a short period of time.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
iPods in Instruction
I feel that I have to begin this blog with a WOW and a "Now I feel old" comment! Of course that should be followed up with "What a wonderfully obvious idea!" After doing my research on using iPods in the classroom I am left sitting here wishing that I had the same opportunity and excited because that will most likely be how my children will learn.
The first website I visited was the apple website . That was a great place for me to start my research. I felt Apple did a wonderful job of really laying the information out there for me in a easy format for me to digest. They talk about mobile learning and the necessity of such tools. Apple is informative on how to not only create the educational content but also how to get that content to your students. They are quick to point out how easy and convenient it will be for students to be able to tune into class topics on their own schedule.
Another site I visited was the Duke Center for Instruction and Technology . Here I discovered the DDI, Duke Digital Initiative, which is a multi-year program that will experiment, develop and implement many new and emerging technologies. Duke has created this to tested the effectiveness of these technologies within their school. In 2004 Duke gave the entering freshmen an iPOD to help enhance this experiment! Now, duke is only giving the iPods to students taking classes in which the professor will be specifically using the equipment to further the study. I think this proves that there is great initiative out there in our state side universities. How many other state side universities are there out there that are doing this? Perhaps there should be more?
Here is an impressive school that is doing something similar to Duke University: The Chapin School. This is an all girls school ranging from grades K though 12 and located in New York. Although they are not giving the iPods to the students, they are still using them within the classroom. I was taken back to find out that they are using the iPods in their class as early as the eighth grade. Then, I thought about how well my 4 year old plays the Wii and how well my 6 year old niece can navigate around on her iPhone. This website is worth poking around. Check it out and let me know your thoughts!
The first website I visited was the apple website . That was a great place for me to start my research. I felt Apple did a wonderful job of really laying the information out there for me in a easy format for me to digest. They talk about mobile learning and the necessity of such tools. Apple is informative on how to not only create the educational content but also how to get that content to your students. They are quick to point out how easy and convenient it will be for students to be able to tune into class topics on their own schedule.
Another site I visited was the Duke Center for Instruction and Technology . Here I discovered the DDI, Duke Digital Initiative, which is a multi-year program that will experiment, develop and implement many new and emerging technologies. Duke has created this to tested the effectiveness of these technologies within their school. In 2004 Duke gave the entering freshmen an iPOD to help enhance this experiment! Now, duke is only giving the iPods to students taking classes in which the professor will be specifically using the equipment to further the study. I think this proves that there is great initiative out there in our state side universities. How many other state side universities are there out there that are doing this? Perhaps there should be more?
Here is an impressive school that is doing something similar to Duke University: The Chapin School. This is an all girls school ranging from grades K though 12 and located in New York. Although they are not giving the iPods to the students, they are still using them within the classroom. I was taken back to find out that they are using the iPods in their class as early as the eighth grade. Then, I thought about how well my 4 year old plays the Wii and how well my 6 year old niece can navigate around on her iPhone. This website is worth poking around. Check it out and let me know your thoughts!
The Great American Scavenger Hunt!
After exploring Dr. Christie's website I found out about how to use a GPS and Geocaching in your classroom as a wonderful teaching tool. I found that the majority of her work seems to be geared towards the middle and upper grade levels. However, being a third grade teacher at heart I truly believe that her ideas can be incorporated into the third grade curriculum. It should be noted that she did have some ideas for elementary level but for whatever reason that part of her website was down.
First of all, if you are like me you may have never heard of geocaching. Put simply it is nothing more than a treasure hunt. What child or person for that fact does not like a treasure hunt? I for one am all about making learning fun and what a great way. Here is an example of what a geocache box looks like:
The example lesson that she has on the above website can be uses across the curriculum and that makes it even more appealing to me! She first splits her class into small groups of 3 or 4 students. They then choose from a list of eight predetermined vacation destination to research. After they have complied their data they then get to create a brochure to advertise their vacation to fellow classmate and parents alike.
She then states that the teacher is to place clues to each of these vacation spots in a geocache box. After which each of the boxes are hidden in various locations. The students then get to go on a scavenger hunt, using a GPS tracking system, in search for the geocache boxes to lead them to their final destination!
What a wonderful idea! On this same website she also gives some tips as to which GPS systems to get. Not to forget, she gives you all the tools needed to make you a well informed educator ready to present and persuade any administrator to allow you to purchase this equipment for your school! Way to go Dr. Christie! For more information on Dr. Christie please follow this to learn more!
First of all, if you are like me you may have never heard of geocaching. Put simply it is nothing more than a treasure hunt. What child or person for that fact does not like a treasure hunt? I for one am all about making learning fun and what a great way. Here is an example of what a geocache box looks like:
The example lesson that she has on the above website can be uses across the curriculum and that makes it even more appealing to me! She first splits her class into small groups of 3 or 4 students. They then choose from a list of eight predetermined vacation destination to research. After they have complied their data they then get to create a brochure to advertise their vacation to fellow classmate and parents alike.
She then states that the teacher is to place clues to each of these vacation spots in a geocache box. After which each of the boxes are hidden in various locations. The students then get to go on a scavenger hunt, using a GPS tracking system, in search for the geocache boxes to lead them to their final destination!
What a wonderful idea! On this same website she also gives some tips as to which GPS systems to get. Not to forget, she gives you all the tools needed to make you a well informed educator ready to present and persuade any administrator to allow you to purchase this equipment for your school! Way to go Dr. Christie! For more information on Dr. Christie please follow this to learn more!
To Wiki or Not to Wiki?
That is a question that many people ask themselves. Prior to this class I have often wondered whether the information I was getting off of Wikipedia was reliable information. I am a safety girl so I always assumed there may be whole in the information given on Wikipedia. However, I never once thought about a large corporation (or small on for that fact) changing their information on Wikipedia to make themselves sound better. Makes sense when you really stop to think about it though. Even though it is dishonest for all the obvious reasons, what would stop a company giving themselves a little extra icing?
With all of that negative slander I must say that it is often the first place I go to find out information. It is fast and easy to use. I believe that it should also be noted that it is not always bad information. Some of the information is good quality information and can be a great resource. I believe that it can be a great place to get started on your research, but it should by no means be the only source. If teachers are using it, then they should always be responsible and verify the information before passing it along to their students. And, parents...the same goes for you.
So, to answer the million dollar question: Yes, Wiki and Wiki away! Just be mindful of the information before passing it along to anyone or you may end up making yourself sound ignorant.
With all of that negative slander I must say that it is often the first place I go to find out information. It is fast and easy to use. I believe that it should also be noted that it is not always bad information. Some of the information is good quality information and can be a great resource. I believe that it can be a great place to get started on your research, but it should by no means be the only source. If teachers are using it, then they should always be responsible and verify the information before passing it along to their students. And, parents...the same goes for you.
So, to answer the million dollar question: Yes, Wiki and Wiki away! Just be mindful of the information before passing it along to anyone or you may end up making yourself sound ignorant.
The Last Lecture
Randy Pausch is a name that I will not soon forget. After watching the infamous video it was as if I could not get enough of Pausch. So, I googled him and youtubed him. Below is an interview he did with Good Morning America:
He started off his lecture stating that he was not going to spend his time talking about the proverbial "elephant in the room", which was his cancer, but rather he would like to give this lecture to inspire. He felt that anyone could achieve their dream not matter what is was so long as they vowed to never give up and as long as they had others that cared.
As a child he dreamed of becoming a Disney imangineer, Captain Kirk, playing in the NFL and experiencing zero gravity. Although he never played for the NFL or became Captain Kirk he never gave up on his bigger dream. He felt he was a success because of the love that he was surrounded with and because of his perseverance. Pausch talked about overcoming obstacles or "brick walls" and about his own personal experiences that help to shape his life.
Throughout the lecture he never once has any self pity. It was quite the opposite. He was full of life and energy. He was in great health, other than the obvious, and even went so far as to do one handed push ups! I found him to not only be inspirational but also funny. You can tell by the way that he carried himself that he always lived his life to the fullest.
He ended the lecture with a slide of his children and "head faked" the audience by informing us that he was not giving the lecture to us. Instead the lecture was for his children in hopes that it would one day give them comfort and inspire them. I found him to be an angel in many ways. Yes, this is definitely a man that I believe lives on in all of the individuals that he inadvertently touched.
He started off his lecture stating that he was not going to spend his time talking about the proverbial "elephant in the room", which was his cancer, but rather he would like to give this lecture to inspire. He felt that anyone could achieve their dream not matter what is was so long as they vowed to never give up and as long as they had others that cared.
As a child he dreamed of becoming a Disney imangineer, Captain Kirk, playing in the NFL and experiencing zero gravity. Although he never played for the NFL or became Captain Kirk he never gave up on his bigger dream. He felt he was a success because of the love that he was surrounded with and because of his perseverance. Pausch talked about overcoming obstacles or "brick walls" and about his own personal experiences that help to shape his life.
Throughout the lecture he never once has any self pity. It was quite the opposite. He was full of life and energy. He was in great health, other than the obvious, and even went so far as to do one handed push ups! I found him to not only be inspirational but also funny. You can tell by the way that he carried himself that he always lived his life to the fullest.
He ended the lecture with a slide of his children and "head faked" the audience by informing us that he was not giving the lecture to us. Instead the lecture was for his children in hopes that it would one day give them comfort and inspire them. I found him to be an angel in many ways. Yes, this is definitely a man that I believe lives on in all of the individuals that he inadvertently touched.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Podcasts From Last Semester
The first podcast I listened to was entitled Watchers and Listeners - How Do We Respond? I thought this was a good podcast. Although one of the speakers did not seem to be as prepared as the other two. There were lots of awkward pauses and seemed a little lacking in content knowledge.
I liked how all of the speakers interacted. Everyone seemed to speak clearly and for the most part stay on topic. What I am going to take from this podcast is to make sure to "do my homework" and make sure that I have clear and precise notes to ensure that I do not get off topic. I can imagine that it may difficult when feeding off of one another to remain focused on what the podcast is to be on.
The second podcast I listen to was What I Learned From Randy Pausch's Last Lecture I felt that this podcast was much more organized. It seemed to me that the speakers of this podcast were much more into the topic. There were only a couple awkward pauses, which I believe is to be expected. Also, this group used more humor that the initial group I listened to.
After watching Randy's last lecture I can understand why the speakers were so enthralled with the topic. Randy was a wonderful speaker and I believe he would excite whomever his audience was. So, an improvement that I will keep in mind will be to make sure that the topic of discussion will be one that touches me or that I feel strongly about. Following is the video of Randy Pausch's last lecture. Please take the time to watch.
I liked how all of the speakers interacted. Everyone seemed to speak clearly and for the most part stay on topic. What I am going to take from this podcast is to make sure to "do my homework" and make sure that I have clear and precise notes to ensure that I do not get off topic. I can imagine that it may difficult when feeding off of one another to remain focused on what the podcast is to be on.
The second podcast I listen to was What I Learned From Randy Pausch's Last Lecture I felt that this podcast was much more organized. It seemed to me that the speakers of this podcast were much more into the topic. There were only a couple awkward pauses, which I believe is to be expected. Also, this group used more humor that the initial group I listened to.
After watching Randy's last lecture I can understand why the speakers were so enthralled with the topic. Randy was a wonderful speaker and I believe he would excite whomever his audience was. So, an improvement that I will keep in mind will be to make sure that the topic of discussion will be one that touches me or that I feel strongly about. Following is the video of Randy Pausch's last lecture. Please take the time to watch.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
180 Day?
Out of the "Best(?) of the Fishbowl" the blog that I chose to talk about was from the month of April entitled 180 Days? . The reason why I chose this one is because I have often wondered myself "Where do all of the days go?" Barry Bachenheimer is a professor that used the Did You Know?/Shift Happens videos to provoke conversation in his class.
These discussions later caused Mr. Bachenheimer to raise this question himself. Which, naturally lead him to create a video of his own entitled 180 Days? . Following is the video:
Mr. Fisch thought it was a great idea so he borrowed Bachenheimer's to assist in creating his own for his school. If you follow this link and scroll down to the fourth paragraph you will be able to see Mr. Fisch's version. Overall the message is the same. There are a ton of school days that are wasted on all sorts of non-educational materials. So. does that make those days any less important or should we re-evaluate our thought process? Perhaps make some adjustments?
I think that both of these men are on to something here. I know that this is very controversial but, why not? Why not have year round school??? The whole reason we have summers to begin with is so that the children could come home and help in the fields and with the livestock. How many of us are still doing that? There are schools here in the US that are year round already! According to the American Library Association : "Over the past fifteen years there has been a 544 percent increase in the number of public schools that have implemented year-round education in the United States."
As I said this is a very controversial topic of discussion. This is a wonderful site to help explain the various tracking schedules involved with year-round school. This site also list the pros and cons of both. If you have never thought of this before this would be a wonderful place to get just your basic info on the subject.
I personally believe that we should go to year-round school. Don't get me wrong I love my summers, but it is the year 2009. When are we going to adjust ourselves to fit in with the rest of the world? The track schedules give us ample amount of time off. No, it is not all in one big chunk. But, the kids are not the only ones who "forget" information learned from the previous year - the teachers do too.
These discussions later caused Mr. Bachenheimer to raise this question himself. Which, naturally lead him to create a video of his own entitled 180 Days? . Following is the video:
Mr. Fisch thought it was a great idea so he borrowed Bachenheimer's to assist in creating his own for his school. If you follow this link and scroll down to the fourth paragraph you will be able to see Mr. Fisch's version. Overall the message is the same. There are a ton of school days that are wasted on all sorts of non-educational materials. So. does that make those days any less important or should we re-evaluate our thought process? Perhaps make some adjustments?
I think that both of these men are on to something here. I know that this is very controversial but, why not? Why not have year round school??? The whole reason we have summers to begin with is so that the children could come home and help in the fields and with the livestock. How many of us are still doing that? There are schools here in the US that are year round already! According to the American Library Association : "Over the past fifteen years there has been a 544 percent increase in the number of public schools that have implemented year-round education in the United States."
As I said this is a very controversial topic of discussion. This is a wonderful site to help explain the various tracking schedules involved with year-round school. This site also list the pros and cons of both. If you have never thought of this before this would be a wonderful place to get just your basic info on the subject.
I personally believe that we should go to year-round school. Don't get me wrong I love my summers, but it is the year 2009. When are we going to adjust ourselves to fit in with the rest of the world? The track schedules give us ample amount of time off. No, it is not all in one big chunk. But, the kids are not the only ones who "forget" information learned from the previous year - the teachers do too.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Technologically illterate?
I thought this was a great post by Mr. Fisch. I have become somewhat of a fan of his since the first Fischbowl assignment. He makes some very truthful statements that I believe are often overlooked. Seems to me that there are still a ton of folks (mostly in admin positions) that are afraid of "the computer." Why? I'm not really sure. I think part of that problem is because there is never enough tech support. I can count on one of my hands the amount of teacher inservices that I have attended that had ANYTHING to do with technology.
It is strange for us to know and seem technology being used in so many of our everyday activities, yet when it comes to the classroom we want so much of it to be almost prehistoric. Now, I can only base my opinions off of what I have experienced and I have not taught in Mobile County in over 7 years so some of this may have changes - at least I hope so. At any rate, when I was teaching here I had no computers in my class, there were no computer classes offered to my students, I was required to have the old paper gradebook and there was still a card catalog being USED in the library. I also have to mention that this was a low socio-economic school.
Now, when I taught school in Georgia it was a huge step up in the technology department. We had an overhead projector that was shared among grade level. Of course, we had to purchase our own overhead materials and those are not cheap! We did have a tv in each classroom and we were each allotted 3 computers to every classroom. Best of all - no card catalog in the library. I thought I had died and gone to heaven!!! A funny yet relevant point to be made was when I gave a power point presentation to my fellow educators on our new text book adoption. You would have thought I was a genius! The amount of teachers in that meeting that had no idea how to uses power point, much less use any key board short cuts, was absolutely embarrassing. After that I was the teacher the other teachers would come to if they had problems with their computer. Ha! As if I knew what I was doing! Apparently I knew more than them.
My overseas teaching experience was a complete 180 from my teaching in Mobile. The International school of Belgrade had the funds to support their staff in technology. We had a full time tech person on staff. We each had out very own computer plus 10 computers in each room. There was a massive computer lab because every class had computer class twice a week. Every teacher had their own overhead and were given more overhead materials than what we knew what to do with. Yes this was a private school and yes the parents forked out a lot of money to send their students there. But, the money given to the school was allocated properly. Technology was a huge part of the curriculum at every grade level. It was a priority.
I guess my overall point is that I agree with Mr. Fisch. If we are to be proper educators we owe it to our future to be properly schooled in technology. It's not going anywhere and if we are not on the boat we are going to be left behind. I feel that we are already behind enough and it is about time to do some catching up with the rest of the world.
It is strange for us to know and seem technology being used in so many of our everyday activities, yet when it comes to the classroom we want so much of it to be almost prehistoric. Now, I can only base my opinions off of what I have experienced and I have not taught in Mobile County in over 7 years so some of this may have changes - at least I hope so. At any rate, when I was teaching here I had no computers in my class, there were no computer classes offered to my students, I was required to have the old paper gradebook and there was still a card catalog being USED in the library. I also have to mention that this was a low socio-economic school.
Now, when I taught school in Georgia it was a huge step up in the technology department. We had an overhead projector that was shared among grade level. Of course, we had to purchase our own overhead materials and those are not cheap! We did have a tv in each classroom and we were each allotted 3 computers to every classroom. Best of all - no card catalog in the library. I thought I had died and gone to heaven!!! A funny yet relevant point to be made was when I gave a power point presentation to my fellow educators on our new text book adoption. You would have thought I was a genius! The amount of teachers in that meeting that had no idea how to uses power point, much less use any key board short cuts, was absolutely embarrassing. After that I was the teacher the other teachers would come to if they had problems with their computer. Ha! As if I knew what I was doing! Apparently I knew more than them.
My overseas teaching experience was a complete 180 from my teaching in Mobile. The International school of Belgrade had the funds to support their staff in technology. We had a full time tech person on staff. We each had out very own computer plus 10 computers in each room. There was a massive computer lab because every class had computer class twice a week. Every teacher had their own overhead and were given more overhead materials than what we knew what to do with. Yes this was a private school and yes the parents forked out a lot of money to send their students there. But, the money given to the school was allocated properly. Technology was a huge part of the curriculum at every grade level. It was a priority.
I guess my overall point is that I agree with Mr. Fisch. If we are to be proper educators we owe it to our future to be properly schooled in technology. It's not going anywhere and if we are not on the boat we are going to be left behind. I feel that we are already behind enough and it is about time to do some catching up with the rest of the world.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Podcasts
Podcasts are new to me and honestly it made me feel old and out of date when I was trying to navigate around the itunes website. I stuck it through and managed to figure it out though! So as you can imagine, this particular assignment has truly opened my eyes to an entirely different way to teach and learn not only in the classroom but also as continuing ed.
The first podcast I listened to was SmartBoard Lessons. I listen to a few of the episodes to get a better idea of how this works and also trying to figure out if it would be useful to me as an educator. After listening to a few I saw how addictive podcasting can be. The SmartBoard Lessons podcast had sponsorships and seemed to be one that has been around for sometime. I thought it was wonderful that you could connect to folks from all over the world. This podcast also had music playing in the opening of the cast which I thought was a nice touch. There was also a great deal of advertisement in this podcast.
KidCast by Dan Schmit was very different from the SmartBoard Lessons podcast. This podcast had no opening music and was only one guy talking. Although it seemed more boring than the first podcast I actually got some great ideas from him. I felt he did a much better job explaining how to use podcast in the classroom. The title of the episode I listen to was "Medium is not the message." He referred to using podcasts in the classroom as "extended academic conversation." Overall this podcast seemed to be the one that was the most boring to listen to even though I got the best information for this one.
EdTechtalk was similar to the first podcast that I listen to in the fact that they were speaking from all over the world. This podcast used skype and had teachers from New York, New Hampshire and Europe. Not only did they uses skype to make these connection, but they also used chatrooms. I did not notice any sponsors as the first podcast but they did utilize music and I thought that was a nice touch.
MacBreak Weekly and This Week in Photography were the only two that had nothing to do with K-12 education. The MacBreak Weekly podcast seemed to be the largest podcast. They had many sponsors and sounded more like a morning talk show. There was tons of jokes and banter. This Week in Photography also had tons of sponsors. It reminded me more of the initial podcast that I listened to.
Although I am still not exactly sure how podcasting is done, I can see how this would be a wonderful tool for teaching. I really liked the ideas from KidCast and would be interested in how to create a podcast so that I can utilize it in my classroom. Podcasts would be a great way to communicate with parents, too. In addition to the a weekly letter I think a weekly podcast would be wonderful. Also, the amount of continuing education that a teacher can get out of sharing with one another is simply astronomical! I will continue to search through the itune podcasts to see what else I can learn about.
The first podcast I listened to was SmartBoard Lessons. I listen to a few of the episodes to get a better idea of how this works and also trying to figure out if it would be useful to me as an educator. After listening to a few I saw how addictive podcasting can be. The SmartBoard Lessons podcast had sponsorships and seemed to be one that has been around for sometime. I thought it was wonderful that you could connect to folks from all over the world. This podcast also had music playing in the opening of the cast which I thought was a nice touch. There was also a great deal of advertisement in this podcast.
KidCast by Dan Schmit was very different from the SmartBoard Lessons podcast. This podcast had no opening music and was only one guy talking. Although it seemed more boring than the first podcast I actually got some great ideas from him. I felt he did a much better job explaining how to use podcast in the classroom. The title of the episode I listen to was "Medium is not the message." He referred to using podcasts in the classroom as "extended academic conversation." Overall this podcast seemed to be the one that was the most boring to listen to even though I got the best information for this one.
EdTechtalk was similar to the first podcast that I listen to in the fact that they were speaking from all over the world. This podcast used skype and had teachers from New York, New Hampshire and Europe. Not only did they uses skype to make these connection, but they also used chatrooms. I did not notice any sponsors as the first podcast but they did utilize music and I thought that was a nice touch.
MacBreak Weekly and This Week in Photography were the only two that had nothing to do with K-12 education. The MacBreak Weekly podcast seemed to be the largest podcast. They had many sponsors and sounded more like a morning talk show. There was tons of jokes and banter. This Week in Photography also had tons of sponsors. It reminded me more of the initial podcast that I listened to.
Although I am still not exactly sure how podcasting is done, I can see how this would be a wonderful tool for teaching. I really liked the ideas from KidCast and would be interested in how to create a podcast so that I can utilize it in my classroom. Podcasts would be a great way to communicate with parents, too. In addition to the a weekly letter I think a weekly podcast would be wonderful. Also, the amount of continuing education that a teacher can get out of sharing with one another is simply astronomical! I will continue to search through the itune podcasts to see what else I can learn about.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
International Blogging
I found it more difficult to find information on international blogging than I did here in the U.S. This made no sense to me until I realized that all of the search engines I was using were U.S. based. So I began typing co.uk and ran across a few.
The first article I stumbled upon was Blogs in the classroom . This article addressed both U.S. and international school blogging. Clarence Fisher , a middle-school teacher in Canada, uses blogging for his class to respond to things ranging from classroom assignments to their weekend plans. One point that I wondered about was how do these get screened? Fisher reviews each entry before posting. Of course this does mean that yet another duty or task will be added on to the teachers day. However, Fisher points out that this is a task he is willing to do because he feels that blogging "sparks students' enthusiasm for computers, writing and opining." Fisher also points out that he feels this online journaling is giving his students the idea that they have a voice and it is being heard.
The second article I found was entitled Classroom 2.0 "Sustained Blogging in the Classroom" . This was a strange website since it really just gave me tons of links to follow Jeff Utecht, an international teacher in Shanghai, China.
I followed the links on this website and found tons of useful information regarding blogging in the classroom. Some links lead me to photo galleries , a final thought video from the '08 conference and of course the link to UtechTips . This is Jeff Utecht's website that he considers to be "a view of education for international educators." The amount of useful information I found linked to this one teacher was astronomical. Following is a link to the audio version of the Learning 2.0 Conference. Although it is lengthy, approximately 23 minutes, I still recommend listening to it in it's entirety. As a final note I would also like to share this video I found on UtechTips : .
The first article I stumbled upon was Blogs in the classroom . This article addressed both U.S. and international school blogging. Clarence Fisher , a middle-school teacher in Canada, uses blogging for his class to respond to things ranging from classroom assignments to their weekend plans. One point that I wondered about was how do these get screened? Fisher reviews each entry before posting. Of course this does mean that yet another duty or task will be added on to the teachers day. However, Fisher points out that this is a task he is willing to do because he feels that blogging "sparks students' enthusiasm for computers, writing and opining." Fisher also points out that he feels this online journaling is giving his students the idea that they have a voice and it is being heard.
The second article I found was entitled Classroom 2.0 "Sustained Blogging in the Classroom" . This was a strange website since it really just gave me tons of links to follow Jeff Utecht, an international teacher in Shanghai, China.
I followed the links on this website and found tons of useful information regarding blogging in the classroom. Some links lead me to photo galleries , a final thought video from the '08 conference and of course the link to UtechTips . This is Jeff Utecht's website that he considers to be "a view of education for international educators." The amount of useful information I found linked to this one teacher was astronomical. Following is a link to the audio version of the Learning 2.0 Conference. Although it is lengthy, approximately 23 minutes, I still recommend listening to it in it's entirety. As a final note I would also like to share this video I found on UtechTips : .
U.S. K-12 Teachers Use Blogs In The Classroom
The first article I read was In the Classroom, Web Logs Are the New Bulletin Boards . This article discussed how blogs or web logs are changing the classroom setting. Mrs. Dudiak , a second grade teacher in Frederick County, Md., found that her classroom web logs were much more beneficial than her typical group discussions or personal journals. One way she uses web logs is for her students to post what they saw and learned on a recent field trip to a Native American farm. She also noted that her typically quiet students were much more vocal online than in the class. Mrs. Dudiak makes note that "blogging is a different form of writing" and that even though the students are expected to proofread they are not held to the same grammatical rules as written work. The focus of blogging should be more on the content than anything else.
The second article that I read was Blogging from the Classroom, Teacher Seek Influence, Risk Trouble . Although this article gave some examples of how blogging can be used as an arena for teachers to communicate with one another to voice their frustrations within their school, classroom management ideas or lesson plans, I found that the meat of it was in regards to how it can affect a teacher's career if not used properly. Kilian Betlach, a languages arts teacher in Chicago, started a blog anonoymously as "TMAO" . Betlach is only one of many young teachers opening this discussion. Alexander Russo, a former parochial school teacher, notes that teacher blogs "raise important issues and give the rest of us a peek into a world that we see and hear about rarely or only anecdotally through the media." The author of this article, Eddy Ramirez, makes the statement that teacher blogs allow us to really see what is going on in our schools instead of just focusing on standardize test scores. I believe that both Russo and Ramirez are onto the same idea - passing first hand knowledge onto others can certainly open eyes to situations otherwise swept under the rug and perhaps "galvanize people to action." This article also goes on to warn those teachers blogging to exercise caution and to be aware that even though we all have free speech, courts have been ruling in the favor of schools so that they can reprimand teachers if their posts disrupted school operations. One of many notable links I ran into during this research was entitled Classroom 2.0. It gives wonderful YouTube links to 100 of the best YouTube Videos for Teachers.
The second article that I read was Blogging from the Classroom, Teacher Seek Influence, Risk Trouble . Although this article gave some examples of how blogging can be used as an arena for teachers to communicate with one another to voice their frustrations within their school, classroom management ideas or lesson plans, I found that the meat of it was in regards to how it can affect a teacher's career if not used properly. Kilian Betlach, a languages arts teacher in Chicago, started a blog anonoymously as "TMAO" . Betlach is only one of many young teachers opening this discussion. Alexander Russo, a former parochial school teacher, notes that teacher blogs "raise important issues and give the rest of us a peek into a world that we see and hear about rarely or only anecdotally through the media." The author of this article, Eddy Ramirez, makes the statement that teacher blogs allow us to really see what is going on in our schools instead of just focusing on standardize test scores. I believe that both Russo and Ramirez are onto the same idea - passing first hand knowledge onto others can certainly open eyes to situations otherwise swept under the rug and perhaps "galvanize people to action." This article also goes on to warn those teachers blogging to exercise caution and to be aware that even though we all have free speech, courts have been ruling in the favor of schools so that they can reprimand teachers if their posts disrupted school operations. One of many notable links I ran into during this research was entitled Classroom 2.0. It gives wonderful YouTube links to 100 of the best YouTube Videos for Teachers.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
The Fischbowl
I watched this movie three times. I thought it was very thought provoking and certainly opened my eyes to some facts that I simply had never thought about. For example, I have always view the United States as the richest, having the largest military, as being the center of the world's business and finance, with the strongest education system and having the highest standard of living. Yet, Mr. Fisch points out that in 1990 it was not the U.S. but rather Great Britain. He also points out that in 2006 1.3 million students graduated from college here in the United States, while 3.1 million graduated in India and 3.3 million graduated in China! These were just a few facts that made me stop and think. I agree with Mr. Fisch that it is not a competition for who is the fastest or who has more, but rather an easy way to point out that our world is getting smaller and smaller day by day. We need to stop and ask ourselves as well as others: What exactly is it that our children/students need to be successful in the 21st century?
I agree with Mr. Fisch that we are in deed living in exponential times. Technology has improved and has certainly made this giant world feel so much smaller. Living in times like these we must ensure that our children and their children will have the abilities to be a success in this new world that we live in. The Fischbowl Blog in ppt is a wonderful link to share. Mr. Karl Fisch has also created ShiftHappens , a website that anyone can join to continue the conversations provoked by the "Did you know?" powerpoint. I highly recommend sharing this information with others and begin discussing what exactly can we do that we are not already doing to prepare our students for out future.
I agree with Mr. Fisch that we are in deed living in exponential times. Technology has improved and has certainly made this giant world feel so much smaller. Living in times like these we must ensure that our children and their children will have the abilities to be a success in this new world that we live in. The Fischbowl Blog in ppt is a wonderful link to share. Mr. Karl Fisch has also created ShiftHappens , a website that anyone can join to continue the conversations provoked by the "Did you know?" powerpoint. I highly recommend sharing this information with others and begin discussing what exactly can we do that we are not already doing to prepare our students for out future.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
ALEX and ACCESS
ALEX
ALEX stands for Alabama Learning Exchange. I found this site to be extremely user friendly with multiple uses. I can certainly see how this could be utilized by not only educators but students and parents alike! Although there were several reasons why I found this to be a great resource, my number one reason would be because of its versatility.
As an educator I have seen how so many of us can view lesson plans or learning opportunities in such different ways. Because of that I was tickled to see that I too could share my knowledge in hopes of assisting other educators in the same manner that I would. Not only would I uses this resource to assist in lesson plans, but I also loved the idea of being able to post questions to all of the other educators enrolled with the Alabama Learning Exchange. I signed up to be a member so that I would be able to fully utilize the website. In doing so I was able to bookmark lesson plans that I searched. This would enable me to bookmark multiple lesson plans then later go back to review and compare said lesson plans. I then would be able to modify and combine these plans to create an entirely new plan to suit my class better.
As a parent I know how overwhelming it can be to assist your children in their school work/homework. Sometimes you may feel that your child knows more than you or perhaps you may be lost as to where to go to find information to help your child grasp a certain concept. ALEX offers wonderful links that I know would be helpful in educating not only the student but also the parent. I wish I would have had this tool to offer to previous parents that were struggling with helping their children. These are web links that can be offered to the parent via the teacher. At which point the teacher could obtain specific websites from ALEX geared towards the troubled area for the parents to utilize. The teacher could also give the parents the ALEX website and allow the parents to fully examine this wonderful tool on their own.
Another way to utilize ALEX would be for the teacher to allow their students to use the one of the many websites given to help with various concepts, either as a supplement, for remedial work or for enrichment purposes. One of the sites I found helpful was Coolmath. There are games on this site that the students can use to learn, help with remediation or to enrich what is already taking place in the class. They can even continue to use these games at home with siblings or parents! After all, what kid will pass up on playing a computer game?
ACCESS
ACCESS stands for Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide. This is a great way to help our upper school children to achieve more than what we may possibly be able to offer them directly in our school system. This website is set up so that students can be offered more classes via the Internet. Students may also take AP classes that may not be offered in their school through using ACCESS.
One thing about ACCESS that I hope they will someday change is the fact that it is really only for grades 9 and up. I am an elementary educator so this website would not be all that useful for me. However, you can sign up for this as a parent. With that being said, as soon as my children reach that age you better believe that I will become a member because I can certainly see how it could open up so many more avenues for my children to follow. Who knows, maybe one day I too will become an E-educator!
ALEX stands for Alabama Learning Exchange. I found this site to be extremely user friendly with multiple uses. I can certainly see how this could be utilized by not only educators but students and parents alike! Although there were several reasons why I found this to be a great resource, my number one reason would be because of its versatility.
As an educator I have seen how so many of us can view lesson plans or learning opportunities in such different ways. Because of that I was tickled to see that I too could share my knowledge in hopes of assisting other educators in the same manner that I would. Not only would I uses this resource to assist in lesson plans, but I also loved the idea of being able to post questions to all of the other educators enrolled with the Alabama Learning Exchange. I signed up to be a member so that I would be able to fully utilize the website. In doing so I was able to bookmark lesson plans that I searched. This would enable me to bookmark multiple lesson plans then later go back to review and compare said lesson plans. I then would be able to modify and combine these plans to create an entirely new plan to suit my class better.
As a parent I know how overwhelming it can be to assist your children in their school work/homework. Sometimes you may feel that your child knows more than you or perhaps you may be lost as to where to go to find information to help your child grasp a certain concept. ALEX offers wonderful links that I know would be helpful in educating not only the student but also the parent. I wish I would have had this tool to offer to previous parents that were struggling with helping their children. These are web links that can be offered to the parent via the teacher. At which point the teacher could obtain specific websites from ALEX geared towards the troubled area for the parents to utilize. The teacher could also give the parents the ALEX website and allow the parents to fully examine this wonderful tool on their own.
Another way to utilize ALEX would be for the teacher to allow their students to use the one of the many websites given to help with various concepts, either as a supplement, for remedial work or for enrichment purposes. One of the sites I found helpful was Coolmath. There are games on this site that the students can use to learn, help with remediation or to enrich what is already taking place in the class. They can even continue to use these games at home with siblings or parents! After all, what kid will pass up on playing a computer game?
ACCESS
ACCESS stands for Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide. This is a great way to help our upper school children to achieve more than what we may possibly be able to offer them directly in our school system. This website is set up so that students can be offered more classes via the Internet. Students may also take AP classes that may not be offered in their school through using ACCESS.
One thing about ACCESS that I hope they will someday change is the fact that it is really only for grades 9 and up. I am an elementary educator so this website would not be all that useful for me. However, you can sign up for this as a parent. With that being said, as soon as my children reach that age you better believe that I will become a member because I can certainly see how it could open up so many more avenues for my children to follow. Who knows, maybe one day I too will become an E-educator!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
First Post
Hi everyone my name is Victoria Wiik. I graduated from the University of South Alabama the first time in 2000 with a degree in Elementary Education. Unfortunately I allowed my teaching certificate to expire. So, now I am back in school so that I can get back to my calling.
My first year of teaching was here in Mobile, Al at Orchard Elementary. It was a wonderful and challenging experience. I was a Jump Start teacher which means that I taught the 5th grade repeaters. I took the job ready for the learning experience and boy did I get it!! Despite the dilapidated portable they stuck me in I had a wonderful year and would never trade it for the world!
I then moved to Savannah, Ga where I taught 3rd grade. This is where my heart fell. I knew after my first year of teaching 3rd grade that I was teaching at the level I wanted and needed. I taught at West Chatham Elementary for three glorious years and was exposed to an entirely different education system than Mobile's system. Was it better? In some ways yes but the politics were still there.
I was ready for something more and began searching the net for other options when I stumbled upon an international teaching website. I was immediately interested so I went to jotting down numbers and taking notes. After making a few phone calls, brushing up my resume, purchasing airline tickets for the job fair in the city of brotherly love and of course packing my bags, I found myself making a contract with the International School of Belgrade. Yet another glorious teaching experience that I will go back to in due time!!
My first year of teaching was here in Mobile, Al at Orchard Elementary. It was a wonderful and challenging experience. I was a Jump Start teacher which means that I taught the 5th grade repeaters. I took the job ready for the learning experience and boy did I get it!! Despite the dilapidated portable they stuck me in I had a wonderful year and would never trade it for the world!
I then moved to Savannah, Ga where I taught 3rd grade. This is where my heart fell. I knew after my first year of teaching 3rd grade that I was teaching at the level I wanted and needed. I taught at West Chatham Elementary for three glorious years and was exposed to an entirely different education system than Mobile's system. Was it better? In some ways yes but the politics were still there.
I was ready for something more and began searching the net for other options when I stumbled upon an international teaching website. I was immediately interested so I went to jotting down numbers and taking notes. After making a few phone calls, brushing up my resume, purchasing airline tickets for the job fair in the city of brotherly love and of course packing my bags, I found myself making a contract with the International School of Belgrade. Yet another glorious teaching experience that I will go back to in due time!!
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