Virtual Tour using Google Earth

Google Presentation on PLNs

This is a presentation I did on how to go about setting up and making use of a PLN or a Personal Learning Network.

Google Docs Survey Results

These are the results from my class survey on Alice in Wonderland. I created the survey using Google docs.
Click Here

Podcast:: Did You Know 3.0

This is the podcast I did with my group in EDM 310, We were discussing the video Did You Know 3.0. Click Here to listen


EDM 310's podcast site "Its time for technology talk"

Comments 4 Teachers weeks 7,8,9

Since I am running quite behind in my comments for teachers I read several different articles from the month of April and choose three of them to comment on. Bill Ferriter, The Tempered Radical, posted on several different subjects ranging from inappropriate comments made by media personal to poetry to getting middle school boys interested in reading.
I commend Mr. Ferriter for his post about the comedian from CBS that had some not so funny things to say about the mis fortunate Russian boy who was sent back to Russia with only a note explaining why his adoptive mother didn't want him anymore.
Another one of his entry's talks about April being Poetry month and how he is getting his students involved in writing and recording their own poetry. Its nice to see a teacher so interested in a subject he is teaching his students.
The third post that i commented on dealt with getting middle school boys interested in reading. Mr. Ferriter has a great approach that is at the same time self serving. He has his class do silent reading time were for thirty minutes he and his class read silently. Not only does this allow for students to have time to read the stories for their assignments but this also allows for Bill to show how interested in reading he is. Reading is not just for book worms or librarians, real mean read too.

P.L.E.'s & Two Questions

This students P.L.E. is much more in depth then my own. I want to know what this site is that she is using to keep track of all of her different sites. She is using so many tools to help better her education. She is very interested in the subjects and is learning non conventionally. I love her closing comment, "because the class is paperless you never need a pencil". I hope to expand my Personal Learning Environment as she has done. Having a P.L.E. is very important to being a life long learner.

Two questions that can change your life from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.

This video was fantastic! It asks you two questions. 1. Whats my sentence? What will people say about you once you are gone? and 2. Am I better today then I was Yesterday? These are two very important questions that we all need to think about. I hope that my sentence is something great like, Through her teaching she helped foster generations of social activists who have changed the world for the better! That would be great. And as far as, Am I better today than yesterday? Every morning when I wake up I try and make a point of being a better person then I was the day before. I want to change this world for the better and the only way to do that is for me to give my 110% every single day. I hope that is an attitude that i can pass on to my future students.

Blogging! (April 18)

When I first started EDM 310 I was very skeptical about the entire class especially the blogging. I didn't really understand what a blog was, I just thought it was someone with to much time on their hands that just sat around and typed up what had happened to them that day or their uneducated opinions on current issues. But now I see how important blogging can really be, people from around the world can share ideas and information with each other. I can see myself using this in my teaching career, technology is progressing so fast, gone are the days of the chalk board and endless lectures and note taking. I will encourage my students to use the internet and the tools available to them to help build their own personal learning network and to tap into the global learning community that is out there just waiting for their input.

Wordle Project

I was able to create this word cloud by using Wordle.

Comments 4 teachers weeks 10 & 12

For Weeks 10 & 12 I commented on Mrs. Follis' blog, The Follis Files


Mrs. Follis was discussing collabrotive earning techniques such as group projects and study sessions and how these could help students better preform in class. I commented on her blog saying that I agreed with her on how group collaboration could lead to a better understanding of the subject at hand. Some people have a more interactive learning style then others who do just fine by reading from the book or listening to lecture. Some students need to be able to bounce ideas off one another and relieve feed back from their peers. She also disused how waiting tables when she was younger helped prepare her to deal with a class full of kids. I agree with her completely, I too am waiting tables to put myself through school. I know that I am learning skills that will enable me to control my class room and to help tailor to individual students needs. There a lot of things you can learn from working with lots of random people. You learn that everyone is different and how to read these different people. You learn to see when someone needs something that they are not prepared to ask for, weather is be an extra ranch dressing for their salad or help understanding a question. I really enjoyed reading Mrs. Follis' blog, I think that she brought a lot of interesting things to light.

Video Confrence with Two Teachers from Kenya using Skype

Yesterday I participated in a video conference with two college professors from Kenya. The conference was held in the UCOM building and directed by my EDF 315 & 211 professor Dr.Fregeau. We were able to ask Ukaiko & Helen questions and have them answer us directly. It was amazing getting to speak with these women face to face. When I first started EDM 310 I was very unaware of the tools available to me on the internet. I really didn't realize how technology is changing education the way that it is. The conference showed me how Skype could be a very valuable tool for my PLN.

Week 6

In place of the original assignment I read and commented on 8 blogs from At the Teachers Desk.

Those blogs are:
Artcyclopedia:The art teachers best friend
What will anyone find interesting about us?
Are we really sure that our successful students are successful?
Is Disney leading the way with digital content
Susan G. Komen for the cure
Cooking with Jacob
Kidblog.org
A lesson in copyright

Before Dr. Strange gave me this assignment I hadn't seen At the Teachers Desk, but now I'm a follower! This is a great blog, what a wonderful idea to have a collaborative blog where teachers and students can share ideas with each other from across the globe.

Comments for kids week 14

For week 14 I commented on a blog by a little girl named Payton. She is learning how to read and write and is using the computer as a tool in her learning. The comment I left her was:
Hey Payton, I love spring too! I bet you like using the computer to write blogs. I am going to school to be a teacher and when I graduate I hope to have my students using to computer to do things just like you.

To visit her blog just click here

Week 11

Mr. C's class is a great example of how students can use technology to better their educations. Mr. Chamberlain's class found a blog by a young girl named Kaia. In her blog she had posted pictures that she had taken of things outside. She also talked about how her dad was reading a book and it inspired him to take Kaia outside and explore. The students of Mr. C's class posted comments to Kaia's blog and made a voice thread and video for her at the request of her father. Its amazing how something such as Kaia's pictures and story can be posted, viewed and commented on by people from across the globe. At just three years old Kaia was able to make contact with people that she might never had had the chance to communicate with otherwise. This kind of communication can open us up to a global learning community.With technology such as this the world is essentially at our fingertips.

Link to Kaia's blog

Mr. C's class

Week 10 : An Open Letter to Educators & Dan Brown

WOW! I thoroughly enjoyed reading Morgan's blog and watching the video by Dan Brown.
Its true that the education system could use some updates! Information is everywhere these days all you have to do is turn on your computer and you instantly have access to millions of databases. Google is my best friend and the go to resource for any kind of research. I am tired of spending hundreds of dollars on books that I will never use. I do however enjoy the classroom setting, I feel like it is a better learning environment because it can help people stay focused on the subject matter.As an educator i plan on using a combination of classic and technology teaching styles. I will have my students use sites such as Google, Skype, Delicious and Aviary to build a strong learning community in and out of school.

Week 12

I really enjoyed watching the Zax video, it is a good way to get across the message of change. Just because it isn't easy doesn't mean that you shouldn't ever give way to change. If we never changed the world would never progress.

I think that getting students to post their work on the web is a great way to develop a global learning community. The more information is put out there the more there is to learn. students could connect with other students around the world and use each others experience and knowledge to forward their own education.
Posting work to the web could also help make connections with people just like in the PS22 video were the students are now getting to perform with Fleetwood Mac because of a rendition of "Landslide" the children sang and posted to the web.



Other examples of students posting work to the web are:
Hannah's World Blog
Hannah is using the web to share her story telling.

Students can also share their art over the internet just like this student did here.

Sometimes kids just have stuff to say whether it be about school work, hobbies or sharing information like Avi did in her blog

Comments for Kids week 12

For week 12 I commented on five year old Izac's blog : At the Beach. He had used the computer to draw a picture of himself having fun at the beach. Using paint and other drawing applications could be a fun way to help kids develop story telling and art skills. The comment I left for him was :
Hey Izac,
I love your picture! My name is Allison and I am going to college at USA so I can be a teacher. I hope one day I can have my students make art on computers just like yours. :)

Allison Rogers
http://rogerslindsayedm310.blogspot.com

You can visit his blog Here

Time Toast Timeline: Twenty Years In Education 1970-1990