Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Video Project
This is a video that Denise Vallas and I created for our podcast project. It is about choosing textbooks or ebooks. Hope this will help with your decision making for next term before buying books.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
WEEK 11: An Open Letter to Educators by Morgan Bayda
This is an interesting piece of reading and the video by Dan Brown that went along with the reading was crazy (which by the way, I was able to turn on the close captions). Both of these pieces made a point about being in class listening to lectures and determining whether students are paying attention. Morgan talked about how some lecture tends to put people to sleep because it's boring. I agree with that. There have been days where the professor will talk in a monotone voice during the entire class and my mind seems to drift away into another world that seem more entertaining and my eyes seem to trying really hard to close while I try really hard to keep them open. During these times, I am having to give a little slap on my face just to wake up. Dan made a point that it would be easier to learn online because it is more efficient and it would not be as boring as it is to listen to the professor who is teaching nothing but facts. Facts that may or may not be relevant to us in the real world. I am having trouble to decide if I agree with this philosophy or not. I think that learning in classrooms provide a good deal to prepare us into the real world. It may not be what we want to know but it could help us. But either way, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and Dan made some really good points. I believe that teachers should really look at their lesson plans and see if there is a way to make their lecture more interesting and not putting students to sleep. If they can do that, then maybe everyone will be a happy camper.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Comment4Teacher Weeks 10 and12
BACKGROUND ON SHARON ELIN
Over the next 3 weeks, I have been assigned to read some of Mrs. Sharon Elin. She is a National Board Certified Teacher and has a passion in educating students in the most creative, inspiring, engaging, and effective ways possible. That includes using technology along with or instead of direct instruction. Otherwise, technology can step back and allow free-flowing interactions between communities. She is also a tech integrator, specializing in language arts in middle schools. The mission is to help other teachers plan their lesson and show them how to take their lesson up a notch. Then, She will interacts with the student, showing the teacher what to do. After that, the teacher will start doing what Mrs. Elin did without her. Otherwise, she loves technology and she loves helping in providing teachers and their students more opportunities to explore, dig deeper, collaborate and create.
HER POSTS
DON'T FORGET THE NEWBIES AT NECC 2009
There was a NECC Conference held on June 28, 2009. This was an educational conference that expand knowledge on technology. This post was basically giving tips to help others how to get through the learning process at the conference. It was advising that speakers should take into considerations of their topics based on the audience's knowledge and newcomers should speak up if they do not understand anything. Not everybody will be an experts. It also advised that people be polite to new presenters because it takes a lot of nerves to get up and speak in front of people. Finally, it advised that Mac users should not show off to non-Mac users. "The apple logo can be intimidating to PC users, especially because Mac people talk in a different language sometimes. It is like traveling in a foreign country. We need translations to understand what you mean when you mention Mac-specific applications such as Keynote or Garage Band," Mrs. Elin posted. She also hoped that every participant will put forth an effort to communicate and share with everyone else without staying to themselves.
TECHNOLOGY GRAVEYARD: WHY SCHOOLS NEED INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATORS
Mrs. Elin was talking about how the school needed to get rid of the old "clunky technology" because it is taking up too much space and keep the school pinned to the past. Technology are advancing everyday and she thinks that the school needs to update along with the technology. She also believes that they need tour guides for the technology world. She calls them "instructional technology integrators, technologists, and ITRTS (Instructional Technology Resource Teachers." I agree with her about these tour guides should be well experience and tech savvy. She said that the integrators with great expertise would be challenging because of several reasons: 1) In the old days, the internet services were web 1.0 and the schools were limited to the connectivity. After this, technology begins to advance like crazy that many school districts were paralyzed in their technological advancement. Also, many teachers and administrators were overwhelmed. 2) Budget problems in schools. 3) Many people believed they can do without the experienced help of technology integrators. Those are just a few reasons and there are probably more outside of what she says. "The secret to managing change and staying grounded in the midst of evolution lies in having the luxury of time to adjust to the newness and having time to reconcile old mindsets and habits with new ways of thinking and new approaches. At today’s pace of change and innovation, school systems need “tour guides” to help with this process." With technology advancing as fast as it is, it would be very important to have real expertise who keep up with the advancement of technology to become tour guides for all over the world. Many people may do without the tour guides, but for some of us, there is no way we can do without tour guides to help us get by in the technology world.
DELICIOUS BINGE AND PURGE: AN INVITATION TO A BOOKMARK MAKEOVER
Mrs. Elin has a delicious page that has all of her bookmarks. "Delicious Binge and Purge" is her way of saying that she needs to clean up her Delicious page. Apparently, she had so many bookmarks that they add up to at least 4,000 or more, according to her video. She used some of them, accidentally click on sites without meaning to do so, or click on them and never return to them again. So basically she "binge and purge" her Delicious site to organize the bookmarks according to whether she uses them or not. So if anyone needs to clean up their Delicious page, all you have to do is "binge and purge."
IMBEDDED LEADERS
The first thing that she said was that "As educators,we are all leaders." I like this because it shows that educators are role models for the generations rising up. It gives the children and teenagers someone to look up to. Educators are leaders because they can make a different in children's and teenagers' lives. She talked about educators have responsibilities to claim their positions as part of the leadership team that officially presides in their districts. And that educators need to think about how they will lead and commit themselves to improvement. I agree with the whole thing. I will apply this to myself because I believe that it is important to take up responsibilities for leadership. It is also important to know how to lead others and be willing to improve your way of commitment. "Voice" is the important way of showing leadership. The education system needs to adjust its views of leadership to include all the voices — from the teachers, the students, the teachers’ aides — and not just the administrators and school board office personnel and state or federal politicians. "There are several fundamental paradigm shifts that must take place, at all levels, among district leaders, administrators, and teachers. Our beliefs about leadership must change."
1) Leadership is more than "authority."- Some educators will view themselves as "in control" and considered it leadership, but it is not; it is management. It also ineffective and counterproductive.
2) Leadership is learned — and earned — from the trenches.- A leader should be able to do any jobs that his or her followers are asked to do and do it better than they can. "No mediocre teacher should be allowed to rise to the ranks of school leadership." Leaders should be able to pass their passions on to others.
3)Leadership does not isolate itself.- Leaders should always keep in contact with others.
4.)Leadership goes both ways.- Leaders should reach out to others and others should reach out to leaders. Either way, it will show leadership.
So basically anyone who is making a difference in others lives is a leader. Reaching out to others, being considerate to others, and giving a helping hand will show that leadership can do anything. It is not a bad thing; however, there will be some that will abuse its power. It will up to the true leaders to show exactly what leadership is, just like what Mrs. Elin had done.
DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE: INTERNET ADDICTION
She was writing in response to the "Read Write Web blog, Jolie O’Dell struck a defensive nerve in her daring post “Should Tech Get a Turn-Off?” In her post, she confronts the geeky world of internet addiction and wonders if the seductive lure of the internet makes it much too easy to go missing from reality without being aware of it." She was asking if what O'Dell said is true. If you ask Mrs. Elin's family, they would say that the only thing they see of her is the back of her head while she is sitting at a computer desk.
The wonders of internet making it too easy bring people away from reality without being aware of it is a really good questions. It doesn't bring me out of reality because the only reason I am on the computer is for homework purposes. I do get on facebook and check emails, but I only do it for at least 10 minutes. Otherwise, I do other things that doesn't involve the computer: dancing, cleaning, and hanging out with family and friends. However, my brother is a different story. He is on the computer all day. Or at least he was, until mom took it away till he brings his grades up. His room is a mess and instead of cleaning, he just sits on the computer and play games instead of doing things he could be doing.
So I guess this question will depends on who you are as a person. I am physically active and I just cannot sit on the computer playing games or reading news for hours and hours. Plus that, I always tend to want to be in the reality instead of being stuck with something that does not apply to me. I get bored and sick of it. My brother has no problem whatsoever to be on the computer all day that he forgets about reality. He could care less about reality.
So what about you? Does the internet draw you away from reality?
FEAR OF ROTARY-DIAL PHONE (OR, HOW TO BE GENTLE WHEN INTRODUCING TECHNOLOGY)
Mrs. Elin talked about fear of technology. She was explaining about how some people are afraid of change. She uses a 1930’s-40’s video showing a Grandpa grumbling about rotary dial phones. He was not used to the idea of using a rotary dial phones. In fact, he was afraid of it. Eventually, he let go of his fears and got really curious about the new use of technology.
Here are some of the lessons that Grandpa learned:
* Resistance to change is instinctive.
* Defensiveness is a first step toward progress.
* Patience and respect = allowing new learners to struggle and standing by them while they do.
* Learners are comforted by hearing rationale for change.
* Learners feel more like part of a team when they hear what trainers and technicians do behind the scenes to prepare for change.
* The human touch is absolutely essential for progress.
Here are a couple of videos:
I guess I can understand some of what the Grandpa is going through. I am a little afraid of change in technology but only because I am scared I may not keep up with it. Technology is advancing pretty fast and I am actually a slow learner. It is not easy keeping up with technology. The only I can do is try my very best to keep up with it.
WEB 2.0 COST MORE THAN YOU THINK
This post expresses Mrs. Elin's opinions about websites that once used to be free will start charging a fee. To begin with, many websites were free until it gets to the point where it is popular that services will begin to start a subscription fee. Not all websites do this yet; only a few of them like "web companies such as Blinksale, GoToMeeting, CrazyEgg, Jott, and many others have chosen to eliminate their free plans (or switch to free trials).” — PollEverywhere.com. Unfortunately, Mrs. Elin explained that she will have to make some decisions about a few sites that she uses, including Jott.
I think this is a pretty good post for everyone to read because it shows that not all websites are fee like Myspace and Facebook, etc. I guess I have always known about this because of some of the websites my brother gets on. He tends to subscribe on to games that have fee without him knowing it. We have tried to teach him that it it not always a good idea to download or subscribe things without our permission, or in this case mine. All of the games he has downloaded in the past were on my laptop and cause it to go wacko. After having problems about that, I forbidden him from downloading games onto my computer because I did not want his games screwing it up.
A PASSIONATE CRY FOR EDUCATIONAL REFORM
Everyone remember the Dan Brown video? If not, then it is posted down below. Mrs. Elin is responding back to this video encouraging educators to listen because obviously the teaching style right now is not working. She is encouraging everyone to think about what educators can do to change the way they teach to children. Hopefully, the plan will follow.
Here is the Video:
You know, I already did comment on the video but I left something out. In my other post, I said something about how educators need to improve their way of teaching to make things more interesting to students but I never gave some suggestions. One suggestion is to teach something more meaningful and relevant to the students' lives. Another suggestion is to make the class more fun than usual: use hands-on experience instead of just lecturing. Or maybe let the students teach the class based on what they know or experience and this will spark open discussion with the teacher. These are a couple of suggestions; I do not know if any of these could be valid, but they could work. Do you any of you have suggestions of how to make education more relevant?
Over the next 3 weeks, I have been assigned to read some of Mrs. Sharon Elin. She is a National Board Certified Teacher and has a passion in educating students in the most creative, inspiring, engaging, and effective ways possible. That includes using technology along with or instead of direct instruction. Otherwise, technology can step back and allow free-flowing interactions between communities. She is also a tech integrator, specializing in language arts in middle schools. The mission is to help other teachers plan their lesson and show them how to take their lesson up a notch. Then, She will interacts with the student, showing the teacher what to do. After that, the teacher will start doing what Mrs. Elin did without her. Otherwise, she loves technology and she loves helping in providing teachers and their students more opportunities to explore, dig deeper, collaborate and create.
HER POSTS
DON'T FORGET THE NEWBIES AT NECC 2009
There was a NECC Conference held on June 28, 2009. This was an educational conference that expand knowledge on technology. This post was basically giving tips to help others how to get through the learning process at the conference. It was advising that speakers should take into considerations of their topics based on the audience's knowledge and newcomers should speak up if they do not understand anything. Not everybody will be an experts. It also advised that people be polite to new presenters because it takes a lot of nerves to get up and speak in front of people. Finally, it advised that Mac users should not show off to non-Mac users. "The apple logo can be intimidating to PC users, especially because Mac people talk in a different language sometimes. It is like traveling in a foreign country. We need translations to understand what you mean when you mention Mac-specific applications such as Keynote or Garage Band," Mrs. Elin posted. She also hoped that every participant will put forth an effort to communicate and share with everyone else without staying to themselves.
TECHNOLOGY GRAVEYARD: WHY SCHOOLS NEED INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATORS
Mrs. Elin was talking about how the school needed to get rid of the old "clunky technology" because it is taking up too much space and keep the school pinned to the past. Technology are advancing everyday and she thinks that the school needs to update along with the technology. She also believes that they need tour guides for the technology world. She calls them "instructional technology integrators, technologists, and ITRTS (Instructional Technology Resource Teachers." I agree with her about these tour guides should be well experience and tech savvy. She said that the integrators with great expertise would be challenging because of several reasons: 1) In the old days, the internet services were web 1.0 and the schools were limited to the connectivity. After this, technology begins to advance like crazy that many school districts were paralyzed in their technological advancement. Also, many teachers and administrators were overwhelmed. 2) Budget problems in schools. 3) Many people believed they can do without the experienced help of technology integrators. Those are just a few reasons and there are probably more outside of what she says. "The secret to managing change and staying grounded in the midst of evolution lies in having the luxury of time to adjust to the newness and having time to reconcile old mindsets and habits with new ways of thinking and new approaches. At today’s pace of change and innovation, school systems need “tour guides” to help with this process." With technology advancing as fast as it is, it would be very important to have real expertise who keep up with the advancement of technology to become tour guides for all over the world. Many people may do without the tour guides, but for some of us, there is no way we can do without tour guides to help us get by in the technology world.
DELICIOUS BINGE AND PURGE: AN INVITATION TO A BOOKMARK MAKEOVER
Mrs. Elin has a delicious page that has all of her bookmarks. "Delicious Binge and Purge" is her way of saying that she needs to clean up her Delicious page. Apparently, she had so many bookmarks that they add up to at least 4,000 or more, according to her video. She used some of them, accidentally click on sites without meaning to do so, or click on them and never return to them again. So basically she "binge and purge" her Delicious site to organize the bookmarks according to whether she uses them or not. So if anyone needs to clean up their Delicious page, all you have to do is "binge and purge."
IMBEDDED LEADERS
The first thing that she said was that "As educators,we are all leaders." I like this because it shows that educators are role models for the generations rising up. It gives the children and teenagers someone to look up to. Educators are leaders because they can make a different in children's and teenagers' lives. She talked about educators have responsibilities to claim their positions as part of the leadership team that officially presides in their districts. And that educators need to think about how they will lead and commit themselves to improvement. I agree with the whole thing. I will apply this to myself because I believe that it is important to take up responsibilities for leadership. It is also important to know how to lead others and be willing to improve your way of commitment. "Voice" is the important way of showing leadership. The education system needs to adjust its views of leadership to include all the voices — from the teachers, the students, the teachers’ aides — and not just the administrators and school board office personnel and state or federal politicians. "There are several fundamental paradigm shifts that must take place, at all levels, among district leaders, administrators, and teachers. Our beliefs about leadership must change."
1) Leadership is more than "authority."- Some educators will view themselves as "in control" and considered it leadership, but it is not; it is management. It also ineffective and counterproductive.
2) Leadership is learned — and earned — from the trenches.- A leader should be able to do any jobs that his or her followers are asked to do and do it better than they can. "No mediocre teacher should be allowed to rise to the ranks of school leadership." Leaders should be able to pass their passions on to others.
3)Leadership does not isolate itself.- Leaders should always keep in contact with others.
4.)Leadership goes both ways.- Leaders should reach out to others and others should reach out to leaders. Either way, it will show leadership.
So basically anyone who is making a difference in others lives is a leader. Reaching out to others, being considerate to others, and giving a helping hand will show that leadership can do anything. It is not a bad thing; however, there will be some that will abuse its power. It will up to the true leaders to show exactly what leadership is, just like what Mrs. Elin had done.
DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE: INTERNET ADDICTION
She was writing in response to the "Read Write Web blog, Jolie O’Dell struck a defensive nerve in her daring post “Should Tech Get a Turn-Off?” In her post, she confronts the geeky world of internet addiction and wonders if the seductive lure of the internet makes it much too easy to go missing from reality without being aware of it." She was asking if what O'Dell said is true. If you ask Mrs. Elin's family, they would say that the only thing they see of her is the back of her head while she is sitting at a computer desk.
The wonders of internet making it too easy bring people away from reality without being aware of it is a really good questions. It doesn't bring me out of reality because the only reason I am on the computer is for homework purposes. I do get on facebook and check emails, but I only do it for at least 10 minutes. Otherwise, I do other things that doesn't involve the computer: dancing, cleaning, and hanging out with family and friends. However, my brother is a different story. He is on the computer all day. Or at least he was, until mom took it away till he brings his grades up. His room is a mess and instead of cleaning, he just sits on the computer and play games instead of doing things he could be doing.
So I guess this question will depends on who you are as a person. I am physically active and I just cannot sit on the computer playing games or reading news for hours and hours. Plus that, I always tend to want to be in the reality instead of being stuck with something that does not apply to me. I get bored and sick of it. My brother has no problem whatsoever to be on the computer all day that he forgets about reality. He could care less about reality.
So what about you? Does the internet draw you away from reality?
FEAR OF ROTARY-DIAL PHONE (OR, HOW TO BE GENTLE WHEN INTRODUCING TECHNOLOGY)
Mrs. Elin talked about fear of technology. She was explaining about how some people are afraid of change. She uses a 1930’s-40’s video showing a Grandpa grumbling about rotary dial phones. He was not used to the idea of using a rotary dial phones. In fact, he was afraid of it. Eventually, he let go of his fears and got really curious about the new use of technology.
Here are some of the lessons that Grandpa learned:
* Resistance to change is instinctive.
* Defensiveness is a first step toward progress.
* Patience and respect = allowing new learners to struggle and standing by them while they do.
* Learners are comforted by hearing rationale for change.
* Learners feel more like part of a team when they hear what trainers and technicians do behind the scenes to prepare for change.
* The human touch is absolutely essential for progress.
Here are a couple of videos:
I guess I can understand some of what the Grandpa is going through. I am a little afraid of change in technology but only because I am scared I may not keep up with it. Technology is advancing pretty fast and I am actually a slow learner. It is not easy keeping up with technology. The only I can do is try my very best to keep up with it.
WEB 2.0 COST MORE THAN YOU THINK
This post expresses Mrs. Elin's opinions about websites that once used to be free will start charging a fee. To begin with, many websites were free until it gets to the point where it is popular that services will begin to start a subscription fee. Not all websites do this yet; only a few of them like "web companies such as Blinksale, GoToMeeting, CrazyEgg, Jott, and many others have chosen to eliminate their free plans (or switch to free trials).” — PollEverywhere.com. Unfortunately, Mrs. Elin explained that she will have to make some decisions about a few sites that she uses, including Jott.
I think this is a pretty good post for everyone to read because it shows that not all websites are fee like Myspace and Facebook, etc. I guess I have always known about this because of some of the websites my brother gets on. He tends to subscribe on to games that have fee without him knowing it. We have tried to teach him that it it not always a good idea to download or subscribe things without our permission, or in this case mine. All of the games he has downloaded in the past were on my laptop and cause it to go wacko. After having problems about that, I forbidden him from downloading games onto my computer because I did not want his games screwing it up.
A PASSIONATE CRY FOR EDUCATIONAL REFORM
Everyone remember the Dan Brown video? If not, then it is posted down below. Mrs. Elin is responding back to this video encouraging educators to listen because obviously the teaching style right now is not working. She is encouraging everyone to think about what educators can do to change the way they teach to children. Hopefully, the plan will follow.
Here is the Video:
You know, I already did comment on the video but I left something out. In my other post, I said something about how educators need to improve their way of teaching to make things more interesting to students but I never gave some suggestions. One suggestion is to teach something more meaningful and relevant to the students' lives. Another suggestion is to make the class more fun than usual: use hands-on experience instead of just lecturing. Or maybe let the students teach the class based on what they know or experience and this will spark open discussion with the teacher. These are a couple of suggestions; I do not know if any of these could be valid, but they could work. Do you any of you have suggestions of how to make education more relevant?
Comment4Kids Weeks 10
Week 10: Leopold Primary School Cross Country
This school was involved in a cross country run that involved students from Prep to Grade Six. The course (picture above) for the run was about 1 km long. The boys ran first then the girls. Everybody did their very best. They also took pictures of the kids at the Run and they are so cute!! To view the good times the kids had, you can check out the slide show on the website: http://2kmblog.globalstudent.org.au/
Just click on Cross Country Run.
This school was involved in a cross country run that involved students from Prep to Grade Six. The course (picture above) for the run was about 1 km long. The boys ran first then the girls. Everybody did their very best. They also took pictures of the kids at the Run and they are so cute!! To view the good times the kids had, you can check out the slide show on the website: http://2kmblog.globalstudent.org.au/
Just click on Cross Country Run.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Week 9 Blog
ALEX AND ACCESS
ALEX stands for Alabama Learning Exchange program. It is designed to help teachers plan their lesson on a particular material. It has the course of study, lesson plans, web links, and anything else that could help the teacher teach his or her class. ACCESS stands for Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide. "The purpose is to continue the work of the Governor’s Task Force on Distance Learning. The central vision of the Alabama Distance Education Plan Task Force is to provide equal access to high quality instruction to improve student achievement through distance learning opportunities." http://accessdl.state.al.us/aboutaccess/
Both of these programs are designed to provide a better education for students and to help the teachers do their job as educators. It also allow parents to know what is going on with school. They also enrolled more students and the students were interested in these program.
I will definitely use both of these programs to help me teach to my students. It is better to have other ideas from other sources along with my own to present the materials more clearly. They are also easy and simple to use.
ALEX stands for Alabama Learning Exchange program. It is designed to help teachers plan their lesson on a particular material. It has the course of study, lesson plans, web links, and anything else that could help the teacher teach his or her class. ACCESS stands for Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide. "The purpose is to continue the work of the Governor’s Task Force on Distance Learning. The central vision of the Alabama Distance Education Plan Task Force is to provide equal access to high quality instruction to improve student achievement through distance learning opportunities." http://accessdl.state.al.us/aboutaccess/
Both of these programs are designed to provide a better education for students and to help the teachers do their job as educators. It also allow parents to know what is going on with school. They also enrolled more students and the students were interested in these program.
I will definitely use both of these programs to help me teach to my students. It is better to have other ideas from other sources along with my own to present the materials more clearly. They are also easy and simple to use.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Comment4Teachers Week 7 through 9
My teacher for Comment4Teacher that I was assigned to is Lisa Nielson. She is known as the Innovative Educator. Of course, I just started reading her blogs around first week of March because the first teacher I was assigned to had nothing but housekeeping posts. So here are some things I learned for the past three weeks.
WEEK 7
SCHOOL INNOVATION FIELD TRIP QUICK GUIDE
On March 1, I read her blog about her guide to Innovative Field Trips. This is when a group of students will visit each classroom and observe what is going on with the students, teachers, and environment. Each student in a group will have a different task whether it is videoing the classroom, writing reports of what is going on, taking pictures, or creating a spreadsheets. Each group will visit different classroom each day. This part is interesting because we can see the differences of how each class is taught. There will be different feedbacks. To read more about her guide about innovative field trip, you can click on this link: http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2010/03/innovation-field-trip-quick-guide.html#comments
WEEK 8
MARCH 2: WHY SOCIAL MEDIA CURRICULUM IS CRITICAL IN SCHOOLS- 140 CHARACTER CONFERENCE
The Innovative Educator talked about how many schools failed to have teacher/student relationship. She thinks that this need to be modified a little bit, so that students can communicate with their teachers about the materials they are learning. Many schools do not use technology to help improve education, or at least they didn't when I went to Baker High School about 4 years ago. Ms. Nielson believes that socialization is very important in students' lives. It will help them communicate all over the world and they can learn so many things outside of school.
MARCH 5: SPEND SATURDAY WITH THE TEDxNYED EDUCATION, NEW MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY WEBINAR
TEDxNYED is an organization that organize events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience; its motto is "ideas worth spreading." It is organized by the New York Educators and it works like a conference. At TEDxNYED, TEDTalks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connections. Individuals are invited to share their ideas and inspire the future of educations.
WEEK 9
MARCH 7: CAPTURING THE GOOD STUFF BY DANA LAWIT
Dana Lawit was writing in response to Lisa's blog in 140 Character Conference in NYC. She believes that it is "essential for schools to not only show kids how to safely consume internet content and social media, but show them that the web is a place for them to contribute quality content for both praise and feedback." The school she works for has embedded technology to document and share the "good works" that are done by students and teachers. They were trying to make it easier for teachers and students to use, so it do not takes up too much time. If it is hard to use certain things in the technology world, then it is unlikely the teachers will put forth the effort of getting what they need because they do not have that much time to do so.
I think it is a good idea that her school started this. This will provide better educations and better communication relationships between the students and teachers.
MARCH 8
Ms. Nielson was listed in the 50 Best Blog for Education Leaders. Congratulation to her!!
MARCH 9: JOIN THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION'S INNOVATION PORTAL
An innovation portal was created for people to come together to identify the best ideas to improve schools. It serves as an online forum where educators can share their innovative ideas and collaborate to turn those ideas into a new reality. It is a site to connect ideas across the nations together into a marketplace of ideas that show how educators can ensure that every child gets an good education.
I like the idea of combining ideas together. I like that it will help educators to ensure that every child gets an education and help them succeed.
MARCH 11: THEY'RE HERE...THE COMMON CORE STANDARDS
I am having trouble understanding what she is talking about. She seems to be talking about her concerns. Maybe someone else can explain to me what she is talking about. Here is the Link: http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2010/03/they-here-common-core-standards.html#comments
WEEK 7
SCHOOL INNOVATION FIELD TRIP QUICK GUIDE
On March 1, I read her blog about her guide to Innovative Field Trips. This is when a group of students will visit each classroom and observe what is going on with the students, teachers, and environment. Each student in a group will have a different task whether it is videoing the classroom, writing reports of what is going on, taking pictures, or creating a spreadsheets. Each group will visit different classroom each day. This part is interesting because we can see the differences of how each class is taught. There will be different feedbacks. To read more about her guide about innovative field trip, you can click on this link: http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2010/03/innovation-field-trip-quick-guide.html#comments
WEEK 8
MARCH 2: WHY SOCIAL MEDIA CURRICULUM IS CRITICAL IN SCHOOLS- 140 CHARACTER CONFERENCE
The Innovative Educator talked about how many schools failed to have teacher/student relationship. She thinks that this need to be modified a little bit, so that students can communicate with their teachers about the materials they are learning. Many schools do not use technology to help improve education, or at least they didn't when I went to Baker High School about 4 years ago. Ms. Nielson believes that socialization is very important in students' lives. It will help them communicate all over the world and they can learn so many things outside of school.
MARCH 5: SPEND SATURDAY WITH THE TEDxNYED EDUCATION, NEW MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY WEBINAR
TEDxNYED is an organization that organize events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience; its motto is "ideas worth spreading." It is organized by the New York Educators and it works like a conference. At TEDxNYED, TEDTalks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connections. Individuals are invited to share their ideas and inspire the future of educations.
WEEK 9
MARCH 7: CAPTURING THE GOOD STUFF BY DANA LAWIT
Dana Lawit was writing in response to Lisa's blog in 140 Character Conference in NYC. She believes that it is "essential for schools to not only show kids how to safely consume internet content and social media, but show them that the web is a place for them to contribute quality content for both praise and feedback." The school she works for has embedded technology to document and share the "good works" that are done by students and teachers. They were trying to make it easier for teachers and students to use, so it do not takes up too much time. If it is hard to use certain things in the technology world, then it is unlikely the teachers will put forth the effort of getting what they need because they do not have that much time to do so.
I think it is a good idea that her school started this. This will provide better educations and better communication relationships between the students and teachers.
MARCH 8
Ms. Nielson was listed in the 50 Best Blog for Education Leaders. Congratulation to her!!
MARCH 9: JOIN THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION'S INNOVATION PORTAL
An innovation portal was created for people to come together to identify the best ideas to improve schools. It serves as an online forum where educators can share their innovative ideas and collaborate to turn those ideas into a new reality. It is a site to connect ideas across the nations together into a marketplace of ideas that show how educators can ensure that every child gets an good education.
I like the idea of combining ideas together. I like that it will help educators to ensure that every child gets an education and help them succeed.
MARCH 11: THEY'RE HERE...THE COMMON CORE STANDARDS
I am having trouble understanding what she is talking about. She seems to be talking about her concerns. Maybe someone else can explain to me what she is talking about. Here is the Link: http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2010/03/they-here-common-core-standards.html#comments
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Week 8 Blog: Randy Pausch Last Lecture
Randy Pausch seems like a really good guy, who is trying to make the best of his life. He seems to be funny, which is why I am really happy that this video is closed captions. Now, I will have the opportunity to see and hear what is going on.
He started out talking about childhood dreams. He said that inspiration and permission to dream is huge. I totally agree with him on that. I think it is important to dream because it allows creativity and imaginations. If kids begin to share their dreams right now, imagine how many different images we would get from these kids. It would be really interesting to see exactly how creative one kid can be. Also, each dream has a lesson to make a point, whether it is just a dream or if it is a reality. One lesson Randy learned from his dream of being in the NFL was when he was at football practice with Coach Graham. Randy was one of the smallest kids on the team and Coach was riding him really hard. The assistant coach asked randy if Coach was coming down hard on him and he said yeah. Then the assistant coach told him that it was a good thing because when he is screwing up and nobody is saying anything, then that means they have given up on him. I thought this was really important because we always need someone to keep us on the right track. We need people to show us that they do care and not someone who can care less about what we do.
One of his other dreams was to be a part of Walt Disney Imagineering. He got the chance to work with the Aladdin project with virtual reality. "Walt Disney Imagineering is the master planning, creative development, design, engineering, production, project management, and research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company and its affiliates." http://corporate.disney.go.com/careers/who_imagineering.html "Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-simulated environment, whether that environment is a simulation of the real world or an imaginary world." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_reality Virtual Reality and Imagineering sounds like a fun thing to do.
These two were some of his childhood dreams. He became a professor so he can help enable childhood dreams to other people. One way he did that was by creating a course called Building Virtual World. Basically, different small groups of students work on a virtual project for two weeks. Every two weeks, they will do different projects and work with different students. They create their own little virtual world video. It was really interesting to see the video that one group did, called "hello.World". It was really cool and cute video. I would not mind doing something like that.
He ended with video with a really good wise advice. "It is not about how you achieve your dreams, but it is about how you lead your life." This is really important. Just like the song "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus: Life is a climb. It is not about how fast you get there or what is waiting on the other side. It is about how you get there. Leading your life the right way will help you achieve your dreams. As long as you stay on the right path in your life, dreams will come to you.
He started out talking about childhood dreams. He said that inspiration and permission to dream is huge. I totally agree with him on that. I think it is important to dream because it allows creativity and imaginations. If kids begin to share their dreams right now, imagine how many different images we would get from these kids. It would be really interesting to see exactly how creative one kid can be. Also, each dream has a lesson to make a point, whether it is just a dream or if it is a reality. One lesson Randy learned from his dream of being in the NFL was when he was at football practice with Coach Graham. Randy was one of the smallest kids on the team and Coach was riding him really hard. The assistant coach asked randy if Coach was coming down hard on him and he said yeah. Then the assistant coach told him that it was a good thing because when he is screwing up and nobody is saying anything, then that means they have given up on him. I thought this was really important because we always need someone to keep us on the right track. We need people to show us that they do care and not someone who can care less about what we do.
One of his other dreams was to be a part of Walt Disney Imagineering. He got the chance to work with the Aladdin project with virtual reality. "Walt Disney Imagineering is the master planning, creative development, design, engineering, production, project management, and research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company and its affiliates." http://corporate.disney.go.com/careers/who_imagineering.html "Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-simulated environment, whether that environment is a simulation of the real world or an imaginary world." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_reality Virtual Reality and Imagineering sounds like a fun thing to do.
These two were some of his childhood dreams. He became a professor so he can help enable childhood dreams to other people. One way he did that was by creating a course called Building Virtual World. Basically, different small groups of students work on a virtual project for two weeks. Every two weeks, they will do different projects and work with different students. They create their own little virtual world video. It was really interesting to see the video that one group did, called "hello.World". It was really cool and cute video. I would not mind doing something like that.
He ended with video with a really good wise advice. "It is not about how you achieve your dreams, but it is about how you lead your life." This is really important. Just like the song "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus: Life is a climb. It is not about how fast you get there or what is waiting on the other side. It is about how you get there. Leading your life the right way will help you achieve your dreams. As long as you stay on the right path in your life, dreams will come to you.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Comment4kids Week 8 through 9
WEEK 8: BORMAN BLOGGIG WITH GERARDO
He wrote a poem called Poem About Rain. It is about struggling through stuff. People have bad days when it is raining is an example he uses in his poem. I thought it was a good poem. To read the poem, click on this link: http://mrsshetler.edublogs.org/2010/01/21/poem-about-rain/
WEEK 9: ST. PIUS- ROOM 6'S CREATION: ROBERT
This week I got the chance to watch a video that Robert and his classmates made. The video was called "The Christmas Bullies." It was a creative video showing that bullies will never win. To see the video, here is the link: http://spxroom6.blogspot.com/search/label/Robert
After clicking on the link, just go to "The Christmas Bullies" which was posted on Monday, December 7, 2009.
He wrote a poem called Poem About Rain. It is about struggling through stuff. People have bad days when it is raining is an example he uses in his poem. I thought it was a good poem. To read the poem, click on this link: http://mrsshetler.edublogs.org/2010/01/21/poem-about-rain/
WEEK 9: ST. PIUS- ROOM 6'S CREATION: ROBERT
This week I got the chance to watch a video that Robert and his classmates made. The video was called "The Christmas Bullies." It was a creative video showing that bullies will never win. To see the video, here is the link: http://spxroom6.blogspot.com/search/label/Robert
After clicking on the link, just go to "The Christmas Bullies" which was posted on Monday, December 7, 2009.
Comment4kids Week 4 through 7
WEEK 4: MS. DEYENBERG'S CLASS BLOG
I read Braidyn's blog. It was Science Week in his school. He was talking about a science project he was working on in his class. He had an assignment to make something on a motor. He made a carousel with plates and cardboard. He also talked about basketball and a sleepover at his school to communicate with people from all over the world, which I thought was cool. Here is the link: http://13dds.edublogs.org
Here is what I said to him:
Sounds like a fun and complicated project! I remember those old days where we had to be creative and artistic!! It was fun. I am not really a basketball fan but i could get into if I am in the right mood. Sleep over at the school? HMM, sounds fun. I have never had a sleep over at my school, but I have had a sleep over at the dance studio, where I am taking dance at. it was fun. We just played around; we did not do anything that involve talking to people across the world though. That will be interesting!!
WEEK 5: WELCOMING ROOM 7 IN LITTLE VOICES, LITTLE SCHOLARS
I got the chance to welcome Maroroa into Room 7. He is a cute boy!!
To meet him, click on this link: http://littlevoiceslittlescholars.blogspot.com/search/label/Maroroa
Hello Maroroa!!!
First of all, Congratulation and welcome to Room 7!!!! I love your basketball picture!! It was very colorful!!! Keep playing basketball and keep up the good work!! Believe in your self and never give up!!!
GOD BLESS,
Tiffany Clark
http://clarktiffanyedm310@blogspot.com
WEEK 6: JUMPSTARTING LITERACY
Developing sentences are really easy once you get the hang of different types of words. Adverbs are useful when you need to confirm the when and how aspects of the activities you are talking about in a sentence. Interesting, confusing blog. http://year4divers.blogspot.com
WEEK 7: HUMOROUS PLAY OF PURIM! (HAHAHA) PART 2
This is a joke by Eriel about an uncle and another man whose names were Mean Dude, Old Dude, and nameless. The man was trying to get the uncle to bow to him, but the uncle said no and started teasing him. It is really cute joke. Here is the Link:
http://kidblog.org/mrskolbertsclass/Eriel/humorous-play-of-purim-hahaha-part-2/
HaHaHa!! That is really cute!! I like that!! It is very simple but it is still funny!! Good Job Eriel. I probably would not bow to the OLD DUDE either! LOL!!
MARCH 5, 2010
Commenting on kids' blog is really fun. I get a chance to see exactly how bright kids are in today's world. As I am reading the kids' blogs, I am seeing that they are smarter than I was at their age. Young kids are learning things at earlier age and it is great that they do. The younger you start learning, the better knowledge you have as you get older. These students are brilliant.
I read Braidyn's blog. It was Science Week in his school. He was talking about a science project he was working on in his class. He had an assignment to make something on a motor. He made a carousel with plates and cardboard. He also talked about basketball and a sleepover at his school to communicate with people from all over the world, which I thought was cool. Here is the link: http://13dds.edublogs.org
Here is what I said to him:
Sounds like a fun and complicated project! I remember those old days where we had to be creative and artistic!! It was fun. I am not really a basketball fan but i could get into if I am in the right mood. Sleep over at the school? HMM, sounds fun. I have never had a sleep over at my school, but I have had a sleep over at the dance studio, where I am taking dance at. it was fun. We just played around; we did not do anything that involve talking to people across the world though. That will be interesting!!
WEEK 5: WELCOMING ROOM 7 IN LITTLE VOICES, LITTLE SCHOLARS
I got the chance to welcome Maroroa into Room 7. He is a cute boy!!
To meet him, click on this link: http://littlevoiceslittlescholars.blogspot.com/search/label/Maroroa
Hello Maroroa!!!
First of all, Congratulation and welcome to Room 7!!!! I love your basketball picture!! It was very colorful!!! Keep playing basketball and keep up the good work!! Believe in your self and never give up!!!
GOD BLESS,
Tiffany Clark
http://clarktiffanyedm310@blogspot.com
WEEK 6: JUMPSTARTING LITERACY
Developing sentences are really easy once you get the hang of different types of words. Adverbs are useful when you need to confirm the when and how aspects of the activities you are talking about in a sentence. Interesting, confusing blog. http://year4divers.blogspot.com
WEEK 7: HUMOROUS PLAY OF PURIM! (HAHAHA) PART 2
This is a joke by Eriel about an uncle and another man whose names were Mean Dude, Old Dude, and nameless. The man was trying to get the uncle to bow to him, but the uncle said no and started teasing him. It is really cute joke. Here is the Link:
http://kidblog.org/mrskolbertsclass/Eriel/humorous-play-of-purim-hahaha-part-2/
HaHaHa!! That is really cute!! I like that!! It is very simple but it is still funny!! Good Job Eriel. I probably would not bow to the OLD DUDE either! LOL!!
MARCH 5, 2010
Commenting on kids' blog is really fun. I get a chance to see exactly how bright kids are in today's world. As I am reading the kids' blogs, I am seeing that they are smarter than I was at their age. Young kids are learning things at earlier age and it is great that they do. The younger you start learning, the better knowledge you have as you get older. These students are brilliant.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Hi Guys n Gals
I have created a Wallwisher wall. It is a simple webpage where we all can post our messages easily.
So simply go to http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/tiffer and post your message there.
Happy Posting!
Tiffer
I have created a Wallwisher wall. It is a simple webpage where we all can post our messages easily.
So simply go to http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/tiffer and post your message there.
Happy Posting!
Tiffer
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