Blog Post #9

Blog post #9's assignment was to research Mr. McClung's blog page about his his years as an educator and choose at least two post to create comment on and create our blog post. As I looked through each of the links to Mr. McClung's blogs I was fascinated to see just how detailed he was at keeping up and blogging about his ongoing progress as a teacher. The first link I decided to browse was about Mr. McClung's first year as a teacher and titled What I've Learned This Year (2008-2009). This blog post really inspired me to want to look into more of Mr. McClung's blogs because I could see right away just how good of a teacher he is and how much he truly cares about his job. He discusses all the major points he learned as a first year teacher such as always staying positive no matter what and to remember to be flexible in your work as a teacher. McClung also expressed how important it is to be able to read your crowd and try your best to relate to them in ways they understand. He learned that this was a number one key to becoming a successful teacher. One other aspect to always remember as a teacher is to communicate and listen as much as possible with your students and coworkers in order to adequately accomplish goals. The last few points that McClung stressed he learned in his first year was realizing to never be afraid of technology and to never ever stop learning! Reading this post by McClung really enabled me to think about my role as a future teacher. I hope by reading and learning these key points that Mr. McClung learned in his first year, I will be able to carry them with me as I grow to become an educator also.

The second blog post of Mr. McClung's that I chose to read dealt with his 2010-2011 school year as a teacher, What I Learned This Year. As I read this blog post I could not help but giggle because it was completely opposite of the first post I read. With the first post being Mr. McClung's first year as a teacher and this second post is dealing with his 3rd and 4th year as an independent teacher. McClung expresses the key factor as you proceed year to year as a teacher is to not forget the main reason you are a teacher is for the kids! He stated that so many teachers get caught up in trying to impress others and attempting to live up to everyone else's standards when in the end that route does nothing but hurt who is important, the students; point being always put children number one on your priority list. As a four year teacher, McClung says it is fairly easy to set back and allow yourself to become "comfortable" being a teacher. He states that by your fourth year you have pretty well gotten the routine of things down which is good, but unfortunately it seems to hurt some teachers by them forgetting how to challenge themselves to help their students. Two other main points made in this post was never expect others to be as excited about change as you are, because we all know not everyone loves change; do not be afraid to be an outsider was the last great point McClung made in his four years as a teacher post. I felt every point made by McClung was exceptionally beneficial to future educators and teachers as myself.

C4T #3

For my C4T #3 assignment I was assigned to a man by the name of Bill Genereux. Bill is an Associate Professor of Computer Systems Technology at Kansas State University at Salina. His blog page is filled with very important and intriguing topics for all educators to read.
In my first comment I chose a blog post by Bill that was titled My work in school and society and was all about Bill's work in the school systems as well as society. He talks about being in somewhat of a state of confusion in many situations concerning the school system due to what he feels is required of him to fully express powerful learning, not particularly lining up with what seems to be expected of him as a professional educator. Bill stated that he feels pressured as being the main source for information not only from his students, but also with colleagues, because society has made it known that the teacher is understood to be the one and only source for correct information and no one else knows the right answer! In this one post of Bill's, he makes it known that he is not just a source for information as a teacher and that teachers should have many more roles than that alone. When I commented on his post I stressed how much I strongly agreed with him on teachers being such an inspiration for many children. I stated that all educators should really sit back and realize their importance to all the young lives that are put into their hands and not take it for granted. There are many situations where the teacher may be the one and only individual present to encourage a child to succeed. The way Bill has explained his role as an educator is so inspiring to future leaders as myself.

The second blog post of Bill Genereux's that I chose to comment on was entitled Media Literacy of College Students. This post I truly could connect with and found very interesting to read. The post was about Bill's research he did on “MEDIA CREATION AND THE NET GENERATION: COMPARING FACULTY AND STUDENT BELIEFS AND COMPETENCIES REGARDING MEDIA LITERACY WITHIN HIGHER EDUCATION” by Hans Schmidt. In this post Bill talks on how it is a huge mistake to assume that all students are competent communicators in digital media because there are so many like myself that have not been given the chance to become technologically savvy. Bill states how so many individuals stress the importance of digital media skills to people living immersed in a digital environment; yet educators are continuing to leave all the technology learning to specialist. In my comment to this post I revealed to Bill that I too was one of those individuals that was not given the chance to learn all I needed to know about technology until entering EDM 310! I, myself, can relate to those students that have not been given the chance to become technologically savvy. Before enrolling in this course I had no clue how to navigate YouTube, Google, Movie Maker, and certainly did not know how to create my very own blog! Even though I sometimes struggle to complete all my assignments in EDM 310 adequately, I am so thankful that I was required to take this course. I know that without this requirement I would have never been successful at conquering technology and I truly feel I have half way made friends with the digital world now!

Project #14

Project #12 Book Trailer

Blog Post 8

Part One




Richard Miller: This Is How We Dream Part 1&2
Richard Miller explains through his blog the importance of technology in school systems and tells of his dream to have a career working with books. He grew up in a home filled with books where he spent his time understanding writing and expressed that he was a "person of boooks". Richard was able to reach his goal of working with books by writing his own book that was placed in libraries around the world and eventually was published on the web for people around the world to have access to.
He expresses the change our world is making through communicating globally and allowing any and all information to become available through the web instead of the library. In his videos he goes through the incremental and fundamental changes made in our working society. Richard states that our overall work stations have went from the "desktop" being a true wooden desk top to now present day the "desktop" being the laptop. The majority of work that evolves in the 21st century is not so much completed through the use of pencil and paper, but rather computer and web based technology.
We live in a majorly digital environment where anyone and everyone is able to update information immediately. People of all ages are able to distribute any and all information globally and freely. With the use of the web, documents after documents are available at any given time for ones use unlike the library. There was once a time when everyone depended on the library and the many books within it to complete assignments and to be able to fulfill their goals; however, in the 21st century the vast amount of people are not utilizing library facilities due to the ease of the web. Instead of students having to go through the trouble of searching for a book that may or may not be in stock at a library, the web allows them to digitally search any information needed for any assignment and is available to their fingertips at any given time.
Richard Miller's videos added to the many sources that have enabled me to see the major importance of the web and multimedia use in our world. As a future teacher, I am so thankful and excited to have all the many technology based resources available to help teach the future leaders of the world. I cannot imagine becoming a teacher without the availability of all the web based resources that are out there for our use. Students of all ages should realize just how lucky they are to have all the resources to help them succeed in life and to allow their education adventures to be more interesting.
Part Two
Carly Pugh's Blog Post #12 really inspired me to become the best teacher I can possibly be. I loved her assignments she suggested Dr. Strange should assign dealing with a YouTube post. I felt that the requirements in Carly's potential assignment enables futures teachers as myself to really think about their importance as a leader for many young individuals. As Carly states in her post, we should all be thinking about our philosophies as teachers and her YouTube assignment enables each future teacher to do just that. By creating a YouTube video that explains what type of teacher you hope to become and ways you can motivate your future students, will extremely help in the process of building your leadership abilities. In Carly's assignment she also required individuals to describe what a good and bad teacher is and to always center your lessons around creativity. I really think that Carly's requested assignment really could help future students in their endeavor to become the best teacher possible.
Part Three
The Chipper Series and EDM 310 for Dummies are both great videos to watch as a student of EDM 310. The Chipper Series video was about a young girl procrastinating in doing her work for EDM 310 and as we all know procrastination is the worse quality to ever have in doing anything, especially in the class EDM 310. This young student thought she would be able to wait until the last minute to complete all her assignments; however, she realized soon that was not the case. Her refusal to become an independent learner caused her to drop out of school. We as students should all allow this video to become an eye opener to just why we should not procrastinate.
In EDM 310 for Dummies I could not help but continually think of myself and think "Wow this video was made for me!" Even though we are nearly half way into the semester of EDM 310, I still find myself lost at times and not knowing what to do next. Dr. Strange's checklist has been a life saver for me throughout the entire semester and without it I feel I would not have been about to stay on task.

Learning to Change, Change to Learn
The fact that education is only ranked #55 is so very disturbing. I feel that this video stresses the importance of school in many ways. The video tells of how technology enables many students to learn outside of the school building; however, that does not mean that school buildings themselves should be taking out of the picture. As the video states, educators should be open for change in the classroom and change to learn. There are so many old school teachers that seem to refuse to allow change in their classrooms. I feel if they were all to watch this video on learning to change, their eyes would be opened to the many benefits change brings in teaching students to become future independent learners.

Part five Scavenger Hunt
In my scavenger hunt I chose to locate and add the tool Edmodo. Edmodo is a social platform similar to facebook or twitter that enables teachers and students to communicate at any given time. I feel as a future teacher this social website would come in very handy as a day to day tool for my students and I. The website would become a great way of translating assignments to and from my students and also become a more efficient way to reach out to parents as well.
As I toured the Web 2.0, I also found a great tool to use as a future teacher. This was a video tool named Animoto that enables you as a teacher or your students to easily upload and share pictures of all kinds to millions of people. It has special features such as the music library and high definition to allow a better quality to your picture.
Creating my very first poll!

Project 11 story movie

Project 9b prezi

The Five Senses of The Human Body! on Prezi

Project #10 (Post 1)

My First PLN Post


As I browsed the options for creating a personal learning network, I chose to use Symbaloo in order to create my very own PLN. Symbaloo seems to be somewhat of a simple source to use in creating a PLN and is very easy to navigate. So far I have added accounts such as facebook, google, twitter, weather, and much more to my symbaloo. I hope to continue to add to my symbaloo and have the finished product look as good as the 7th graders did in the video we watched!

Blog Post #7

As I begin to watch the video on The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler, I thought to myself I have absolutely no idea what a PLN or PLE is and what you do with them! Wendy did an outstanding job explaining how a 21st century student is a complete networking child. It was astonishing yet amazing to see that one student can use so much technology and networking within his or her school day. All the different sites the student used such as wiki, google, facebook, and so many more made up his PLN (personal learning network).

The illustration told of how the student spent his school day blogging, networking, researching, and navigating in order to complete school assignments. Wendy thoroughly explained all the resources that are available to this 21st century student and stated that the student only attends class 3 days a week and owns zero books. His teacher almost never lectures because she believes her students are students of connectivism. This teacher empowers her students to become networkers in order to make connections with other students and control their learning endeavors.

At the end of Wendy's video, the question arises "Why does a networking student even need a teacher?" Although our world has became overly smart when it comes to technology I believe a teacher will always be a necessity in the process of raising children as higher learners. Sure all of the networking and technology enables students of all ages to learn all there is to learn through school lessons and standards, but do we as educators really believe elementary age students are able to school themselves without a teacher? No matter how much technology may provide through endless PLN's, a student will always need guidance and someone to help build self-discipline within themselves. This someone should be a teacher! There are so many situations in today's society where unfortunately children are not getting the love, nurture, and guidance they should at home; therefore, a teacher may be the one and only person that child confides in as a leader and mentor. Not only do teachers need to be present in order to guide students to correct networking and to help them differentiate from good information and not so valid information, teachers should be there for students to help them navigate in any aspect they may need help navigating. Teachers in my opinion should be present to help mold a child into a future leader by teaching communication skills and how to become a respectable individual. So when asked if I think there will always be a need for a teacher my answer is absolutely!




When watching the video on A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment (PLE) I found myself absolutely in shock at how many personal networks this 7th grader possess and uses everyday of her life. She developed a personal learning environment network through a site called symbaloo which I know nothing about before watching this video. At the beginning of her school year she spent some time learning how to research topics and navigate sites and in the end pull it all together on a personal page. This 7th grade student had over 40 personal networks in which she used through school and leisure. To be honest this video frightened me a little because it just reminded me of how far behind I am in the technology world and if I plan to become a networking teacher I need to take lessons from this 7th grader! This example goes to show that you can learn from a student!

C4T #2

For my C4T #2 I was assigned to browse William Chamberlain's blog At The Teacher's Desk. I found William's blog very interesting in many ways. He seems to be a very well rounded, good hearted teacher that strives to be the best leader and mentor he can possibly be to his students.

The first blog post I chose to read was titled So Why Do I Feel Guilty? I thought this particular blog post showed what a caring teacher William truly is just by him feeling guilty for doing his job! The post explained that we as teachers have to know when and when not to give students choices in the classroom. William told of the importance of allowing your students to have choice when it came to some topics because we all know we as people seem to succeed more so at things we want to do rather than things we are made to do. Although it would be great to always allow students to only do what they want to do, teachers must require students to fulfill so many activities and projects that they may or may not be as interested in. The truth is in life we always are met with situations we may not particularly want to overcome but in the end have to for the best. With that said a teacher should never feel guilty for making their students learn things they may not specifically want to learn. As William stated, "...do not refer to ridiculously complex geometric proofs that are completely useless to 99+% of the population..." Always refer to the skills and content that will help make your students a more efficient learner.

The second post on Williams blog I chose to read was titled They Don't Love Your Subject (and That is Okay!) This second post really struck home for me as I could find myself relating to what William had to say. In his post he explained how so many teachers try and force a particular subject upon a student. Instead of just teaching the subject to the class in a way they can understand it, teachers feel that the students should love the subject as they do. By teachers forcing students to love a subject, they are in turn only pushing them further and further away from wanting to learn. William relays the message that students are not going to love your subject and that is perfectly okay. I can remember several teachers throughout my grade school years that tried with all their might to make every student fall in love with a subject just because they thought it was the best subject matter that ever lived. I also can remember those particular classes being my least favorite! Like William stated, "We need to allow our students the freedom to follow what they are passionate about." I feel that if teachers would follow through with what William is conveying then they will see more and more students falling in love with their favorite subject!

Blog Post #6

Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture began by expressing the fact that we as people cannot choose the cards we are dealt; however, we can choose in which way to play them. After thoroughly watching Randy's video I gained much respect for this man and realized just what the saying meant to be able to choose how to play the cards dealt to you. The Last Lecture was dedicated to three main point: Randy's childhood dreams, helping others, and lessons learned. There were a few words that Randy stated that really stuck out to me and played a role in all three sections of his video. The first of these words were, "No matter how far fetched your dreams may be, never believe you cannot succeed them." I believe this statement should be taught and instilled in every student across the entire world. There are so many children and young students that do not believe in themselves and unfortunately do not have anyone else that does either, which in turn triggers these individuals to fail in life.

Although Randy had some very far fetched dreams as a child, he was determined and driven enough to succeed at meeting all but two of those dreams. In Randy's video, he stressed how important the factor of believing in ones self is to achieving goals and dreams in life. He stated that obstacles will always be present so therefore you have to learn how to overcome them. "Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we won't something", Randy greatly stated. This last quote of Randy's is one of my favorites because I can honestly relate to the words he preaches here and understand exactly where he is coming from. There seems to always be something or someone trying to hold you back from fulfilling what you know in your heart you want. In my own personal life I can relate to the brick wall through the obstacles that have risen throughout my school years. My main goal in life has always been to succeed at becoming a college graduate and to receive the gratification of knowing I have achieved something no one can take away from me. In the road of attempting to achieve this personal goal of mine I have had to work harder than I ever imagined mentally and physically. There has been so many times when I felt I could not go another day and that I should just quite and get a "job"; however, I believed in myself and continued to push my way through the hard times. Throughout the process of achieving this long-term goal, no matter what or whom has attempted to stand in my way I have continued to push myself through the "brick wall".

Watching the video on how Randy Pausch was inspired to enable childhood dreams of others was absolutely breathe taking. It is so heart quenching to know that Randy himself has been dealt some of the worst cards imaginable yet continues to want to help others. I wish that there were more people in the world like Randy to spread the greatness of life and to let others see just how well they really have it made. In this particular video Randy expresses how he loves to inspire students of all ages to pursue their childhood dreams in whatever ways possible and to never think that they are impossible to achieve! Some of his teaching methods included learning how to work together, not just individually but to accomplish things within a team. There is no book learning with Randy, he says it is best to focus on people and to learn from each other rather than a single book. Randy stresses to always remember to teach students to always have fun no matter what! Decide if you are going to become a "Tigger" or an "Eeyor" your entire life. As future teachers we should always reflect on Randy Pausch and remember millions of kids learn more and harder things when the process is enjoyable; therefore Randy says to never lose your childlike wonder and to always be willing to help others for this rule will brings about great karma!

In the talk of "Lessons Learned", Randy emphasizes the importance of parents, mentors, and students. He revealed just how much his parents meant to him as a young child and what great qualities they indirectly instilled in him such as working in a dormitory in Ty land. He also spoke of how his parents did not get upset with him when he decorated his room by drawing all over the walls! I found this point very intriguing because I feel that today there are so many parents that do not allow their children to express themselves in ways such as painting and drawing which in turn hinders the child from believing in themselves. Randy spoke of mentors also becoming a major part of shaping the person he has became today. One of Randy's mentors let him know that arrogance limited your abilities. This comment given to Randy really sunk in and was never forgotten throughout Randy's days of maturing to an adult. This point leads to another one of Randy's teaching methods which is to always listen! When getting feedback learn to listen and appreciate instead of complaining or arguing. This particular method taught will allow an individual to succeed a great deal if chosen to follow. Randy also stressed that not only do we learn from parents and mentors,but we also can learn from our students. Always remember as a teacher that "loyalty is a two way street" and in order to receive loyalty from your students you too must become loyal to them as well. As an ending note to Randy Pausch's video "The Last Lecture", never ever give up your dreams!

Project #8 podcast video

Project #9a TimeToast Timeline!

Blog Post #5

The ischool initiative and the Zeitgeist Young Minds entry were both videos made by a young man by the name of Travis Allen. Travis's videos elaborate on the importance of technology in the classroom. Travis started pursuing his debate when he was just 17 years old at a high school in Georgia. He believes by the presence of technology in school systems around the world, the education of our students would improve dramatically. In the first video, Travis asks the question "Does technology belong in the classroom" and proceeds to explain his the reasons he believes technology should without a doubt become a part of every classroom.

When Travis produced the first video at age 17, he told of many great apps available to help students learn and to drastically change the teaching methods of all teachers. The apps Travis mentioned were those such as chemical touch, world wiki, starwalk and so many more that could be of aid for any student at any subject. Travis also talked of how emailing is a form of technology and how big of a tool it alone has became in the world we live in. The main issue that many have about technology becoming present in school systems is the educational income. Travis thoroughly explained how the income would become available if all paper, pencils, copy makers, and books were replaced by forms of technology such as computers and i pads. He concluded that with the present way of educating, the cost of supplies per student was around $600 while if schools were to turn completely towards technology to educate the cost per student would be approximately $150. Not only would the use of technology save school systems money, Travis explained how turning to technology would be environmentally safe!

After watching both of Travis's videos, I have to say I am even more of an advocate for technology in classrooms. The only issue I have ever had about trying to bring technology into classrooms is having the income. When Travis explained that the present use of paper, pencils, books, and copiers are costing schools over $600 per student I could not believe my eyes! If this is true, there is no excuse why our school systems should not use technology to help our future leaders learn. Like Travis stated, I cannot see where the cost of using technology in the classroom could be anymore than using all the supplies that presently run our classrooms.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir was absolutely breathe taking! I never realized just how much you can do when dealing with technology, it really ceases to amaze me. This choir piece just goes to show the world how endless the possibilities are with the use of technology.



The video Teaching in the 21st century by Kevin Roberts is a well thought out illustration of the importance of technology in our present world and how important it is that we as teachers allow our students to become familiar with different forms of technology. From watching the video, I believe Roberts meaning of teaching in the 21st century is all about engaging students to learn instead of just becoming a "teacher" alone. He states that teachers of the 21st century are no longer the main source of knowledge, but rather a filter of information. I strongly agree with Roberts on the current role of teachers and believe that as educators we must realize what Roberts has illustrated for us in his video, of all the technology that surrounds us, is very true. Our new generation of kids are no longer engaged in sitting down reading books or writing a paper. The new generation of students are more so engaged in all that Roberts explained: blogging, Facebook, Google, commenting, Wikipedia, twitter, and much much more! Knowing the new way of engaging children, educators should take this fact and run with it! They should enable students to blog and post comments in their daily assignments. Teachers should require their students to email and tweet with any questions that may or may not arise throughout the lesson.



Dr. Lodge McCammon's FIZZ video explains why and how to "flip" a classroom from zero technology to numerous technological devises. Lodge begins by telling how a classroom with too much lecturing is inefficient and not engaging for many students. He then tells of how to change your non-engaging classroom to just the opposite in order to better server your students. Lodge explains one way to better engage your students is by having them watch a "FIZZ" video such as his and see the difference in how the students respond to it rather than strict lecturing. By using videos in the classroom you are creating way more available class time for any questions the students may have and also are allowing a source that can be view repeatedly if necessary. For these two reasons alone, I could definitely use FIZZ videos within my classroom.



Flipping the Classroom-4th Grade Stem is another example that explains transforming a classroom into using multiple technology systems available. This video used methods of having the students watch videos and view assignments at home as their "homework" assignment in order to allow the students to better prepare for the day to come. This method enables students to already have an idea of what they may or may not be struggling with in the classroom the next day. This method of flipping allows for the teacher to become a facilitator rather than just a person giving lectures. Students also broaden their minds by becoming higher level thinkers! Knowing that students are gaining so much more information from a "flipped" classroom is enough reason in itself for me to want to use this method of technology in my classroom.

Blog Post #4

1st Graders Create Their Own Read-Along Audiobook!
The first post I chose to read on podcasting was Langwitches, 1st Graders Create Their Own Read-Along Audiobook. This was a great post to begin helping me understand the importance of podcasting. It is amazing to see such young students as first graders creating new fun ways to learn through audiobooks. Each student was given the chance to record their voices in the process of taking over reading and writing a script in the classroom. Langwitch's blog stated that she gathered the recordings of each child and put them together to create a podcast. After reading and seeing the process of the 1st graders podcast being made, I realized podcasting is a very creative way to allow children to develop excitement about reading and writing. The students are also building their listening skills in the process of podcasting by anticipating hearing their individual recorded pieces. I loved seeing how the students were able to follow the podcast with their finger in the audiobook the teacher helped to make. I felt by having a visual book for the children to follow along in really helped to interest the children more in podcasting.

The second source I chose to look into was Langwitch's Listening-Comprehension Podcasting post. This particular post was all about developing and instilling language into the human mind. Langwitch's blog stated that in order to fully internalize new vocabulary words, an individual must actually hear the word or words atleast 70 times! I thought this was a very interesting fact and shows just how important repetition in the spoken language really can be. When learning new vocabulary, it is also important to relate the new word to a feeling or moment in time to think about when seeing or hearing the given word. By relating words to certain feelings or events, a person may find it easier to instill the vocabulary in their mind.

I decided to watch a video for my third source entitled "Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom". The video by Joe Dale gave many great reasons on why to use podcasting in the classrooms. He started out by stating just how much the present generation of students depend on technology and that by introducing podcasting into the classroom teachers are more easily able to interest the students. Podcasting is a project based learning approach that brings differentiation into the classrooms for those students that cannot learn from just paper and pencil alone. By allowing students to create podcasts, you as a teacher are helping the student build their creativity skills as well as requiring students to build a higher order of thinking process. One main factor of podcasting that I found beneficial was the availability to absent students. There are so many reason why students miss school and what better way to keep the student from getting behind on their work than creating podcasts. By the creation of podcast, the teacher is able to send the entire lesson to the absent students if necessary. I feel the technique of podcasting could extremely help out many students that struggle to learn in other ways.

Project #6 My Sentence

Blog Post #3

Part 1
After watching the videos on Peer Editing and Peer edit with perfection, and also viewing the power point on peer editing I felt much more at ease about critiquing a peer's post. All three of the sources viewed had great pointers and techniques about editing that I look forward to be able to put into practice when critiquing my students. The power point and the video on peer editing stressed to always use the three steps when peer editing. Those three steps consisted of compliments, staying positive, and making suggestions. I feel that there could not have been three better steps in the process of peer editing.

Like the sources viewed mentioned, I believe the number one key to remember in peer editing is to always, always, always compliment first. In past experiences I have noticed if you do not start out your editing with a compliment then your peer is likely to become negative and shun away from the subject at hand. By starting your peer editing out with a compliment, you are more likely to catch the attention of your peer and create an interest in the matter. The second main key in peer editing is to stay positive no matter the situation. This key element goes hand in hand with the first key in editing, complimenting. If you develop a negative attitude like Pushy Paula or some of the other editors in the video, you will lose the interest of your peer. When editing someone's work I think you should always put yourself in that persons shoes and ask yourself, "Would I get upset at this comment". As an editor, you also do not want to become defensive like Defensive Dave. This is a sure fire way to lose all interest you may or may not have in your peer you are critiquing. So, as we have learned from the sources viewed, always start out your peer editing with compliments, keep a positive attitude no matter what, and last but certainly not least make suggestions in a positive way.

Part 2a
Lacy Cook did an amazing job illustrating just how important technology is in special education environments. It is heart breaking to know that there are so many cases in our country and school systems where individuals that are special needs do not have the proper tools to provide them with an adequate education. I believe that the majority of school systems do not see the importance of providing technology base devices to special needs students; however, if our educators and school leaders could see such videos as Lacy Cook's they would see first hand the effects technology has on special need individuals. With technology, life could be tremendously easier for special need individuals throughout the world.
In this video I watched the impact each technology device had on each individual student and saw just how much the technology became facilitator of student participation. Before the technology was brought about it was very difficult for the teacher to keep the attention of the students; however, after i pads, computers, and much more were introduced it became almost effortless to catch the eyes of each student. The video stated that before i pads were brought into the classroom, an aid had to take a certain student out of the classroom during silent reading and read aloud to the individual. To witness the change the i pad had on just this one student was breathe taking. It was so comforting to know that there was now a way to engage the student in silent reading and at the same time having him remain with his other classmates. Kris was another student and the video that preferred technology. He enjoyed using his computer at school to be able to actually communicate with everyone. Kris is nonverbal and before owning a computer he could only point to letters in order to create a word and in turn communicate. I cannot imagine spending the majority of each day not being able to communicate with others, but to know that simply having computers in a classroom enables communication for an individual is rewarding in itself. The assignments that are given to special need students can become 100% complete now with the help of technology and in half the time! By special need individuals being able to use technology daily, their lives have become so much easier and although they may never be "normal" they are able to become step closer.

Part 2b
After viewing the app store, I found an app named Intro to Letters, by Montessorium. I feel this would be a very useful app to use while teaching a special needs student. Many special needs students have trouble concentrating and/or communicating. The Into to Letters app will not only help students to learn in many ways, but will also captivate their attention where the student is not caught drifting into outer space! So many students, special needs or not, have trouble staying focused on the lesson of the day. I feel that by introducing an app that is outlined somewhat as a game will help keep the student engaged in the lesson. With this app students can learn to read, write, trace, and even learn the sounds of letters in the process. I would love to one day be able to use such an app as this to teach special need children. I feel that by showing the student just how the app works, he or she will be turned on to learning and will see how it helps them to learn and communicate. The app holds such detail in color and design throughout the background which also helps to catch the eye of the student.
The video of a child with autism using an i pad to complete his homework was a great example of just how important it is to enable technology to special needs children. His parents stated that before purchasing the i pad, their child had never been so excited about doing homework. The apps downloaded on the child's i pad such as My First Words, and Kids Writing Pad were also great learning apps for special need children. This child was a key example of the importance of technology in learning especially with special need students.
After watching Harness Your Students Digit Smarts by Vicki Davis I was absolutely amazed! As you all may know I am from a very small town and I have always doubted the fact of technology being brought into schools as small as ours here in Chatom, Alabama; however, after seeing that this small rural town in Georgia has been able to captivate so much knowledge in technology I do have hope for our small high school!
I loved, loved, loved Vicki Davis's attitude toward every student having the ability to learn. She stated that it is all about finding the correct teaching method to allow each student to learn in their own way. I think that is such a valid point due to the fact so many students now days have trouble focusing on work while looking at a blank piece of paper and only a pen or pencil at hand. With all the new technology available in the world, it would be insane to not include such devices in teaching students. Another point of Vicki Davis's that I found intriguing was to teach students to focus on learning how to learn instead of relying a teacher to teach everything. Davis even said herself that there were particular things the students knew before she did and therefore the teacher was even able to learn. The main key I hope to remember from this video is to always empower your students!

Project #5

Project #3 C4T #1

The teacher that I was assigned to in my C4T #1 was Ms. Dorothy Burt. Ms. Burt's blog title was Manaikalani in which she focused her blog on all the new technology being brought about in the schools of Mandaikalani. Burt discusses using technology gadgets to teach with such as net books, ipads, and much more in her posts. The first blog post of Ms. Burt's that I chose to leave a comment on was titled Writing Exams? Who does that Anymore? Ms. Burt explained through this post that there were many changed attitudes in the students at Mandaikalani after introducing technology based learning. She explained how test scores had significantly improved since the bringing about of net books and that teachers were seeing such a major change in the students' attitudes to want to learn. Teachers also realized that students are more drawn to writing when using a keyboard rather than pencil/pin and paper. Students overall would much rather use a digital devise when asked to write, because in doing so the students have developed better attitudes at learning and school in general. Teachers feel that students are not only having better attitudes in writing, but also feel their writing has dramatically improved. Burt includes in her blog that even though students are enjoying doing their work electronically and improving their work, students are still forced to sit for hours to take exams with pin and paper.
When I commented on Ms. Burt's post I reported just how strongly I am for technology based learning. I stated that as teachers I believe our responsibility is to teach students in the best possible way and if the method for students to learn best is through electronic devises then I am all for it. As our country progresses, it is only going to turn more and more to technology to stay aboard other countries. Teachers hold the responsibility to prepare young adults for the outside world and if that outside world consists of over 75% technology based systems, then what better way to teach our daily lessons than through electronic devises.

The second blog post of Ms Dorothy Burt's that I chose to comment on was titled Embedding a 1:1 programme. This particular post dealt strictly on net books and the number of teachers verses students were active users of net books. Burt explains that in some cases there are teachers that are more familiar with net booking than the students, but in other cases the students have been operating net books longer than the teacher. Burt created a chart in her post that illustrated how many students and how many teachers were net book users and how many years had they been a user. The post explained how challenging it may be in the years to come with new teachers being hired that may or may not be familiar with net books while their students may be in their third year as net book users.
My comment to Ms. Burt's post about teachers verses students using net books stated that I too felt it may be a challenge bringing in new teachers that are not familiar with new technology to many students that are well known to net books. However, at the same time you may also have new students coming in as well that have never dealt with net books. I stated in my comment that when using technology as a source to teach there will always be a challenge; however, is there not always a challenge in learning new material? You as the teacher must overcome the challenge just as the students did at one time.

Project # 2

Blog Post #2

Did you know?
    Wow! After watching Dr. Strange's video detailing the facts of the United States I was amazed to learn just how much our world uses technology. Whether it be through text or YouTube, there is not a second that passes that millions of people are not using a form of technology. It is insane that every minute 48 hours of videos are posted to YouTube! In the same exact minute there are 11,453,577 SMS messages sent world wide. These facts are astonishing and show just how much our world is turning to technology alone. I have never been quite so technologically literate, so knowing that the future is only going to become more and more dependent on technology somewhat terrifies me.
     As I watched Karl Fisch's video I was even more at aw finding out how our population compares to that of other countries, I was quite terrified. The fact that 25% of India's students IQ outnumbers that of the entire U.S. populations is not only sad but scary. Learning the facts from Dr. Strange's video does scare me a bit, but also motivates me to want to teach and inspire my future students through technology. It is so upsetting to know that so many of the students in the U.S. are not being prepared for the future society they will be thrown into. I hope that EDM 310 will help me to become a more proficient user of technology where I will be able to prepare my students for the smart world we live in.



Mr. Winkle Wakes
     Mr. Winkle Wakes by Mathew Needleman was such a cute, but very realistic video. Needleman did a fantastic job illustrating just how fast our world advances through technology. The video showed a fragile old man awake after 100 years and it was as if he were a cave man. He had no clue what all of these new advancements in the world were such as the computer and x-ray screens. Mr. Winkles seemed to be having a panic attack as he could not find a single place that he felt at ease and not so overwhelmed. Suddenly Mr. Winkles stumbled upon a school with familiar desk and familiar chalk boards! At last he was finally at a state of comfort due to zero technology in site.
     As I watched Mr. Winkles, he made me think of the look my grandparents give me when I am browsing the internet or posting a blog. They are completely illiterate at how all technology works and do not see the importance of computers and such.  I found myself also relating a great deal to Mr. Winkle! It seems as if every day there is some new machine or website to learn about and the scary part is you cannot just hide under a bridge or stay in the boring classrooms forever where it is a familiar state as Mr. Winkle did in the video. You must conquer the task at hand in order to build a successful life in the world we live in today.It is so very sad to know that our world is advancing more and more each day and that our school buildings are overall the least advanced in the world. You would think with our society technologically growing as fast as it is that our schools would grow even faster at keeping up with the most present technology.

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
   The Importance of Creativity by Ken Robinson I have to say was my favorite video! Robinson could not have done a better job at explaining just how school kills creativity. He talks about how human's creativity is so various and that every individual should be able to express their own talent yet overall the U.S school systems discourage creativity. In the video Robinson states that creativity is as important as literacy in the world we live in.  This statement has became true in many ways as an individual chooses a career path.
   I loved the point Robinson made about Julian Lynn and how she became to find her calling in the world. It is so sad to know there are so many children that do not follow their paths of creativity due to the teacher or parents thinking the child is "weird" or too rambunctious; therefore, many children today are put on medication and labeled ADHD where the teacher can better tolerate the child which in return causes the child to lose interest or never find their creative path. The majority of children in today's society have an abundance of technological resources available to them at any given second, which means the brains of these children are constantly working so fast at processing information. I do believe teachers should stop and think of this very factor when they are having trouble getting a child to focus or become interested, and ask themselves just what creative ways can I come up with to better teach this child?
Classroom Disruptions
   Classroom Disruption is a video existing of two very different classrooms at Oakland High and Blunder High. In watching the video I noticed many differences in the classrooms. One in which Oakland High was full of computers, projectors, and students that seem eager to learn while Blunder High was full of typical classroom desks and students that seem bored out of their mind. Second, I noticed not only did Oakland High have computers, but they had one per student and internet access where the teacher was able to teach his lesson through videos on YouTube and many other internet programs. At Blunder High the students all had a text book and paper which they all flipped through repeatedly. The main differential factor I noticed was the attitude each teacher put off towards the students. At Oakland High the teacher remained enthused and excited about teaching his students and made eye contact with each student he spoke to throughout the entire class. However, at Blunder High the teacher was very mono-toned and very seldom even noticed the students.If I had to pick which classroom I would rather be a part of I would definitely prefer Oakland High for the mere fact I would feel I was learning more and actually getting something out of the class. The majority of my past classes have been like Blunder where there was not much teacher/student interaction and I was never interested in the topic at hand. I feel that with all of Oakland's advanced technology, the students have no choice but to learn and stay engaged. The techniques a teacher chooses to use really does make a difference. At Blunder the student attempted to ask for help and the teacher disgustingly sighed, "Ugh see me after class." However, Oakland High's teacher sat down with a student immediately as the student asked for help and showed the student where to go to clear up the problem he was having and made sure the student was clear on the question at hand. I think the students at Blunder learned absolutely nothing while at Oakland the students retained all the information they were taught throughout the class.
    I hope as a future teacher I can catch the eyes of my students as the teacher at Oakland High did in the video . I believe that he was able to do so by having confidence in his knowledge as a teacher as well as confidence in working the technology at hand. In order to become such a proficient teacher in today's society, you need to keep up with all the latest technology and teach your every lesson by using that technology as will most likely catch the attention of more students this way than by the old fashion way of lecturing; lets face it the kids today are just not like they use to be therefore we as teachers must come up with the most advanced and newest ways of teaching. The sources are all out there, teachers must just learn how to use them in order to bring about a successful classroom. I strongly believe that the only way to become a profound teacher is to keep up with the daily technology and resources available to our children.