My EDM 310 Blog Assignments are Now Complete.

I enjoyed this class and met some really nice people. Maybe I'll see you in my next class. I wish everyone the best in their future.

My Contact Project.

We had to contact someone in a different area and carry on a conversation on different aspects in technology. Well one of my blog topics was on, "Is there enough time in the school year?" Barry Bachenheimer is a professor at Montclair State University in New Jersey. He made up a video about 180 days being in the school year. He shows all the waisted days (sixty days) that are lost in throughout the school year. My teacher assigned us to watch his video and to write about our thoughts. As I was in Class one night, I realized that I had a comment on my page. I clicked on it and it was Mr. Bachenheimer. This was so cool! He asked me of my thoughts on what could be done to change the waisted days. By not being a teacher yet and just taking the beginning of the education classes, I'm not quite sure. So I figured who better to ask different aspects of technology then Mr. Bachenheimer himself. I wrote him and said, "As you may know from looking at my blog, I'm going for Elementary Education. I've never done blogs before and mine is still a work in progress. What do you think about (young) students blogging and how will it benefit them?" He responded back and said, "I think anything that gets kids writing, interested in writing, and collaborating is a good thing. If blogs accomplish this goal, under teacher supervision for young learners, then I am in favor of it!" I had asked him a few more questions but I know he has a busy schedule and hasn't responded.
This was a really neat project. Being able to interact with others from other parts of the country is the great thing about technology! I appreciate Mr. Bachenheimer's time!

What I learned from this class.

I have learned so much from this class. I don't even know where to begin. First of all I learned about blogging. It was a great experience and I learned how it could be useful for my future as a teacher. Dr. Strange had us watch different videos that were very interesting. It makes you think how you can better your classroom.
He showed us all the free things that were available with google. This will be a good resource when I start teaching. We did presentations off of google. I also did spreadsheets. This was pretty cool. If you didn't know what you were doing it can be frustrating at times. On our iGoogle page Dr. Strange showed us how to have a instant messenger to talk to different people. There is so much available that is free on google.
Dr. Strange also talked about "Burp Back" education. I totally agree with him. Teachers shouldn't be teaching students things that they have to study and then forget. I just had a Health class this semester and it was a waist of my time and money. He was teaching us "Burp Back" education. I learned nothing! I wanted some hands on activities like CPR or what signs to look for in a abused child and when to report it. Something that I could use for my future as a teacher. Thanks Dr. Strange for all your help. I have learned a lot and will use it as a future teacher.

The Positives and Negatives of Blogs in the classroom.

This is my first time using a blog. If it wouldn't have been for this class, I might have never done one. That would probably be the reason to why teachers are not using blogs in the classroom. They don't know how to do it or are not comfortable with it. I read over Angela Heyer's blog from my class. She also has never done a blog before. I believe that she, like myself would have never done a blog, if it wasn't for this class.
I think all teachers should use blogs for their class. It helps parents know what is going on in the classroom. Also if the students are sick, then the parents can look and get their child up to date on their school work. The teacher can post the child's work for all to see. Videos could be posted for students to watch, educational games, etc. There is so much that can be done. The possibilities are endless. That's the great thing about technology. The only negative part that I can think about, would be if parents or student's don't have a computer. That could cause some conflict and limit the activities for those students. Although they do have computers at the public library, available for use.

The South in Black and White

The South in Black and White is a course offered by the Center of Documentary Studies by Duke University. First of all, they do not have a intro and they just start talking, when the podcast comes on. I think this is a great opportunity and should be offered at all schools. It allows students to reflect on what it means and our role in it today.
Tim Tyson and Tom Rankin were the speakers and they said, "What really matters is public education. Are we citizens together? Do we understand how we go where we are? What are are strengths and weaknesses?" This course will have plays put on and they will have a discussion about the plays. Gospel music will be played every week. There will also be story tellers that will come in. All of this will be to help explore the full richness of the history and culture. This course will be taught at Haiti Heritage Center. This is a public space and also a Historic African American Church. It seats about four hundred people.
This is a great opportunity and should be taught at other schools across the nation. People need to learn from the past, so we can take a full step ahead in our future as a Nation. I'm glad that they are not just teaching straight from a book but rather different aspects of plays, music, stories, and the over all setting at the church. I believe that this is a great thing and other schools need to embrace it!

EDM310 Podcast

I listened to four different podcast that we did from our class. One of which was my own. Being every one's first time, there is always room for improvement! I know I was nervous as well as others. The first one I listened to was, "The Possibilities of using Facebook in an Educational setting." The speakers were Allison Midget and Shaundretta Bethel. They had some good information. This shows you that they did their research. Although one speaker said ugh and um to many times! You don't realize how many times you say that until you go back and listen to your own podcast.

The second one was, "Experiences with Blogs." The speakers were Carmen O'Connor, Nikita Reed, and Angela Heyer. They also had some good information. On the other hand they also said um and y'all a little to much! You could also tell they were reading off their paper. They did change back and fourth between speakers well. There were also a few long pauses and you could hear things that they wouldn't have wanted us to hear, like them whispering.

The next podcast was, "Burp Back" Education. The speakers were Ashley Denson, Sandy Presley, and Robyn Terry. They also had pauses longer than what it should have been. You could tell that they were reading off the paper from time to time. They also had good information and keep it flowing well.
Then the last one was my own. Can You Tube be used as an Educational tool? The speakers were Chris Borchardt, Heather Rodgers, and myself. As I said before, you don't realize all the mistakes that you make, until you listen to yourself. I guess it was everyone being pretty nervous. We also said Um to much! Overall, I think everyone did a pretty good job for the first time!

Maine Department of Education

Judy Chandler is the technology integration specialist, mathematics teacher and math mentor trainer for main learning technology incentive. Thinking Mathematically was one of her podcast. Students are learning by moving from lesson to lesson and example to example throughout a text. Many are unable to connect with the content and become disengaged and feel frustration of falling behind. Other succeed by memorizing meaningless procedures they will soon forget. The piece that is missing from this learning environment is thinking mathematically. Then like math, Science they teach the scientific method and provide opportunity for students to become scientist in the classroom. Mathematics engage students to thinking mathematically. As teachers we do this by asking questions to help engage their thinking. As for today, technology resources provide powerful new tools for the classroom. Questions also direct classroom discussion and guide critical thinking experiences. As a teacher ask questions and challenge the students.

Judy also had another podcast called Mathematics with Technology. Some math teachers are reluctant to embrace technology as a valuable classroom resource. Teachers say they don't have time and they have successful students. Other colegus ask, What does technology bring to the classroom? What is it's role in mathematics education? The National council of teachers of mathematics says technology is essential. It enhances student learning. It is one of the critical principles of a high quality math education. Concepts that we teach have connections to early learning of applications in the real world and our foundation of future learning.

I think technology in education plays a major part. Teachers need to be up to date with the latest technology. Students learn more with hands on activities. These podcast will help me as a teacher to make sure that I'm up to date with the latest technology. Also how to create a better learning environment for my students. Student's don't need burp back education. They need different things like technology to motivate and help them along the way.

"Growth" vs. "Fixed" Minds

Carol Dweck is the Proffessor of Psycology at Stanford University. She talked about students that have a fixed mindset and worried about if they are going to be able to finish the task right or not. They worried about whether or not they are going to look smart. Then other students believe that they can develop their own intellengence their whole life though. It's a learning porcess. So they decied at Sanford to do a study. They split the students in half. Half of the students did study skills and the other half did study skills and a 8 session workshop. The study skills were great but the students got bored with it. The students that did the 8 session work shop helped them in a tremendous way! They were taught that their brain was like a muscle. It gets stronger with use.
The students were taught how to apply what they learned to their school work. At the end of the Semester there was a significant rebound in grades for those students. The teachers didn't know which students were in the session classes but they could pick out who the students were.
For the future of me as a teacher, this was a great study. I believe hands on activities is a great way for students to learn. If they keep doing study skills they will get bored. There needs to be a change of atmosphere. Students need to know that they are smart and that it is a learning process thoughout life. You never stop learning! I would like to see more workshops of this sort in our local classrooms.