C4T 4

Manaiakalani

Netbook Handover

1. Netbook Handover is something that is brand new for this school. Thanks to a philanthropic donation these children are able to have netbooks in their hands. This will give them constant access to tools they need while learning how to be responsible for their netbooks as well. However beginning in 2011 the students will have to start leasing their own through the school.

Wireless Solution

2. Her second post was about having two different schools connected to each other wirelessly. She was absolutely amazing that this was happening. The connection is from Tamaki college to Pt. England school. They also have a TLN which is the Tamaki Learning Network.

If you would like to read her blog here you go manaiakalani

Final Report on PLN

My final report on my PLN is that I have decided to stick with Symbaloo as my main organizer. It's absolutely amazing how organized it keeps my school life. All I have to do is pull up my symbaloo and everything is right in front of me. I will also continue to use twitter, blogger delicious and Skype on a daily basis and to be honest have been using all of them on a daily basis plus several times a day since last semester. I would really feel lost without symbaloo now!

C4K Summary

C4K Summary

I really enjoyed doing C4K. When you have college students commenting on your blog post it seems that they want to do more post and do the best they can do. If children have someone to show off their work to that alone drives them to do their best. Children need to feel important and heard no matter how interesting or boring the subject matter might be.

C4K 11

Yasmine

Yasmine is a student of Mr. St. Pierre's class. She was very frustrated at the fact that she was constantly writing blog post yet nobody was commenting on them. I'm sure as a young child that can be very disappointing so when I commented on her blog I just express that no matter what comments she gets or doesn't get that she should continue blogging for herself. It's a positive and educational activity to do daily.

Xavier

I was assigned to comment on Xavier class blog about a field trip he when on with his class. He e that he was able to hold a guinea pig and ducklings. He also mentioned having sugar cane. I can remember as a child my first time having sugarcane was on a field trip, and I just thought it was the neatest thing!

Project 16

Additional Assignment 4

What's Your Sentence?

Instead of asking yourself if you are technologically literate, you should ask yourself if you are technologically fluent.

Project 15-Stay in School

C4K 10

Wow, That was sweet!!!

By Chase

Chase is a student in Mrs. Huebner's class. His post was about how he and a friend were playing football on the PS2 and did a great job and I responded much like Mrs. Huebner did. I agreed that something really needs to be done about the "real" Vikings.

Post 13

ALEX (Alabama Learning Exchange)

ALEX is essentially a way to stay organized and on top of things as an educator. It is divided into several different categories, which include: Course of Study, Web Links, Lesson Plans, search, Personal Workspace, Professional Learning and Podcast Tresuary. Not only is it helpful for teachers, but it can also be helpful for administrators and students as well. The site is extremely easy to navigate because everything is on one page. It helps secure (for a lack of better words) that your lessons plans are on key and everything that needs to be taught is being covered. I feel that one of the most important aspects of being a teacher is staying organized and (ALEX) can helps us do that with ease. ALEX was created by the Alabama department of education to provide quality for learning.

Form results of project 6 (survey:College Life)

https://spreadsheets.google.com/gform?key=0Ap41S7FUD67fdEZFc292QWFrX1VDaDYtVFFOMVNFRVE&hl=en&gridId=0#chart

Progress Report for Final Project

Progress Report on the Final Project

Education

My progress on the final project has been quite a project! I have attempted to work with several different people and unfortunately they fell thru. Therefore, I have finally decided to work with Trung Nguyen (Tommy) and several others. He has brought up the idea to do the project on teaching plans or resources. I began researching today and have found tons of websites which happen to include a few we used through-out this semester. I think this project is going to turn out great.

C4K 9

Grade level 5 French Immersion

Remembrance Day

This is a grade 5 French Immersion class at New Maryland Elementary School in New Brunswick, Canada. These children are bilingual 21st Century Learners. I commented on the classes remembrance day wordle project. They will be leaning how to do their own shortly as we did at the very beginning of the this semester. Keep in mind we just learned this as they are except they are in the 5th grade! Just another reminder that we must stay up-to-date with technology if we want our children to learn from us.

Post 12

Do you think that technology in the classroom takes away from a child's ability to be creative and to be interactive with other children? Does technology cause children to be anti-social in person?

Instructions:

1. Find a blog that justifies your answer

2. Write at least a pharagraph

C4K 3-7 Summary

I really enjoy doing C4K for the most part. Sometimes I feel that we have to comment on blogs which don't have much of a meaning which is hard to do because there's not much to say. However, I think it wonderful that teachers are incorporating blogging into their classrooms because it keeps everyone up-to-date on their work.

additional assignment 5

Tom Johnson's Adventures in Pencil Integration

This was a really great post! There should be more teachers who think the way Tom Johnson thinks! Blame is no way to handle any situation, and a teacher should know, practice and understand this concept better than most. Blame has many effects on people, and none of them are positive effects. As a teacher you must do more than just "try" to understand and know your students. I think many teachers say to themselves, "I only have them for a year and then their gone." What these teachers aren't understanding is that there are too many times that "bad" teachers or teachers who simply don't care leave a major impression on those students and in turn these students hold that experience with them forever in some cases or they hold it with them until they are blessed with a good teacher who shows them the light.

Project 13-Smartboard Presentation

C4T 3

MIddle School Matrix

The Wonder of Some Exercise

Mr. Hadley wrote a post on how he had decided to take his students on a walk during their 80 minute period which was held first thing in the morning. The purpose of this class period was to talk about study strategies. He wanted each individual student to find the best study strategy for them. He found that by not putting so many restrictions on them during the walking period that they were able to communicate with one another about the topic and by the time they got back inside they were very much focused on their work opposed to to fidgeting and creating distractions.

Following My Own Advice

Mr. Hadley wrote a post on exactly what his title says. He followed his own advice.

The post before this one was titled, The Wonder of Some Exercise. I think we have all been here. I know I have! I experience this problem more than twice a week. People tend to want to get their work, "Out of the way." Therefore, they have the tendency to want to work nonstop until it's done. However, this is not always the best way to do your work. When we try to sit down and get all of our work of the way everything seems to start running together. Mr. Hadley went on to tell how all of his students comments and post seem to sound the same instead of being unique like the usually are. We all need to take a break once in a while and when we do we usually end up with a better end result with whatever it is we are doing.

Post 11

Little Kids.... Big potential

Mrs. Cassidy's little kids from Moose Jaw, Canada most certainly do have big potential! They will be the graduation class of 2025. They are using blogs, wikis, webpages and Skype to further their learning. Not all children learn in the same manor or time span. Now that children have access to such tools they are no longer limited to relying on teachers who are only available monday-Friday. Children can now go home and take it upon themselves to learn material that they might have not understood they way they teacher taught it.

I can clearly remember being in elementary school and coming home with homework or projects that were do over the period of a weekend. The problem was I didn't always fully understand how to go about doing it. Thankfully I was lucky enough to have my father around when I needed help with that sort of stuff, but in this ever so modern world that we live in many parents don't have the time to help their children, or may not understand the subject matter themselves, so with that in mind technology can actually serve as a teacher. There's only one condition, and that is, the students must understand how to navigate a computer. Learning how to work with a computer is just as important as any other subject if not more due to the fact that with out it they may not be able to get help until after their homework is already late.

I think the approach Ms.Cassidy used to influence technology in her classroom was great. She let children be a big part of of it instead of just kind of throwing the information into their laps and expecting them to understand it. Mrs.Cassidy has incorporated blogging as part of her approach to introduce her students to technology. One reason I feel that at the children are so interested and more importantly stay interested in their work is because they get feedback from the people that matter to them the most like their parents and friends. We were all children at one point in time and as I can recall, when my parents had input on my work it pushed me to do the best I could. Children want and need to know people that the people closest to them care. Blogger makes this very easy

C4K 8

Happy Columbus Day, Nonno!

This particular post from Mrs.Yollis' 3rd grade class was about Genoa, Itay. Genoa, Italy is also where Christopher Columbus was from. This post has to be one of the most informative C4K post that I have ever read.

Project 12-Skype Interview

Free online screen recorder

Project 11-Holly's Halo

Post 10

An Open Letter to Educators

I am reading this post as an assignment for my EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama. I am majoring in Elementary Education. This video was almost like a slap in the face. I mean, it's not like I wasn't aware of this information, but it's almost like i want to ignore it in a sense. If I really want to be honest the first time I have learned anything new in years is right now in Dr.Strange's micro-computing class. He has many doorways we can look through and gain knowlegde and information from. He doesn't baby us and he gets right to the point. Instead for standing up there and saying blah blah blah he gives us assignments like this one and it opens ours eyes. This is one of the best blogs I have read/listened to. It applies directly to my situation and every other college student for that matter. All I can say, is I can't wait for the classroom to go completely technical, and as far as books go...... we don't seem to need them. I have 4 different books and like you said I haven't crack one of them yet!

Two Questions That Can Change Your Life

What's My Sentence?

My sentence...... Gosh what is my sentence. This is not an easy question. I suppose my question for now would be:

Instead of asking yourself if you are technologically literate, ask yourself if you are fluent with technologically!

Was I Better Today Than Yesterday?

I would like to think that I am better today than I was yesterday, but I think many factors can weight into that question. Well, I would have to say yes, overall I think that I am better today than yesterday. I say this, because everyday that goes by I learn and understand more and more things. This applies to school material and life lessons.

Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home

So this was a great post! She begins talking about how children in low-income areas usually have lower standardized test grades due to the fact of having only pencils to work with, whereas students in a more middle class or high class area have computers to help them learn. These children who are in low-income areas need computers in todays growing world of technology in order to stay up-to-date, and to be able to at least stay within the "average" of the standardized scoring.

C4K 7

Max

Max is in Mrs.Gilbert's 5th grade class and made a post on what red ribbon week means. As most of you probably know, red ribbon week means drug free awareness week. He stated how he will never smoke. I replied to his post by saying that is one of the best promises one could ever make to themselves.

Additional Assignment 3

Sir Ken Robinson: Changing Paradigms

I feel that the most important thing that Sir Ken Robinson said in his presentation is, "We have two type of people, academic (smart people) and non-academic (non-smart people)." He goes on to state that the problem with that is many brilliant people think that they are not, because they have been judged against this particular view of the mind. I agree with just about 100% of his views of education. I see eye to eye with Sir Ken Robinson when he says that our children are living in the most intensely stimulating period in the history of the earth. I think any one who is a student or even someone who is not would also agree with him. It is true that students today spend more time on the computer, iPhone, iPod, t.v etc. However, I can not totally agree with him when he says that these things are causing children to be put on ADHD drugs.

post 9

What I've Learned This Year

Mr. McClung has done a excellent job with giving tips to future educators. I agree with just about everything he said, but one of my favorite lines was when he said that lessons should be student centered, not teacher centered. I'm sure we have all had a bad teacher at one time or another and maybe some of us do right now. We all know that it's not any fun and now that we are a bit older I would say that alot of that bad teaching could be chalked up to lessons not being student center but teaher centered. It takes more time to have a student centered lesson plan apposed to a teacher centered lesson, but if you want your students to learn then your going to have to exccept the fact that it takes time and most of all patience.

C4K6

Ryan B

6th grade/Iowa 

Hi Ryan,

I am a student of Dr.Strange’s EDM 310 class at the University of South alabama and was assigned to read your post. I hope you continue to make more post. Bogging is a great way to learn and keep in touch with classmates and family.

Project 9b

Disney Timeline:

Project 10

1st Progress Report on PLN

I have decided to use Symbaloo to organize my PLN(personal learning network). I have instant access to facebook, twitter, blogger, e-books, gmail, my online banking and many more. I have tried several different things to organized my sites, but this seems to be my favorite. I didn't know about it until I watch the video Dr.Strange assigned us to watch. You should try it, I love it.

Post 8

This Is How We Dream

The fact that we have become such a technologically enhanced society we no longer have any limitations of what we can access. Writing a paper is something you can do without leaving you home. Therefore, if you get sick or your child gets sick you can still manage to do you work at home without a problem. There is not such thing as a closing time. The internet is always open. Anybody and find anything. What more could we ask for as a student, teacher or just a person in general? Not only can we find whatever we need to put together a project or learn how to do something, but we can also make whatever we want. Presentations, movies, slide shows, recordings, and the list goes on. Pen and paper is not in the past but we are no longer restricted to it!Reading and writing is not longer only about pen and paper but about technology as well. Teachers and not look toward technology to help improve and motivate their students to learn the information that needs to be taught and learned. Todays world like Dr. Richard E. Miller has said, "Has also gone completely virtual". This semester I only had to buy one book which wasn't so cheap. It was about $100 and I have only opened it twice since this semester has started. However, I can't complain but in pervious semesters I was having to buy 4 and 5 books at almost the same price. Books are now downloadable from the internet and the price is cut in half if not free many times.

The chipper Series and EDM 310 for Dummies

The Chipper Series is sending the message that just because your work is done doesn't mean anything. Your work must be done and ON TIME!!!! If you have a job to report to you must be on time. In the real world being late is not excepted. If your teacher shows up late are you not irritated? Sure you are. Well the same goes for you with your work. Does Dr.Strange have a right to be irriated? Sure he does. I would like to create a video on "just how important education really is" for elementary children.

Critiques of Smartboards

I think smartboards were a great invention. It makes it easier for the teacher to teach and easier for the student to see. I remember when I was growing up the chalkboard could be so.... vague sometimes. The teacher would write to big or too small. Then there were times when I couldn't understand what the teacher was writing at all. However, I do believe that smartboards can be over used. There are just so many programs you can use in order to help a child understand certain things that chalk and a blackboard may not. I know that I wish I grew up when smartboards were being used in the elementary school. I have looked up a blog that is owned by a teacher who is all for smartboards. You should check it out.

Teachers Love Smartboards



Additional Assignment 2

Sugata Mitra:  The child-driven education

1.  I believe that if learners are motivated then yes they can teach themsleves, but like you said they must be motivated.

2.  If those motivated people are kids can they teach themselves?  hmm.... I say why not?  I think too many people don't give kids enough credit.  They have every resource in the world to teach themselves and many that come across something they don't understand will ask someone.  However, for the most part I do believe that they have the ablity to teach themselves.

3.  What conditions are neccessary for kids to teach themselves, or for anyone to teach themselves?  I feel that everyone has a different condition for teaching themselves.  Some people may need it to be quiet, some may need a bit of sound.  It just depends on that individual.

4. I feel that internet access has a lot to do with an individual teaching themselves something today.  There are children that do not have the ablity to have such technology but they also have the ablity to learn if they are motivated.

5.  Motivation has the biggest role in learning.  No matter the environment or technology avalible, if they are not motivated then they will not learn.

6.  What roles do a problem, a question or multiple problems or questions play in the process? The more problems and questions a child has the more he/she is going to learn.

7.  How do you motivate someone to learn?  Well honestly I don't feel that anyone has the power to make another person to learn.  The individual has to be (once again) MOTIVATED to learn.

8.  I am motivated to learn because I actually want to be something (a teacher).  I also look back at some of my friends who became nothing and that alone keeps me motivated.  However, there was a point in time that I could care less about learning.

9.  Can anyone who is not motivated to learn learn?  Yes and no.  I say both because they hear and might be able to remember it, but on the otherhand I do not believe that they will be able to utilize it in the future.

10.  Yes I teach myself.  I do this on a daily basis with EDM 310 as well as with math. 

11.  I believe that a teacher plays a role in the since of guidence and mannerism more than anything else.

12.  If a child is not motivated to learn then they are simply not going to learn.

13.  I think too many teachers shove certain things on their students.  In the video he said he dropped of a computer and the children taught themselves.  Therefore, children are very much able to teach themsleves.

Project 8-Podcasting

Get Your Own Free Hypster.com Playlist.

C4K 5

Seek to Understand, Not to be Understood

This is a highschool student who had to write a paper. I must first say that she had a wonderful title for her paper. I believe that this is a girl who really has her act together. She made many great points about education. She realizes that education is not just about academics, which in my opinion is a break-through. There are too many kids that do not realize what school is all about until it's too late, but this is not one of them. I believe she will excel through-out her college career.

Loretta

I comment on Lorettas blog about her parent/teacher conference. She had the feelings that most children do. We all get worried before a parent/teacher conference even if we know that we have straight A's. This is a normal feeling. she went on to explain that everything turned out just fine (which is usually the case). However, the teacher did say that she needed to work more on history and sports. This is normal as well. Everyone can't excel at everything. All we can do is try our best!

C4K 4

Jeremy 

I was assigned to comment on Jeremy's post.  He made a post about how he really enjoys playing on his scooter after school.  I commented back by saying that I thought that was great because it seems as the years go on more and more children choose to play video games opposed to playing outside.

C4K 3

Esrah

I was assigned to post a comment on  a student named Esrah who is in the 4th grade at Pt England School in Auckland NZ. He decided to write a creative story about skydiving.

My name is May Krasovich. I am a student of Dr.Strange's EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama. My major is Elementary Education I remember when I use to have to write creative stories for school. Those were always the most fun to write. You did a good job with your choice of words and your punctuation was good as well.

Project 9a TimeToast

Thomas Krasovich

post 7

Randy Pausch

Mr. Pausch Made a great list of things to recognize in ones life. I mean really, if you had one last lecture to give what would it be? Now that's something to think about. Well he decided to talk about his childhood dreams. Although he didn't fill them as one would expect, but I don't think there are too many people who do. He fulfilled them in the sense that he got a taste for each idea. His number one dream was to achieve zero gravity and well, as we just saw he achieved it in his own way.

If i had to think about one dream that I had as a child it was to be a teacher. I think everyone wanted to be a teacher at one point in there childhood. As children we look up to our teachers because we know that they are there to guide and teach us the right way to do things. Not only do teachers teach the curriculum, they also teach manners.

Another dream he had was becoming a Disney imagineer. After going in circles with several people he was finally able to get a shot at it. He landed a spot with working on the Aladdin Project for Disney. He describe being able to work on the Aladdin project as a once in 5 years opportunity, and he's right. That kind of opportunity doesn't just happen you must be determine and work hard. One lesson I learned from this speech, is never take no for an answer. Do what ever it takes to get to your goal (well, within reason that is). What I'm trying to say is don't take one persons word and ride on it. Find a second source and moat of all pick and choose the words you use in a conversation.

After working with them for six months they ask him to stay. He continued to explain that he loved being an imagineer with all his heart, however he was not willing to give up teaching. He also stated at the same time that "if" they told him that, if he decide not to keep the job then he was never allowed to step foot back in the building that he would be willing to give up his teaching career. However, that's not what happened. They opt to let him have his cake and eat it too. He could keep his teaching career and work as an imagineer one day a week. what more could you ask for?

Post 6

A 7th Graders Personal Learning Environment

This student is more more organized due to the help of technology. Everything she needs is on one page. I would love to know as much as she does without having to think twice about it, and Dr. Strange's class has put me on that path. We have learned how to use audacity, blog, twitter (although I'm still a little confused with that one), skype, make videos and post them, add links to blogger, twitter, delicous and the list goes on. However, it is not second nature for me yet. I still have to think and remember hard how to do certain things but with time there will be no problem. The more I use it the more I will learn, remember and understand how to do everything. I would most definitely save this video on my favorites so that I can go back and learn how to use the same websites she has in order to use them with my students.

The Networked Student

What is connectivism? Connectivism is a theroy that presumes that learning occurs as part of a social network of many diverse connections and ties. In other words, we learn from the ones around us. A lecture is no good if your not understanding or retaining the material. Although many people learn differently I haven't heard of too many people not learning something from hands on, and that's exactly what technology is. It is a constant hands on learning experience. With technology a student can find what helps them the most and stick with it. Once again we are no longer limited to what we can find or do in order to learn.

The Machine is Changing Us

C4T 2

Beth Still

I comment on Beth Still's post on September 26th.  Her post was about her creating a presentation to Nebraska Administrators. is a women who is absolutely dedicated to making a difference in education. She also uses Skype and Twitter to help keep her students connected throughout the world.

My name is May Krasovich.  I am a student of Dr.Strange's EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama.  I agree that administrators should be willing to enhance their school with technology in order for teachers all over the world to communicate with one another.  Talking to other teachers allows us to stay open minded, learn from others and also allow others to learn from us.  I feel that many times people are afraid of change and learning something new (technology).  I think it's wonderful that you are pushing the issue of having more technologically enhance tools in the classroom to further your students ability to learn and your ability to teach them.  I will be keeping up with your post as part of my EDM310 assignments.  If you would like to read more you can check it out 

My Blog 

I commented on her post on October 3rd.  Do As I Say and Not As I Do.  This post was basically about giving her students a second chance to make up their assignments.  I honestly feel that more teachers should do this.  Theses children are in the primary years of learning and are in the process of learning how to be responsible and on time.  I don't ever recall any of my elementary teachers doing this.   I think for the most part they gave extra-credit and most of the time it had nothing to do with the work that I missed.  Therefore, if I didn't do the work because I didn't understand it I still didn't get help because the extra credit work was usually just busy work!

Post 5

Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom

This was a great video to watch because we are indeed teaching millenials.  For all of those out there who do not know what a millenial is, is a anyone who was born after 1980.  Teaching the children of today is nothing like it use to be!  We are dealing with children who are technologically literate.  These children are more comfortable and familiar with learning via computers/iPods/presentations etc., opposed to a blackboard.  Podcasting has many advantages to it.  Students can listen and replay any part of a lecture or instructions, they can share the information with their parents, they can interact with students outside the classroom and the list really goes on and on.  As a future educator I would most definitely use podcasting within my classroom religiously.  Podcasting also promotes creativity and innovations as well

100 Ways to Use Your iPod to learn and Study Better

iPods are not just for listening to music! You can literally use your iPod for more than a hundred different things.  They are great tools for students because students can listen to audiobooks which are simply books on audio.  They also have something called iPod in the classroom which is a collection of lesson plans for teachers who want to use their iPod for classroom work and I would suggest some of you to take a look at that since we are studying to be future educators. The last thing that I thought would be very useful for students is the English tutor Telecampus which is where you can download test preps for your iPod to study for the TOEFL, GRE, GMAT and other test as well. 

EPN(Education Podcast Network)

The Education Podcast Network is an attempt to bring together the wide range of podcast programming which can be helpful to educators that are looking for content to teach with and explore issues of teaching and learning in the 21st century. 

C4K 1 & 2

Arianna Vazquez

Your manifesto has some excellent points. It is extremely important to have respect for your fellow classmates as well as your teachers. Having respect for others will in turn allow them to have respect for you. I believe that If you follow thru will your manifesto you will make good decisions and it will pay off in the end. Just remember that you must make-up your mind and do it.

Hello Ariana, my name is May. I have just read your post as part of an assignment for my EDM 310 class. I read that you are enjoy sports which is wonderful. However, your academics are just as important as your sports if not more. If you excel in sports and your academics you might just be able to be award a scholarship for college. The best advice I could give you is to just do the best you can do, and never give up no matter how hard things get. If you need help with your work don't procrastinate, get help!

Post 4

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff, Please?

This post was written by Scott McLeod.  This post was short, but a real eye opener.  I believe that everyone should be do their best to stay up-to-date with technology.  Sure, there are negative aspects to the internet, but Im postive that their are more positive than negative.  It is almost impossible to go through life without the internet or the help of a computer period.  I agree with Scott McLeod when he says, "cause I'm doing it with my kids, can't wait to see who has a leg up in a decade or two can you?" 

So just who is Scott McLeod?  Well, Scott McLeod is an Associate Professor. Castle Director, Blogger generator, and a  Solution Builder who resides in Ames, Iowa.  He also made the video Did You Know 3.0 with Karl Fisch.

The iSchool Initiative

Travis Allen is a 17 year old High School student at Whitewater High in Fayetteville Georgia.  He believes that he has found a solution to Amercias education problem. His soultion is the iTouch. Honestly, I have to agree with him.  We of course we will always need teachers in our lives, but as far the budget cut this is cuts out having to buy books, globes, paper, pencils etc. Students and teachers will have everything in the palm of their hand instead of scattered all over the place.   

Lost Generation

I really enjoyed watching this video or I shoud say listening to this video.  You can look at life two ways and she just broke is down for everyone.  Todays society demands expects alot out of people.  However, I feel that family life is just as important as my career. I say this because money is a major nessity of life, but if you have money what is it without family?  If you have family, but no money then your just as unhappy with money and no family.  Money + Family=Happiness.  In my opinion, one is just as important as the other. 

   Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir- "Lux Aurumque"

Absolutely amazing!  I have never seen or heard of anything like this.  Its amazing that there are 185 people who got together over the internet and performed this piece of work.  These are people who have never met nor do they really know each other.  All they have is one thing in common and that was music.  185 people from 12 different countries with the same interest came together to make this happen.

Additional Assignment 1

Google Squared & Wolfram Alpha

I have heard of many different search engines but, never Google Squared or Wolfram Alpha.  I particularly  liked Google Squared because it gives an idea on how accurate the information that is.  I decided to look-up New Jersey, Mississippi and cats.  When I looked-up the NJ and MS it instantly gave me the name of the capitals, the largest cities within those states and provided who the governor of those states were.  When I looked up the cats it gave me an endless list of the different breed of cats along with a description of their color or colors.

Wolfram Alpha is also a great search engine to use. It gives the date when the word was first used in the english language, the origin of the word, narrower terms for all meanings,  border terms of all meanings and crossword puzzle clues.  I look at Wolfram Alpha more as a dictionary apposed to a search engine. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed learning about both of them.

When it comes to statistics i realize that they are pretty random.  Many people like to "back-up" certain things they say with a statistic.  I realize that every statistic can't be right so next time someone throws some number out, I will be sure to check that statistic out on my own with the new tools that I have had all along, but never knew about until now. Last, but not least a screen shot of the Pitcairn Island.

Project 5-My Presentation

C4T1

Comments 4 Teachers 1

On Sept 12th, I commented on a first grade teacher named Mrs. Cassidy's blog titled Primary Preoccupation if you wish to view it you may do so here Primary Preoccupation. Mrs. Cassidy feels that the design of a classroom reflects thinking and learning.  I must say that I agree with her 100%.  If first grade children aren't comfortable then they aren't going to take in as much information as they possibly can.  Instead they are going to figit with something or zone out into outterspace.  When children do this kind of things they aren't giving their full attention to the material that is being taught. Mrs.Cassidy wants students to be as independent as possible, she wants them to learn how to take responsiblity for the own learning, and she also wants them to learn from one another as well as from people outside the classroom. 
Personally I have never given too much thought on how to decorated a classroom until I read her post.  We all know that children have very short attention spans.  Therefore, we as teachers must find fun ways to keep their attention and one way of doing that is having different areas of the classroom that they can go to instead of just having them stand up and streching for a minute or so.  Mrs. Cassidy came up with putting a love seat in her classroom so that the children can curl up and read.  This was the coolest idea because its something you don't ever see, but if you think about it, it makes perfect sense.


On September 12, I commented on Mrs.Cassidy's post about "Using Videos to Capture Learning". This is a great way to for parents to see their students learning and its also great for the students to look back at a lesson. Using video in your classroom good for many reasons and I think that more teachers should do this if they aren't already. This is just another way to keep your students focused and interested in learning the material.

Post 3

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

I watched this this video for my EDM310 class at the Univ. of South Alabama. This video is what puts my thoughts into words. I have e-mailed this video to both of my parents, because it's almost impossible to explain to people who are not in school what it's like these days to be a student. This is my life summed up in four minutes and forty five seconds. It was absolutely amazing.


"It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines


First and foremost, I could not agree more with Kelly when she says"Technology is useless without good teaching." I feel that this holds true for any subject whether it be English, Math, or technology. Many educators do not see themselves as learners. Some teachers feel that are there to teach. They did not go through four years or more of college to be taught or as they might feel "insulted" by their students, but rather to teach their students. However, if these teachers would "really" listen to what some of their students are saying, then that's just more knowledge that they can pass down to their future students, or even friends and family. Lets face it, technology is growing faster than we can learn it.



Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?


I must say that Mr. Fisch post was rather extreme but true. Technology is no longer used just for fun, but as a part of everyday life. If you choose to be technologically illiterate you are only crippling yourself. However, if you choose to be technologically illiterate as a teacher you are crippling our future. I really appreciated the comment Mr. Fisch made on people being proud of their ignorance with technology. On all honesty, what kind of message does that send to people around them? It sends the message that it's acceptable not to care or bother learning today's world. Learning technology today is not any different than learning how to read, write, add and subtract. It's just part of life. How can we expect children to want to learn the world of technology if we as future teachers do not want to learn? Children will mock what they see, and if they see that we don't care then they aren't going to care either.



Gary Hayes Social Media Count


The unimaginable amount of people twitting, blogging, using face book and watching YouTube videos on a daily basis means that as a future teacher i will have to have a web enhanced classroom and stay current by any means possible. I am do to graduate in 2012 with a bachelors in Elementary Education, and at the rate technology is growing I know that I will have to work even harder to stay ahead of the game. I want to be the kind of teacher that is able to send students home to teach their parents. I feel that as a teacher if you are behind, then so is your classroom. That will do nothing more but make life harder for the student and their next teacher. Life isn't about catching up, but rather staying ahead.

Post 2

Mr. Winkle Wakes

I am watching this video for my EDM310 class at the Univ. of South Alabama. I thought this video was short and to the point. Although technology has come a long way there are still many schools and children that are as just behind as Mr. Winkle was when he woke from his 100 year sleep. Technology is growing faster than we can learn it. However, it seems to portray the need for schools to be just as technologically enhanced as a hospital or business office, which does not seem to be the case.

Did you Know 3.0

This video is another selection that I must watch for my EDM310 class at Univ. of South Alabama. This was a exceptional video to watch for future educators. It conveys a strong message that teachers are going to be expected to not only teach academic skills and lesson but also technology skills. This puts a bigger challenge on future educator than ever before. Not only are you going to be teaching your students, but also their parents. What children learn in school they bring home to teach their parents. Because lets face it, children are much or technologically fluent compared to most adults these days. The statistics were amazing!


Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

I watched this clip for my EDM 310 course at the Univ. of South Alabama. I have to say that I agree 100% that school takes away creativity. Creativity is what motivates young children to want to learn. Like Ken Robinson says, “Creativity is as important in education as literacy and we should treat is as the same status".


Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts

These are the skills that children of today’s world should be and need to be learning. If more teachers would do what Vicki Davis has done, I think that more students would excel in school and at home. Many teachers take corrective criticism as an insult, when they should be enlighten that their student's are one step ahead of the program.

Post 1

About Me

    Hi everyone my name is May Krasovich and I am 26 years old.  I began going to the University of South Alabama in the summer of 2009.  My first major out of highschool was Elementary Education. As time went on I found myself no longer aspiring to be a teacher.  Things changed dramaticly and in March of 2003 I moved to Biloxi, Ms to help take care of my mother.  Needless to say, I was out of school for a while after my move.  I was out of school for avout 3 years and decided that I really needed to go back, so in the Fall of 2006 I began attending Jefferson Davis Community College in Biloxi, Ms.  I was still taking classes for elementary education and then decided to switch it over to nursing.  A few semesters went by and I had finally been accept into the nursing program.  I was estactic!!!  So there I was, a nursing student.  I stayed in the program until I got to level 2 and just couldn't handle it nor did I like it.  It wasn't anything like I had thought it was going to be.

  I then decided to apply for the radiology program at South because I thought i might enjoy that.  Well, I was not accepted and so I am back at my very 1st major, Elementary Education, nd am very happy that this is the way it worked out.  I feel that I have more patience with children than most people,and can't wait to began working in the education field as a teacher.