PLN

Since our last blog update on PLN's I have added a couple more. I now follow Ms. Morgan whom we saw a video on her blog and how she described her first year teaching. I still follow at the teachers desk and read their blogs, which are very useful to me now. And the last one I follow is Mr. C's class blog which is probably the best one that I follow.

Goodbye

To my fellow classmates,

You made this year quite fun and interesting. I just want to say thank you to all of you that helped me understand somethings when my brain didn't want to work that day. You all are the best and I wish you luck as you finish college. But, maybe just maybe we will run into each other again down the road.

Mr. Tashbin,

You are great! You helped me out so much this year with everything! I love your personality and your method of teaching which makes you a great teacher. You are one of the best teachers I have had at South believe it or not. I wish the best to you and your family. Hopefully I will run into in the UCOM building a lot to just occasionally talk. Thank you again for all that you have done.

Sincerely,

Blaine

Dr. Strange,

You are really smart when it comes to technology and know way more than most people I know. Sometimes you confuse me when you start rambling about computers but its all good. You are nice guy and pretty good instructor. See you around Dr. Strange.

May 2 Final Blog Post

1. What I have learned from these things and my honest thoughts

• blogs- Blogging was quite new for me, at first I hated it because I didn't understand it. But, once I got the hang of it I started enjoying blogging. I loved some of the assignments like the PS 22 chorus. I will probably use a home blog page for my students, so that they will be able to find assignments and test dates and other stuff all on one page.
• wikis- They were alright nothing to special to them. I did know that anyone can change Wikipedia, because my teachers told me. I am not going to be to interested in using wikis in the future teaching.
• presentations- I liked them a lot especially using Google Docs, it is so much easier than Power Point.
• Google Docs- Like I said before they are great to make a presentation for to present to your students for class.
• Google spreadsheets- These was a very easy thing to make a questionnaire on. I mean it is straight forward and it gives you a lot space and freedom. I will most likely use this for making up all of my quizzes and test on.
• Picasa- I only used this tool once the whole time. I like though how it recognizes faces and immediately organizes people by who they were.
• Podcast- I absolutely loved them! It is such a great tool making a podcast and it is great for teachers and students so that they can listen to a lecture and study for an upcoming test or quiz.
• Videocast- They are pretty cool, but I think I would prefer to stick with just doing the podcast.
• YouTube- Is a gift sent from heaven. It gives you an insight into what people do with their lives whether it be funny or serious. It could be a great thing for teaching depending on the topic.
• Movie Making- I never did that at all.
• Posts you read- Some them were great like the teacher who got an iPad and the kids were so great, especially Kaia.
• PLN's- I have a pretty good one I would have to say. I follow Morgan, The Teacher's Desk, and a couple more and some students.
• Twitter- I never used twitter but I have friends who have one and they love it. Maybe someday soon I will get one.
• Other teachers and students outside our region- They were pretty cool, but the kids were the best they just gripped your heart.
• Comments 4 Kids- Probably the best thing we ever blogged on in this class. I love this kids so much. I think it is amazing the things that they are learning at such a young age. All of them are so sweet and gentle and they just talk about how their day was or a science project they are working on. I just love it.
• Comments 4 Classmates- I liked the fact that I got to see what some of my other classmates thought about certain things talked about or seen. Sometimes I got to see something from a different vantage point and it helped me appreciate things more. The only thing I have against it is that some students didn't keep up with their blogs. My advice would be let one student comment on five other students blogs for the whole year.
• Comments 4 Teachers- The thing I liked about doing this project was that I got to see what it was like being in the teachers shoes while I'm still a student. I got to see their encouraging words for me as a future educator and how we need to put more time in with kids to help them grow. It was very insightful.
• iTunes- Greatest thing ever made for music. I love using for music and now for downloading podcast.
• iTunesU- Thank you for letting us see this! I use it all the time to just find out extra information on different subjects, especially history.
• Accessibility issues and the use of html tag modifiers to address some of those issues- I don't remember doing anything on this, well at least off the top of my head
• Who you are as a professional- Right now, I am still growing and maturing just like I need to. I am starting to become more technologically advanced which I most certainly needed. I didn't know much apparently when I stepped into this class but, I will be ready once I graduate from South.
• Google Forms- Like I mentioned earlier I love Google tools they are so easy to use and just great for anything.
• Data Bases- I can't remember using any data bases through this year.
• Google Earth- Is going to be a must use in my classroom. Since I am going to be a history teacher I could show these kids where the battles and wars were located at. It will great to use.
• Delicious- I never used it once in this class, so I don't know what it does.
• ACCESS- Our group did our podcast on this. It is a great system that is being used the public school system. Hopefully sometime soon every student will be able to use it and help them advance themselves towards a brighter future.
• ALEX- I liked the website, because it gives me some ideas to do while I will be teaching like some crossword puzzles and other things. I will definitely use this when I teach.
• Technological literacy- When I first stepped into this class I thought I knew everything there was to know about technology. And when you started talking I was like I have no clue what he is talking about. Now though, I have a great idea and a knowledge about each subject.
• The future of schools- If they don't start using technology in there, they could set these kids back a couple of years from the students who are learning using technology.
• My "intellectual trail"- I must say that I have left a pretty good intellectual trail after this semester.

2. As of right now you have taught more than I can imagined. So, there isn't anything that comes to my mind that I wish you would have taught me how to do.

3. No, everything that I learned in class served a purpose at helping me to become a better educator. From blogging to watching videos on YouTube, all were right where they needed to be.

4. Yes, this class did "excite" me in a lot of ways. One is using audacity and making podcast from that to the most simple form of that type of thing using Vocaroo. The kids blogs did excite me the most they were great! All the things that were shown to me are going to be used in my classroom.

5. Nothing was super "intellectually challenging", it all just took a little work and some guidance from our instructors and fellow classmates.

6. I was never bored in this class, because I was always learning something different from either Mr. Tashbin or my classmates around me.

7. As of right now, honestly I don't know what you could add to this course to make it better. But, I know there will be a couple of things that will soon come up that you will like to incorporate into the class.

8. I came into the class low, but now I can say that I am pretty darn good. I have learned how to master most of the stuff that you assigned to us and will use a lot of it in the future. But, there is still some growing room for me to do on my own once I leave this class.

9. I will keep up everything by using another blog I will create and find the teachers that I am interested in keeping up with their work. I might not post as much to my blog, but I will learn from the other teachers.

Vocaroo Presentation and HW Week 13

To check out about my thoughts about vocaroo click here.

4/25/10 HW Week 14

PLE

Honestly, her PLE blows me out of the water. She has so many more sites than what I do. She has her own personal things that she likes to constantly keep up with and she has her education blogs that she has to keep up with. I think that it is great what she is doing, by keeping up with these blogs and actually learning things from them. She just motivates me to step out and be more into education blogs.

Two Questions That Can Change Your Life

The first question that was asked is, "What's my sentence?". I think that is a great question and to be completely honest I don't think that I can answer it right now. All I know, is that I would like it to be something great that everyone will remember me by.

The second question that was asked is, "Was I better today than yesterday?". Which that question I love, because it makes me push myself in every area of life on to be a better person. Such as in the future I can ask, "Am I teaching kids and helping them learn better everyday?'. This so great! I love the question and I think that I will use it as a motivation in teaching.

Google Earth Project on My Senior Trip

Interview with a Teacher

The teacher that I interviewed for this project was Ryan Smith. He his a history teacher at Faith Academy. He is one of the main reasons that I chose to become a teacher. The following questions shown are the ones I asked Mr. Smith and they will be followed by his response.
1. How long have you been teaching?
-I have been teaching for 5 years.
2. What made you want to teach high school?
-I could have the ability to help shape and mold a kids life to help them become a great person in the future.
3. Why become a history teacher?
-That is easy, I am a history "nerd".
4. Do you believe in using technology inside the classroom?
-Yes, it is a great tool and it makes learning fun
5. By "fun", what do you mean?
-It brings history back to life using technology by showing where famous battles were fought and using the internet to find videos that show things from the past
6. What tools of technology do you use in your classroom?
-I like to use power points, podcast, and Google earth
7. What teacher got you interested in using technology in classrooms?
-I can't remember his name now but he was a professor at the University of Mobile
8. Are you open to learning new things with technology to help your students learn?
-Yes, most certainly without using technology in somethings it would just make school more boring to some students.
9. What is your favorite time period in history?
-I love the Romans and the Napoleon era
10. What is your least favorite time period in history?
-Probably the whole papacy era where everybody claimed to be a pope.

Comments 4 Kids Week 14

I went to here. And checked out a blog by Matthew who wrote about a tornado that looked like a volcano which it kinda did. He is what I said "Matthew that is a very cool picture and I see what you mean about how it looks like a volcano. Keep up the great work man!"

Comments 4 Teachers Weeks 13-14

Week 13

I went to Shelly Terell blog site and looked at her blog on how we as future teachers should believe in our kids no matter what the circumstance. She made some great points that we should have the faith of a mustard seed, so we can move mountains in these kids lives. She mentioned just about how the kids who give you the must trouble are the ones that need the most reaching out to.

I agree with what Mrs. Shelly had to say. We as educators must step out and put forth an extra effort in these kids lives to help make them better students and people. It was a great blog to read and very resourceful.

Week 14
I went back again this week to Shelly's blog and looked at one of her past blogs that deals with PLN's and how she used those connections to hook up and help teachers that are in Nepal. She gives some details about what she did to help them. She also puts in there some questions that should challenge us as teachers, about how we should try and help our kids manage their time using the internet.
I love the questions that she presented, because it made me look at myself and see if I was doing those things. Like will I show my kids how to manage their time or will I just let them learn on their own. I loved the blog and the questions you should check it out here.

4/18/10 HW Week 13

Comments 4 Kids

I went to here and commented on Kaycee's blog about how her class went outside and looked at the clouds and also how her hat got blown off her head because of the wind.

Teaching Someone Using Technology

How to blog

Today I am going teach you all how to blog. The first step into becoming an avid blogger is going to www.blogger.com and signing up (making an account). One must first give their email address they want notifications sent to and make up a password that is at least 8 digits. Once blogger.com confirms everything, you will have your own blog page.

From there one can click on New Post to write about whatever it is they want to write about. Whether it be about their life or teaching. One can also follow blogs they are interested in just by finding a blog and clicking "become a follower". Once you have done that you will receive RSS feeds to your blog page. All that does is let you know is when they post a new blog to their page.

4/11/10 HW Week 12

Dr. Seuss "The Zax"

This was a great little video explaining just how some teachers are in today's world. That when they come along in their journey of teaching, they want move their pride out of the way to start teaching with technology. They will not even think about using it in their classroom, but they must know they better get on board or they will be left behind.

PS 22

All I can say is wow! Those kids have amazing voices and sound so beautiful. But the song is perfect for this age or generation of teachers, how some of them are afraid of changes like technology coming into their classroom. It is just that they are nervous about doing it, because they have never done it before.

I also think that it is a great idea to do blogs, so that kids can post their assignments without using paper. And it is also easier to find things on a computer than a sheet of paper that is giving to you.

Comments 4 Kids Week 12

I went here to see the blog of my little friend Cyrus. He told me about what he did on his vacation and how he played with his friend over the break and had fun.