Blog Post 15 Final Reflection

Blog Post 14

1. I think that I missed the metaphor in Tom Johnson's post because I was taking the story to serious and literal. Once Dr. Strange pointed out that I missed the mark on this assignment I went back to reread it. I definitely noticed the metaphor this time around.
2. Some of the metaphors that I have encountered are "think outside of the box", "one sided", and "ace in the hole". A common metaphor we use in my family is "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree". I have told myself to "go back to the drawing board" a couple of times. I was listening to a speaker a couple weeks ago and she used the metaphor "be the sunshine", I loved that saying. I have heard things like "you have a chip on your shoulder", "at the drop of a hat", and "a wild goose chase" just by simply listening to people talk to each other. I have realized that all of us use metaphors on a daily bases and my not even realize it. It seems metaphors are a part of our language.
3. Some things that we can do as educators to help our students to understand and to use metaphors would be to point out the metaphor when you say or read them. You could also acknowledge when the student says them aloud. We could encourage the students to use metaphors in there writing assignments and in conversations with others. I always looked at metaphors as something fun to learn. I think if you make the topic of metaphors non-intimidating to the students then they would be more edger to learn what they are an how to use them.
4. I think we use metaphors because they help us get our points across. A metaphor can help you communicate something with a lot of meaning in a couple of words. I think that we also use metaphors to make our writings and speech more interesting and lively to whoever is reading or listening. I think that metaphors are fun to use and I love it when I hear one that I have not heard before. So the question is why not use metaphors?

Final Report on PLN

Let me start of by saying that I am very thankful that I have been introduced to Symbaloo. It has made my life much easier when I am searching for things on the internet. I have all of my most visited and favorite sites on my main webmix page. I love this because everything is right there and I can go to any of my sites by simply clicking the tiles. I also think it is great that I can create different webmix pages to fit my preferences. I can have all of my school things on one webmix and my miscellaneous sites on a different webmix. Another thing that I enjoy about Symbaloo is that I can access it anywhere on any computer. This is convenient because if I make a tile for something that I am working on then I don't have to worry about remembering the web address. I find that Symbaloo is so easy to use and navigate through. I plan to keep using the Symbaloo site and look forward to adding new information to it.

C4T#4

Angela M. Rand

Blog Site

Post done on November 7,2010 titled: Expert & Novice

In this post Ms. Rand is writing about how she became an expert in technology. She states that to be an expert you have to have ten years of experience or 10,000 hours in that particular field. She became an expert by being able to work with the things that she was learning about. She also wrote about how she had the desire to keep learning new things about the technology world. She points out that she was not particularly gifted in math and science, but through her friends teaching her she gained confidence. She makes the point that if you are passionate about something that you should seek out information about it even if their is no one there to help you. Ms. Rand gives the advise to surround yourself with other people who are passionate about the same things that you are.  This could help the learning process because they will be talking about the topics most of the time.
I responded to her post by writing that I thought it was great how passionate she was about something. I told her about how before EDM310 I did not know to much about technology. I have learned a lot in this class and I am still learning. I made the comment that now I don't only look up how to use technology for my assignments but just for fun as well. I agreed that I thought it would be a good idea to surround yourself with people who share the same interest. I thanked her for your post and her ideas.

Post done on January 26, 2011 title: Professional Motivation

In this post Ms. Rand is writing about what motivates her. She says that her main motivation is that she loves learning new things. She writes that it is her passion to read and learn new traits of all kinds. Ms. Rand says that she gets great satisfaction when she learns something new and teaches it to someone else. When that happens she feels that the circle as been completed. She goes on to write about how she has read that humans only use 10% of their brain and how she disagrees with that statement. She feels that she can make the effort to use more than 10% of her brain by always looking at learning as a positive thing and realize that she has not reached her full potential. She goes on to write about how sometimes things get rough. She says that when a mountain is blocking her path then there is usually an alternate way around it. She says that understanding her options means that she needs to learn more about the situation and then she can move on.
I responded to her post by writing that I thought that it is great that learning new things motivates her. I go on to say that I think for the most part everyone is like that. I think that as human beings we should always want to motivate ourselves to move forward not backward. I wished her luck on her learning journey and thanked her for her time.

Comments4Kids Summary #3

Mr. McClung Lesson Two-Club Day:
In the lesson two-club day post Mr. McClung writes about the monthly Wii club meeting. He writes that at the beginning of the year they encourage all of the student to join a club. The club he is in charge of is the Wii club. On the day they meet they spend about thirty minutes hanging out and playing the Wii on the screen in the classroom. He likes that the clubs are in place because it give them a chance to have a nice break from there normal routine. He also thinks it gives them a chance to build on there student teacher relationships.
I responded to this post by writing that I thought that having a Wii club is a great idea. Not only does it get the kids up and moving but they are learning about technology at the same time. I also thought that it was good that there was an opportunity to build on the student teacher relationships. I thought the idea of this club would be great to have in place at any school.

ZM
In this sixth grade Egyptian class blog I read a post about the date January 25th, which is Police day also known as Protesting day in Egypt. The student writes about how they did not have school on this day, and how this was the day that the youth rose up with there decision for their country's benefit. They wrote about how the government did not allow access to any communication devices such as cell phones or internet. The writer goes on to say that on February 8 they got to attend their first day of class with live session on Vyew.com. They said that most of the classmates enjoyed this style of learning over spending six hours at school.
I responded back by writing that I enjoyed reading their blog. I thought it was interesting to get see their point of view of what was going on in Egypt. I made the comment that I was unaware that the government cut off all communication devices. I asked if the decision had been changed or was it still in place. I also told them I thought it was an interesting idea that they can have there classes on Vyew.com. I thought that they seemed to really enjoy it.
The writer responded back by informing me that the government did in fact allow access to communication devices again.

Ms. Yollis' 3rd Grade Class Blog:
I thought Mrs. Yollis' class bog was great. This blog page is so easy to navigate and there is not a lot of clutter on it. I really enjoyed her instructional videos on how to leave a comment and the tutorial of HTML codes. I think these could be beneficial to everyone not just her student. I also thought it was great to include and encourage family members to post onto the blog. Mrs. Yollis accomplishes this by assigning certain months family blogging months. I love this idea because it helps keep in touch with the family members and leaves and open line of communication between her and the parents. Looking through this class blog you could tell that the students are very involved and seem to enjoy all the different components of it. I was happy to get a chance to see a blog page of an elementary grade level. After this assignment I am more sure that one day I hope to have my own class blog.

Grace from Ms. Yollis' class:
In Grace's blog page she wrote about how to write a quality comment. She gave step-by-step instruction about the process. Grace wrote about how you should make a connection, leave a question in your post,  make sure to comment back, and finally to make sure you proof read your comment. She also used great illustrations throughout her post.

I responded to Grace by first thanking her for commenting on our class blog page. I wrote that I thought that they made some great points throughout there post. I made the comment that I hope to one day have a class blog page of my own. I asked for more information about how they earn student blogs. I continued to tell her that her post about how to write a quality comment was great. I told her that the things that she wrote about was things that I was learning about in EDM310. I wished her luck with her future blogging.

Project #16 Final Project

Blog Post 13

ALEX
The Alabama Learning Exchange, also known as ALEX, is basically a one-stop place for educators and administrators to find all kinds of educational materials. Educators are sharing there knowledge on this site with others to hopefully help the students of Alabama. ALEX is accessible for everyone to use. You can simply go to the website and have access to lesson plans, web links, and other useful materials for different subject areas. This site covers all of the core curriculum areas while still incorporating technology into things. One of the best parts in my opinion is that everything on the ALEX website is within the Alabama state standards.

Some of the resources available on the ALEX website is lesson plans, courses of study, web links, podcast treasury, personal workspace, and professional learning. In the lesson plans section you simple choose your curriculum, grade level and any keywords your looking for and click the display results button. A number of lesson plans are right at your finger tips in a matter of seconds. The courses of study resource is something that is very similar to the lesson plans icon. All you have to do is choose the curriculum and the topic that your looking for and scroll through to find what you need. This allows you to see standards and lesson plans that fall into that category. It also provide you access to web links if there are any available. The personal workspace is something that you could use to for storing and submitting lesson plans and teacher web pages. The podcast treasury section gives you access to a number of different podcast in all different subject areas. All you have to do is choose which one you would like to watch and listen to.

I think personally that the Alabama Learning Exchange is something that I will be using during my teaching career. I think this website is useful to all educators but especially new educators. This will help me get different ideas to use in the classroom, as well as see what others are already doing in there classroom. I love the that if I am having problems coming up with an idea for a topic that I can simply go to this website for help. At the touch of a key I can obtain a number of web links, podcast, lesson plans that go with the state standards, and much more. I am happy that I now know about this site I am sure I will be using it in the near future.

Project #16 Progress Report

Amanda Spence and I are going to make a video on how to incorporate technology into the classroom with fun learning games. I look forward to this assignment because it will be something that I can use in my own classroom one day.

Project#15 Book Trailer

Blog Post 12

Watch the video What is the next generation learning?(3mins 32sec). Write 2-3 paragraphs that answer the following questions. What are your thoughts on this video? Do you think this video portrays accurately what the next generation is learning? Would the things that were shown in this video be something that you would like to use in your own classroom one day? Do you think students today would prefer this style of teaching and learning over the more traditional out dated approach that we use today?

My Example:
I really enjoyed this video! I thought it was an eyeopener to see what we could actually do in the classroom with technology. In that particular school everything revolved around technology from there lunch menu to there homework assignments. I think that if schools were like this everywhere the options would be endless of what we could accomplish as teachers. I would love to use some of the things I saw in this video in my own classroom one day. I particularly liked the class answering questions as a whole using voting systems this can allow the teacher to see where the class stands on the topic and allows the more shy students to still have a voice in the classroom.
I think today's students would definitely prefer this style of teaching over how most schools and teachers teach today. Today students love to use technology anytime they can. It seemed in the video that the students were engaged and interested into what they were learning. I also think that parents would prefer this method as well. They could see exactly how there child is doing and what is going on in there school. This would mean no more signed progress reports and also would not allow the students to tell there parents that they have no homework because everything will be online for them to see at anytime. I hope that one day education goes more toward this direction.

Special Assignment-Mr. McClung's World

1. Going through Mr.McClung's World I noticed that he is a very organized person. He has everything in categories so that his students and anyone else looking at his blog can find what they are looking for without a lot of trouble. He also seems very detailed oriented and is involved into many different activities, and seems to like to have his students involved in other things as well.
2. I would say that Mr. McClung is a very interactive teacher. I think he is probably the kind of teacher that thinks outside of the box when teaching his lessons. While reading his blog it seems that his students respond to him well so that leads me to believe that there is a mutual respect in the classroom between him and his students. I believe what Mr. MCclung writes which is that he try's to keep things as fresh as possible and fun for his students.
3. I thought Mr. McClung's class rule were good rules to have in place. I thought that they were not to wordy but they were to the point. I like that he has word phrases in place that mean certain things to the class when said. I personally liked the teach-ok one. I think it is a great idea to have students explain what they just learned to another student. It not only could help the student learning but also help the student teaching. I also believe that his rules set high expectations for his students which I think is great. Usually when expectations are set a child does not want to disappoint the person who set those expectations so the child does what they need to do. I believe the rules that Mr.McClung has in place in his class could be put in place in any classroom setting and work.
4. The first thing under what everyone needs is a day planner. I think that is important for the same reasons we have our checklists in this class. This will allow the student to put in due dates of assignments and see what they have coming up. I know it helps me plan out how much time each day I need to spend on a certain assignment. Overall I think he has it listed as the first thing because the key is to stay well organized in his class.
5. If homework is late in Mr.McClung's class then it results in a loss of a letter grade each day it is late. I think that is fair because the students should already have due dates organized in there day planners. This is similar to the grading system in this class in the way of if classwork is late it results in a lose of a letter grade.
6. I think it is great that Mr. McClung uses his class blog as a way to communicate with students, parents, and other teachers. This allows for an open line of communication for everyone, which is something I hope to achieve in my own class one day. This also cuts back on paper use which saves time and money not to mention better for the environment. Overall it is like Mr.McClung wrote "our classroom blog will be the vehicle that drives majority of the technology in our classroom".
7. The first site I went to was the Biology Corner site. In this site I found all of the worksheets that the students need for different labs that they would be doing throughout the year. I believe that Mr. McClung put this as a useful link because it allows the student to have assess to the lab information at any time. That could help the student come to class prepared to do what ever the lab was that particular day.
Another site I found interesting was the site called Convince Me. In this site you are allowed to start any debate that you would like. At first I thought why would Mr.McClung put this as a useful link. Then I thought maybe he is trying to teach his student to express themselves. This is something that they can use to help argue in a healthy way how they feel about a particular topic. Now I think it is a useful link to have.
8. I thought the internet safety rules he has in place are good ones. I thought that they were very clear to read and understand. There was no need for discussion on any of the rules. They are also easy to remember which is good because the student should not have to constantly go back to check if they are within the guidelines. I personally do not think I would change any of the rules the only thing that I might have added would be to be cautious about phrases you type in to search.
9. I was assigned to the post Lessons Learned/Lesson Two-Club Day. In this post Mr. McClung is writing about there monthly Wii sports club meeting. He writes about how for about thirty minutes they talk and play different Wii sport games on there projection screen. He says that not only does meeting with the club provide a nice break during the week, but it allows to further build teacher student relationships. I thought the idea of this club was great. Not only are the students learning things about technology but they are getting up and moving around. I thought this club idea was interesting and wonder if more schools have something like this in place.
10. To start off with Mr. McClung's blog is wonderful. I feel that I still have a lot to learn about all of the ways to use my blog page. I hope to fully take advantage of a class blog in the future when I have my own classroom. I notice in his blog it has so much information and links to everything. It is also very detailed about his classes, but at the same time he makes it fun for his students still. One thing that I like in particular on his blogger is the visitor location and the live traffic feed bars. This would be something interesting for students or even yourself for that matter to see who in the world is reading your blogger and what they are reading for that matter. I hope to one day achieve a great blogger.
11. Mr. McClung makes his blog useful to everyone in the way of it can be used by everyone not just his student. Parents can use it to get information about what there child is doing in the class. Administrators can use it as a tool to find out what the students and teachers are accomplishing in there studies. Of course students can use it to obtain information about there classes and to use it as a navigation tool. People like me can use it to learn get ideas and advise about all different kinds of topic. All of these thing are possible because the blog is set up in a way that is easy to navigate through and there is no hidden secrets in it.
12. The main way that Mr. McClung's 8th grade blog differ from other blogs that I have seen is that it is not one sided. Like I pointed out earlier, it is useful to everyone not just his students. I think that he has an overall interest in what he does as a teacher. Another thing that he has that some don't is excitement. You can tell in his class blog that there is a level of excitement in his work and his students work. I think the main thing that makes his blog different is that he makes it fun and entertaining for everyone.
13. Mr. McClung's blog is a very useful tool to have as a bookmark. I think that I will more than likely be going back every so often to see what new things his classes are up to. His blog is very inspiring and at the same time it is fun and interesting to go through.

Teach Someone Something Project #14

In this video I am teaching the dance steps to the song "Its Peanut Butter Jelly Time".
Dance Steps to the song:
-Step One 1-16- 8 criss cross jumps
( jump crossing R foot in front, Jump with feet apart, counts 1-2 repeat 8 times)
-Step Two 1-16- Moving to the R- step R, close L, Step R, Tap L.
Reverse, moving to the left, this movement is done during the chorus with the words peanut butter/ jelly.
-Step Three 1-16- Scissors jumps counts 1-6 then hold counts 7-8 then repeat for another 8 count. This is done during “Peanut butter/ jelly wit a baseball bat…”
-Step Four 1-16- Stomp R foot out in front and drag back and tap (counts 1-2). Stop L foot out in front and drag back and tap (counts 3-4). Stomp R foot out in front and drag back and tap (counts 5-6). Stomp R foot out in front and drag back and tap (counts 7-8). Repeat starting with left foot.
-Repeat Step 2
-Repeat Step 3
-Step Five- Free Style for two six counts
- Repeat steps 1, 2, 3 ,4
- Repeat steps 1, 2, 3, 4
- Free style

Blog Post 11

Ms. Cassidy
After I watched the video: First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class, and the skype interview.  I thought wow that was pretty impressive.  Ms. Cassidy using technology in so many different ways in her classroom.  She has her students blog, do videos, skype with other people, and talk with people all over the world and they are only first graders.  In the video it seemed that the students had large interest in learning how to use technology to there advantage.  Ms. Cassidy started using technology in her classroom ten years ago when she received five computers for her class.  She stated that the computers had no programs on them but they did have internet so she figured out what she could use the internet for in her classroom and it just kept growing.  She has not had a tremendous amount of support from administration but at the same time no one is telling her that she can not do what she is doing.  I thought an obstacle would be to get permission from the parents to allow there child's work be posted on the internet, but Ms. Cassidy actually said that the parents have no problem with it.  In fact that they like that they can be able to look at there child's work anytime they are at the computer.  I think what she is doing with her first graders is what should be going on everywhere.  
I can not help but to think about that I did not have my first real computer class until I was in the sixth grade and all we mainly were taught was key placement.  The first graders in Ms. Cassidy's class knew more about the uses of technology than I did until I became a EDM310 student.  Maybe if I would have had a class like hers I would have not have been so stressed out at the beginning of this class.
I hope to use technology in my classroom the same way that Ms. Cassidy does.  I also hope that I keep learning and incorporating new things into the classroom.  One thing I have noticed when I am out at some of the schools is that lack of computers in the classrooms.  I have not been to a school yet that has had more than two computers in there classroom.  I think this is where if it is available to you that the smartboards would be helpful.  One thing I really liked in the video was when it showed the students talking with a geologist about different kinds of rocks.  To me this was such a great idea to bring experts into your classroom via skype to help get your lessons across.  
I know I still have a lot to learn but I am learning.  I think that using my PLN's and things like twitter and facebook will be great resources that I can use to obtain information needed or if I come into something that I could get some help with.  I found Ms. Cassidy's video and interview very helpful and inspiring.  I look forward to having my future students one day using technology in the classroom in so many different ways.
 

Blog Post 10

Morgan Bayda
I found Morgan Bayda's blog post something that I could relate to very much. I think it is sad that most students feel the same way that she did. Which is frustrated, frustrated that we have to sit in classrooms and feel that we are wasting our time. I will never forget the first class that I became a number to a teacher. I thought what does it matter if I come to class or not this person does not even want to take the time to learn my name. I was paying hundreds of dollars just to make sure I get a grade. It seemed to me that the teacher didn't care if we learned the topics or not. I don't understand why education can't use the tools of technology to make it more interesting, interactive, and overall cheaper. I thought Dan Brown's video made some great point as well. I agreed with most of what he was having to say except I would not have gone as far as to drop out of school. Like it or not companies now days like to see that piece of paper. I think it is sad though that the education system today would want to make even one person drop out.  I hope one day there can be a common ground with the world and education, especially sense I will be working in the education field. 






Tom Johnson's Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home!

I thought this was a funny and interesting post.  I think some times that we focus to much on the problem and not on the solution.  I think that is what this post was trying to get across.  When we are confronted with a problem we should try to work out a solution for it and not stress so much about the problem itself.  Who knows what could happen if you would work through something instead of focusing on the negative.  Like the post said the students could use the pencils to play hangman, and that helps with spelling.  Not only are the children having fun but they are practicing there spelling.  I hope when I am in the classroom one day that I try to work through a problem to find a solution instead of focusing solely in the problem.
 

C4T #3

Teacher: Mr. Chase

Blog Site

Summary of Mr. Case's post on March 24, 2011 

In the the post "Not all ideas are sacred" Mr. Chase was writing about a local church being torn down and how most people found it sad simply because it was a church.  He wrote about how people felt that the church building was sacred.  He said though that he had passed by the building many times and thought of other things the building could be.  For him personally the ground was unconsecrated along time ago.  The reason he wrote about this is because he was sent a link to a web page talking about 20 technology skills every educator should have.  He agreed that the list was important but he didn't necessarily want to consecrate it.  Mr. Chase write that list like this sometimes become commandments.

I responded that I agreed that we should not be to quick to consecrate something.  I wrote that I read the link that he provided and couldn't help to realize that a lot if not all of those items on the list was things that I was learning to do in this class to become 21st century educators.  I said that I thought all of the items on the list was very valuable but more than likely that same list will change from year to year.  I thought is was important to know the things on the list but to also stay up to date with what technology has to offer us. 

Summary of Mr. Chase's post on March 27, 2011 

In the post "It's time to share the funny" Mr. Chase writes about how it is important for educators to still have fun and find thing funny.  He writes that it is important that we laugh.  He makes the point that we should not take things so seriously all of the time.  He writes about a time that he was on a volleyball team with his fellow colleagues and that he finally got the most unexpected person to laugh and how wonderful and funny the experience was.  He make the point to find the funny somewhere in your life because we will need it as educators.  His question is where do we find our funny?

I responded by writing that I really enjoyed this post because I think it is so important to laugh and have fun.  I wrote that I try to find the funny everywhere for example the things people say and do, a sign that I drive by, or simple a thought that pops into my head.  I made the point if we had fun and found things funny then we would probably have more interesting lessons and our students would get more out of our classes.  So I think it is a win win, we can have fun and still have great lessons.

Blog Post 9

"What I've Learned This Year" by Mr. McClung
I thought this was a great post to read.  Mr. McClung writes about things that he learned in his first year of teaching, such as how to read a crowd, being flexible, communication, being reasonable, not being afraid of technology, listen to your students, and lastly never stop learning.  He wrote about how he went into teaching with one mind set and as the year progressed that mind set changed.  I thought he made great points throughout the article such as remembering to read your crowd.  He writes "in order to be effective you have to be able to let your audience drive your instruction".  I think that is something for us to remember as future educators because I know personally I get kind of focused on how my lesson plans look on paper.  This goes hand and hand I think with his topic on being flexible.  Like Mr. McClung wrote we all want the perfect lessons but it does not always work out that way.  Sometimes we will need to go with the flow of the class an make adjustments as we go.  I thought all of his topics were great and it is probably something that I will go back to read a couple of times over the next year and a half.  We can always use good advise sometimes. 
 

Skype Interview Project #12

Comments4Kids Summary #2

ts2011
Ts2011 is a student in Mr. Wolfe's class.  Ts2011 was writing about how the class was getting ready for the SAT, ARMT, and the math test.  He or she wrote about how this time can be stressful for some people.  They are learning how to solve different types of math problems.  He or she said that math can be fun or frustrating, and that during this time they have to just keep moving forward.  I responded back by saying that I agree with them about how math can be fun or frustrating.  I personally leaned to math being more frustrating.  I told them that I did not start to enjoy math until I made it into kind of a puzzle for me to solve.  I commented that I thought it was great that they are such a positive person, and that I loved that they keep telling themselves to keep moving forward.  I finished my response with wishing them luck on there upcoming test.  Ts2011 responded back to me by writing that they hope I fun making my math problems into puzzles.  


Ala
Ala is a student at Pt England School.  In her post she was writing about how excited she was to go to her science class.  She was writing about how she loved science because of all of the fun experiments they get to do.  When she finally got to class she realized that the were not doing an experiment but instead they were learning about nutrition.  She wrote about how she was sad at first but later was okay with the topic.  She enjoyed learning about all the different things we should eat.  She especially thought it was great that we should eat some of everything and not cut things completely out of our diets.  I responded to Ala by say that I too love science in grade school because of all of the experiments.  I told her though I thought it was great that her teacher was teaching her class about nutrition especially in today's society.  I agreed with her that it is important that we eat a little bit of everything but just to remember to use portion control with certain items.  Ala responded back by thanking for all of the responses to her blog. 


Grace
Grace is a student in Ms. Engelhard's class.  Grace wrote a poem in her blog post.  The poem was talking about three different people and what they were doing and not being able to do.  I responded to Grace's blog by say that I have always enjoyed poetry, and my favorite poetry book in grade school was Where The Sidewalk Ends.  I told her that I enjoyed her poem and I thought she had a natural talent for writing poetry.


 

Blog Post 8

Richard Miller: This Is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2
In part 1 of this video Richard Miller is talking about how when he was younger he would read books all the time and thought that his life would pretty much always revolve around books in some way.  He was right he is still a published writer but his books and publishing's are on the Internet.  He talked about how he did a article about the Virgina Tech shootings and never even had to step foot into a library.  This first video was an eye opener of seeing where research and publishing's are heading and are at now.
In part 2 of this video he is talking about the present and the future of obtaining information and using it.  The part of this video that I thought was most interesting was when he talked about ideas.  I think it is a great point he made that as educators our ideas are not just ours, but that they need to be shared.  If we were always to keep our ideas to ourselves then we could miss out on a large opportunity to make something more interesting to a lot of people.  He talked about making things creative I think technology can help us with that.  Like he said he could of put his idea down in text and it would have taken it two years to get going, but because it was visual and compelling it was pretty much a hit automatically.  This way of publishing and teaching is happening now even though some people think it is the future.
I think being able to write with multimedia is something that will always take some kind of training and learning.  I think this class has shown us just how fast technology changes from a day to day bases.  I would like to think that I will be able to write with multimedia and learn throughout my career the ways I can enhance my ideas and writings using it.  I do think that the students I teach one day will be using this style over plan text style.  Being able to write with multimedia will help the students become prepared for the future and help them grow technologically.

Is EDM310 Different
I thought these two videos were great.  The overall concept of the videos was showing us how EDM310 can help us in a lot of different areas.  I idea that I have for a video of this nature would be to compare and contrast the lives of a technologically literate person and a person who has no desire to want to know anything about technology.  It could show the course of there college years through getting a job.  It could show a overall outcome for the two people.  I think this would be a funny but interesting video.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn
I think the argument in this video is correct.  The way the education world teaches need a much needed makeover.  The students that we teach will be using so many different technology devices out of school and they are not allowed to use anything but mainly books, paper, and pencils in school.  It seems that the students have an overall interest in technology so I say why not us it to our advantage.  I know there is the whole money issue and things cost money.  If we put money to better use than for example, standardized testings which students really don't care anything about and they cost a lot of money, then maybe schools could afford more things.  Who knows what the education world would be like if we became up to date with the times.

The Secret Powers of Time by Philip Zambardo 
and Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us 
by David Pink
These two videos were basically talking about society.  In "The Secret Powers of Time" it was talking about how as Americans we focus so much on getting things done that we forget about friend, family, and sleep.  We think time is precious and it should not be wasted in any way.  It also talked about how students today play a lot of video games which is rewiring there brains.  This causes them not to succeed well in the way schools are set up today, which in turn makes them dropout.  It shows how focused we are on the future that sometimes we forget the past.  
In "The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us"  it was talking about how when offered a large incentive usually our work performance goes down.  It was talking about how when given the option to just take the pressure off of doing a assignment then the overall outcome was much better.  The study shows that is was not just the case for American but world wide.  
I feel these messages described the growth in people's education and their drive for success in many ways.  The fist thing is that we need to think more about the type of students we teach and less about standards.  If we do this then chances are the students outcome could benefit from it.  It also shows us no matter what kind of reward we can come up with sometimes just letting the students be themselves is the best thing for the job.  We need to think about where these students come from and use that information.  It needs to be less about do this and you will get this and more about them being creative and see what they can come up with.  I know personally I was more pleased with myself on a project when I felt there was not a lot of pressure on me and usually the outcome was better than when I felt the pressure.  I thought these were great videos to watch.

   

Smartboard Project #13

I thought this project was a great idea. I now definitely believe that the smartboard can help in the classroom in so many ways. Just in the lesson that my group did on MyPyramid seemed to be much more interesting than when I was taught the food guide pyramid in school, thanks to the smartboard. This technological device can help us make any lesson more interactive and interesting for the students. I have just begun to learn things about the smartboard and I look forward to see what else I can come up with using this item.
The results that we got back on the form we sent was pretty good responses. Everyone seemed to like the animations we included into the activity. They all agreed that the animation contributed to the lesson. One person gave us a below perfect score on the question did the speakers feel comfortable teaching the topic, and I totally agree with that. I wish that our group could of had more time to practice the lesson as a whole. This was our first time doing a project in front of other people so I know personally I was a little nervous at first. This will just be something that I will have to work on each time I teach in front of people. I thought though overall my group did a great job on this project, and I think we all learned a lot.

PLN Project #10

I would have to say that I personally like to use Symbaloo for my personal learning network. Until EDM310 I did not even know the site existed or what a PLN was for that matter. Through symbaloo I can have access to my favorite bookmarks at anytime. It is also a quick way to check my facebook, twitter, and blog page for any updates. I can also add educational sites to it as I find them. The thing I like most about this site is that everything that I usually check when I get onto the computer is right there in front of me and I don't have to go searching everywhere for it. I also think it is wonderful that I can access my symbaloo page from any computer by simply just signing in. I look forward to see what else I can do and learn through using symbaloo.

C4T #2

Blog Site

Teacher: Mr. Chamberlain

Summary of Mr. Chamberlain's post made on January 31, 2011:
In this post Mr. Chamberlain is writing about the concept of the master/apprentice idea in schools.  Which is the master takes a set of skills he or she knows and passes them onto there apprentice.  He wrote about that if we used this concept in school today it would look like this.  Classrooms would have fewer students in them which would allow us to teach them learning skills to help them develop into master learners.  One of his questions was can schools be re-purposed to this end?

I responded back to him that stating that I thought that the master/apprentice class was a interesting concept.  I stated that I thought that this way of teaching/learning seemed to be more beneficial than the teacher standing in front of the classroom reading out of a book and the students not really getting anything out of what is being taught.  I wrote how some studies show that students in this kind of environment overall enjoy school more and get more out of it than the alternative.  My question to Mr. Chamberlain was why don't schools use this approach more?

Mr. Chamberlain responded back by stating it is all about the Benjamins.  He made the statement that it would cost more money for this type of learning.  He made a very true statement about how it is much easier and cheaper to just heard thirty students into rows with the teacher at the front of the classroom.

I responded back that I do agree that it is all about the Benjamins.  I made the statement that it seems that the world revolves around money, and it seems that most industries grow from it.  I thought though in the world of education it seemed so far behind, and I wonder does that have to do with lack of money for education?

Short Movie Project #11

Blog Post 7

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture
       Let me start off by saying that Randy Pauch's Last Lecture was a great motivating video.  I thought it was amazing that he was such a positive person even though his outcome was bleak.  In this video he talked about three main point and they were childhood dreams, enable the dreams of others, and lessons learned.
      In the childhood dreams section of the film he talked about all of his childhood dreams and how he achieved them.  He was born in the 1960's and said being that it was the time of man walking on the moon it was time to dream big.  He made a great point when he was talking about his time playing football.  He said that one of the coaches told him "that when someone is hard on you when you mess up its a good thing.  When they stop being hard on you is when they stop caring".  I think throughout life everyone can relate back to a time that someone was a little more tough on us than we would have liked.  At the same time I am sure that we can all look back on that time and reflect on what we learned from the situation.  I think that can go hand and hand with the comment he made about experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.  When he was talking about this I couldn't help but think about the things that would have not happen or the things that would not have been invented if everyone succeeded the first time at something.
       In the enable the dreams of others section he talked about a class/program called "Building Virtual Words".  In this class he had fifty students and every two weeks teams would be randomly chosen, and they would have to make there own virtual worlds.  The rules for the class was to make whatever you want but it could not have gun violence or pornography.  I think these rules gave the student a free range to use there imagination.  When he got back the first assignment he was blown away with the outcome so he asked for advise on how to handle what to do next.  He was told to not to set a bar.  I really like this comment, because I think once you set that bar and achieve it you stop trying to go beyond it.  Having no bar gives you endless opportunity's to grow.  He said that the thing that he will live on in was a program called ALICE, which is a novel way to teach computer programming.  This is a program that a student writes a book and at the same time is learning to do computer programming.  This is something that will be use at the grade school levels to teach how to do computer programming.  Through this he said millions of kids will learn something new while having fun.
       In the last section, lessons learned, he talks about the roles of his parents, mentors, and students.  He talks about how great his parents were in the way of always being there and encouraging him.  He said his mentors always pushed him, and his students helped him in many different ways as well.  He asked the question to decide if you were a Tigger or an Eeyore?  He is trying to say through this question to always have fun.  I think this makes a great point.  Think about if the world was full of Eeyore teachers, school would be a pretty boring place.  It is like what he said kids can learn while still having fun.  I believe that a student would probably learn more if they are having fun.
       The one thing that he addressed throughout the video was the topic of brick walls.  He talks about how brick walls are there for a reason.  They show us how bad we want something.  It also shows us who doesn't want to keep going for something.  They show us our dedication to what we are trying to achieve.  I think as teachers we are going to hit all kinds of brick walls and it is how we get over them is what truly counts.
       At the end of the video he gives words of wisdom that I think that not only teachers can use but everyone can.  Some of my favorite things he says to "get a feedback loop and listen to it, show gratitude, never give up, apologize when your wrong, you can't get there alone, and don't complain just work harder".  He mentioned the first head fake of this video was to lead your life the right way.  I think that statement sums up what he was trying to get across in this great video.

TimeToast Project 9b

Comments4Kids Summary

Gabe
Gabe was a fourth grader who was blogging about how he believed that the Lock Ness Monster was still alive.  He said that there was enough evidence to support his theory.  I responded back by telling him I thought that there was enough evidence to support that there was a Lock Ness Monster one time or another somewhere in the world.  He responded back by stating the Lock Ness Monster is still alive today.  I thought his post was pretty interesting.

Yasmine
Yasmine was a writing about her hard swim practice that she went to.  She gave a lot of detail about the different things the coach made her do during practice to make her technique better.  I responded back to Yasmine by telling her that I liked how much detail she put into her post, it really made me feel that I could see her practice.  I told her that I could remember similar practices when I was in school for my running practices.  She responded back to me by stating that one day she hope to be in the Olympics for swimming.  I think that is a great goal that she has set for herself.

Paris 
Paris is a five year student at Pt England School in Auckland, NZ.  She was writing about her walk through the brush with her father.  While she was on her walk they spotted a dead rat and she got sick.  She did get medicine though and started to feel much better.  I responded back to her by writing that I thought it was great that her and her dad went on brush walks together.  I stated that I as well would have gotten sick if I were to see a dead rat.  I wrote that I was glad that she got to feeling better though, and wished her a better brush walk next time.
     

Blog Post 6

The Networked Student
This video reminded me a lot of EDM310.  This class is teaching us how to be a network student.  This is important to learn since we will be teaching networked students in the future.  If this class was not available I would probably be totally lost in a lot of areas of technology such as blogging.  That in turn would not help me in the classroom.  I think this class is helping me become prepared to become a teacher of a networked student.
I think this could be a great concept in the classroom.  This requires the student to actually learn something in many different ways, instead of being spoon feed the material.  The student could also use there information that they obtained for future uses.  I really liked the aspect of using other professors lectures.  I know personally I have done this myself.  A student might not understand the way you are teaching something and might need someones different point of view on the subject.
The networked students will still need teachers even though they are doing most of the work on there own.  The teacher will help guide the student in the direction they need to go.  They could also assists them if they need help with doing something.  I think the teacher is a very important aspect of the networked students education.


A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment (or PLN)
I thought her personal learning environment was great.  I thought it was interesting how much she new about obtaining information off of the internet.  It seems like that science class is really thinking outside of the box when it comes to research and assignments.  I wish when I was in seventh grade that I was being taught how to use the internet that way.  It made me realize how much more I can get out of my own personal learning network.  Each week I go on in this class I learn new ways to make technology work for me.

 Critiques of Smartboards
In the blog posts by Michael Staton, Why Smartboards Are A Dumb Initiative and Bill Ferriter, Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards, mainly talk about how there is no real point to the whiteboards in the classroom.  They think this because the teacher is still in front of the class lecturing and the students do not get any more out of the lesson as if the teacher were to use a regular chalk board.  They also argue how the whiteboards are a waste of money, and school districts like to buy them strictly for appearances.
The blog post I found was by Graham Stanley,The Interactive Whiteboard - white elephant or teacher's pet? In this blog Mr. Stanley agrees that if a teacher just uses the whiteboards as there old chalkboards then of course nothing is going to change in the classroom.  He stresses that whiteboards require training and practice to learn everything you can do with them.  He also states that if the training is not done then the equipment is wasted.  He writes " those of us who have actually used an IWB were positive about the potential."  I think that statement shows that whiteboards can do a lot of good now and in the future of the classroom. Another point he makes is that a good workman never blames his tool.  I think there is so much truth behind that.  To read Graham Stanley's full blog please visit the following link. http://blog-efl.blogspot.com/2007/08/interactive-whiteboard-white-elephant.html


 
 

Podcast Project

 To view Group 7 podcast on: Can podcasts be useful in the classroom that I will teach?
Please click on the link below.
  http://gallery.me.com/jstrange/101360

TimeToast Project 9a

Blog Post 5

Eagles' Nest Radio & Class Blog
I really enjoyed this podcast given by a group of third graders.  In this podcast they took turns talking about different things in Rome such as the architecture, history, Ceaser, and Cleopatra.  The thing that I enjoyed most was that they presented it as a radio station.  I thought this would be a great idea to use in my own classroom one day.  After each large section of material covered the class could do a podcast on what they had learned.  To do it a radio station theme would make it fun for the class.  I think this would give me a good chance to see the information the students know and didn't know.

The Benefits Of Podcasting In The Classroom
I learned a lot from this podcast.  I liked how the principal said at the end that a podcast is more geared to project based learning.  I think personally students get more out of that type of learning.  I liked the idea of how podcast can help student in many different areas.  I thought it was interesting that you could download your class podcast to itunes and they would be assessable to your class.  I now know it would be a great way to keep the parents involved and up to date of what is going on in the class.  Until this week I never really even knew what a podcast was, but now I see all of the areas it could become useful in the classroom.

Judy Scharf Podcast Collection
This helped me a lot.  I knew how to record onto audacity but I could not figure out anything from there.  This helped me know what I need to do to create and publish a podcast.  I will defiantly be using this site in the future for further questions I might have.

Shaska's Sentence

Blog Post 4

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please? by Scott McLeod  

 Scott McLeod Ph.D, is an associate professor in the Educational Administration program at Iowa State University.  He was also the co-creator of the video, Did You Know?.  My position on this blog was that I agree with what he is saying.  I do think that we need to monitor what our students are doing on the computers and teach them what is proper use of Internet and other technology devices.  There is tons of privacy settings out there that schools and parents can use to make technology devices out there safe for the children.  But if someone was just to keep a child from learning how to use these things then they are endangering that child from ever being able to get ahead.  From what I have witnessed in the past is that if you keep a child from doing something then chances are when they are not with you they are going to figure out how to do whatever it is they are being kept from.  So I think it is better to show the student the proper ways and to set up the privacy settings, then for them to find something on there own that they shouldn't see.

The iSchool Initiative  
The argument that is being made is to incorporate the iSchool into the classroom.  The reason being is because it would be cheaper per student and overall better for the school environment.  In doing so the schools would not have to buy text books, library books, paper, pencils, copiers etc...  The teacher student parent relationship is said to also be more of an open line of communication with this system. 
The question I have is what would happen if by chance everything were to crash?  Then would we loose all of our records and materials?  I think it is great to use technology in the classroom, but I do not think that we should totally depend on it.  I personally like to keep hard copies of documents.  I think the system is a great idea, but maybe it should be more of an integrated thing into the schools. I also think this program would fit better in the high school and college setting.  In the elementary setting certain skills need to be taught such as writing there names with a pen or pencil, and learn how to set up a math problem.  These are just my opinions and I might change my mind once I get into the classroom.

Watch The Lost Generation
I thought this was a great video, and I agree with what it is saying.  I am sad to say that I think how the first message played was how the world will probably be in the future.  When the message was reversed and read backward it was a much better outcome.  I hope that the future is more like reading the message backward than forwards.  I grew up in a family that always put family first and I would like to think that I will keep that motto going.  I love the comment that happiness comes from within, because I think no matter what money wont buy you long term happiness.

Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir
My reaction to this video was that it was absolutely amazing.  If I was told that those singers have never met and that it was all done over the internet I would have thought no way is that possible, but I saw it with my own eyes and see it is possible.  I think this was a great idea to put this together to show what could be accomplished through technology.  This video show how the internet connects so many people that might have never had the chance to meet any other way.  I think the internet is like a door that is open to the world.  This was a great video.

Teaching in the 21st Century 
I thought this was a good video.  I think that Teri Hampton was suggesting that as teachers we need to be able to teach to the 21st century.  As I was watching it I thought about how it goes hand in hand with this class.  In this class we are learning how to use all kinds of different things that deals with technology to better our classrooms. I think what the video was saying was that students are going to use all of the different things out there so why not show them how to use it, we need to be the filters.  Teaching in the 21st century is going to be more technology based so we are going to have to incorporate technology into our everyday curriculum.  It is important that we teach students proper use of the things out there and how it could be beneficial to them in the future.

Presentation Project #5

C4T #1

Techer:Beth Still

Blog Site

Summary of Beth Still's post made on November 29:

This post Beth was trying to figure out a way to keep her students on track with their project being that last quarter 12 out of 38 failed the course because of this project. Then writes about how the previous quarter it was up to her students to get the work done on time, but this quarter she is making it a step-by-step system so the students could not move on to the next step until completing the previous one. She even went to the lengths of using a sticky note system to inform students that there work was late. Beth was wondering if she was doing to much for her student.

Summary of my comment #1 to the post made on November 29:

I commented on how I did not think she was doing to much for her students. I thought what she was doing to keep her students on track and engaged was a great idea. I commented on how she just wanted her students to succeed and that there was nothing wrong with that. I told her that that you don't know the background of everyone's life, but sometimes people just need a push in the right direction to get back on the right path.

Summary of Beth Still's Post Made On November 4:

This post Beth was writing about teaching kids in poverty. She was writing how she was an Social Studies teacher at a alternative education school, and how much she enjoyed doing it. She was asking for opinions on how to handle the classroom setting such as coming up with class rules, how flexible or strict do things need to be, and what is the best way to keep your students motivated.

Summary of my comment #2 to the post made on November 4:

I commented on how I have not personally taught "at risk" students in the classroom setting, but I have done volunteer work with "at risk" children. I wrote how it was a very exciting thing to see a child that has no goals actually start to reach for one. I commented on how the "at risk" children I worked with did not come from the best support systems at home.  I made the point sometimes people just need something to work towards. I thanked her for her post, I really enjoyed reading it.

Blog Post 3

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today  
I think in most cases this video was spot on representing the classroom setting in colleges today.  I did not really have this particular problem until I went to a four year university.  My first two years was completed at a community college.  It was a smaller atmosphere were there was maybe thirty to thirty five students in a classroom.  The teachers seemed to really want to know who you were for the most part.  I can not think of particular teacher that made me feel they were unapproachable or they did not care.  It was when I transferred to a four year university, not the University of South Alabama, that I could relate my college experience to this video.  I thought it was crazy that to my professors I was just a number, or a folder on the table.  I felt I was wasting my money because I was not really getting anything out of my classes.  I did not like the system so much that I ended up taking a break and regrouped to figure things out.
I thought the video was great the only thing I would have added to it would be to go to different areas of the college.  I think it would have been a good shot to see someone actually buying there books and showing how much they cost.  The campus library would be a good area to shot to see what the students were having to study and for how long because they didn't understand what the professor was talking about.  You could even go to a students place of work to see how many hours they work to pay for their education.  I think it is a great topic that should be addressed more.

"It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines
I thought Mrs. Hines post was very true.  I particularly liked the part about how learning and teaching are not the same thing.  A teacher can talk all day long about a particular topic and the if the students did not comprehend what was being taught then the students didn't learn anything.   I agree with the comment that she said about how teaching in the 21st century will be about working smarter, not harder.  I think there is a lot of truth to that.  
When Mrs. Hines wrote that good teachers must also be good learners it made me think.  Of course I know as educators we will always be learning new things, but I was kind of only thinking inside of the box about that topic.  I think it is a great point that we will need to know where our students come from.  Now that I think about it, it is very important to stay up to date with trends of the time, and what new thing is out there that the students want.  I think if we do these things then we could be more relateable to the students as a whole.
The topic on how technology is useless without good teaching is a very important point.  A teacher can have all of the new technology equipment out there but if they do not know how to get the lesson across to the class then it is useless.  If you already have a great lesson why not enhance it by using technology.  Lets face it students today love to use technology, but I don't think teachers should use it as a crutch for there lessons because they don't know how to teach the topic.


Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?  
I had never thought of technology in the way that Karl Fisch wrote about.  Now that I have read this my thinking has changed.  I have always been one of those people to say I don't like technology, and now that I think about it, it seems more like that I didn't understand how to use technology.  After reading this I have realized that technology is not going anywhere so I might as well learn all I can about it.
I think it is a good point on how being technology illiterate today is comparable to not being able to read and write in the 20th century.  I think it is important as educators that not only do we become educated in the technology field but we stay up to date with it as well.  So to answer the question "Is It Okay To Be A Technology Illiterate Teacher?"  I would have to say in the 21st century no it is not okay.  We have to learn all areas of education and technology should be one of them.

Gary Hayes Social Media Count
I personally think it is amazing how fast the Social Media Count grew in a matter of seconds.  I think social media is useful in a lot of different areas for example getting information, staying in contact with people, or even keeping up with what is going on in the world.  As for what does this mean for my career I think it means I need to stay up to date with the technology world.  If these are the thing my students are using on a daily bases then I should become familiar with them.

  
  

Blog Post 2

Did You Know?
My first overall reaction to this video was WOW.  I think it is so fascinating how fast the technology industry has grown, and is still growing.  I think the world as a whole now has the thought process of you do not have to wait for anything anymore.  I think a lot of that has to do with the development of technology; just with a touch of a button you can find, buy, download, etc... anything you wish.  I think technology is a great thing as a whole, but I can't help to wonder what life will be like in the future.  Being an education major it makes me wonder if in the future if we would even have schools or would classrooms become video based.  
My second reaction to this video was when I realized how far behind I am in the technology world.  Watching this video I realized there is so much I need to learn about this industry not only because I the students I teach will have every new thing out there, but I need to keep up with the expansion of the technology industry because it seems that everything is moving to that direction.  Overall this video was a complete eye opener for me.

Mr.Winkle Wakes
I thought the Mr. Winkle Wakes video was great.  I love how it highlighted how most of the industries of the world have updated there methods with the time.  I also had a light bulb moment when it went to the school segment of the video.  We all know that schools are behind in the technology world, but I wonder if maybe students grades would overall improve if we brought technology into the classroom more.  I think that only makes sense because today's students use technology on a daily bases.  Students today would rather play basketball on a video game than go outside and play the real thing.  I can't say I agree with this but maybe the education world should keep up with the times to help prepare the students for what they are going to be getting into.
This video made me wonder what we would see if we woke up one hundred years from now.  The ideas are endless on what we think the world would be like.  I can remember being and middle school and having dial-up internet and at that time it was okay.  Now though, if it takes our computer screens longer to load than we would like we become upset.  Looking back just a couple of years I never would have thought I would be depending on technology so much, but then I guess everyone depends on it now.  It makes me wonder if one day we will be saying to our students back in our day we had to use pencil and paper to do our class work.


Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
I really enjoyed this video.  I totally agree with what he was saying.  I believe that schools today focus mainly on the students state testing grades, and if there students are achieving in the four main subject areas. It is sad to say but a lot of schools don' t really bother with any of the arts.  Don't get me wrong I think it is important to know Math, Science, Language, and History, but I think it is equally important to not squash a child's creativity side.  I do not see anything wrong with incorporating the students creativity into the classroom.  I might be wrong but I don't know anywhere where it says that the student must only read the book, take notes, and recite it on a test.  I think as teachers we need to embrace students creativity instead of enabling it.
I know personally going through school I still remember things taught to me years ago by teachers who let me use my creative side on the assignment.  I can also tell you in the classes that the teacher just read out of a book and we took notes and then took a test, I can't even remember what the teachers name was or even really remember what the class was.  I hope that when I do become a teacher that I embrace a students creativity instead of telling them it is unacceptable.  You never know you might be teaching the next Shakespeare or Michelangelo.


Cecelia Gault (Young Student in Finland) Interviews Sir Ken Robinson 
I think this was a great interview given buy Cecelia Gault.  This shows us that children are very capable of doing a lot of different thing if just given the opportunity.  I think I can hopefully give all of my students a great education by embracing who they are.  If a student relates to music more than books maybe I could find songs related to the topic.  No two people are alike and sometimes we will have to figure some alternative ways of teaching to help our students achieve there greatest potential.

Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts                                              I really liked Vicki's statement on how only certain students learn from pencil and paper assignments all of the time.  I really liked how even though the school she taught at was in a small rural area her and her students were still connected with people all over the world.  The things these students can learn are endless.  The students in her class also seem to be gaining so much from this class.
When I watched this I couldn't help but think what if more schools had this program in place at there own school.  It seems that it could help the students with becoming more technology educated in there schools and in there everyday life.  Being that the world itself is moving more and more to the technology side of things I think it is so important to have classes like this in place.

Blog Post 1

Hello Everyone!

My name is Shaska Crabtree, and this is my second semester attending here at the University of South Alabama. I am an Elementary Education major, and I will be graduating in the Fall of 2012. I am very excited about the profession I have chosen and I hope I will be able to make a difference in a child's life one day.

I am the next to the youngest sibling out of five; I have three brothers and a sister. I grew up in Ocean Springs, MS. I have moved eight times in the last eight years. Last year my husband Lance, myself, and our Black Labrador Poseidon all moved to Fort Worth, TX for my husband's graduate school, which now has brought us to Mobile for his clinical rotations. I say everything happens for a reason. I do not know where I would like to work when I am finished with school, but I do know it would probably be by the water.

I love anything that pretty much involves outdoor activities. Running is my true passion though; I have been a runner since I was in the seventh grade. I hope to complete my first half marathon or full marathon this year. I think there is nothing better in the world though than being on the beach with my husband and my dog.