Scribepost

My scribe post was assigned for week 5, this was a catch up week so I didn't scribe. However I found this course to be so informative that if I were to summarize the whole semester I would have to say that there is too much for a summary. We learned how to embed, link, screen cast, blog, develop a unit plan, use google maps, documents, forms, power point, voicethread and the list continues. There was so much to learn in this course that a semester is not long enough! This class should be 2-3 semesters long. I will continue to follow Wes through his projects because I feel he has so much to offer the future teacher. So as a farewell thank you Wes and I look forward to following you through your projects in the future. Thank you soo much for the tools you have given me for may future classroom and I will do my best at being a lifetime learner!

My Screencast

This is a screencast on the steps involved in enbedding a video into a blog like blogspot.com. I chose this as my topic because I have always wondered how people did this and always thought it was too difficult for me to learn. Look at me now and its soo easy.

Google Form

Because I was unable to develop my google form until today I was unable to receive feedback from my fellow students. So I asked a few of my peers from other classes to answer the questions and all of them were amazed that there was a program on the Internet where you can make your own quiz or survey and then see the results in a spreadsheet form. So for any one other then Wes is reading this you should totally check out google docs . This is something that i will definitely use in my classroom. I think its a great idea to have people take surveys or quizzes online, at their own pace and when its convenient for them.

SECOND LIFE

Wow there is a lot of information on this video. Where to start this is a screen cast that walks you through the basic idea of second life. These individuals are involved in creating tutorials on how to use second life. They have tried many types of tutorials but the one that I think would be the most useful is allowing the student to walk through the second life and having instructions and hints as they play. I think it is very interesting that they were able to create a whole city like London as a second life. They mentioned how many people find second life to be very confusing and overwhelming and I agree. I watched the video and I am confused. I also found it interesting that once a person logs into second life they stay for 7 seconds and if they are not hooked they will leave. I normally give something new at least five minutes so that was interesting, we do like in a society now that moves from one task to another at the speed of light.

Honestly I cant imagine using this in my classroom. I would be willing to learn more about the system before I make a final decision but it seems like a very unstructured social network. I am very possibly wrong about this and if so a apologize. I would love to see how we can make this educational for our students. I think that virtual words can be very motivation for our students if they have the proper training on the system.

Collaboration

Paula White is currently a teacher and is responsible for the wikithink which is a wiki all about analyzing your wikis. During her screencast she talks about not only encouraging our students to develop their own wikis but for teachers to share ideas through wikis and to motivate or engage our students with these wikis. Paula uses wikis to share lesson plans with other teachers and to get feedback about her lesson plans. I really like this idea.


As a future teacher to know that there are people out there available to give me lesson ideas and feedback on my ideas is a relief. We need to "discover the students passions" to determine whether our projects are engaging our students. If the project isn't engaging then the students aren't going to want to participate and then what is the point. I really like the block she showed of the 8 engaging qualities of work. I will definitely want a copy of that chart. I really like her ideas and I will be a on her wiki in the future as a teaching resource for my future classroom.

Our First Vacation

This is a summary of my first vacation with my fiancee. We went to Branson, MO and had a blast I recommend that everyone take a trip to Branson.

New Tools

Wow this is a long video but it is so worth watching. I was really dreading having to watch this and that is why I put it off for so long. But to my surprise it was very informative and super cute! Many people are nervous when they use materials created by others in their own work. For example the Wizard of Oz. In this video they use the music Wizard of Oz, they gave it new purpose and added value which allowed them to include the music created by another individual. Dr. Velenza mentions so many new tools and how they can be useful for our students. She talks about Digital foot prints and how they can help or hurt a person depending on what is out there. She encourages her students to search themselves to find out what is out there and what their future boss will see. The websites that she encourages are http://www.pipl.com/ and http://www.123people.com/. To see the rest of the tools she mentioned in the video go to Dr. Velenza's Wiki .

I am really interested in creating educational cartoons. This is a slide show I found on Dr. Velenza's wiki that I really liked and found useful.

Tap Into The World Of Comics

View more presentations from S. Hendy.

I love the idea of learning through cartoons. All of her apps would be useful in the classroom and I look forward to exploring them all.

Dr. Velenza shows us that there is more to Google than many people know or at least me. With google you can search topics or events and make concept maps, news time lines, see related searches, and so much more. I also enjoyed her opinion on wikipedia. So many times in school we hear " wikepedia is not a reliable source." But every time I do a personal search online I end up at wikipedia and I find my answer. Dr. Velenza believes that you should use widipedia and other sources. All educators or future educators should check out this video and her wiki because it will be incredible useful.

Digiteen Project Based Learning

I think this is a wonderful project. Students are able to select a topic, research the topic, and then share their findings with other classmates. I love the idea of students teaching each other oppose to the traditional lecture. One of the groups researched driving under the influence verses driving while texting. I really like that they are discussing this more and more these days. I know that when I was younger I would text while I drove, I felt that because I could keep my eyes on the road while I was sending a message that I was still being safe. But the problem is that the distraction is still there. Just because your eyes are on the road doesn't mean you are focused on the road. The students reported that your reaction time is the same when you are texting as when you are under an influence! WOW! They also reported that 14% of all car wrecks are due to DUI and 37% of all car wrecks are due to DWT! Another group of students researched Digital literacy and that it is important for students to be able to tell the difference between a real website and a fake one. Online safety was another topic that students selected as a risky digital behavior. They talked about how easy it is for your pictures and identity to be stolen when you post inappropriate information on the Internet. Digiteens: Digital Citizenship by Digital Teenagers is a wonderful resource to share with all people to educate them on these risky behaviors that our students and children are participating in.




I believe that it is important for both the teachers and parents to work together to make sure that our children are being safe on the Internet. We need to teach them appropriate ways to use the Internet and social networks as well as show them the dangers of using these in a inappropriate manner. This should be Incorporated in our curriculum as well as something that parent talk to their children about. The Internet and social networks can be a great tool in the classroom however they can be easily abused that is why I will make sure when I am a teacher that we discuss the dangers and how to avoid them. This project is wonderful it allows students to research and teach themselves about a topic or concept and share it with their peers. Project based learning can be so successful and motivating.

Digital Youth Portrait:Sam

Sam is like most teenagers these days, she uses computers and all other types of technology as often as she can. She is very intelligent and resourceful. Like many students reading a book doesn't excite them and is often not done. She found an application on her phone that would allow her to hear and see the text. For many students reading comprehension is low when they are asked to read on their own and higher when they can read along and hear the text. I think this is a wonderful resource for our students. She even enhanced her piano skills with a program she found online. This program played the song and showed her which keys to press and then she wrote the notes down and practiced on her piano. This is a wonderful Video that shows how useful the Internet is to enhancing the academic curriculum and how motivating these programs are to the students.






Sam shows us that we need to make sure we are up to date on new technology to ensure that we are preparing our students for this technology driven world. All of her attempts with these applications and programs have taught her how to think outside the box and alternative ways to be creative. Students Like Sam can teach us all a lot.

Story in 5 Photos

The Four Seasons story in 5 photos

Voice thread

Slaves and Stereotypes: The Modern World and Gender by Alix Rowe

Alix Rowe made this clip and it is amazing. The words come fast so you have to read quickly however it is right on the money! Slaves and Stereotypes brings the issue of role stereotyping from day one to center stage. Girls wear pink and are nice and romantic and boys wear blue and are tough and aggressive. Alix is obviously against these roles saying that with education and technology we should move away from these old standards. We need to see each other for who we are, our individual personalities. The phrase "Boys will be Boys" and "girls will be girls" is used in the clip. The message of being an individual is what we should strive to teach our children from birth. The clip also informed me of a class in Sweden that sued Toys-R-Us because of role stereotyping. The clip is wonderful and it really makes you think. Watch it.


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Luis

Luis is a high school student in Oregon. He spends his afternoons working with younger minority students in a group called Tech Wizards. He helps these students learn robotics, programing and much more. He, like many other young adults, spends a lot of time on the computer. He believes that his use of technology help his studies, community and life in general.

The significant take away from Luis's story is that we need to accept that students will be spending a lot of time on the internet and looking for new ways to explore technology and to give them the opportunity to do this for positive educational purposes. I know that because of the class Technology for Teachers I have found a very useful purpose for facebook, blogging, twitter, etc. These social networks before seemed to me as a waste of time, now I can see that we can use these as educational tools that the students are eager to use. Win win situation.

Tecnology Savy Six Year Olds

Rachel Boyd is a teacher of a year 2 class in New Zealand of 6-7 year olds. She incorporates technology in most every aspect of the class learning time. The students work on handwritting on the white board. I would have loved that when I was in school! The students are responsible for writting their own stories and posting them on their class website. I think that this is a really good idea because not only are they working on their assignments for school but their parents can also see first hand the progress their children are making.

The takeaway from this is that the students are motivated when they get to use these cool tools like the laptops and white board. It also shows us that we need to be creative in writting our lesson plans and make sure to implement these tools. In the clip a Peek For a Week in a Kiwi Junior Classroom we see these young students independently and successfully use these tools.

Nafiza

Nafiza is a young woman in New York who, like many people, is surrounded by technology. Her day begins with her cell phone waking her up and her emails calling to her to be checked and through the coarse of the day it is one thing after another involving technology. This video is all about Nafiza and how technology affects her everyday. She is a video producer, activist, gamer, and social networker. At school Nafiza is in an organization called Global Kids. In this organization she is working on a one minute clip about the struggles some individuals go through in other countries trying to get an education. I think the significant takeaway from this clip is that we should integrate technology into our lessons. I believe that most students would be more interested in a lesson that involves a video camera or computer opposed to the traditional pencil and worksheet. As a future teacher it is also important for me to keep up with the technology so that I can incorporate it into my lesson plans.

Blogging in the Classroom

We like our Blogging Buddies: the write Stuff with Blogging Mentors is a video about a first grade teacher and a professor who got together to see if it would be beneficial for their students to be blogging buddies. Kathy Cassity, who is a first grade teacher in Canada wanted to incorporate technology with writing to see if it would help her students improve their writing abilities. Patrick Lewis, who is a professor at the University or Regina wanted his students to see the levels of first grade writers and allow them to edit and motivate the first grade writers.

The video We like our Blogging Buddies was very interesting, the students really seemed to like the idea of blogging to their buddies. Every student that was interviewed said they really liked to blog. It gives the students a reason to write and an audience to read what they write about. Cassity claims that her students where much more motivated to write because they knew that in a few days their buddies would read their blogs and respond. I think the take-away here is that technology is an important aspect of our lives and that we need to experiment with it in our classroom because it may motivate our students.

I remember when I was young i had a pen pal, and I remember looking forward to reading her letters and writing her back as well. Back then we mailed things with a stamp and waited for a mail man to come pick it up so, I only got a letter every couple of weeks. But I remember going to work with my mom and being so excited to receive a letter that I wouldn't even let her read it to me, I sat down and read every word on the page, even if it took half an hour to sound out the words. I didn't think of it as being "stupid" homework it was fun, I was talking to my friend.

I think it is a great idea to have blogging buddies in the classroom, whether its with someone older and wiser or even someone your own age. It motivates the students to get practice in spelling, constructing sentences, constructing paragraphs, penmanship, and even communicating their ideas. If implementing blogging in my classroom would help my students I most certainly will.

The Amazing Cameron

After watching a the video about Cameron I am inspired. Cameron is an eleven young boy who is amazing, he knows more about cameras and computers than I ever could. I would have to say that it was also inspiring to watch him interact with his teachers and classmates was as well. This young boy form Indiana knows more about technology than his teachers and they are the first to admit that and learn form him. I thought that it was wonderful to see teachers embracing the fact that they don't know everything and allow the students to teach then as well as the class. Cameron's video is really inspiring and motivating.

Like Cameron when I was little I liked to use a camera to record my friends playing around. However, unlike Cameron my camera recorded on a VHS and we didn't have a computer with software to manipulate the footage. I believe my dad was still using a DOS at that point. There are so many children out there that really pick up on things like that and its really amazing.

I hope to have the chance to allow my future students to share their knowledge with their peers, to help teach the other students and to take pride in their contributions to the class. I would like to encourage my students to make video broadcasts similar to Cameron's because it allows the students to research a concept or topic, share that will other students and then allows them to see and save their work. I encourage everyone to watch the video about Cameron.

Bio

My name is Victoria Williams and I am a Special Ed mild-moderate major. I love working with children and young adults which is why I chose this major. I hope to finish my degree in the next couple of years and be in a classroom here in Oklahoma. I think that I would like to teach in a middle school but I would would be open for any age.