My EDM 310 Blog Assignments are Now Complete

Well, we're finally done with blogging, for now at least. I'm glad that it's over, but I'm thankful for all that I've learned in the process. Hope finals go well and I hope to see all of you around.

What I've Learned

I've learned quite a bit from taking this class and for being responsible for keeping up with this blog. I never really knew that something like this could be so beneficial to my future teaching career. I will definitly be using a blog for my classroom some day because of taking this class. Some of the things that I learned from this class are pretty obvious since I did not really know how do much of this at all. Obviously I learned how to create and to keep up with a blog and the possibilities that doing one has. I learned that blogs are not only used to speak your mind, which is what I thought it was used for exclusively before this class, but to inform lots of people about pretty much anything that you want. I also learned about all of the FREE things that Google has to offer. It's pretty amazing that I had not heard of any of those things until I took this class, but the possibilities are once again endless. It's also cool how you can share all of that information from using things like Google Docs with all sorts of people. It would be a cool way of prof reading students papers without having them turn in a bunch of chicken scratch notebook paper. I also learned a little more about the huge world of iTunes and all of what it has to offer. It was pretty amazing to learn about using and implementing those things into the classroom. All in all I think that it was a great experience and am really glad that I took this class.

Pros and Cons of Blogs

This was the first time that I had ever kept up with a blog before. To tell you the truth, I did not even know what a blog really was until this semester. It was kinda hard to keep up with it because I had never done one and was not in the habit of doing so. But I still managed to do all of them, which I was surprised that I even did that. To me there are many pluses and minuses to blogs in the classrooms.

I read through Tina Dillen's blog for this post because we sat next to each other. She helped me out a lot this year and would always keep me informed about things that I missed or things that I did not understand. Her blog was really good to. Her posts were very informative andwell written. She did a really good job on her blogs.

The pluses that I can see with keeping up a blog for a class are pretty numerous. One reason is to simply keep everyone informed about what is going on in class. I'm sure that parents are going to like the idea of knowing what their child is learning and doing in their class. Blogs seem like a great way to keep parents in the loop, which I'm sure most would like. It would also keep kids who are maybe absent, or just miss an assignment informed about what they have do or what they need to study.

Some of the minuses to keeping up a blog may seen kind of lazy, but to me it's a lot of work to keep up with it. It was especially hard for me because I'm not that into computers and technology, so I would sometimes forget to do one and would have to double up and sometimes triple up the workload some nights. But besides sheer laziness, blogs in the classroom seem like a great idea.

Overall this was really good experience for me to be responsible for keeping up with a blog. I did not always want to do it but I got it done most of the time. I would recommend doing a class blog to any teacher because of all of the benefits that it has. The pluses definitely out way the minuses.

Duke Podcast

This post is about the documentary that Duke University did entitled "Looking Back: 9/11 Across America." It was obviously about the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. It was full of interviews and opinions of different Americans that were effected and impacted by the attacks.

Other things that people talked about were the effects that the attacks had on the US socially. Some talked about how everyone became much more patriotic and it really brought us closer as a country. But other talked about the effects it had on people of Middle Eastern origins and Muslim backgrounds, and the discrimination that they underwent. It was a time of unity and division in this country.

One question that was asked was what was the impact and how were you effected by the events of 9/11? Most people stated that their reaction to the terrorist attacks was pure shock. It truly was an unbelievable event in our nations history. Other reactions were pertaining to the war that followed. The views about the war went both ways as expected and people are pretty divided on the issue even today.

September 11, 2001 was one of the saddest days in US history. Everyone can remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard what had happened. It impacted many people, and many people lost their live. It is our job to remember those who died and those who are fighting for those people right now.

Class Podcast

This was the first time that I think any of us, besides Dr. Strange, had ever done a podcast. I think that for the most part everyone did a very good job, but there are definitely some things that we need to improve on. I listened to three podcast, including my own and I think I learned a lot about how to do a podcast and how to do it better next time.

I did a podcast with Keri Ashworth, Autumn Jordan, and Dr. Strange. We discussed Dr. Stranges thesis that students now are listener/watchers and not reader/writers. I thought that it was a pretty good one, especially with Dr. Strange doing it with us. That was a huge help. But I do think that we could have addressed the issue more, and not just some of the different aspects of the question. I know we were all a little nervous, but I think that we had pretty good composure and that we did a fairly good job.

Another podcast that I listened to was Sara Large and Tina Dillen discussion on how technology is used in their College of Education classes. They talked about USA Online and how it is used in our classes. It was very informative and I got a better understanding about how this site is used. They did a pretty good job, but the only thing was that they kind of read off of their notes a little too much. But overall, it was a pretty good podcast and I think that they did a good job.

I really liked this project and had a lot of fun doing it. At first I was dreading it and was really nervous about talking in front of was soon to be millions of people. But after we started doing discussing our topic, it was really kind of fun. I think that podcasts are a great tool that can be used in the classroom and I definitely plan on using them in my future classroom.

Math and Technology

This podcast was titled "Mathematics with Technology" and comes from the Maine Department of Education. The narrated of the video was Judy Chandler. In this video, Chandler expresses her views on the importance of math. She feels that math is one of the most important subjects and that students must learn math well to succeed in school and life. She also talks about different possibilities of using technology in the classroom to help children in the learning process.

Chandler also talked about the idea of using laptops in the classroom. She stated that she felt that teachers taught out of the book entirely too much and that they were getting disconnected from their students. She felt that if you use laptops and other such technology in the classroom, it would give students hands on activities and would enhance the learning process.

Another idea that she had that was pretty obvious, yet very important, was to simply ask lots of questions to the students. Asking them questions helps them to think quickly and critically and if you don't ask them question, how do you expect them to learn anything?

I think that Chandlers podcast was very good. It really makes you think about the possibilities of using different kinds of technologies in your classroom. I think that this is one of the only ways to get though to students today and that we are just going to have to keep up with the times to relate to our students. All in all, it was a very good and informative podcast.

Growth vs. Fixed

This post is about video cast called "Growth vs. Fixed" and it was about a study that Carol Dweck, who is a Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, conducted. In her study she stated that her views were that some people use their intellegence to show people, and other use it to learn. In here study she conducted an experiment were she had two groups of students. One group was learning study skills and the other was learing study skill as well as growth mindset lessons. No one from each group knew that there were two different groups.

The results of her study showed some interesting things. It showed that the students who underwent study skill lessons didn't show any improvement. One the other hand the students who underwent growth mindset lessons showed much improvement. The first group lacked the motivation to learn and to show any improvements.

This was a pretty interesting video. It's pretty cool to see a professor be able to express their views on the study through this kind of media. I feel that this wouldn't have been as effective if it were simply an article written in a magazine or journal. This was a pretty cool video

The Reef

The video cast that I watched pertained to coral reefs. This video explained how they worked and what they do. It was a very good video and it explained the process very well. Apparently the coral keeps the whole reef alive. It's a simple food chain in that the coral gets it energy from the sun and the fish get their energy from eating the coral. It's a pretty amazing process.

I thought that the video was pretty informative. The quality of the video was pretty good, and it seemed like a video that you could show in a science class. Video podcast and others like them seem to be a great tool in the classroom today. Kids seem much more likely to listen to a video than a teacher simply lecturing.

I feel that in my field of history, videos such as these can be invaluable. I know that when I was in school, I always loved when we were watching videos in class. Not just because they were not as boring as the teacher, but because I really did enjoy watching them. I think it's a great idea and I definitely plan on using them in my classroom in the future.

Edutopia

At Martin Luther King Middle School in Berkley, California, they started using a garden to enhance the learning process. Who would think that a simple garden would have such a huge impact on the education of these kids. Alice Waters came up with the idea when she was the school chef. The kids learn about proper nutrition, proper portion size, and other ways to eat healthy. They can also learn about subjects like math too. It seems like a great idea.

This creative idea known as the "edible school yard" seems to be a great idea. Not only does it teach the students basic curriculum like math and science, but it also teaches them more practical lessons. They have to keep up with the garden and make sure that things grow right. This responsibility teaches them work ethic and gives them a sense of accomplishment when they finish. I think that it's great.

The next podcast was the Global Village which was orgainized by the Global Gateway Program, located on the Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas. This is a pretty good idea in that it opens the eyes of the students to poverty and hunger. This "village" is set up to be like a third world country and resemble some of the poor conditions that some people live in. Some times we don't truly understand how bad it really is until we see it and touch it for ourselves

This truly seems to be a great idea. I feel that it gives the kids a tangible thing to see and touch when they learn about poverty and hunger. It also probably gives these students a better understanding and appreciation for what they have been blessed with and what others have not been. This is a great idea and I love the practicle aspect of this activity, because I've always thought that you learn more if you actually do it.

Podcasts

Before this class I had never really known what a podcast was, much less listened to one. The idea of pod casts is a pretty good one and it seems to be yet another way that information can be spread in a huge way. After doing this assignment, it was obvious to me that this could be a great tool for education.

While listening to the podcasts, it reminded me of simply listening to the radio. It has the advantages of the radio, but it's not limited to the relatively small listening areas that radio stations have access to. It was set up very similarly to a radio broadcast in that you had multiple speakers talking about a subject, yet we can be hundreds of thousands of miles away.

One of the podcasts that I listened to was KidCast Podcast. It was hosted by Dan Schmit and it was called "Brainstorming and Planning for Podcasting Success. The discussion involved Schmit and a few other people, and they discussed how to incorporate podcasts into the classroom. In their discussion they expressed how easy it is to have a great idea, but not knowing how to get it off the ground. It was a pretty interesting podcast.

I feel that after listing to some of these podcast, this idea of using technology like this in the classroom is vital. I think that it can be very usefull and can truly aid in the learning process of students.

Access Lab Visit

For this blog, I'm going to tell you about our visit to Daphne High School's Access Lab. Me and a few of my classmates went on a tour of their lab a few weeks ago. It was a pretty impressive classroom. There were two huge flat screen TVs on either side of the room, and a microphone on the ceiling. There was also a type of a command station at the front of the room that resembled something from NASA.

The lab instructor gave us a pretty extensive overview of what the lab was trying to do and what it actually did. It was pretty amazing to think that you could take a class from so far away. Unfortunately the lab instructor informed us that the lab had many problems and that it was not getting utilized the way it could. But all in all it was a pretty good tour and I can see where this kind of technology can be utilized in the future. You just need to get the interest of the students.

Pausch's Last Lecture

Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, or more commonly known simply as MIT. He died on pancreatic cancer on July 25, 2008. In the last months of his life, he gave a stunning lecture giving his last bit of advise to his students. This last lecture entitled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," was not only clever and funny, but full of great advice and lessons on life in general.

Pausch started his last lecture by simply telling the audience a few of his childhood dreams. Some of them involved being a professional football player, an imagine er for Disney, and even being on the Star ship Enterprise as Captain Kirk. Although it seems that he couldn't have possibly attained these early childhood dreams, he actually did achieve some of them. He then went on to say that no dream is unattainable and that they are your dreams, and that you should always try to reach your dreams.

Another thing that he discussed was one of the assignments that he gave one of his classes. It didn't require any books or note books, because he wasn't going to give any lectures and there would be no reading of any text books. He actually split the class in half and gave them a huge group project. One of his ideas was that the best ways of learning was to learn by doing and that hands on projects were in fact the best ways of learning. I thought that this was awesome because I totally agree with that conclusion. He even said that the students met and exceeded the requirements that he gave them. But when one of his student showed him their projects before it was done, he told them that they could do better, so that they would be pushed to do their very best.

It seems that we lost one of the best educators of our time when Randy Pausch die. His last lecture was full of great advice and he really seem to be a truly inspiring individual. The idea that he could give a lecture full of hope and encouragement in the face of death is absolutely amazing.

iPods as a Teaching Tool

It seems that everywhere you look, you see people with headphones in listening to an iPod. The iPod is a MP3 player produced by Apple. It is one of the most popular pieces of technology on the market today. It is widely used by children and adults alike, but can it be used in the classroom? Duke University seems to think it can. In 2005 the Duke Digital Initutive program was introduced. It provided freshmen with an iPod in an effort to enhance the learning process. It contains information about orientation and classes.

This is one of the best examples of technology in the classroom. The introduction of iPods to further the distribution of information in a school is one of the best ways to utilize current technology. I think that this is a great idea on the part of Duke University, and I think that universities around the country should get on board.

Dr. Christie

Dr. Alice Christie's website seems to be an extremely useful resource for incorporating different kinds of technology in the classroom. The website is designed to share some of the insight of Dr. Chrstie's over 40 years of experience in education. On the site you can choose from photography to searching the web and from web design to GPS and Geocaching.

I chose to look into the GPS and Geocaching portion of her website. She states that here in the 21st century, we as educators are obligated to keep up with current technology. We should push our students to use these emerging technologies, such as GPS, and we should teach them practical was to apply these technologies in their lives. I think that it was a very informative website and I really liked her approach to education. http://www.alicechristie.org/geocaching/index.html

Wikipedia

Can you really trust the all knowing Wikipedia? I know that every time I'm curious about something, or my friends ask me a question that I can't answer, I always just look it up on Wikipedia. But is it really reliable. Apparently it isn't. According to NRP, the seemingly center of all knowledge, can not be trusted.

According to the post on NRP, anyone can change the information that is put on the website. There isn't very many restrictions or anything holding people accountable for the information that they put on Wikipedia. Even though Virgil has made it possible for us the public and the government to monitor who changes information on the site, it still isn't that reliable. It's a shame but now we know that Wikipedia is in fact not that reliable and should never be used to do research.

More From The Fischbowl

Professor Barry Bachenheimer of the Caldwell-West Caldwell Public Schools in New Jersey, posed the question ,"how many of the 180 days of school are used for true instruction." One piece of data that he used was a presentation that showed the frequently missed or wasted classes throughout the school year. He concluded that only 120 days are actually used for teaching and instruction by teachers. This was made up mostly of absences and the first and last days of the year. Test days where also some of the day's that students would miss out on instruction from their teachers, which I never really thought about.

Bachenheimer creates makes a really good point and facilitates really good discussions on the topic. I personally haven't ever really thought about how much time is wasted at school. I remember thinking when I was in high school, "man it seems that we have a lot of down time." I think it would be a good idea to find ways to give teachers more time to actually teach in their classrooms. But I don't think kids would like having a shorter summer and a longer school year. As a teacher, I know I wouldn't.

Best of The Fischbowl of September

Karl Fisch is the writer of the blog The Fischbowl. His blog entitled, Is It Okay To Be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher? won the Edublog award for 2007. Despite his great humility on the issue, this is a very impressive award and a great achievement for him. In this blog he explores the very question posed in the title of the blog. Does it really matter if a teacher is technologically iliterate? Does this enhance his or her abiltiy to prepare students or does it inhibit it. Karl Fisch definitly seems to say that it greatly inhibits a teachers abiltiy to affectivly prepare his or her students for a successful fufilling life. He even makes the bold statement that being a teacher who is technologically iliterate today is like being a teacher who was reading or writing iliterate 30 years ago.

Fisch gives a good argument as to why we as teachers have an obligation to stay on top of current technology and to provide our students with the tools they need to succeed in their future jobs. I for one totally agree with this argument possed by Fisch. It is our responsibilty as teachers to provide our students with all of the advantages they need to survive in this technologically growing world. This was a well thought out argument and very diserving of and award like this one.

International Classroom Blogs

This classroom blog comes to us from Nelson Central School in New Zealand. This is a year 2/3 kids class, which would be 6 and 7 year old children and their teacher is Rachel Boyd. Most of the blog entries are videos, and it seems that it is a very interactive site and is very useful to the children and their parents. http://room9nelsoncentral.blogspot.com/

The next classroom blog also comes to us from New Zealand, but this time at Manaia Kindergarten. The blog stated that the school had over 30 families attending this school. This blog also has numerous videos for the children to view. This seems to be a trend with the younger grades. It seems to be very useful for the childern and is also very interactive. http://manaiakindergarten.blogspot.com/

Classroom Blogs Around the Country

This blog comes to us from Noel, Montana. Mr. C's Class Blog, as it is titled, is one of the most elaborate blogs I've ever seen. It has dozens of links and applications on the right and left sides of the page. It is very interactive. Each student in his class even has their own blog and he has the links to thoughs as well. It is a very impressive blog and I think that it is very benifitial to the students. http://mrcsclassblog.blogspot.com/

This blog is from Waukesha, Wisconsin. This blog was created by Kevin Kais, a teacher at the Beautiful Savior Lutheran School. This is a very small private christian school in rural Wisconsin. Mr. Kais teaches all subjects to 6-8 grade students. He uses the blog to post homework assignments mostly, and other activities that are going on in class. He also has links to the main school website. This school is run by the Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church and also has a link on this blog. This seems to be a very helpful was of assigning homework so that the students can keep up with them, and also the parents. http://www.bslc-lcms.org/blogs/kais/2008/09/world-history-ch_29.html

Actual Classroom Blogs

Fizzics
Mr. Mackenzie
This example of a classroom using a blog comes to us from the UK. Mr. Mackenzie teaches high school physics. This blog is used to post notes, grades and other resources for the students to use in his class. It has a numerous amount of videos to enhance the learning of his students. He also has many links to educational websites that students may use to learn more on the subject of physics. It is a well laid out blog, and seems to be a really good resource for his students.

http://mrmackenzie.co.uk/

The Fischbowl

I guess that in our arrogance, we Americans still feel that we are the best and the brightest. This video by Karl Fisch really makes you think. It makes you question the idea, that probably all Americans have, that we're somehow superior to all other countries. Not to sound non patriotic, or to overlook the progress that we've accomplished, but after viewing this video, it seems that we're declining in today's world.

Maybe declining isn't the correct word, but maybe not keeping up is? Maybe India and China really are passing us in this global race of power? The statistics in the video seem to support this idea, that we really are being passed. I don't know about you, but that is a pretty scary scenario. Although, the statistics in the video, like all statistics, are probably a little skewed to prove the point that he creator had. India and China had more college graduates than the US because they have a bigger population in general. Either way, it seems that it is up to us, the future educators of America, to do something about it.

My Presentation

Directing Links That Do Not Work

The four most important reasons that links do not work are:
1. The link is not correctly spelled. For example, I misspelled MY NAME in a link earlier today. Silas caught it and did not believe me when I said it was intentional.
2. Nothing is placed between the two parts of an a tag. I will demonstrate this to you.
Apple's Web Site, which you may find interesting.
3. You forgot to include http:// in the address. It must be included.
4. Sometimes Google doesn't like a / after the address. Try removing it

ACCESS Program

The ACCESS Program stands for the Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide program. It is and initiative by the Alabama Board of Education. This program provides high school students with a greater chance to take advantage of AP, or Advanced Placement, courses and other classes that they may not have access to otherwise.

According to the Alabama Board of Education, the ACCESS Program has six objectives. Two of which involve providing access to advanced diploma courses and advanced placement or dual enrollment. In my opinion, this is a great initiative put on by the state. Giving high school students the chance to gain college credits be for they actually go to college is a great idea. This program simply enhances students chances of utilizing these great opportunities to advance their education.

ALEX Progam

The ALEX program is an educational resource website made to equip teachers with resources and information in a quick and easy way. ALEX stands for the Alabama Learning Exchange, and their slogan is "Quality for Every Facet of Learning." ALEX is a project of the Alabama Department of Education and is connected to the Alabama Course of Study by the National Board of Certified Teachers. It provides information and materials, such as lesson plans and web links, for educators in an easily accessible site.

In my opinion, ALEX is a great tool that can be greatly utilized by teachers, administrators, and parents. It is a very well laid out website and is very user friendly, making to easier for less technologically inclined people to use it. I think that it can be a huge asset to anyone who is in education.

About Me

Hi, my name's John Hardman. I went to the University of South Alabama because it was close to home, and because everyone in my family went to south. I also decided to go to south because of the opportunities to be in the outdoors around here. I am an avid fishermen and hunter.