Friday, November 19, 2010

Blog Post #13

Alex (Alabama Learning Exchange)

Alex was made by the Alabama Department of Education. It is a website made specifically for teachers. This website includes many different resources for teachers to create lesson plans that are interesting and easy for children to learn. This website could be very useful for teachers. I'm sure most teachers do not even know it exist. I personally didn't. This website has different lesson plans and web links that can help a teacher when in comes to making lessons for the classroom. This site is definitely one to keep in mind in the future. I can see it being very beneficial to me as a teacher. There are different courses of study available for each grade level. They describe the lesson plan and what the children should know after the lesson is given. ALEX also provides a personal web space for teachers to submit their own lessons. This way it is teachers working with teachers. With all of these different things mentioned, there are many, many more. One of the things that really stood out to me (the name is catchy) is Alexville. Alexville is the globe you can click on and view the blog for the website. This is a lot of information on one page making it easy to find recent activities and news. This site really was amazing. The amount of resources given to teachers is just incredible. If you would like to visit this website, just click on the link below.

ALEX

Project 15

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Additional Assignment #5



Tom Johnson's blog is all about the kids. He understands children. He uses pencils as a metaphor to describe children in each different blog post. He is a firm teacher but has a certain amount of respect for the children, and in the same, they have a certain amount of respect for him. In one of his blog posts, he describes the children as "sketchy, permanent, and temporary". This blog is especially encouraging to me. It shows how to think logically about children. This is very important for teachers to understand. We as teachers have to be flexible enough to let children draw with their lives, erase, and redo. We have to understand that they will make mistakes, but can learn from them. Mr. Johnson's description of children really hit the nail on the head. It was perfect in my opinion.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Progress Report on Final Project

We are going to interview a professor in the College of Education about how technology is used in her classroom and how it affects the learning of her students. We will be asking questions such as, does technology make it easier for you as a teacher to make a point, and does it help the students learn? My partners will be Alissa Logan and Courtney Banks.

Analysis and Commentary of Project #6



The results of this project were actually quite surprising. 76% said they liked the outdoors and 24% said they did not. 62% said they liked to fish and 33% said they did not. Freshwater fishing was preferred more than saltwater fishing...only by 5% percent though. Majority voted they preferred fishing from a boat. I have always enjoyed fishing very and have personally been on dates to piers and whatnot. There were quite a few people that disagreed with fishing being a legitimate date, but I would have to say myself, those are the best. I asked different questions about different types of baits and lures just to see if the surveyor's actually knew anything about fishing, most did, but some really need some fishing tips. Overall, most people really like to fish and were educated about fishing. I think that if more people would take the time to fish, they would have a greater appreciation for the water and wildlife.

My Sentence

Blog #12 Continued

How can technology help farmers understand new ways to improve fertilization techniques?



Technology makes it possible to get the most out of the "not so ordinary" things, such as dirty fish water. It offers new and easier ways to be efficient not only in a classroom, but even on a farm. Technology is used everywhere. People just don't realize how important technology is when it comes to looking for new resources and information. Technology affects everyone. That's why it is extremely important for even children to understand how to find information and apply it to everyday occurrences. I will admit, it's possible that farmers could have discovered this technique without technology, but there is no way they could have made a working habitat for the fish without the proper chemical balance being obtained through technology. This just proves, that not only professors, school teachers, engineers, etc. use technology in their everyday life. Technology influences everyone, even farmers.

Blog Post #12

1. Watch this Video made at Auburn University.



Write a brief paragraph about how technology can be a help farmers to understand new ways to improve fertilization techniques on fish farms such as this at Auburn University. Do you think that farmers would have discovered this new technique of fertilization without technology?

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Blog Post #11

Ms. Kathy Cassidy


Ms. Cassidy made her class more than just learning. Her students had fun. For some children, it's a dream to be able to use the Nintendo DS in the classroom. For her's, they were playing and learning at the same time.

She let her students use Skype and talk with other people, which let the children know that they are not the only kids in the world. They got to experience different things right there in the classroom. It is extremely important for us as teachers to make technology a part of children's lives. Without technology, they will presumably be left behind.  I never thought first grade children would be capable of this type of use with technology, but then again, as illustrated in a previous video, never underestimate children. After watching this video, I will admit, I am amazed at how progressive the children are with technology.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Additional Assignment #3

First off, throughout this video, I was amazed with the drawing. Whoever can do that really does have talent. I know it's not much, but I personally, would not be able to keep up with it. I would definitely have to be the narrator in this one.


Now that that's out of the way, I'll talk about Sir Ken Robinson. One of the things that really stood out to me was during this time in our society, a college degree is not the ONLY ticket for a job. Of course, it will help, but with the economy the way it is, a four year degree is not all employers are looking for. I, along with many other people I know, am very concerned about graduating and not being able to find a job. Employers want experienced workers. I agreed with mostly everything in this video except for children being split into different age groups. I believe that each child has different capabilities, but the same maturity levels. An adult should never make a child miss out on child hood. Don't let them grow up too fast. Over all, this presentation was great. I definitely would recommend it.

C4K Summary Post 3-7

C4K 3: Christchurch Earthquake. This student wrote about the earthquake that occurred in Christchurch. He described some of the devastation that followed this early morning quake. I could really relate with this disaster. A few years ago, my Father's house burned down on December 23, two days before Christmas. I know what it feels like being left with nothing. I can only hope for the best for these people. I know it takes time to recover from such tragedies.

C4K 4:Our School Fete. This student wrote about the school fete that took place at his school. During my time at school, we called them Fall Festival's. He described the rides and activities that were operating throughout the day. He also said the school raised over $20,000.

C4K 5: Andrew H's blog. New Be.
In this blog, he wrote about it being more fun than the one he was required to do in the fifth grade. He described some of his hobbies which are football and track, and also added that he liked to watch the Colts play football. Hopefully, this time, he will become interested in keeping up with the blog.
C4K 6: Ricardo C's Blog. I learned that a command has a.
I finished his sentence for him, I learned a command has a..."reason. If a command is given, there is always a reason. Never doubt that. At times, it may not make sense to you, but in the long run, it eventually will."
C4K 7: Nagrom's Blog. In this blog, the student took an abstract picture of a piece of wood. I was actually very impressed. Many people would look at this picture and just see wood, but this student saw lines and textures.

Summary Post C4T #3

The teacher that I read about was Eric Langhorst. He did and entire lesson on George Washington. Except, it wasn't all about him being a president. He taught about Washington being so much more. Washington was also a farmer. He started off growing tobacco then eventually began growing wheat. Mr Langhorst actually traveled to Mount Vernon where he created a podcast for his lesson. Knowing that he actually traveled to the place he taught makes it so much more interesting to the students (and me). His lesson was very interesting and definitely kept my attention. I hope to one day, make learning fun and interesting at the same time just as he did.