My EDM 310 Blog Assignments Are Now Complete

I've enjoyed being in class with all of you. I learned so much from my classmates. All of you are younger than me and many have a different perspective on things. I appreciated all your input and enjoyed seeing your work.
Also, thanks to Dr. Strange for all the help. We learned so much!

Good luck to you all in your future teaching careers. Remember to "Inspire" your students to achieve greatness.

Have a wonderful holiday!

What I Have Learned

EDM 310 has been an invaluable learning tool for me. I have gained so many new skills in this class and learned the many ways we can use technology in the classroom such as:

1) Blogs- learning to create and post to a blog. I definitely want to use blogs in my classroom.
2) Links and Pictures-learning to create links and upload and post pictures to the blog. This is going to be really helpful because before this class, I had no idea how to get my pictures from the digital camera to another source.
3) Alt Tags- how to put alt tags (modifiers and title tags) on my photos for sight impaired readers.
4) iTunes- how to download material from iTunes- especially the podcasts- and they're free! I liked listening to all of the podcasts and video casts-especially "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch.
5) Podcasts- I really didn't know what a podcast was before this class- and now I have participated in one. I would like to be able to create my own podcast in the classroom someday so this information is really helpful.
6) Google Tools- I didn't realize all the tools Google has available-and they're free- such as:
-Google Docs- which I can use for spreadsheets, word documents and presentations
- Google Blogger- a great way to create a blog for free
-iGoogle Page- I can put items on this page for my students to use- and all the Google gadgets available.
-Picasa- which I will use to edit and save photos

7) ACCESS- I probably would not have known as much about the ACCESS labs if we had not been required to visit one for our assignments. This is something I would like to be involved in someday.

8) ALEX- I didn't know this web site existed before now. This will be a resource I will go to again and again for lesson plan ideas.

Something that I would have liked to have learned in this class is how to create a web site. This is a project that I would probably be required to do when I start teaching as a resource for my students so I would like to know how to get started.

The most important thing I learned in this class though, is how much I like technology! Before this class, I never really used the computer for more than email and doing assignments in Word. There is so much more to explore! I am glad I got the opportunity to discover so many new things.

My Thoughts on Classroom Blogs

My experience this semester with creating and posting to my own blog has opened up a whole new world for me. Before I started this class, I was unaware of what a blog was let alone ever think about creating one myself. Now, my view has changed as it probably has for most of the students in our class.

Many of the individual blogs from our class are quite good and I wish I had time to read them all, but the classmate's blog that I picked to read was written by Stephanie Ellis. I really enjoyed perusing Stephanie's blog. She had some interesting posts with pictures to go along with them. I think the blogs that contain some sort of graphic image are more interesting to look at. The pictures also help to catch your attention. My favorite post of Stephanie's was the one she wrote on Randy Pausch. I think we were all moved after watching Randy's video. He accomplished so much in his short lifetime and inspired so many people (including us). Stephanie did a great job of expressing her feelings about the video. Like her, I am not sure if I am an Eeyore or a Tigger either. I think I am more of a Kanga, a born nurturer. That's why I want to be a teacher I guess. I really enjoyed Stephanie's blog. All of her posts seemed to be well thought out and organized (and up to date).

I think we both learned during this semester what a great asset blogging can be to a classroom. The blogs can serve as a reinforcer for information taught in the classroom along with a vehicle to post assignments in, links to websites and other blogs, student's work as well as a source for information and news for the parents as well as students. I also like the idea that, if you start the blog the first week of school, it can serve as an on-line portfolio of the students work for the entire school year. Teachers and parents, as well as students, can see how much the students work has improved over the course of the year. The best part is that blogs are free and easy to create using Google Blogger. You can also access them from any computer.

I found some really good blogs over the course of the semester that I would like to use as a model for my own classroom. One blog that I really liked was "Mrs. Cassidy's Classroom Blog", which is a class of first graders in Moosejaw, Canada. The children have their own blogs which they post to each week (first graders blogging!). There are also videos of what the children are doing in class as a way to let the rest of the world (including parents and grandparents) into their classroom. What a great idea! This is the type of blog I would want to use in an elementary classroom.
Another great blog was created by a teacher in Connecticut called "Miller's 10th Grade English Blog". This blog is amazing! Mr. Miller teaches Advanced English at Branford High School. His blog contains everything a student would need such as class calendar, assignments, homework prompts and a link to a wiki, which the students also participate in. This is the type of blog that would be ideal for a middle or high school class. The students have everything they need right there at their fingertips while at the same time Mr. Miller is teaching them how to use the technology.

We also learned that blogs linked together can serve as a web page for the classroom as we did when we created our teaching tools blogs. Selected topics in the educational/technology realm can be linked together and with the click of the mouse we can go from blog post to blog post.

One drawback to using blogs for posting assignments, resources, etc. is that not all students would have computers or internet access at home. It is true that they could access the information at the library but this might become burdensome for a student or a parent. Also, many parents might not allow their children to use the internet at home (without supervision), feeling it is unsafe.

Also, creating a blog and keeping it up to date with current assignments does take a lot of time. It is something that you have to stay on top and update constantly. This might pose a time constraint for some teachers. The students might also feel that since the assignments and material will be available online, in a blog or web page, that they don't need to pay attention in class or take notes. This could lead to day dreaming or behavior problems.

I believe the plusses to classroom blogs far outweigh the minuses. Blogs and Wikis are something we can use in the classroom as a resource of information for our students along with a way to showcase their work. They are a way to introduce technology to our students while at the same time allowing them to give and get feedback about their work. This is definitely a tool I will be using in my future classroom.

EDM 310 Podcasts

My Thoughts on Our Podcasts

I listened to several of the EDM 310 class podcasts, but the four that I would like to make comments on are these:

1) Blogging and Education by Andrea Williams, LaShonda Pruitt, and Silas Smith
I thought this was a very informative podcast with a lot of personal opinions presented by the podcasters. I like how Andrea explained what blogging is and the three types of educational blogs you usually find on the web.
Silas had some really good comments to make about the blogs and his personal experiences since he works as a teacher's assistant at Gautier High School in Mississippi. Silas also seemed really relaxed during the whole discussion. He's a natural.
I would liked to have heard more of LaShonda's thoughts about blogging and her experiences with it. Also, they only made reference to one blog they visited during the conversation and it was a personal (independent) one. I would liked to have heard of some good educational blogs that they found that maybe future teachers could use for examples.
Overall, I thought this was an good instructional podcast.
To listen to this podcast, click here


2) ALEX and ACCESS: Alabama Distance Learning by Brooke Elder, Alison Davis, and Kellie Brooks
I liked how ALEX and ACCESS were explained in detail since many of our listeners may not be from Alabama so may not know about either program. They also told which schools in our area now have full ACCESS labs and which have partial labs. I would like to have known if any of them personally have visited one of the labs yet and what they thought. Also, the majority of the conversation was devoted to ACCESS. I wanted to know to more about ALEX and how they intend to use this program in their classrooms and how it could be beneficial to future teachers.
I thought the three students interacted well and it was a very informative podcast.
To listen to this podcast, click here



3) Facebook as an Educational Tool by Theola Hines and Larrica Smith.
I liked how Theola gave us some background information on Facebook and talked about her experiences using Facebook, since she is a member. I would have liked to have heard more about the comparisons between My Space and Facebook. What are the similarities and differences between the two? Theola did say that My Space had many more members than Facebook but since I am unfamiliar with both, I would like to know which would work best in an educational setting (advantages and disadvantages).
I thought it was interesting that Theola was able to convince Larrica during the conversation to switch from My Space to Facebook. Larrica was unfamiliar with Facebook before the conversation but now is willing to try it.
When Dr. Strange interjected, the conversation seemed to change direction from Facebook being used by high school and college students to perhaps younger students, like middle school or upper elementary. He asked the right questions to steer the conversation to a broader audience.
The students mentioned something about putting pictures of their students on Facebook as a way for the parents and other classes to see what they are doing in school. I am wondering about the liability issues with this. Would they need to get a waiver signed by the parents in order to post pictures in Facebook? This is something I would liked to have seen addressed. Also, I know there is an age limit, but as one student said, it is easy to get around. I am wondering what you do if the parents are opposed to letting their child have a Facebook account? Would this be something just used in the classroom or something the students could access at home?
Overall, I thought the two girls interacted really well and seemed to have a good rapport. This podcast was interesting to listen to.
To listen to this podcast, click here



4) Burp Back Education by Patricia Robbins, Maegan St. Amant, and Courtney Morris
This is the podcast that I participated in. I think we got the point across how each of us is definitely opposed to Burp Back education. Dr. Strange explained what Burp Back education is during the introduction so we each elaborated on it and cited our own personal experiences with it. I stressed how I like the idea of using application projects as a way to reinforce the information presented in class and also as a way to evaluate students. Maegan likes the student-led discussions in class because she feels that students can learn from each other. Courtney prefers the in-class activites like the classroom games to enhance learning. I really liked Courtney's fly swatter game idea.
I think we had a good rapport with each other but the podcast didn't flow as well as some of the later ones. I think after listening to some of the later podcasts, that maybe next time we would set it up more like a give and take conversation, where one person makes a point and the other two comment on it. Also, some of our comments were hard to hear so I guess next time we need to speak louder. Overall, I think we did pretty good, considering we were only the second podcast made. I think we are probably our own worst critic but I didn't like listening to my own podcast.
To listen to this podcast, click here

I thought all the podcasts were very good but some of them did sound like someone was reading from a script. I think more preparation was needed in the material presented. There was also, in many of the podcasts, instances of dead air (5-6 second pauses) seeming like the speakers ran out of things to say. Many of the speakers also seemed to be really uncomfortable in front of the microphone (myself included) though most did seem to relax towards the end of the discussion. I think if we could have rehearsed what we were going to say or had a trial run, some of that may have been eliminated but then the podcast might not have sounded as authentic. Overall, I think everyone did an excellent job, especially considering this was our first experience pocasting. Great job, class.

Duke University Center for Documentary Studies

The podcast from Duke University that I listened to was called, "Looking Back: 9/11 Across America" which contained interviews with people after the 9/11 attacks. Americans were asked what their reactions were when they heard the news or saw on television that the country had been attacked. Most of the people were in shock and couldn't believe what they were seeing was real. Some even thought it was a movie they were watching, not an actual news event. For others, the news of what happened wouldn't sink in until days later.

They were also asked what impact the 9/11 attacks has had on their lives. Many said their gut reaction was that the United States should get even with whoever did this and we were right to have gone to war with Afghanistan. Others called President Bush an idiot and think we shouldn't have done anything. One young women said she enlisted in the Navy and hoped her contributions would make a difference.

They also felt that the tragedy caused stereotyping of Muslim-Americans. Many people had said that if they even looked Muslim, they were discriminated against or given hateful glances or unkind gestures. One girl, who works in a hospital, was asked if she was Arabic (she was Cambodian). It was one of her patients and the women made her feel very uncomfortable.

One common thread in all the conversions is that people realized that they have taken their country for granted and that it took a tragedy like the 9/11 attacks for them to appreciate America and what she stands for. Some said they didn't even own a flag before this happened but now they fly their flag everyday. If anything good has come out of this tragedy, it is that the act has united our nation and instilled in many Americans new found patriotism.

I wouldn't use this particular podcast in a classroom because it contains some cursing, but I can see how podcasts of this type could be useful. It is important that children be made aware of what happened on September 11, 2001 so I would include a podcast of this type in a history lesson. I would focus on the fact that American was attacked but we survived. As a nation, we stood together and helped each other get through this, as we have when other tragedies have occurred.

One thing that bothered me about the podcast was how some of the interviewees referred to President Bush as an idiot. I feel this was disrespectful and sends the wrong message to our children. Like him or not, the office of the president should always be respected if not the man himself.

Click for tribute video

Electronic Contact Assignment

Mrs. Cassidy's class on Orange and Black Day

In order to find my electronic contact for this assignment, I emailed six different classes and teachers from different sources on the web with no responses. Then I decided to email the teacher of one of the classes I used for my international blog post and Volia! It worked! The teacher emailed me back the next day.

I first spoke with my contact, Mrs. Kathy Cassidy, through email but at her suggestion (she thought I should stretch myself), we had a conversation on Skype. I had never used Skype before but I installed it on my computer and we chatted that same night. It is similar to any other instant messenger like Google talk or Yahoo chat. We chatted for about 40 minutes about what I needed and what she is doing in her class using technology.

Mrs. Cassidy teaches a class of six year olds (first grade) in Moosejaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. I originally found Mrs. Cassidy's class blog while doing a Google search for international blogs and hers popped up. She has been using blogs in her class for about four years now. She told me that when she had been thinking for a while that she wanted to teach her class to blog. She set it up and one day told them, "Guess what? You get to blog". The children really seem to have taken to it. They type the blogs entries themselves and if needed, Mrs. Cassidy translates what they have written. Usually though, you can tell what they are trying to say. Each child in the class has his or her own blog and posts to it frequently (at least once a week). I like to visit the blog once in a while to see what they have written. In their last post, they told what they were going to be for Halloween. The children keep a keen eye on their blogs to see how many people read them and leave comments. Kathy said the children love an audience. They are just like the rest of us in that respect.

One thing that Mrs. Cassidy told me that was surprising is that in Canada, the school curriculum doesn't encourage reading and writing in the Kindergarten unless the children are "ready" for it, unlike the United States. Most of her children couldn't read or write when they entered her class but I think their blog posts are amazingly well written considering they are just learning how.

The best part of the blog assignment is that since the children are doing their own writing, by the end of the school year, they have an online writing portfolio. The teacher, student and parent can look at it and see how much the child has improved over the course of the year

Mrs. Cassidy also uses videos in her classroom not only for teaching but to show the rest of the world what her students are doing in class. The videos of what the children are learning are posted to the class blog. The blog is frequently visited by parents and grandparents so the families get to see what the children are doing in school. Some of the videos are posted to you tube. It it a great way to connect their classroom to the outside world. I told Mrs. Cassidy about the podcasts we were making for class and she said she used to do podcasting in her classes but found that people would rather watch a video than listen to a podcast. Besides, half the charm of the video is seeing the small children's expressions and gestures. Some of that would be lost on just an audio device.

Mrs. Cassidy has been teaching for 18 years so I consider her a pro. I asked her for some suggestions for resources for someone, like myself, who is new at using technology in the classroom. She said if she were just starting out teaching, she would make a website on a wiki. Wikispaces is always giving away free wikis without ads to educators. She said creating a wiki is just like editing a word document. You can make the wiki public, where anyone can add to it or you can choose to have it protected so that no one can edit it but you. I think to start out, I would choose to keep it under my control until I learned what I was doing.

I enjoyed chatting with Kathy and appreciated all her input. She gave me some great ideas to start off with. When I eventually get in the classroom, I would like to try some of her suggestions. She said the best way to learn to use the technology is not to be afraid to try new things. Her best suggestion to me was "You just have to jump in and do it".

Mrs. Cassidy also has a terrific webpage. Click the maple leaf to visit the class website.

Mathematics and Technology

A middle school classroom in Maine


I listened to the Mathematics and Technology podcasts on itunes from the Maine Department of Education, which was hosted by Judy Chandler, Math teacher and member of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative. In the MLTI, each 7th and 8th grade middle school student and their teacher are provided with a laptop computer (Apple ibooks) for classroom instruction. The teachers attend workshops and classes to learn how to use the technology in the classroom Ms. Chandler's theory is that technology can be integrated into a math curriculum to enhance learning and improve critical thinking skills. Most of the teachers she has talked to though tend to just teach math out of the textbook which leads to either disconnection and disengagement of the students or they memorize meaningless procedures long enough to pass the test, then forget them (sounds like burp back education to me).

The use of technology to teach math in the classroom enhances student learning by: engaging the student, manipulative experiences with immediate feedback, exploring of math concepts, providing visual representatives, enhances communication and offers alternative ways to demonstrate learning. Ms. Chandler also stated that integrating technology into the math classroom offers a multisensory, collaborative learning environment (hands-on learning) which promotes greater understanding.

She also suggested we engage our students by asking questions. This would direct classroom discussions along with improving critical thinking skills. Ask them not only why is it so, but also what it is, where it came from, and how can it be? Use questions to summarize meaning. When students think hard they remember better and also learn how to think in the process.

I agree with Judy Chandler in the use of technology in the classroom. As a student who has always struggled with math, to have a resource where the material is represented in an alternative way besides just doing problems in a textbook may have made math concepts a little easier for me to grasp. I have had a few math classes where technology was used but it was mostly just a repeat of what was in the textbook for extra practice and quiz taking. Having a program to use where we can manipulate objects or some type of interactive program would have been a tremendous help.
Other podcasts like this one, where technology is integrated into the classroom as a tool, rather than an extra curricular activity, would be helpful to me as a teacher for ways to promote learning in my students.

I would like to use one of the programs she suggests in the classroom to help keep the students engaged and help them to remember the skills learned longer than after the exam. And if Alabama can someday, like Maine, provide each of our middle school students with laptop computers along with instructing our teachers on how to use the technology, then the possibilities for bringing technology into the classroom will be endless.

Ms. Chandler discussed a program on the podcast she has created called GeoGebra which is a combination of Algebra and Geometry. It can be found at the Maine's Actem noteshare website.