March 28th Assignment

An Open Letter to Educators

I took a visit to Morgan Bayda’s blog and read the post we were assigned for the week thinking, “Hm, yet another blog. Hope this isn’t boring.” Well needless to say, it definitely wasn’t the least bit boring. I agreed whole-heartedly with the information she and Dan Brown portrayed through words and video.
At the University of South Alabama I do go to class and feel completely cheated of all my time and money. I go to class to be bored. This is sad, but I have a Sociology class that I go to every Tuesday and Thursday for an hour and a half just because of the attendance policy. It is the most boring class ever because the teacher does not teach us a thing, nor does he want to teach us anything. I think he just wants us to be bored since we paid money so he reads notes that he emails to us anyways. Is there even a point to me being there? No. Is this going to help me on the tests I will take in that class? No. Could I learn that information on my own? Yes and I do that anyways!

Classes need to progress to the new age. If my Sociology class were an online course that I could use blogs and PLN’s with then I would be doing much better in that course. Educators have to change their form of education because institutional education can be so boring now. We have so many tools to take advantage of! I wouldn’t count on most schools changing anytime soon just because teachers do not want to learn. Personally, I am excited to be a teacher of the future. Teachers of the future will be well equipped and ready to use all of the tools that are out there. My class will not be bored and will not have to sit through boring lecture and burp-back answered tests.

I don’t blame Dan Brown for dropping out of school. School really can hold you back in learning everything that you can learn! Even though school is supposed to be the thing that is teaching you all you need to know, now you can go on any internet website and learn something new. Educational information is not just in the classroom. I’m not saying it is okay for everyone to rebel and drop out of school, but I do think everyone should choose to work on their own education outside of the classroom.

Anyways, this is what I would like educators to hear me say. Please progress your class along with each year. Don’t be afraid to learn or use something new. Take advantage of the technology we have because we are all blessed to have it. Lastly, keep your students awake during class. I don’t mean to fall asleep during classes, but if the information you are teaching is not interesting I will fall asleep. I think every educator has every tool to make his or her classroom a success. They just have to run with it.

Here is a link to Morgan Bayda's blog post:
An Open Letter to Educators

Comments4Kids Assignment (Week 10)

Today I read a blog by Gabby on Djibouti. (link here) The blog was so organized and easy to maneuver. I really enjoyed the layout of the blog as well. Gabby seemed like a very intelligent girl and her facts and pictures were great. The colors of Djibouti's flag are pretty. Great post Miss Gabby!

Comments4Teachers Weeks 1-3

I visited http://whatsnewintheworld.net/ for my comments for teachers project! They have not posted a new blog in the past 2 weeks, but it is a very interesting source of information.

Week 1:
Amen! I know so many students that pass curriculum based English courses with flying colors, but when they leave the classroom their true knowledge appears. Students need to learn language the correct way and they do that through communication and great teaching, not just through a curriculum. I found this post very interesting.
I'm Amber Fleming from the University of South Alabama's EDM 310 class (Link to class blog. I will be reviewing this post and following this blog for the next few weeks. At the end of my 3 week following, I will be posting my review on my blog! Please visit my blog at http://flemingamberedm310.blogspot.com and if you find anything interesting leave me a comment! I'd love advice and opinions!


Week 2:
Wow. Since I'm from the U.S., I wouldn't have even thought of speaking English as being a true English course. When I think of English, I think reading, writing, and grammar lessons. I think this is an amazing idea. Making the German students use their English skills in a normal situation must really drill the words into their heads. I'm sure it makes phrases make more sense as well.
If I ever teach in a different country, I will definitely have my students practice their English skills at a place like this. I don't really have any other ideas on spreading the English language, but if I do think of some, I will include them in my blog post in the next few weeks. Be sure to visit! :)
http://flemingamberedm310.blogspot.com


Week 3:
I honestly do not know where I stand in the reform opinion. It is very true that teachers are ill-equipped to fight in the war for what they want. I think it is because each teacher probably wants something completely different! I want my classroom to learn a lot of life lessons as well as educational lessons and I want them to be able to put those things to use in hands on situations. Whatever would make that happen is what I would like in an educational reform.
I have enjoyed reading your blog for these past three weeks and will continue to visit! I thank you for your knowledge and opinions and I hope you come visit my blog to read my opinions. Have a wonderful week.
http://flemingamberedm310.blogspot.com

March 14th Assignment

Information on ALEX and the Technology Initiatives

After googling information on Alabama state initiatives for technology education, I know that technology is certainly growing in the education field! I found a page on the Alabama Department of Education found here that talks about technology coming into schools. The page includes a few links that are also very interesting. It talks about Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT), which is funded through Title II by federal funds. The website says, “These instructional technology funds are to be expended by the federal regulations and are used for instructional technology to improve student achievement.” The website talks about the grants and funds included in EETT and how they are being distributed.

I have used ALEX before to write lesson plans. It does have a lot of interesting information and can really help you find things for your classroom. There are web links, a professional learning page, the state standards, and more. The newest addition to ALEX is their podcast treasury. Podcasts are so great to use in education and I’m glad that this website demonstrates that. The website is very easy to maneuver and anyone can visit easily. The only page that you are restricted to view is the Personal Workspace page. You have to have an account to view this. To visit the website, click here.

The ACCESS Program

I went to the ACCESS program’s website (link here) and explored quite a bit! ACCESS stands for Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide. Right on the front page, their vision is stated saying, “The State of Alabama will provide equal access to high quality instruction to improve student achievement through distance learning.” ACCESS provides courses online for all public high school students. After reading information on the About ACCESS page, I think it is an amazing program. It provides equal opportunities for high school students and provides great teachers for students who can’t take everyday classes. Dual enrollment programs are offered through this program and it has a lot of support for distance learning. They train their Alabama certified teachers to be e-teachers so you know they only use the best of the best.

The website has a course list, high school graduation exams, test preps for AP testing, exam exemption forms, and much more. They have a list of their teachers, brochures, and information for guidance counselors on the website so that you can see ACCESS up close and personal. I really love this program and if I was teaching high school, I would definitely use the resources they have available. There are ACCESS Support Centers at Troy University, University of Alabama, and Madison City Schools. I think it would be amazing to be an e-teacher and I wish they had an upper elementary/middle school version of this program! Who knows, maybe I will create it. I know elementary is a little tough to go through online, but middle school could be plausible. I would recommend this website to any high school student that needs courses that their school does not offer.

Comments4Kids Assignment (Week 9)

I went back to the Kindergarten Kids website this week! See it here. The kids seemed to have had another great day. They ate chicken nuggets for lunch, which I love. They read "On the Go" which I think is a Dr. Seuss book! Am I wrong about that? If I am, someone let me know please. I told them that they should check out some Dr. Seuss books if they haven't already. Mrs. F. did a great job helping the class write their blog this week and I enjoyed reading it.

My EDM 310 Questionnaire!

Please fill this out for me! That would be amazing.
This questionnaire pertains to technology use in Elementary classrooms!
The best survey you'll ever take...just kidding. But really, click here.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

Randy Pausch's lecture was basically about dreams and life experience. I thought is was amazing. He is such a positive person and it was a pleasure to hear the stories he had to give. Mr. Pausch said this lecture was once referred to as the Last Lecture because it was the lecture he would want to give before he died. He started the lecture out by telling the audience about how sick he was, but the fact that he was in great shape. He then goes on to talk about himself as a child and shows pictures of himself smiling and dreaming. I personally liked when he said, "The idea that anything is possible; that's something that we should not lose sight of is that the inspiration and the permission to dream is huge." Mr. Pausch did his best to make his dreams come true and learned from each of his dreams.

Dreams get you to where you need to go. Even if your dream does not exactly come true, it helps you become a greater person. Mr. Pausch wanted to be a NFL player, but he did play football for a while. Not exactly his dream, but it gave him experience and he learned a lot from that experience. He said that he learned more from this dream not coming true than he did from any other dream! I wanted to be a dancer forever, but I was never great enough to really get far with it! I stuck with that dream though and learned a lot from many dance schools. I would not be who I was today if I hadn't received the experience from my dance teachers, fellow students, and mentors. Dreams are so important and really enhance life so much.

He talked about meeting his childhood hero, Captain Kirk, which is really William Shatner. He came into the lab at MIT to see what Mr. Pausch had done. He also had a dream of being a Disney Imagineer! As you may have read in other posts, I am a huge Disney fan, so it delighted me to know we had that in common. Disney did turn him down, but he was positive about the situation and said that the walls were there for a reason. The walls show how much you want something. Everyone hits those brick walls every once and a while and the pain from the hit hurts! We just have to get right back up and try harder. Eventually, Mr. Pausch did succeed and was able to work on the Aladdin project. How exciting! He made a virtual reality for Aladdin and he did such a good job he was invited to become an Imagineer. He turned the job down, but he did go work with the Imagineers from time to time. He helped create the Jungle Cruise ride for Disney Quest! It was fun to know that he had created a ride experience that I love.

After talking about dreams for himself, he talked about helping others with their dreams. Mr. Pausch helped a student named Tommy achieve his dream to work on a Star Wars film. He created a course called "Building Virtual Worlds" at Carnegie Mellon to give students experience with virtual creations. The students got really into it and wanted to share these creations with the school! People from all over the school departments came and it looked awesome from the pictures. He did show a clip from a creation called Hello.World. The bunny was really creepy and freaked me out. I did not enjoy that character, but the concept was cool. When all the bunnies and creatures started dancing, I thought I was gonna lose it and the end is really freaky too. Please people, if you make another virtual world, do not make creepy bunny worlds that resemble Telletubby land. The class really did inspire the students and help them to live out their dreams. After 10 years of teaching the course, he handed the course over to a former student. Pausch then created the Dream Fulfillment Factory with Don Martinelli. The class promoted entertainment technology and you were required to make 5 virtual reality projects that pertained to entertainment technology. He helped students learn how to work with groups which made them more successful. Mr. Pausch did his best to make as many students' dreams come true as possible. He loved that his students are having fun while learning something hard.

The last part of the lecture revolved around the lessons that Mr. Pausch has learned. He talks about his parents, mentors, and students and the role that they played in his life. His parents sounded like wonderful people and I enjoyed the pictures and stories. He also says that you not only learn from a teacher, a teacher will learn from you. One student named Caitlyn helped him realize that if he presented the Alice project as a storytelling activity, that students would enjoy it more. He talked about former experiences and said a lot of things I have heard a lot, but they were so much better in the context that he put them in. He said to never lose childlike wonder, help others, always have fun, be loyal, never give up, and let people help you.

This lecture was so good and I enjoyed the whole hour and sixteen minutes of it. I was really worried that it was going to be boring, but I would advise anyone to listen to the lecture. I think this is what any parent would want their child to hear. Following your dreams and achieving your dreams is possible if you try hard enough and Randy Pausch makes this very clear. By the way, if you're wondering about the picture in the top corner, it is peas talking about their childhood dreams. I thought it was cute. As a teacher, I want to help all of my students reach their dreams and Mr. Pausch truly inspired me.

Comments4Kids Assignment (Week 8)

Today I visited Mrs. Voigt and Mrs. Farrington's kindergarten class blog! Link here! It was so adorable. I enjoyed the video of their class play and the George Washington video very much! The class play was called "Five Little Ducks" and the kids looked like they were having a very good time. They were also great singers. I was also pretty jealous that they had broccoli and cheese for lunch since that is my favorite food. I will be visiting their blog again soon!