Project #12

Project # 11

Blog Post #8

This Is How We Dream: Dr. Richard Miller
This video/movie was beyond enlightening. The virtual world, unlike the one we live in, contains a subject base that will never cease. Dr. Miller explained this to us in his presentation,“This is how we Dream”. At this day and time, I am not as educated as I need to be on the ideas and concepts of this non-stop virtual world, but I am learning from instructors such as Dr. Miller who openly and willingly share their knowledge.

“These ideas belong to us as a culture, not individually.” What would the world be like if we were denied the access to these ideas? What if instructors were all simple minded and continued to go about teaching in the repetitive ways, that some just can’t seem to shake? The world will then become repetitive, which would result in a critical change of a world that is built off just that, “change”. I think Dr. Miller has introduced this idea to challenge future teachers to work together in making this dream, a reality.

In Edm310 we are taught multiple things that assist us in learning to build our skills to becoming great educators. Mastering these skills and those of others through the virtual world will make each of us well equipped with multi-media writing. Just as the ideas are shared with us, we should reflect the ideas and knowledge upon our students, encouraging them to expand the ideas by making them their own and passing the knowledge on to others.


Carly Pugh
The creativity of the assignment was great to begin with for this post. I love that Carly applied what she had previously learned in Edm310 by using links in her post as an example to guide students through the assignment. Just as Dr. Miller painted a picture while explaining the virtual world to us, Carly did as well in her example of the assignment. What I appreciate about Carly’s post is that it justifies to there being an endless amount answers to questions one may have.


The Chipper Series and Edm310 for Dummies
Both of these videos were great for explaining what we all thought from day one entering Edm310. In The Chipper Series I wasn’t surprised by the way the student was acting. Chipper reminds me of the saying, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” When we are faced with decisions or certain tasks and let distractions keep us from accomplishing them, we have to deal with the consequences of our actions. There were times where I thought to myself, “Why am I in this class, I’m going to be a Math teacher.” Over a course of the class, I began to see the bigger picture behind Edm310. My learning skills needed a boost and time management and I did not get along well.Edm310 for Dummies seems like the perfect book to assist a student taking the course. I would like to see more videos of students discussing and visually showing their personal gain of new skills learned in Edm310.

Learn to change, change to learn
I enjoyed this video mainly because as it spoke about different cultures, it expressed them as well. When I see teachers who are passionate about what they do and want to work together in making sure 21st century students are prepared learners for the types of jobs ahead in the future, inspires me even more in joining the field of education. As I think about the standardized test that I was pushed so hard to pass in high school, I begin to agree with the instructor, who says, “The work students will be doing in the future will be called on their artistic abilities, abilities of synthesis, abilities understanding the context, abilities of working in teams, abilities to be multi-disciplinary, multi-lingual, and multi-cultural.” Another source I found interesting in this video is that it also contained information on PLNs although it didn’t specifically address them.

Scavenger Hunt 2.0
1. Blogger is an awesome site that can be used by teachers, parents, and students. It allows you to get know other bloggers from all over the world, for educational purposes and for personal ones as well. Students gain confidence in having something to establish as their own, making every aspect about them, but also apply new learning skills to the blogs so that it’s not just a simple page about them. Parents may want to collaborate with other parents on how technology is becoming a primary source of learning and teachers use blogger as a way to push their knowledge to the next level by putting it out there for everyone to see.

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4.Windows Live Movie Maker
Windows Live Movie Maker is a great feature. It is no iMovie, but for a PC it is awesome! It combines with the built in webcam of your computer or laptop to create movies or videos that you can keep for fun or post for projects and assignments. Some of it's features are similar to those of Microsoft PowerPoint where you can add visual affects and animations to the movie. You can also add pictures to the video/movie to add to finish touches.If you own a PC, I would definitely recommend that you download this feature.

Project #10 PLN-1

I am learning so much in edm310 and I’m also finding out that there are people who wish to see future teachers succeed. All the links to different class blogs and teachers all over the world, makes me content when it comes to expanding my learning abilities. I once thought about studying abroad, and I still would like to someday, but at the moment I am realizing that a simple click and a well thought question is all I need to learn just about anything from anywhere. PLN’s are what will help continue to instruct me in multiple directions, all leading up to one incredible purpose, which is continuous learning.

So far I have learned a lot from the teacher and student blogs that have been assigned to me. I had an idea of what blogging was and the idea definitely doesn’t fit with what I’ve been exposed to. I enjoy watching the different videos of others explaining how they have expanded their PLN’s through traveling and meeting other teacher, and also through the virtual world. Blogger, YouTube, Twitter are three of the main things I am using at the moment to help construct my PLN. I hope to learn new and better ways as I go further in this course.

Blog Post #7

1. The Networked Student

This video was hands on, which is what I liked most about it. The creativity of the video helps ease the idea of a high use of technology in our future classrooms. In a way, it also explains how it may take more than just the traditional instructor to be able to educate networked based students. A question was asked, “Why would we need teachers?” In a networked based course, majority of the classwork can be easily found through technology, which makes the question a good one.

The video states that teachers will be needed to help build the network. This statement simply means, I, as a future teacher should already be an informed networked student in order to teach others how to be one. The teacher basically reflects his/ her knowledge and passes it on to the students, showing them the respectable ways to ask questions or for help if needed.

When it comes to technology I question whether or not I’ll use it in my classroom and the answer is no. I do feel having networked based skills are beneficial, but not in a Math class. In the future, the pressure is not to be focused primarily on technology, but to make sure that our students are up to par when it comes down to the advancement of technology. I think that it a takes one person to start something prosperous; if in a case like mine I would make sure that network based teaching is being taught in my school, although I will not particularly teach it in my classroom.

2. A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Enviroment(or PLN)

Edm310 is a great example of a PLN. It links us to multiple blogs and sites that pertain not only to being a great instructor, but the best for our 21st century students. I enjoyed watching the 7th grader’s video of her PLE. I can tell that she is very serious as far as learning and also in a paperless way. The different tools she uses to help manage her PLE are some of the same tools I plan to use to help construct my PLN. Some things shown in her PLE that I also use are Google, Blogger, YouTube, and Social Networks. I love that she is very organized because it seems to be a key aspect in managing a PLE or PLN.

Project #9b

C4T #2

The teacher I was assigned this week was Lee Kolbert. The first blog post I commented on was called "How to finally get it right on Valentine’s Day". The post was specifically speaking to a male audience in the do’s and don’ts of getting the perfect gift. She explained how sometimes certain gifts are perfect in theory, but can cause some confusion. For instance, if a man was to by a clothing item as a gift for Valentines’ Day, he would have to get the exact size of the woman. If the item is too big then the woman may think that the guy sees her as being larger, and if he gets something too small then it may make the woman feel out of shape. There were plenty scenarios similar to this in the post and all very helpful.

The second post I comment on by Miss Kolbert was titled “Top 10 Reasons Why I’m Not Following You on Twitter and 10 Reasons Why I Am”. I felt that this post would be helpful to the people who are first time Twitter users. Knowing who to follow or not follow can be valuable to one’s own personal Twitter profile. Here are a few of my favorite reasons from the list of why you should or shouldn’t follow someone on Twitter.

Top 10 Reasons Why I'm Probably NOT Following You on Twitter:

1. You're an egg or default avatar with no profile. Add a photo and a bio. Tell me something meaningful about yourself.

6. You are argumentative for the sake of being argumentative.

8. You meanly mock others. (Not to be confused with gentle teasing.)

10.You've asked me for help, I've helped. I've asked you for help, you've ignored me.
Seriously?


Top 10 Reasons Why I Probably AM Following You on Twitter:


2. You make me think.

4. You've sent me places online, pointed me to articles and blogposts and provided resources I might not have found as quickly on my own.

7. You've told me when you think I'm wrong.

9. You've taught me something.

Miss Kolbert's blog was very entertaining and educational, I would recommend her blog to anyone who's looking for great answers and a smile.

Blog Post #6

Who would think one man could inspire millions? I know it is possible and has also been done before, but not so much in the way Dr. Randy Pausch has. “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand”. I can’t explain what that simple quote by Dr. Pausch did to me. So many emotions are drawn from this one lecture that makes me want more and more of his inspirational speaking and mentoring. The Last Lecture was filled with multiple teaching techniques that can and will be used in my future classrooms. This lecture was specifically based on the following key points: my childhood dreams, enabling the dreams of others, and lessons learned: how you can achieve your dreams or enable the dreams of others.

Every child has a dream while growing up. There are the impossible dreams in which are created through our imaginations and the possible dreams which seem impossible, but can come true. In the lecture Dr. Pausch explained why the metaphorical brick walls are put up. “The reason is not to keep us away, but to give us a chance to show how badly we want something”, said by Dr. Pausch. There’s much truth in that statement; how else are we going to be able to tell the amount dedication a person has, if they don’t fight for what they want. What are we without our dreams? Dreams create those paths we must travel to reach the opportunities we long for, and I learned that from watching this video of The Last Lecture.

It’s always good to have examples to base the realities of things off of. Dr. Randy Pausch was a great example. He could’ve chosen any of his colleagues or students of the past, which have also gone on similar paths, but instead he allowed us to hear the testimonials about himself. I know that I love to hear people tell the stories of how they reached success, and the key things they did to achieve it. I’m also sure that the millions of people that have watched or read the book have also enjoyed the learning experience.

I plan to teach my students to have the same drive that Dr. Pausch had and I will try to the best of my abilities to reveal it in myself. I’ve learned so many things that are beneficial to my career life, but most importantly to life in general. We should all know that helping others, showing gratitude, or not complaining are some of the correct ways of life and when you add it to your work environment it sets off a chain of humane sincerity. When Dr. Pausch ended his lecture he concluded that The Last Lecture was not about: my childhood dreams, enabling the dreams of others, and lessons learned: how you can achieve your dreams or enable the dreams of others, but was simply about how to lead your life the right way. We sometimes feel that we have heard it all and some as they watched along or read are still thinking the same way. Whether they like it or not Randy Pausch is and will forever be a legend, he could have lived the rest of his days in peace with his family, but he chose to keep giving a since of peace to others. May he finally have the peace he kept on giving.

Project #8 Group Podcast