Comments 4 TEACHERS!!!

My second teacher I was commenting on was Henry Jenkins. His link is Confessions of an Aca Fan

“Talking TronsMedia with Steven Lisberger”- March 19
His post was about his sit down with director Steven Lisberger, of “Tron”. He posted his videos of their meeting. It was very interesting. I would advise you all to look! This was my comment:
“Hello. I am from Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama. This is a wonderful post. I am in awe of it. I am excited to see the new TRON movie. I am showing this post to my friends! Thanks for your videos and thoughts.”

The second post I commented on was on March 29, “More Talk of TRONSmedia”
His post was the same as the other post above, it was more of his video footage with his sit down interview with the director of “Tron”.
"Hello! This a great post! I am very interested in all the technology in movies and everything. This is very insightful."

His blog is very detailed and technology oriented.

Week 12- Comments 4 Kids (no week 11)

This week, my kid I was commenting on is in 3rd grade in New Zealand! His name is Taka. His first post of the year was a video about their Maori culture. I told him that he did a wonderful job and this was a great first post!
The link to the post is HERE

April 4, 2010 Blog Assignment- Kaia

As I read these posts, it is amazing to think where these social networks can take us. Technology is mind-boggling. The exposing of ourselves is sometimes hard to grasp. In Kaia’s blog, she said, “My daddy was trying to teach me that sometimes if we look closely at things, even if they are discarded and ugly, they can be beautiful, if we look at them right.” Think of how many people could come across our twitter accounts, facebook, and blogs. There is world that can reach us through the click of a button. Kaia’s dad’s blog also said something I liked, “I started to think about how much trust we ask that parents put in us as teachers… What is the value in this experience? Is the risk of exposing ourselves and our children online worth the connections that will be made and the lessons that will be learned?”

Children worldwide can learn through a screen. My blog post, for instance, can be found by typing it in on Google. Half of me thinks that is great and the other half of me does not like be exposed like that with the click of a button. Teaching and learning in the future looks like it could all be through the internet. That is great, and I love my online classes, but I personally like the interaction. I don’t want technology to take over everything. Sometimes I think things need to stay the way they are. It all depends on how we look at things.

Week 10- Comments for Kids

This week I commented on a teacher blog in Victoria, Austrailia. THe link to the Class Blog is HERE!!!

The post I commented on was about Science, things that float and sink. They found that foil, a sponge, a candle, a diet coke can and cardboard floated. But a can of coke, paperclip, plasticine and a screw sunk. The also learned about it from the Magic School Bus. I left a comment saying that I remember learning about floating and sinking. I told them that the Magic School Bus is a very effective way of learning. I also told them good job!

Week 10- Morgan Bayada (March 28, 2010)

Morgan Bayada
READ HER POST
As I was reading Morgan’s post, I really found it to be truthful and relevant to how we are today in school. She was honest about what she spent her time doing in classes. I have many classes like that and to be honest I am only taking 2 classes right now that I am focused in and really enjoy coming to everyday.

Of course there are time where we don’t feel good and are worn out. So sometimes we aren’t going to be focused. But when everyone isn’t focused in the whole class that is not our fault. That would be the class. I buy books for my classes and I still haven’t used some. But it’s too late to get my money back. She did mention about having a PLN. I agree it can be a great tool. My followers on twitter tweet stuff every hour, sometimes multiple things in the hour.

I liked how brutally honest Dan Brown’s video was. He is right, all the facts teachers give us is found freely on the internet, usually just by Google. I did find it funny about Dan's statement about dropping out of school because his schooling was interfering with his education. Dan is going at his own speed, but at the same time, jobs look for experience and education. At the same time, he seems more prepared than the average student. Weird coincidence.

Vocaroo!

This is my first voice thread. Please click on the button below.

My Disney Movie Timeline

For my timeline, I traced the history of Classic Disney movies. You know the ones, the characters at Disney World, the princesses, and so on. There are many other disney movies that I did not include. I just wanted the classic ones. You can click on an event to read the description. Most of them say they were released on the first of a certain month. I could not find the exact date, so I was only able to put the month and the year, the "1st" is just there.

Click here for Disney Timeline

My EDM 310 Survey

My questions and results for my survey were:
Are you pleased with your GPA? 51% said yes and 49% said no.

Do you feel overwhelmed with school at times? 66% said sometimes and 34% said all the time.

How many classes are you taking? 46% are taking 5 classes, 31% are taking 6 classes, 20% are taking 4 classes, and 3% are taking 3 classes.

What subjects do you enjoy? There were multiple answers ranging from math, English, dance, edm, art, music, science, and history.

What subjects could you live without? These to were multiple answers, opposite of what they enjoy. Most who put English as a favorite, for example, put math for a dislike.

Do you think you have good study habits? 48% said it could be better, 46% said yes, and 6% said no they do not.

How much time do you spend outside of class doing things for school? 36% said one to three hours, 29% said four to six hours, 29% said six or more hours, and 6% only study less than an hour!

Are you benefiting from EDM 310? 86% said yes and 14% said no.

Explain your answer from above (benefiting from EDM). Why do you feel that way? I had a range of answers. People feel they are growing with technology, some don’t think it is all necessary and don’t think it is suited for their teaching career, but others have grown to like it.

How much time do you spend working on this one class (EDM 310)? 66% said two to four hours. 31% said five to eight hours. 3% said less than an hour.


This is my survey and its results! =)

Project 6- Skype

I have used Skype plenty of times before this class. I used it while friend were gone or people who live far away. I have used it this semester for the same reasons, talking to friends and all. I have also contacted some people for school related questions. There really isn't much detail I can go into about how I have used Skype, but that is how I have!

Comments 4 TEACHERS!!!

Teacher Comments: Post by March 21
Larry Ferlazzo is the teacher I have been commenting on. His link is: http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/
His website is blogs of websites he has found that helps with teaching.

The first post I commented on was his post on February 23, 2010, entitled “Discover the Real George Washington”. This is the comment I left:
“Hi Mr. Ferlazzo, I am a student at the University of South Alabama, and I am a student in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. I found the website about George Washington and the timeline fascinating and I enjoyed looking at it! My class is commenting on teachers every week for three weeks and then we are posting about it on our blog.”
It is a timeline that you can interact with and click on objects. The link is “Discover The Real George Washington” .

On March 4, 2010, he posted “Getting the Most Out of Twitter”
"Getting the Most Out of Twitter " is short and helpful to all Twitter users–both new and old.
I left him this comment. “Hello. This site is very useful to me, because I am starting to use twitter in my EDM 310 class here at South Alabama. Thanks for the post.”

On March 9, 2010, he posted “The Best Sites To Learn About The Internet”
It was all these sites for computer and internet help, here is the link to his post so you can look! CLICK HERE .
I left this comment, “Thanks for these sites. They are all really useful and will help anyone and everyone! I think I'm computer literate enough, but sometimes I need help too.”

Week 9- Comments for Kids

This is the link for the class i commented on CLICK HERE . I had a student named Robert. The post i commented on was about a helicopter that came to visit the school. He actually video taped it and put it on his blog. I was really impressed at how much these kids knew how to do already.

Week 9- ALEX & ACCESS

ALEX
This is the Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX), the website http”//alex.state.al.us/ is a huge resource that can be used by any teacher no matter what grade. The home page lets you choose between all different categories. There is a place for web links, courses of study, lesson plans, personal workspace, professional learning, and podcasts.

I am very unfamiliar with ALEX but it was so easy to get started. You really don’t have to know anything, just browse for yourself. You will come across great tools per grade level. There are so many different things to see; I can’t describe it. This can be used to reach student achievement because there is a place for lesson plans per grade per subject.


ACCESS
The vision of the State of Alabama will provide through ACCESS Distance Learning equal access to high quality instruction to improve student achievement through distance learning opportunities. The mission of Alabama ACCESS Distance Learning is to provide an infrastructure that delivers equitable, quality learning opportunities for all high school students. The goal of Alabama ACCESS Distance Learning is to provide equity through additional educational offerings for all Alabama public high school students.

Access is a learning support center. One of the centers is located at the University of Alabama. This is more for advanced students from what I saw. This website was a little confusing to me. When you click on ABOUT it tells you the goals and missions, but it still was over my head a little. I will probably use more of ALEX than ACCESS.

Week 8- Randy Pausch- Achieving our Childhood Dreams

Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture.
I really enjoyed watching this talk. He started by saying the lecture was about how to achieve our dreams and enable the dreams of others. He went through his childhood dreams, and most of it he went and did it. He really is an inspiring guy with a great head on his shoulders. He said, “The inspiration and the permission to dream is huge.”


Experience is what you we get when things didn’t go our way. We can always experience things. He said parents and mentors and such are what let us achieve our dreams. Loyalty is a two way street.


So…how do we get people to help us?
1. You can’t get there by yourself.
2. Tell the truth.
3. Be earnest.
4. Apologize when you are wrong or screw up.
5. Focus on others…not yourself.
6. Show gratitude.
7. Don’t complain; just work harder!
8. Be good at something, it makes you valuable.
9. Find the best in everybody.
10. Be prepared, “luck” is where preparation meets opportunity.


In the end, it’s not about how to achieve your dreams; it’s about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you.

Week 8- Comments for Kids

This week i had a student named Hailey. The link to the website is CLICK HERE. The post i commented on was a poem that she wrote. And i thought it was sweet! I told her that and i told her to keep up the good work!