C4T 4

My teacher blog I commented on was Primary Preoccupation. The first post that I commented on was about connecting the students with others. It discussed joining an online project, using Skype, and twitter. This will all be good for the student to use to connect with others so they can learn how to use resources to find out information.
I told them that it all sounds very interesting to be apart of. I just recently started a twitter account and am still getting use to it. I have skyped and I loved it but I have also never been apart of an online project. That sounds like something I would like to do with my future students and I thanked them for the great ideas.
The second blog I commented on was about her students connecting to the internet through blogs and the parents concerns. She discussed how she approaches the new parents each year by sending a letter home and then having a parent information meeting. This lets all parents ask any questions and comment any concerns they have.
I said that I would love for my son to be in a classroom like this when he gets into school. Yes, I want to protect him but with everything that was explained I would fully trust it. I hope the school district I hire into will let teachers do blogs also.

Assignment Post 1

I do not know why I missed the use of the metaphor. I am usually pretty good at catching on to things like that. I guess I am better at catching sarcasm than I am metaphors. The other people may have missed the metaphor if they do not use or hear them often. I have heard quite a few metaphors. Some are: The love for the Lord should be on fire, It's as cold as ice, cool, feeling blue, and she's so sweet. We can educate our students more about them by having multiple tests on them in segments. We can also throw them into our lectures and have them see if they can spot them while we are talking. That will have them learning and paying more attention to what you are teaching. People mainly use metaphors to compare things. It is a good way to say things in multiple ways and explain to people how severe or fun something is.

Blog Post 13

For this week we were given the opportunity to choose out of four options and I chose Option 3 "The E-media Fast." This was one of the hardest things I had to do. I never realized how much my life has to do with electronics for communication. For this challenge I tried it for three days and failed each time, unfortunately.
The first day, without thinking, I immediately turned on the radio when I got into my car. I do not like silence in the car because it makes the ride seem twice as long no matter where I am going. I did not fail at doing without electronics until after 12:00 pm, so I feel that it was a good first attempt.
The second day, I was doing okay until my son wanted to watch television. Again, I let the assignment slip from my memory when I got busy tending to my son and sat to watch television with him after a while. Being a mom, I always take the opportunity when my son wants to sit down and relax to do the same. I should have reminded myself and done something other than that.
The third day, I went to watch a movie to get away from other electronics. I reframed from using my phone or the radio all day. The assignment said we could watch a movie at the theatre so I used it as an opportunity to go see a new movie I have been wanting to see. The bad part of it was after I got out my fiance called to see where I was at. I couldn't just not answer since he had my son. Since I did answer that made me fail the assignment again for a third time.
I learned that my life revolves more about electronics than what I thought. I cannot go a whole day without using some sort of electronics. In a way I wish I could say I succeeded but that is just how our society is now. We do everything with electronics and internet. I believe my future students will have nothing but electronics in the classroom. All they will know is technology and that is how they will be raised from day one.

Project 14 Skype

C4K 10

Mrs. Yollis' class blog and website is helpful to students, parents, and teachers. It has links to everything for them to look at that they are studying. If the parents or students need to double check anything they can go online and look up spelling lists and recent lessons. It also has educational games if a student needs additional help on a subject or just wants to keep it fresh in their memory. There are also links for other teachers that are interested in learning how to blog or want some tips for their classroom. Dr. Strange showed us in the beginning of the year a map showing where people were looking at our class blogs and Mrs. Yollis has one also to show her class where and how many people were searching them. That is a great visual aid for her class to see how big of a positive effect they to everyone around the world.

Blog Post 12

This was a pretty tuff assignment, but it was fun. When there is so much freedom it is hard to choose what to do. There were many different directions I could have taken in this assignment but I chose to research, compare and contrast items.
I think a good assignment would have been for us to compare the kid toys like the new LeapPad Explorer to our adult gadgets like the Ipad. I got this inspiration from my son. He is almost addicted to my Ipad, he loves to watch Thomas the Train and Tom and Jerry shows on youtube. It is hard to let him though since there is so many bad things on youtube even as Thomas the Train but since Christmas is almost here then we got him a LeapPad.
First I would have the students research some things the Ipad can do, for example all the apps you can get, taking photos, and get on the internet. Then I would have them research the LeapPad to see what it does, for example games you can buy and ability to take photos. Last I would have them discuss how our society is growing with technology for all ages.

1. The Ipad can do multiple things, which is why it is so popular. People are able to get on the internet with wifi, buy books to put into a library, and hold songs like an Ipod. In the app store there are thousands of apps with everything imaginable. It also comes with a few apps to get started with. With the new Ipad 2 it has a camera on it to take photos, videos, and video chat with others. This is very useful for students and teachers since it is smaller and lighter than a computer.
2. The newest, hottest toy of the season the LeapPad Explorer tablet is the kid version of the Ipad. This comes with some preloaded games like the Ipad, has a built in camera for picture and videos, and has an app store to buy other games. Something different it does not have like the Ipad is that you have to first buy the app center from the store before they are able to buy more apps than what is already on there. They also have games that have to be bought from the store that are not available at the app store and they also cannot get on the internet. Like the Ipad, it is very useful in teaching. There are many educational games for the children to play.
3. Technology for our society is constantly growing and updating every day. When I was younger we did not have stuff this high-tech but I like that my children will get the benefit of it. As we go our children are learning stuff in the class younger and younger. By the time they start school they need to be prepared and on the right level. I believe this and the teaching from parents will help. Also as fast as we are constantly going in our society today we have to stay on to of all sorts of things like school and work. Having something like the Ipad fits into a busy life and still gives us the internet at our fingertips whenever it is needed.

Project 16 Progress Report

For Project 15, Devon Weaver, Eric Manheim and I will be making a video about the top five things to be successful in EDM 310. Devon and I will play the role of the responsible and successful students. Eric, on the other hand, will play the role of the irresponsible student that procrastinates. This video will help future EDM 310 students to see the difference between how to conduct yourself in EDM 310 and how not to.

Project 15

Blog Post 11

That was fun to see Mrs. Cassidy's class working on computers at such a young age. I believe her approach to technology is very good since she keeps an open mind to all types in the classroom from blogs and wikis to Nintendo DS. I would definitely use the classroom webpage, blogs, and wikis so parents and administration can keep up with what we are doing and so we can contact others about education.
Some issues I would expect to have are with administration and maybe parents. Mrs.Cassidy said that all the parents she has come in contact with love the idea but you never know how they will react. If I do have an issue with someone not agreeing with us doing the class website, blogs or wikis then I would like to have a conference with them and try to meet each other in the middle with what we are both comfortable with.
Using Mrs. Cassidy's approaches to technology would definitely benefit my class in multiple ways. My students would get to experience learning beyond just books, we could Skype authors or other people that are experts in different areas. They could also learn to look up information using search engines like Wikipedi. I hope to carry all that I have learned and that I will continue to learn about technology into my classroom to better equip my students for the future.