Sunday, May 6, 2012

Project 13

This is a pile of papers.
Collaboration
So, for Project 15, my group and I used Google Docs to collaborate.  We talked about when we wanted to meet and what we were going to do for the project.  Overall, Google Docs was a good way to collaborate, but I didn't like it as much as email or text because Google Docs did not send notifications when someone updated the document.  My group liked using Google Docs, but I personally thought it should notify me of changes.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Project 10 (Final Post)

This is a woman holding a sign about PLNs.
My PLN
My PLN probably isn't as large as some, but at least I have one.  I'm sure my PLN will keep growing.

These are the people in my PLN:
  1. Becky Goerend
  2. Ms. Cassidy
  3. John Spencer
  4. Ira David Socol
  5. Mr. McClung
  6. Richard Miller
  7. Abbey Cooke
  8. Karl Fisch
  9. Randy Pausch
  10. Scott Mcleod
  11. Sylvia Rosenthal Talisano
  12. Gary Hayes
  13. Michael Wesch
  14. John Strange
  15. Rebekah Coleman
  16. Drayton Rodgers
  17. Joseph Ross
  18. Taylor Clark
  19. Erica Palmer
  20. Logan Manus
  21. Lee Salter
  22. Theresa Salter
I also have many other people that I follow on Twitter, and I learn from all my friends on facebook and my family.
    These are the gadgets in my PLN:
    1. Facebook
    2. Twitter
    3. Google
    4. Blogger
    5. Youtube
    6. Delicious
    7. Google Docs
    8. Instagram
    I'm sure I use other gadgets besides these, but these are the main ones I use.

    I hope to keep expanding my PLN!

    Thursday, April 26, 2012

    Project 3 (Final C4T)

    This says teacher.
    Post 1
    My final teacher was Becky Goerend, a fifth grade teacher from Iowa.  The first blog post I commented on was entitled Another Lesson from the Garden, and it connected gardening to life.  Mrs. Goerend explained how people need to get rid of old ideas in order to accept new ideas just like old plants have to be removed in order for new ones to flourish. This is my comment:

    Hey Ms. Goerend,

    My name is Susie Salter, and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. This post was very interesting. I like how you compared life to changes in the season and plants. When you mentioned getting rid of the old to be able to bring in the new, I automatically thought of my closet. I am a self-proclaimed shopaholic, and I really need to get rid of some old fashion to make room for new stuff. This concept also works with ideas. We has to get rid of certain biases we have in order to accept new ideas.

    I look forward to reading more of your posts,
    Susie Salter

    Post 2
    The second post I commented on was entitled Creative Juices, and it explained how important it is to have a niche and be creative.  This is my comment:

    Hey!
    My name is Susie Salter, and I am a student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. I commented on another one of your posts a few weeks ago. I really like the fact that you understand that everyone needs a niche. For most people, sitting around doing boring schoolwork is draining. I wish there were more teachers who understood this. I personally hope to come up with a lot of creative activities when I become an English teacher. Creative writing is the best. Kids get to experience a freedom that will help them in all aspects of life.

    Blog Assignment 13

    This is a computer attached to a toilet.
    Banned Technology Outcome
    For this week, we were assigned to try and not use any electronic media for 24 consecutive hours.  Every time we broke the rules, we had to start over and try again.  We had to try three times.  I already knew what the outcome of this was going to be.  I'm always glued to my smartphone.  When I get up in the morning, as I'm eating breakfast, I always check my email and get on facebook.  There is no way for me to remember that I'm on a media fast when I wake up unless I put sticky notes on the fridge and the table reminding me.  Using technology is just a force of habit.  I've been using the internet and social media too long to give it up.  Also, another challenge for me was not watching television.  When I get home from work at night, I usually turn the TV to some mindless sitcom just to relax.  It's nice not to have to think at some point during the day.  I think I would go insane if I didn't have some sort of media to distract my thoughts.  Everyone has to have a cool-down period, a time in the day where you just let go of all your troubles.  For me, that time is when I'm watching TV, playing on my phone, or shopping online.  Oh yeah, I almost forgot my shopping addiction.  When I'm bored (well, I don't even have to be bored), I go to Victoria'sSecret.com and browse the latest fashion.  Yeah, you know you're addicted to shopping when you work in the mall every day, and on your free time, you shop online.  I admit I have a problem.

    Even the time in between classes causes me to get online.  For one of my classes, I have to use Spark Notes right  before the class so I can understand the material.  I can't say I just use the internet for educational purposes in between classes though.  Of course, I have to see what's up on facebook.  Sometimes I check the weather to see what a beautiful day I'm missing or am going to miss because of school/work.  I also play scrabble with my boyfriend on my phone.  Something I've been doing lately that is new to my routine is quite shocking.  I have found some cool people to follow on Twitter, and I actually check my Twitter every day now.  I didn't even have a Twitter before this class.  I thought it was dumb half the semester, but now, I think I'm getting into it.  I still don't like it as much as facebook, but I'm not going to talk bad about it anymore.

    I've named off most of the things I do with electronic media EVERY day.  Obviously, technology is vital to my (our) existence.  We could survive without it, but it wouldn't be any fun.  I think back on the days when I had a regular cell phone, and I think how those were the "dark ages."  I got along fine then, but now, I would be devastated if I had to give up my technology.

    Project 15 Smartboard #2

    Wednesday, April 18, 2012

    Final Project Progress

    This says work in progress.
    Since we have started using Google docs, my group and I have been bouncing ideas around about what to do for the final project.  We have a pretty good idea about the kind of project we would like to do, but we haven't worked out all the details yet.  We will definitely have everything together before it is due though.

    Project 7 (C4K April)

    These are handprints.
    Post 1
    For my first comment this month, I commented on Lizzy's blog.  Lizzy is a 7th grader in Canada.  Her interests are listening to music and drawing.  She had written about a snow day in her blog post.  This was my comment to her:

    Hey Lizzy!
    My name is Susie Salter, and I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. It is very odd for me to think about a snow day because snow is very rare where I live.
    I read that you like listening to music. I also like listening to music. What is your favorite song?

    Sincerely,
    Susie Salter


    Post 2
    For my second post this month, I had to get an alternate student.  His name is Dwight P., and he is from Vermont.  He wrote a lovely post about deer and hunting.  This was my comment:


    Hello,
    My name is Susie Salter, and I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I could really relate to your post. Hunting is very popular in Alabama. Most of my family and friends hunt. Actually, I have hunting land right behind my house. My boyfriend and I will go hunting and sit in the tree stand during deer season. Have you ever killed a deer? If so, how big was it?


    Post 3
    For my third post this month, I commented on Dwight P.'s blog again.  His post this time was entitled Nuclear War.  Dwight was advocating world peace in his post.  This is my comment:


    Hey Dwight,

    This is Susie again. I commented on your other post last week. I definitely agree with your concerns about nuclear war. I hope we never get so deep into a war that we use nuclear weapons. It’s not a good idea at all.

    Great Post!
    Susie Salter
    EDM310

    Post 4
    My fourth comment this month was made on Ms. Jenny She's Blog in New Zealand.  This post was a video of the class's first Skype experience.  This is my comment:

    Hello,
    My name is Susie Salter, and I am a student at the University of South Alabama.  I really enjoyed the video! It is amazing that students are learning technology at such a young age! Keep up the good work! I look forward to viewing more of your blog posts in the future!




    Creativity and Curiosity: My Thoughts - Special Post 12A

    These are handprints.
    Curiosity and Creativity
    Dr. Strange asked us in class about curiosity and creativity.  Are schools in the U.S. destroying curiosity/creativity?  Yes and no.  The reason that students seem less creative and/or curious is that they have adapted to be this way.  We have learned over the years what we have to do to get by.  We know exactly how much effort we have to put into a class to get the grade we want.  When we seem less "creative," it is not that we cannot be creative or curious.  In elementary school, we want to learn for the sake of learning, but as we move up the ladder, we have more social responsibilities.  The work for school also keeps piling up.  By the time we reach college, we realize that our lives will be so much easier if we can weed out tasks that are unnecessary.  Contrary to what some teachers think, most people have other things they would rather do than sit around and philosophize all day.  Yes, we do the minimum, but I say that this behavior is adaptive.  If we did every school task to the maximum, we couldn't get a higher grade than an "A," and we would lose all social communication.  We have to communicate with others.  It makes us healthier as individuals.  We can't just sit at a computer all day (most of us).

    What can teachers do to fix this "slacker behavior?"  Nothing really.  No matter what kind of work we have given to us, we are going to figure out how much effort we have to put into it.  That is a survival instinct.  The only suggestion I can give to teachers and to myself is to give less work.  Make the work students do meaningful.  Nobody wants to spend hours doing busy-work.  If I had a lighter workload, I would feel more inclined to put more effort into a task.

    Honestly, I am more creative/curious when I am doing things for me.  If I feel like I am being forced to do a task, I do not want to put much effort into that task.  When you think something is a chore, you don't spend a ton of time on it.  People who like to clean could spend all day doing it.  People who don't like to clean get the cleaning done as quickly as possible.  If there was some way to make kids see learning differently, I think that would help students be more creative.  Most students view school as a chore, and that may have a lot to do with teacher mentality.  If the teacher doesn't want to be there, why would the student?    

    Blog Assignment 12

    This says censored.
    Build Your Own Blog Assignment
    This week we were assigned to create our own blog assignment based on our major.  I'm an English major.  English is all about creativity.  For my blog assignment, I want to give a social question that relates back to technology and creativity.  I am going to give an open ended question that will spark a lot of different opinions.  This is my assignment:

    As a technologically advanced generation, we are bombarded with media every day.  Some people consider some of this media bad or not educational.  Do you think this is true?  Do you feel children should be sheltered from this type of media, or do you feel this media helps kids think in different perspectives?  Be sure to tell specific reasons for your opinion in your argument.  Follow the requirements in Writing a Quality Blog Post.

    My Answer
    A lot of media today is considered bad or not educational.  Why?  The main reason is that people turn away from anything that is different.  As a society, we don't view many television shows as educational unless they explicitly point out they are educational (Sesame Street, Discovery Channel, etc.).  What about the other stuff?  What about the science fiction and horror movies?  What about the HBO movies and shows that are so controversial?  Should children be sheltered from this type of media?  My answer is no.  If children never experience media that is over the rating of PG, they are going to be hit with a rude awakening when they experience the real world.  I believe it is better to just lay things on the table.  I was never sheltered as a child, so I didn't feel the need to try to sneak around and do things behind my parents' backs.  I also wasn't surprised when everything didn't turn out right.  It made me a realist.  It also made me more creative.  Experiencing media that is not "age appropriate" makes you think.  It made me question things more than others who had been sheltered.  This is probably the real reason that children are sheltered.  Adults don't want conflict.  By keeping some things reserved for adult eyes only, teachers and parents maintain power.  I was always that kid that felt I was my teachers' equal.  Some didn't like this very much because I wasn't afraid of a challenge.  That's what not being restricted does to a child.  It makes them more mature.  I learned what not to do in a lot of situations by watching it played out in movies and television.  My parents didn't have to explain to me why I shouldn't get into a car with strangers because I had seen the consequences first hand on television.  Adults don't realize that by keeping kids sheltered from certain things, they harm them more than the media would.  It is like a parent that makes sure her child never gets sick.  Well, when that kid grows up, he is going to be sick all the time because he never built up an immunity.  It is the same thing with media.  You eventually build up an immunity to certain vulgar or obscene things.  Isn't it better to let kids view what reality is than making them think everything is candy-coated?





    Tuesday, April 10, 2012

    Blog Assignment 11

    These are little kids sitting on the ground.
    Ms. Cassidy's Use of Technology
    Ms. Cassidy is a first grade teacher in Canada who uses technology in her classroom.  In First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class and Skype Interview with Ms. Cassidy, I was able to see some of the ways she uses technology with her students.  Her students have blogs that they comment on every week.  They also Skype and use Nintendo DS educationally.  Ms. Cassidy is very concerned with her students' safety.  She makes sure that they only use their first names on their blog.  Also, she makes sure that their pictures are not attached to their names on the blog.  The way Ms. Cassidy uses technology with her first graders actually reminds me of how technology was used when I was in first grade.  Even though that was ages ago (14 years ago), we were still allowed to use the computer in some of the same ways.  We would go into the computer lab several times a week where we would work on our spelling words and play educational games.  I don't care how advanced technology gets, there is only so much that a six-year-old can learn about a computer.  That is why I feel a connection with the methods Ms. Cassidy uses.  I think Ms. Cassidy even agrees that first graders can only do so much with computers.  That is probably why she doesn't have to worry about her students ending up somewhere on the web they don't need to be.  They are so young that they only do what she tells them.  I know when I was six that I didn't know how to do enough things on the computer to "explore."

    Even though I like a lot of the ideas Ms. Cassidy had, I got irritated with some things.  First of all, the first video with the first graders is set up to make the viewer think that computers perform miracles.  The students in the video seemed extremely intelligent for their age.  They had good vocabularies.  They also looked like they were making lots of progress with technology.  After the Skype interview we find out that all the "success" in the video was just a sham.  She cut and pasted the best parts of her classroom throughout the years.  She didn't even use real first graders as the speakers in the video! The speakers were her "former students."  That means they were probably third graders.  I just don't like how people try to sugar-coat technology and make it into a magical thing instead of facing reality.  Yes, technology is helpful, and it is not going anywhere.  I just don't think it's right to fabricate results.

    Another thing I didn't like was Ms. Cassidy's response to a student's question on the Skype interview.  The student asked if Ms. Cassidy felt that there would be a problem with cheating if everything was done on the internet.  Ms. Cassidy answered that when you use someone else's work in your own work that it is really collaboration and not cheating.  I would love to see the reaction of my English professors if I cut and pasted something from the internet, turned it in, and called it collaboration.  I just feel like some people want to support their argument so much that they say things that don't make much sense.  I think a lot more people would be more open to technology if everyone was realistic.

    Friday, April 6, 2012

    Blog Assignment 10

    This is a circle of colored pencils.
    Do You Teach or Do You Educate?
    After watching Do You Teach or Do You Educate?, honestly, I was a little bit irritated.  People try so hard to put labels on things.  Yes, we, as teachers, should inspire our students.  We should also be great mentors to them; however, we will not keep a job if we just mentor and inspire.  Let's be honest here:  teachers have to TEACH as well!  Why do kids go to school?  They go so they can learn information that their parents cannot teach them.  Teaching morals and giving guidance should be a job that primarily belongs to the parents.  I understand that a lot of parents don't do their job.  I also understand that teachers should be setting a good example for the students.  I just don't understand why this video acted like learning knowledge was a bad thing.  We would be very dumb individuals if all we ever learned in high school was morally and socially related.  How would a child ever learn to think outside the box if they never learned what was inside the box.  People have to know some facts to be intelligent.  Without these facts, we would never be able to learn social rules because we would not understand what the conversation was about.  We have to know grammar to speak and to write properly.  We have to know history to understand how we got to where we are today.  I just hate when people try to put down traditional teaching.  We need that tradition, too.

    Getting back to the comment I made earlier about losing our jobs, how will our future principals grade our teaching performance?  The answer is tests.  If students do poorly on standardized tests, we are not doing our jobs.  How will students do better on these tests?  They have to learn information.  You would never be able to do a math problem if you did not know the formula.  I remember the first time I took the ACT.  I thought to myself that my teachers could have taught me more.  All my skills were excellent, but it wasn't because my teachers taught me so much.  Most of the information was either taught to me by my mother, or I learned it on my own.  I have always been fairly good at writing as well.  Was that because my teachers showed me what I needed to know?  No.  I learned through trial and error.  I think about my fellow classmates, and I feel bad that our teachers did not teach as much as they could have.  Some students are not blessed with a mother that can teach them things they need to know.  They get all their education at school.  I just hate that attention is being taken away from learning.  Yes, teachers should be good role models.  I believe that whole-heartedly.  That is why they don't allow convicted felons to be teachers.  All I am saying is that someone needs to be there to teach the facts.  Kids can learn the other stuff through experience.

    Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home!
    When I read Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home!, I was a little bit baffled.  It is strange to think that some teachers actually have this kind of mentality.  So, if bringing a pencil home causes lower test scores, we should ban pencils.  This is just weird.  I know I talked about test scores in the first section of this post, but I didn't mean that teachers should do everything including making students stand on their heads to ensure good test scores.  Some teachers do think of "learning" in this way though.  They act like learning is some sort of magic trick.  If they read an article that students who fasted for three days every week did better on tests, they would want to try it.  What happened to just doing what is rational?  Everyone tries to get around doing what they are supposed to do.  I think about someone who is on a diet.  Everyone knows that the key to weight loss is eating right and exercising, but people will try any dumb trick to get around this.  They will listen to anything they hear on television.  If a commercial says you can lose ten pounds in a day by taking a diet pill, they will try it.  We have to use our brains.

    We owe our students a good education, even if that means actually teaching them.  Yes, actually finding ways to make learning easier for students might be difficult, but that is the field we are going into.  We have to realize also that creativity is a form of learning.  The woman in the blog post acted horrified because students might play hangman with pencils.  They are using their brains!  If the students like to play hangman, a teacher could use this as an educational game instead of just saying that it isn't helping anything.  Learning can be fun, too.  If we, as teachers, can find ways to get students to learn and have fun at the same time, we are doing our job.

    Wednesday, March 28, 2012

    Project 3-3 (C4T 3)

    This says teacher.
    Ira David Socol
    For the past two weeks, I have been commenting on Mr. Socol's blog SpeEd Change.  The first post I commented on was Re-thinking the Middle School.  In this post, Mr. Socol basically describes all the reasons that middle schools need to be taught in a different way.  He points out certain problems like treating students as adults in situations beneficial to the teacher but treating them like kids in other situations.  This was my comment:
    Mr. Socol,
    I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I absolutely LOVED your post!! Wow!! It totally hit home. I have been thinking exactly the same things you brought up. It's ridiculous that teachers treat teenagers like adults when it's convenient but then use the child card in situations so they can get their way. I always felt more mature than I was allowed to be in junior high school. This did not lead to good things for teachers. I generally rebelled against every form of authority. Actually, I still find myself doing it now that I'm older. I can't stand feeling less than anyone, no matter what his/her age. Students should not feel less. It isn't right. Teachers should treat students how they would want to be treated, and I bet students would return the favor.
    Susie Salter



    Post 2
    The second post I commented on was Question Everything.  In this post, Mr. Socol argues against a comment someone tweeted.  "Questioning everything is idiotic and a waste of time."  Mr. Socol disagrees because he thinks most learning occurs when we question things.  This is my comment:
    Hello again,
    My name is Susie Salter, and I commented on another post of yours. I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I totally agree with what you are saying about questioning everything. If we don't question things, we will never learn and grow. If no one had ever questioned anything, we would have still been sitting in a cave grunting. :-DSusie Salter

    Project 7 (C4K March)

    These are children.
    Post 1
    For my first and only C4K this month, I commented on "Change of World" by Amel and Kaitlyn.  Amel and Kaitlyn go to Bradford schools, and their teacher is Sara Stones.  In this post, these children had written a very unique story.  It started out in a way that you were not expecting it to end the way it did.  This was my comment:
    Hello,
    My name is Susie Salter, and I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. I really liked this post. It was so creative. You could be a writer some day!
    Keep up the good work!
    Susie


    Blog Assignment 9

    This is a statement about new things.
    Mr. McClung 2008-2009
    The first blog post that I read of Mr. McClung was his What I've Learned This Year 2008-2009.  I thought it would be best to start at the beginning of his journey as a teacher because I will soon be a "new" teacher, and his experiences might give me some good advice.  That is one thing I can say about Dr. McClung's post; it gives a lot of good advice.  I like how he does not try to be fake and say that everything went fantastic his first year of teaching.  I like that he addresses the issues he had the first year.  The first thing he learned was that you have to let students drive your instruction.  I found this statement enlightening because you never really think about that aspect when you make a presentation.  I am a student now, so it is hard to imagine relating something to kids who will be my students.  We always get caught up with what our superiors think of our work.  That is not what teaching is about.  We need to get a message across to the students any way we can.

    The next thing Mr. McClung learned was to be flexible.  This is another great piece of advice because you never really think about planning a lesson that might not go exactly how you plan it.  I always want everything to go exactly right, so it was odd to think about the aspect that everything will not go right.  I know this is true though.  It would have to be.  If students are interacting in a lesson, there is no way that the lesson you have planned can be performed exactly the way you planned it.  This is the reason that teachers have to be very resourceful and adaptive.  We have to think on our feet.

    Another good point Mr. McClung brings up is that communication is key.  If you want to build bonds with co-workers or students, you have to communicate.  I already realized this, even though I might still need some practice in the communication department.  Going along with the communication aspect of teaching, Mr. McClung says that it is very important to listen to your students.  The only way you can get their respect is to get to know them.  I completely agree with this.  I definitely would not want to listen to someone who did not even care enough to get to know me.  We as teachers are sort of role models for students.  The better connected we can get to them, the better we can help them.

    Be reasonable.  I love this statement because I feel like a lot of teachers need to get a better grasp on this concept.  You cannot expect perfection out of students.  No one is perfect.  Also, you cannot expect them to do exorbitant amounts of work because that is unreasonable.  I hope I am never that teacher who gives so much work that the students hate the class.  That is all tons of work does to a student.  It makes them dread the class, or that is what happens with me.  I have learned more in classes that I can easily keep up with my work because I am not so stressed out all the time.  When you have too much work, you just try to get it done, and that does not help with learning.  Students should be taught in a way that makes them happy to learn.

    Don't be afraid of technology.  This statement really applies to this class.  I know a lot of people who are currently teachers that dread even thinking about incorporating technology into the classroom.  All I have to say about that is it doesn't matter whether you like it or not.  The students need to learn certain technical skills to be successful.  We are teachers.  It is our job to teach them these skills even if we don't agree.  This goes along with what Mr. McClung said about always being a learner.  In order to give kids an appropriate education, we as teachers have to expand our horizons and learn new things.  The world changes every day and so should we.

    Mr. McClung 2009-2010
    So, basically, Mr. McClung has to start all over in his second year of teaching.  He thought he had everything figured out when he taught elementary kids, but he soon realized that he did not know everything.  Mr. McClung started teaching 8th grade.  Not only was the fact that these were older kids difficult, but he also had to teach a subject he had never taught before: history.  Once again, I like the fact that Mr. McClung was honest that he probably did not do the best job teaching history to start with.  He probably did not get the hang of it until towards the end of the year.  Even though I like his honesty, I did not like this blog post as much as the first one.  He had a lot of major grammatical errors.  The first post had a few errors, but this one made it hard to read because there were so many.  I just don't think that is very professional.  Another thing I did not like was the fact that he blamed his bad year on administration.  I realize that a lot of times administration can cause tension with teachers, but it seemed like Mr. McClung was a fish out of water in this Jr. High History situation.  He was probably not doing his best job teaching, as he alluded to in his post.  I just would have rather him said that he had some kinks without blaming the authority figure.  Overall, Mr. McClung had a lot of the same ideas he had in the first blog post.  This time his ideas were just renewed because he was thrown into a different situation.  This just goes to show that a teacher must be very flexible.

    Saturday, March 24, 2012

    Blog Assignment 8

    Richard Miller: "This Is How We Dream"
    After watching This Is How We Dream Parts One and Two, I immediately connected this video to other videos I have watched in this class.  Technology makes all (or most) things possible.  Who would have ever imagined that you could do so many different things at one time?  Multi-tasking is made possible with technology.  I cannot imagine how long it would take to do certain projects without smart phones, the internet, and computers.  With the internet, we have information at our fingertips.  You can google any question you can think of, and it will generate an answer.  With smart phones, we have information everywhere we go.  I have lived without a smart phone, but now that I've had one for a while, I would not WANT to live without it.  Richard Miller asks how we could not be interested in the movement towards using more technology.  It makes things so much easier.

    I liked how this video connected Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream. . ." speech to the dream of using technology as a method of collaboration and learning.  It is intriguing to think how many things have changed since the Civil Rights Movement.  If people like Dr. King and other leaders would have had the use of technology at their fingertips, they probably could have made a more compelling point.  Also, the word would have traveled much faster.  People could have read about speeches or watched videos of speeches instead of having to endanger themselves by going to the actual speech location.  How nice is it that we now can view controversial material in the privacy of our own home without the possibility of violence?  We have everything at our fingertips.  Is this good or bad?  I think it is a little bit of both.  We are less social because of technology.  We would rather write to people through text or email than see them in person.  We are also probably less adventurous.  When people were bored before the internet, they had to go out and do something amongst other people if they wanted entertainment.  Now, we can just sit on the computer and have all the entertainment we want.  I guess everything has its pros and cons.

    Am I prepared to write with multimedia?  I don't know.  I think I could figure it out, but what the video displayed looked complicated most of the time.  I sort of already write with multimedia because any research paper I have to do has sources that I found online, but this video was talking about a more advanced movement.  It does not matter whether or not I think I am ready for it; I still think this movement would revolutionize collaboration and presentations.  If you want to get your point across, you have to make your argument compelling.  With these tools, any argument could be compelling.  All a person has to do is be willing to learn how to use these tools.

    Carly Pugh's Blog Post #12
    In Blog Post #12, Carly Pugh comes up with her own assignment that she thinks would be a great assignment for Dr. Strange to use in EDM 310.  She comes up with the idea that it would be great to create a Youtube playlist of several different things that are important to you as a teacher and write about your philosophy as a teacher.  Carly does her project in her blog post.  She finds all kinds of great videos that interested her as a teacher.  I think this blog post was great.  What I liked about it the most was that it was written so well.  It just flowed like she was talking.  A lot of people try to write so "proper" that it sounds straight out of a textbook, but Carly really used her own words.  This made the post even better.  I love how Carly is devoted to creativity.  I am an English major as well, and that is what I love about English.  When you read something, your personal experiences influence the meaning you get out of it.  This is why it is so great to let kids do things like make a new ending to a book or story.  That requires actual thought and not just robot writing where they tell the teacher what they think the teacher thinks is important.  Also, this post is definitely an example of  writing with multi-media.  Carly connected so many different things in one place.  It is great.  It would have taken forever to have gone on Youtube and located those videos on your own, but she had them right there.  Having the links in her post really enhanced what she had to say because you had visual reassurance of what she was talking about.  This is a great example of being committed and creative.  All future teachers should learn by example.

    EDM 310 Is Different
    When I watched The Chipper Series, I could not help laughing out loud.  That video was hilarious.  Chipper had to do everything wrong before she realized that she could not procrastinate (her definition) on everything she did.  Originally, she thought everything should run on her time.  She thought she was so important that people like teachers and employers should work around her schedule.  After being fired from every job and finally having to become a garbage collector, Chipper realized that she needed to go back to school and do her work.

    When I watched EDM 310 for Dummies, it reminded me of myself at the beginning of this class.  All the different projects thrown at you at one time will make you feel like you are going crazy.  After taking some time doing my work for this class, I have realized that it is not nearly as bad as I had thought it was going to be in the beginning.  I thought it was cute to use EDM 310 for Dummies as a resource for students in this class.  I bet a lot of people would want to get their hands on that book, but really all you need are the instruction manuals!

    After watching these two student produced videos, I think the video that I would like to do would involve multi-tasking and time management.  Have a student who takes a lot of different classes (including EDM 310), works, has a boyfriend/girlfriend, and tries to stay social.  Follow this student and his/her struggles to become a multi-tasker and a proper time manager.  First, make everything seem crazy and hard (which it is to start with).  Later, show that EDM 310 taught this student to multi-task and time manage so he/she could get his/her work done on time.  I would like to do a video like this because multi-tasking and time management are some of the main things that I have learned in this class.

    Learn to Change, Change to Learn
    After watching Learn to Change, Change to Learn, I began thinking about the different structure of school that this video seemed to advocate.  I feel like these people were saying that students and teachers do not even have to meet in a classroom setting anymore.  They can learn through technology separately.  It reminded me a lot of how this class is structured.  The only problem I have with this concept is that when students are still in middle school or high school, they are not responsible enough to keep up with their work on their own.  This would end up being a parent project.  The parents who cared about their child's grades would take over and do the work for the child.  The other children would just not do well unless they were already mature enough to do their work.  Not many younger people are that mature though.  Also, students this age have not learned enough base knowledge in things like grammar to go out on their own and do work like we do in this class.  It is a good idea in theory, but I just don't see how it would work effectively.

    Scavenger Hunt 2.0
    For the Scavenger Hunt 2.0, first we had to watch Discovery Education Web 2.0 for 2011.  This video basically just describes what Web 2.0 is.  Web 2.0 is a center for learning that is based on three things.  The network has to be interactive, accessible, and collaborative.  After watching this video, we had to go on a scavenger hunt in Web 2.0 Tools.  We have to find three different things.

    The first thing we had to find was a tool similar to Facebook that provides a social platform for teachers, parents, and students.  The tool I found is called Edmodo.  It is almost the same thing as Facebook; it is just a teacher version.  Instead of just being able to read posts and view pictures like Facebook, this site offers a lot of great tools for teachers.  It would be very useful because you can post grades on the site for students to see.  Also, you can post assignments and quizzes on the site.  This site was like a combination of USA online and Facebook.  It would be useful for a teacher because if a parent wanted to find out his/her child's grade or assignments, he/she could just go to this site, and he/she would know everything that was going on in the class.

    The next thing I had to find was a video tool that I had never used before.  I chose Animoto.  This video tool is cool because, first, it  syncs with Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket, and SmugMug to get your images in a snap. You can add text and emphasize specific images with the touch of a button.  Second, you can add your own music to Animoto to use in your videos.  Third, you can share your videos very easily with whoever you want.


    The third thing I had to find was a tool that creates a poll. 


    Thursday, March 8, 2012

    Project 3-2

    This is a fish bowl.
    Karl Fisch
    For the last month, I have been commenting on Karl Fisch's blog.  Mr. Fisch has been a teacher for twenty-three years. He has taught middle and high school students math and is currently Director of Technology at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado.  His blog is called The Fischbowl.  


    First Comment
    The first post I commented on was Videos I'd Like My Future Principal to Watch: PBL at HTH.  This video was about a high school called High Tech High.  This school was structured in a completely different way than most high school's are.  The kids learned different trade skills along with curriculum.  This is my comment:


    Hey Mr. Fisch,
    My name is Susie Salter, and I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I want to start off by saying that I love how humble you are. Not many people would admit that they would not hire themselves to teach in the dream school. Also, I love the way you write. It is very open and easy to understand.
    When I first watched the video, I was completely surprised. The school was not what I expected. I think it is so great that they are teaching students real life skills. These things will help the children in the future. I also like the fact that the teachers treat the students as adults. I was always irritated in high school because teachers would not treat me as an adult. I felt like I was capable of making my own decisions, but my independence usually just got me into trouble.
    I look forward to reading more of your blog posts. You can visit our class blog at edm310.blogspot.com
    Sincerely,
    Susie Salter



    Second Comment
    The second post I commented on was Trends I'd Like My Future Principal to Consider: Jobs Are Disappearing But Work Isn't.  This post was basically about how schools are set up to help students in the old workforce.  Schools have rigid instruction and grade systems that make kids not want to learn.  Students need to be life-long learners to succeed in today's job market.  This is my comment:


    Hey Mr. Fisch,

    I commented on one of you posts a few weeks ago. My name is Susanelle Salter, and I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I think this post was a lot to think about. We do have to be life-long learners to survive in the workforce today. You are right about schools; they do not teach us this principal. Classes make people think in the mindset of "if I can just get through this, I'll be done." Classes should not make students hate learning, and I think the rigid structure of some classes does just that.

    Susanelle Salter








    Wednesday, February 29, 2012

    Blog Assignment 7

    This says Symbaloo.
    The Networked Student
    After watching The Networked Student, I was in awe of all the technology used by the student described in the video.  He had a very advanced personal learning network that he could use to easily find information on whatever he needed.  All this technology seemed a little bit overwhelming to me.  It is hard to imagine being a teacher who just basically coaches the students into finding information on their own.  I guess that is a good way to look at teaching though.  If you can teach someone how to do something, they are set for life.  It is kind of like the difference between buying someone a meal and teaching them to cook.  Buying the meal is instant gratification while the cooking is more hard work.  However, learning to cook will help you prepare many meals in the future.

    I am not sure if I am ready to be a teacher of the networked student.  As I said earlier, it seems like a great idea, but this is a completely different image of a teacher from what I had in my head.  I thought of teaching as making students understand things such as reading, comprehending, and analyzing.  I plan to be an English teacher, so it is hard for me to imagine letting my students use an advanced learning network like the one shown in the video.  Yes, the internet might be good for finding sources for papers, but with English, I think too much technology might lead to unoriginal ideas.  It would be very simple for a student to google an analysis of a story instead of interpreting it on his/her own.

    Overall, I find this type of networking in the classroom a little bit scary.  I was getting a little confused when the narrator was telling all the things the student did.  I think this type of learning would be great in certain fields of study like science, but for my purposes, I just do not believe I would want to use anything this advanced.

    A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment
    After watching A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment, I was really inspired to make my PLN like hers.  Everything on he page was so organized and detailed.  Truly, I watched this video when I was creating my PLN.  It helped a lot to see all the cool things you can do when you have information grouped together.  I really liked how she could save certain exerts from different articles.  This would make research a lot easier than printing everything.

    Project 10 (Post 1)

    This is a sample PLN.
    My First PLN Post 
    For my PLN, I am using Symbaloo.  Symbaloo is very easy to use; I added all my favorite websites very quickly.  Some of the websites I have included so far are Facebook, Google, Youtube, Twitter, and Pandora.  My PLN is not very advanced right now, but I am continuing to work on it.  I hope to get mine to look like A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment.

    Project 9b

    Monday, February 27, 2012

    Blog Assignment 6

    This says learn.
    Randy Pausch's Last Lecture
    After watching this video, I find myself thinking how truly inspirational this man was.  I almost cried at the end when he brought out the birthday cake for his wife.  This said a lot about him as a person.  He was truly selfless and always wanted to help others.  I learned so many things from this video.  The big idea in Randy Pausch's Last Lecture was to be optimistic.  Pretty much everything he said ties back to this.  This is a great thing to remember as a teacher.  He says, "give people time and they will impress you."  You cannot just give up on a student just because you think they will never learn.  This reminds me of The Freedom Writers Diary.  The freedom writers were children who had the world against them, but with a little support, they achieved their dreams.

    Teach your students to never give up.  "Brick walls let you know how bad you want something."  Just because things seem hard or impossible, it does not mean you cannot achieve.  Our job as teachers is to get kids to believe in themselves.  We have to be their critics and their allies.  If you help a child with their mistakes, it means you care.  If a child learns how to keep improving, the belief in themselves will come naturally.  We all have had experienced that have helped us grow.  These experiences may have not been the best, but they helped us in the long-run.

    As a teacher, if you mess up, let your students know.  Apologize.  What better way is there to be a role model?  If students see you trying to be cold and perfect all the time, they will never relate with you.  You have to get on their level.  That means showing that you are human.  Being human will also help your students take feedback better.  If they know everyone makes mistakes, even the teacher, it will be easier for them to realize and correct their mistakes.  They also will not feel so bad when they mess up.

    Let the kids have fun learning.  Do not make every task so structured that the students cannot let their imaginations run free.  Let them come up with their own ideas.  It will make them better people.  No one wants to work with someone who has no ideas.  Students with no ideas are the products of their learning environment.  If you have always been spoon-fed information, it is hard for you to learn on your own.  As teachers, we should make learning fun and student-based so children will learn material as well as life lessons.

    Project 7-1

    This is a group of children in a circle.
    Week 1
    The first week of comments for kids, I was assigned Mao T's blog.  Mao is in the fourth grade at PT England School in Auckland, New Zealand.  His teacher's name is Miss Walters.  I commented on Mao's first blog post. He was excited to have a new blog, but he had blogged before.  This was my comment:

    Hello Mao,
    My name is Susie Salter, and I am currently a student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama.  I just started my very first blog for a class I am taking at school. I see that you have had blogs before, and I think that is so great! It is so good that you are learning so much about technology! You probably know more about it than I do! Do you enjoy keeping a blog? I am very glad I got to "meet" you!
    Sincerely,
    Susie Salter

    Week 2
    For week two, I was assigned Skye's blog.  Skye is in the fourth grade at Leopold Primary School in Victoria, Australia.  Her teacher is Miss Kelly Jordan.  I commented on Skye's blog post about Christmas.  She told about singing Christmas carols and about what she wanted for Christmas.  She also asked what color your Christmas tree was and what your Christmas list was.  This was my original comment to Skye:

    Hello Skye,
    My name is Susie Salter, and I go to college at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. I really enjoyed your post about Christmas. I think it was so brave of you to sing Christmas carols in public. I would have been scared to do that.
    My Christmas tree was green with all types of ornaments on it that my family has collected over the years.
    My Christmas wish list was very long! I love clothes and fashion, so I wanted a lot of new clothes, shoes, and accessories.
    I loved your video. It really captured the spirit of Christmas! I hope you had a great holiday and are doing well now! It was very nice to “meet” you.
    Sincerely,
    Susie Salter
    P.S. I love your name. It is so pretty!

    Skye and I have continued to have a conversation with each other over the past few weeks. She is a great little girl, and I am enjoying being her "blogging buddy."

    Week 3
    In week 3, I was assigned Eric S's blog.  Eric is in the fifth grade in British Columbia, Canada.  His teacher is Ms. Eppele.  I commented on Eric's blog about sportsmanship.  He basically said that sportsmanship was about being nice to your teammates and other players no matter what.  This was my comment:

    Hey Eric!
    My name is Susie Salter, and I am a student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. I totally agree with your ideas about sportsmanship. It is always good to have a good attitude when playing any type of sport. If you act mean towards others, it just reflects badly on you. Do you play any sports? It was nice to “meet” you.
    Sincerely,
    Susie Salter

    Week 4
    In week four, I was assigned a student's blog in Iowa.  This student is in the fifth grade, and his/her teacher is Mrs. T. G..  The blog post I commented on was basically how the child loved music.  This was my comment:

    Hello,
    My name is Susie Salter, and I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama.  I also like to hear music. I listen to it every day when I am driving in my car. I like to sing along, too. Do you like to sing along with music?
    Sincerely,
    Susie

    Tuesday, February 21, 2012

    Blog Assignment 5

    This is a baby on a laptop computer.
    Scott Mcleod
    Scott Mcleod is a really interesting person.  I found out more about him at About Me: Scott Mcleod.  He is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Kentucky.  "He also is the Founding Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE), the nation’s only academic center dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators, and was a co-creator of the wildly popular video series, Did You Know? (Shift Happens). He has received numerous national awards for his technology leadership work, including recognitions from the cable industry, Phi Delta Kappa, the National School Boards Association, and the Center for Digital Education. In Spring 2011 he was a Visiting Canterbury Fellow at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Dr. McLeod blogs regularly about technology leadership issues at Dangerously IrrelevantMind Dump, and Education Recoded and occasionally at The Huffington Post. He also just completed his first book, What School Leaders Need to Know About Digital Technologies and Social Media."


    Don't teach your kids this stuff. Please? was a really good article to get you thinking about technology.  In this poem, Dr. Mcleod basically describes all of parents' fears about their children using the internet.  He then tells these parents to not let the children use the internet because that will give his children an advantage.  This was really a smart and concise way to get his point across.  I liked the way he brought up all the issues people have with technology.  Yes, the internet is a great resource, but it should be used appropriately.  It can get you into trouble just like anything else can, but the fact is that people have to know how to use the computer if they want to survive in the world.

    The comments by some students in EDM 310 in the spring 11 semester  were really interesting to me.  These students had some of the same views I have about the internet.  Most of the students agreed that knowing how to use the internet is a must, but they still wanted children's usage monitored.  Monitoring a child's use of the computer or anything else can have good and bad effects.  This monitoring may keep the child away from bad things, but it could also make the child want to view/do the bad things more.  I know that if someone tells me I can't do something, I just want to do it more.  It might be better to just let children explore the internet.  If we don't make a big deal about the bad things, they may not worry about them either.  Dr. Mcleod also brought up the point that most parents don't know as much about the internet as their children.  If the parents don't know the dangers of the internet, they can't talk to their children about the dangers.

    The iSchool Initiative
    The iSchool Initiative is a video by Travis Allen.  He was 17 when he first launched this video on Youtube.  In this video, Travis is basically arguing that schools would save more money if they stopped using old methods of teaching.  He calculated that it costs around $600 per student to teach in the traditional way.  Travis wanted to change this.  He said that if schools used the iTouch for instruction, they would save around $450 per student.  He showed in his powerpoint that everything school-related could be done on the iTouch.  After this video was released, it went viral.  A lot of important people were interested in Travis's ideas.  He talks about his success in ZeitgeistYoungMind's Entry.

    I was really impressed by Travis's ideas.  If everything worked out the way he said it would in the video, changing over to the iTouch would be a great idea; however, there are a few things about which I am concerned.  First of all, theft would have to be a concern.  If this program was used at some underprivileged high schools, a lot of the devices would go missing.  I remember when students were allowed to use school laptops during summer school where my Mom works.  Half of the laptops went missing and were never retrieved.  Another problem I have with using the iTouch is that it is so small.  It might hurt students' eyesight to look at that small screen for every activity.  The iPad might be a better alternative, but it would not save as much money.

    Jennifer Chambers
    I thought Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir was really cool.  It is amazing to think that 185 people who never met performed this.  I guess sometimes we take technology for granted.  If we could transport someone from the 19th century into 2012, they would be amazed.  They would probably think the internet was some sort of witchcraft.  They would not even be able to understand how advanced our technology is.  It would probably scare the crap out of them.  The only other thing I can say about this video is that it sounded so perfect that I automatically assumed it was seriously synthesized.  That is just me being critical though.

    Teaching in the 21st Century
    In Teaching in the 21st Century, Kevin Roberts has a different view on teaching.  He basically thinks that teachers should be guidance for children.  They should let the students figure things out on their own.  You can find out anything you want to know just by googling it.  Why do we even need teachers?  Without teachers, students would not have the knowledge to go search for knowledge.  They also would not know how to act properly when it comes to using things like the internet.

    Roberts has a point.  Yes, students can find out anything they want just by googling it, but they don't learn anything.  You have to understand information to be able to remember it.  When you google something, you just want a quick answer.  Understanding information is beyond just technology.  I thought that the goal of teaching has always been to make students understand things so they can apply them in other situations.  I don't think this video changed my impression of teaching at all.  I already knew that you couldn't just let kids memorize things.  I know I will also have to be technology conscious, but that does not change my overall teaching goal.

    Reading Rockets
    After viewing Reading Rockets, I found a lot of tools I could use as a teacher.  This site was especially interesting to me since I am going to be an English teacher.  One thing that stood out to me was "Reading for Meaning."  This resource basically gives you tips on how to make sure a child understands what they are reading.  I think reading comprehension is one of the biggest problems in schools.  If you can't understand what you read, there is no point in reading at all.  This resource will prove helpful to me because I have never had problems with reading.  I am not sure how I would help a student with something I know nothing about.

    Another resource I found interesting on the site was "ABCs of Teaching Reading."  Even though I plan on teaching high school, this resource will surely prove helpful.  A lot of students still do not know how to read properly when they get to high school. They have just been passed along in elementary school without knowing what they are reading.  When they get to high school, they are in serious trouble because the readings are much more difficult.  As said earlier, I never had trouble with reading, so it would be hard to know what a student with reading problems is going through.  I'm sure this resource will help.

    Thursday, February 16, 2012

    Blog Assignment 4

    This is a podcast symbol.
    The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom by Joe Dale
         The video The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom basically explains why podcasts are useful.  Podcasts can be used in many different ways.  A teacher may upload lectures as podcasts so students will be able to listen to them anywhere.  This is a good review tool, and it also helps a student to not get behind when he/she is at home sick.  Another beneficial way the podcast was used was in having a dramatic play read in one.  This would make it a lot easier for students to understand what was going on in a dramatic play because they could actually hear the language.  Another way the podcast was used in the classroom was by letting the students do their own podcasts.  This made the learning more interactive and probably helped the information stick in the students' minds better.
          This video really opened my eyes to how podcasts could help make things easier for students in the classroom.  It also made me better understand what my group and I would be doing in our podcast project.  If used correctly, this tool could revolutionize the way students learn.  I always learn things better when I hear them, so these podcasts would have definitely helped me when I was in grade school.  Also, the parents will be better able to keep up with what their children are learning if the information is so easily obtained.
    Podcasting with First Grade
          In the blog Podcasting with First Grade, Ms. Sylvia Rosenthal Tolisano describes how she let her first grade students create a podcast.  She let some students pretend to be characters in a book they were reading.  Other students were allowed to interview the "characters."  She mentions how thrilled the students were to hear their recorded voices.  They wanted to hear themselves over and over again.  She explained how this activity made some of the shy students come out of their shells.  She listed the skills that they had learned which are as follows:  listening, speaking, presenting, comprehension, storytelling, performance, voice acting, oral fluency, media, and technology.
         Making these first graders do podcasts was probably very fun for them, but I didn't really see an educational value in using podcasts in this way.  Are we trying to teach our students to be future actors?  That is what it sounded like the teacher was striving for in this blog post.  I feel like the time she used doing this project could have been used in a better way.  As first graders, these children do not have many academic skills at all.  I just do not see how repeating words the teacher told them to say helped anything.  They may have liked hearing themselves speak, but that did not teach them much of anything.
    Langwitches - Flat Stanley Podcast
         Langwitches - Flat Stanley Podcast was about a teacher,  Ms. Sylvia Rosenthal Tolisano, using a podcast in the classroom.  She described how podcasting helps students learn to use a language better.  She says you have to hear a word in context to understand and remember it.  The students in a second grade class at this school had scripts written for them in Hebrew, which they read on the podcast.
         This blog post, like the other one I read, seemed very unimportant.  Yes, the students probably enjoyed doing it, but what did they learn.  The teacher uploaded all the content and wrote the script.  All the student had to do was talk and listen to themselves and others talk.  Once again, I did not realize we were training actors in schools these days.  Also, how is saying something in Hebrew going to help a second grader?  They have not even mastered the English language yet.  It just seems like a major waste of time to me.