Blog Post #14 Final Reflection

Project 13 Collaboration Report

I will have to say this was probably the most difficult project for me to do this semester. But not because the assignment was difficult, but because we were told we could not meet in person, that everything had to be done some other way. But the best way my group found for us to do this collaboration was by starting a Google Doc, and posting back and forth different ideas and links we could use for our presentation. Not only did we use Google Doc, but we relied a lot on our phones to communicate too. Texting was a big part of this project. It was so much more easier for us to text one another, because we did not have to be at a computer if we had to get a hold of someone. It was a way of getting information back and forth faster. We used texting to ask questions, and also to set up the days we planned on meeting for filming.

Final Project #16

Blog Post #13

So our assignment for this weeks blog post was to go 24 hours without the use of electronics. Though I tried, I failed! This proved to be very difficult for me. Almost quite impossible. Having classes that use ecollege to post lecture notes to print of for class, or posting assignments makes it kind of difficult to stay away from your computer. Not to mention this class, EDM310, where we do all of our work is done by using a computer,camera, or phone. It is even harder when you are at the end of the semester and you are having to do research for lessons plans,finishing up projects, such as our Collaborative SmartBoard project, and writing papers. Missing just one day of no technology/electronics is hard. Not to mention our final project is due next week. My partner,Candace and I were working on our project this weekend. Which included a camera, music and phones to give directions to the place we were filming. So for me college is just one little reason why it was difficult for me to go 24 hours with out electronics.

 Another reason would be, since I am on the ministry/leadership team at my church I am constantly on call. So my phone is always in use, since I do not have a land line anymore. Not to mention, I lead worship and I have to have my computer to make lyric videos for worship. Along with setting our soundboard and adjusting volume, and hooking up microphones and such. Also, I am on a constant look out for new songs, so I am always searching YouTube, Spotify, and iTunes for new music.

This day and age it is really hard for people to go 24 hours with out the use of electronics. I know, I myself have become dependent on them because I use them everyday! I think it would be a culture shock to my future students if I decided to assign a no "e-media" fast. They have become so reliant on typing in a question in a search engine online, and texting their friends that they would not how to do it.

Project #15 SMARTBoard Lesson

PLN Final Report

My PLN has not changed much through out the semester. It has stayed the same for the most part. I always tend to go to the same places to get my information. Google, EDM310 blog, Twitter, EDM310 Facebook page, YouTube, etc. But, I did add Mr. John T. Spencer to my PLN, and began to follow him on Twitter. I have really enjoyed his blog posts, and his Twitter posts. All of his posts really make you stop and think about the technology in education.

C4T #4

April 15th St.Elmo Explorers
For this C4T I was assigned to the St. Elmo Explorers. I was assigned to them once before, and I always find it interesting on what this class is doing. This time, their assignment was to pick and amendment and discuss this amendment, along with posting a picture, news article, or short video to go with it. I like the fact that the students have to do this on the class blog, and how they have access to this assignment online.

My Comment:
Hello! My name is Kasey Mooney, I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I have to say, I really like how you have your students blogging their answers to different assignments, such as this one. I think that with doing this it helps make the Bill of Rights a little more interesting. I know when I was younger it was hard to make history interesting.

 April 29th
No new post was made to my C4T, so I went back in time and found an assignment that was made. This assignment was Branches of Government. Students were learning about Graham v. Florida, a Supreme Court Case about sentencing for juvenile offenders. They were to listen to a podcast, and some debates on whether or not it is ethical to sentence juvenile offenders to life in prison, with not parole. Then at the end of class, they would have a mock trial. Then they were asked to decide of they could work for one of our three branches of government which would it be and why. My Comment: My name is Kasey Mooney. I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. Again, I find this to be another great assignments for your students. I would have really enjoyed doing a mock trial when I was in school to make things more interesting. I hope to incorporate some of these assignments in my own classroom one day!

Final Project Update

I am really excited about this project. It is allowing us to do just what we just posted about in the add on blog post. We are being allowed to be creative! I know that there are many possibilities for this project, and it is so hard to chose. But my partner for this project, Candace Buzbee, and I have already decided what we are going to do. As soon as we found out there we no set rules we already started brainstorming what we wanted to do. We have discussed in person what we are wanting to do, along with texting, and phone calls. We will be filming our video this weekend.

Creativity and Curiosity: My Thoughts - Special Post #12A.

I believe schools do destroy the development of curiosity and creativity. I am a big fan of the arts. I believe in having students attend art class, and music class. I have read articles and statistics that have shown that students who are in a music class, and are learning an instrument have higher grades than those who don't. Many schools are taking these classes out because of the lack of money, and they feel these are the least important classes; when all in all the very classes they are taking out of the schools are actually helping their students. I think that though these classes are being taken out, teachers should still incorporate these things into their lessons/curriculum. They can spark a students curiosity by playing a cd and showing different pictures of instruments that are used all over the world while discussing the History/Social Studies lesson. In doing this, it may spark some curiosity to ask their parents for some kinds of music lesson. Students could explore their creativity with their Science projects, but having to draw pictures, or make models of cells. The possibilities for the types of things students could do are numerable. I believe that yes, the actions of teacher can increase the curiosity and creativity of the students. If the teacher shows interest in these types of things, then students are more likely to show an interest as well. I know that I did not like sitting in a class where the teacher did not enjoy teaching a certain subject. The teachers lack of enjoyment shut me out to being interested. To be more creative and spark curiosity in my classroom, I would do as I already stated. When discussing things in class, I will try my hardest to incorporate different music and activities that involve music. I will also try to incorporate activities that will involve art, by having students write and illustrate their own book, or something of that nature. I think that creativity and curiosity needs to be nurtured in our students.

C4K for April

April 1st Bingo
In this post my student discussed a science project that was done in class. And how they had to predict which bottle, out of 3 bottles, yeast would become more active in.

Hello,
My name is Kasey Mooney. I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama.
I find this experiment interesting. I would have predicted the warm water bottle as well. But you did not post the results, so which bottle did the yeast become most active it? Also, what does the sugar do in the bottles? Why was it added?
Please continue your blogging, you did a good job with this one, by including what the experiment consisted of.

April 8th Bingo
I had to go back to a previous post this week because my student had not posted in anything new. I commented on a Wordle done on cyber-bullying.

My comment:
Hi my name is Kasey Mooney. I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama.
I think your Wordle is pretty cool. Chosing cyber-bullying to do it on is an interesting choice. Cyber-bullying is really big right now. Many do not realize the effect it has on teens. How do you feel about cyber-bullying? What are some ways do you think would help cut down on it?

April 15th Bullying

I had to be reassigned to another student because the student I was assigned to before only had two blog posts. Even after trying to encourage more blog posts, there were still now more written. The student I was assigned to this week done a blog about bullying. It excited me to see this, because I had just finished a project for another class on bullying. In the posts my student talks about how bullying is such a big problem, and has been for a while.

My response was:
Hi! My name is Kasey Mooney, I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. Good post! I agree with what you are saying, bullying is a big problem. And you are right it has been for a while! You stated that, “It doesn’t matter how many lectures we get. People will never report bullying.” So my question to you is, since lectures aren’t working, how do you think we could try and stop this problem?

April 22nd Rules, Relationships, and Responsibilities

This week my student I had, done a video on rules, relationships and responsibilities. My student had drawn pictures and then defined each term.

Hi! My name is Kasey Mooney. I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama.
I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed your video. You done a really good job with your drawings. I heard you name off some of your friends that you have relationships with. Sounds like you have a lot of friends. I do too, friends are always great to have. Keep up the good work!

Blog Post #12

Watch this video by students in Birmingham, UK Engage Me!. Write your thoughts about the use of the different technology the students said they used. Would you incorporate all of them, some of them, or none of them? Why or Why not?


Engage Me!

I think that each thing that the students mentioned will be effective to at least one student. Whether it be a blog post, or using a PSP or Nintendo DS. Everybody learns differently, so may enjoy blogging, while others would rather do a podcast, or do Skype interviews. I like the thought of having different aspects of technology to use in my classroom. Many teachers think the SMARTboard is enough, but technology is still growing. The interest of our students are always expanding and changing. Technology is helping us, as educators, to become more interested in learning. It helps them become self-disciplined with their work. They do not always rely on their teachers for something. They can go and explore the internet, have Skpye interviews with professionals in the area of their interests! The possibilities for our students are endless.

I would want to incorporate everything that I could into my classroom. I want my students to be able to experience the different types of technology that can be used to teach them. I want them to find one that is suitable for them, and that they enjoy using. But not only the one they enjoy using, but find ones that will help the the most on their journey of learning.

Blog Post #11

I really enjoyed seeing the kids in action in the video Little Kids...Big Potential that Ms. Cassidy posted. To see that 1st graders know how to blog, use the internet, and have fun with all of it is very encouraging to me as a future educator. I know technology is a big thing in this generation. Just about everything that children are interested in is some new technological invention. To see that Ms. Cassidy even included the use of a Nintendo DS in her classroom was very interesting. Many people would not expect to see that in a classroom. Students mentioned in this video that it is helping them with their problem solving, and I think that if a Nintendo game will help then why not use it!

Interview with Ms. Cassidy
I think that the way Ms. Cassidy uses technology is very reassuring to me. I have always wondered how I would be able to incorporate the things she has in her class, because of student confidentiality. I like how she sends home a letter/permission slips at the beginning of the year and informs the parents that their child's work will/could be posted online. I am hoping to have a class blog myself when I begin teaching. I would love to be able to post my students work on the blog. I think that these letters/permission slips are a good idea to see how supportive the parents are.

Another thing that I liked that Ms. Cassidy mentioned was the fact that she teaches her students to only use their first name. I know that many parents are concerned for the privacy of their child. And I think that is why many parents are very hesitant when it comes to allowing their child/children to use technology. She also mentioned that when she does video her students or when she takes pictures of her students, she does not link faces with names. I think this is another good way to help keep students safer.

Dr. Strange asked Ms. Cassidy in the interview where she thought people should start when it come to technology. I really liked her response. She goes on to talk about how people should start with something that interests them, such as those who like photography could use flickr. I know there are many different sites that people can use to key in on their interests. When using technology, I think that it is important for people to begin with something that interests them.

Blog Post #10

Do You Teach or Do You Educate?

Why do I want to be a teacher? Hmm... such a thought provoking question for me. I know when I was younger I always wanted to be a teacher. I never really knew why until I started to get older. I think that being a teacher is so much more than just standing in the front of a classroom pointing at a board. I want to make a difference in a child's life. To see them actually enjoy learning and in return actually learn something they can apply to their life. To many teachers are expected just to teach their students just enough to pass an ACT, SAT, or a quarterly test such as CRTs. I do not want to be guilty of that. I want to be nurture the things that my students are interested in, and inspire them to follow their dreams. I do not want my students to just be another high or low score on a test. I want them to be inspired by me, so they can go and inspire others. I want to take the areas they are the strongest in and have them enjoy their strengths. I also want to take their weak points and make them stronger. I want my students to take their education to another level. I do not want them to be like I was in school, and just having to retain information just for a test and then forget it. I want to make it to where my students can look back to Elementary school and recall things that they had learned or can remember they had a teacher who cared about them and wanted them to pursue their dreams. I want to know I made a difference.
In this video, they used a quote by Socrates that states: "Education is not the filling of a vessel, but the kindling of a flame". I do not want to be guilty of just shoveling information into my students just for them to put right back on a test. I want to take that spark, the flame, and help ignite it to become a fiery passion for their future and their education. I have a real close friend, who is a Pastor, who has said "As long as you are willing to fight, I am willing to fight with you". I now use this saying when talking to students myself. I want my students to know that as long as they are willing to fight for what they believe in, and want to do then they have a teacher who is willing to fight alongside with them to see those dreams and things come to fruition.

Don't let them take pencils home

WOW! This blog post really demonstrates the mentality of a lot of teachers. Mr. Johnson took this conversation and showed us the thought process of some of these teachers. To many teachers worry about test scores then they do about the students actually educating themselves on things. Not that test scores are not important. Test scores can show, to an extent, the knowledge level of a student. But what about the students who get test anxiety, or the ones who were never taught a way of studying that works for them? But I think that the way that Mr. Johnson went about showing how to talk with a teacher who is only worried about test scores was very interesting. He, in return, told this worried teacher that it is okay if they take pencils home even if they use it for recreation. He had enough faith in his students to do what they needed to do.

Blog Post #9

I chose to read What I Learned this Year (2008-09) because I wanted to see what it was like for him, his first year. I will be having my first year sooner than I think. I wanted to see how Mr. McClung done with his first year and if there was any tips for me for my first year.
Like I mentioned already this is the first year of teaching for Mr. McClung. This blog post really hit home with me. Everything he addressed in his first year, are things that I am kind of nervous about for my first year of teaching. I tend to beat myself up over things that I could have done better to make my lessons better, and when things do not go just right I like to beat myself up over that. I just really like things to run smoothly. After reading Mr. McClung's post, I feel more confident in just more so going with the flow, and if things do not go how I want, or intended it to go then it will be a lesson learned.

The next blog I chose was What I Learned This Year (2010-11). I chose this one because it was his third year of teaching. I wanted to see the changes he had made, and the growth that happened over the past couple of years.
His third year teaching, and Mr. McClung still seems more enthusiastic about his job. I really liked the part about not being afraid of being an outsider. From elementary school all the way up until the time we get jobs in the real world, we still seek to fit in. Everybody wants to fit in, be "cool", and feel accepted. But I like the fact that Mr. McClung focuses on his students instead of worrying about fitting in with the other teachers. Our students should come first, and that is what he is doing. This blog posts have been really encouraging and inspiring to me. I am planning on saving his blog to my favorites, or possibly my PLN so I can continue to read his yearly blog posts about the things he has learned from the year. I think they are good to read over and take advice from as future educators!

C4K for March

The first blog post I commented was This is a persuasive letter I wrote to the Siouxland Press
In this letter, he talked about how television should be more appropriate and suitable for children.
My comment was:
Hey,
My name is Kasey Mooney. I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I want to say that I enjoyed your letter. Not many would take a stand like this. I think it is impressive that you think that TV should be more appropriate for students, and not have so much violence and drug abuse. Good job!

His response was:
Thank you I appreciate the comment.

The second blog post I commented on was France Changed into Small by Amel
One sunny morning Sam woke up and heard a loud noise coming from down the stairs:@ He quickly jumped out of his bed and hid under it, he got really scared.I think Paris is too scary! Sam quickly ran down the stairs and when he looked towards the door there was a box. Sam opened it and something made a loud noise :@ He opened the door and everything was tiny eaven the silver Eiffel Tower.You couldn’t hear people celebrating there birthday. Until Sam jumped and tried to press the buttin.He jumped so high and touched it and everything turned back to normal.

My comment
Hi my name is Kasey Mooney, I am a students in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I think your post was good. Who would have every thought of Paris, and at the push of a button everything would go back to normal. Very cool. Was Paris turning small suppose to help him overcome his fear? Good job!

Kasey

C4T #3 Summary

I was assigned to John T. Spencer.
The first blog I commented on was What should and administrator look for when hiring a 21st Century Teacher?. In this post he talked about hiring a teacher who was humble and not scared to ask questions.

My comment:
Hi my name is Kasey Mooney, I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama.
I really respect your blog post. Many times when people hear the word "humble" they think of someone who might be meek. And in their minds "meek" means someone who is weak. But I think meek is someone who knows and can control their own strength. When people humble themselves they are allowing their pride to take a back seat. I think teachers need to be humble. They need to be willing to ask questions, and have a teachable spirit about them. I know that I do not know all the answers, or know how to use all the technology just right but I am not above learning new things. Thanks for your post! Here is my blog if you would like to take a look at it Kasey Mooney's EDM310 Class Blog

His reply to my comment was:
Thanks, Kasey. I like the way you link being humble with having a teachable spirit. Those two go hand-in-hand.


The second blog I commented on was I Don't Want To Manage My Class. In this blog he discussed wanted to be a leader to students and not just a manager.

My comment to him was this:
Hi my name is Kasey Mooney. I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama. I also commented last week on another one of your posts.
I really enjoyed this post. You mentioned opening your Bible to a sticky note, to a letter that said "I luv you, dad". Just that alone lets me know that you are a leader in your child's life. There was a comment made at church today, and it was "To be a good leader, you first have to be a good follower." I would have to agree with this, and I also think it relates to your post that I commented on last week about humbleness. To be a good leader, we have to allow ourselves to be humble, and ask questions when we don't know the answers. I too, want to be a leader of generation.

SmartBoard Instructional-Project #14

Blog Post #8

In this video This is how we Dream Richard Miller, discusses the importance of writing with technology. He goes on to talk about how using technology to write, and how when you publish something it can be available for a long period of time. Whereas, when it is printed, it is so easily thrown in the garbage and not being able to be used again if needed. He also discusses how not only can you just write an article but you can combine your writing with pictures and videos such as interviews with other colleagues.
A couple of quotes that I pulled from the videos were “Ideas don’t belong to us individually, but they belong to us as a culture.”, and “as educators we must be in the business of sharing ideas freely.” I think these statements are interesting. Mr. Miller mention iTunes U, in the beginning of the second video, I think that with iTunes U educators are capable of sharing their information freely. I think iTunes U is a good idea for educators to take advantage of and encourage their students to access. It allows students to access other lessons from other professors around the country and might help them understand a topic they were not sure about to begin with.
I am going to try my best to encourage my students to take full advantage of the technology that is available to them. And I will try my best to incorporate as much as I can into my class while teaching.

I really enjoyed the blog by Carly Pugh. I think she had some really good ideas, and did come really close to what Dr. Miller had discussed. The ideas she gave were very well thought out and very well written. I would love to incorporate some of these ideas into my class room in the future. I think the idea of describing the kind of teacher you want to be would be a good video to do as a first video assignment, to go along with the “My Sentence” video.

I think many students are like Chipper in the ways of trying to redefine procrastination, and when they are dropping out of school and blaming it on their teachers just because they want to be taught instead of learning. I know that I have been guilty of wanting to be taught instead of learning on my own. But in taking this class I have found that I actually enjoy figuring things out and actually learning things on my own. I have taken what I have learned in this class and applied it to my everyday life.

Learn to change, Change to Learn
I think that students should be learning in the schools. That is what educators get paid to do, is to encourage students to learn in the classroom. I know that I was always taught to memorize for tests and if I did not know the answer the internet was my first stop. Google had quickly become one of my best friends. I want to be able to teach my students and help them learn, not just memorize information for a test to then quickly forget it. I want my students to be able to hold intelligent conversations with their classmates.

Project #11 Short Movie

Project #12 Book Trailer

Project #9b TimeToast Timeline

Project #10 PLN

I really wasn't sure what exactly a PLN was until I watched the videos assigned. I have found that a PLN is a great way to organize tools that I can use to help me further my education, as well as organizing the people that I can be connected with to help lead me and teach me to become a better educator. Somes tools/people that I have included in my PLN so far is the EDM310 Facebook page, Twitter, the EDM310 Blog site, as well as Google, Youtube, and USAOnline. From what I have done and learned so far, I am really going to like continuing in making my own PLN.

Blog Post #7

1.) The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler.

Call me weird, but I like attending class on campus and actually interacting with my professors and fellow students in the same room. When I started college, and started signing up for my classes,I tried to avoid the web-based classes. But the past few of semesters I have not been able to avoid them. One web-based class I had to take was Speech. When signing up for this class, I thought to myself "How can you take speech online?", and I found out that it was possible. I have also found that the reason I do not like these classes is because I actually have to take time out and make myself work. Leaving my house and going to class is so much easier because there are less distractions. Whereas if I stay at home, I get sidetracked with doing something else, or I want to take a nap all of a sudden. But when I started EDM310 I found that I can actually teach and learn things on my own.

The Networked Student video, informs us on how students can use these web-based classes to learn on their own. Students realize, in taking classes like that, that they are capable of teaching themselves and actually learning something. Students can become connected with people from all over the world, such as students like themselves, professors and experts, that they can interact with and ask questions and discuss things with. Not only can students be taught in the classroom, but they can then take the questions they have and do more research on those topics allowing them to explore things they never thought possible.

One question raised and asked in this video was "Why does the networked student even need a teacher?". To me, the teacher is there to lead and guide you on your learning journey. To help answer any questions you may have along the way. Teachers help students build a foundation to their learning. Learning does not stop once you leave the classroom, we can learn new stuff everywhere we go.

2.)What is a Personal Learning Environment? Well before this class and this video, A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment(or PLN) I was not really to sure. This video give you a good idea of what can be done with creating your own Personal Learning Environment. It is a great way to organize things that would help you with your classes or work. You can take your own PLE and either focus on one class like this 7th grader did for her science class; or you can do what I am going to do and create it for the purpose of connecting with websites and other teachers all around that can give me insight on how to be a good and influential educator.

C4T #2 Summary

I was assigned to Mr. Anthony Capps and Class blog St. Elmo Explorers.

The first blog post I commented on was Enjoy your Mardi Gras Break. Do not let the title trick you, though Mr. Capps wants his students to enjoy their break this post is informing his students what to be prepared for when they return to class. In this post Mr. Capps tells his students that after their break that they will begin working on writing their own multimedia book. He told them that they would have to do research, interview experts, and ask questions.

My comment to the blog post:
Hello,
My name is Kasey Mooney. I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama.
I just want to say that this project sounds really interesting. It involves two of my favorite things: books and writing. I think this is a really good project for students to do to help with creative writing and thinking. I know that I will consider doing this project when I have my own class some day.I know getting all the information, interviews, experiments and drafts together will take a little time, along with putting it all together. So, what is the time span that you give the students to do this project? I would really like to hear more about this project.

The next blog post I comment on was Blog Comments, Movie Editing, Book Trailers, and Science. This post is talking about the different assignments that his students will be working on. He first discusses that they will be doing blog comments and that they would need to visit their sister school and post comment on the first three posts. He then goes on to give a science assignment, which caught my eye. The students are studying plant and animals cells, so in this assignment students are to pick a part of the cell and describe how it best matches with their personality.

My comment:
Hello! My name is Kasey Mooney. I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I just want to say that the assignment you gave your students about picking and describing a part of a cell that best matches their personality is pretty interesting. I do not think that I would have ever thought of doing that. Thank you for this idea, I think I may use this activity when I begin teaching.

Blog Post #6

Finally! My internet has finally stopped acting up long enough to get this post done.

I really enjoyed watching Randy Pausch’s video Achieving your Childhood Dreams. He made the lecture so entertaining and fun; something that I hope to bring to the table when I have my own class. I want my students know that they can have fun with learning.

Something that stuck out to me that Rand Pausch had mentioned was that when people ride you, or critique you that means they still care. It is when they stop that means they have given up. I want to push my students to do their best. It may take me being hard on them, but if I know that they are capable of better, I want to show them that they are capable of better. I want my students to be able to see the potential they have in themselves. I know that I have had teachers and professors who have pushed me and shown me that if I just apply myself a little more than I wanted then I can achieve more than I thought.

A quote Mr. Pausch had stated was, “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted”. As soon as he said this, I wrote it down. I began to go over this quote in my head. I asked myself, “What does this mean to you?” To me this quote means no matter what happens, even if I had my mind and heart set on something, and it doesn’t necessarily happen I still got to have a learning experience. I get to learn something that I never would have if I never tried to achieve that goal or dream, and I get to say that at least I got a taste of a part of that dream and probably something way more out of it, even if I did not get to do the exact thing I wanted to do. And that is something I want my students to understand. For me an example would be that I always enjoyed singing when I was younger, but I never gave it a second thought until High School. In High School I took chorus, I found out that I had a teacher who believed in me and thought that I had a good voice. He pushed me to step out of my comfort zone. I never thought that I would stand in front of an audience and sing, but it happened. After high school, I wanted to sing more. I had even thought about doing a musical, or I even had the thought of Broadway but to me that was all just a big dream. But I continued to pursue it singing, and now I am leading worship at my church, and it is the most amazing thing that I could have ever done. Though I am not on Broadway, or starring in some local musical I am still doing what I love to do and would never change it for anything.

“Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things”, is another quote that I took from Mr. Pausch. He is right when he makes this statement. I have only found that the brick walls that show up in my life only push me to get around them, over them, or even through them. I want to be able to instill in my future students that no matter what obstacles appear in your way, that if you want it bad enough you will find a way to achieve it.

C4K Summary for February

C4K Summary for February

February 11th, 2012
I was assigned to Tess from Mrs. Ripp's class in Verona, Wisconsin. In Tess's post she mentioned that she had moved over the summer, so she is no longer in Mrs. Ripp's class. Tess's blog post is basically one to where she updates her old classmates and friends on how she is adapting to her move. She talks about how she is and optimist, and though she does not sing or dance she loves music.
My response to Tess was:
Hello Tess,
My name is Kasey, I am in Dr. Strange’s EDM310 at the University of South Alabama.
It seems you have adjusted well since you have moved.
Moving is never easy. You have to leave all your friends behind.
But hey, look at the bright side, you get to make a lot of new friends!
But I can tell, your old friends and classmates miss you by their comments.
Hope you make a lot more new friends, and the rest of your school year is a good one for you!

Kasey Mooney
For the week of February 13th-19th I was assigned to Quinn. Quinn is a big Cardinals fan. In a previous post Quinn made the statement "I want to be a successful baseball player".

My response to this post was:
Hey Quinn,

My name is Kasey, I am student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama! I think it is awesome that you have a passion for baseball! I am not a big sports person and do not really know a whole lot about them. But, I will watch a baseball game or basketball game every once in a while! I was looking around your blog, and I saw your Bio Poem. I noticed you mentioned you wanted to be a successful baseball player! Just keep pursuing that dream, who knows you may just become that successful baseball player you want to be. Don’t give up on your dreams!


February 26th, 2012
This was my response to the students in Anna's Amazing Learners from New Zealand:
Hello Students,
My name is Kasey Mooney. I am a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama in the US! I just wanted to say I really enjoyed that rainy day song. I really hope the rain went away for you all. If that song did not send it away, I do not know what would have, it was great. I love singing as well, so keep it up, I really enjoyed it!


I have come to really enjoy reading and commenting on these students blogs. It is very interesting to see what all they have to say about different things they are learning or thinking.

Project #8

Blog Post #5

Dr Scott McLeod, who is he you ask? Well he is an Associate Professor, Educational Administration, Director, CASTLE at Iowa State University. CASTLE is the Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education. It is used to help school administrators with their technology needs, they also help the educational leadership in university to help prepare administrators, teachers and faculty to become familiar with technology. Dr. Scott McLeod is also a blogger for DangerouslyIrrelevant where you can find the blog post Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?

I really enjoyed Dr. Scott McLeod's blog post,Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?. The way he approached it, and writing with sarcasm really captures you. It really makes you think about what he is saying. I agree that students need a "leg up" on technology. Technology is becoming more and more demanding in our everyday life. The upcoming generations of students need to know how to use the technology that is being developed, because they are going to have to rely on it when they get older and have a career. Even though I think it is a good idea that this technology is used in the classroom, I do think that it needs to be closely monitored.

Travis Allen was just a senior in high school when he posted a video titled: The iSchool Initiative. The iSchool Initiative proposes that schools will no longer have to count on books, and paper and pencils. That just an iTouch product is all that will be needed. Travis Allen proposes that this device will save everyone from the school, to the students money. It is stated that just by the use of simple Apps teachers and parents will be able to keep up with the students grades and events. This device allows the storage of textbooks, workbooks, calendars, even the ability to record lectures and take notes. The recorded lectures and notes are also able to be sent to other students.

I will have to say that my thoughts have changed over the past few weeks, from viewing all of these videos and blog posts. The idea of more and more technology in the classroom is growing on me. I really do enjoy the old-fashion classroom, but my mind is being slowly changed. I think that this idea that Travis Allen has is a really good idea. I think students would enjoy class more since they would able to interact with their textbooks. For example, the science lesson that was shown in the video allowed you to be able to search through outer space. I think with a hands on tool such as this, students will be able to learn more and become more engaged in their lessons. Not to mention, the teachers would have direct access to their students grades and school work from anywhere. Something that was not mentioned in the video, but I think is great is the fact that students would no longer have to carry around HEAVY backpacks. I think this will help decrease the cases of bad backs in students.

I have never seen a virtual choir before, and I search music on YouTube all the time, until I saw Jennifer Chamber's post: Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir. I find it amazing that this people never met, and never once performed together. I know, from experience, that when you stick people together who have never sang together before can take a turn for the good or the worst. In high school my chorus teacher had 2-3 different chorus classes. And, because of the school schedule there was never anyway to get all the classes together before we performed out end of the semester concert. (Keeping 60+ students after-school would have been a big hassle, and no guarantee that all the students would be able to stay). So we were always put on stage together with never performing together, and the outcome of the concert varied. So, this virtual performance definitely blew my mind on the quality of the voices and the video!

Cell phones,Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Blogging... what do these things have in common? A faster way to communicate with our peers. These things allow us to work around one another's schedules. Many students have a problem with trying to meet up for group projects that are assigned. But that does not have to be the case anymore. Email, Skype, Facebook, texting, all these things have made it easier to do group projects. You can send ideas, and information through email. You can discuss the project via Skype or phone call. All this technology is being used by students, now. Kevin Roberts discusses the importance of this technology is his presentation Teaching in the 21st Century. He compares the difference between students being entertained and being engaged, and how the two are not the same. He states "entertainment is for enjoyment, and engagement is for learning." This presentation is a very good way to make teachers stop and think about how they will go about using technology to teach in their classrooms.

From the Reading Rockets page I chose to look through Reading 101. Reading 101 gives you different links to click on, for things you need to know when working with students who are learning to read. It informs you that students are different, and that they are going to learn differently. Under the link The Sounds of Speech, it tells you that the majority English speaking children could hear the difference between words that sound similar, but for some students it could be quiet confusing.

I have had experience with working with a child in learning how to read. I have a friend who has 4 boys and I was able to help her youngest with his reading. He was not getting good grades in reading, and he was a little slower when reading out loud. So I told my friend that I would work with him. In working with him, I found that helping him break down the words and sounding them out really helped him a lot. It took time and practice on his part, and patience on my part. But together he and I got through it. On his next reading test he brought home an "A" and he was extremely excited for that. I think these links under Reading 101 will be a major help to many teachers, and even parents. I know that I will be using these ideas in my classroom one day!

Project #9a TimeToast Timeline

Blog Post #4

I found in the Langwitches blog post, 1st graders create their Own Read-Along audio book, very interesting. I think that the idea of the students recording their own voices to create an audio book for them to use in class is a great idea! It allows something new for students to engage in. It gives a whole new perspective to reading for students, especially first graders. I think that letting students experiment with this kind of technology is very rewarding. Not only are the students doing something new and interesting to them, they are learning how to use technology, and learning how to read all at them same time. I think that using podcasts in the classroom is a great way to make reading more fun and interesting for students!

Langwitches blog post, Podcasting with First Graders, made me want to do a podcast myself. Just the way they students were described in how they acted when doing this project made things seem like so much fun. In my High School drama class, I was able to work with a group do something like this, except we used tape recorders. We had to incorporate music, and script into ours as well, but we did not have the technology the students have today. We had to pause the tape player get our music ready, press record and then inject our dialogue. You had to be really good to not have any paused in your tape. These students can actually take clips and piece them together and make their podcast sound a whole lot better. I noticed in the section of the post titled "recording" that it is made mention that students confidence levels rose. I think this kind of project is a good way to get students who are shy to interact more. In listening to their podcast, I can tell they enjoyed doing this project. They done a very good job!

I really enjoyed Langwitches blog post on,
Listening- Comprehension-Podcasting. It shows how a tool such as "Garageband" and/or the SMARTboard can be used to help students learn but have fun at the same time. The project they did with the story Purim, was a very good example of how to get students involved and allowing them the opportunity to learn. This project turned something that would normally be boring into something that was intriguing to the students. They not only were able to create a podcast, or use the SMARTboard, but they were able to manipulate sounds, they were able to develop listening skills to they could listen and comprehend just what was being spoken. They worked on their writing skills because they had to write a script.
In listening to the students podcast that they done for the project, I was very much impressed. These second graders spoke with such clarity, and excitement. I could really tell that they enjoyed this project. Even though I was not there when they were able to manipulate the sounds on the SMARTboards, or for the script writing, I think the students favorite part was probably speaking in Hebrew and doing this podcast! It sounds like they had a lot of fun! Queen Esther is one of my favorite women from the Bible, and hearing the story of her done in a short podcast in Hebrew was very exciting!

Project #6- "My Sentence"

C4T#1

I was assigned to Mrs. Angela Rand. In the first blog post I commented on, Mrs. Rand discussed her experiences with #PhdChat sessions. In her post she mentions that a lot of people who have their doctoral degrees and even those who are working on these degrees come to this forum to discuss different issues. The conversations and topics may vary throughout the month. Mrs. Rand made the statement, “Sometimes I find myself carrying on two or more conversations at once while keeping an eye on the main thematic conversation. It's fast-paced and sort of exhilarating to participate.”
As her blog post continues she goes on to talk about how she was conducting a study on the social media. She made mention that there are pros and cons to this kind of study. She discusses how in a personal meeting (face to face) attitudes and such can be determined through body language and such, but whereas body language cannot be determined through an online conversation. But one thing she mentions you can look at, to make sure of the things you may need to steer away from, is clues of things being left out, such as certain topics.

My response to Mrs. Rand’s post was this:
Hello! My name is Kasey Mooney and I am currently enrolled in EDM 310. I am still trying to get use to Twitter, and I have not really had an actual conversation on it. I also, have found that in any kind of online conversation whether it be Facebook, Twitter, forums or whatever, it is hard to analyze someone intentions and attitudes like you stated! I really enjoyed your blog post!


Mrs. Rand has not updated her blog in a while, so I had to go back and find another post to comment on. The second post I commented on, Mrs. Rand discussed a program she uses on the MAC. It is a program used to make concept maps and diagrams. His program is called Diagrammix. Here is here blog post:

“I made this concept map/diagram using Diagrammix. Charts like these help me to learn some basic verbal information and the playful display motivates me to look at the diagram. I also like making these kinds of charts and making the charts is a form of engaging actively with the content.
Diagrammix is a pretty powerful little program for MAC. Hopefully the next upgrade will include some more symbol templates but even now there are plenty of options and the colors and functions of the symbols are easy to change. The finished charts can be exported as pdf, jpg, or the proprietary format.”




My response to Mrs. Rand’s post was this:
My name is Kasey Mooney, I am an EDM310 student at the University of South Alabama.
I really like this program you have shown. I think this would be a really good tool to use to help demonstrate to students how to go about making a concept map, or a diagram. But, I do not own a MAC, do you know of any other programs like this one that can be used on other computers?

Project #5 Google Presentation

Blog Post #3

The videos that were assigned to us to watch about peer editing, has helped me evaluate myself in the way that I go about editing my peers work. I think I have been a combination, at times, of the different kind of editors identified in the video: Writing Peer Review TOP 10 Mistakes. As a teacher I want to be able to encourage my students to do their best. I will make sure that I give plenty of positive feedback, but not to the point where they will not take my corrections. A balance of both encouragement and corrections are needed for students to do well. As for public and private corrections, I think it just depends on the errors and the person/student receiving the critique.


Technology in Special Education was a very enlightening video, on how technology can assist students with special needs. Many students learn different ways whether it be hands on activities, visual learning, or a mixture of both, and students with special needs are no different. They also need to find a way that helps them learn effectively. I feel that this video gives a little insight on how to help those students with special needs. This video shows that it can help students who have problems communicating, communicate better, along with helping others read better or even become excited about learning!
I really enjoyed seeing the excitement in the students in this video. Though others may see them as different because they learn differently, or need help with learning they are still people. And the technology that we are using today only helps them to accomplish things on their own, that people 10 years ago may not have been able to accomplish without the help of an aid. The excitement that I saw in their eyes really has inspired me to try and incorporate whatever I may need into my classroom in the future to help my students learn.

How the iPad works with Academics for Autism was a very encouraging video! It showed how the iPad can help a child with Autism be excited about learning, along with actually being engaged in the process. The parents of this child showed full support and encouragement as the child began counting, and reading the words, and writing. They made sure to give positive feedback to their son. I feel that the iPad can be a positive tool to use in the classrooms of special needs students.

In searching the education apps at Apple Store I found an app that I feel would help students with learning new words. The game is called Futaba (which is Japanese for “seedling”). It is a four player game in which the students sit around the iPad, and a picture is shown on the screen, the first student to match the picture to the correct word scores a point. I feel that this game will help allow students to interact with one another as well as learn to put words with a picture.


Gary Hayes Social Media Count was very interesting. It astonished me to see just how many people actually use social media. I knew that many people used it, but to see just how much society has grown to rely on it was shocking. We now use social media for everything, from texting, to email, to looking up information we need for a research paper. I know that I am a Google user; my friends call me the “Google Queen”. When I do not know something, I simply pull out my phone and “google it” like most people would. Technology has developed so much that we now have the internet at our fingertips, literally. It is almost accessible on just about every phone on the market, not to mention iPads, iPods, and laptops, all which are portable devices. We stay connected where ever we go.

I know I am guilty of constantly staying connected, whether through texting or using Facebook on my phone. I no longer have to write a letter and send it in the mail and have to wait for days for a response, I can just email someone and it reaches their computer in less than a minute. I no longer have to stay at home to wait on an important phone call because I cannot miss it, I can go about my day and have my phone with me at all times. Social media has become an important part of our lives as we know it, whether we realize it or not, and Gary Hayes chart shows just how much we use it.

As a student I can relate to this video: A Vision of Students Today. I know I have spent hundreds of dollars on books that I never even opened, to then sell back and not even get half of what I paid for it. I have also been guilty of texting on my phone, or looking at Facebook during a lecture. Going to a lecture class 3 days a week gets pretty boring after a while. Especially when there is over a hundred students in one classroom, and there is no personal interaction with the teacher or your peers. I like being able to interact with my teachers and them actually know my name.

I am not a fan of full blown classes being online, but I have found that I enjoy hybrid classes. I like being able to go to class and listen to a lecture and making sure I am on the right page, then going home and working at my own pace to get my work done. It takes a lot of stress off me when I am able to work at my own pace.

Blog Post #2

Did You Know? 3.0 - A John Strange 2012 Version is very informative on the numbers of those using technology. It cuts out every excuse of why a child does not have computer access when he states that “2 years ago 93% of 8-18 year olds in the United states had computers in their homes.”  There is a definite demand for technology in today’s society, and it is only growing. With the increase in statistics, based on the statistics given in this video, there is definitely no telling how much more advanced technology will be in 10 years.  As an educator, I know that I will need to be as prepared as possible.  It is crazy to know that over a million searches are going on a minute on Google, and that over eleven million text messages are being sent out a minute. This society is becoming more and more dependent on technology,

Mr. Winkle Wakes is a video about a man who has been asleep for 100 years, to wake up and find that everything around him has changed. He finds that in an office there are now things that have been developed where you can communicate with people all over the world, and see them on a screen which would be the computer. He travels to a hospital to find that people’s lives are being saved by machines. He then travels to a classroom, where he finds that nothing has changed. In the video the comment is made that he likes school because it has not changed.

 With technology increasing, and the latest gadgets in high demand, I feel that a good old fashion classroom is needed at times. It is a good asset to learning. I am all for technology, and using it to learn, but I feel that it makes things a little too easy now. When I was in Elementary School we did not have the smart boards like we do today, but I was still capable of learning. Yes, these things are great, but I still feel like lectures, and dry erase boards/chalk boards are also a good way of teaching! So I am with Mr. Winkle on this one for the most part!

The Importance of Creativityis a lecture video by Sir Ken Robinson. In this lecture he discusses the importance for creativity in the schools. He mentions that many find it important for at the core subjects such as math, science, history, but that the arts are found near the very bottom. As a lover of the arts, especially music, I find that it is important to have these areas of education available for students to take. In doing research for a speech last semester, I found that students in music classes are more likely to do better on their tests and in school than those who are no enrolled in music classes. The arts are a big way of allowing children to express themselves, and build confidence. I really do feel that creativity is an important factor for a child’s learning process.

A Vision for 21st Century Learning this is a video discussing how classes are today, and how they feel that they should be. The group that done this video is stating that they no longer want students to just memorize and have to listen to lectures; they want them to actually learn and experience things hands own.  Like stated above in another comment on one of the other videos, I feel that the way things are being taught now are great, but I am not totally against technology. Yes, with technology being in high demand students are going to want to use it to learn. So, as an educator, I will do my best to have a balance of both in my classroom.

Harness Your Students’ Digital Smart is a video about a teacher who takes technology and teaches it to students. She teaches them how to use the technology correctly. It is a good idea to teach students this just because it will help them as they grow in the future. Just as discussed earlier, technology is growing. I like the statement she made about not knowing everything but learning as she went. I think this is something we all need to keep in mind.

Project #2 Wordle

Blog Post #1

Hey everyone! My name is Kasey Mooney! I am 22 years old and will be 23 in April. I was born and raised here in Mobile, Alabama. I am a Junior here at the University of South Alabama and I am an Elementary Education major. I love working with children. I would really love to work with the upper Elementary grade levels such as 4th-5th, and I would also not mind working with 6th graders, but I will be satisfied with what every job opportunity I receive! I ended up here at USA because I did not want to go off for college. I knew that I could get the college experience staying in Mobile and going to USA just like I could if I went off to college else where.But that is not the only reason why I chose to stay here in Mobile.

The biggest deciding factor in me staying here for school was the Lord. Yes, that's right, with me staying here because the Lord told me to, means I am a Christian. But more so I am a lover of Jesus Christ. I live my life for Him. He has my heart and every part of me is His. Scripture talks about doing everything as if you are doing it unto the Lord, so that is what I do. Everything I do, I try to do it as unto the Lord. Some may think I am crazy for the way I talk about God but I do not care because I am crazy, crazy in love with God! :) I have been saved for 12 years. My personal relationship with God gets stronger every day that I am alive. God has blessed me with some amazing friends over the years. I am now blessed to work with them in a Ministry of our own. I have worked with one for the 12 years I have been saved and others for the past 4 years. We are starting our own church which is known as Remnant Ministries and we are super excited to see what God has in store. February 1st will be our first service to the public. I am the worship leader for Remnant along with the personal secretary to the Pastor and assistant secretary to the church. I love singing and worshiping the Lord! Being worship leader is a real honor and privilege for me. I am excited to be able to usher people into the presence of God. (At the old churches I attended I also taught Middle School Sunday School and was the Drama Instructor.) All that I do is to bring God glory! I am looking forward to continue working with my friends/partners in ministry for many years to come. I live my life for Christ and to bring Him Glory!

Randy Pausch on Time Management

The thing that I learned most from this video is that having a plan wrote out for the day/week is a good thing to do. I am horrible at managing my time, and I am a big procrastinator when it comes to my school work. I learned that I need to start having a plan for the day. That I need to set out what I am doing and it is okay if things change. I also got that I should tackle to biggest or ugliest thing on my to do list first! I also learned that I will not become a professional at managing my time overnight, but that it will take time and practice. I felt that this video, even though it was short, gives very good insight on how to manage your time. I really enjoyed it!

Practice Post

My first post