Sunday, March 25, 2012

Blog Post #8

Writing


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.

Procrastination



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.


Learning


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

Friday, March 9, 2012

Project #10 PLN

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

Networked Students

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.

Personal Learning Environment

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.

Child Writing


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.



Animal Cell


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.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

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.
Walt Disney Quote

Sunday, March 4, 2012

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.