2nd Assignment for Comments4kids

I got the chance to visit another great blog, but this time it was a 4th grade class at the RBS 4th Grade Blog. I was assigned to read a blog about My Pet Dinosaur by SG in 4A. He was talking about if he had a pet dinosaur, he would give Ponytail his homework for a snack every day. And when his teacher asked for his homework he made up an excuses that he had to go to the hospital because his nose was bleeding and his father threw away his homework because he thought it was a bill. This child had a great imagination and it was a joy to read his work.

Mr. McClung: What I've learned this Year

I truely enjoyed reading about a first year teacher's experience. He made a lot of valid points which include being an effective teacher you have to let your students/audience direct what and how you teach. Another fact is that being flexible and not sweating the small stuff is a big key. By keeping lines of communications with good teachers open is important that it allows you the chance to have trade ideas. You should always encourage your students to do better the next time when they fail at something. The most important clue is to always listen to your students.

If teachers take the time to know their students well enough then teaching them will be rewarding. You should always learn how to read your students and how to provide for their needs. Last, don't set the bar to high for your students or you may be setting them up for failure, let the student set the bar themselves.

To see Mr. McClung: What I've learned this Year click here.

Is Wikipedia Trustworthy?

I think its a shame that Wikipedia cannot be a trusted source for information. Its hard for me to believe because I have used this site since grade school. I cannot believe that anyone can edit the information themselves. Only recently did I learn that Wikipedia could not be trusted.
The changes that are made to this site could be inadequate or misleading. Grade school students as well as college students relay on many sources for information. It is a shame that the articles found on this site are usually edited by representatives for companies or for politicians to give themselves a better image. Now that I know Wikipedia is bad it makes me wonder about the other resource sites.
Several links to take a look at are:
NPR blog on Wikipedia
NPR article on Wikipedia
Wired Story

Katherine's Presentation

Did You Know 4.0

The video Did You Know 4.0 surprised me with a lot of facts that I did not realize. At the same time, I am not surprised because everyday the world is changing with technology. It makes you wonder what the world would be like 25 years from now.

I wasn't that surprised about the cell phones as most teenagers text constantly. Now a days you can surf the web, download songs, watch and download videos. Even though one million books published each year most people would rather download their books to their cell phone and I'll bet by this time next year cell phones will be able to do even more. I also can not believe that 250 million people visit youtube and twitter but yet these sites weren't even around six years ago. Another thing that surprised me was that 2 million people have T.V.s in their bathrooms. I've been hearing that print circulation was going down, magazines are going out of business, and local papers are struggling to make ends meet.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

Randy Pausch moto "Brick walls are there for a reason.....". Basically he is letting us know that the brick wall did not stand in his way from achieving his dreams. Even through his condition he was able to live his life with his head held high. It is people like him that make others strive for their dreams.

His speech was extremely motivating. He was upbeat and funny yet at the same time he liked to crack jokes. Even though he was dying he made it feel like he had made peace with that fact. He found that he could help other people fulfill their dreams by reliving some of the situations he had gone through.

I can relate to Mr. Pausch's speech about not letting brick walls stand in your way. I too have several disabilities that could have stopped my childhood dreams. I learned at the age of 6 that I could not let people or things stand in my way.

For Randy Pausch's Last Lecture click here.

Fisch: Is it Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

I agree with Mr. Fisch about teachers who are not technologically illiterate. In the older days teachers could get by without being technologically illiterate. It is like he said in order to teach it we have to learn it. If a teacher doesn't understand what they are doing then how can they teach others.

By a teacher using technology it can enhance a students learning and challenge them in different ways. Technology is a way to advance a students aspects of life and other subject areas. Technology is forever changing our ways of life as well as career advancements. Most companies now a days wants an individual who has a broad knowledge of technical skills.

For Fisch's link to Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher? click here.

1st Assignment for Comment4kids

I had the chance to visit Room 10 @ PT England School. There I listened to three wonderful stories. The first one was Hayley goes to the Auckland Zoo. Then I listened to Efilona's Weekend where she went to her sister's house and saw her grandmother. The last one was Shanika's Weekend where she talked about being on a trampoline. It was wonderful listening to what other people have to say.

It's Not About the Technology

I partially agree with Mrs. Hines. So many teachers lose their passion for teaching and the reason why they wanted to be a teacher. I think every teacher could learn different aspects from their students. Therefore, not only could a teacher be the teacher but the students could as well. It takes a teacher being creative and understanding to make a child want to learn because every child is different and learns differently. It is our job as the teacher to create ways of helping them learn and enjoy learning.

It is our job as teachers to find ways where children can explore and discover for themselves. Technology helps them achieve this and it also encourages them to learn new information that will allow them to advance in the world of technology we have today. Although technology helps the student to advance the teacher is what makes the difference. The teacher should use effective methods and be willing to make changes for certain groups of children so that they will benefit from it. If there is an effective teacher the student could look back and see the impact that they made on their life.

To read It's Not About the Technology click here.

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

This video is educational in the fact that we as college students pay money for a good career, yet the teaching methods do not seem to be any different from high school. Michael Wesch has a way of involving students into conversations of how colleges are today. Technology has taken over the classrooms and there is less teaching being performed by the teachers. Not only has technology taken over the classrooms, but has taken over our lives as well.

I agree wholeheartedly that facebook has changed the life of all students. What's even worse is that middle school and high school students have engrossed their lives into facebook as well. When it comes to facebook we seem to be more interested in it than we are with our class work. Technology needs to be more positive instead of negative. By being able to move around through technology it helps us more than we realize. As for social networking it makes us become more in tune towards our surroundings. I especially like the park when the young man held up a sign that read "I pay hundreds of dollars for books that are never used each semester."

For Michael Wesch's A Vision Of Students Today click here.

What I've learned about Podcasting

In watching Langwitches Blog-The Magic of Learning to understand how to make a podcast. One thing you need to do is to decide what theme and purpose you would want the podcast to have. Also you want to be sure to keep it fun as well as to choose a topic appropriate for the age level of the viewers.

I would need to know what age group I was addressing my podcast to, to insure that the material would interest them. You need to be sure that you sound excited and that you enjoy what you are talking about. I think the best way to make a podcast would be to allow viewers to see who was speaking to them.
Some other sites I visited that you might enjoy:
The Education Podcasting Network
Judy Scharf Podcast Collection
EDM 310 Class Podcasts from last semester

Improvements

Although, I have never done a podcast before, I feel that you would need a topic that would be interesting as well as informative. By making sure the topic that is chosen would be age appropriate for the audience that is viewing it. I don't really know how I can make a podcast, but it would need to be exciting and intriguing.

While making a podcast it needs to be appropriate and understandable to all students and viewers. If it is meant for younger children then it should be short and simple so they may understand it. If it is for an older age group it should still be short but with music or some kind of attention grabber to get them interested. By capturing the attention of the audience it can make them feel that they are active members in the discussion instead of passive listeners.
Here is an interesting link to look at:
EDM 310 Class Podcasts from last semester