Professional Blog

Click HERE to view my professional blog.

This is Goodbye!

I can't believe the time has come to say goodbye! I will have to say it is bittersweet. Learning has definitely come a long way since I was in college. To be honest when I signed up for this class I thought I would be able to sit back and enjoy the show. I have been teaching for so long I thought it would be kind of nice to be the student for a change. That however was not the case in this class. After some adjustments on my part I did finally get into the groove of things. I would like to thank Dr. Strange and Ms. Averit for their patience and willingness to answer my endless questions. Also, my group of girls that I worked with were awesome! Dr. Strange you are an inspiration. I love how passionate you are about what you do and how you were able to infuse so much technology into this course. Don't ever let us wear you down! You are making a difference! I will have admit I am happy to retire my laptop for a few weeks and am ready to enjoy the summer with my kids. But I'll be back! Happy Blogging Everyone:-)

Final Post

1. I think that making and adding to my blog has been one of my favorite things in this class. I could see how powerful this could be to a teacher and a student. As a teacher I always made the students keep portfolios in every subject for them to look back and evaluate their performance and see their progress. Now that I look at my blog and I like the final project and all of the progress I have made. I don't know if I would be able to go into as much detail with early childhood students, but it is something I would like to implement. A class blog will be the first thing I will make when I return to teaching. I think constant communication with parents is a must and what a wonderful way to display their work.

I loved everything about Google docs. Being able to access my work anywhere was wonderful. It helped with our group presentations because we were able to collaborate without meeting every time. Since I live across the bay this helped me tremendously. I feel like this will be a very valuable tool for me in the classroom and out. As I have posted before I am growing to love my PLN. It is constantly growing and very organized. I liked making the videocasts and podcasts and think that students would be highly motivated by this. The posts I read within our school were great as well as outside our region. I love examples and this gave me a good way to find ways teachers and students used blogs.

I see now why teachers need to be technology literate. My new challenge is to help the children use it with project based learning. I feel technology is such a wonderful tool that helps us and truly makes our job easier. There are so many resources out there now that help our job. I used to spend a fortune on books and resources for my classroom. I used to make interactive tools by hand. Now they are just a click away.

2. Although I did my substantive presentation on the SMART board, I feel the students need some experience with this before they go into the classroom. For many of the classrooms there is little access to computers, but with a SMART board the students can at least interact and use so many of the tools.

3. There was nothing that I learned that I wished I had not. Google Earth was extremely frustrating, but I can see its usefulness.

4. Although I was extremely overwhelmed, it did excite me. I am excited about what all I can do with my knowledge when I go back into the classroom and how it will benefit the students.

5. I found it all to be intellectually challenging! After being out of college for 13 years this was extremely challenging and kept me very busy. In this course the most challenging was the Google Earth Project.

6. Too busy to be bored!

7. The only thing that I would change would be to consolidate some of the assignments. In the beginning it was very confusing but I eventually got the hang of it.

8. When it comes to being technologically literate I would say I am good and I will be able to use what I have learned and effectively implement it into the classroom.

9. I will maintain my knowledge base by keeping up with EDM 310 and checking to see what you guys are up to. I will also try to continue to develop my PLN and work on leaving an "intellectual trail" in the future.

Project 12 Google Earth Project

I have recorded a tour using Google Earth. These are some of the places I would like to go (again) in the next couple of years. I say again because I have been to some of them, but did not spend nearly enough time there.

https://sites.google.com/site/butlersherikedm310/edm310-file/GoogleEarthtour.kmz?attredirects=0&d=1

2nd Post on My PLN

I can't believe how fast my PLN has grown. I am following about 50 educators on Twitter now including Kelly Hines, Scott Mcleod, Paige Baggett and of course Dr. Strange. I was not crazy about Twitter at first, but I am growing to like it and see the usefulness of it. Often, I will click on the links tweeted from others and have found some very valuable resources. One of the neat things I found out about twitter was when I went to a NAEA Conference with my sister. She was able to highlight NAEA and receive all tweets regarding the conference. Not only did we find some great workshops this way, but also some great restaurants in the Baltimore area from other peoples tweets we did not know.

I also have several bookmarks in Delicious that I have found in this class and others that are valuable to me at this time as a preschool teacher. It saves so much time to not have to search for all of these sites. I love being able to pull up my Delicious account and all of my most important sites are right there.

I feel my PLN will grow as my needs change. I have learned how important a PLN is and hope to one day be someone who can be a contributor for others as well.

Project 14 Substantive Presentation

Tiffany, Amy and I chose to do our presentation on the SMART board. We all practiced using the device and love it. I feel it will be an invaluable tool when teaching. Most of the classrooms now come equipped with one. Since some students will have small slots of time to use technology independently, the SMART board allows everyone to learn skills together. You can look at our presentation to find out some of the benefits and uses.

Assignment 15

Welcome to My PLE!


I really enjoyed this video. This is an amazing use of technology in the schools. It was fascinating to see a seventh grader learning the the same way we are learning in this class. She seemed to be very knowledgeable about the technology and really enjoying the fact that all of her assignments are computer based. It really is nice to see an example of where the learning is placed on the students shoulders and they are so motivated by it. I hope that my children are one day doing these same types of activities in school. I also really liked the way she organized and uses her personal learning environment. My PLN is not as involved as hers, but it is very useful to me. I know that it will constantly be changing and evolving.


Two Question That Can Change Your Life by Daniel Pink

These are two very good questions that make me think. The first one was... what is my sentence? I don't have an answer to that one yet, but I am motivated to find out. Right now I kind of feel like JFK with too much going on and everything gets muddled. This does give me a goal to one day have a sentence. The second one was... was I better today than yesterday? These are words I live by. Although, I can't always answer yes to it, I sure can try. I hope to instill this in my children as well. They should always strive for their personal best and there is always room for improvement.

Project 13 Video/Podcast

Here is a link to our video/podcast. We chose to interview Dr. Paige Baggett about ways she uses technology in her classes at USA. Click HERE to watch it. You can also check out more podcasts at the It's Time For Technology Talk, EDM 310 Podcast Blog.

Project 15 Interview

For my interview I chose to interview my niece. Her name is Jacy Baggett and she is a Junior in the IB program at Murphy High School. I asked her some of the ways technology was used at her school and ways she uses technology personally. We were actually in a hotel room at the Hyatt Regency in beautiful Baltimore, Maryland. You may watch the interview below.

Comment for Teachers Weeks 13 and 14

This time I was assigned to Ms. Kelly Hines. I was excited because I had been following her on twitter all semester and never thought to look for her blog. I love reading her post on week 13 because she talked about being in a slump when writing on her blog. As a former teacher I can totally relate to what she is feeling. Sometimes you just get so overwhelmed with so much going on that you can't be as creative or as expressive as you need to. I was so glad to see this post. You can check out her blog at http://keepingkidsfirst.wordpress.com These are my comments to her:

Week 13
Hi Ms. Hines,
I am a student in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. I have enjoyed following you on twitter and have read over many of your blog posts. I have obtained many resources and gained knowledge from your posts. As a former teacher I know how you feel about being in a slump. The weather is just too nice to think about blogging. I find it hard sometimes too when I have set the bar so high for myself that I can't live up to my own standards. Sometimes we just have to take a step back and let others do it for a while and join in when we feel we are ready. Everyone deserves a break and time off often does us good. Just know that you are making a difference and your contributions are appreciated.

Week 14
What a wonderful way to look at how children learn. This is a great metaphor for differentiated learning. I can find children and adults in each of the categories you listed. And know exactly what category I fit in as well. I hope that when I return to the classroom I am able to give each student the right "foods" they need to fit their "metabolism". I have enjoyed reading your blog and you have given me so much to think about. You can check out my blog at http://butlersherikedm310.blogspot.com and I look forward to following yours as well.

Assignment 14 How Can We Change?

Dr. Strange asked us to pick a topic that we have covered in this class to discuss. I chose to discuss the need for change when it comes to the way we teach. This is a video I found on You Tube that supports WHY we need to change:



I think the most important lesson I have learned in this class is that I need to be more adaptable and open to change when it comes to technology. Am I going to be ready to do this after this class is over. I hope so, but I know there will be so many challenges to face in order to make it work. It's easy to sit in this class with all of our laptops and say that our educational system needs to be revamped and we need to integrate the technology the students are so often exposed to. However, once you get into the classroom you will see that there is not a lot of technology for the students to utilize. Some may only get to use it 30 minutes a week at a computer lab. Others may have to share one or two computers in the classroom. Teachers have to beg and plead for soap and paper towels from the parents. How can we change to this style of learning when there is such a lack of tools in the schools?

Week 14 Comments 4 Kids

This week I commented on Tevron's "Storybird" which is like a story board all about animals. He is a first grader in Mrs. Cassidy's Class in Moose Jaw, Canada. I loved looking at and reading his post. This teacher is doing some wonderful things with her students. You can check out their blog at http://classblogmeister.com Here is the comment I left:

Tevron,
I am a student in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. I am so glad I was assigned to your post because I love animals too. I really enjoyed looking at all of your pictures and reading your story. My favorite was the fish. You did a wonderful job describing each of the animals actions. Keep up the great work. Tell your teacher she can check out my blog at http://butlersherikedm310.blogspot.com.

Assignment 13 Why is it Important to Publish Student's Work?

Dr. Seuss was a genius when it comes to characterizing our society. The Zax shows those who are reluctant to change. I find that changing is not the hard part most of the time. It is the time it takes to learn something new and effectively implementing it that people are reluctant to experience. Through this course I have come to see how important it is to publish your own work and respond to others. In the beginning, I was very nervous to put myself out there. However, the more I contributed, the easier it became. In my own experience, I am much more motivated to do my best when I know there is an audience. Students should experience the feeling of importance when they publish and get responses from others outside of their classroom. Through our assignments I have seen numerous examples of creative student work. These are some of my favorites.

Here is a video which shows students talking about using blogs for posting student writings:


Creative Story and Illustration by Jonte, a year 7 student, in the PT England School











The KinderKids' Blog




Adora Svitak She is a 12 year old author and teacher. She lives in Redmond, WA and has published three books so far and more books are in the works. She teaches everyday through school visits ad distance learning medium such as webcasting and video conferencing. She uses a Smartboard in her teaching. You can learn more at www.adorasvitak.com.



Week 13 Comments4Kids

This week I was assigned to Anahera's Camp Poem. She is a very talented Year 5 student at the PT School in England. She wrote poem about her experiences at a camp that she went to. Her use of vocabulary was amazing. This is the post that I left her:

Hello Anahera,
My name is Sherik Butler and I am a student in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. I live in Mobile, AL. I enjoyed your poem about camp that you wrote. It sounds like you had a lot of fun and good food. I love to go kayaking and canoeing too! We have several places to go where I live. Keep up the wonderful work you are doing. Please tell your teacher she can check out my blog at: http://butlersherikedm310.blogspot.com/

Project 10 Timetoast Timeline

Using the program Timetoast Timeline, I created my own all about me timeline. I found this program very user friendly. I think this tool would be very useful at the beginning of the year to get to know all about the students in a class. It would also be a very motivating tool for the students to use to complete class projects.
Here is the timeline I created or you can click here to view it:

Project 8 "How To" Make a Tangram

I used video technology to make a movie to show my audience how to make a tangram. The purpose / objective of this video is to show you how to make a tangram which can be used in the elementary classroom to help to build spacial reasoning skills, foster creativity, and reinforce problem solving skills.
*Caution: It turned out much longer than I wanted. You may want to follow along with your own sheet of paper and scissors so you don't fall asleep!

Wordle Created Document

Assignment 12

Mr. Chamberlain's Blog

Very sweet! Who would have ever dreamed a group of eighth graders in Missouri would be contacting a 3 year old in Quatar? It amazes me when I see what technology can do. I really thought it was nice the way they made her a voice thread since she isn't able to read. It was a very creative way for them to stay connected and made it much more personal I'm sure Kaia is learning a lot about technology this way. This just goes to show that you're never too young to use and become familiar with technology.

Kaia and Skyelar's Blog

After reading a book called The Last Child in the Woods, Kaia's dad thought it was very important for them to spend time outside getting fresh air, observing nature, and exploring. I too think that most of our children in school today are suffering from "nature deficit disorder". I thoroughly enjoyed reading the girls' blog and looking at the pictures Kaia had taken. The use of technology was very creative in this blog, but these parents are teaching so many other very important lessons at a very young age. Although the land where they live is barren and littered, they still found plenty of beauty by taking a deeper look and teaching their children to look for a unique quality in everything they see.

Singing Hearts

I think this is an excellent use of technology and the connections made were fascinating. This is evidence of putting the internet to great use. What an amazing way to explore other cultures and other areas of the world. Just like a virtual field trip. At the end of Kaia's father's post he asks the question," Is the risk of exposing ourselves and our children online worth the connections that will be made and the lessons that will be learned?"As a mother of two, I am constantly publishing photos on Facebook of my children. I feel almost like it is a journal of my life. I share my trials and tribulations with others and they are able to respond and share their similar experiences. I like the connections that are made . I think that the online world is much safer than many of the risks in the real world. Therefore, I don't see the problem in exposing oneself or children for the sake of learning new information. Kaia's blog was provoking and I am inspired to offer the same connections with my children and future students.

Comments 4 Kids Week 12
A Big Fish by Aaron in the year one class at the PT England School













I caught a big fish with my fishing rod. By Aaron. (Dictated to the teacher)
Hi Aaron,
My name is Sherik Butler and I am a student in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. I love your drawing. You are very talented. My favorite thing to do when I was little was to go fishing with my dad too. We have lots of places to fish where I am from in Mobile, AL. Do you like to eat fish also? Keep up the great work! Tell your teacher she can check out my blog at http://butlersherikedm310.blogspot.com

Project 7 Vocaroo - Voice Thread

I chose to comment on a classmate's post for my Vocaroo voice thread. The classmate's name is Charla Reese and I commented on her post about ALEX on week 9. You may press the arrow to listen.

Assignment 10

An Open Letter to Educators by Morgan Bayda



Morgan Bayda is an early childhood education major who is ready for changes when it comes to institutional learning. She says her classes where the professor lectures for two and a half hours, assigns readings, and requires memorization of facts that are not relevant in today's society in which all of the information is right at our fingertips. She compares these classes to her Ed computer class which is a lot like ours in which she uses multimedia tools to collaborate and respond to educators all over the world. She posted Dan Brown's video in which he dropped out of college because he said that his "schooling is interfering with his education."

I am not a typical college student, I am taking this course for professional development. I graduated over 13 years ago. After reading this post, it sounds like college hasn’t changed a lot since I was in school. I agree with her and Dan Brown that institutional learning is quickly changing with technology and the monetary value of it is decreasing. As a mother of two whose children will be in college at the same time, I am hoping that college will be free – or a lot cheaper than it is now when they enter. I agree that institutional education needs to enter the 21st century. It is a change that will take time to adjust. Most will prefer the black and white, right and wrong method. The new offers lots of ambiguity which can scare some people – probably the teachers more than the students.

However, I would not have traded my college education for anything. I am so glad that online courses were not prevalent when I went to school. My education was extremely enjoyable. I loved sitting there and listening and learning from many of my professors. I loved all of the people I met as well. People from all over the world, who I still keep up with today. I prefer face to face interaction. The whole objective of college was to make me an independent learner and prepare me for being a responsible adult. Although there were some courses that seemed boring and irrelevant to me at the time, as a whole it showed my employer that I would be a hard working employee and have the ability to learn and be adaptable to whatever training I were to receive.

Comment 4 Kids Week 10

This week I was assigned to a student named Leo in Mrs. Kolbert's class. He posted a picture and called it My Dead Kitten. I can imagine this was very hard for him. I am glad that he was able to post this picture and share his grief. This must have been very hard for a child this young. I was unable to find out his age, but my guess is he is in a K-2 class. I left the following comment on his page:

Hi Leo,
I am a student in Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama. I am so sorry to hear about your kitten. That must have been terribly sad. It is very hard to lose a pet. The picture you posted of him is adorable. I bet he was very special, and I am glad you were able to share this with everyone. If you or your teacher would like, you can check out my blog at http://butlersherikedm310.blogspot.com.

Comment 4Teachers Assignment Weeks 10, 11 & 12

For this assignment I have been assigned to comment on a teacher named Jen Deyenberg. She is a grade 5 teacher. She lives in Southern Alberta, Canada. Her website is as follows: http://trailsoptional.wordpress.com

Week 10
This week they used a program called Prezi to create digital storytelling presentations. This is the comment I left:

Hi Ms. Deyenbergs,
My name is Sherik Butler and I am a student in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama. We are located in Mobile, AL. I am assigned to follow your blog for the next three weeks. I have never heard of Prezi until now. What a wonderful way to motivate the students to write and publish digitally. I can imagine it is very motivating and fun for them to do. I love the creative aspect of it as well. The examples you provided were excellent and I bet they enjoyed presenting them to everyone. Thank you for your posts and for sharing your thoughts and ideas with others. Your posts will help spark the imagination of current and future teachers everywhere. Please check out my blog at: http://butlersherikedm310.blogspot.com

Week 11
This week she attended and presented at a technology conference. She posted numerous sites on her blog that I added to my delicious account. They will be very useful for me when I return to the classroom.

Dear Ms. Deyenberg,
The list of resources you posted are great! Thanks for sharing them. I thought the blabberize was really cute. This list will help me when I return to teaching. I can imagine the students would find many of these sites very motivating and fun.

Week 12
This week she focused on keeping the kids from too much screen time. She is a runner and recently ran a half marathon. She has challenged her students as a class to run a marathon. She is going to use a Nike sensor to track their progress. She will then use Nike+ to graph and monitor their progress. She has done of beautiful job of integrating math, technology and exercise.

Dear Ms. Deyenberg,
I love this idea! I think a class marathon would be a great way to get the students moving. Incorporating technology and math is very clever. Childhood obesity is such a concern in our area. Hopefully your positive influence will help them continue a healthy lifestyle throughout their lives.

Comment 4 Teachers Assignment Weeks 7, 8 & 9

The teacher I was assigned to is located in Australia. She goes by the name Dragonsinger. She teaches 6-9 year old students. I have thoroughly enjoyed following her blog for the last three weeks. I have learned many creative ideas about how to use technology with early childhood students. Perfect for me because this is the age I like to focus on. Not only did I learn about technology, but I learned many things about her culture and the area where she lives. These are the posts that I left her and here is a link to her blog: http://dragonsinger57.com/

Week 7
Dear Ms. Dragonsinger,
I am a student from Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class from the University of South Alabama. We are located in Mobile, Alabama. I was also an elementary teacher for 7 years and I am taking this course for professional development. I have been assigned to comment on your blog for the next three weeks. I am so excited that I was assigned to you and I have added you to my personal learning network so I look forward to following you and your class all year long . I am so impressed by your classroom and the innovative ways you are using technology with your students. It is unbelievable all you have accomplished in 4 weeks. The art integration with the use of digital technology is very creative. The symmetry project and photo enhanced pictures were in fact very nifty. I also think it is great that you guys use and have access to a real library. What a great way to teach authentic skills. I too feel that it is important that teachers be continuous learners. Thank you for your posts and for sharing your thoughts and ideas with others. Your posts will help spark the imagination of current and future teachers everywhere. Please check out my blog at: http://butlersherikedm310.blogspot.com

Week 8
Dear Ms. Dragonsinger,
I really enjoyed reading your post this week. I bet your students were very motivated by your virtual field trip. I think Skype is an excellent tool to take children around the world and talk to students from the same and different cultures. You have motivated me to learn more about the area where you live. Your students are very lucky to have such a proactive teacher who is implementing authentic learning activities.

Week 9
Dear Ms. Dragonsinger,
You have posted another beautiful use of technology. Although, the students were not able to experience Fire Poi in person you were able to bring it to them digitally. I like that you used the interactive smart board for your storyboard and modeled “how to” writing with them. The subject matter and process you used seems so much more motivating and meaningful than the traditional instruction manual method. I have enjoyed reading your posts and learning more about your region of the world. You have given me many ideas when it comes to using technology in the classroom, and I plan to visit your site often to see what exciting activities you are completing with your students.
Thank you,
Sherik Butler

Project 6 Skype

During this semester I have used Skype in the following ways. I have Skyped the students in my podcast group while working on our presentation. I have used Skype to talk to a friend who has recently moved to Japan for a government job. It is free to use where as he was being charged to use the cell phone. My favorite way to use Skype is to talk to my children when I am away. They love it and I love it because I get to see their adorable faces.

Project 5 Google Docs Form

I sent the following questionnaire to 26 recipients. Only 10 have completed it after a week and a half. I really like this program and I am thinking of all the uses for an elementary classroom. This would be wonderful to get general information about the students at the beginning of the year. I think it would have been very useful for all of the teacher committees I was head of when I was teaching. I love how it organizes and graphs all of the information for you.

Click the title to see the summary of results and please feel free to take questionnaire as well:

Sherik's General Questionnaire Summary of Results

Sherik's General Questionnaire

Assignment 9

ALEX (Alabama Learning Exchange)

I researched ALEX or the Alabama Learning Exchange.
This is an excellent resource for Alabama teachers that gives them a wealth of information all in one spot. ALEX includes links for the Alabama Course of Study, lesson plans, professional learning, podcasts, personal workspace and web links. I used a site similar to this when I was teaching. It may have even been the same one. While searching the Alabama Course of Study link I looked through the technology education portion. I was shocked to see just the K-2 objectives in technology. Not only are K-2 student supposed to know correct terminology, but they should also be able to identify, use and design using digital tools. They should even know correct posture and finger placement. I was in high school before I learned the above objectives.

My favorite aspect of ALEX is the lesson plan area. You can either choose to search for lesson plans in a certain grade level or subject that meet an objective or create your own. It is so nice to be able to collaborate with other teachers and not have to reinvent the wheel. This also gives a new teacher an idea of what is expected of the grade level they are teaching and what the students are capable of. The grant information under the professional learning tab is an excellent resource too. As a former teacher, I am always looking for grants that help classroom teachers directly. If I were an actual college student I would definitely apply for the following grant listed on ALEX:

Media Smart Research Awards

Cable in the Classroom, the education foundation of the cable industry, will award up to three prizes of $2,000 each for excellent research papers on media literacy instruction. Papers can be submitted by graduate or undergraduate students at US colleges and universities. Winners will also be brought to Washington, DC, to discuss their research results at a forum with educational leaders. Submissions for the "Media Smart Research Awards" are normally due by the end of May. For more information, see http://www.ciconline.org/award

ALEX also has many podcasts to choose from. Some of them contain information that enhance student learning and that include information about Alabama. There are not only resources for teachers but for students and administrators too. This website helps all teachers to become successful in their career as educators. I will be sure to remember it when I am in the classroom.

ACCESS (Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide)

ACCESS (Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide) is a website that benefits Alabama public high school students. The vision of ACCESS is to provide equal access to high quality instruction to improve student achievement through distance learning. High school students are able to take a wide variety of classes that include college board advanced placement courses and modules that help them with their high school graduation exam. This benefits those students who need help catching up (remediation courses) and those who want to better prepare for their college career. The format looks easy to use and it provides technical support to students and teachers. This would be important since the courses are strictly online. There are opportunities for middle and high school educators to become facilitators for ACCESS as well.

I think this is a very useful program that Alabama has implemented for middle and high school students and it should help bring our schools into the 21st century when it comes to technology. It will truly benefit students in hard to serve areas. I however was amazed at the amount of money poured into this site each year. Just in the year 2008 they spent over 25 million dollars to design, coordinate, support and implement this program. I can't help but be bitter when our schools are in such peril right now. So many educators and support personnel are losing their jobs. The elementary teachers do not even get their allocation to buy necessary supplies for their room. I myself spent thousands on resources for my classroom. Classrooms are overcrowded and the conditions are only getting worse. I hope that ACCESS is not affected by the current conditions, but are programs like this taking away from our ability to give elementary students the fundamentals they need to become successful learners?

Comments4Kids Week 9

This week I again was assigned to James a Year 8 student. He did a very detailed charcoal sketch of a man's face. It portrayed a sort of painful anger and showed many of the muscles in his face so it looked like he didn't have any skin. The drawing was accompanied by a poem that talked about his frustration when dealing with our lack of concern for the environment and its effects on global warming. My comment on his post is as follows:

Hi James!
It’s me again from Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class. I am glad to see that you can display so much passion in your writing and in your illustrations. I like works of art that evoke emotion and responses whether they be positive or negative from their audience. You have done a beautiful job of portraying your frustration with our generations lack of concern when it comes to the environment. What will the future hold for our children? It is painful to think of what could happen if something is not done now. Keep up the great work!

Assignment 8

Randy Pausch Last Lecture:
Achieving Your Childhood Dreams




I enjoyed listening to Randy Pausch's lecture. It was very long, but interesting. It amazed me at how he was able to talk about the fact that he does not know how long he has left to live, and be so calm about it. He did not seem to let his diagnosis get him down. I can tell that Dr. Pausch enjoyed his job and his life. The passion he had for both shines throughout the entire lecture. Dr. Pausch was definitely a man who practiced what he preaches. This lecture reflected on his life experiences and his motto life's short, keep having fun.

The lecture focused on how to lead your life. His first point was on childhood dreams. Everyone has these dreams when we were young and the world seemed to be in the palm of our hands. When I was little I wanted to be a ballerina. I always danced for everyone the second they walked in the door and they didn't even have to ask what I wanted to be when I grew up. However, I realized I wasn't going to be good enough to make it professionally, so I moved on and became a teacher. I loved when Dr. Pausch said we learn the most from the brick walls. Would I have the beautiful family and wonderful husband I do today if my dream of a ballerina came true? The neat thing about his childhood dreams was that he actually fulfilled most of them. The dream of playing in the NFL was the one that he did not fulfill, but it got him where he is today. Football taught him fundamentals and experience for life.

His next point was about enabling childhood dreams of others. Throughout his life he has had a lot of positive effects on people. He started a class that allowed students to be creative while learning. Randy used video game technology to teach students different things. The class taught students about computer programming. He did not use the traditional teaching methods when implementing his graduate program. All learning was project based and an no "book learning". Pausch said they had already had four years of "book learning". This is a wonderful way to teach to let the students learn by doing. When the students graduated they had companies that were ready to hire them straight out of college. By starting the program he helped open doors in students' lives.

His last point was on lessons learned. He talked of people who have helped him get where he is today. In order for someone to be successful, they need someone to encourage them. Everyone has potential in life to do great things. Living life is truly a learning experience. I have realized that not everything in life is fair. We all have to deal with experiences that we don't want to face. However, they make us stronger as a person. He also talked on being loyal and doing the right thing. That part of the lecture was very true. Finding the good in people and being honest is the best way to live your life. I really believe it will make you a happier person. The lecture was very enlightening. It made me appreciate my life. No one really knows how long they have to live, so we should live everyday to the fullest.

Comment4Kids Week8

This week I commented on a student named James and he was a year 8 student. He was writing about the six traits of writing. His focus was on voice and word choice. The way he was able to understand exactly what voice and word choice were leads me to believe that he will be able to effectively write with those as his focus. I really enjoyed reading his post and am glad to see that this teacher is using the computer to publish their writing for so many to see.

Assignment 7

Dr. Richard E. Miller Discusses Writing With Multimedia

This is How We Dream Part 1
This is How We Dream Part 2

Dr. Miller is an English teacher at Rutgers University. In the video, Dr. Miller starts off by saying he believes, " we are living in the moment of the greatest change in human communication in human history." He says we now have the capability to communicate instantly globally, and now is the time to be engaged in a work of literacy. When he began in the profession, he spent his time understanding writing as a solitary activity. He loved books and has always loved books since he was a child. He talks about some incremental changes we as a culture have gone through. One of the incremental changes is how we work with laptops and not pens, pencils, and paper. Our workplace is now at a desktop. We can research the riches of the world because it is stored on the web. We can do an entire project without having to step foot in a library. It is now possible to collaborate using networking technology, not compose with text but with film.

Dr. Richard Miller states that we need to try and teach our students to produce multimedia not just listen and consume it. He says as educators we must be in the business of sharing ideas freely.We can not just look at the material and use it, we can actually go behind it and see how it was put together. We can distribute information globally and freely. I think this is one of the most important things he said. That has been one of the things that I myself am guilty of. I am the one who likes to read everyone else's posts on Facebook and not contribute like I should. I am always searching the internet for ideas and themes to use in my preschool class, but I realize much of what I do should be out there for others to see. Dr. Strange's EDM 310 course has showed me how important it is to not only produce multimedia, but to give feedback to others.

As a teacher, I believe that I am working at being able to write with multimedia, but that I am not all the way there. I believe that with practice, hard work, and actually putting the time into it my students as well as myself will be able to use it. I think one of the most valuable projects in our class has been the comments for kids and teachers. They have enjoyed the feedback and I have enjoyed being able to see how elementary teachers use the tools we ourselves are using and I enjoy seeing all of the writing the students engage in. Dr. Miller says that this networking technology should start with college English teachers, but as we all have seen, it is already happening in the elementary schools!

Wendy Drexler: The Networked Student



This video was a wonderful visual representation of how networking with technology in the classroom should occur. In this video the student who is studying American Psychology is in a class where there is no textbook and a teacher who is a facilitator and a motivator rather than one who lectures. This video shows the steps this student takes to produce a video of his research on American Psychology. He first builds a knowledge base and finds lots of resources on his topic: blogs, iTunes U, documentaries and video conferencing with experts. He then posts a video of the findings he learned and shared it worldwide for others to learn from his hard work.

This video asks a very important question. With this type of learning, why does he need a teacher? The video states that the teachers does have an important role in guiding the student. Teaching him how to build a network, take advantage of learning opportunities, how to get excited when he finds the world of content, and most importantly how to communicate appropriately. When he leaves her class she hopes in her heart that he will maintain his learning network and use it to navigate his future and help the world solve its problems.

This video must have been a model for our EDM 310 course. Just like the student in this video we are learning to be independent learners and to write, publish, and communicate and collaborate effectively using multimedia. I hope to be prepared to do this effectively in the classroom . I hope to be actively engaged with the students through the whole process and make it as motivating as possible. I also hope to be a good model for them and to continue learning with them the new tools that make networking with technology more manageable.

Toward a New Future of Whatever - Michael Welsch



I never really knew that You Tube had such a following and that so many new videos were added daily until I watched Dr. Wesch's video. Dr. Wesch said as You Tube becomes more popular it gives the students the freedom to experience humanity without fear or anxiety. He also states that this type of media not just distance us but it connects us, sometimes more deeply than ever before.

Dr. Strange asked us to talk about how Dr. Wesch's comments in his video fit my life in regards to me personally, as a college student and as a future educator. Personally, I grew up in the age when MTV first came out, and at that time whatever meant "I don't care". I however don't remember actually not caring in school. I took pride in my work and still do as an adult. While I was in college I couldn't afford to have a whatever attitude since I worked and paid for it myself. I do believe funding my own education however gave me a reason to do well. As a former elementary teacher and current preschool teacher I have seen the trend of students "whatever" attitudes progressively getting worse. Dr. Wesch said that the MTV generation were products of short attention spans, materialistic, narcissistic, and not easily impressed. Boy does that describe the children and parents of today. Will implementing technology media into the schools motivate them to care? How do we conquer the narcissistic disengagement? Dr. Wesch says we are not interested in creating the same old conversation we are creating a new one with media like You Tube. We are creating a new future of "whatevers." Moving away from the 60's - I don't care, whatever you think, and the 90's - whatever, I don't care what you think! I hope that Dr. Wesch is right about our future whatever, and I want to be that teacher that says WHATEVER - I care, let's do whatever it takes!

Project 4 My Personal Learning Network

At the moment, my Personal Learning Network (PLN) is very small, but I expect it will grow as time passes. I currently follow or bookmark through Delicious, Mr. C., Mr. Lamshed, and the other teachers on At the Teacher's Desk, as well as the folks at Pt. England School New Zealand. I am also establishing contacts on Twitter. I currently follow Dr. McLeod, Mr. McClung, Karl Fisch, Dr. Baggett, and Dr. Strange. I will hopefully add many more to this list. I have also practiced using Skype to discuss our podcast with team members. We also created a shared document on Google Docs to create our presentation and interview questions. We were able to collaborate without meeting as often. I am adding many more blogs to my (PLN) of preschool teachers who help me with creative lessons for my preschool students. I have often collaborated through technology with Dr. Baggett because I am at an art based preschool. She has helped me to incorporate the arts into our core curriculum.

Week 7 Comments for Kids

This week I commented on Nicholas's blog. He is in Mr. Crosby's class. They are a 4th grade class in Philadelphia that is piloting a 1:1 laptop program using MacBook computers. They blog, Skype, make Wiki pages, produce digital videos, podcasts and vodcasts. Nicholas has been making posts about all types of animals and this week he wrote about the importance of plants. I love that Mr. Crosby is integrating technology with his science lessons. I told Nicholas what a great job he was doing and to keep up the good work.

Assignment 6

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff? by Dr. Scott McLeod

Wow! What a thought provoking blogger! The one thing about his post is that it gets people thinking and they all passionately express their views to him. Some do not agree with him, but others do. In his assignment Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff he expresses his aggravation with internet blocking. It would be nice if teachers had the authority to unblock sites needed for assignments. We already have our hands tied when it comes to the lack of technology in the schools, but to have it and not be able to use it is really frustrating. I have added Dr. McLeod to my PLN and my twitter account. He immediately responded to me when I asked to follow him on twitter. I like the way he so openly expresses his opinions, even though I don't necessarily agree with everything he says. He is not afraid to "stir the pot" and does a wonderful job of getting people fired up about the discussions in a good way!

Dr. Alice Christie's Website

Dr. Christie's site has literally everything you need to implement technology in a classroom. Not only does it offer resources and links for teachers but it also provides tools for students to use for research, homework, or simply learning about the internet. This website is wonderful, it's organized , it's easy to navigate, and it's one of the most useful sites I've come across so far in this class. I love the way you have access to so many tools in one site.

It can definitely help me in my future career as an elementary teacher. I now have a place that not only contains teaching materials but tools necessary for my students to research easily and safely. It also provides a place for me to learn about the new technology available for me to use personally or in the classroom . For example, I was unaware of the Internet Public Library or the existence of electronic portfolios. The Internet Public Library will provide a place for students to access books or research materials for assignments. An Electronic Portfolio will better prepare me for the job market because it will give employers an easier more efficient way to view my records and resume rather than keeping up with a huge file filled with a huge stack of papers.These are just two of the things I found useful on this site but I'm sure that upon further browsing I will be using this site and its tools, applications, and resources for years to come!


iTunes University
(click on title for a link that lists the best of iTunes university - I found it very useful)

iTunes University can be great for teachers and students. As a student I can find useful podcast and videocast on basically any subject. iTunes U is free for anyone, so that can be a positive for college students or in my case - stay at home moms. I found a videocast showing students how to study smarter. This vodcast can improve a students study habits and possibly help students make better grades. Although I have already graduated from college, this is very helpful for future students and my own children.

iTunes will help me as teacher as well. I can find different ideas that other teachers use. iTunes University has podcasts that give tips on how to use Microsoft power point, excel, and the other Microsoft office tools. You can search basically any topic that you need to learn about. I never realized that iTunes could be used as a tool to further my education. I thought it was a place to download and listen to music. All of the links under categories can be helpful to students, but the link that stood out to me was teaching and education. Universities and colleges can also be a good link to use to find interesting information.


iPod Uses at Duke University (click on title for article)

In 2004 Duke University wanted to test if iPods could be used on their campus for educational purposes. In 2004 Duke University handed out 1600 iPods with voice records to first year students to study the impacts and outcomes the iPod had on students and teachers, and if it could be successfully used as an educational tool. The outcomes of the implementation of the iPod were very interesting. A total of 1228 Duke students, and 48 courses total Incorporated iPods into learning. Foreign language and music classes used the iPod the most which was expected, but also some unexpected courses such as engineering, and other social science classes reported they used the iPod for educational purposes. The iPod aided more audio related courses because students could play songs back. At first most believed the audio play back on the iPod would generate the most feedback, but this was not the case.It turned out that recording was the number one tool used on the iPod for educational purposes, and 60% of the first year students used it. By the end of the experiment Duke University came up with several educational uses for the ipod. One was the portability factor of an iPod incorporated with education.

With the iPod students were able to access lectures, speeches, music, and podcasts through iTunes. It was also used in the classroom to record important information like lectures, class discussions, guest speakers, and verbal feedback.Research also showed that the ipod was greatly used outside of the classroom to capture field notes, interviews, environmental data, and audio data that could not be found in a classroom or lab, but could only be gained through outside experience. Next, the iPod helped students study. Students would record notes, facts, and information and then re-play it to learn by hearing it. The iPod in the case of Duke University improved not only student interest and engagement, but also teachers and faculty members were showing interest with the experiment. As a whole Duke University was feeling the positives of using iPods for educational purposes.

Who is a technology literate teacher? Wikispace

I enjoyed reading Dr. Strange's Wiki about technology literate teachers. I liked the collaborative aspect of it and completely agreed with a majority of the comments and discussions posted. I also searched for other related wiki's. I am learning so many new tools in this class and hope to one day be a technology literate teacher. The only thing I could think to add to his wiki is as follows:

Who is TL teacher?

	sherikbutler A teacher who knows how important and powerful knowledge is, and can show students the importance of knowledge, as a tool to achieve success. Success is not how much money we make; success is when one knows how to find the answers one seeks. Technology is a wonderful tool for which to seek knowledge.

Comment4Kids Week 6

This week I commented on a post by a 5th grader named Selina from the PT school of England. Her blog post was called Scary Movie. It was a very short post about her going to a scary movie at night with her mom and her brother. She said it was boring at first, but then the movie called Paranormal Activity became more thrilling. She also added a very interesting graphic that looks like she drew it on the computer and even created slides that depicted a ghost moving. I would like to know more about how she created this graphic. What a great way to get kids motivated about writing and I loved the way she used the computer to show her artistic abilities.

Assignment 5

The Accuracy of Wikipedia

I feel so naive! I truly did not know that Wikipedia was an open source that anyone could edit. After reading the assignments: NPR Blog and Wired Story I found out that Wikipedia can be changed by anyone. The concept of Wikipedia is good. The world is ever-changing, especially when it comes to advances in medicine. Sources such as Wikipedia are very valuable and should be ever-changing as well. However, there needs to be a better system as to who changes the information. The scanner the Cal Tech student from the Wired Story created is a good start, at least this way in some cases you can see who is changing the information and decide for yourself whether or not they would change it honestly or to benefit themselves or their corporation. To me a more accurate encyclopedia would be one that was added to rather than edited. Just like a blog, the information should be presented and then anyone can comment or debate their position - especially when it comes to information related to corporations or politicians. For now, I will just know that Wikipedia is not the most accurate source of information and use other resources as well such as Google Scholar or a library database for research type projects.

At the Teacher's Desk: What I've Learned by Mr. McClung

I loved the way Mr. McClung expressed his trials and accomplishments
of his first year teaching. As a former teacher I can completely relate to what he wrote. Mr. McClung stated he learned that the lessons should be driven by the students, your true audience, and not evaluations by administrators. This is very hard in the beginning. You have so many people telling you what you should do, but often time not how to do it. It takes time to realize you need to listen the most to the students and their needs. He also expressed that you should be flexible and not get upset if every moment isn't planned or didn't turn out the way you thought. I too would get disappointed when I would spend so much time developing a lesson only to find out the kids did not relate to it or it didn't go as well as you wanted. Time and experience will help iron out all of the kinks, but don't expect something that worked one year to always work the next. After teaching 2nd grade for five years straight, I could rarely use the same lesson plans twice. The dynamics of the class were always so different from year to year.

The most important point to me in Mr. McClung's blog was when he stated communication is the best medicine. This was what was the key to my success. Clear and constant communication with the students, parents and colleges are what truly made me an effective teacher. I am so excited about all of the new technologies we have now that will enable me to keep in constant contact with them when I go back to teaching. This brings us to the point that he made that teachers should be continuous learners. We should model our thirst for knowledge to the students and be adaptive to all new technologies and ideas presented to us. I can say to be a truly effective elementary teacher your plates are overflowing, but like Mr. McClure said, "we owe it to our students."

Comments4Kids Week 5

This week I was assigned to comment on a Year 5 class (9 and 10 year olds) in a primary school in North Nottinghamshire, England. The title was by Bitten and it was written by Maisie and Faith. I am amazed at the writing ability of these 9 year-olds. Their use of descriptive and expressive language is very impressive. What makes it even better is that they published it on a blog and are not only getting practice blogging and using technology, but further developing their writing skills. This was an excellent example of an effective way to integrate technology into the classroom.

Project 2 Presentation

Assignment 4

Podcast Resources

I really enjoyed several of the selected podcasts this week because they were about why we should use podcasting and ways to use them in the elementary classroom. Although, I listened and looked at all of them my favorites were The Benefits of Podcasting in The Classroom and Curriki - Podcast Collection. I now have a better understanding as to how to implement them with elementary aged children. This podcast information also helped complete some of the research I needed to do when creating our group podcast for our EDM 310 class in two weeks. Although, the ones last week were very entertaining and offered good information for teachers about various websites and technology, these gave me many more ideas and a purpose.

Here are some of the many reasons I learned why we should use podcasts in the classrooms: they are an effective way of interacting with students outside of the classroom, they offer a form of learning students of today are familiar with and therefore makes it relevant to the student, it allows for differentiation and project based learning, students can access the higher order thinking skills in Bloom's taxonomy, it promotes creativity and innovation, it can offer distance learning opportunities for absent students, students can record role plays in character making their learning more memorable, parents can see and hear what their children are doing at school. I really like the thought of using these for absent students. I taught a little girl with cystic fibrosis who often missed classes and this would have been a wonderful tool for her to keep up with what we did while she was in the hospital. I also discovered several topics in which the students could conduct their own podcasts. One of my favorite would be the students pretending to be on an African Safari. It would take a much higher level application of knowledge to research, describe and role play an African Safari than it would to just take a test on an African habitat. I also like the fact that students need to use communicative skills and descriptive language when making a podcast. I sometimes think that one of the disadvantage of technology is that the students loose important face to face interaction and development of interpersonal skills. After today's assignment, I now have a better understanding why podcasts are important and many reasons to implement them into any curriculum.

Week 4 Comments4Kids

This week I commented on Christie Weschler's blog who is a 5th grade from a school in Illinois. Her blog is on the Avoca School District website. I loved reading her blog because it reminded me of when I was little. She reviewed a Nancy Drew Novel that she had read. Of course, I too loved Nancy Drew. After reading her blog, I may have to read a novel as an adult and see if they are still as great as I thought they were back then. I really enjoyed reading her review and told her what a great job she was doing.