All Good Things Come To an End

Time does fly when your having fun! I can not believe the semester is over already. I wish each and everyone of you the best of luck and warm wishes as you finish school and go out in the world to teach. Christopher Robin once told Pooh "Promise me you'll always remember you're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." I think those are good words to live by, sometimes we misplace our confidence. I am sure as new teachers this may often be the case in the beginning. When I was a new medic, it was a very often case, but I faked it till I made it! If you are confident in your skills, and believe in you, so to will the people around you. Then it all becomes second nature, self certainty will be yours, without question and people will respect you.

Thank-you Dr. Strange~ you have taught me about a world I never knew existed!

Until we meet again...

Tabitha

How Far I Have Come...

1) What I learned in this class~
Blogging is really, really important! You can spread your ideas around the world and find the ideas of others. The comments are out there if you look, the information is immense. The more I have read, the more I realized that information is never ending. One day not too long ago one of my kids told me they had run out of things to look at on the Internet, I figured they were board like all kids. I now know they were not really looking, they had no concern to learn, they just wanted to play! The comments you post to other blogs are just as important as the blogs you create on your own. Comments4Kids and Comments4Teachers allowed me to see into a world, somewhere else, and into the thoughts of other people. I got to learn new things/ideas.

I had no concept of a PLN, now there are a ton of blogs that I read on a regular basis and some teachers I follow on Facebook( I am not very fond of twitter. But this brings us back to the concept that there is much to be learned from the intelligence of other people. It is like you don't have to make the mistakes they made, they share their experience and you get to learn from it!

Google is a product that was reintroduced to me! I had no idea of its capabilities before this class(and best of all its free)I had used Google Earth before but to do the projects opened my eyes to the implications of it being used as a teaching tool. The document tools, like the spreadsheet/survey options are awesome, and the idea that you can share your document with anyone really saves time.

I see videocast/podcast/iTunes/iTunesU and Youtube all in the same kind of category. I would have never imagined myself making anything and putting it out there on the web, but that did occur. It is much easier than I ever imagined.I can see using these tools to make class projects and sharing things with family and friends. Vacaroo and ScreenJelly quickly became a favorite!

Over all I do see where I learned things in this short semester that it would have taken me years to discover on my own, if I would have ever discovered them at all!

2) I can not think of one thing that this class did not cover that I wish I did.

3) I am content with what I have learned and hope to remember it all.

4)Comments4Kids was the assignment that I looked forward to the most, it was exciting to me to see what kids thing and how they are different all over the world. I felt the comments would make a difference to them in some small way.

5)Using Google Earth was the most intellectually challenging~ because it never works right and I always thought I was doing something wrong.

6) Never Boring...

7) I would change the syllabus so the project are in order with the instructions by the project, not scatted through the semester. The workload is very easy(If I could stop reading in my PLN).

8)I would have to say my technology literacy is good, I wish I was proficient at things like Excel, but I am thinking those things are not as important anymore.

9)Continue my PLN, read, read, read! Technology changes every day, it is our job to keep up with the changes so we don't get behind.

Google 5.1 So Much More Than Earth

Click here to see the video cast about Google Earth!

Google Earth~ 7 Modern Wonders of the World

Project 14~ Reset Button!

Project 15~ Information Society

2 Movies and Some Popcorn!

What does my PLN have in common with a 7th graders PLE? More than you would think! We may be at different stages of learning but we have a common goal and that is to learn and to share the knowledge we have acquired. The 7th grader is to an advantage, she has learned this at a young age, and will have these tools though her education. This concept is new to me, I can not get enough. The more I research something the more there is to read about things I never even knew existed. This generation that is being educated now, will know no (or very few) limits on knowledge.

Two questions that can change your life. Is it really that simple? No, I don't really think it is. What the questions do it make you stop and think about what your doing. They are a starting point. The first question is,"What's my sentence?" The second question is, "Was I better today than yesterday?"
If I answer these questions for myself, here are the answers. My sentence is;(it is more of a question) Did you make a difference in someone's life today, or a positive change somewhere? And to answer am I better today than yesterday, I should hope so! I am here on this big blue planet to learn and make a difference, if I am not better than I have digressed and need to reevaluate what I am doing, where I am and whom whom I am doing it with. As long as these ideas continue to be a foundation for goals and aspirations regardless of professional direction, the outcome should be excellent.

And the Results Are In....

Google has a tool integrated with in gmail. The document function goes beyond the typical word processing and allows the user to create and send out surveys. Google then gathers the information and will even turn the numbers into pie charts and graphs!

I created a survey on technology use, here are some of the results.
(Thank You to the 41 people who responded!)
~ 50% use a computer for 3-4 hours a day
~50% say 1-2 of these hours are for school work
~ 93% are a member of a social networking site
~ all who responded were members of Facebook
~ 53% say they Facebook during class time
~ everyone who responded sends/receives text messages
~ 73% text during class

Want to see the results for yourself? This is a great tool, fun and easy to use!

All the Hype About Skype

I used ScreenJelly to teach a friend about Skype . Both tools are very easy to install and use. He and I used Skype to talk, it was like having him right here with me! I wanted to make a ScreenJelly of this , but ScreenJelly would not cooperate! Great tool for the classroom and virtual meetings all over the world.

Random Thoughts

The assignment is any topic that stems from working in EDM310. Honestly, I can not come up with one topic. Many topics is more like it.

I would have to first thank Dr. Strange for his persistence. I look around the class and wonder how many will make it as teachers, if you can't come to class and follow directions as a student, how will you lead as a teacher? If your assignments are not done on time, what material will you teach? My kids are almost finished school, so most of you will never teach their generation. But, you will teach a generation that will be influential in my lifetime. Will you be proud of your work?

The next subject would be blogging. This has been the thing I have looked forward to the most in this class. I have seen comments that were negative or gave the idea that the writers were not happy about the assignments. Would you rather do math problems for hours? Really, how hard is it to watch or read something and write your opinion of it? Each of us wants to share and now we have our chance, use this wisely! Comment opportunities are also available, some assigned, others can be done just because it will make someone's day. It can be a great encouragement to a young student to get a comment on a blog post, you never know your comment may be the one that helps that student make the decision to go to college, a life changing outcome.( While on blogging~ People add pictures and links, these make your pages more friendly and colorful. It makes it appear you care about your work!)

Never be afraid to learn, always think outside the box. Technology is our friend! Bring what we are learning to the classroom. Always strive to grow, just because we graduate does not mean we have finished learning. Our personal learning network should always be at our fingertips, helping us learn. Never be intimidated by a computer, there is a reset button somewhere if you goof it up! Remember to manage your time wisely, that is one thing you can never get back( your youth is another).

I have made the decision not to follow through on a career in teaching. I do love children and will always be an advocate for education. The beginning of this month made twenty years that I have been a Paramedic. My heart will always belong to medicine. I will take what this class has taught me and bring it to the world, there is place for this information and many people need to know technology. If parents are introduced to this material they will encourage the schools to present it to their children. This will give you , the teachers of the future the tools you need.

Comments4Kids

This week I visited a classroom in New Zealand without ever leaving my desk. I even got a history lesson! This is a great use of a blog. I am sure this helps motivate the students creating the art for the animation and the writing that goes along with it. Check out Room 16's very own Nezinli and the blog post about Sining of the Treaty!

It's Not Just any Blog

Until this class, EDM310, blogs were something I read to entertain myself! Now, I can see where the possibilities for bogs are endless. In the educational setting the possibilities are infinite! The range is from teachers using them for communication with students and parents to the students using them as virtual notebooks. The work is out there for the world to see! Many people can come and comment on the work and sometimes the work is recognized by people responsible for the ideas in the first place, this is a great ego booster for the students. Collaborative education gives everyone involved a chance to learn something new!
Miller's English 10 Classroom Blog is a great example of how a class blog should work! Mr. Miller post an assignment, and the class gets the information. They can comment, the calendar is on the blog, the vocabulary is posted. I am sure there is information on this page that is exclusive to this page. So it is important that the students pay attention to the page!


I found a blog called Global Frig Door.This is the perfect blog for 3rd graders! Here some of their assignments are displayed- the spelling words are here (as a parent I can certainly appreciate this one!), some pictures of field trips and other class activities are also on this blog. There is student blogging and other things the class has done as a whole! Comments left encourage the kids to be creative. The information for the parents are all in one place, form list of work to be done to the supplies that are needed. Another neat aspect of blogging is the work can be shared with all family members, like grandparents or with with parents that are not living together. There is also the plus of saving the environment by being green!



Last, but not least is the blog that is like a virtual journal. Leeza's Ice Berg, is a young girl's story about her life training for swimming competition. She is very descriptive, her story is sad. But, it does show education and emotions are universal!

There are thousands and thousands of blogs out there, to many to read. Some are active and some are not, but most are worth opening and reading over. They all give ideas, even if the idea is not what to do or say!

Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks

The assignment is to teach someone how to do something with the tool we have learned about in class. I made a video using ScreenJelly, to teach my dearest friend about Skype. I am hoping to virtually reconnect with him, he moved across the country, we worked together years ago and remained friends in to what is now turning into decades! There will be a part 2, the Skype assignment will come about once he gets the email with the ScreenJelly, installs it and we Skype. I will ScreenJelly that, too!
ScreenJelly is easy to use;it makes a video of what is on your computer screen, up to 3 minutes long. There is nothing to download, and there are many methods to share your new video, from email to twitter, right there on the page!

Comments4Kids

Rocky has created a short video using QuickTime and his art! It is amazing what kids can create when given the opportunity!

Comments 4 Teachers

At the Teacher's Desk was the next blog I visited. 'Are we really sure our successful students are really successful?' was the first post I read. This post makes me think it is not so much about the information, because it is out there for everyone to see and use. It is about the ability to use the information. I spent many years as a medic, and American Heart Association took the guess work out of how to handle situations, you can follow the information on a chart, so you do not confuse what comes next. The real ability comes from knowing what goes where, when it belongs and why. I think more and more educational opportunities should be like this. It should be a practical use of knowledge and not what is regurgitated on demand.

The next blog post, "What will anyone find interesting about us?', bring up the ideas bout blogging and why we blog and why we comment. Until this class, I truly had no concept of what blogging was, nor it's impact. Sure, I had read some, but I did not have any blogs of my own. I had no idea that I could even create one! Now that this class has taught me some things I have the required one and a few others. I comment on the assignments and venture back to comment on other blogs because I know it does feel good to have comments posted about your work. It is very encouraging to have other people read what you blog, the further away the better! I applaud all the teachers who keep blogging in their classrooms and hope that those who shun the idea reconsider, there is a place for technology in learning...that place is here and now. Don't leave the kids of today behind!