Special Metaphor Assignment (Blog Post #14)

n this post I have asked you to think about several questions:

1. I'm honestly not completely sure why I missed the metaphor. I think perhaps I was taking it too seriously or didn't think about it as thoroughly as I should have.

2. Beating around the bush, the bee's knees, as big as a house, burst your bubble, in a nutshell.

3. Well, it's important for us to teach our students about metaphors and the fact that people use them constantly. It's also important for us to point out that some people use metaphors instead of coming straight out with it (perhaps because what they have to say is harsh and offensive).

4. People use metaphors to spice up conversations. Saying the same thing all the time gets boring after all. Metaphors are good for lessons too (like in this case). And like I said before, some people use them because they can't bring themselves to be blunt about what they need to say.

C4T #4

Education Reset

This particular post was quite interesting. The author, teachernz, brings up the idea of pressing the "RESET" button on education. And frankly, it probably ought to be done. Schools are too focused on numbers and not focused on whether their students are actually learning the material and actually remembering it past the day of the test. Teachernz says that a simple reboot wouldn't be enough. The innards of the education system need to be re-worked completely. And it's true. Simply rebooting wouldn't change the way the system thinks or runs. It'd end up repeating itself.


Web 3.0



The second post I was assigned to comment on was a video about the advancement of the internet, how far it's come, and where it could possibly be headed. For example, the interent could lead to our washing machines and dryers being able to determine whether they should run or not and even could be able to send the owner a text saying "Hey, hang out the wet laundry before it starts storming." I think this would be absolutely amazing. Mom and I tend to forget about our laundry. Sometimes we'll load the washer and foreget to turn it on. But, it just goes to show you, that the internet has become more valuable than possibly thought.

Blog Post #13

ALEX

ALEX is a project of the Alabama Department of Education. It is a collection of lesson plans, web links, and interactive activities for teachers, students, and parents to access and use.

The website is wonderful. It allows you to look up lesson plans by subject and grade level. It even allows you to search for lesson plans by author, title, or school. Plus, you have to option to create your own lesson plan. The web resources are also organized by subject. The offer many different links to websites that can be used to supplement learning. On top of that, the site has a collection of podcasts that span from Art, to Math, to Technology Education.

I will definitely use ALEX when I begin teaching. It offers so many different options and it's easy to access for everyone. It'll allow parents the opportunity to keep up with what their children are doing.


ACCESS Distance Learning

ACCESS is another website that offers resources for students and teachers. It offers a wide variety of links ad programs for download. It offers lessons for the Alabama Graduation Exams and test prep lessons. There is a page of information strictly aimed at educators to help them expand their teaching plans. Students have their own list of resources too. Some of the resources require login information, others are completely open.

Book Trailer

The music is Path by Apocalyptica.

Blog Post #12

EDM 310 is all about what technologies ought to be used in the classroom and why it's important to use those technologies. However, what we've barely touched on is what impediments we might find along the way.

I think a full blog post reflecting on these impediments and how to conquer would be a good idea. I think it's important to prepare yourself for anything that can happen and this would be a great way to bring things into perspective.

Final Project Progress Report

For my Final Project I'm working in a group with Carly Pugh and Kristen Whitehurst. We've decided that setting up a blog where we explain how to enhance blogs and blog. Our intentions are to be able to teach new bloggers and old bloggers alike how to spice things up.

Special Assignment-Mr. McClung

McClung's World

1. His class blog doesn't just include things his students have done, but it includes things that affect his students, his student's parents, and others.

2. He's well rounded. He doesn't focus on just one area, but seems to strive to incorporate a lot of beneficial things.

3. His rules are really simple. I think they're a great set of rules that seem to want to teach respect for others, not just the teacher, but also focus on the importance of learning and teaching others.

4. The first thing listed is a day planner. A day planner allows people to plan their time well. It also allows people to keep up with important dates, such as when a project is due. It's essential for keeping organized and keeping up with work.

5. They're alike. And frankly, it may seem harsh, but it more than likely motivates students to do the work.

6. He seems to want to be able to offer a place for students, parents, and teachers to follow along with what he's teaching in class. I think this is a great way to do it. It's easy for everyone to access and easy to follow. I plan on doing the same thing. Besides, it also prevents students from saying "Well, I didn't know, I was absent that day" or something along those lines.

7. One link I looked through was the Biology Corner. Here there were lists of biologysev worksheets that go along with several textbooks. This is a great way for teachers to oust the "I didn't have it, I was absent" excuse and a great way for parents to prevent it too. The second link was Discovery Education, where students can not just stare at a textbook, but engages them through the use of videos. It also offers resources for teachers. This can be helpful in that it can give teachers new ideas to spice up their lessons and can be a lot more interesting for students. I believe they made the list for these reasons.

8. Under Internet Safety I asked you to read carefully the rules Mr. McClung sets forth for safely using the internet. Comment on these rules. Are there any you would add or subtract.

9. The C4K assignment was filed under Main Page, which simply was the main page of his blog. Here he talks about different things like raising money for the Susan G. Komen for the cure.

10. I like the Mr. McClung has a "song of the week" feature. I also like that he has a mini slide show viewer on the sidebar too.

11. He posts information that's not only related to his class and their work, but things that would affect people like me and other teachers. For example, one of his posts discusses the unemployment rate. Aside from being interesting to read about, it helps keep things in perspective.

12. There is so much going on on his blog, but it's all great and useful things. Other blogs have been cleaner and simpler.

13. He clearly knows what he wants to achieve and what he wants his students to achieve.

Teach Someone Something Video

Blog Post #11

Little Kids...Big Potential & Skype Conversation

Ms. Cassidy did a great job with what she started out with. She began with only 5 computers that could only be used to access the internet. Instead of writing them off as useless, she took the time to learn about things to teach her students to help them learn. I definitely think that teaching her students how to use wikis and websites to learn is great and it's something I intend on using. I'm in love with the idea of students being able to teach themselves things, with my aid. I don't want to just tell them how to do it. However, I think there will be students who are going to be lazy and expect me to spoon-feed them. I plan to simply encourage them to learn things for themselves and help them realize the benefits of teaching themselves. As for the benefits, I think there are many. One of them being students become more independent. They won't rely so heavily on others for information. They'll have the skills and abilities to research information and learn things by themselves or along with others.

Comments for Kids 7, 8, & 9

A couple of German gnomes provide some intermission entertainment…or something like that.

The first C4K assignment I was given, was a video of two students dressed as gnomes performing a song in German. It was quite entertaining for me and the audience seemed to love it too.



My second assignment talked about learning and performing the jive. She said she was nervous when she had to perform it, but loved it. I told her I experienced the same thing when I was in color guard in high school.


Mrs. Yollis' Classroom Blog

Mrs. Yollis' blog is very organized and easy to navigate. She does a wonderful job of keeping the information simple and easy to understand for everyone. She offers links to other educational blogs. The blog is perfect for students and parents to keep up with the class activities, but it's also a great place for them to expand their learning base, through the educational blogs she follows.

Hannah's Hacienda

The last assignment was about the Iranian celebration Seezdah-Bedar. I highly enjoyed reading about this post because I learned a lot. Seezdah-Bedar is a celebration to keep bad luck at bay. Families gather together and enjoy a picnic and games then throw the Sabzeh in a river or stream. The celebration sounds like a lot of fun.

Blog Post #10

An Open Letter To Educators



I have to say, in some cases I've felt cheated too, though not enough to where I'd drop out of school. I've had a few too many classes where the teacher doesn't care if they simply read straight from a boring PowerPoint or from the even more boring book. Honestly, I could spend my time alone doing that on my own and not pay you to do it for me. However, there are the occasional teachers who care about what they're throwing out to the masses of students and they care about whether you learn the material or not.

And like Morgan, I've really gotten more out of EDM310 than I have out of any of my other classes, English included. EDM310 has given me things that I know I can take and WILL take to my classroom and use happily. EDM310 is also the only class that hasn't shoved information in my face and told me to memorize it and then take a test on it and I love it.

As for Dan Brown's video, yeah, education isn't really keeping up. At least, not all of it. It's time to step it up and make changes if not in the whole system, then at least in the classrooms. I certainly look to be one of the teachers who encourages change.

Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home

This was an interesting post. I for one pretty much giggled at the idea that allowing students to take pencils home would lower their test scores. However, it seems anything is possible. The message of this post is that finding a fix is better than eliminating the problem all together. Johnson devised ways to engage students in activities with their pencils that helped their learning instead of banning pencils. This is exactly what needs to be done. Work with the problem and turn it into a good thing instead of eliminating it. Simply banning something usually makes it more desirable. Plus, not allowing children to take pencils home? That just sounds so odd.