Sad But True

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nullalux/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

I just happened to come across this article after one of my fellow facebook friends posted it. I was intrigued by title Florida Teacher's Essay Becomes a Rallying Cry for Respect and couldn't help but read to see what this was all about. It goes on to explain the politcal decisions in Florida to cut the education budget (what else?), and how one teacher has spoken up by allowing others to read what she has kept tucked away until now. The essay she has written is posted at the end of the article and I must say it is quite sad to read. It is sad because she is not the only one expected to meet state standards to earn her pay, expected to meet those standards with the lack of material needed to do so, and then expected to pay for those materials even though her salary has been cut. I don't understand why people think that it is ok to make these budget cuts regarding our future and then wonder what is happening to it? This teacher has obviously dedicated her life to her students yet is still being told she is a bad teacher because her students are unable to fulfill state standards. If you have the time to read this article I would definitely do so.

Frustration

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I cannot not even begin to explain the frustration I had while doing my final lesson plan for this class. I was and am having all sorts of problems with being able to embed my mock example, and I have made probably four different digital stories in order to get this thing to work out for me. Hopefully I have at least done what I am suppose to for the rest of it and have fulfilled most of the requirements, I still just don't feel like this one has gone as well as the last. I eventually broke down and made a smoothie with some popcorn to try and make things better, not sure if that helped my grade much thought! Sorry for that rant I just had to express my frustration towards technology right now!

Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/litandmore/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

I don't know about anyone else, but I have been finding myself looking at way more pictures on Flickr than necessary when finding one for my blogs. I will see one that is completely compatable for the topic of my blog but instead of just getting the code to embed I take note of the page it is on and continue to look. Though some of them aren't very relevant I find it quite interesting the things that people are able to come up with under the various key words that I have searched. I've managed to go through over ten pages of picures for no real reason. Props to those that creative enough to keep my procrastination at its best! ....I went through over 30 pages of pictures and this isn't even the one I wanted, but I couldn't find the other one (just thought I'd prove my point!).

Websites, Wikis, and Blogs

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pyxopotamus/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

These are all three great ways in which to communicate and share all sorts of information to anyone who may be interested. They can be created by just about anyone and for pretty much any reason however; some of them will work better than others depending on what the purpose may be. Websites and wiki sites seem to be very similar and both are used to display all different kinds of information. Websites however seem to be more professional and used more by companies and services. Wiki sites on the other hand I have only experienced through use in the different classes I have taken. Wikis have one other thing that differs from a website in the fact that it is able to be edited by anyone you would like. You are able to have it open to the public to edit or you can also limit the people who have access and invited them. I think that wikis would be have great use for the classroom not only at the college level but at just about any level. It would be a great way to share different students work, allow feedback from peers, and post discussions etc. Blogs are a bit more different than websites and wikis. Blogging seems to be used as more of a personal use, and to express different thoughts that you may have about certain topics, journal/diary, or to keep people informed in something that you are involved in. I think that this would be a great thing for a teacher to use to keep both students and their parents informed about the various things that are happening throughout the week in their classroom/school. Blogging also gives the option for others to leave comments in order to communicate and create feedback. All in all I am glad that I have learned and become more familiar with these tools that have been accessible to me all along.

Curiosity

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotologic/ / CC BY 2.0

I love the way kids have no shame in asking just about anything they find to be curious. The past two weeks I have had a few different kids that I coach ask me "why I have spots on my face", or "what are the spots on my face"!? I can't help but laugh and tell them that they are freckles, though it is hard to explain to them why or how they get there. All I can really do is tell them that they are from the sun, and that not everyone gets them when they ask why they don't have them. I just love how easy going kids are and how willing they are to know anything they have questions about.

Smart Boards

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Yesterday I had my first smartboard experience however; I don't really think I got out if it what I could have. I have always been really curious as to exactly what they are all about and what they are really able to do, and I feel as if they are able to do a lot more than what I was able to do in the short amount of time I got to play around with it. I think that this is something that I would want a little more instruction with what I'm sure is many possibilities. From what I was able to work with and figure out, I feel like a SmartBoard would be more of a tool used within the elementary level rather than a high school age. Many of the tools and activities that come with the smart board seem to be more directed for these ages, however I am sure there are other things that would be helpful for the upper levels as well. There are other activities that are on the smartboard website that give what age group that specific activity is meant for and you are also able to look up the state standards that correlate.
One thing that I feel would be a great social studies or geography lesson would be working with google earth on the smartboard. This would allow them to be able to see the different states and countries as a whole and then see how different landmarks fit into the bigger picture without having to move from one map to the next, along with multiple other ways to show various places around the world and even space.

Just for Fun

I know that I have already expressed my love for coaching and kids. But I have also began to recognize the different benefits that the sport of gymnastics has along with other sports. One of the classes I am currently teaching has 2 and 3 year olds in it however; their parents do come out with them which makes it seem less crazy! I know that it still sounds pretty difficulte but really I just set up different obstical courses using the various pieces of equiptment. There is a lot of coordination that is aquired from climbing, jumping, hanging, balancing, and rolling which is important at such an age. The kids are in a structured environment with other kids, and their parents to help them follow the different rules and listen to the directions that are given. I think that something like this is great even if you don't care for the sport of gymnastics just to get them out their with other kids and start working on skills that can only improve. I have also had a child with cerebral palsy in one of my classes because it was recommended for him to do something like this that required to use his different muscles while coordinating them as well.

Lesson's Learned

Catchesthelight's Flickr
Currently in my Science Math and Education class we are working our way through the plant section. In this class we basically learn exactly what we learned throughout our elementary science classes but in more indepth way however; we are still required to the same experiments and hands on activities that we got to do "way back when". We recently grew two sets of bean seeds in a zip lock bag and were required to record what happened when we tried to grow one in the dark and one in the light. Lets just say that not all of these growth attempts turned out as planned and that some of them simply did not grow regardless the conditions. I also came across a Blog today of a teacher who was experimenting with her first grade classroom and plants and had each student choose where they wanted to try and grown their plant within the classroom. However, some of the students chose to put their plants in the closet where they naturally lacked the sunlight they needed to survive. The students had become very upset and actually cried when they found out that their plant died, and that it was all their fault. This just goes to show how things don't always go as planned and that you may have to deal with some things that you may not expect. I can't imagine how hard it would be to explain to a 6yr old the concept of death, especially when the reaction comes so unexpectedly. And how do you get them to understand the concept that plants need sunlight or they aren't going to survive without proving it in such a way.

Wiki

Schnaar's Flickr
I have only recently been introduced to a wiki site other than wikipedia this semester in two of my classes. One of course being my teaching with technology and then again for my Diversity in children's literature course. We haven't done much with the on in my children's lit class but, from what we have done in CEP 416 I am starting to see how a site such as this could come in handy, especially after creating my own. Unlike a blog or weebly site the wiki site allows others to edit the different pages however they would like.  It even has the option of having it be public and let anyone have control of these editing options, but you are also able to make it and invitation only type thing. If you end up having any problems with people vandalizing your site there is also a way in which you can go back to every saved spot and restore back to where ever you would like. My particular wiki is a place to share the digital stories that we had to make for the previous assignment. I have created a page in the wiki specifically for each invited guest to post and share. I can see how this would come in handy within the teaching world. It would be a great tool to calaboratively put together different profiles/portfolios for each student and the work that hey have done. Students would be able to share whatever work or information they would like with their classmates, and it would also be a way for the teacher to communicate with not only the students but their parents as well. This would be a great way for students to show of what they are able to do, and for others to be able to comment if they would like.

"I Heart Writing"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/childrensalliance/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

I recently read a blog from the "Organized Chaos" blog that I am following and it got me excited. She describes this holiday that her school has created called "I Heart Writing" and how involved and excited her kids were to celebrate it. I think it is great that they have created a day that has been dedicated to their students writing, and making a big deal about it. The way her students were all for dressing up for it and decorating the room to share their favorite piece of writing goes to show how involved and excited kids are able to get for things such as writting simply by creating the right atmosphere. Kids love to show off what they are able to do, and I think it is important to give them as many oportunities as possible to do so!

First Year Jitters

I don't know about the rest of you but I am already nervous for my first year of teaching. I know that once I complete my final year along with my year of student teaching that I will probably feel better about this situation. But I know that some of you are getting ready to graduate and jump in to your student teaching year, so I am sure my premature nerves are nothing compared to yours. Hopefully we won't have too many first year horror stories to tell! Here is a slideshow I found that had some pointers that got me thinkin about all of this.

iClicker

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I have not personally had the opportunity to use an iclicker; however I do know that this seems to be a growing tool that is used on MSU's campus and I would assume others as well. This tool seems to be more common for bigger lecture halls with a large amount of students, but I don't think that this would necessarily be the only setting that it would be useful. I feel no matter how large the classroom, that this would be a great way to engage all of the students, and make sure that they are comprehending what is being taught. It is pretty much impossible for a professor to keep track of up to 600 students, and to gage how they are doing in some way other than their exam statistics. The iclicker is a way to poll the students understanding throughout various times during a lesson or lecture, and if there seems to be a common misunderstanding than this is obviously something that needs to be gone back over. This would also be fun in lower grades as well, I know that money is always an issue but if a school were to be lucky enough to have these, it would be an easier way to keep track of who knows what and is paying attention other than having them raise their hands to call on one individual. The iclicker has the ability to be used on both mac and pc and will work with any other software. The iclicker is also something that does not need to be downloaded and comes with all of the software on a memory stick. This allows you to be able to carry not only the software to any computer to use it but also it keeps track of all the data you have collected with your students. This is a tool that is not limited to a specific subject area.

Eye Opener

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I am currently enrolled in a class that addresses the issues of diversity in children's literature. After taking the prerequisite of simply children's literature in general I was already excited to explore even more into these pages and what is really behind the illustrations and print. This class however is a little more indepth and has opened my eyes not only to the world of children's literature, but also to many societal issues that I was simply ill informed about. We have explored issues of multiculturalism, diversity, identity, and have read books based on middle eastern, native americans, urban areas, disabilities, and even GLBT (Gay, lesbian, bisexual, trandgender). The books that were chosen to represent the issues that go along with these topics are considered to be a good representation, yet we are to look further and ask ourselves questions throughout each book and reflect. I have continuously had my eyes opened to many of these topics by reading these books and the articles that have given me background information. This is exactly what needs to happen when using children's literature in the classroom. Books need to be chosen to correctly depict certain things and the students need to be exposed and informed about each topic and it's issues. I am personally going through this transfermation as a college student and don't see why I should not have been exposed sooner to expose me to the stereotypes I never even realized that were stereotypical.

My Decision to Teach

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I'm sure many of you have experienced or been asked the question; "What are you going to school for?" or "What are you planning to do with the rest of your life". Personally, it took me a while to figure out what the answer to this particular question was. I attended a community college for two years before deciding that I wanted to be a teacher, and found myself really excited and set on this decision!! However, I don't know about the rest of you, but it seems that when I answer with "Elementary Education", the response I get seems to be negative. I almost always get the reply "you better not be planning to stay in Michigan", or "I hope you're ok with moving out of state", or my favorite reply has to be "Oh... I'm sorry" . I know that the state of the economy is not expecially good right now, especially in the education world, but this is what I have decided on as a career, and yes I know it is likely that I will have to move, and that I'm not going to be a millionaire, and that I am going to have to put up with kids, but I have obviously already thought all of this through and wouldn't have made this decision if it were an issue.

My Digital Story Experience

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wfryer/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

I can honestly say that though I was excited to do this particular project that it quickly became quite frustrating. Even with all of the suggested sites to use, I had to go through a couple different ones before I finally found one with what I wanted, and even then ran across some issues. The first site I tried was Joggle.com and after uploading all of my pictures found that there was no way to add captions, which was something I wanted to do. I found after I uploaded  onto another site and had half my story finished that this particular site had a page limit. So, once again I ended up having to move on and upload my pictures onto another website. I finally ended up choosing Slideroll.com and was at least satisfied to be able to finish the digital story and be mostly satisfied. I was able to upload all of the pictures I wanted and have captions to go along with each one. However, I did find some of the features to be a bit confusing to use. Now, it is quite possible that I just simply don't understand how to pan or zoom in or out, but I felt as if it never did exactly what I was asking to do. Also, the first time I had everything set up to how I thought I wanted it and had it "published", all of my pictures ended up in a random order and the captions that I had were no where to be seen.
I think that if I were to have a group of students perform the task of completing a digital story that I would find a more simple site to use. However, I do think that is a great idea. I would love to see students create something like this after spring break, telling about what they did even if it was just relaxing at home. Or even if they were to be set up in groups of two, and had to create a fictional story along with the illustrations.
You can see my digital story Here