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

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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.