Project #14 SMART Board Instruction

This semester was my first time seeing the SMART Board. Anthony Capps did a great job introducing the SMART Board to us and it helped tremendously. We have come a long way from the "chalkboard" days! To me, the SMART Board is much like using PowerPoint, Paint, and Microsoft Word all in one. This seems like such a great way to get immediate feedback on the student’s comprehension of the objectives. I also love how interactive you can make lessons using the SMART Board with all the different options available. I honestly can't wait to use the SMART Board to create some lessons. 

Blog Post Assignment # 9

At the Teacher’s Desk

An experiment in professional learning, collaboration, and sharing of ideas.

At the Teacher’s Desk is a blog created by Mr. Joe McClung, he is not a veteran teacher, and actually, 2011-2012 will be his fourth year teaching. Mr. McClung decided to start a series of post after his first year of teaching to reflect back over his experiences during the year. His reflections are great and should inspire new teachers. I think it is important to reflect on your performance and experiences in order to grow. I think in life we are faced with obstacles, trials, and circumstances that may or may not be enjoyable or of our liking. I think all of these things are truly blessings in disguise. (reminds me of the song Blessings, by Laura Story) They help us grow and become stronger emotionally, physically, and mentally. I think it is important, as teachers, we look back and reflect on our year in order to learn. We should allow these "blessings" to mold us into exceptional teachers and individuals. It is important that teachers continue to learn in order to help students. 

I read each one of Mr. McClung’s post and as each year went by, in all of his reflections he never lost sight of his main goal, his students. He discusses how teachers should have flexibility and should be willing and able to adapt to lessons, situations, co-workers and students.  I like how he says “NO LESSON IS EVER PERFECT. THE LESSON YOU TEACH AND THE ONE YOU PLAN ARE ALWAYS DIFFERENT.” How true is this! I think as teachers, we should use lesson plans as guidelines and not as a scripts. It is important for teachers to be able to say, “This is not working. I need to change something”.  I think the most important thing is staying positive, listening to the students, and changing the lesson in a way that is going to be effective in helping the students to learn. I think he refers to this in “Check Your Ego at The Door”. Do what works for your students!

As I was reading Mr. McClung’s  2011 blog, “Don’t Touch The Keyboard”, it reminded me of a great bunch of co-workers I used to work with.  I can relate to what Mrs. Barron (Mr. McClung’s classroom mom) says about never touch the keyboard when training a new employee. I too, use to work in tech support and know what is like to have to train new employees. (I think it is like getting a new set of kids in your classroom.) I had an awesome team, who was always supportive and never stop amazing me with their enthusiasm for learning. I definitely believe to learn, YOU have to be the one doing it, learning is doing, doing is learning. I think it is important to focus on an individual’s strength rather than putting all the focus on their weaknesses. On our team, I tried to make sure everyone felt appreciated and I tried to make sure that everyone knew they were a valuable member of the team. (Anyone can learn, it's the teacher that helps make it happen.) I always tried to make sure everyone contributed in some way. I wanted to make sure they felt confident in the job they were doing no matter what it was. There were many times when I could have taken over the keyboard and fixed the problem myself, but I knew they would not learn from me doing that. The only time I did "take over" is when I did not know the answer myself or needed to teach myself how to do something, before guiding them along the way. There were many times where we learned together. On many occasions, I allowed them to go in the complete wrong direction without correcting them. I would wait unit they noticed and then ask them questions instead of giving them the answers. Most of the time, they figured out what to do, and how they needed to correct the problem. This gave them a sense of accomplishment and the self-confidence they needed when the next call came in. There were also times when they would just sit and look at the computer screen and silently wonder what to do. This is when I would ask them to tell me what they were thinking, so I could hear their train of thought. Most of the time they were thinking in the right direction but they just did not have the confidence to follow through with the task. Having them “think” aloud gave me the opportunity to guide them along or ask them more questions so they could in return, “teach” themselves.  I can remember this one time, I was out and when I came to work the next day, a lady I worked with and had helped many times, came up to me and said, “I missed you yesterday, but when I got stuck, I asked myself… now what would Cassie ask me? So, I asked myself questions that you would ask and I figured it out.” She was so proud of herself and it made me proud too. My goal was to teach them to be independent and confident. I am sure there were times when they frustrated me or I frustrated them, but we never let it show. If you ask me today if I missed my job, I would tell you, no. I miss my team, “my kids”.  I feel like I passed them on to the next grade and I just hope their next teacher cares about their learning as much as I did. I was a teacher then and I am a teacher now, only now, I am going to be teaching in a school with younger kids. Teaching is what I was meant to do. I am a teacher at heart and I care whether my students, no matter what their age, learn from their experiences. 

I think the whole reason Mr. McClung’s reflects about his teaching experience, is so he can become a better teacher. It is a reminder to him and his readers that teachers should always remember students are the primary focus, and we should not get lost or wrapped up in trying to put on a show or please other individuals. 

“Our decision making process should always be student centered 

and not centered around pleasing adults.”

Just like Mr. McClung, we should strive to think outside the box, communicate, listen, have reasonable expectations, let loose occasionally, and never stop learning. I think if we do this, like Mr. McClung we will be happy with the teacher we become someday soon.

C4T Post #3

ART VIEWER

For my third C4T assignment, I was assigned to comment on John Burrows blog Art Viewer. He also has three other blogs, El Jefe's Kitchen, The Burrows Perspective on Soccer, and B's Photography. He also follows many interesting blogs. I even decided to follow one myself; Techy Things Teachers Should Try. Something new added to my PLN - CHECK! 

So after exploring Mr. Burrow's blog I decided to comment on the most recent post which was Art 1 portraits. The portraits and self-portraits were phenomenal. The likeness of each person definitely gives the viewer an idea of who the person in the drawing might be. His students should be very proud. They are extremely talented. 

The second post I commented on was Work In Progress. The piece simply took my breath away. It is an unfinished sketch of a little boy. The amount of detail the student has put into the piece really shows. It is amazing. I can't even image how beautiful the piece will be once it is completed. 

One of my favorite post on his blog was Drawing II composite pictures. They were very detailed and extremely creative. I wish I knew the story behind the assignment. 

I think Mr. Burrows uses the Art Viewer blog in such a great way. I think displaying student’s artwork on the blog is such a positive thing to do and will allow others to view and appreciate their progress. It’s like an online art museum. 

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.

-Pablo Picasso 

                                                       Some Cool Art Sites For Kids                                                      

Create your own Picassohead

• Jacksonpollock- paint with drop and splots 
• Art Detective - exciting and interactive activities which are fully compatible with interactive whiteboards
• Picassohead- create and abstract face with this online tool
• Inside Art- an adventure in art history
• Destination Modern Art  -explores modern and contemporary art through an interactive online gallery 
• thisissand (This is Sand)- converts pixels into digital grains of colored sand
• NGAkids JUNGLE- create an imaginary jungle landscape (requires shockwave)

My Jungle Creation. Click On NGAKids above to create your own jungle scene.

These are just some of my favorites. I'm sure you can come up with many more!

C4K Summary for March

For March, we only had two C4K assignments, which I have to admit, was a little disappointing. I really enjoy visiting and reading "our kids" blogs; some are quite amazing to say the least!

For my first C4K assignment in March, I actually included it in my February summary. I am assuming I did this because I actually commented on her blog February 28, 2012. I did not take into consideration the post was not due until March 4, 2012 and should have been included in my March summary. Opps! With that being said, here it is again.

                   Sharon's Stupendous Blog

I was assigned Sharon. Sharon is in Mr. Sloan's year 6 class and from Tottenham, London. Her blog was terrifically filled with poems. She is a fantastic writer and she says her goal is to inspire others to write. I enjoyed reading through her passionate poems and look forward to reading more of her work. I commented on her most recent poem, "The World in a Nutshell" and how she sees the world beneath her eyes. It was an awesome poem filled with enriched vocabulary that engages the reader to feel what she is writing. It was very well written.

      Alisha B 5WS – Week 24

For my next C4K, I had the pleasure of reading Alisha B. 's blog. Her post on March 20, 2012, was disgusting. However, this was her purpose. She did an excellent job painting a visual picture of an awful lunch experience.

“Hi my name Ayana and I attend St Matthews in Leeds.This is my lunchtime. I opened my yoghurt when WHITE and green mould appeared! I moved on to my sandwich and the tragedy returned as FIFTY SPIDERS CAREFULLY PUSHED their way through the tuna! All I ever wanted was a peaceful lengthy lunch just like you do right? The best thing I ever did was deciding to move to a remarkable school called Miriam Lord. The lunchtime is just a tiny gem piece of the exquisite school. This isn’t exaggeration, it’s a marvellous piece of advice that you should follow!”

What a vivid imagination she has! I love how her post assignment allows her to be creative and fun. She did an fantastic job of making me want to vomit.

                           

                           My Reflection

I am still in awe of how talented and created some of the kids are on these class blogs. I do not limit myself to just reading the blog of the kid I was assigned. I think to get the most from our C4K assignments we should explore and read other kids blogs as well. It also gives me writing and assignment ideas I can use in my own classroom.  It is like finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. From exploring the blogs I found a website Tutpup. Kids can sign up and compete in fun, educational games against other kids from all over the world. This site looks so cool and sounds like a great way for kids to globally connect with others, have some fun, and learn. I would love to use a site like this with my students.

Project #11 Short Movie

For Dr. Vitulli's, EDM301 class we have an upcoming puppetry assignment where we have to create our own puppet, and record a puppet show. So, I decided to use my puppet show for my short movie project. The puppet show is a kindergarten lesson on opposites. The movie could be used after a lesson about opposites or during to discuss opposites, and the students could identify the many different opposites throughout the video. The great thing about using the video is, the video could be paused and the teacher could talk about the different opposites at that time they were presented instead of waiting until the end of the video. This would allow her to assess the children's comprehension of opposites. In one part of the video, a turtle and a cheetah is used for the opposites, slow and fast. The teacher could ask students questions about why is the turtle shown or why is the cheetah shown... in return the students could say because the turtle is slow or because the cheetah is fast. Emily Nadeau (FLaV Ha) and Alison Stacey (Sally Jane) decided to join me and together we created three very unique puppets, as you will see in the video, and we created the short movie/video; a parody to Paula Abdul's Opposite's Attract. Hope you enjoy!

Blog Post Assignment #8

                                                      This is How We Dream by Richard Miller

Richard E. Miller professor of English at Rutgers School of Arts and Science is the author of many articles that concern developing a philosophy of consciousness that promotes transformative teaching and writing practices. In the video This is How We Dream Part 1 and 2, he discusses how writing in the academics and culture has changed. He believes we are in the greatest moment of communication changes, since we have the ability to communicate instantly and globally. He discusses the importance of literacy and how we write, research, and publishes information. He believes there are two types of change incremental change and fundamental change.
One of the incremental changes he points out in the video is our workspace, where we work now. Students no longer use text only resources such as encyclopedias and libraries to gather information. They no longer use paper and pencil as writing tools to compose information. They are using laptops and word processors. This workspace allows researching information worldwide over the internet. It was not surprising to me that Dr. Miller composed an entire response on the Virginia Tech shooting without ever visiting the library. Just this semester, I had an article critique assignment, which I did all online. I composed it entirely on my pc without ever using paper and pencil. However, I did use the library resource available through the University of South Alabama, but access the library online from my home. It was much more convenient for me to have this available from the ease of my pc. I was able to access it on my own time, and my own pace. My workspace was my pc desktop just as Richard Miller talks about in the video.

Another type of incremental change Dr. Miller talks about is the possibility of collaborating using networking technology and how documents are compose with real time materials. Instead of using text only, multimedia tools allow us to compose with real time, up to date materials filled with images, film, sounds. The documents produced are both text and visual enhanced, making it much more interesting and engaging. We are living in a digital environment that makes it possible to bring collections of experiences together from the present instead of using information from the past. Incremental change in writing adds new functionality and new properties to how we write and research information. Since incremental change occurs over a period of time in incremental states if we are not careful, we will miss out.
Richard Miller believes the fundamental change is not technology itself, but what it makes possible; to change the underlying principal of how we work, write, research, and publish. As he states in the video these changes need to be beautiful and compelling so, it inspires curiosity, creativity, and collaboration. I think fundamental change means to stop focusing on individual parts but to start looking at it as a whole.
The video, along with the assignments in EDM310 have really opened my eyes to see how the use of multimedia tools can enhance and have a fundamental change in “writing”. I also think I am going to be more prepared after EDM310 to write and teach my students to write using multimedia tools throughout the curriculum. Projects, research papers, presentations, etc. can be enhanced using multimedia tools making them more interesting and compelling. Students become more focused on listening and watching rather than just reading and writing. Of course, students will still need reading and writing skills to be able to produce meaningful results, but with the use of all the latest and greatest multimedia tools students are allow to be themselves and be more creative. I think this creates a more beneficial learning environment. Students are more likely to learn from an experience in which they are interested and actively engaged. One can only reap the benefits of these things with the knowledge and understanding of how to use them. Literacy allows us to explore, learn, interpret and represent ideas in new, original, and powerful ways, as stated by Richard Miller. This is why it is extremely important for inspiring teachers to be prepared and become technology literate. As a teacher, I do not want to be left behind.

Carly Pugh’s Blog Post #12

I think Carly is a true inspiration to others. Her dedication and enthusiasm for education shines throughout the entire post. Her playlist assignment is just what Richard Miller is talking about in his video. It allows students to use multimedia tools like YouTube for more than entertainment, it allows them to use it to learn and become multimedia writers. I definitely believe students would benefit more from creating a playlist rather than looking and researching using text only documents and books. It allows them to become independent and creative while learning. I especially like the video embedded in her blog, Six Questions For Every Day. Wow, what if we all approach things in a childlike manner. The possibilities would be endless. Thanks Carly, you have inspired me to create my own playlist.

The Chipper Series and EDM310 for Dummies

The Chipper Series and EDM310 for Dummies were quite amusing to say the least. You would be surprised at how many students actually think this way. They want to do just enough to get by, and the least amount of effort that goes into the better. But I after this class I wonder if the attitudes of those students would change if their classroom was structured like EDM310. Would they be more engage and actually care about what they were learning?
I have never been one to procrastinate. I am much the opposite; I would rather start on things in advance. I do not like to wait until the last minute to do something. You never know when something may come up. Just seems like a lot of added stress waiting until the last minute to do things. I am wife, student, and mother, if I procrastinated, I could not image how crazy things in my life would be. It takes self-discipline and drive to be successful. I think if you want something bad, enough you put forth an honest effort not to procrastinate, not to make excuses, and you pursue it with determination. As a professional there is not going to be someone there holding your hand guiding you along the way. You will be responsibility for you.

EDM310 for Dummies does an excellent job of portraying real attitudes of students in Dr. Strange’s EDM310 class. It does feel overwhelming at first and seems like a lot of work, but what you come to realize is, it is actually teaching you to teach yourself, to be self sufficient, and accountable for yourself. It teaches you how to stay focused and how to use your time wisely. It is teaching use how to become lifelong learners so we can be teachers of the future.

As I was thinking about creating my own video, I thought about one of the very first video’s we were assigned to watch, Mr. Winkle Wakes. I also thought about the Magic School Bus books and the ever popular role-playing games kids (adults, too) are playing now. I think it would be fun to create a video where a group of students from EDM310 and their teacher, Dr. Strange are transported into the future where technology has completely taken over. The classroom would be entirely virtual, kids could have avatars… the possibilities are endless.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn

Is education really the lowest in IT intensiveness? I guess I can rather see this. It does seems like schools are more focused on standardized testing and scores rather than preparing students for the ever changing world of technology. In the video, there are many individuals discussing the need for change in the classroom. One statement that stood out to me was “The kids are having a much more stimulated and rich environment outside of school than they are inside of schools". How sad is this? School is where kids spend at least eight hours of their day, just think if this was the other way around. Students need meaningful experiences in school in order to have the skills they are going to need in tomorrow’s world, in life. I think it is important for teachers to recognize the interest of today’s children, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, video games and learn how to incorporate them throughout the curriculum in order to create a rich learning environment. Lift the ban! It seems like; while the world around us evolves with technology, our schools are not. I agree with the video, we have to find ways of keeping up with the world of technology and use it to help students find information, validate it, synthesize it, communicate it, collaborate and problem solve with it. This should be the goal of teaching.
                                                 “Death of education, the dawn of learning”

"Well...what are you willing to stop doing in order to do something better?"

Scavenger Hunt 2.0

A scavenger hunt is such a fun way to learn about technology!  The Discovery Education's WEB 20.12 site has some amazing technology available for students and teachers. I really enjoyed searching through site and exploring all the tools available. There were so many and most of them were free or cost little to nothing and to think the amount of money some people pay for the same type of software. This is great!






1.) Locate a tool that is similar to Twitter/Facebook and provides a social platform for teachers, parents, and students. Create an account as a Teacher and write a paragraph or two about how you could use this site in your classroom.

Edmodo, like Facebook allows you to share and collaborate. Edmodo provides teachers and students a secure place to do this. This is a great tool for class discussions, notifications, posting assignments, and anything else you can possibly think of. This is a great tool to stay connected with both students and parents. I also like the fact that you can sync your Google Docs with the Edmodo Library so you can easily access and share Google Docs with the groups. No more important papers getting lost! I will definitely use this in my classroom.


2.) Find a video tool that you have never used. Summarize some it's special features.

Photopeach is used by educators and students in hundreds of schools world wide, including schools in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Sweden, England, Pakistan, Argentina,Thailand, and more. The combination of images, music, and text helps students learn about presentation, expression, writing, communication skills, art appreciation, and media literacy. The quality of the finished work is great and students will remember it forever. Start creating fun slideshows with captions, soundtracks, quizzes, and easy editing controls!


I love this! I created a slideshow using the pictures from my daughters field trip to the zoo on Tuesday, March 20,2012 and turned into and education slideshow. You actually have two options for embedding in your blog; spiral and story. I encluded both. 

The Little Zoo That Could on PhotoPeach




The Little Zoo That Could on PhotoPeach







3.) Find a tool to create a poll anywhere and at anytime. Create your first poll and post it here

Poll Everywhere replaces expensive proprietary audience response hardware with standard web technology. It's the easiest way to gather live responses in any venue: conferences, presentations, classrooms, radio, tv, print — anywhere. It can help you to raise money by letting people pledge via text messaging. And because it works internationally with texting, web, or Twitter, its simplicity and flexibility are earning rave reviews. I think this would be great to use in math.

Big benefits for teachers

• Absolutely free (plus affordable premium plans)
• Measurable increases in student achievement & engagement
• Save time with automatic grading & attendance tracking
• Encourage honest answers through anonymous response
• Use any cellphone (SMS), smartphone, laptop, desktop, or tablet
• Simple peer assessment
• Conduct real-time, in-the-moment formative assessment
• Enable students to review responses online

Create interactive meetings at Poll Everywhere

Project #12 Book Trailer

What in the world is a book trailer? This was my first thought and now I know thanks to Anthony Capps. On February 1, 2012, I worked with Emily Nadeau and Emily Jeanminette and we produced a book trailer for the book, Ruby Bridges by Robert Cole. We used iMovie on a MAC, which was a little challenging for me since I had never used anything other than a PC. With the help of Anthony Capps, we learned a lot and were able to get the job done. Thanks Anthony!

A book trailer is such a wonderful way to get readers interested in books, especially those that are reluctant to read. I can definitely see myself using book trailers in the classroom. Since I do plan to use book trailers in my classroom, I wanted to make sure I could create one using my PC and the software I have installed. I could have used the one I created with my group and never looked at this again, but I truly believe this is something that can be used in the classroom to motivate, encourage, and build confidence. Knowledge opens so many different doors and a teacher’s knowledge should always be expanding. We have to be lifelong teachers and the more we do, the more we learn, right?

I used Corel Visual Studio Pro X4 to create my book trailer. It was very much like using iMovie. I chose a book that I read to my children, Animal Strike At The Zoo by Karma Wilson. It has bright colors that keep them engaged, and the animals in the book are extremely silly. I'm not going to give much away, I'll let the video do all the talking and hopefully it will intrigue you enough to want to read the book.

I hope to create many more book trailers!

Project #10 Personal Learning Network

My First Progress Report

I created my PLN using Symbaloo. It is a great tool for accessing sites that I use on a daily basis. I no longer have to search through my favorites or bookmarks. And I am constantly bookmarking sites I find useful. Now they are all accessible from my homepage!

I love how you can create a webmix and then place a tile for that webmix on your homepage. Again, you do not have to go through a number of tabs or folders. I created several tiles that allow me to access resources I can use in teaching and with my own children. Reading Rocket is now right at my fingertips. I have also added a webmix for the C4T that we have been assigned so far. I think being able to access and follow their blogs will definitely benefit my teaching. I've also added tiles to both our EDM310 class blog and Dr. Vitulli's blog.


Having a PLN as a teacher is just as important as having a PLN as student. Having an effective PLN as a teacher, you will be guaranteed experience, knowledge, and support, as stated by Shelly Terrell in her blog 23 Resources about Personal Learning Networks(PLNs). I came across her blog as when I was looking for tiles to add to my webmix. She has a number of different resources and videos that can be added to a teacher's PLN. I've have added her blog Teacher RebootCamp to my PLN and look forward to reading more of her blog post. As a teacher, our PLN's will never be complete, especially if we want to continue to learn and better help our students. I look forward to building my PLN, in and out of EDM310. Thank you Dr. Strange for giving me the tools I will need to do this. 

Blog Post Assignment # 7

The Network Student by Wendy Drexler 

The Network Student by Wendy Drexler explains what it means to be a network student. It also identifies the role of the teacher in the “classroom” of the network student.  To know and understand the meaning of a network student, you must first know the definition of network.  Let’s look at some of the definitions of network from dictionary.com.

- to distribute widely

- an interconnected group or system

- computing

- to form business contracts through informal social meetings

- to cultivate people who can be helpful to one professionally

These are just a few of the definitions I pulled from dictionary.com. Now apply these to students who are activity using socialnetworking tools, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, search engines, Pinterest, etc. There you go; you have your networking student.

I think both, students and teachers have always used some form of networking through the learning process. Their PLN (personal learning network) consisted of family, friends, classmates, and other teachers. Only now, with technology their PLN becomes much larger and includes a great number of resources. They are not limited to those in “arms length” in their community.

Teachers are able to use technology and social networking tools to network with other teachers to get lesson plans from master teachers, feedback, ideas, resources, and even the lastest news on technology and how to integrate it into their teaching.  Students are still able to network with teachers and other students, except the teachers and students can be from all over the world. They are still using their community to learn and develop; only now it is a global community.

I think having such a diverse PLN is extremely beneficial to the learning process.  It provides meaningful and useful information, it provides support, motivation, and allows connections to be made. A PLN is not just about technology and websites. It is about people; people who use technology to help others learn. If it were not for the people, the information would not be available. If you think about it, the people become the teachers. However, it is still important to have a teacher; a professional instructor.  They teach students how to assess the information and evaluate the information for its creditability. They show how to model, organize, and respectfully as questions. They provide emotional support and provide encouragement to build confidence.

Throughout the time, I have spent studying to become a professional educator, I think the focus has been to create lifelong learners out of our students. I think both students and teachers need to be lifelong learners. A PLN helps create lifelong learners of both students and teachers.   

A 7^th Grader’s Personal Learning Environment (or PLN)

Her PLE is not much different from the one I created. I created my PLN using Symbaloo. I have tiles that I use for school and tiles that I do not use for school. The sites and blogs I frequent the most are grouped together and are on the top left. It is more organized  and easier to access than standard “bookmarking” or “adding to favorites”. I have organized my tiles based on categories; teaching tools, blog pages, social networking tiles, etc. I know my PLN will always be changing and never be complete as long as I am learning.  

Be a student so long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life. -Henry L. Doherty

. 

C4T Post #2

        Vicki Davi's Cool Cat Teacher Blog

Vicki Davis
author behind Cool Cat Teacher blog

      

For my second C4T I was assigned to follow Vicki Davi's Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Teaching students with new tools, enthusiasm, and belief that teaching is a noble calling. Vicki Davis a full time teacher and mother. She started blogging in 2005 after attending an educational conference. She states her purpose of blogging is to inspire, encourage, and inform the teachers, parents, and professionals working to educate this generation of students. Well she did just that with her post on How to comment like a king (or queen)! This post was from August 5, 2006. Wow, to think it is still inspiring to blogger newbies like me!

Flat Classroom Project

She is very inspirational. She has done so much in a short amount of time; co founder of Flat Classroom® Projects, the Eracism Project, she is a Discovery STAR Educator, Google Certified Teacher, Adobe Education leader and served as a judge for the US competition for Microsoft Innovation Educators Forum. She is also a blogger for Lifetime Channel's morning show, the Balancing Act. What else can you say but Wow!  

Her most recent blog as of 2/16/12, Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock #teaching gives several different resources for teachers. One of the resource provided was from Pinterest. Megan (luv2teach) had numerous ideas for the classroom. She is definitely a pinterest-expert. I look forward to following Megan on Pinterest and Vicki's Cool Cat Teacher blog.

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools -Vicki Davis

Vicki Davis is constantly blogging! On 3/4/12, I commented on her Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 3/4/12,  Can An Educator's Clothes Affect How He/She Teaches? This was actually article/blog post from one of her favorite blog links. She has many favorite links and resources for teachers. My comment after reading Larry Ferlazzo’s post “Can An Educator’s Clothes Affect How He/She Teaches?” I’m not sure if the way a teacher dresses affects how they teach; after all a master teacher is going to find ways to engage, enrich, motivate, and challenge their students to excel to the best of their ability. I do think the way a person dresses can affect how they think and act.  If a person dresses casually, they tend to be more relaxed and carefree. A person wearing a wedding dress will tend to feel more sophisticated and that will reflect in their actions. When a solider is dressed in a uniform, he will be more assertive and confident, as opposed to when he is dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. I think when dressing for any job; a person should dress for success.

I think it is extremely important for teachers to dress professionally. It can affect how a teacher is perceived and be a distraction to the students. It shows self-respect, respect for the job and that they take their job seriously. It also models appropriate dress attire to students. A teacher is a person of authority in the classroom and not a peer. It is a fact that people are judged by how they are look and dress. Does it make it right? No, but let’s face it, it happens. Therefore, teachers should ask themselves; “how do I want to be judged, as my student’s peer or a professional educator? Dress attire could influence the way an administrator, other teachers, students and parents perceive the teacher. It could also become a distraction in a classroom.  I don’t think it is necessary to show up at school in a business suit every day, but the dress attire should be appropriate and functional. Some teachers, especially those in the elementary grades tend to be more mobile, after all a teacher’s job should not be a “desk” job. Teachers should be up and moving, interacting with the students. Any professional should dress for success, especially teachers.

I enjoyed reading and receiving new post from Cool Cat Teacher blog. This is definitely a blog that I follow for education and technology news and resources.

Projects 9b Prezi Presentation

Theodor Seuss Geisel -Dr. Seuss on Prezi

Blog Post Assignment # 6

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

Randy Pausch

Born	October 23, 1960 Baltimore, Maryland, US
Died	July 25, 2008 (aged 47) Chesapeake, Virginia, United States Pancreatic cancer
Nationality	American
Fields	Computer science Human Computer Interaction
Institutions	Carnegie Mellon University University of Virginia
Alma mater	Brown University Carnegie Mellon University
Doctoral advisor	Alfred Spector
Known for	Creator of Alice software project Cofounder of CMU's Entertainment Technology Center Virtual Reality Research withDisney Imagineers Inspirational speeches regarding life #1 best-selling book Battle with cancer
Notable awards	Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education Award for Outstanding Contributions to Computer Science Education Fellow of the ACM Time's Time 100[1]
Spouse	Jai Glasgow

October 23, 1960
Baltimore, Maryland, US

July 25, 2008 (aged 47)
Chesapeake, Virginia, United States
Pancreatic cancer

American

Computer science
Human Computer Interaction

Carnegie Mellon University
University of Virginia

Brown University
Carnegie Mellon University

Alfred Spector

Creator of Alice software project
Cofounder of CMU's Entertainment Technology Center
Virtual Reality Research withDisney Imagineers
Inspirational speeches regarding life
#1 best-selling book
Battle with cancer

Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award
ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education
Award for Outstanding Contributions to Computer Science Education
Fellow of the ACM
Time's Time 100^[1]

Jai Glasgow

Who is Randy Pausch? Randy Pausch, a computer-science professor and a human-computer interaction who became internationally famous for his wondrous and truly inspiring "Last Lecture," passed away in Chesapeake, Virginia, Friday July 25, 2008 after losing a battle with pancreatic cancer.
I could sit and watch Randy Pausch’s videos all day. The first video I watched of Randy Pausch was Time Management. It was assigned to us for the first blog post, and I thought it was terrific. The Last Lecture was even more enjoyable. It was astonishing to watch the video and see his enthusiasm towards life, even when his was so close to ending. I cannot imagine being so close to death and remaining so positive, being in such good spirits, and still wanting to speak out to the world. This is truly an inspiring and remarkable person. His passion for helping others achieve their dreams truly shines throughout the entire video. There is much to learn from Randy Pausch.
There were so many memorable statements made by Randy Pausch. The brick wall was one that stood out to me the most in relating to teaching.

 “Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want something badly enough. There are there to keep out the other people” –Randy Pausch  

I agree, brick walls are there to make us stop and think. It allows us to ask ourselves questions. I know the walls are metaphors for temporary interferences that keep us from reaching our dreams. However, when I apply the brick walls to teaching, I think some kids are the brick walls in teaching. It is essential as teachers; we do not give up on those kids. In the video, he shows this when he vouches for one of his students, who ended up being one of the leading people on the Alice project. I think teachers need to stop and ask questions rather than giving up on the students that become brick walls. Teachers can make or break a child’s confidence and their views on school and education. Randy Pausch was obviously a great teacher, who had faith in his students.  The gold nuggets should not only apply to life (as he states in the video) but to students, and how we teach them. I think that is a head fake in itself.

• Loyalty is a two-way street.
• Never give up.
• You get people to help you by telling the truth. Being earnest. I'll take an earnest person over a hip  person every day, because hip is short term. Earnest is long term.
• Apologize when you screw up and focus on other people, not on yourself.
• Get a feedback loop and listen to it. … Anybody can get chewed out. It's the rare person who says, oh my god, you were right. … When people give you feedback, cherish it and use it.
• Show gratitude.
• Don't complain. Just work harder.
• Be good at something, it makes you valuable.
• Work hard.
• Find the best in everybody. … No one is all evil. Everybody has a good side; just keep waiting, it will come out.
• And be prepared. Luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity.

Life is what YOU make it! Randy Pausch has made his life and his dreams come alive. He stuck it out even when some of his dreams did not turn out like planned. He stayed positive and did not lose sight on his dream. Those dreams in the end became valuable lessons. I think teaching is what you make it. Randy Pausch’s states “The secret to great leadership is first knowing how to follow”. Teachers are leaders and a great teacher should know how to “follow” their students. Know who your students are and how they learn. Have high expectations for all students. It is important for teachers to remain optimistic and never give up on their students; let them have fun, encourage them, be patience with them, and “they will impress you”. Just as in life, time spent teaching your students is limited. Eventually they are going to move on. Teachers should work to inspire their students, just as Randy Pausch wanted to inspire people, make every day (teaching), actually, every minute count. 

I hope to be an inspiration to my students and to be as positive and motivated as Randy Pausch. I hope the impression I leave on my students is as strong as the legacy left by Dr. Pausch. This video is definitely worth the hour and sixteen minutes spent watching and really makes you think about what legacy you are going to leave behind."The best gift an educator can give is to get someone to become self-reflective" -Randy Pausch

More Quotes from Randy Pausch

If I could only give three words of advice, they would be, 'Tell the truth.' If I got three more words, I'd add: 'All the time.'

We don't beat the reaper by living longer, but by living well, and living fully - for the reaper will come for all of us. The question is: What do we do between the time we're born and the time he shows up.

Respect authority while questioning it.

I'm dying and I'm having fun. And I'm going to keep having fun every day I have left.

Never lose the child-like wonder. It's just too important. It's what drives us.

Watch Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams