Posting student work on the internet

This video was tear dropping. It gives me high hopes for the future of education. If people could just see this they would instantly understand the importance and benefits of media growing into what it is. People are fascinated with other people's lives and feelings. Entertainment is becoming personal. The possibilities of allowing your students to touch someone the way that these students did are endless. If there is any hope in making the world a better place, it lies in sharing children's hopes and dreams.
I already know that I will use the class blog for my class. I think this is a great way to keep your parents involved.
I will also make videos like the one you just seen to touch as many hearts as I can. Like soldiers and sick children.
When a child sees their work published they feel important. This creates confidence. Then in cases like this imagine how they felt when they were able to perform on stage. There are so many ways kid's express themselves. Writing does not do them justice. Technology creates possibilities to kids who can not grasp a certain concept. Where in a normal standardized school would stop there and allow them no hope.
I will also be a BIG Google Earth fan.
Google Earth's look at the solar system
I love the idea of virtual field trips! I think this will be an awesome way to bring a close up to my students with everything.

Kaia blogs...

This project is amazing. This one struck me as a parent more than a teacher. I stress a lot on the importance of active, outdoor play. My son is getting bigger and the last thing I want is for him to be inside playing xbox all day. As a parent I want to foster his creativity because I know as soon as he gets into school it will be robotic and straight to the books. There are schools that teach by Progressivism, which to me is a lot like connectivism but less technology. Its all about the creativity and open pedagogy, and taking risks.
These blogs are incredible. I think it is awesome that teachers are getting elementary involved, because I was wondering how on Earth it would be possible. In reality production of content is being produced with computers and will rarely settle for print anymore. Things are becoming advanced and people are wanting the bigger and better things.
I think that the world would be a better place if the connections we are tslking about here were made. But, unfortunately the rest of the world is still a cold place. So it makes it hard for everyone to open up and allow these connections to be made with their families. I think connectivism will play it's rold in education, but will be very hard to make the norm. The fact of the matter is parents are complaining that their children are being exposed to other cultures and religions. So it feels impossible that as educators we can persuade them otherwise. Its all because parents have lost their trust in teachers. A lot of times they are seeing the teacher as the enemy.

click here to visit Kaia's Dad's blog and follow this awesome project

New Media Literacies

I think that they are all critical skills to participate in media. These are skills that are critical in absorbing all of the information available to us today. In order for these to be positive way of learning you have to be able to filter through all of the opinions and stick to the facts. I think these are great ways to collaborate and enrich what we are teaching, but it's hard to tell how they might interfere with what you are trying to teach. With media being so deceiving you have to be careful of what you consider reliable.
I actually posess quite a few of these skills, judgement and negotiating being the most important. I know that when I am looking for answers I find facts first, and then dig around for other concepts which is known as judgment. I also can decide what is and is not useful to my learning network which is known as negotiating. Multi-tasking is something everyone will learn in the workforce. I have to say these are things everyone develops, but when communicating with other learners it enhances the outcome.
As a teacher, I hope to bring out a child's creativity. At the end of the day I want to know that my students went outside of the box. I also think that fostering this creativity is more full-filling that sticking to the books. My education was always based on one dominant culture and I feel like I was deprived of creativity and focused on memorization. I think that education can do great things when broadening it's standards and tools to better learn and communicate with the rest of the world. When students can come together from all over and debate and discuss what they are learning it's a whole new form of learning. Undoubtedly more effective too.

Check out this video that goes through a list of new media literacies critical to keeping up with the pace of producing and consuming media
click here

Networked Student

A networked student is an idea of how a student can use networking as a better way to form ideas about the information being learned. This video portrays what is referred to as connectivism. Connectivism is a theory that learning occurs as a part of a social network of many diverse connections and ties. The tools that we have access to allow these connections to strengthen your learning process. I find this learning process more beneficial because I learn better and faster when I am able to form my own opinions. There is a lot of fuss these days about people learning from a biased perspective and blogging allows you to explore and create your own biases. I think these networks are very useful in today's learning as well as teaching tools. Since this is moving into the norm and not just something above and beyond, as teachers, it will be our job to be fluent with these tools. There are absolutely right when they ask "Why does the networked student even need a teacher?". To help them organize and filter the sources of their knowledge. If we can't teach these students to excell with bigger and better things then they can't compete with those who are.

The Way We Dream

Richard Miller explains the fact that as teachers today we have the ability to reform the way individuals look at and comprehend information entirely. His videos explore the possibilities we can reach in all aspects of the classroom. Because our workspace has become more convienent and accessible, We have better document sharing and storing. Also when collaborating you can enhance your document in so many ways. Richard Miller goes even further with this by trying to create something even more advanced in composing documents with the web. Still a work in progress, but he hopes that school invest time and money in researching this idea that he forsees overcoming today's already technologically based society.
Check out This is How We Dream Parts 1 & 2
Part 1
Part 2

Should Ipods be incorporated into classrooms?

Schools really seem to be trying to get ipods incorporated into the classroom. Duke University being the first provided their freshman with ipods! Wow! That can help a student in so many ways from recording lesson for study tools to accessing podcasts, and saving files. It's a major asset to your convienence. I think an ipod is a nice thing to have for yourself. There were arguements over whether or not it was a good learning tool and that it was was being utilized for personal entertainment more than education. When you are providing them for a large group they have the ability to become more of a distraction than a learning tool. I would strongly agree that they are extremely useful to teachers for lessons. Teachers are finding that students are less distracted when they use video iPods, they stay focused on the instruction and are motivated to do the activity.
There are many sites that give you good ideas and suggestions with using ipods as a teaching tool. This website gives you alot of ways to use an ipod and iphone. It also tells you ways you can even introduce students to educational mobile applications for iPod touch and iPhone, so they can access reference information, write blog posts...etc. And they can do those things wherever they go. It's all about the access these devices provide. By getting this access anywhere can become a place to learn.

Dr. Alice Christie

Dr. Alice Christie is amazing. Not only with her lessons, her photography, but also providing resources for our classrooms. It's exciting to see what you can really do with all of these technologies. There are tons of ways that her website will be useful to my teaching. She has amazing lessons that allow students to see what they are learning about through virtual experiences. You can even become a member and subscribe to virtual field trips which are awesome ways to learn when budgets are down! She also has lessons that use current and new technologies like a GPS receiver. I'm excited about the virtual stuff because I will be teaching elementary grades.

This website will also become a big part of my Perosnal Learning Network. Go visit Dr. Alice Christie's website to learn from what she has learned from 40 years as an educator!

Useful Info. from my class

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"What I've Learned This Year" By Mr. McClung

I enjoyed reading this post. This article was very insightful for aspiring teachers. In a lot of my classes we have been learning about ways to be an effective teacher. It would be nice to be able to teach every child according to their own needs. Unfortunately a huge educational reform will have to take place.
Mr. McClung listed several ways to help become an effective teacher. Collaboration is something I fell very strongly about. "Communication is the best medicine," Mr. McClung said. Also, getting to know each child individually is a necessity. It is the best way to engage your students interest. If you care, they care. Mr. McClung also said to never stop learning. One of the biggest ideas that I hope to pass on to my students is that learning is a process that never ends. This goes for everyone. As an educator, I feel that it is extremely important to continue educating yourself. A teacher can never have too many resources.

Is Wikipedia a trusted source of information?

Wikipedia is great for general knowledge. Sometimes when I have free time on my hands I just read a random article on Wikipedia or just pick a random topic and learn some new facts about it that I never knew before. The problem with Wikipedia arises when you get to articles like the abortion article, the stem cell research article, etc. In those type of articles, it's a battle of who can fit in the most bias for their side. Wiki style is alot like politics. ;)

Is it Okay to be a Tecnologically Illiterate Teacher?

I do not think it is okay to be a technologically illiterate teacher. Although i think it is extreme to say that a technologically illiterate teacher is equivalent to a teacher that can not read or write. Technology is very important. Not just in a learning aspect, but it is becoming the basis of society. I strongly believe students should be updated just as quickly as the technology itself. Most schools just do not have that kind of budget.
Like in our EDM 310 class, our computers can barely keep up because they are so outdated. Some people are still without computers in their own home. It is not like they are cut off from the rest of the world. So its kind of contradicting to teach students to rely on something so much. Some people are just more old fashioned i guess. I mean I feel like TV and Nintendo are brainwashing, much less bringing something like that and making it a necessity to learn. I think students' eagerness to learn is getting lost already. Maybe we should go back to blackboards and projectors. ;)

To visit this blog CLICK HERE

It's Not About the Technology

I agree with Kelly Hines, "Techinology is not the first thing we need in our classrooms". I think one of the biggest problems that affects the way students learn is discipline. Teachers are not respected by the parents or studenst the way they used to be. I think it is a big part of the overall approach to teaching and learning. It helps both the student and teacher share the eagerness to learn. Without discipline students can not utilize the internet for its unlimited sources of information, but only for games and communication.
Discipline is something children learn at home. They bring it to the classroom, and teachers take over from there. Without the foundation of discipline there simply is no hope for educating our youth. Better learners will only come from a better mind set. Teachers must also share the mind set for better teaching.

To read this article CLICK HERE

A Vision of Students Today

I just feel that our society has grown lazy. This is not the vision of students today, but the way our students think today. I have to relate to the textbook thing. I buy atleast four book every semester, and only use probably two of them. Then you have people like me who started out at a community college, which was easier than high school, and then transfer to South to have one class equivalent to three. It is more overwhelming when you have so many people in your class, and are nothing but a number to your professor. I think Internet communication can bring back a lot of the one on one learning. Only students can collaborate together rather that with their professor.
The Internet is a precious resource. If you utilize it the right way. Even more precious than that—the mind. We become more intelligent in college not because of what they teach us, but by how they allow us to expand our mind. That's what it's all about. Students, including myself, expect the information on the test to be handed to you. It is how it's always been for me. I am going to school to be a teacher, and this is what scares me about all the standardized testing.


This is a very good video. It is the way students think nowadays, and it shouldn't be that way.
To watch this video click here

Health Myths Podcast

I like this podcast. You have someone asking questions, and someone answering. This is straight to the point. I love statistics. Mainly, because it is someone else's research. It is just interesting to hear the different myths, and their views on them.
This podcast was full-filling because it was interesting. It was short and straight to their point. There was not a lot of babble that confused you. I did not see a video on my computer, but maybe something was wrong. As far as the audio, it was very clear. It was almost like you were watching it (or hearing it) off of your t.v.


To see this podcast on health myths click here

Tech Literate Teacher

This blog was not easy to follow. Sure, they made some great points, but they just seemed unprepared for the conversation. Everyone just kind of rambled on. There was not any facts stated. They all stated opinions. Which is fine for a podcast i assume, but it just did not seem full-filling to me.
When i do my podcast I want to back my opinion up with facts. I will organize the points I will cross. They also started off very slow and boring and finally picked it up in the end. Nothing grasped my attention. I will use more of an attention getter to start my podcast.

To see this video click here

Picture Modifier

Podcasts

I feel that a podcast creates a more interesting way of learning and teaching. Different formats, like audio only, enhanced formatted podcasts, and a video podcasts feed into all students' learning styles. Whether it be the teachers lesson, or a student's project, you can record your own audio and post it on whatever footage you want to relate to it.
I agree with the Kidcast that this could really boost student's confidence, because instead of standing in front of the class on the spot, you can present something that you have already perfected. KUDOS!
A podcast is your creation, a high quality recorded audio file. It can be listened to anywhere like right from a web page (like My Yahoo) or from your computer using iTunes or other software, or from your iPod.
"Researchers at The Diffusion Group predicted this week that the U.S. podcast audience will climb from 840,000 last year to 56 million by 2010. By that time, three-quarters of all people who own portable digital music players will listen to podcasts, up from less than 15 percent last year, the digital entertainment research group said," Gilbert reports. What a very nice, new form, of digital entertainment!

My First Picture

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Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

Vicki Davis is an excellant, modren teacher. She keeps her students updated on different ways of communication. I am a little out dated myself, and internet communication is huge these days. Vicki learned the technology along with her students. She guides them while they teach themselves. Her students had the interest and motivation to learn. I can respect her perspective. It opens up a different comfort zone.
Alot of students, including myself, learn better when they are able to teach themselves. When you are not limited to pencil and paper you can customize your ways of teaching to practice each students strengths and interests. I hear there are computer classes (K-3 level) that can help prepare for these types of technology learning classes.


http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-teachers-vicki-davis

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

Sir Ken Robinson makes a very good point. Mainly stating, "As educators we need to rethink the fundamental principles in which we are educating our children." It is true that children are steered away from the things they love to do. They are pushed to only excell in the subjects that limit use of natural talents. Instead we find it more important to give students numerous facts to remember rather than inspiring more creativity.
Nurturing a child's creative side will only give them the courage to try a more hands on approach with things. I said this in my last blog, "Children spend all of their spare time watching reality tv and video games." This problem is not just within our educating systems, but also the way our children are being disciplined. I will also quote Picasso, "All children are born artists."


http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

2008 Latest Edition - Did You Know 3.0 - From Meeting in Rome this Year

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpEnFwiqdx8
This just goes along with how people are comming into our country and doing our work for less money. Only lets just make a device that puts all human beings to shame...for free and in less than 2 seconds. As far as the spill on technology, we might as well shut ourselves off from the rest of the world and work a little harder to be indispensable. I believe that if our nation relies anymore on technology than we do now, the next major disaster will follow not very long after that.
The scary part to me is that the next few generations of our nation are not prepared for these changes. I say that because so much of the youth of our nation are spending every bit of their spare time in front of reality tv and video games. People are comming from all over the world to utilize our educational sources and then going back to their own. Smarter countries, who are making more progress to educate people for the future, will be taking over ours. For that we can thank our "FREE country".
On another note, this is a bunch of random statistics that are put together through a marketing perspective it seems. Times change. People just have to keep up with the speed. Hopefully we wont end up like I ROBOT! ;)

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. I am Lindsey Clausheide, an elementary Education major. I kind of fell into teaching when i had my son, Devin, who is one year old. Teaching is THE ideal career for a mother. My passion for teaching actually started when i began working at a nursery. I underestimated my patience, and love for kids. The kids actually took to me pretty well, and I began to see myself more in to my profession. I have recently started to enjoy reading. I am reading the Twilight series now and i LOVE it. I have also been trying to figure out the whole cooking thing. I am getting a little better, but still have a lot to learn on that. I love just hanging out with my friends and family, anything outdoorsy...beaching, boating, fun in the sun-period. Other than that I am a full time student, and a full time mother. I would like to introduce you all to my son Devin. Is he not the best looking boy ever?