Final PLN

This is my final personal learning network report. I really enjoy using Symbaloo because it is easy to access and very organize. It is a great tool to use to help organize all of the favorite websites, especially if people have a lot of websites and want to put in one place. Enjoy the video!

Final C4K7-10

Post #7
I commented on Ms. Janine Tito in room 22. She is teaching 7/8 years old students at Pt. England School, Auckland, N.Z. In her class blog, she stated that her students are multi-talented, hard working crew of the kids who love sport, music, art and even school work.

My comment for kid is Lesley and she is a Tongan. She lives with her mom, her sister, and uncle and his wife. She also mentioned that she have three half sisters in Australia. In her blog, she have posted two charts that shows who is the favorite teachers in the school and what is the most favorite sports in the school. Also, I have learned that Lesley is very proud of her family. Click on the URL if you would like to see Lesley's blog. http://peslesleym.blogspot.com/

Post #8
The third blog that I read is called Mr. McClung's World. I made a blog post earlier which thoroughly analyzes this site. I commented on one post called Lessons Learned: One, Pay Your Lunch Bill. In this post, Mr. McClung was informing us that he had a note in his box stating that he should pay his lunch’s bill 3 days continuously. I left a comment for Mr. McClung telling him that I thank him for letting us know about this because he has provided the future teachers to be aware of certain things in school, he informed us that we should be caution and handle our business.

Post #9
Mrs. Yollis is a third grade teacher from California who is dedicated to giving the best education to her students through incorporating technology in her classroom. I really enjoy reading Mr. Yollis’s Classroom Blog because I have learn a lot from her blog and she does have a lot of interesting information for the future teachers. In her blog, she share with other people how her teaching is and how she think that technology is a great beneficial technique to teach students to learn. One thing I really admire her is that before commenting on her blog is that to check your grammar and spelling. She is very strict about that and expect very highly of her students. Also, everyone of her students have their own blog and Mrs. Yollis always encourage the students’ parents to participate in the blog and interact with the students.

Post #10
I commented on one of the students' blogs called "Hannah's Hacienda". Hannah made a post called "Leila Donates Her Hair to Locks of Love". After viewing and reading her blog, I have really admired her. She is so young and has so much caring and thoughtful person. In this post I commented on her blog saying that I really enjoy and think that she is amazing for donating her hair for Locks of Love Foundation. Hannah did a wonderful thing for others and I’m glad she donates her hair for those who needed.

Blog Post 13

Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) is created by the ALEX Team to provide only the top resources to meet the needs of teachers, administrators, parents, and students. On the website, they provide Courses of study, Web Links, Lesson Plans, Search, Personal Workspace, Professional Learning, Podcast Treasury, and ALEXville. Alex provides the teachers and viewers to use it as a guide to help them with future reference and ALEX makes it easy for everyone to use. I enjoy it myself because there are some information that I was not aware of until I read ALEX. Also, for those who did not know about this program. Below are some information if you are interested.


Courses of Study is a link that you can access by grade levels of each subject from K-12th grade.
Web Links are web resources for teachers, administrators, and students.
Lesson Plans allow you to create your very own personal lesson or view examples from authors and schools that have already made one.
Search narrows your description in the ALEX database.
Personal Workspace is where you create and edit your account.
Professional Learning offer training opportunities, view presentations, and grants. They also show a variety of tips and tutorials for applications.
Podcast Treasury allows you to view podcast from an assortment of subjects.
ALEXville keeps you updated with news and a place to converse with associates and colleagues.

Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide (ACCESS). This website is also supported by the Alabama State Department of Education. This is about ACCESS goal which is to provide fairness with more educational courses for all Alabama public high school students. This is a wonderful website for the teachers and students to be aware that they actually have options and have more knowledge about these objectives describe below. Here are the high quality instructions for students to improve with their education. ACCESS has 12 objectives.

Objective 1: Meets objectives of the first year by expanding the availability of ACCESS Distance Learning to all public high schools in the state.
Objective 2: Gives high school student the opportunity to take at least one distance learning course.
Objective 3: Influence the experience of the 24 sites by establishing new data in Alabama high school.
Objective 4: Provide administrative oversight, management, and support through the State Department of Education and support centers.
Objective 5: Provide students with additional courses and electives needed to meet educational goals.
Objective 6: Develop pedagogy involved in ACCESS Distance Learning.
Objective 7: Develop a blended model that focuses on the needs to ensure the success of every student.
Objective 8: Assess initial technology skills of students to provide the appropriate level of support to the student.
Objective 9: Develop a comprehensive learning object for the development of model courses and modules.
Objective 10: Develop a comprehensive plan for communications of growth for Web-based, IVC, and delivery of distance learning courses.
Objective 11: Develop an oversight and management structure to ensure that activities and budgets are associated with the ACCESS Distance Learning Plan.
Objective 12: Strengthen high schools through ACCESS Distance Learning.

Blog Post #12

I found this video on YouTube and I thought it is very interesting to watch. If you would like to watch please click on the link above.

This week I found this video which reflecting many things I have done in my EDM-310 class. This video has provided the information about the benefits of technology and how technology will be part of everyone’s lives. We need to understand that technology has become so advance and has a traumatic change in the recent years. Before it just a normal thing but now everyone needs to expand their technology knowledge. Children are learning about technology in schools at very young age. From my field experience in my Human Growth and Development course, when I go out to the school for my observation I do noticed that my Kindergarten are using computers and smart boards in their classrooms. I think this is a great way to start helping our children to learn at young age and be more advance in the future as they moving forward throughout their school time. It is amazing how these kids can remember how to use certain programs that they are supposed to complete and what really surprising me is that for kindergarten which are only 5 or 6 years old and they are using technology already.
This is one of the reasons why I thought this video is a great example regarding to the fact that it shows us that everywhere we go we are consuming technology; such as cell phones, computers, cars, laptops, and etc. Our daily lives are all about technology. One thing that this video points out which I really like is that it has shown that social networks and certain websites that many people use every day to get information and I thought that it’s so true because some people may not realized that their kids are consuming technology while being online or on school. This video state that everyone needs to learn how technology, and be open to the new world because if you don’t know anything about technology, eventually you will be behind. Therefore, learning more about technology is never wrong but actually building a foundation in every future students.

Special Assignment-Metaphors

Recently I have read Tom Johnson’s post “Don’t Let Them Take Pencils Home”. Apparently, I missed the whole metaphor; I thought that this is about how one teacher is talking about the bad effect of pencils in the school system. When I read the blog post I immediately think that why are the pencils involve with the students learning ability? And the pencil has made me jump into the conclusion too soon which is the reason why I missed the metaphor.
Now I know that this is all about technology learning experience. Metaphors expand our thinking and as well as the students. Metaphors helps enhance the students learning ability more effectively. Also, teachers can help their students to understand by show them some examples of the metaphors. Such as movies, show on TV, literatures, and etc. Which are the daily metaphors we used. Metaphors is visual and expressive language.
I remember during my elementary school or perhaps in middle schools, I can relate to things and remember it more clearly, thanks to metaphors. Such as homophones which children are learning in school. Metaphors help expand our knowledge and enhance our understanding. I think that teachers will benefits from the use of metaphors to connect with their students more closely.

Progress Report for Final Project

Ever since I take EDM 310, I have learned so many things about technology. Before I enter the education field, I have never thought of using so many technologies and all I thought was the traditional teaching style like how all teachers teach their students using textbooks and workbook materials. Now, that I have some experience from EDM 310 class, I realize that technology has made it so much easier and make it so much fun. Also, technologies provide students with creative programs; such as blogging and podcast. I have decided to create a podcast for my final project with Rebecca Warnberg. We will discuss the benefits of technology for educators. There will be programs that we will discuss about for teachers to use and we will also be talking about the benefits of it. I can’t wait to work on this project with Rebecca!

Project #15

This is my book trailer movie. Enjoy!

Blog Post #11

In this video Ms. Cassidy who is a teacher from Saskatchewan, Canada who has learned to incorporate technology into her classroom in a very effective way. I am amazed at the fact that her class was able to use the computers at such a young age. I used to think that incorporating computers and other similar stuff was useless since the users were so young. I didn't think that a young age group was able to use it. I also thought that by allowing young children to use the internet on the computers could expose them to many dangers online but Ms. Cassidy has proven my earlier thoughts to be wrong.
The tools that Ms. Cassidy uses includes but not limited to: a class website, blogs, computer games, video recording, Skype and even Nintendo DS game systems. All of this may seem overwhelming, but Ms. Cassidy was able to put these things to efficient use. To ensure safety, Ms. Cassidy allows her students to navigate the internet through following links on her class website only. She also allowed them to create their own blog that only their friends and family members can comment on. The students do participate in Wikipedia so that they are able to get responses from around the world. The students also use Skype to interact and talk about writing and science. The students are allowed to play Nintendo DS games that will help with their problem solving and math skills. This shed light on how I can help my students in the future. I see more benefits of allowing the children to create blogs and navigate the internet. In a traditional classroom student only uses pencil and papers so some students are not as excited to complete their assignments. This is not the case is Ms. Cassidy's classroom; the students are excited to be able to do their work online and post their things so that others can see their progress. The students are motivated because they know that other people are paying attention to their work and thus the students are encouraged by this fact. In a traditional class, parents would not be able to see their children’s progress unless they came to the school and viewed their child's personal class work file but by using blogs, it makes things a lot easier for parents and for students by helping parents keep track of their child’s progress.
The only fear I still have for young children to use the internet is that the students will play around and may not complete their work and might possibly run into some unforeseen danger. Although these are great techniques that Ms. Cassidy uses I think that it sometimes may take up to much of the teacher’s time to update and monitor the blogs. Due to this time management problem, some teacher might not be willing to use technology inside their classroom so some would rather stick to assigning problems in workbooks and giving out coloring sheets to students. I think that the students in Ms. Cassidy's classroom will be much better prepared for the future than the students in classrooms without technology. If incorporating more technology into the classroom is beneficial for the student’s education and motivates them to learn then it is best to incorporate technology into classrooms everywhere. Some parents would prefer their children to enroll in Ms. Cassidy's class because of the technology she uses in her class. I have learned a lot from watching Ms. Cassidy's teaching styles and hopefully I will be successful in my teaching career so that many parents will want me to teach their children. If you would like to learn more about Ms. Cassidy, you can follow this link to her class website http://staff.prairiesouth.ca/sites/kcassidy/. I am glad that I have a chance to see this video and if you would like to see it please follow these links.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvPZtTej0jQ&feature=player_embedded. You can watch the Skype interview by following this link: http://edm310.blogspot.com/2010/03/ms-kathy-cassidy-skype-conversation.html.

Special Assignment- Mr. McClung's World

Mr. McClung uses his blog to introduce who he is to his students and also encourages his students to use the internet and blog site for success in the class. Joe is an example of a good teacher because he does things that are not required of teachers, he has a grasp on what good teaching is, which in turn causes his students to be motivated and successful. As an Educator, McClung is full of bright new ideas and motivated about continuing his education. He brings life to his teaching style and involves himself with his students outside of school by coaching track. This is a big responsibility.
Mr. McClung’s classroom rules are unique and are design to instruct students in a simple and realistic way for his classroom setting. He wants more than other teachers does, he actually want his students to involve themselves during class by participate in discussions using hand gestures, and positive attitude is what he welcomes. His goal is to help students achieve the best they can and to further their knowledge of whatever they need so that they will have the necessary tools to become successful. He is a great teacher and one way to describe him is a person who expects and demand but does it in a way so that you wont’ feel to pressure and provides the tools you need.
Being a day planner, this is one of the most important tools that is needed to stay on task. I would say that at the age group he teaches, he informs the students of just how important it is to keep track of homework and upcoming events, etc. This practice is a great reinforcement to help the students be wise about their time management.
Whenever he puts a time limit, a due date, on an assignment or project, he reinforces the practice of using your time wisely and completing the work on time. By doing this, he help his students in more than one way. He help them prepared more high school because when they continue their education, their workload will increase and the work might even be harder. So, by reinforcing the time management technique then it will help his students out later in their education career.
He says that he hopes his blog will encourage use of technology and that he loves to use technology for many of his hobbies and even has a music page. By incorporating classroom task on the blog requires all his students to at least view this once a week, and by messing around with the page, the students will more than likely be able to find things to entertain themselves outside of what is required by the class and thus familiarized themselves with the safe usage of the internet.
I was looking through all the links that I saw and I found more than one interesting links but the one I looked at was toondoo.com and I clicked on it. Once I got to the page, I saw that you can draw out story tales or activities or anything that make uses of cartoons and I thought that this would be a great opportunity to use it on children. Thus I book marked it for later usage. I felt by looking around these websites that was on McClungs blog links that he might have used these techniques and ideas on his own class. He shares these sites with the class so I think that these sites had a positive effect on him.
I was not able to find the internet safety link. I thought that this would have been a great link to help teach students about the dangers that are hidden online. Aside from the fact that if the internet is not used safely then many bad things could happen, there are many websites that are not appropriate for all age range.
I realized that many students not only learn from him in the classroom but also from him on the track field as well. By reading this post I also learned that his track team was very successful and that the team has a lot of good athletes. He apparently finds great pleasure in being a teacher so he continues to broaden his teaching onto the sport of track.
I like that McClung’s Blog has a counter, and more than one pages. I feel that the more I watch tutorial and fiddle around with the blog then my blog will grow more creative and bigger in page size. I love the fact that he is able to properly maintain his blog and use all the applications. It makes for a good place to visit, for his blog will not be your only stop!
The information that he personally put on his blog allows the readers to feel like they know everything about him and that they are very close. He opens the viewer’s eyes to things that occur in the classroom and around the world. He shares his findings of neat sites and useful ways of communicating information over the internet.
His students enjoy the blog he created because he updates what is going on in the class online. The major projects are published to the blog for everyone to see and post comments on them. I have seen similar blogs to this but none of them have been this elaborative or simple, McClung is on his blog constantly and he updates new item of display. His blog is great and I feel that everyone can benefit from it.

Teach someone project #14

This is a short video informing how to make a presentation from Google doc.

Blog Post # 10

In this blog by Morgan Bayda regarding to “An Open Letter To Educators” created by Dan Brown. In this post Morgan provided us with a video of Dan Brown, he basically discussing about how education has not meet some of the requirements, which he mention about technology that has not enter the education world completely. This is one of the reasons why he drops out of college because he said that his school was interfering with his education. I left a comment on Morgan’s blog: Hi Morgan! My name is Hoan Nguyen. I’m a student from EDM310 from Dr. Strange’s class at University of South Alabama. I recently just read your blog and I do agree with the fact that there are some teachers who really do not care about students’ education. Some just simply are not voluntary and make commitment when it comes to teaching. Another thing I want to point out is that on Dan’s perspective, I somewhat cannot agree with him because it is true that the school systems do not provide the best education for the students but this is the reason why we and many other future teachers are here to improve the society and make a better difference!
Although, Dan made some good points about the education system is cheating the students and says that we don’t need to attend classes to achieve education. However, he forgot that in this society we in now, everything are based on degrees and higher education to find a decent job. It is impossible to quit school because if you think about it, what can we do when we quit? Stay at home and sleep all day? What influence will we have on our children, little brothers, or little sisters? I think everyone should reconsider about quitting school before they do anything.
If you would like to see the post please visit http://morgbayda.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/an-open-letter-to-educators/.
In the post “Don’t Let Them Take Pencils Home”. This post refers to two educators having a conversation regarding to education. They both have different opinion about education, one teacher said that students’ should not bring pencils home because they think this is the reason why students’ did not complete their homework assignments. In this post, one teacher mainly focus on the testing scores and she repeatedly the same problem and give them some fun activities to do instead of motivating them with some learning skills related to their reading or perhaps math problems. If you would like to see this post please visit http://pencilintegration.blogspot.com/2010/07/dont-let-them-take-pencils-home.html.
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