Week 6 Assignment

The first school I found was The Green School in Bali, Indonesia. This school uses classroom blogs for students from preschool to year 8. The blogs give students an opportunity to reflect and share what they have learned with others. It also gives parents a chance to read about what their child is doing in school. Each grade level blogs multiple times a week. This school is brand new, therefore the blog is very active. I enjoyed learning about their unique views of education through nature.

www.greenschool.org




The second school I found is in Wadenswil, Switzerland called Zurich International School. Their blog is used to inform parents of upcoming events. Its purpose is to serve as a newsletter. There were posts about sports teams, signing up for lockers, and service projects. The site says that the purpose of the blogs is to show major issues and the future direction of the school. This blog is an easy way for students and parents to be more involved in their school. Now they can see all the opportunities they have and parents can also help their children stay on task.

http://moodle.zis.ch/blogs

Week 5 Assignment

The first example of a blog being used in the classroom is from Noel Elementary School. This 5th grade teacher uses the blog to show parents the different scientific experiments his class does. Mr. C, as he calls himself, videotapes his students doing their experiments and posts them on the blog website. This allows students to show their parents what they are learning in class. For example, the students created boats out of soap bars and the one obligation was that the boat had to float. The next experiment was to make a boat out of a soap bar that could not float. The students soon learned that no matter how many holes you put in the soap, it will still float.
http://mrcsclassblog.blogspot.com/
A teacher from Nixa, Missouri set up a website for her 3rd-6th graders. She called it Summer Reading Camp. The theme was going camping. The way the blog was used was during the summer months the teacher, Ms. Young, set up a blog for summer reading. She blogged about the reading assignment and students would write to her about what they were enjoying in the book. That way students were able to talk about the book as they read it and not be expected to remember the whole book whenever they get back to school in the fall. She also offers a link that shows what chapters they should be reading each week.

http://jyoungblog.blogspot.com/

Week 4 Assignment

The video made by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod is fascinating. I could not believe all the statistics they had through out the presentation. It made my jaw drop quite a few times. I had no idea how technologically advanced we are becoming. The statistics that the video shared were so interesting. It makes me wonder how much the numbers have changed now in 2008 from 2007. It would be interesting to see the new statistics if they redid this video in a couple a years to show what's new out in the world.

Some of the interesting statistics that I saw were how 100% of college students in India speak English. That just blows my mind because I took two years of Spanish in high school and I have no idea how to speak that language. I might be able to pick out a couple words I know from memory, but I there is no way I could carry a conversation with someone who spoke that language. I find it amusing how most Americans have no idea how to speak another language fluently, but other countries can speak our language just as well as we can. I also found it very interesting how the video pointed out the new college majors. It made me wonder what kind of opportunities my children will have. My brain can not even begin to comprehend all the new technology that is coming our way in the future. The part about the average 21 year old and all the television, video games, instant messages, and emails we have spent our time on really makes me wonder what happened to the simpler things in life? Instead of talking a walk or a bike ride we now stay inside to play on facebook and myspace. The statistic that said that 70% of four year olds have used a computer is just astonishing. When I was four I played with Barbies and made mud pies. What is happening to our youth? It almost feels like we are being taken over by technology. The thing that really made my jaw drop was when it said that if Myspace were a country it would be the 8th largest in the world. That is mind blowing. I just can not even imagine that the web community is that massive just for Myspace. I also can not believe that the computer will soon exceed not only the human brain, but the human race.

This video really showed how much we have accomplished through technology. It makes a clear point that we need to teach our children how to be successful in the 21st Century. New college majors and careers are being created every year to help in the progress of our world. This one video created five million different conversations. It shows the power of technology and the future advancements. Children whom may never of had the chance to own a textbook could have all the answer they needed with just one computer with access to the internet. As a future educator I need to be prepared to teach my children the fundamentals of technology so that I can help further their chances of succeeding in todays society.

Week 3 Assignment

ACCESS, which stands for Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide, provides options and opportunities for student in Alabama's public schools to take place in Advanced Placement, elective, and other courses that they may not have access too otherwise. This program allows students many opportunities to excel in programs they might not have without the help of ACCESS. This program provides students the opportunity to learn through highly qualified teachers and courses.

The problem with today's educational opportunities is the low income schools have limited offerings for students in their course choices. Schools in Alabama are required by law to offer the Advanced Diploma, but some schools simply can not because they can't provide physics, calculus, or trigonometry. Because of these low income schools the state of Alabama decided that their mission would be to offer these students the chance to participate in these types of courses. That is where ACCESS comes in. Some of ACCESS goals are to provide advanced diploma courses, additional courses, provide teachers with the technology tools they need to enhance their classrooms, and much more. The different ways the students can receive the opportunities from ACCESS is either web based or videoconferencing. Funds are provided for the delivery sites so that teachers can receive the additional training.

As I mentioned above ACCESS offers students either videoconferencing or web based to take their courses. Some of the benefits of videoconferencing are its close to the normal instructional methods provided in classrooms. It allows team teaching in schools. It provides the school with more teachers and it allows other teachers to grow professionally by taking part in the ACCESS program. Some of the challenges to videoconferencing is being able to keep the student interested and apart of the class.

Web based is another way for students to participate in ACCESS. An online course allows students to be able to take it during the day at school. With a web course the "E-teacher" can post videos, animations, and assignments. The E-teachers are certified real teachers in the state of Alabama. The teachers are able to interact with teachers through forum discussions, and review sessions in real time.

I believe ACCESS is very useful for students so that they can have the opportunity to excel in their school. I think this program is especially useful for high school students. I am going to be an elementary school teacher, therefore I am not sure if ACCESS will be beneficial for me. However if there was a case where I needed to use ACCESS I would defiantly consider it.

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Week 2 Assignment. ALEX

The Alabama Learning Exchange or ALEX is a website designed to share materials and information for educational purposes. ALEX offers links to Courses of Study, Web Links, Lessons Plans, Personal Workspace, Professional Learning, and Distance Learning. They also have a search and help section if you have a specific matter you want to look up or if you have a question you need answered.

Courses of Study are offered in the subjects you will be teaching in an elementary classroom like Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. Once you decide what subject you want to find a course of study on you can access what grade you want to look at. For example, if you click on Language Arts, 2nd Grade, it gives you a list of possible lesson plans. This is very helpful when you are writing your lesson plans because you can put the lesson number from the ALEX website on your lesson plans. The Web Links gives you a list of Teacher Web Links, Administrator Web Links, and Student Web Links. In the Lesson Plans category it has a search specified in helping you find a lesson plan. There is the option to create your own lesson plan if you have an ALEX account, find a lesson plan by Author, Title or School, or search for a lesson plan by subject. The Personal Webspace link is a place where you login if you have an ALEX account. If you create an ALEX account you have the option of storing and submitting lesson plans and web pages for teachers. The Professional Learning Link gives you more links to visit websites to find professional development growth and opportunities, learning tools, and the latest news concerning the Alabama Department of Education. Another link available is the Distance Learning. This is for schools with limited course offerings. It allows students to take part in Advanced Placement, electives, and other types of courses that they might not have access too.

All of these links can be found on the main page, which makes this website very user friendly. Once you click on courses of study it brings you to a page where you can choose what grade you want to search for. This website is very simple to figure out and if you still have problems they have a Help link. Even with all of the links I mentioned above, this website also offers links to the Alabama Department of Education, Alabama Virtual Library, and much more.

I think the ALEX website is a very useful resource for teachers in Alabama. It offers you all kinds of resources to use in your lesson plans. I know when I begin teaching I will use the courses of study to help in planning my lessons. It also gives me the option in looking up other lesson plans for different subjects. I know I'll use the different websites they list for you in the Web Links and also in the Professional Learning. ALEX also offers a Personal Workspace, which I may consider using once I begin teaching to store my lesson plans. This website offers many important resources that any teacher can benefit from and I know I will use it once I begin teaching.

First Post

My Name is Amber Calvert. I'm a 20 (soon to be 21) year old junior at South Alabama. I am majoring in Elementary Education. As a senior in high school I had decided that I wanted to go to the University of Alabama. I was all ready to go, when in April of 2006 I was diagnosed with Melanoma. Therefore that put a damper on my plans. Due to all the doctor appointments I decided to stay here in Mobile. I don't regret it at all. I love Mobile and I'm glad I stayed close to home. Anyways, I started off here at South as a Business major.. only to shortly realize how much I disliked all my classes. By November of my first semester I decided I wanted to become a teacher. I love kids! I lost that feeling of "now what to do with my life" once I entered the College of Education. I should be graduating in the Spring of 2010, which I am very excited about! I cant wait to get into my own classroom!

My life revolves around my school and work schedule. Most of the time I feel like I have no time for myself, but when I do get a spare moment my time is spent with my boyfriend of 3 years (Josh), my 2 very best friends, or reading. Right now my obsession is the Twilight Series. I've read the whole series twice now and I'm working on a third time. The movie comes out November 21st and I can not wait. That would be my nerdy side. :] My best friends Lauren and Ashlea are both mothers. Grayson and Madison are my little worlds. They both have my heart in their hands. I was able to watch Grayson Lee's birth this past April and it was the most special thing in the world. I have two dogs, Jackson and Sam, who I love to death! I love going out on the boat..fishing..swimming..tubing.. everything that goes a long with it. I also love going up to my boyfriends huntin camp in Gainestown, Alabama. Riding horses is one of my biggest passions. I use to compete when I was younger, but due to my crazy schedule I only get to ride occasionally now. I can't wait for football season to start... Roll Tide! :]

Right now, the class I am most excited about is Classroom Management. I'll be starting my candidacy in the spring. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Annndd I'm ready for the semester to be over already. ;]