What have I learned?

I learned many things in EDM 310. I really felt overwhelmed initially with the syllabus. I thought I would fall behind on the work, but I actually kept up well.

The Internet is a very great teaching tool. I have listened to people talk on the radio etc., many times but never knew what a podcast was until this class. I find myself looking online just to hear other people's views on topics. I never used Google documents. I don't particularly like it, I'd rather use something else. I will keep my account with Google for the future.

In the EDM 310 class, I have learned how to set up a Google account and its uses. I have learned to explore I tunes, perform alt tags, Twitter, spreadsheets and Word processing. There was a lot of information put into this semester. I enjoy learning about how the educational aspects of using the Internet and how I can apply it in my future teaching career. I enjoyed preparing and listening to the presentations in class.
I learned how to blog and there was a lot of blogging in this class. There was ample of time given to do the work. I will keep blogging with the people I met through blogging. The Professional blog will be a useful tool for me as well for posting your resume.

The podcasts were fun to do and I enjoyed working with my group. I have listened to the podcast many times and have asked my friends to listen to it as well, just because we can hear my voice. My children loved it. I learned a few things to do and not to do when doing a podcast.

Itunes University is tool that I will use in my future classroom. We didn't have the opportunity to visit an ACCESS lab. Foliotek is a requirement in my field and I am still working on it and I know I will use it at USA a lot.

I appreciate Mr. Sullivan's patience and his feedback throughout this semester. i will use all my newly acquired knowledge throughout my teaching career.

My EDM Blog Assignments are Now Complete

I am now completely finished with my assigments for this class. Thank you Mr. Sullivan for your patience and teachings. Thank you to my group-mates for your cooperation in making our podcast a wonderful experience. I hope to see you all in the future either at USA or in the teaching arena.

Twitter for Teachers

I had not heard of Twitter until Mr. Sullivan had the class to Twitter only allows answers to be under 140 characters in length and can be sent via mobile texting, instant message, or the web much like 140 characters in your myspace messages and explore it. I signed up for twitter I thought it was much like any other chat website. It's free of cost.

It is good to use Twitter to reach another teacher if there's a question to be asked or for giving an answer from another teacher who has reached you. In class, we explored and discussed the ideas that we could come up with on why to use the website. A lot of my classmates had general similar ideas.

I have not checked Twitter at the present time but I did subscribe. I really thought at first glance, "hear we go another chat!" I do feel that teachers teaching certain subjects could really benefit from using Twitter. I am looking forward to exploring Twitter in my educational field to communicate with students, staff or parents in an informal way.

Podcast Overview of classmates

I listened to my classmates podcast and I think as a first time Podcaster, we all gave a good try. Although we listened to some from Dr. Strange's class podcasts as a guide, we were all in the same ball-park in production.

As a critic, I think we all made some of the same mistakes. Meaning, we were all nervous in our voices at first but it all mellowed out and it just worked out. I think some people babbled on to make up the time in the podcast and with other's you were able to tell that they were putting more information on the topic verses making up time modules. All in all they sounded wonderful.

Personally, I wished there were more interaction in the class with the groupings. In my group the podcast went great I thought. We didn't get the chance to meet outside of class as we planned, but luckily, it went well. I think with the projects done in class, a whole class period should be used for preparation.

Blogging Overview/Classmates

I have read Jarod Pierce's blogs during our class. I mainly see that he is very current with his blogs and I have used it as a quide to make sure I am as current and it has worked out very well. Thanks Jarod!

Others, I have scanned on a regular basis, some are somewhat current and other play catch up. I think blogging should be done on time if at all possible, especially since it counts as part of our grade. I think it should be checked on by the teacher more just to give feedback on its content and timing. I would hate to have blogged on time and did all my work the whole semester and get the same grade as someone who hit and miss the whole semester and get the same grade. We should get more feedback at some point.

I have also followed Courtney Rose's blogs in Dr. Strange's Fall class. Courtney seems to hit the blogs strong iniatlly but tapered off a few times. The content of the blogs were very good. I look forward to seeing more of his work.

I think blogging is a useful tool to venure into other perople's views on a given topic. I have never used this method of inclusion before but I have learned about various other places and things I would not have thought of up until this class. I also see that some of the sites we have encountered will be used in my educational future.

iTunes/Universities/Stanford/The Stanford Challenge

In seeing and listening to this podcast made by Carol Dweck, Professor of Psychology explained how some students have a fixed mindset and their basic intelligence is a fixed trait and worry about how they conduct studies or tasks if they will look smart or feel smart at all. Others may think that intelligence is something that can be developed with incoming new knowledge by exercising the brain. The more the brain muscle is used the stronger it gets. Every time the brain is used it increases intellectual skills.

The growth mindset was taught to two groups, with an eight session workshop. GroupI was taught study skills and a growth mindset and GroupII was taught all study skills. The fixed mindset study skills group didn't have motivation to put the skills learned into practice, while the growth mindset group soared and applied what they learned and their grades even showed improvement in school.

I liked the statement she used about the "driver." The difference in a winning driver and losing driver is what they do with the mistakes made. I personally have had this type of issue in my classroom. We always want to do our best and stand out from the rest. I try and apply all my new knowledge to my studies and my work. I feel that the podcasts we hear may not be the way we would have delivered them or our course of action, but there's something to be learned from them and can be applied in our studies or jobs. As a teacher, I will continue to listen and read more to strengthen my own self and forward my new knowledge to others in the education field.

Podcast of grades 6-8/Booming Sands

The sounds of wind are made from sand dunes is the focus of this podcast. A research team from California Institute of Technology(CIT), Melany Hunt and Christopher Brennon at the Dummont Dunes of Death Valley California are trying to find out why the sand dunes make a humming noise.

The CIT team says its one of thirty places around the world studying this unique sound mass. This team has been studying for about 2yrs to see why the dunes produce this acoustic sound. The sand seems to have has 2-3 layers. The water and energy mixed together makes the sound when disturbed. they set out to assimilate that sound by going on a hike at a few miles up the dune and disturb its structure to create a sound and by the looks of the podcast it worked.

For grades 6-8 it would be a nice field trip to visit a sand dune just to feel the texture of a real sand dune and hear its sound mass.

Podcast Grades K-5, Are there13+ Planets?

I have viewed a podcast concerning planets. One of the speakers was Director, Neil deGrasse Tyson Director, Hayden Planetarium. He discussed that until August 2006 the International Astronomical Union(IAU), thought they made had made a discovery that there may be 10 or 13 planets instead of 9.

In 1801 a new planet was discovered orbiting between Mars and Jupiter and they called it Ceres. They found more and more planets orbiting the solar system to a number of 13. They decided to stopped counting them and finding names because it was much like finding new real estate outer space called an Asteroid Build. Ceres was then named an asteroid instead of a planet. It was defined by IAU that a planet is a body that orbits the star, a round shape and enough mass to hold its own gravity and orbit. Like Pluto isn't really a planet it's a dwarf planet.

I think it would be cool to have a class activity to illustrate what the Solar System looks like and create new names for the planets and asteroids.

The Edible Schoolyard & A Night in the Global Village

It was interesting to see and listen to Berkeley’s curriculum-based Edible Schoolyard gardening program, located in Berkeley, California connects students with the Earth. The hands on experience and interaction made with the students and teachers was great. They had to think mathematically for the ingredients to be mixed. The children learned the scientific procedure for growing the food. One child may not do well in Math but excel in science and vice-versa, but they could get the challenge and experience to help them want to learn more. The "why and how" of the subjects are good for children. The preparation of the organic garden to the cooking of the food can be a wonderful thing to implement for teachers who have access to a gardening program.

A Night in the Global Village is about an exchange of culture located in Perryville, Arkansas. The Colorado Middle School students gained an experience of how other countries survive in their living conditions.

It seemed at first that the students and parents had to make a plan on whose roles were what and how to really survive. Limited supplies, roles of people and housing was given for this experience. It seemed like the students enjoyed the idea of the experience until some sort of reality set in. The teams pulled together and helped each other, even though things were limited for most. It all goes to show us that we all may need a helping hand at some point in life from each other and how communication is so important.

These two pod casts can be a teaching tool and can be manipulated to a degree to help our students see the magnitude of the blessings they have in and out of school.

ITunes University

The iTunes University website wasn't accessible but I did find out that the iTunes University offered different educational subjects sections. through various web searches one could learn how to access the wide variety of classes, lessons, and informative podcasts offered by academic institutions, art museums, and educational television stations, through iTunes. All that is needed to enter these areas are a computer, ipod, itunes software, web browser and what all teachers should possess which is a desire to learn.

Universities such as Stanford, Indiana and Duke has provided access to a wide range of related digital audio content via the iTunes Store, Apple’s popular online music, video, and podcast service. Downloadable faculty lectures, student and faculty projects and campus events.


Personally and currently as a student and beginning teacher I could use iTunes University's information for some of my own college classes and at work. Presently we are in the stages of making podcasts, and the information out there could guide a student in the right direction. In the future when I have completed college I could use this in my own classroom. There would be so much my students would be able to learn

My information was gathered from: http://www.sunywcc.edu/itunesu/ and itunes.stanford.edu

Ipod in classrooms/Duke University

I have read about the use of Ipods in Grand Prairie school's classrooms. At 5:11 PM CST on Monday, November 5, 2007, STELLA M. CHÁVEZ / The Dallas Morning News
schavez@dallasnews.com reported that she is one of 18 employees at Grand Prairie's Ervin C. Whitt Elementary School using iPods to teach kids. According to Ms. Chavez, a lot of teaches are agreeing that when they think of instructing students, they have to think of different ways of teaching, so they have to keep up with the changes in technology.

This school district purchased a total of 321 video iPods at a cost of $73,114, paying for them through its state technology allotment and a Title I federal grant. I am guessing they really feel the need to start using these ipods. I didn't see any literature concerning who's responsible if something happens to the gadget.

Duke University
Ipods in the classroom became trendy several years ago when Duke University began giving them to incoming freshmen. According to Duke, the devices have also been popular on college campuses where professors record lectures on iTunes. The number of Duke University students using iPods in the classroom has quadrupled. According to the university’s Center for Instructional Technology (CIT), 1,200 students are expected to use iPods to enhance classroom materials. Duke distributed free iPods to all first-year students in 2004; for the current academic year, it modified to program to provide free iPods only to undergraduates who enrolled in a course that required the device.


http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2005/12/ipodupdate.html

Dr. Alice Christie's Useful sites/Constructivism

I chose to speak about my readings on Dr. Alice Christie's Constructivist Learning Resource dealing with Constructivism, which is a learning theory that supports several principles:

Learning that involves: risk-taking, creative thinking, and critical thinking. The creation of environments that: facilitate learning and provide opportunities for self-reflection and self-evaluation, learning that is socially geared and is fostered by collaboration and specific context, learning that is reflective and incorporates feedback from teachers and peers and students and teachers can learn through their mistakes. Technology is a tool to facilitate learning and is not the focus of learning but a collaboration of many things.

I enjoyed reading into these principles because we fit or will fit into each of these roles in our careers. Knowing that we can help encourage children/students to think past what they know and are doing and broaden their minds is a reward to a teacher in itself. Each person we teach has their on level of learning so fostering an environment and being part of a team that heightens the learning process is great. There is so many technological advances out there today to help us, help the students, so we have a jump on the learning process.

Wikipedia, yes or no?

I have heard from people in my educational experiences that using Wikipedia can be a usable source and some say it's not. Personally, I have clicked on it a few times just to see what information it has to offer for what I am researching. No matter what source we use in our studies, no-one really knows what can and can't be a trusted one, but Wikipedia one is one the weaker sources.
I am surprised to read that anyone can alter things this site. I was glad to read that there is some sort of tracking on IP addresses on those who choose to alter the information. There should be something done by Wikipedia itself if they choose to do so. If not, they we all need to find other sources for information sought. We as educators can find other sources and keep the use of Wikipedia minimal.

Podcasts

The first pod cast I listened to was from http://www.kid-cast.com/podcast/index.htm. The speakers were Jake and Carson, students from Hickory Day School in technology. Their pod cast was concerning World problems namely Child labor. These two boys were brief in speaking and to the point which shocked me coming from kids but they had the basic knowledge of children working in factories. They explained how children are too young working in Africa and all over the world. They said children are cheaper to employ than adults in the Ivory coast. Companies such as: Hershey, Mars and Nestle buy cocoa beans from labor plants which to them are unfair. They asked a question, “Would you buy a $7 far trade bar cocoa beans or .50 nestle bar from someone in child labor violations?” They mentioned that there are Human Right’s Organizations watching the trading. They gave their school’s website Cshell@hickoryday.org in closing.

My second pod cast audio came from:
Mac Break Weekly 105: Don't Lick The Glass
The speakers were: Leo Laporte, Robert Llewellyn, Chris Breen, and Don McAllister
First the hosts gave mention to their supporters. They spoke on an “Apple” event. The pod cast was more like a lot of conference calls to get feedback on the event. It really sounded like a radio telecast and many of them talked together and over each other. They cracked jokes a lot and discussed pictures of the event and the gadgets introduced and updated such as the new Nano from Apple, updated Itunes, Ipod touch, maybe Iphone 2.1, Ipod’s color scheme and its 9 colors offered.

They hosts repeated how the slender types of the Nano have become popular and has more storage. They repeated the Ipod classic 160gigs are liked a lot but like the new size of 120gig that is out now mainly for the new width, they were excited with the larger library and Apple Iphone’s and volume control had added speakers and don’t need headphones. Said speakers are not good on Ipod touch. If I were in to this technology, it would have been informative, but there were too many of the same things mentioned in this pod cast and I was bored with it. My husband has the larger Ipod and loves it. I think they all costs too much.

Thirdly I listened to:
Teachers Connecting 4: Students View of EdTech & Connections
February 15th, 2009 this pod casts which was for informing students, how to listen to students and teachers. The introduction had loud music and the host and co-host talked of weather in Canada’s which is where the co-host was located.
They mentioned to discuss 7th grade students and why smart board helps and they think teachers should connect. I didn’t hear much from that. I did hear them mention to listen in or join in the “ Chime” at 415-315-9492 for more pod casting. The hosts quickly gave links for others to use, I did catch: webspiration.com for mind concepts in Math, said it had good symbols for ideas and organizing points. That’s free of charge for now but may change in the future. I heard them say there are brainstorming activities to submit through minister or brainstorer.com, for students to give study notes, researching ideas that they can collaborate on at a later time. The chime kept going off and they got a mailbag and opened it to find a letter from Australia from a Peter Hollard which he talked of pod casts he enjoyed as teacher. This pod cast could have kept the jokes and chiming to a minimum. The information was ok but I got frustrated hearing the same thing over and over again.

My fourth pod cast was from :
Teachers Are Talking Episode 14 from Thu, 2008-12-25 02:27 the hosts were Cheryl Lykowski and Susan van Gelder and Steve Dembo of the Educator Network
This pod cast focused on talk from ideas, practices, interests and blogging. The teacher started off the pod cast talking about snow days in long Island and Canada and their cars driving in snow. They spoke on schools they worked in liked or otherwise. One teacher compared working with kids to teachers acting like kindergarteners, who are afraid to do different things, afraid the mix up the environment in a class a bit.

I did enjoy Mr. Dembo talking about his experiences focusing on the classroom, especially with children with illnesses. He is no longer in the classroom he took a job in technology to network on a variety of areas.
He spoke on the empowerment of people and experiments to uplift technology in education.. The vast majority of the pod cast was that of Mr. Dembo and his own experiences. The pod cast could have been more informative.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture/EDM 310

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo, was a video with so much to say and relay to others. I can’t recall having to watch a lecture online but this was well worth the time. Without making his illness a a focal point, Mr. Pausch, delivered a informative, heartfilled lecture.

First, I want to say that as educators, we really need to reflect on what “DREAMS” mean or meant to us and try very hard not to knock those of others. Mr. Pausch said, “Show others what is feels like to make others happy with something you are doing.” I feel as a teacher, all my 18 students look into my eyes and want something from me that no-one else may be able to give them and after viewing this video, I want to make a point of listening more and trying to do my best for them even more. I pray that I am not a “brick-wall” that stands in front of someone’s achievements or dreams so to speak. I pray that I am that teacher, mentor, parent, colleague or friend for someone and that I have made a difference and will continue to do so.

The fulfillment of childhood dreams are amazing. I can only remember wanting to be a teacher and here I am, in the process of that dream. I can’t recall anyone pushing me or pulling me from that dream. I remember being told that I can and will help others in a major way, maybe this is my time to shine, maybe not yet but it will happen.

Mr. Pausch also made a statement that people with large families are better people because they know how to get along. I don’t particularly agree with that, but I see his point. I speak only from a personal level when I say that my immediate family was small, but I do have a large family in general. Even with that in mind, I think I am the most easy going person to get to know. I see myself as one of the "tigger" people, that is happy and full of life, dedicated, honest and I try so hard to be prepared.

I look forward to reading and viewing more of professor Pausch’s work in my career. I was almost at the end of the video when I noticed that he passed away in July 2007 and my heart goes out to his family.

Previous EDM310 Podcast review

The first Podcast I reviewed was titled "Can You Tube be used for Educational purposes"?
Adrienne Lynch, Joylyn Reese and Brian Stevens were the casting students.

These student’s podcast had some information and they took turns giving it. They described You Tube as a Google product, said it gave “how too’s” for teachers, news, videos, music, and movies. The students said that You Tube had a lot of examples and that it showed ways to use it but I didn’t really hear much support on that. They mentioned valuable things and not so valuable things in the site such as: Class projects, presentations, post videos for class, workshops for teachers and documentaries. They also mentioned it was a “good cheat tool.” One student said that most schools restricted access to it but there were ways around it and that personally he would use sparingly. There were lots of examples given by way of other teachers, instead of themselves. They babbled on, but didn’t give concrete reasons to the list of purposes to support the ideas mentioned. The Podcast was long but not with core experiences.

My second Podcast viewed was: "Useful Websites for Teachers" by Shyane Fant, Erica Sledge, and Ashley Cleveland.

These students listed sources from HDTV://its.lee summit.k12.mo.us and said it was an interactive site on how to get tech in class. They gave other examples of links to be used such as: SmartBoard tutorial, word, and excel. They explained that students can look at it, do PowerPoint, pick grade subject areas to be used in your own classroom. They mentioned the use of games, lesson plans, resources, web design and media graphics.

They also sited: Teachers.net can be used for any type teacher, adult and Professors. They explained the use of possible 4000 lesson ideas, project sections, grants to be searched and field trips. They also mentioned publications were made by teachers, articles for different things and chat board usage. I got a lot of listening to them speak and plan on using the websites. I think it would be helpful to any teacher.

Articles I found concerning podcasts

The first podcast I reviewed was: "Student's Perceptions of You Tube Usage in the College Classroom." Shonna L. Snyder, Sloan Christine Burke, USA

You Tube is an Internet application in which people can upload, share, and watch videos. Technology such as You Tube in the classroom could prove to be an asset in meeting the educational needs of our generation. Technology in the classroom has come a long way. Growing advances in video technology and communication tools brought on by the Internet in the past decade have caused educators to consider their benefits as classroom tools.

You Tube, has quickly become a communication platform on the Internet . You Tube, Instant Messaging, MySpace, and Facebook are used mainly as a social communication. By using a variety of instructional methods and learning activities in the classroom or via distance education courses, an enriched learning environment is created for the student (Beldarrain, 2006).

College students are using the Internet at much higher rates compared to other populations. Students check email, download music files, and use instant messages all the time for educational purposes. College students are using the latest communication technology on the Internet such as chat rooms, blogs, Clearly college students are in the using the most up-to-date Internet technologies You Tube, can be beneficial to a classroom learning experience.


My second podcast review was : Student's ‘Evolving’ Use of Technology
By: Insidehighered news

We all know that we spent a significant amount time on the Internet for any given purpose. Studies show that the use of Face book and other social networking sites are on the rise. So are students using websites now for education or social platforms?

More and more it seems that for communication purposes such as: E-mail, Web sites, message boards and Blackboard are ways of connecting globally. Information technology and instructional technology are used daily, but are these methods practical for all class types? If a teacher can teach a class productively, it can be done with or without Information Technology. So it really boils down to how it is implemented in the class and how we as upcoming teachers can make our classes equally productive with the changing technology advances. We should keep the old days in mind when computers were not such a big issue and just use it as a tool not as a factor.

Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

I believe there are many of ways to to convey lessons to children. In this post by Karl Fisch, he states that " All educators must achieve a basic level of technological capability." In saying that, I agree that some level is the key word here. If a person is able to turn the PC on and click on Internet Explorer, then that's their level. Mr. Fish says, "People who do not meet the criterion of #1 should be embarrassed, not proud, to say so in public. Maybe, maybe not. Not everyone believes in the things found on the Internet, maybe they are people who'd rather search and find physically what they desire. Instead of using technology to communicate, like emailing, some would rather pick up the phone. That's their choice.

As an educator, I agree that I am not an illiterate teacher. I have some computer skills that I can convey to my students at a certain level and I continue to search ways to increase my knowledge to help myself and my students/children.

At my job, there are some seasoned teachers who hasn't the slightest interest to learn about computers, that's their choice. I do not see how they got the certification they have without the use of a computer at some point. Personally, I wouldn't want to be one in the bunch who was technologically illiterate but that just me.

My Presentation

The Fischbowl: Let’s Stop Preparing Kids for College

In reading Karl Fisch's posts, I tend to think that too much enfaces is put on students to go straight to college after high school. High school doesn’t necessarily prepare you for college, although when finishing high school and going onto college can possibly them a greater job opportunity and future advancement doesn’t mean it’s for everyone and this same achievement can be met other ways..

Mr. Fisch said, there’s no question that the statistics show that folks with a college education are likely to earn much more than those with just a high school education. According to the U.S. Census bureau, “workers 18 and over with a bachelor’s degree earn an average of $51,206 a year, while those with a high school diploma earn $27,915 .”

As noted in Mr. Fisch’s blog, in fields with a need for scientific, engineering, or accounting knowledge, there are certainly other ways for students to get that knowledge that might look very different from the typical college experience, including trade schools, internships/mentorship’s, online options or even joining the Military.

Companies can train a person to do just as well or better than a college degreed person. These employers could teach them the specific content they needed to know for their job. A college education doesn’t makes people any more of a better person. Molding them in high school can prepare them to be a better person.

Alt and Title Text- Water and Peace

My 2nd International Blog Post

My second International blog came from Manaia Kindergarten
Manaia Kindergarten Blog New Zealand. http://manaiakindergarten.blogspot.com/

The site showed many different things going on in their country such as Christmas, gardening, flax weaving activities, gross motor activities while at school. It has many different colors and tabs to look through and a lot of feedback from American teachers through a visitor‘s log and they have a link to U Tube, Check it out….

My 1st International Blog Post

My first International blog was of Tom Barrett’s classroom at a Priestsic Primary and Nursery School, Sutton in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The website is : http://tbarrett.edublogs.org/. He teaches grades 5-6. I enjoyed the site because it gave views on how children love the computer so much and had a Kids on the Internet link. We all know that computers are up and becoming an important part of our Early Childhood learning. The children are learning how to download and use windows. It also explained how to install kid safe sites.

2nd U.S. Blog

The KinderKids' Classroom, by Maria Knee can be located at http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger, has a lot of links from teachers from around the states. It show cool animation and video clips. The teacher posted assignments for the students to use and the students entries as well, mainly about spiders. It also listed all the students names. There is a comment section, artwork and pictures of the school. There was the coolest thing on this site, it told about another teacher from NY that was going on an Antarctic expedition. The KinderKids sent him a flag they designed and he in return sent them the flag from his expedition. They read the teacher, ( Jeff Peneston’s on-line journal and watching the videos he made to learn more about his trip).

1st U.S. Blog

Lois K. Feibus, http://theacademyforearlylearning.blogspot.com/, the lead preschool teacher in the Little White House Preschool program at Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School in northeastern Pennsylvania was my first choice a teacher‘s blog in the U.S. I was able to read on things such as easy play dough, 21st Century learning. There were links to a website which included the mission and philosophy for Environmental Education in Early Childhood Education and Early Primary Grades at: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~eeec/index.php.

Did you Know?

I am happy to know that 70% of our pre-k children are introduced to the PC now-a-days, compared to when I was 4-5 years old, I had no clue how to navigate nor have access to a PC. Having the use of the Internet is very open today and a part of our everyday routine almost. It was interesting to see how far we have come with technology and yet how far we have to go. I do believe our youth are more captivated by media these days than when we were children in the 60s-90s. Because media technology is on the rise, we must change the way we think and learn. Other countries are rising and productive, and must do this as well in the U.S.

Winter's Beauty

ACCESS

ACCESS, The Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators, and Students Statewide (ACCESS) Program is a Distance Learning program for students. According to the ACCESS link, it connects classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide and provides opportunities and options for Alabama public high school students to engage in Advanced Placement (AP), elective, and other courses to which they may not otherwise have access.
The students are allowed to take Advanced Placement courses during regular school hours through a web-based program, one-on-one lectures, and recently added, the students are now able learn through interactive video conference with their teachers. When visiting http://accessdl.state.al.us/, prospective students could learn more about ACCESS and how it can accommodate you, your child, and/or student(s). There are different tabs that you can go under such as About ACCESS, Courses, Students, Educators, Parents, Contact Us, Help, and Resources which describes the ACCESS program; under the Courses tab, it identifies the courses that are available through ACCESS. The Students tab tells the students what type of activities and devices they should look forward to doing and using and shows the students were classes will be held.

The Educators tab, tell teachers who are interested in teaching in the Distance Learning(DL) program may see what jobs are available. The Parents tab describes ACCESS and lets them know what their child will be learning, and where the classes will be held and where they are offered. The Contact Us tab has information such as telephone and email addresses for which one can use to contact someone who works for ACCESS. The Help tab has frequently asked questions and the Resources tab identifies the type of exams and tests the students will be taking. There is also an option to look at a PowerPoint on ACCESS at: http://accessdl.state.al.us/showaccess.php?Ink=about access. The ACCESS program will be something I will use to keep my students and their parents informed about DL, if I teach it in later years.

ALEX

ALEX is a website indexed to help teachers with many time-saving, one-stop resources in the classroom. Parents are also able help meet their child’s school goals at home by using ALEX (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org), by using this can get the overall benefit in the classroom. The ALEX website has eight different categories you can choose from. My favorite was the different lesson plans for different grade levels. It allows you to click on a subject and plan for your classroom needs. This is a great tool for any new and old teacher by implementing a variety of new educational sources and experiences. The links you can follow include: Courses of Study, Web Links, Lesson Plans, Search, Personal Workplace, Professional Learning, Distance Learning, and Help. Under the course study there descriptions of what every grade level subject area that teachers, administrators, and students can use.

The Workplace tab allows you to create a personal login to tap into educational resources The Distance Learning tab it will provide a person with access to the Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators, and Students Statewide (ACCESS) program. The Professional Learning tab helps a person keep up with the latest news and find learning tools among other things. I think ALEX will be a good website for a beginning teacher and those who may need to brush up on the changing educational world.

About me

Hey Everybody,

My friends call me Jay and I am one of your classmates this Spring semester at USA. First, I love to Internet browse, whether it's for shopping purposes, email or just to have something to do.

I currently have an AA in Early Childhood Education and teach 18 children. I am a Junior at South and I am pursuing a BA in Elementary Education, so that I may teach overseas in a few years.

I am married (21yrs) to a handsome retired Naval man. We have three children ages: 24(b), 19(g) and 15(b). I have one grandson who is 2yrs old and a daughter-in-law.
I have lived in California, Texas, Washington State, Virginia, Florida and Bahrain. I have visited Dubai, Spain, Italy and various other places.

I hope this information was worth your time to read and I look forward to reading about the rest of the class.

Peace,

Jay

The Calm

Joycelyn's Blog

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