A Good get to Know You ...

Please go to this form and answer the questions I have listed. Enjoy!

This Is How We Dream...

Well, I think I am having trouble finding the words for this one. I feel this could possibly have been the worst video we have been assigned to watch so far this semester. It was beyond boring, and I have just wasted 15 minutes of my life. Now saying that, I know I need to address writing using multimedia a little bit.

I think is great that people can write and publish it to the internet and others can read it for free, but I absolutely love books, and I get worried that they will eventually go away. I feel there is a happy medium that people can attain.

I definitely think that using multimedia in the classroom with our students will benefit them and help them to understand things more fully. I believe writing and multimedia combined can be a great thing in the classroom if used correctly.

The Networked Student

I absolutely love the way this video is set up. It is such a creative way to capture our attention, but honestly watching these videos about the same thing are getting a bit old. I feel like all of the videos are starting to repeat themselves, and it is getting boring.

I thought the question, "Why does the networked student even need a teacher?", was interesting. I feel like teachers are most definitely needed because blogs are great, but just like the video said, they are people's opinions, not facts. This is why I don't really like blogging unless it is a teacher giving information to their students, or someone updating people on what is going on in their lives. People can write anything they want, so I am very weary about trusting blogs, I just take the information with a grain of salt.

Teachers are needed to guide and direct their students in the right direction. It's good to know that our teacher is there to answer our questions and help us when we need it. Also, I think that having a Personal Learning Network will help prepare me to be able to teach students who also have a Personal Learning Network. Overall, this was a good and informative video.

I responded to Mr. McClungs' blog, and it can be found on his blog at: http://attheteachersdesk.blogspot.com/2009/05/what-i-learned-this-year.html

I thought the blog posted by Mr. McClung was wonderful! It was so refreshing hearing good advice from a new teacher. Advice from teachers who have been teaching a while is awesome, but to hear from someone who has only been teaching for one year is great. I thought his blog was extremely eye-opening. I was reminded that it is all about the students. My lessons need to be geared to them. This may seem obvious, but I think it is too easy to get consumed by just making it a productive lesson, and not think about the students and how they will get it.

I truly want to make a different in the lives of my future students. I want them to know that I care about them. I loved that one of Mr. McClungs' students wrote and told him that they really felt like he cared about them. I want to be like that when I am a teacher. I want to be a great teacher and I want my students to know I truly care about each and every one of them!

Duke

When searching online for using iPods in instruction I came across this website, which is actually a PDF form, but has some really great information on it. It talks about how useful iPods in the classroom would be for the students because they already use iTunes often for music, and it would be super conveinent to be able to put the lecture on ancient Roman ruins, for example, and skip to the part you were confused about. It would be absolutely fantastic! This is the website: http://www.principalspartnership.com/iPods.pdf

I also read the Duke University report on using iPods in instruction. I loved it! I think it is fantastic that they gave 1600 incoming freshman in 2004 20GB iPods. The best part about it is they ACTUALLY used the iPods in many of their courses during that school year! I think it is wonderful to use something that this generation is so incredibly confortable using, and allowing it to be a productive tool to help us in school. I really think it is amazing that iTunes has developed iTunesU, and I believe it will be an amazingly useful tool in the future, the more popular it becomes. I believe iPods are a great way to help students in school!

i Tunes University

iTunes University is sooo cool!! I love it! This assignment was the first time I had ever heard of iTunes U, and I am so thankful. I did not know much about ITunes anyway before this so, I began exploring things that interested me. For example, I have recently become interested in reading, which I hated in high school, so I selected literature under the categories section in iTunes U.There are so many cool things under it!
I cannot wait to have more time to explore iTunes University. They have really wonderful podcasts in it. I believe iTunes U is extremely useful for anyone who has a desire to learn.

Dr. Christie

When I first arrived at Dr. Christie's website, I immediately noticed that "comprehensive resource for educators" was in bolded letters on the home page. I suddenly became interested to see what her website had to offer for teachers. Her website is extremely interesting and has many great things to offer teachers such as safety when dealing with children and the internet, which is extremely important. The one thing I am absolutely thrilled about is under the Workshop tab on the sidebar, is a link where she discusses Virtual Field Trips. This is awesome!

I really think Dr. Christie's website is extremely thorough and I found the information it contained extremely useful even as a student. I am thankful that it discusses how technology can be used in practical ways in the classroom, and even has lists of researching resources to use. I love this website, I have made it a favorite on my computer!