Comments for Kids #1, #2, and #3

For my first "Comments for Kids" I was assigned to Mrs. White's fourth grade class in Crozet, Virginia. Mrs. White is a passionate teacher and you can tell that she has a heart for her children. I commented to Eli's blog. In his blog, he writes about water war games and the winner would receive ten dollars. Eli describes his games using water noodles, water guns, and water soccer. I enjoyed reading his post and as I read his other post, it was apparent that he has a great passion for writing.

My Comment to Eli: I am a student at the University of South Alabama in Dr. Strange's class. I really enjoyed reading your post. I love water games and you gave me some great ideas on new games that I could play. I look forward to hearing more from you and thanks for the post.

My second "Comments for Kids" I was assigned to Mr. St. Pierre's class. He is a 5th grade teacher at Terryville Elementary School in New York State. I was assigned to comment to Michael's blog. Michael's blog was about how he liked to play with Lego's and how he loved to build cool stuff with the Lego's

My Comment to Michael: I am a student at the Univesity of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama in Dr. Strange's class. I agree with you that Lego's are cool. I have a nephew that is always playing with Lego's and making the biggest mess throughout the house. I also enjoy building things with him because you don't realize all of the cool things you can build. I really enjoyed reading your post and keep on writing.

For my last "Comments for Kids" I was assigned to Hope a fifth year student from Pt. England School in Auckland, New Zealand in Mr. Chris Mark's class. For her post she had a picture of herself titled, "This is Me." It is so great what these students are doing at such a young age.

My Comment to Hope: I am a student from the University of South Alabama in the United States. I am an Elementary Education major in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. I think it is great that you have your own blog. Technology is great and it is so cool that we can communicate with each other from opposite sides of the world. I wish you all the best of luck in continuing your education.

Blog Post 6

The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler

I really enjoyed this video and thought its creation was interesting. I like the idea of connectivisim. According to this video, connectivism is a theory that learning occurs as part of social networking of many diverse connections and ties. It allows you to use all tools of technology , such as internet, blogging, search engines and many more. I also liked how you can connect with other s which strengthens the learning progress. I personally learn more when I work with others and have different people’s opinions. An example of this is our blogs. I always learn from what people comment on my post because people can interpret things differently than what I took it as. So, it is great to have other people’s opinions because it can make you think out of the box and open your mind up to different outlooks.

Another point that I liked about connectivism is the students take charge of their education. The students don’t have books and the teacher hardly lectures. I am going to be completely honest, when a teacher is lecturing, unless it is a topic I am interested in, I tune them out. I tend to learn more when I am on the internet navigating to find information. For example, I have learned more information in EDM 310 than any other class this semester because you have to do the work on your own. Of course, there is help when you need it. Reason I say this is because you don’t have a teacher standing in front of you telling you a bunch of facts. Instead, we have to use technology and learn the most from it. I know what I learn from this class will always follow me through my education

So, you ask why the Networked Students need a teacher? Well, for one, we don’t know everything. So, we are going to need some guidance from the teacher. The instructor teaches the students how to properly communicate with each other and I think that is very important, especially this day in time. I am sure that most of us text on our cells phones. How many of you shorten your words for example, letter “u” meaning you? I know that I do and when we properly communicate with others we need to make sure that we don’t use that type of communication. The teacher can also teach you how to maintain your personal network and skills that will be needed for the 21st century.

A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment (or PLN)

I thought this 7th grader did a great job on her PLN. She had it well organized and you can tell that she had spent a lot of time on it. She gave me some great ideas for my own PLN. I liked how she had a note taking program on her PLN. I think that would be great to add to mine because there are many times that I just write down notes and a lot of it is unorganized. And sometimes I don’t remember what the note was for. So, the note taking program could be helpful and a great tool to have.

Critiques on Smartboards

In both, Why Smartboards are a Dumb Initiative and Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards; I can see their point of view. Yes, they are expensive, but I think they are great tools to have in a classroom. When doing observation hours for a class last semester, I saw firsthand that students like working with smartboards. I noticed the students were eager to come to the board and participate in class. I think participation is a main key to effective teaching because we want our students to be engage and eager to learn.

A blog that I found was, Smartboard Survey-teachers like’m. I thought this was interesting because the results came from 237 teachers who did a survey on the use of smartboards. A question that was asked “was how many teachers find that their students are more engaging with the use of the smartboard?” 214 teachers agreed and 23 disagreed with the question. This just shows that smartboards are great tools to have in a classroom and are beneficial to our students. So, as future educators if we have a smartboard, we need to make sure we use it!

Here is the link:

 http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2010/5/5/smartboard-survey-teachers-likem.html

Project 9b

Nicholas Sparks is one of my favorite authors. I am not a big reader, but I love his books. I fell in love with the movies, but the movies do differ from the books. So, it is a good idea to read the book and watch the movie. I found all the information on Nicholas Sparks' personal website. The images for his books came from his website, and the movie photos were found on google. For the books, they did not list the day that the book was released, so I made up a day, but the year and month is correct. Here is a link to his website: http://www.nicholassparks.com/

Blog Post 5

Judy Scharf Podcast Collection

Judy Scharf's post had many helpful tips for a podcast. I liked how she pointed out that students love to do podcast and I agree with her. I personally believe that students love working with technology and podcast are a great tool to use. One of the benefits she listed was  that students can enhance their communication skills. That is so true because the students get to work together and talk among people and classmates. I believe that if we start our children out at a young age working with other people, it will have a positive effect on them in the end.

Eagles Nest Radio and Class Blog

The podcast I listened to was All Roads Lead to Rome. It was hard to believe that these kids are only in elementary school. The children did a great job and you can tell that the kids had there act together and they sounded professional.  I also learned some information about Rome that I didn't know. One thing that I liked was the music throughout the podcast. I think that is a great tool to add to a podcast. Overall, these kids did  awesome. I think it is fantastic what these young students are doing. They are opening themseleves up to the great uses of technology.

The Education Podcast Network
The Education Podcast Network is a great tool for teachers. It shares information about podcast programs among teachers. The teachers are able to share ideas and knowledge amongst each other. I believe this network is great for current teachers and future educators. This network shares many podcast that are very helpful. I think all teachers and future educators should use this network. The network will grow as people share information and ideas.

Project 9a

Project #8

Podcast Project by Jennifer Hackney and Kenneth Nelson

We interviewed Raymond Hunt and Mr. Fry from Denton Middle School about the pros and cons of technology in the classroom.

Click the image below to listen to our podcast.

Blog post 4

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?
Scott McLeod is an Associate Professor at Iowa State University. He is the Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education, also known as CASTLE. This is the only organization that educates schools and teachers about technology. Mr. McLeod is one of the leading academic experts for school technology issues.

I enjoyed this post made by Mr. McLeod and he made some great points. First, when I was reading I thought he was serious, but as I got to the end, I saw his sarcasm. Technology is becoming more advanced, which is a great thing. I believe that technology can have a bad influence on children, but the wordly things can to. We should not let the negative issues of technology hold us back from all the great things that technology can provide. I believe the good outweighs the bad.

The iSchool Initiative
This was a really great video. I personally like the idea of having an iSchool. It would allow chiildren to have access to great tools in the palm of their hand. It would also cut down on the use of paper, which is great for our enviornment. I also like how you can have access to textbooks on the itouch. This would be a great benefit to our students because they would not have to carry around heavy bookbags that can actually cause shoulder strain!

The only problem that I have with the ischool is sending emails to the parents about homework and assignment due dates. Sending emails to the elementary school aged parents is ok, but not to the older ones. The only reason I say that is because when they graduate from high school and they go to college, the Professor's are not going to send parents emails about assignments. So, I think it needs to be the student's responsibilty in remembering and doing assignments. Other than that, I think the ischool would be ideal. It would have such a positive impact on our students.

The Lost Generation
I thought this was a great video. It is sad, but a lot of what she was saying is true. Their are many parents who put there job, before their children. I personally believe that family should come before anything else. It was cool though how she made something negative into a postive. I think she had a great approach to it. It surley caught my attention.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

This was really amazing. You would not have thought that everyone would sound beautiful together, considering they had never met before. This just shows what a great benefit techology is. Technology can be used for so much, but I have to say, I have never seen anything like this. It is crazy to me that these people used the internet and formed something so beautiful.

Teaching in the 21st Century

This video was inspiring to me. One thing that pointed out to me was that students do not need to be entertained, they need to be engaged. I thought that was very well put. Entertainment is short-lived and engagement has long term results. Isn't that what we want for our students? We want them not to just memorize information, but learn from it also. Our goal as teachers should be to provide our students with meaningful and powerful engagement.

Project 6

Project #5

Comments for Teachers #1

Post #1- Fluency Timer

My teacher was Mathew Needleman. The post that I commented to was Fluency Timer. Mr. Needleman created a software application that timed and recorded students as they read. The students were then able to listen to themseleves. After the students listened, they were able to hear their mistakes. The students were very eager to keep reading and improve their reading skills.

My Comment:
Hi! My name is Jennifer Hackney and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am majoring in Elementary Education and I am in micro-computing system (EDM 310). I think it is awesome that you have created a software that will help students become more fluent in reading. When I was younger, I had a hard time with reading, and it would of been great to have had this software . I love that your students are eager to read more and improve their reading skills. It is always great to see students ready to learn. Your blog is great and has awesome ideas to incorporate in your classroom. Our class blog is http://edm310.blogspot.com and my personal blog is http://hackneyjenniferedm310.blogspot.com if you would like to check it out. I look forward to your future post and talking with you.

Post #2- Close the Computer Lab
This post was by Mathew Needleman. In his post he talks about schools that have computer labs, but are not using them. The reasons why computer labs are not being used are:  the computers are barely working; the lab is not staffed; and locked labs with broken computers. Mr. Needleman suggest that schools have both, school libraries and classroom libraries. If computers are in the classroom the teachers will have constant access. Also the computers will become a great benefit for teaching and learning.

My Comment:
Mr. Needleman,
My name is Jennifer Hackney and I am a student in Dr. Stranges EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama. I think you brought up some good points. I like the idea of having school libraries and classroom libraries. I believe it would be great if all teachers could have computers in their classroom. When I was in high school, I can not even remember how many times I went to lab and the computers didn’t work. That was very frustrating, especially when you are trying to get work done. I look forward to your future post. My personal blog again is http://hackneyjenniferedm310.blogspot.com and my twitter is @jenniferhckny if you would like to check it out.

Blog Post 3

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

I really enjoyed this video. It was the true life of a college student, from over priced books to costly tuition. There has been plenty of times that I have bought a textbook and never taken the plastic off of it. One thing, that I don't understand, is why do students pay for school and don't even show up. College is tough and we have to pay for it, so we might as well do the work and come to class. One reason why I chose to attend South is because of the small class sizes. I really enjoy the smaller classes and many of my teachers know me by name.

I liked how the video picked out the hours that students spend on their cell phones, internet, watching television, and listening to music. I know I am guilty of those things, especially the use of cellphones. I probably spend a combined two hours texting and talking on the phone through out the day. Sometimes, I spend more time on facebook and wathcing television, than I do on my school work. Now, I get my work done, but still procrastinate. One thing that I did not notice in the video was procrastination. I think it plays a big role in college students today. I am sure there are alot of students who stay up late the night before to write a paper that is due the next day. I know I am guilty of it.

"It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines
I really enjoyed reading the post from Mrs. Kelly Hines. It was filled with some great information. I liked how she pointed out, that its not all about the technology that helps the students learn. I agree that teachers must be learners. As future educators, I believe, when doors open for us to learn new things, we should jump on it. We should always be ready and willing to learn. I also agree that we should be up to date on research and tools that can be incorporated into our classroom. As this will help us to see how students learn individually.

Technology is useless without good teaching, that is so true. I have seen first hand how technology is wasted by a teacher that is not trained or does not feel comfortable enough to use it. I think all teachers should be properly trained in specific technology such as, the Smart Boards. That way, we know the teacher understands how to use it for their lessons. I also, have seen first hand how students interact with the Smart Board. The students loved working with it and were more involved during class. I think it would be great if all teachers could have a Smart Board, but I know they are pricey. There are some teachers who don't like to use technology and that is when technology is being wasted. Many teachers don't want to change their way of teaching, but I think all educators should be willing to try something new.

Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?
I thought this post was blunt and straight to the point. This made me think, is it ok to be techologically illerate? I know teachers take on a tremendous responsibility all ready. Many teachers may feel as though they don't have time to learn. Others teachers are set in their ways and don't want to change their style of teaching.

Staying up to date with the newest technology can be very hard. I know that technology is changing constanlty. I think as future educators, we should make the best of it. We should incorporate it in our lessons because students like using technology. I think if teachers use technology in their classroom they will find that there students are more involoved and keep their attention longer. For me personally, I will strive to learn the latest technology and apply it to my classroom.

Gary Hayes Social Media Count
The Social Media Count is really cool. It is crazy how much social networking and the internet is constantly rising. This shows us that technology will play a tremendous role in teaching. That's why I am glad to have this class because it is taking us out of our norm and opening us up to all kinds of new skills we will need to be successful with the use of technology. Technology is constantly changing, so we will obviously have to be up to date on the new trends of technology.