Blog Post #13

The Video by Bill Crosby was very interesting! The first thing that came to my mind was the fact that in every c4t that I have done this semester I was first required to identify myself. Every comment started like this..." My name is Jamie Cunningham and I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I am pretty sure that the students in Mr. Crosby's class had to do something similar. I found it amazing that his students did not know what city they lived in. I know at the beginning of the video he stated that some of the students had moved a lot, but they should still know the current city and country that they live in. I am pretty sure that by requiring the children to add an introduction to there blogs would help them to learn it!! I also found what he did with his class extremely interesting. Children from around the world were able to see what the students accomplished with there balloons. It also gave the children the opportunity to teach someone else! The children seemed so amazed when there balloon went into the air! Another part of the video that I thought was amazing was when a new student was introduced into there class room. The little girl had leukemia and the teacher was told that she would not be able to be with the rest of the class because it would make her sick. With the use of technology it was possible for her to see the other students and participate with the class!! Awesome!

A Vision of Students Today

I loved the Video by Michael Wesch and his students. This short video pointed out a lot of great things. In the video it shows how the students spend a lot of time doing pointless assignments that will not help them later in life, help them find a job, or help solve any problems that the world is facing today. The assignments, papers, and stuff is pointless!!

On one of the papers that one of the students held up it stated that they only got 7 hours of sleep a night. One student stated that they read so many profiles a day! One thing that I noticed was that most students were using technology in class and about how many emails they will send. The papers that students are required to write are pointless. Who besides the teacher will read them?? Being able to express their views and what they have learned on blogs allows everyone in the world to see it. In the video there was writtin on the walls "if walls could talk" most people are doodling while the instructor is teaching. I am currently enrolled in a health and fitness course. I am not gonna name the instructor but, while I am in there I am almost always on my computer looking at other stuff because he just gets up and reads slide (something I can do at home). He then emails us the slides for study material. I see the class as pointless. Teachers write material on chalk boards and the students still have to read the material on there own time. This is not only a wast of the students time but also the teachers!!


How Will You Teach me in the 21st Century
I have no idea what grade I will be teaching so my thoughts on this assignment may be a little random. I included several grade levels in this post!
What I want my children to KNOW- I want my children to know that I am always available for them inside and outside of the classroom setting whether it be telephone, email, or text. they are always able to ask question without being ridiculed or put down regardless how stupid others may think the question is. I want them to know that they are able to express there opinions about the subject even if it's something that they don't like(just express your opinion in a nice way even if you don't like it it will hurt someone's feeling, but life isn't always nice so why set this fantasy up in our children's minds allow them to express there opinions in a nice way).
What I want my children to be able to do This depends on which grade I teach. If I am a pre-k teacher then of course I would not expect this but if I teach third grade then I would. In a third grade class I would expect them to know how to blog and how to successful find useful information on the internet. I would expect them to have a Facebook page with all of there classmates as friends and to use the page daily with questions or answers to classmates questions. I would expect them to come to class motivated to learn something new every day! I want them to participate in class discussions and put a full effort towards learning.
What I want them to have experienced I want them to experience having a teacher who really cares. I want them to be able to say that they learned something new in a different manner from other teachers. I want them to experience a fun and exciting way of learning rather than the traditional boring learning environment.
Reflection Melinda Krafts movie was made by taking a lot of pictures and putting them into a movie with music and text. If I were to create a movie like this. I would take pictures throughout the entire semester. Random pics, Pictures of there faces when I say certain things and pictures of them attempting to try new things. By the end of the semester I want them to have mastered the skills that I teach and take new pics of them having mastered the skills. I will put the pictures into a video. I wish I had pictures of my face from the first day of edm310 I was really lost! I still don't know everything but i'm sure my first day face was really nervous! And to see me now blogging and using Skype and Facebook I am amazed with technology. I still don't know everything and everyday I learn something new but, I am not as scared and I actually feel way more comfortable using technology. I want my students to be able to see this!! See how much they have progressed throughout the semester! See there failure and where they tried again.

The basic Technology tool kit for a teacher
The skills that are mentioned in this post are many of the skills that I have learned in EDM310. I can not say that I have mastered everything on here because I am still learning new things daily! Anyone in the Education field should constantly learn as well as be teaching! Technology will forever change and if something is created to make learning more engaging then we should use it! In the begining of her post she stated how the tools that teachers used were different colored pens. I thought that was funny because I am still experiencing that in college. (I hate the color red lol!!) Teachers will mark things that they feel are incorrect in red pen and if you do. I believe that teachers should know how to use everything on the list. They are not difficult things they are really very basic. Teachers should stay up to date with technology so that the students will stay engaged in learning.

While watching the post video Exemplar of students work with video I was amazed. When reading the post about it I noticed that the instructor stated that Carlton's teacher was trying to find a way for him to be engaged in learning. I am so happy that did this and allowed him to be creative in the video. He did an amazing job and other students will be able to see what he does in the garden at his school. I enjoyed the video and I think he did a great job.

Post by Jennifer Brokofsky actually made my mind race. A lot came to mind when reading this post. In the post she mentions how we are hindering our children from learning. 25 students are assigned to one teacher, books are limited, and the time is limited. Students have to wait for the teacher to finish helping another student until the teacher can get time to get to them. A couple things came to mind while reading this. In the post she mentioned books are limited. Things change daily. No only technology but also the material that is stated in books. I am enrolled in a Physical Fitness class and three or more times this semester the instructor has said "disregard that part it is incorrect please input the correct number for study purposes". Budget cuts are being made but nothing has really changed. You can easily change the text of a book in a computer with a simple delete, but in a book the entire book has to be reprinted which is expensive and a waste of paper. For college students it is a waste of money.
As Jennifer stated in her post, with the use of technology students will be able to access the information instantly without having to wait for a teacher or wait for a book to check out. I totally agree with this post about making out children STOP learning. If teachers would continue learning and learn the new information available through technology then it will provide more opportunities for the students.