C4K Summary Post 2

C4K 4
Raihan's blog was the first one I commented on. He is from Pt England School in Mr. Barks class. He wrote about his weekend going to his cousins house and eating the fresh fruit in the gardens. He also said he played soccer with his cousin and friends and he really enjoyed it. He said him and his cousin were the best ones! You can find his blog by clicking here. My response to him was, "Hey Raihan! My name is Mary-Katelin McFerrin. I am a student at the University of South Alabama in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. It sounds like you have a close family like I do. I love hanging out with my cousins! I also love flowers, and fresh fruit is the best! You seem to have a lot of fun together, especially playing sports. Is soccer your favorite? My favorite is football! Glad you had a great weekend!"

C4K 5

The second student's blog I read was, Awhina from Pt England School. Her post was a prayer for the people affected by the earthquake. What a sweet little girl! She's got such a big heart and love for people! This is her prayer:"Dear Lord, I want to pray from the bottom of my heart, for the family of the five month old baby who passed away.I also pray for and for the people who are still trapped in the rubble and for the 175 people who had died in the churches that had collapsed. I ask you god, to please help the family of the five month baby to stop crying and to get lots of love and comfort from other people in Christchurch. To give strength to the families that have lost their love ones to help the trapped people to be safely rescued from the collapsed building. I lift my prayer up to you lord because I believe you can help them and make it come true from the bottom of my heart. Amen." I wrote her back and told her my prayers go out as well, and I can tell she has a huge heart and amazing faith in God. She also added a picture of herself, which is what I included in this post. You can read her blog by clicking here.

C4K 6
Click here to see the class blog!
Last, I left a comment on a movie post from Melville Intermediate School: Room 8. The movie I watched, Photo Option Photo Challenge, was a slideshow of pictures they were assigned to take around their school. They had pictures of students, the library, and outside around the school. They also added music to the slideshow that they chose. My comment: "Hi Team One!
My name is Mary-Katelin McFerrin. I am from Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama. I enjoyed watching your slideshow of pictures! My favorite were the ones taken outside, especially with the flag and sun shining through it. I like the music you added, also. Y'all did a great job taking pictures and making them into a slideshow! Nice work, team one!"

Blog Post 10

An Open Letter To Educators - Morgan Bayda
In her post, she says school was always boring and she didn't learn from sitting in two hour classes taking notes with teachers who don't know you or care about your opinions. Then, she had a professor much like Dr. Strange, who taught his class by Twitter, Blogger, videos, etc. These classes are so much more interesting and educational. I feel like I'm actually learning in this class now that I've got the hang of it. This semester I don't have any classes or teachers who absolutely bore me and don't teach to learn. I think that is mainly because I'm actually in my field of education and everyone here is passionate about learning, but I struggled tremendously making myself learn and be interested in the basics I had to take to get here and I can honestly say I don't know a single person who is not with me on that. I know there is, but no one I know of. She gives examples of ways she has used communicating outside of school, from what she learned in the class much like this one. Morgan added a video she found on Delicious of Dan Brown who dropped out of school because his schooling was interfering with his education. He makes the comment that unlike the world we live in tells us, we don't have to go to school to succeed or make something of ourselves. I do not agree with his choices, but he is very confident in his beliefs. He says the world has lost sight in what education really is. It's not about teaching facts but empowering students to change the world and make a difference. He claims the problem is we are still using the same system created hundreds of years ago called schooling, instead of educating.

Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home! - Tom Johnson
"A must read for all teachers" - Click here to view Tom Johnson's blog post showing a great example on how we focus too much on what to do and not enough on how to think. In other words, we tend to focus on what the problem is, but never how to think about why there is a problem.

Blog Post 9

What I've Learned This Year - Mr. McClung
Mr. McClung shares seven things he learned from his first year of teaching elementary school in 2009. He notes he was young and inexperienced but has grown and matured as a person as well a teacher from his experiences. As almost reaching my graduation day and entering my very own first classroom, these seven things will be held onto and remembered: read the crowd, be flexible, communicate, be reasonable, don't be afraid of technology, listen to your students, never stop learning. The picture above is from his post and to me says everything about teaching.
The first, how to read the crowd, reminds you to center your students in your lesson plans. These are not all about you and how you present them, it's the material presented and how it will effect the students learning. He says, "In order to be effective you have to be able to let your audience drive your instruction." In being flexible he gives us a reminder that can be used in everyday life, not just teaching. When things go wrong don't beat yourself up about it, instead work with it and make it better. Things won't always go our way especially with finding the right lessons and activities, but we have to believe everything will work out. He says a great quote that I know I will hold on to, "No lesson is ever perfect. The lesson you teach and the one you plan are always different." He also adds to make sure we do everything with a smile on our face. Being flexible is being positive. Although communication is the hardest skills to develop, it's the best way to resolve issues. He encourages us to build strong relationships with teachers and students to help with communicating. "Our goal as teachers is to simply pick them up after they fail, dust them off, and encourage them to try again." I think that pretty much sums up how to be reasonable. Of course, we must set goals for our students but we must also know that they may not always reach them and that's okay as long as we did everything we could. Just because they didn't reach that certain goal, I'm sure there is plenty others they did reach along the way that we have to see. We have to look for the good in every student and situation. Next he talks about technology. He says we can't be afraid of it and give up. We have to learn to use it and know it will take time. Listening to your students is big for me. Just by listening to my students at dance or that I teach while subbing, I've learned so much! They really are smart in their own way that you have nothing to do with. They know more than you can imagine so we shouldn't ever dumb them down in our heads because they are not school smart. If we listen to our students and actually hear what they are saying, it's not only a learning experience but motivation. They know you care about them because you're taking the time to hear what they have to say and that motivates them to do their best. They listen to you talk all day about things they probably don't care about but they know you do, so we should do the same to them. As he says, we owe it to our students to keep learning. We can never know enough and in order to educate kids, we have to stay educated, as well.
I absolutely love everything about this blog post he wrote. It's so simple but yet so meaningful. He definitely sent motivation and inspiration this way. I encourage all teachers to read his post by clicking here.

Blog Post 8

Richard Miller - This Is How We Dream
"I believe we are living at the moment of the greatest change in human communication in human history." How true is that! In this video, he talks about writing and the changes of writing with technology. Before, people went to libraries, check out books, wrote on paper. Now, you buy books online or download them, we use Word Processor to write, and google things we do not know instead of using a dictionary. He also talks about an article he wrote through the internet as an incremental change, not fundamental change. He didn't sit down and actually write it, he just typed it up and clicked save.
I see the good in both of these. Like I've said and my opinion hasn't and I don't think it will change, we should only use so much of technology. I think it's a great thing! I also think kids learning how to write on paper and read in a book is a great thing. We just have to know how to balance those two and incorporate both in our teachings. I can't imagine writing a long paper or book for that matter on paper, but I do know how because I was taught that. I was also taught how to type a paper and research online, as well as a library. I think it's important our future students know both ways, as well. In high school we always had to have resources from both books and internet for our papers. I couldn't agree with that more. I hate to see actual books and libraries be replaced by technology. I think we are at a balance of the two now, but it looks like technology will soon be taking over the way we learn and that's a scary thought for me. I want my students to know how to do things without a computer and I don't want them to rely on technology. We live in a great big world with tons of resources that are being ignored; for example, the use of libraries now or just being outside and learning from nature. Kids never go outside anymore, there too carried away with computers and video games. It amazes me how many cool things you can do with technology, but people forget how many cool things can be done without it, too. In all, I'm all for technology and couldn't live without my laptop, iPhone, or internet; but I know how if I had to. I know how to balance the two, use them equally, and know how important each is. I hope to teach my students the same.
In part two, he pushes technology with writing and presenting. He is right, it is fascinating and you can't not be interested in it. I believe teaching technology is a big deal and kids should be exposed, taught, and use it; as well as being exposed, taught, and use a library.
Our future is now; this is how we dream.

Chipper Series & EDM310 for Dummies
These videos give a great example of how students feel in this class at first, overwhelmed and confused! If we had an EDM 310 for Dummies book, it would be something you could keep throughout the years and rely back to, as well as using it for this class. I think some of these videos we are just now watching should be showed the first day of class or encouraged to watch before the first day of class. I had no idea what this class was and I think watching an intro of what should be done throughout the semester would have been extremely helpful.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn
I really liked this video. I agree with the lady who made the comment about kids knowing how to text, email, etc., but yet not allowed to have those things in school. Another good point made in this video was a guy saying teachers must accept technology because it is not a choice, it is a world itself. It is not here to help teach traditional subjects, but it has emerged into a new environment we must know. I see some of the points made about using twitter and facebook. Those things are a kids world and showing them they can be used educationally too, is getting them more involved with learning about technology. There is a time for this to be taught in school, but it shouldn't over power traditional learning.

The Secret Powers of Time - Philip Zambardo
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us - David Pink
I've never thought about the way people view the past, present, and future like this video does. I really liked it and it gives you something to think about. He says you have to trust your decisions by knowing they will carry out in the future. I always say somewhat the same. You have to believe and have faith in what you are doing for it to matter. He made a good reason why boys drop out of school more than girls. I see how that applies, but the people I know of who dropped out was mainly from parents not pushing or caring about their child's education or the person gets in with the wrong crowd and doesn't take their education seriously. I do see where his theory is true, but I wouldn't say for every guy. I do agree that guys who play video games non-stop are less social which causes a problem in school.
The second video, he stresses on the higher the reward, the better the performance. You see this all the time in schools. Good behavior, you get a reward. A lot of teachers take advantage of this and think of it as the only way for students to behave by bribing them and that way they do not have to deal with the hard issues or even they do not know how to deal with them. Are they learning how to behave if they are only doing it for a prize? I don't think so at all. Telling a student if you behave please, I'll give you something, does not teach them anything. They do not know why they are supposed to behave, other than to get a reward. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for rewarding good behavior but a lot of people use this too much as a life saver to get through the day. Higher the reward, better the performance is certainly true, but it shouldn't be relied on. The best motivation is encouragement and being treated as an equal individual.
Both of these videos were very interesting and hard not to watch with the drawings. They are both good attention grabbers.

SmartBoard Presentation - Project 13

Secondary Mathematics: Triangles
By: Mary-Katelin McFerrin, Molly Dekin, Ashley Cousins

To view our form click here

Project 11

Blog Post 7

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

This video kept my attention the whole time, I think because his personality and the pictures he showed. I thought it was awesome and at the same time sad because I knew he didn't make it much longer after this. I thought it was awesome because he's such a great speaker and left such an impact on people just through this one speech he gave.
I wonder how many people have thought about their childhood dreams after watching this and actually tried to accomplish them or think if they have yet. I always said I wanted to be a cheerleader when I grew up and a teacher. Looks like I can check those off! I always wished I would have made a list when I was little and kept adding to it of goals I wanted to achieve. I wish someone had made me, like a teacher. I have always said because of that reason, I want my students to make a list the beginning of the year of goals in life and for the school year and then at the end of the year, go back and revise it and keep it updated over the years. I think that's a great way to keep kids motivated and it gives them something to look back on, like I wish I had now.
He said something like if he didn't get his dream, then it was because he got something more. What a great way to view things! Also, "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want". I love all these quotes he said, they really make you think in a positive way. I also like, "The brick walls are there for a reason". It reminds me of my favorite, everything happens for a reason. If things don't go as you planned, there's a reason for that. I think that's what he was trying to say to. He's such an inspirational speaker! I really liked listening to him.

PLN-Project 10

I just started creating my personal learning network through Symbaloo. The main websites I go to are facebook, twitter, aol mail, and anything to do with school such as the school website, gmail, and my blog. It took me forever to figure out how to delete certain things on there that I wouldn't use. It was easy to add things though. I just have a few things on there right now, but I think overall it is coming together pretty good. I'm sure it won't take long to fill up.

C4T Summary Post 2

C4T2 - Click here: Pondering Paige
For my second teacher comment, I was assigned to Dr. Baggett.
The first comment I left her was on her post about Ibiyinka Alao, Nigeria's Ambassador of Art. He came to the University of South Alabama to show and talk about his paintings on African life. I love art and I especially loved his because it had so much meaning and life. She posted many pictures of his visit and artwork. The picture I posted on this blog post is my favorite painting of his, that I mention below. I left a comment saying, "Hi Dr. Baggett, I'm in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. I loved reading and looking at the pictures you posted. It looks like you all had a great time meeting and talking to him about his paintings. My favorite is the acrylic, Grace: That Even the World can Pass through It. It is so colorful and full of life. I also enjoyed the captions below the pictures; they say so much about Ibiyinka and his passion." Dr. Baggett's response: "I'm so glad you visited my blog post on Ibiyinka's visit. He is fabulous in so many ways: educational, inspirational, and an advocate for the POWER of the arts! I hope to get a video of his presentation posted soon so everyone can benefit from his words of wisdom."

The second comment I left was also on her post, "Leading by Example and a Pointer Finger: Enriching our Lives through the Arts and Technology (high and low)". It is about Ricky Trione and how he uses his disability of being blind to send inspirational and educational messages through creating his artwork. By using both technology and his fingers, he shows the kids at Booth Elementary School more than just different ways to paint. Other than showing the obvious ways technology can be used educationally through art and how to use your fingers to paint pictures; it gives a lesson on how people make things too complicated sometimes, when really all you need is what's in front of you. He shows by not having much, you can still go far, as long as you believe in what you're doing. I am amazed at Mr. Ricky and his ability to achieve his goals no matter what life has given him. He is showing desire, belief, and attitude in reaching every goal, no matter how unachievable they may sound. My response was, "Hi again, Dr. Baggett! So many things I love about this post! First, how awesome that "Mr. Ricky" doesn't allow his disability to get in the way with his talent and passion. This alone shows a great example to kids by teaching them to not be discouraged or give up in any situation. I find it very cool that he does incorporate technology with his art, giving kids another example of how it can be used educationally. The thing I like best is he also keeps it simple by just using paint and his fingers to create artwork. I needed to be reminded as well, of the simple message to choose your battles. I enjoyed reading your post; it gives you a lot to think about!"