Project 15

I really enjoyed this project and had so much fun working on it!  Hope you enjoy the trailer and movie!

Movie Trailer


Movie

Analysis of Project 6

I used the Google Forms application and created a survey about The Facebook.  In doing this survey I wanted to see how many people were members of The Facebook, how much time was spent on it daily, and what people's main uses for it were.  After collecting all of the surveys back, it is very evident to me that most people are members of The Facebook.  In the response I received back, 20 out of 22 people are now members.  I learned that most people use The Facebook site daily and most people use it for social networking.  The majority of the people that took the survey said that The Facebook was counterproductive to their studies, which I totally agree with.  Most of them also said that The Facebook would not be a good tool to supplement their studies with.  I enjoyed creating this survey and getting the results back from it.  I think that it shows how much our society depends on these social networking sites.  If you would like you can view the Complete Survey Results Summary here.

Blog Post 12

In this post we are supposed to come up with an idea for another blog post that we have not been assigned to do.
Blog Post ??
In this post you will need to use a connection that you have made that is on your PLN.  Explain why you are following this person, how they are potentially helpful to you in an education sense, and what you have learned from them and their blog.  Explain how you will potentially use what you have learned from their blog.

I think that this could be a really interesting blog post because it would allow you to see what type of people and connections we are making through our PLN and blogging.

Final Project Progress Report

For my final project I know that I will be working in a group with Brittany Schneider, Lisa Ferro, and Mary Mauceri! We are working on Project 15 together as well. I am excited about working with them again on this project because we all work really well together. We have not discussed exactly what we will be doing for this project because we have been so busy working on Project 15 but I know that it will be great!

Summary Post C4T #3

I followed Jeff Utecht's blog "The Thinking Stick." In his blog he presents you with a number of different things to think about as an educator. In the first post that I read of his he discusses how educators teach their students. He touches on the idea that it is not the material that has to be taught but it is the way that the material is presented and taught to the students. He says that not all students learn the same way and that teachers need to take that in to consideration and teach in a variety of ways so that all students no matter how they learn best can benefit from the lessons. This was very interesting to me because it is very true and I do not think that all teachers do a good job of remembering this when they are teaching. I hope that when I am actually in the working field I am able to remember this and use different approaches to teaching so that everyone can learn.
In his second post he made several very bold statements about the direction that the world is heading in. He said that we live in a socially connected world, whether it be Facebook or Twitter, we are connected with the whole world. He also said that we need to stop making excuses for the amount of time that we spend "connected" and just face the fact that it is the norm of society and it is expected of us to be connected in society today. He also said that the future is mobile. He said that our phones are the way that most people will be connected in the next three years if not sooner. All phones will have a mobile device built into them sooner than later.
I enjoyed following this blog. Mr. Utecht has some very interesting information on his blog and it is fascinating to read.

Teach Your Child How to Tie Their Shoes

Summary Post C4K:3-8

I have really enjoyed viewing and commenting on the kids blogs. It is so much fun to see children blogging and using the computer in ways that I would have never been able to at their ages.
The first blog that I viewed was a little boy named James and he is in the second grade. In this post he created a story about Kupe and filmed himself telling this story. In his video, it was great to see his confidence in front of the camera. It was great to see this little boy as comfortable as he was making the video.
I viewed another blog that was created by a boy named Felix and in this post Felix discussed what makes him mad and how he deals with his anger. I think that this is a great exercise for children because it is important for children to be able to identify their emotions and know how to deal with the effectively.
I also read a blog post from a little girl named Kathryn and in her post she talked about a transition that she had to make to a new school. It was great to hear her talk about the situation and what she expected and then how it all actually turned out. Kathryn was at first afraid of going to a new school but then once she got their and met the people and got to know some of her classmates she decided that it was not as bad as she thought it was going to be.
Another blog post that I read was a girl named Rebecca and in her post she gave a run down on the characters in her favorite Nintendo DS game. The game that she likes is a detective game.
I also viewed the blog of a boy named Nagrom. In his post he had uploaded a picture that he had taken and in this picture it looked as if it were pieces of boards that had been nailed together. In his post he asked what we thought of the picture. I told him that I thought it was a great picture and that it really allowed the viewer to have an open mind and see what they wanted to see in it. I think that it is great for children to have hobbies such as photography and I told him to keep up the good work.
I really have enjoyed following the blogs of these children. It is a wonderful thing to see them learning so much and being able to show how much they are learning by blogging!

Blog Post 11

In the video and the Skype interview that we watched of Ms. Cassidy and her class it is so amazing to me how she uses technology in her classroom of first graders. She incorporates so many different ways of learning into her classroom that it makes it FUN for the students. They are never bored and they are always learning...and they don't even realize it, what a great head fake. Anytime you can teach children something and they have fun learning it you have been successful. Ms. Cassidy uses blogs, wikis, Skype, and webpages in her class to teach first graders. She uses these programs to teach the alphabet, reading, and many other things that first graders are to be taught, she just teaches it in a very different way than your traditional teacher would.
I hope that when I am a teacher I am able to use all of these programs in my classroom. I think that it is really great that Ms. Cassidy has the support of her administration and fellow teachers. I think that this would be one reason that I would not be able to use these programs in my classroom, but I hope that this is not the case. I really enjoyed seeing the students learning and navigating on the internet. It is truly amazing what a 7 year old can do...children always surprise me!