Final Post #15-EDM 310 Reflection Video

Project 16

PLN Final Post

I have added a lot of things to my PLN. I have my social networking sites, such as Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. I have the EDM 310 Class blog. I have blogger. I have South Alabama's website and also USA Online since many classes use this now. I have my bank link. I have my shopping links. I also have some medical links that relate to me personally. I look forward to adding more as time goes on. I think everyone should have a PLN.

C4K Summary 8-11

I have, once again, had the privilage of following some great kids.

C4K #8
Ryan Rich from Bryant High School posted about a piece of artwork that he created. He created a tapestry of the USS Alabama. I told him that when you put so much effort into something like this, it really shows how much you enjoy what you are doing. This young man is very creative, and I hope he continues working with art.

C4K #9
Emily is a 6th grade student from Australia. She created a post in which she talked about a series of digital stories they were watching called "Inanimate Alice." She talked about some of the episodes and gave a background to the stories. I told her that her interest in digital stories really shines through. I told her that it was great that she had her own ideas about what might be happening in the next episodes of the story. I also told her that a great way to show that you are interested in something is to ask questions.

C4K #10
Amy is a student of Mrs. Huebner. She created a post in which she explained what she learned from a class in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She explained what type of school they talked to and some interesting characteristics about the school. She also explained that they talked to this class through Skype. I told her that it sounded like she was very interested in Skype. I also told her that Skype is a great tool to use to talk to other people

C4K #11
Yasmine is a student of Mr. St. Pierre. She created a post about riding a horse in Tunisia. She explained that this was an Anglo-Arab horse. I told her that I think that it is great to be so passionate about something. She seems to be really interested in horses.

C4T Summary Teacher #4

I have been following Bill Ferriter. Mr. Ferriter is a 6th grade language arts teacher from North Carolina.

On November 14. 2010, Mr. Ferriter created a post entited "The Importance of a PLN..." In this post, Mr. Ferriter explains how important a PLN is. He uses Twitter as an example of building a PLN. He explains how important it is to be able to collaborate with people you never would have been able to talk to otherwise.
In my comment to this post, I explained that I was created my own PLN at the moment. I was honest and told Mr. Ferriter that, before reading his post, I was not grasping the importance of a PLN, mainly because I am so used to my own style of learning. I told him that his post really clarified things, and I thanked him for that.

On December 1, 2010, Mr. Ferriter created a post entitled "New CTQ Report on Teacher Working Conditions." This post focused on reports from the Center for Teaching Quality. Mr. Ferriter talked about mentoring programs and how these programs should stay in place for new teachers. Mr. Ferriter also talked about policymakers making decisions on how to better schools, but never taking the time to listen to real teachers.
In my comment to this post, I commended Mr. Ferriter for speaking about these policymakers. In my opinion, it makes absolutely no sense to make try to better a school if you do not understand the real issues. I also commented on the mentoring programs. I think it is very important for people to have mentors.

Mr. Ferriter's blog addresses some very important issues. I think everyone should read over this blog.

Blog Assignment 13

Alabama Learning Exchange, or ALEX, is a great tool for teacher resources. ALEX offers courses of study, which is basically a lesson plan in a subject to help teachers organize what their students may need to be learning according to their grade level. They offer courses ranging from Language Arts to Driver & Traffic Safety Education. ALEX offers web resources. This section is set up in different tabs according to students, teachers, and administrators and offers great website links. ALEX allows you to create lesson plans and access lesson plans by title, author, or even school. ALEX is great for collaborating. If you create a personal workspace, you can submit your lesson plans for others to see and share ideas. Tutorials and Alabama Department of Education Program Websites are available. There is also a page called Podcast Treasury that has downloads, content, and links for resources. ALEXville allows you to access other resources such as their blog. There is even a search tab to look up things faster on the site.

I think that it is great that something like this exists. Some people are not as lucky as we are to be able to collaborate with others and have access to websites and lesson plans and blogs. ALEX makes it easier for future educators to feel like they are not alone in this journey we call education. I think resources like ALEX will help me tremendously as a teacher.

Additional Assignment #5

We were assigned to look at a blog by John T. Spencer. We were told to look at four of his posts. In these posts, Mr. Spencer does a great job telling us how he relates to his students. He also tells us how technology can relate to the classroom. He is the type of teacher who wants to get to know his students. He wants them to learn meaningful things, not necessarily fun things. If technology and language, such as metaphors, can help his students to learn meaningful and beautiful things, then that is awesome!

I think everyone should visit John T. Spencer's blog and read the posts entitled, "Just Teach Them To Solve for X," "Sketchy Portraits: 8th Grade Identity and Pencils," "He Just Likes the Class for the Pencils." and "The Medium Shapes the Learning."