ipods!!!!!!!!

I found out that i pods are not only used for downloading music, but for other useful things. Students are using them to help with assignments given out by their teachers. Teachers are also using the i pods for different ways of instruction in the class room. I Pods are usually thought of as being a distraction in schools but they are quickly becoming a very useful piece of technology. They are also used to help students that are not fluent in the English language to be able to learn how to speak better through listening to popular music on i pods.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/education/09ipod.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/B/Bilingual%20Education
I also looked up information about Duke University. The university gave i pods to first time freshmen. The students were encourage to use them for personal use and for technology exploration. Information was also placed on the i pods pertaining to orientation, school calender, and faculty downloads. So students were able to use them for different classes that they needed to. Foreign Language classes really needed to have this device incorporated into it. This was a way for student to better learn and understand class material. I thought this was a great way to students to explore and use technology.
http://news.duke.edu/2004/07/ipods_0704.ht

My Presentation

Virtual Field Trips

Dr. Christie's website has many different things for teachers to explore. There many different links that you can click on that are very helpful. Being that soon I will also be a teacher, this website could help out with a lot of things that I might have questions about. Dr. Christie makes it so easy for you to click and follow.
This website can really be useful to me as a teacher. I love the virtual field trip link. It allow you to pick a place to go to, and you just explore. This will allow for all student to be able to go on trips, without having to worry about their parents coming up with money. The really good thing is that it is free to use and does not cost the teachers anything either. I recommend this site to all teachers and upcoming teachers to explore and use. virtual field trips

Wiki Opened

Well, to my surprise, I did not know that this was going on with Wikipedia. Virgil Griffith did a very good job of telling about his findings. I agree that the deleting of material is wrong, if the writings were not your own. Putting false information in the place of what is the truth is very misleading and wrong for others. For the findings that were found, especially on the Presidential election with Bush, I find that very disgusting. I know that the information on Wikipedia could not always be trusted. After reading what Mr.Griffith, hit the nail on the head. Yes, we should be aware of what is on Wikipedia. If someone is doing a paper for school on a special project they should probably use another source.
I do not think that I will be using this source anytime soon. I do not want to end up with information that may be half true. I want the truth and nothing but the truth. There are maybe somethings that could be trusted on there, but one must be very cautious. But I say,"what ever floats your boat".
Virgil Griffith

Fisch Again!!

I took a look once again at the Fisch blog page. A Formula for Success?, done on February 13,2007 looked at the math topic. Mr. Fisch was trying to explain how students inputs or comments can work. They students were trying to figure out if there is more than one "right answer" to a math problem. Fisch made the suggestion that teachers try to make math a little easier for students to understand. Student were having a hard time remembering the equations and were to plug the numbers in order to get the answer. Yes, I admit it is hard to remember all that information. I totally agree with Mr. Fisch. Math teachers tend to think that something is wrong with how you think, but my thinking is fine. Math has always been a subject that I could not grasp tightly. I did just enough to do well on the test. Yes, students need to be taught in a way that they can remember and get the right answer. Also there are different ways to get a answer to problem. But in most cases it has to follow the math rules.
Fisch

Teachers and Technology

I explored this blog that was done by a technology education specialist at the Arapahoe High School in Litteton, Colorado. This blog contained very straight to the point views on teachers knowledge of technology. Mr. Fisch just tells it like it is. Yes, all teacher and administration should have the knowledge of computers and knew technologies. I totally agree with him on that.
I like the comment that he made about teachers and how they should beware of what he wrote for they might be provoked. But the fact that some teachers are not technologically prepared coming out of college does set on the instructor. Some instructors motive is to not prepare you but to fail you. Instead of college instructor's trying to make it hard for future teachers, they need to try to make an effort for teachers to learn the material easier. So yes I believe teachers need to keep up with the new technology and new discoveries of the computer world to better serve as well prepared Educators. Fisch Blog Post

International Exploration

The first blog I found was from a teacher who is Australian but who teaches in Tokyo, Japan. This teacher teaches 15 students from 12 different countries. Tokyo International is the name of the school. This class blogs has many different sites that you can visit. The teacher has all of the students pictures up on the blog. Some of the things subject area that they study are very similar to the material that is studied in school in America. The subjects include: Solar System, Language Arts, Structures, Math, Science, Banzi Japan, and Mini Beasts. One other thing I noticed was that the students seem to be very happy and the teacher is very happy also. I really like this blog, because it so inviting.
http://web.me.com/grade2a/Grade_2G_2008/Grade_2G.html
The second blog that I found was a blog from Auckland, New Zealand. This class consist of 12 and 13 year old students. On their class blog they write about many different things. The topics are not limited to class room criteria. They have blog post about their family members. Post also include their view on the gaming systems like PlayStation. They also write about how they spent holidays. The teacher is also connect to other class room teachers in the United States. There links to those teachers blogs on this web site. This is the website.
http://www.classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=71175&user_id=71175&blog_id=277579&position

Blogs for Everyone!

A classroom teacher in the state of Colorado is using a class blog with her students and their parents. Her students are eight grade Language Arts students. Their blog is actually a first for this teacher, and the students. The teacher places assignments on the blog and what books they will be reading in the week. Her students place some of their assignments on the blog and also projects. They also commit on each other blogs. Postings also include what they do on a day to day basis. Another classroom uses blogger they are from Noel,MO. The class that is posted is a 5th grade class.The teachers students have their class blog posted but also they have the students personal blogs posted up. This blog and the blog that I mentioned first, have some of the same materials but this particular website is very detailed. This teacher has plenty of links and videos. The students perform experiments on video. Postings of different class links like educational games, creative writing blogs, tech tips and other links are also on the blog. This is really cool! Here is the links to this sites.
http://mrcsclassblog.blogspot.com/

http://classblogmeiste/blog.php?blogger
_id=117417&blog_id=&listclass=19280

Fischbowl Discovery

This is a eye opener for me as a college student. I had now idea how far behind other countries that the United States really is. While observing this video in the manner that it was created, it was kind of creepy. Our society is definitely being out done by other countries. This is truly a problem that we must fix. The United States should not be this far behind. We need to stop this immediately in order to fix this problem of less productive future adults.
This findings by the United States Departments were amazing. The countries of China and India had more graduates than the United States. The numbers were not a small amount but by one to two million more than us. It also showed that the country of India's graduates spoke 100% of the English language. In the U.S it is not required that we learn other languages we are mostly a mono language speaking country. The Spanish language is right behind it. But if you were to go up to a ordinary college student and ask if they spoke another language more than likely they would say no here in the United States. We also have problems in the work force were 1 in 4 people have been on their current job less than one year. It was predicted that four year olds have used a computer about 70%. It is very apparent that the youth of today knows more about computers and technology than the youth of four to five years ago. Shift really does happen, it happens in a blink of an eye. I knew that there was a shift in the way things are, but I did not know that this shift was this huge. So I would recommend for other to watch this video in order to see for themselves what I seen for myself. http://thefischbowl.blopspot.com/2007/06/did-you-know-20.html

ACCESS Granted!

The ACCESS program definitely is a great way to connect teachers and students through technology. This program allow for access to different courses that are not provided to teachers or students. This program is only available in high schools Giving the opportunity to expand the classroom outwards in to other dimensions is great. The goal of this is to increase students academic achievement levels by using distant learning methods. There is a down side to this, low income school cannot afford this program. This is a problem! Student's and teachers are being left out of this. Some of the courses that are offered are: Math, Language Arts, History, and Science. ACCESS combines Internet instruction and conference through video. This program is considered to a blended type learning program. I think that this is great for students and teachers to participate in. Teachers and Students have the opportunity to travel virtually without leaving the class. http://accessdl.state.al.us/

ALEX The Great!

The creation of the ALEX( Alabama Learning Exchange) website is a wonderful tool for teachers. When entering into this website, you will see different blocks such as, Lesson Plans,Personal Workspace,Professional Learning, Distance Learning(ACCESS), Coarse of Study,and Web links. It take the load of you by giving you the help that you would need to prepare for your students. The Coarse of Study link will allow you to pull up the coarse of study for your subject and grade level, which that you can easily print off for your use. You can also put your personal lesson plans on there also you can view and print of other teachers lesson plans that they have done. This site also gives you access to web links for teacher use, but it also gives web sites for administration and for students. I thought that was very interesting. First year teachers will definitely love this website, also veteran teachers will too. I think that this website is truly helpful. It is not hard to use and is very self explanatory. I would recommend this site to all Alabama teachers. I give this web site a 10!http://alex.state.al.us

Information about me!

My name is Myrenda Howze, and my major is Elementary Education. I was married in May, to the love of my life, Derrick. We have two cats and their names are Charlie and Shelly. We consider our cats to be our children. I enjoy traveling to different destinations around the United States and in the Caribbean. My vacation log extends out very long as far as cruises. I love being around family and attending church. My husband and I are very active in our church. We are both youth Sunday School teachers. I cannot wait to begin my teaching career in the near future. I love children and observing how their minds grow by learning new knowledge. I' have always known that I would one day be a teacher and that dream is approaching fast.

Myrenda's Special Welcome

Hello! I would like to welcome everyone to my blog. I am glad to be in this class this semester, see you soon!