December 02, 2011


Before EDM310 I did not even know what a PLN( Personal Learning Network) was. Now that I have worked with it I think it is a great thing to have, especially for educators. It is an easy way to have all the best websites in one single place. Instead of having twenty sites on your favorites, you can just have one. I also like it because if I come across a great website I can add it to my PLN and always have. I have many websites that I have came across in EDM310 this semester. Such as Mrs. Yollis' class blog.

November 28, 2011

C4K Summary Post


11.) Ms. Yollis' 3rd Grade class

Everyone worked together and assembled a care package for a great friends in 2KM and 2KJ. They live in Victoria, Australia. Jarrod, a member of 2KM, had sent us a lovely surprise parcel earlier in the year and we wanted to surprise them right back!
Ms. Yollis' class prepared a great package that included candy, books, and a flag.

Dear Ms. Yollis,
My name is Mallory and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. This semester I am in Dr. Strange's edm310. First, I have to start off by saying how much I have enjoyed visiting your class blog. Just by your blog I can tell that you are a great educator and how much you care about your students.

I think it is so neat that your students are getting to use blogs at such a young age. I have just started using them since I have been in edm310. It is great that your students are getting to interact with students from half way around the world. I would have loved to have gotten to do something like that when I was in elementary school. This post was great, getting to see the package your students received. I also followed the link to see what your students had sent to the other class. You are such a great educator!

12.) Individual Student Room 16
6th grade Pt England School Auckland, New Zealand

Roman talked about what a great weekend he had. He went to his Aunties and watched some great fireworks. He talked about how bright and colorful they were from his trampoline. He also noticed that when the fireworks were over how much smoke was left in the air.

Hey Roman,

My name is Mallory Moon. I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange's edm310 this semester. I really enjoyed reading your blog post about the fireworks. We also do fireworks here. I love watching the fireworks go off. The fireworks are always colorful and bright in the night sky. I am so glad that you enjoyed watching them from your trampoline. It sounds like you had a great Saturday night. Keep up the good work on your blog!

Mallory Moon

Summary Post C4T #4

1.) I was assigned to read Mr. Mark Hardeman blog post on "The Lens of Leadership"

His blog post discussed the four major parts of leadership.

  • Finding Your Voice
  • The Power of Communication
  • Courage
  • Collaboration

I’m a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange edm310 this semester. I really enjoyed reading your post about leadership. Not everyone can be followers, we need more leaders! There are a lot of different aspects of leadership. I like how to have some of them outlined in your blog post. I think that collaboration is the most important. To be a great leader, I feel that you not only have to lead people but also be able to work with them to achieve things. Communication is another great aspect of leadership. I really enjoyed and learned a few new things from your blog post.
Mallory Moon

2.) I was assigned to read Mr. Mark Hardeman blog post on "Don't Punish Everyone"

My name is Mallory Moon. I am a student at the University of South Alabama this semester. I am also a student in Dr. Strange's edm310 this semester. I have really enjoyed reading your blog post about the internet in schools. I agree with you about not punishing everyone for what one person does. I believe that we should not block the internet from learning, I just believe that there should be more enforced consequences for breaking the rules of the internet. I have found out in edm310 this semester that sites such as YouTube and Twitter can greatly help students learn. Technology is a great thing for the classroom. I hope to use as many types as possible one day in my own classroom.

Mallory Moon

"Don't punish everyone for one person's mistake" by Derek Sivers

November 27, 2011

Blog Post #14

Educational Blog
Top Ten Tips for Using Technology in the Classroom
By: Jose Picard


Jose Picardo has a list of ten tips when using technology in the classroom.
1)Use streaming video
2)Use music more often
3)Use teleconferencing tools(skype, etc.)
4)Create Your own Interactive exercises
5)Use Your Interactive Whiteboard more effectively
6)Create Your own Podcasts
7)Start a blog or a wiki
8)Use social networks
9)Use internet tools
10)Make the most of your pupils' gadgets

Streaming video, such as YouTube is a key concept because it allows teachers and/or students to get on the internet and view others thought and ideas. This can allow students connect with the world by viewing others actions, beliefs, and more.

Another tip I thought would be very useful is interactive exercises and interactive whiteboards. “Tailoring” to the students needs, as Jose refers to it, will allow students to excel in areas. Also, having a board capable of doing so many neat things that students will be able to interact with and have a hands on learning experience should motivate the students to participate in in-class projects and or lessons.

All of these tips are very useful reminders for teaching in the classroom. I believe technology is growing and education will always be here. Now we have to make the decision if we will use the tools available to enrich our ways of learning, growing, and teaching or, if we will deny technology’s growth. I hope to make a conscious effort to keep great use of these tips when I become a teacher. Jose Picardo made a simple yet extremely useful video.

November 20, 2011

Additional Assignment


1. Why did you miss the metaphor in Tom Johnson's post, or, if you "hit the nail on the head", why do you think you understood the metaphor and why do you think that others in the class missed the metaphor?
I believe that I missed the metaphor because I tend to be a very literal person. I do not usually use them. As I can see, many people missed this assignment. I think that this was because people thought too hard and were not able to look outside the box in order to grasp the idea of it referring to technology and not real pencils. After, reading and completing this additional assignment, I went back and read the post from Tom Johnson again. I understood it a lot better this time. I believe that now I would be able to pick out metaphors.

2. What metaphors have you encountered since I asked you create a log of them?
Mr. Winkle Wakes

3. What other things can we do as educators to help our students to understand and to use metaphors?
I think we could incorporate them more into the classroom. We as educators could talk about and include them more often so that students get more practice with them. We could also make it an assignment by letting the students come up with their own metaphors. Obviously, metaphors are commonly missed. By knowing this, we as educators must teach our students about metaphors.

4. Why do we use metaphors?
I think that we use metaphors to make students think outside the box. Make them really analysis and think about what they are reading. Sometimes a metaphor is quick and easy and will easily express the idea to the listener with very few words. Metaphors are used to make it more convenient for the speaker.

November 19, 2011

Blog Post #13

For blog post 13, I choose option 2, which was reading the My Teacher Is An App article. The title of the article pretty much tells us all. Stephanie Simon and Stephanie Banchero are the authors of this article. In this article, they talk about how 250,000 students were signed up for full-time online schools. These students were in grades kindergarten to twelfth. The students were able to access all of there school work from at home. This includes class work, tests, and homework. The article goes on to explain that the schools offering this online- schooling did not have as many teachers because the teachers are not in the classrooms teaching. At schools like this, the teachers were simply there to answer phones, emails, and video conferences with the students. However, Some of the schools did require that students attend some classes at school. One example from the article was at the Southwest Learning Center require that students come to class at least 14 hours a week. This reminded me much of Dr. Strange's class, where all the work is online, but some classes are required that students attend.

I have many feelings about this article. I feel that students should have regular schooling up to a certain age. I do not feel that is it a good thing for elementary students to have online classes. I think that them are the years that students really learn the ground rules for the rest of their lives. Like, how to work with other people in groups. Younger children, especially, need to be in the classroom because not all children learn the same way and can read instructions off of the computer. Some students need that teacher to actually teacher and show them how to do something. I know that I was like this as a child. Just since I have started taking college classes have a taken an online class. Now that I am older I do enjoy taking the online classes. They are much more convenient. I like being able to do my work around my schedule. When I become a teacher I hope to use many forms of technology in my classroom. There has been so much new technology that I have found out about in edm310 this semester. I have really enjoyed it.

November 13, 2011

Final Project Progress Report


For the final project my group has been discussing ideas through email. We are currently brainstorming ideas to each other. As of right now we are going for doing a imovie of our experiences throughout EDM310. We will be talking about how we felt through out the course. Also, we will have clip in it our past projects we have done. As of right now that is about it. We plan on meeting this week in the lab to start on the interviewing of each other.

November 09, 2011

C4K #10 Ms. Yollis' 3rd Grade Class

For C4K #9 we were all assigned to thoroughly read and look through Ms. Yollis' Class Blog. Ms. Yollis' is a third grade teacher in California. She recently finished her Master's Degree in Integrating Technology in the Classroom to help her improve the use of technology in anyway she can with her students.

One thing that I really love about Ms. Yollis' class blog is that her students are featured in all of the videos that I watched. You can tell her third graders love being in the videos and they look like they are having so much fun. One of the videos I really liked is the five tips for writing a quality comment. The best part of this video, in my opinion, is at the end when the student is talking about the last step, which is to proofread. He is informing whoever is going to write a comment about the punctuation you should use. I like seeing the third grader inform us on how to proofread because this shows Ms. Yollis' has taught him something that he would like to share with others!

Just reading the comments that these students are writing is amazing. They are in the third grade and are writing on such a higher level. Ms. Yollis is doing a great job in helping her students learn to write and blog early in school! It is easy to see from the comments from parents and grandparents that they are very proud to see what their children are doing.


Just like with Dr. Strange's class blog, Ms. Yollis' has a running record of the number of visitors to her class blog. As of today, November 9, 2011, Ms. Yollis' class blog has received 74,844 visits. I think this is great. By clicking on the cluster map, you can see that people from all over the world has viewed her class blog.

November 07, 2011

Blog Post #12

For the first part of the blog assignment students will need to watch the video Integrating Technology in the Classroom. While watching the video students need to think about the importance of having a student centered learning approach in the classroom. At the end of the video, the students will write one to two paragraphs explaining the importance of technology in the classroom and how it can help students get involved in the classroom.




I believe that technology is very important in the classroom. Students today are growing up in a world full of technology. If technology is not used in the classroom how will students ever learn how to use it? It is important that students have the newest and most up-to-date technology because new technology is coming out everyday.
There are so many ways that technology can be used in the classroom. Computers are one way. One way, students can get into groups and play educational games on them. Another would be, computers can help students with reading. Students can use microphones to listen to stories as they follow along in their book. Smart boards are also a great way to incorporate technology is the classroom. Smart boards are a great way to get students involved in the classroom. Students can practice writing on them or even do math problems on them. Teachers can teach or play videos on them. Smart boards can do all kinds of things.


The second part of the blog post the students will need to watch the video Little Kids…Big Potential. It’s a video on Ms. Cassidy’s first grade students. After the video, the students will need to choose one of the many types of technology from the video. They should write one paragraph explaining why they choose it. The students will also need to list 5 ways they will be able to use the technology in their classroom.



After watching the video Little Kids…Big Potential, I realized just how many different types of technology can be used in the classroom. I was amazed to see how young the students were that was using all this different technology. Some of the technology that they were using I have never used before. I think it is great that students that young are using so much technology is the classroom. I think blogs would be a great source of technology for me to use in my classroom. I chose blogs because they are working progress. Blogs are ongoing and may never be complete. The students could create a blog in elementary school and have it for the rest of their life. As mentioned it the video, the students enjoy getting comments on their blog. It makes them feel good! I think that is the best part.
Five ways to use blogs:
1. Students can post their work on it.
2. The teacher can communicate with the parents through the students’ blog.
3. The parents can see a students work on a daily basis.
4. Students can network and get to know other students from around the world.
5. Students can edit/help/comment/praise other classmates work.

November 02, 2011

C4K Summary Post

6.) My comment for kid this week was on Krishant and Sienna. The blog post was titled "This Week and a Tale of Twitter." The blog post contained two videos, one from Krishant and one from Sienna. Krishant's video was on "Steve The Superhero" in this video Krishant did a great job on reading and making moves that went along with the book he chose. Sienna did her video on "Worms," she too did a great job reading and acting out her book.

My name is Mallory Moon. I am in edm310 this semester at the University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed watching Krishant recital of "Steve The Superhero." He did a great job! He seemed to be a little camera shy but he did not let it bother him. I enjoyed his hand motions as well. He spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.
I also really liked Sienna recital of "Worms." She to did a great job. I can see how they were both winners last year. They both did a great job!


Junior School Poetry Recital 2nd Place from Lynne Laburn on Vimeo.

Junior School Poetry Recital from Lynne Laburn on Vimeo.


7.) My next kid was Matthew. He is in Mrs. Gregory's 6th grade class. He was blog post that week was about science. His post talked about gamma ray and what it is. I love how he included that he had looked up information about it. That shows that is what interested in it and wanted to learn more. As an upcoming teacher I love to hear things like that! Matthew also posted a great picture on his blog post. It was great to actually be able to see what he was talking about and describing.

My name is Mallory and I am a student in edm310 this semester. I go to the University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed reading your blog post. By reading your blog post I learned something that I did not know. I did not know that a ray gives out as much light that the sun does for twenty years. Sounds like you and your class has learned a lot so far this year. That’s great! I hope you are enjoying school. Keep up the good work.


8.) Nathan was another kid that I got to comment on. On his blog post we had written a science project. The thing that I found most interesting was that he put each part of the science project into the scientific method. For each step of his project was the scientific method beside it. I think it is great that students are being taught how to use the scientific method in really life projects. I believe that it shows the students the importance of it. Nathan did a great job on explaining the science project.

Hey Nathan,
My name is Mallory. I am a student in edm310 this semester at the University of South Alabama. I enjoyed reading your post on your science project. I see that your learning about the scientific method. That's great. Maybe one day when I have my own classroom I can teach your science project to my students. I hope you are having a good year in school. Keep up the good work!

9.) Jalen is also a student that I was able to comment on her blog. She is one of 29 students in her Room 10 class. Her class is in Auckland, New Zealand. I love the fact that her teacher has made a class blog for her students to put their work on. I think it's great that Jalen's teacher wants not only friends and family, but the world to see her students' work. For Jalen's blog post she created animation. It was a video she made using Hyperstudio. The video was great and I enjoyed watching it!

Hey,
My name is Mallory. I am an edm310 student at the University of South Alabama. Ms. Lavakula you have done a great job on teaching your students how to use technology in the classroom. To Jalen you did a great job on this blog post. I love you animation in the Australian Outback. Enjoy school and keep up the great work!

10.) My comment this week was on Mr. McClung's 8th Grade World. I commented on his blog post for Oct. 31, 2011. It was a video titled "Lonely Boy." This video was great it not only had music but also had a man dancing and singing along. Mr. McClung picks a band of the week and for this week it was Black Keys. The Black Keys is a duo. Dan Auerbach is the vocalist and guitarist and Patrick Carney is the drummer and producer. I had never heard of the Black Keys before, but after watching this video it makes me want to research and find more music from them. By the way, they have a new album being released on December 6, 2011, check it out. I am glad a was able to watch this video on them.

Mr. McClung,
I am an edm310 student at the University of South Alabama. I want to start off by saying that I have really enjoyed visiting your class blog. I also enjoyed watching the band of the week, The Black Keys. It was a great video. Good choice! I had never heard of this duo before now, but after watching and listening to that video it makes me eager to google and find more of there music. I wanted to also let you know that I think it is great that your class have blog. Technology is such a great learning tool for the classroom. All students should be using some type of it. I hope to one day use technology, such as computers and smart boards in my classroom.
Mallory Moon

Blog Post #11

First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class


I enjoyed watching this video because it really shows just how much technology is around. We use technology and don’t even realize it. By watching this video it shows how much students can learn by using all different types of technology. Instead of Ms. Cassidy’s students writing in journals she chooses to have them write on their blogs. I think that is a great idea because it is improving their writing but at the same time it allows them to get comments and feed back on what they have wrote.
Another great thing that I got from the video that I probably would not have thought about was the fact that even games, such as a Nintendo can be used as a teaching method. The students showed how they can have fun and play games, but at the same time be learning. I love seeing students having fun while learning, because there are so many different ways of learning.

Skype Interview with Ms. Cassidy

One of the techniques that I would like to use in my classroom would be blogging. Ms. Cassidy says blogging is different from pencil and paper because with blogging you have an audience. Students are able to post their work onto their blog and get feedback, not only from their teachers but other students, family members, other teachers, and more. She said her students love to blog because it is so different than the ordinary way of learning in the classroom. She explains that as a young student it is very powerful to see that hundreds of people are reading what you post on your blog. It makes the students really excited and to want to post more.

The thing that I like the most about Ms. Cassidy is that when she was starting out she did everything she could to bring technology in her room. She was very excited about her students learning through technology and she tried to learn as much as possible before her students started in her room. She said in the Skype Conversation that she does not really use a lot of technology at home, which means that she cares enough to bring it to her room for her students to learn. Ms. Cassidy is a teacher that is worth looking up to and I am going to strive to one day teach like she does.

October 29, 2011

Blog Post #10

Do You Teach or Do You Educate?

By watching this video I realized that there is a difference between being a teacher and being an educator. I have never really thought about it being two different roles. I have just always thought of a teacher and educator as being one. I am so glad that I got to watch this video, it really showed me how wrong I was.

Now that I an aware of the difference I am glad to say that I want to be an educator for my students. I don't want to just be a teacher and give my students instructions. I want to be a role model for them and inspire my students to learn. I also want to be there with guidance for them. I feel that all teachers should watch this video and learn more and educating not teaching. When I have my classroom of students I want them to know that I am an educator not just a teacher.

Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home!


Tom Johnson's post was mainly about how people tend to focus on the problem more than the solution. When a problem occurs it is best to focus on how something good can come out of it, or even work to make something good come from it. Like in this post, taking pencils home was not such a bad idea because he did not care what they were doing with the pencils because it was keeping their minds busy. I hate to think that there are teachers out there who are more concerned with the test scores. Let students "bring the pencils home". They are learning something even if they are using their pencils to play Hangman!

October 25, 2011

Summary Post C4T #3

1.) I was assigned to read Ms. Liz B. Davis blog post "The power of educational technology"

The article is based on one school in one town in Arizona, hardly a statistically significant sample. The only reason given for the failure of technology is a lack of increase in test scores in a district that already had high test scores. Finally, there was no test comparing the technology skills of students in this school to any other school in the state.

I enjoyed reading Ms. Davis's article. I agree with her reasoning of the article. I too disagree, I believe that technology is great! It should be should in schools and just because one school in a small town did not see a difference, this should not affect other schools thinking about technology. Children these days are growing up in a world that is full of technology. Technology is a great source for learning.

2.) I was assigned to read Ms. Liz B. Davis blog post "Marching Backward into the Future"

I have really enjoyed reading Ms. Davis's blog post. I enjoy reading articles about technology. Technology is our future. I like how she talked about how when she first started teaching she could not imagine iPads or Kindles. Until I got to South I had never had a smart board in the classroom and it wasn't until emd310 that I actually used one. There has been so many new types of technology come out just in the past decade. I liked how she said "everything we look at is shaped by our experiences." I have never thought about it that way.

“We look at the present through a rear-view mirror. We march backwards into the future.”
(Liz B. Davis)

October 17, 2011

Blog Post #9

After reading Mr. McClung's What I've Learned This Year, I found that he wrote about some very important rules to consider when teaching. Mr. McClung wrote these rules after his first few years of teaching in Noel, Missouri. It is great that Mr. McClung decided to blog about some of the things he learned because now we, as future teachers, are able to get some knowledge of what to expect.

One important rule that he wrote about is that it is not "all about the teacher". In his first few years of teaching he thought that it was all about him, the teacher. He saw teachers who were more worried about how they delivered the lesson than how their students comprehended it. "In order to be effective you have to be able to let your audience drive your instruction." Teachers have a tendency in wanting to make the perfect lesson. The lessons we make will turn out different than how we expected, and that is okay. We will learn how to make the situation a learning experience even if it does not go exactly the way we planned it to.

Another important rule Mr. McClung wrote about was our expectations of our students. Teachers seem to have high expectations for our students and sometimes if they do not meet the goal they are punished. Mr. McClung states that when a student does not meet the goal that has been set, do not punish them, instead help them to get back on track and maybe meet the goal next time.
"Our job as teachers is to simply pick them up after they fail, dust them off, and encourage them to try again."

A third rule he wrote about was "Do Not Be Afraid of Technology". As future teachers, we need to be aware and prepared of the technology that is available for us to use in our classroom. He explains that even though we may not master technology, at first, we still should keep working with it. Technology will help us and our students learn and grow, so we should start learning as much as we can about it!

The last few important points that Mr. McClung made was to listen to our students. Something so simple makes all the difference. It helps to get to know our students in order to build a good relationship with them. Also, if we are taking a interest in their life outside of school their parents will love that too. Students will grow closer to us and want to listen to us if we listen to them. Also, Mr. McClung wrote about never stop learning. This is one of the most important rules, in my opinion, because we can never learn to much. There is so much that I am going to learn in my next few years at South and I will not stop learning after graduation.

October 10, 2011

Blog Post #8

This Is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2
Richard Miller’s video, This Is How We Dream, is showing how multimedia is being used in classrooms all over the world. EDM 310 is similar to this video because we do not use books to find answers or information, we use the internet. Students in EDM 310 learn so much because we are watching or reading something online and having to blog about what we just watched or read. I believe having to search for our answers online with little guidance helps us grow.

Using the internet makes research much faster than going to the library and searching for books. With the internet you really have an endless amount of material to choose from. Also, people come together online which makes learning more fun because you are able to share what you with people all around. This idea gives everyone the ability to share information through things such as: blogging, skype, podcasting, and more.

Will I use multimedia in my classroom? Yes, most definitely. I believe multimedia is a great way to incorporate different ideas into the classroom. It would make the lesson so much more fun and interesting and would be another great way to engage your students. With multimedia you are able to combine audio, text, images, and animation together into one. I would love for my students to use multimedia as well. Assigning your students to a multimedia projects have many possibilities for learning things such as: working together in groups, the importance in research and planning, presenting information in a different way rather than on a poster board, and creatively constructing something.

Blog Post#12 By Carly Pugh
In Carly's blog post she talks about ways to better teachers in their classrooms. She decides to make a YouTube playlist. I enjoyed reading her playlist. It had some great videos on it, that I think would be really helpful to a classroom teacher. A YouTube playlist would be great for any teacher. They would always be able to go back and review videos on how to teach something. She made a great point by saying, "good teachers teach by example." That is so true. There are always room for improvement.

The Chipper Series
The overall message from the two videos was to do your work on time and to work hard at what you are doing. The Chipper Series, showed many different things. One of the things it showed was EDM 310 can be overwhelming at times, but it is not too much and it can be done. Also, Dr. Strange talked about the importance of deadlines. He said that deadlines are there to get you to turn your assignments in on time. In the video, Jamie Lynn was upset with Dr. Strange because “he wasn’t doing his job”. She felt like Dr. Strange was not teaching and making us learn and figure everything out on our own. I feel that Dr. Strange is making us grow as students and as future teachers by making us figure things out on our own. It gives me a feeling of accomplishment after I finish my blog post, my projects, and other assignments because I know I could have had help if I needed it, but mostly I did all of these things all on my own!

EDM 310 for Dummies
EDM 310 For Dummies was very funny and entertaining. I believe that we all probably feel stressed out and overwhelmed at times. However, if you stay on track, keep up with deadlines and assignments, and do not procrastinate then you should be doing just fine.

An idea that I had while writing this blog post would be to show the different websites that I have been introduced to in EDM 310. Before EDM 310, I was unaware of all of the resources that were online and available to use in the classroom. I think it would be great to share the websites to others and show other students and teachers so they would be able to incorporate them in their classroom too. Websites I would include would be many from my PLN because I found many useful websites while it. I would talk about PBS Teachers, Wordle, National Geographic Kids, Story Starters, and others in my video and the importance in each. It would be good to add lessons and how you could use the web sites in your classroom.

Learn To Change, Change To Learn
What an awesome video about educators speaking of the changes that could be made in the classroom. One of the things I found interesting in this video was the quote, “Technology is not a choice, it has created a world.” This is very true because technology is simply not a choice of whether or not to use it in the classroom or not. If you are a educator not using technology there is so much that you and your students are missing out on. Another thing I found interesting was when one of the educators said, “All of the social networks that kids are using and are good at are banned from schools”. Students are good with social networking and it is something that interests them, so why not incorporate it in the classroom somehow?

A final quote that I found important was, “It’s not about memorizing the facts that they will need to know for the rest of their life, it’s about knowing how to find information, how to validate it, how to synthesize it, how to leverage it, how to communicate it, how to collaborate it, and how to problem solve with it. That’s the new 21st Century set of literacy’s and it looks a lot different than the model in which most of us were raised under.” This was probably the most important thing that was said in this video, to me, because it reminds me of EDM 310. When the educator said this quote it made me think of Dr. Strange explaining to the class what EDM 310 was all about. It is important because it talks about how remembering facts and memorizing information is not what should be important in the classroom.

October 09, 2011

Project #10 First PLN

Making my PLN was very fun and interesting because it is such a great organizer and way to keep all of your important websites together. I decided to make my PLN using Symbaloo because it seemed pretty straight forward and easier than Netvibes. Symbaloo will be very useful inside the classroom and outside the classroom because it keeps all of your websites together on one.

As of right now I have about 20 titles added to my Symbaloo. I added websites such as: facebook, twitter, gmail, google, South Alabama homepage, the EDM 310 class blog, and others. Also, I added websites that I thought had good teaching ideas. Symbaloo has a lot to offer. I will continue adding tiles to my Symbaloo as I find anything interesting.

October 05, 2011

Project #9b Timetoast

Summary Post C4T #2

1.) I was assigned to read Ms. Mary Worrell's blog post " Paper Reinforcers"

I enjoyed reading this blog post. It was neat how Ms. Worrell first started off by talking about how her school was without technology. She used paper reinforcers as a metaphor for technology. Before technology and especially computers, everything was done with pen and paper. Now that we have all of this nice, new technology it is another learning tool for students in the classroom. Students today have never lived without technology. It is part of their everyday lives. I believe technology is a great thing. I love technology but there are still those few things I would rather do with pen and paper.

Ms. Worrell also talked about in her blog post and podcast. She described and discussed a few ways that she has used podcast in her classroom. She believes podcast are a great new way of technology. I told her how I have never podcast before this edm310 class, and still do not know much about them and how much they can do. From what I have heard from friends and teachers, podcast is a great form of technology. Teachers can record books for the children to listen and follow along in their books. I hope to one day use podcast in my classroom!





2.) I was assigned to read Ms. Mary Worrell's blog post " Reading the gender binary"

Ms. Worrell explained the differences between boys and girls in all aspects, not just the learning and schooling part. She discussed how the times have changed in the fact that boys and girls are coming out as whoever they are. They are not letting what other people think of them affect them. Boys are coming out as gay. Girls might even be "girl-friendly" or tom boyish. Children are going to be who they are and not let other people affect them.

Children are complex as they explore their identities. Are are misconceptions that girls are better readers than boys, but that is not always true. Every child has different strengths and weaknesses. The classroom should be one place where every child comes for the same thing, to learn. It should not matter race, religion, nor culture. Every child should feel welcome and comfortable in the classroom.

I am glad I got to read Ms. Worrell's blog post. It was something that I read and re-read to understand and consider for my classroom. I want my classroom to be all about learning. I want it to be fun and exciting so my students will want to learn.

Blog Post #7


Randy Pausch’s video, The Last Lecture, was very inspiring. He made some very good points and he seems like he was a wonderful educator. Randy Pausch used different methods when teaching which made his course even more fun and interesting. His love and passion for teaching showed through him and that is truly a way that students get excited about learning. The Last Lecture was about Randy’s childhood dreams, enabling the dreams of others, and lessons that you learn as you go on to be an educator. Also, he shared that we will be able to use the methods, he told us about, to enable your own dreams and the dreams of others. He talks about his own childhood dreams and shares his life situations which make it easier to see that your childhood dreams can come true.

One method that Randy Pausch discusses in The Last Lecture is the importance of enabling childhood dreams. He says that enabling a child’s dream can often be better then enabling your own. It is so important to help children reach and get to their dreams because that is something they strive for. As future educators, we have to have the drive to help every student accomplish their dreams and goals. Part of our job will be to enable the dreams of each one of our students.

Another method that Randy Pausch spoke about was a different meaning of brick walls. “The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. They are there to keep out the other people. ” With this quote, Randy gives brick walls a whole new meaning. This is such a motivational quote because we all reach “brick walls” in life but we have to decide how to get over the wall. We have to work hard and push through the wall to make it to the other side, to what we want. This quote has a lot of meaning behind it because it could be a great illustration for our students, as well as us. Teaching our students about the importance in “brick walls” and how to get to the other side is a good way to help them accomplish anything they want!

A final teaching method that Randy talks about is the importance in creativity and having fun while teaching. Teaching is so much more than books, paper, pencils and chalkboards. It’s about engaging your students in learning and having fun while doing so. Randy Pausch sounds like he was a very fun, creative, lively, loving, passionate teacher. He had the motivation and the skill to make students want to learn. I am a firm believer of keeping your classroom alive with creativity and fun! Don’t get me wrong, I understand learning is serious business and we will be preparing our students for the future. But who says that learning can’t be fun? And if there is any opportunity to make the lesson interesting, I’m going to take that opportunity and run with it.

September 30, 2011

C4K Summary Post

My first kid I got the joy of reading her blog post was mg2011 from Mr. Stephen Wolf's 3rd grade class. Her blog post was right after the school year had started. So, she was still talking about what I great summer she had. She talked about what fun things she got to do while on summer break. One thing that was very interesting was the fact that she was able to go the blue bell ice cream factory. I love blue bell ice cream and that it would be nice to get the chance to go to the factory. She is in the 3rd grade this year. I told her to have a great year and to learn and enjoy school. I also reminded her to make friends, have fun, and make good grades. The good grades will pay off in the future!


My next student was Dana from St. Elmo's school. Dana's post was a letter to Lucky Buffet thanking her for providing Dana's class with iPads. Lucky Buffet had donated to Dana's class a set of iPads for the students to use in the classroom. Dana and her classmates all wrote Ms. Buffet letters thanking her for the iPads. I think that is so generous of Ms. Buffet. IPads are a great source of new technology for the students. All of this technology was not around when I was in elementary and I think that it is great that kids now days have it to use. The world today is technology advance.

Alex was also a kid that I got to comment on his blog. He was new to blog just like I was a few weeks ago. The first assigned him and his classmates had was to make an avatar. I did not know at first what an avatar was until after seeing and reading about it on Alex's blog. It was neat to learn something new from a kid. Suppose ably a person goes to a web site and can design their own to look any way they want it to. Its really a neat assigned for kids. It can show their creativity.

September 26, 2011

Blog Post #6

1. The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler

Even though technology is and will continue to advance, there will always be a spot for teachers. Teaching is a job that is definitely needed. Teachers will continue to grow and learn as technology grows and they will learn to teach their students all that they can. The job of a teacher will be the same no matter how technology advances. The main goals are to keep students interested by keeping creativity in your classroom, help students to love learning, guide students to reach goals and to strive harder. Teachers will always have to help guide their students in learning. I think this video should ease the fear that future teachers may have about technology taking our jobs.

While watching this video I began to compare this method to our EDM 310 class. It shows how students and teachers from around the world can stay connected with each other simply by blogging. New ideas, new ways of learning and communication are all through technology. I feel that EDM 310 helps students stay on top of things and search for the answers. It is such a good feeling to find out new things on our own because it makes you feel accomplished and proud, which is something I look forward to my students feeling.

In my opinion, I am well on my way to being a teacher of the networked student. EDM 310 is my first educational class and it has already started to prepare me. Everything that students do in this class prepares us to be awesome teachers with technology. I look forward to what else EDM 310 will teach me and also what I will take from my educational class




2. A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment

This 7th grade student did a great job creating her PLE. I like that she has different categories for her tiles. That makes her PLE very organized. Also, it was interesting to watch how she set up the different sites and tiles for her science class. I started on my PLN before I watched her video but after I watched it I went back and did more to mine because her video had good direction to how to make it. We both have Blogger, Facebook, Google, Youtube, and Yahoo. I hope when my PLN is complete it will be detailed like hers.

September 21, 2011

Project #9a Timetoast

Blog Post #5

1. Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?

I found Mr. McLeod's article to be very interesting. It made me really stop and think about technology in another way. Technology is being used in some many ways these days. Mr. Mcleod pointed out some good points when talking about the negative ways technology can be used. Even though there are students who use the technology to look at porn or other such things. There are many other students getting ahead in their education because of technology.

By looking around and googling, I found out some things about Mr. McLeod that most people might not know. Mr. Scott McLeod, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Kentucky. He also is the Founding Director of the nation's only academic center dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators. Mr. McLeod is widely recognized as one of the nation's leading academic experts on K-12 school technology leadership issues. He has also received many awards for his accomplishments.

2. The iSchool Initiative


Wow, talk about a money and time saver! Travis is seriously on to something with the iSchool initiative. He has put a lot of time and thought into how schools, students, and parents could easily save money. He estimated that we could each save around $600. That is a great saving! I was not aware of how much the iPhone could do.



I would like to think that sometime in the future the idea of the iSchool could possibly happen. I mean, technology is growing at a rapid rate as it is. The iSchool would definitely save a lot of money and time looking for a book or homework you misplaced. With the iSchool everything is just a few clicks away from your iPhone or iTouch. Could something as simple as downloadable Apps onto our phones really start taking the place of books, computers, calculators, calendars, paper, pencils, and more?

3. Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

This is incredible. As I watched this video my jaw literally dropped because I can not even imagine how this is possible. The participants did not meet each other to practice, nor did they meet Eric Whitacre's. These people are from all over the world and are able to put something together like this. I can not even begin to think through the process of all of that. Eric Whitacre's obviously has a great deal of creativity and a lot of knowledge about technology.




4. Teaching In the 21st Century

Teaching in the 21st Century had very good points and questions. The part that stuck out most to me was when entertainment and engagement was being compared. Entertainment is not all there is to teaching. We should be learning about how to engage our students with what is being taught.

Engaging students with better activities, involvement, and questions will have them more motivated to learn. Engagement can also be fun, but it is not all that it has to offer. Teaching students in the 21st Century is about helping them find, solve, understand, and answer the questions. It is about having fun while learning and being motivated to learn and want to figure out answers. Teaching students in the 21st Century takes us, soon to be teachers, trying to figure out different, better, more effective teaching methods and applying them to each student in the classroom.

September 12, 2011

Blog Post #4

Langwitches

Before reading this article, I did not know much about Podcast. I soon learned how useful Podcast can be for a teacher as well as students. I think it is great that the students were ready to listen and following along in their books while the Podcast was reading to them. Podcast are a great piece of technology to the teachers. It allows the teacher to pre-record a section or even a chapter out of the book instead of reading it their self. It also helps the students to build listening skills. The students have to follow along and keep up with the book, so that they will not get lost. As shown in this article I think it is great that by using Podcast, it makes students eager to learn.

Podcast would be a great use of technology in a classroom. The teacher as well as the students benefit from using them. A teacher can not only use Podcast in the classroom, but if the class or school as a school website, the Podcast can be uploaded to it. By putting the Podcast onto the website that allows parents to view it as well. So if a student might forget how to do something or forget what the homework is, the Podcast is there.


The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom by Joe Dal

By watching “The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom” by Joe Dal taught me even more about Podcast that I did not know. Podcast are the best way to allow a teacher or student to be creative. Podcast make learning exciting. Podcast can be used any time and any where. As mentioned in the video Podcast are relevant to students of this day and time, because most students that were born after 1980 do not know life without computers, ipod, and smart phones. These students’ learning is revolved around technology.

Mr. Joe Dal made some very valid points when talking about Podcast. Podcast have many benefits. Podcast is information on the go, meaning you can access them anywhere. One main benefit is for students. When a student is out sick they do not have to mess and make up work. They can simple watch the Podcast video by there teacher and not miss any work. That way when they are able to return to school they will be just as up to date as all of the other students. Other reason Podcast are great is because parents can watch them. It allows the parents to stay informed about what’s going on in the classroom and about the students’ class work and homework. Podcast are a great way to stay in contact and informed.


The Education Podcasting Network

The Education Podcasting Network is truly a great way to connect with teachers around the world. Teachers from all over can meet and talk with other teachers. They can learn different teaching methods from one another. By podcasting they can see how different classrooms work and operate. Not only can the teachers put podcast about them but also allow students to make podcast and share with teachers. The Education Podcasting Network really can connect different teachers from different cultures, ethnics, and societies, all by just podcasting.


September 09, 2011

Blog Post #3

1.) What is Peer Editing?

Peer Editing is when class mates edit other class mates work. It is very useful and helpful for students. By letting other people read and review your work, one they might see a mistake that you did not see, and two it is another person's opinion before the teacher reads it. When peer editing there are three steps to follow: 1) Compliments- Always remember to be nice. Give compliments where needed and keep in mind you would not want someone else being ugly about your paper. 2) Suggestions- Suggestions are a great thing. Suggestions are suggest things as missed spelled works, run on sentences and wrong use of words. Suggestions do not always have to be bad. Let the person know what to improve and me nice about it. 3) Corrections- Corrections are the last step in the editing process. Corrections are the most important. Show a person how they could make their paper better. Make changes! I have used peer editing many times and it is truly helpful. My class mates show me things on my paper that I have missed and help me improve my paper. ~Just Remember to stay positive~

2.) Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes

While watching the video "Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes" I realized that peer editing is a good thing, but can cause some problems at the same time. A student must be open to suggests and keep an open mind when peer editing. The editor has to be positive, but not pushy. The student that is getting his/her paper edited needs to listen and take the advance of the editor. Now that I have watched these two videos on peer editing I have got to see two different views of peer editing. Although, I still believe peer editing is a good idea, I now see it does have some down falls.

Summary Post C4T #1

1.) I was assigned to read Mr. Scott McLeod's post, "Is this the year?"

Mr. McLeod's blog post was director to principals and superintendents. It discussed the importance of technology in the classroom and how important it is that student's today get to learn and use technology. His post talked about all aspects of technology. It explained how technology can help students interact with other students, just not face-to-face. Mr. McLeod also discussed from a teachers point of view of how teachers can do lessons online instead of using text books.

While writing on Mr. McLeod's blog post I mentioned some points that related to my life. I think that technology is a great thing to have in classrooms. I believe that first the teachers should have to know how to use it, because if they don't how will they teach their students how to. New technology is coming out everyday. I think schools should invest in the latest technology for their students. I will definitely try and use the latest technology in my classroom one day!




2.) I was assigned to read Mr. Scott McLeod's blog post "Schools, technology, test scores, and the New York Times"

In this blog Mr. McLeod talked about how technology affected a lot of different aspects of life. Technology is all around us. One of the first things he says is that it is hard to test many skills by a paper test. Some students need the hands on visuals, while others do best with pencil and paper. Personally I have never been a good test taker, but if given something visual I'll do much better. Students learn all different ways. Next Mr. McLeod discusses how the schools do not have enough support from school districts, not only with money for technology, but with help on how to use it. Much of the technology that is just coming out many school teachers do not know how to use. He ends by talking about the future of technology and how its a digital world out there. There are so many jobs today that use technology. Students have got to know how to use it.

I enjoyed reading this blog post by Mr. McLeod. It was very interesting and he made a lot of good points. People Have to wake up and realize that technology is not just going to fade away one day. It is here to stay! The first thing that has to change is the fact that schools need to be technology advanced. Meaning that schools need to spend money on getting the latest technology into the classroom for the students to use. I understand that a lot of the newest technology most teachers do not know about or do not know how to use. Teachers should go to workshops or there should be people in the school there to help those teachers. That's one good reason that I'm still in school learning how to use all of this new technology, because there is a lot of new technology out that I do not know how to use.

August 29, 2011

Project #2 Wordle

Blog Post #2


Did You Know?
1. After watching this video, you can really see how much we use technology. Technology has came a long way. Most people use some type of technology everyday.

It is just so exciting to see how much technology is growing. To me, it's interesting that they are able to know what technology will be like in 2049. As well as, making it "exceed the computational capabilities of the entire human species. 

Mr. Winkle Wakes
2. Mr. Winkle shows how technology is in everyday life. People do not realize just how much technology is used. As shown by Mr. Winkle technology is in business offices and hospitals. 

Mr. Winkle also had another good point, technology is not being used properly in the classrooms. The growing technology needs to be used in the classrooms to make learning fun and exciting for the students. Mr. Winkle was a good example of how even after 100 years, things are still being taught the same way. 

The Importance of Creativity
3. I liked the fact that education was to bring us into this future that we can not grasp, it made me realize how important education and creativity are. I like the fact that creativity is not a right or wrong thing. Anyone can be creativity if they put their mind to it. I hope to have a lot of creativity and imagination in my classroom.

The main quote that stuck out to me was when he said that if we are not prepared to be wrong then we will never come up with anything original. To me this means to be yourself and an individual, don't try and be like someone else. Be a leader not a follower!

Cecelia Gault Interviews Sir Ken Robinson
4. As Cecelia interviews Ken Robinson he stresses the importance of a better balance between science and art. I think that is a very good point to bring up. Students need to be very well-rounded these days. He also brings up the use of technology. Technology is important to this day and time. I believe every student should be able to use technology, especially in the classroom.

Robinson also talks about the three myths of creativity. One of the myths being only certain people are creative. I do not agree with this, I believe anyone can be creative. That's one thing I love about children, that will create things, even if they are wrong.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
5. By watching this video it really made me think of things in a different way. She made me realize that you do not have to know everything before you start teaching. Somethings you learn as you go along. I love the fact that as she is teaching her students, they are also teaching her.

She has a great approach to teaching. By using the computers in the classroom, she is teaching her students how to use technology. It is also getting them connected to people all around the world.

August 26, 2011

Blog Post #1

1. Hi! I’m Mallory Moon. I was born and raised in a little city right outside of Mobile called Satsuma. I love living in a small town and would not change it. Being a southern girl, I love to go to the beach. I also enjoy hanging out with friends, playing tennis and making blankets. My family is the best! My parents are always there for me no matter what the situation. My mom is who I have always turned to for advice. While growing up I was the biggest daddy’s girl in the world. I have one older sister, Miranda. She just recently graduated and is now a RN. As we have gotten older our relationship has grown and we are very close. In October 2010 I met a very important person “George” whom I have been dating now for 10 months. He is always there for me and he is my best friend. 

I graduated from Satsuma High, Class of ’09. After graduation I attended Faulkner State Community College to get my basic classes. I am now a junior and starting my first semester here at South. Since I was a little girl I have always wanted to be a teacher. I used to play school and teach my teddy bears. My passion has always been to teach elementary age kids. I believe kids are eager to learn and that u can make a great impact on their lives at this age.

Randy Pausch's Time Management
2. Randy Pausch was a professor who taught computer science at the Carnegie Mellon University. Pausch was an intellectual who was humorous, cracking jokes while offering valuable advice of life. In his time management lecture, he gave a number of ways in which people can work out and plan their activities. Some of the strategies I liked in his lecture include the deadline rubric, which I feel is an important habit. Next would be the time journals, which shows you what you do with your time. An essential to success, as Randy Pausch's says, is planning. Also, scheduling oneself and then deciding on making time for the important things will help a person very much. He also learns to sacrifice time for the stuff that actually do not matter to him. As he explains, nobody has more or less time but it is how one uses his time that gets more or less of his work done.