Podcast Post

For this assignment I listened to 4 of the recommended podcasts: SmartBoard Lessons, Kidcast, Macbreak weekly, and TWIP. I also searched and found 3 podcasts that I thought were interesting: StoryNory, Motion, Forces, & Energy, and Why? The science show for kids. I will first discuss the recommended podcasts and then spend time on the 3 I chose.

The first thing I noticed about all 4 recommended podcasts was that each one had music as the introduction. Not one of these podcasts started with talking. I like the way the music gave me a chance to get focused and ready for the podcast. Another thing I noticed about each podcast was that they all had sponsors and the podcast subscriptions were free. This means that the sponsors pay for these podcasts and the consumer does not have to. All of these podcasts had hosts that were enthusiastic, easy to listen to, and kept it going. The SmartBoard Lesson podcast consisted of a man and woman, and they discussed using the SmartBoard as a teaching tool. There podcast is almost a weekly occurrence. KidCast has one host and this podcast focuses on using the podcast in the classroom. The podcast happens once every few month. This one did not hold my attention like the first podcast mentioned. It seems better to have more than one person on a podcast to keep it more interesting. The discussion and feedback from others is important. MacBreakWeekly is a weekly podcast and was the most entertaining (even though it was Mac related). There were 3 or 4 hosts and they made the podcast have a more radio show like feel to it. They shared personal information and laughed with one another. This podcast had the most sponsors. It took the main host quite a while to list all of them. TWIP podcast was similar to the MacBreak Weekly. It had the same format and same sort of atmosphere.

Listening to just these 4 podcasts helped me realize 3 things about podcasting in general. Number one: Intro and background music gives the podcast a more professional vibe. Number 2: Having more than one host gives the podcast more life and dimension. Number 3: The host needs to have enthusiasm and fun.

The next 3 podcasts I listened to were Story Nory, Why? The Science Show for Kids, and Motion, Forces, & Energy. Story Nory is a podcast that brings a new story to children every week. The narrator has a lovely voice and is very easy to understand. This podcast would be a great resource for elementary school teachers. I could see a teacher using this podcast during rest time. Allowing kindergartners to listen as they lay on their mats would be a novel way to do nap time. Teachers could let children listen to the story and then draw a picture of what they heard (this would help them with their comprehension). There are so many options for a teacher if they used this podcast. Why? The Science Show for Kids podcast is hosted by a scientist who answers kids questions every week. Of course he can not answer all the questions that are submitted but he does a nice job of having a wide variety of questions and answers. I could see myself using this concept to creating student podcasts and the assignment would be to answer certain questions, work as teams to answer the questions, submit questions about the current material being studied so I could better explain it using a podcast. Again, I can see the podcast being used for so many things in a science classroom. The last podcast was very basic but I really like it. It was a teacher's podcast and he reviewed the different sections in a chapter. He would refer to the text, and then elaborate on the concept. This is a great teaching tool. Once students get home and begin to do their homework they may think,"Now what did he say about..." And all they have to do is go to his podcast and they can hear him say it. I like the way he uses the podcast, and I would like to use it to record my "Note Time" in class. That way if a student is absent they can go to my podcast and hear what we talked about in class. The options for using a podcast in the class room are almost endless. Yeah podcast! To hear any of the 3 podcasts listed above all you have to do is go to Search iTunes Store and type in the name of the podcast.

Last Lecture Post

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture is packed full of substantial advice; not only teaching advice but advice to help a person live a better life. The four teaching/life skills I have chosen to focus on are: 1) Fundamentals 2) Enthusiasm 3) Respect 4) Brick walls. I believe that teacher's have the most important job. As teacher's we have a great deal of power over the future acheivements of our students. Our attitudes, our level of compassion, our amount of concern will be one of the major determining factors of a child's success in school.

Randy mentions in his lecture that teachers need to focus on the fundamentals, and that we need to get these down pat before we get fancy. I agree with this statement 100%. When I taught 7th grade science I spent more time on fundamentals because it is the foundation from which my students were going to build. If the foundation is shaky, there is a good chance that the structure will fail. When a student masters the fundamentals there will be a confidence that becomes present in that child's school attitude. Teacher's play such a huge role in planting the seed of confidence in a child. And as that child grows in education that seed will grow into a plant and one day will produce fruit of its own. Student/teacher bonds will form when a teacher goes the extra mile to help a struggling student. These bonds are crucial to the student. The student begins to see that the teacher cares and can be trusted. The bond that forms leads me to my next teaching/life skill: respect.

On the first day of every new school year I would start with "The Talk". I wouldn't start of with the rules or with my expectations. I would start of on a personal level. I taught 12 and 13 year olds and I can remember what it was like to be that age. Everyone, no mater what age, wants to be respected. But I feel that at this age it is more needed then ever. I would let them know that even though I didn't know them, I respected them, and it was up to them to keep that respect. If I give my respect I expect respect in return. If respect was shown respect was given. Randy mentions loyalty in his lecture. He gave the example of the student having problems with the dean and he went and stood up for the student. Because he was willing to stand up for that student, that student is now standing up and taking the lead for Randy. It is because they respected and believed in one another. I spoke with me students in a tone as if I were talking to friends. I assured them that I would always treat them as people, not as children, but as individuals with ideas, opinions, and thoughts.

I loved Randy's enthusiasm. I couldn't help but keep listening to what he had to say. When a person believes 100% what they are saying then that enthusiasm pours out of them. In teaching my students picked up on my level of enthusiasm. I set the tone for learning each and every day. If I did not buy into an activity, then I could not expect them to. Most days I was excited about what we were doing in class and I tried to make each learning activity have a certain level of fun in it. Making learning fun and engaging was the most challenging aspects of being a teacher. I had to work hard at it, but it always paid off when I say the excitement on my students faces or when students walked in the room telling me they couldn't wait to come to science class.

I saved brick walls for the last topic. I hate brick walls. I have never thought about them the way Randy talked about them in his lecture. He said that brick walls are not there to stop us, but to get us to prove what we can really do. We have to persevere. We have to keep working until we make it to the finish line. We have brick walls in every area of our lives (school, home, work, family, friends, grocery store, etc). He also spoke of being self-reflective and I think that when I hit a brick wall that is what I do. I reflect on what happened and then work on a solution and work hard to get over the wall or how to knock it down. Teachers can give students the necessary skills to be able to identify those brick walls and help them get over that wall. No child is going to be great at every subject. That is where the teacher comes in to make the difference.

Week 5 Post

Both of my international teacher's blogs were found on the website edublog. This site is available for teachers and students. It serves over 275,000 bloggers at this time. It is a free service and has easy steps to follow on how to create a blog. This site offers what seems to be the blogging equivelant of some of the aspects of ACCESS, but on a national and international scale.

The first teacher blog is from a male teacher in Victoria, Austrailia. The name of the blog is Tom's School Desk. The teacher is a fairly new teacher and is mostly interested in educational technology. His blog contains student podcasts on several topics, RSS feeds on certain topics, and seems to be used a good bit by his students. His blog is very straight forward and has basic information. This website is not very helpful with class content or assignments. The picture to the right is a picture of his school.

This picture was at the top of Mr. Swenson's blog.

The second teacher blog is from a male teacher in England. Mr. Swenson's blog is very nice and a great example of how teacher's can use a blog to help students stay organized. The main page has each classes agenda for each day posted. Students know exactly what was done in class each day. This is very handy for students who are absent and makes make up work easier for the teacher. The student knows exactly what to ask about when he or she returns. To the right of the agenda he has links to each of the classes he teaches, links to the school website and online grades, and archives. This blog also has downloadable assignments. For example, on February 4 his language arts students started a brochure project. The students are able to download the instructions to this project from his blog.

Week 4 Post

Mrs. Reagan (pictured on the left) is the principal of Georgetown Elementary School.
Georgetown Elementary school in Michigan has a school blog that is very similar to a website but has so many more capabilities. A person can find any information on this blog. Every teacher in the school has a class blog and the links to that blog are on the schools blog. You can view the school calendar by week or month and view an agenda for the days selected. This school blog has comments from schools in Taiwan. This blog show immediate connections to schools all over the world. There is a section called Live Action Feed and it shows the locations people who have visited the blog. Foley, Alabama popped up in this section because I have been looking at this schools blog. I am very impressed and excited about the capabilities of blogs.

Fantastic Fun in Fine Arts is a fine art teacher's blog. It is very organized and easy to navigate. If I were a parent of one of this teacher's students I would be able to find plenty of information for her class. She has a calendar on her main page that would be very helpful to parents when they need to know deadlines, tests, play practice, parties, etc. This is a great resource for fine art students. They have all the information about play practice and deadlines for scripts. This seems to be a very effective and practical use of a blog. Unfortunately, there were no photos available on this blog.

Week 3-Post #2

     According to the powerpoint on the ACCESS website Access uses technology to provide courses and teachers because many low-income schools are limited in what is offered to students.  The State of Alabama wants to provide equal access to high quality instruction for less fortunate schools and students through distance learning.  ACCESS offers additional courses to students, advanced courses (triginometry, physics, calculus), advanced placement courses, remedial courses, dual enrollment courses, and additional courses.  The three methods of delivery of these distance learning courses are web-based, videoconferencing, and blended.  The web-based method would use a web-site.  Videoconferencing would be streaming and face to face.  It would connect classes in real time.  Blended is when the first two methods are combined.  Phase I of ACCESS commenced in October of 2005.  In phase I pilot school sites have been established and principles and counselors of the pilot schools have been trained.   E-teachers and facilitators have also been trained.  The web-based method seems to be the less complicated and more beneficial method of delivery.  Videoconferencing  seems to be a work in progress.  It is going to take a large ammount of organization and cooperation.  There are two full slides of difficulties listed in the power point that concern the Videoconferencing.

     The ACCESS program seems very impressive in the power point and in the articles written.  The amount of technology involved is a huge undertaking and may be very overwhelming to most teachers if it is not a well organized "machine" once it is implemented.  The amount of training is crucial.  Without the proper training teachers will stick with what they already know.  I think that the newer teachers would be more likely to have the capabilities to use this type of technology.  The older teachers would need more training and encouragment.  ACCESS is an exciting technological advance and the newer tech "savy" will have a wonderful resource at his or her finger tips.  I am very interseted to see an ACCESS school site and ask questions about it.