Additional Post #1

Add Sparkle to Your Words

I was a bit disappointed in myself that I didn't completely identify the metaphor discussed my Mr. Spencer is his "Pencil Integration" blog. I believe the main reason that I missed the direct connection he was trying to convey to his readers is simple. I took all possibility that a metaphor was an option out of my brain. I trusted this man to give us his opinion on education blatantly and that is unfortunate. How boring! I appreciate some jazz in writing and I wish that I had been able to see the connection. When I go back and read Mr. Spencer's blog post and insert technology and computers where pencils are written, I thoroughly agree with and enjoy his writing a billion times over. Furthermore, I read a good bit of Mr. Spencer's writing and believed him to be a well-educated, poised, fantastic writer. I gave him such credit that I took what he had written too seriously and forced myself to believe his theory on pencils. I wanted these underpriveledged children to be able to take pencils home too! I began agreeing with everything Mr. Spencer wrote and stopped thinking for myself on a deeper level. Not cool, Frances.
There are so many simple metaphors that we encounter on a daily basis. A daily log of metaphors are not a bad idea in the least. Some people find it annoying to jot down everything they hear or see. For these anti-compositionists, it should not be difficult to make a mental note of these daily examples. It rains pretty regularly in Mobile. I dare say someone has recently exclaimed, "It's raining cats and dogs!" I am fired up for Christmas this year! It is mainly because Dylan will understand Santa Claus a little better! After quite an intense argument the other day, I was told that "my eyes were smoldering." Not the compliment I was looking for after a hard day, but an example of a metaphor none the less. I heard a coworker speaking of her "old flame". Judging from contect clues, I don't believe she was speaking of last night's fire.
I think Mr. Pink's idea of creating a metaphor journal is a wonderful way for kids to realize how often metaphors are used, how much they enhance a story, and how clever they make one seem. The definition that I have found for metaphor comes from www.about.com and it seems to be the one that could be most easily understood by elementary students. It reads as follows: "A figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something in common." While teaching a unit on metaphors, I would like to display this definition and start out each day reviewing it as well as some of the examples children have written in their metaphor journal. This journal could work for many different types of speech, such as similes, personification, alliteration, sarcasm, and many more (depending on the age group, of course). I would like to post different examples of metaphors in poems, children's books, and TV shows in my class blog and have students in my classroom and others (possibly from other regions of the world) add to the list so that students will see that metaphors are used all over by various age groups. This would also be interesting so see what types of metaphors are used in different countries.
I think Dr. Strange really put his finger on it when he stated the metaphors are used to spice up prose, poetry, conversation, and many other ways of communication. Telling it like it is can be inappropriate at times, boring at others, uncomfortable, or sometimes just plain difficult. Metaphors spark imagination and interest. Orson Scott Card eloquently states, "Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space."

Blog Post #13

Technology Fast

I chose this option because I was interested to see if my need for technology had increased in the past four months (since the beginning of school). As I suspected, it had. I really enjoyed this assignment because it made me aware of the many ways I am technology dependent. However, I did manage to complete the assignment in just one twenty-four hour period.
First of all, I knew that I would have to prep my husband for this technology fast so that he would not worry when I didn't answer my phone the entire day I was at school. I had to write him a note explaining the project, what bills had to be paid that day, what groceries were needed, what clothes were clean, when to pick Dylan up at day care,etc. That brings me to my next preparatory measure: I also had to warn the day care to call Alex's phone in case of an emergency instead of mine. This is a little depressing for me to admit, but one of the hardest things for me to give up was TV. I knew this was going to be difficult for me, primarily because it is what I use in the morning to keep Dylan occupied while I make breakfast, iron clothes, pack my lunch, and accomplish the rest of the tedious chores that make my day run smoothly. Because I knew the morning of the fast would work a little differently, I organized the house accordingly. I made breakfast the night before and simply heated up some muffins for breakfast. I packed my lunch the night before. I set up a coloring area with a HUGE sheet of paper, some towels on the floor, and about 7 million markers and crayons to keep Dylan occupied while I showered and got dressed for school. I really enjoyed having everything prepared the night before so that I was not so rushed and I actually felt a bit relaxed as I was driving down I10 towards school. I also felt like a better mom for not just sticking my kid in front of a TV for 45 minutes in the morning. I tried something similar to this a couple mornings afterwards, and Dylan and I both enjoyed it! The next problem I knew I would encounter was printing off slides for a class. I prepared for this the day before as well. This, however was a much easier preparation. I simply printed out all materials I could possibly need for all my classes the night before the fast. After school, I wasn't sure if listening to my CD player on the way home from school was considered appropriate, so I decided against it. It was definitely a boring hour ride home and it was very difficult to stay awake until I reached Fairhope. I chose to do the fast on a night that I didn't have to work, since I am constantly using computers for orders and am surrounded by TVs. When I arrived at home, the stereo was on and my husband was devastated to learn that it had to be turned off. Dylan was in the middle of a very interesting dance to The Rolling Stones, so he was a little upset too. We decided to take a walk by the pier, get ice cream at Mr. Gene's Beans, read books, play Legos, and finger paint in place of listening to music or watching TV. It was awesome to see how jam packed we could make our day when mama wasn't doing homework on the computer, and there were no distracting devices in the background. Surprisingly, the hardest decision I had to make came late in the evening. I still sleep with Dylan's monitor by my head because occasionally he will wake up in the middle of the night and I have never not had it near me, so I don't have enough faith in myself to hear him without it. I chose to keep his monitor plugged in, and let that be the only piece of technology that I used during those 24 hours.
I think this activity was probably easier for me than some others because I don't actually use Facebook all that often or my cell phone either. I found the key to completing this assignment in one trial was to PREPARE! I thought out my day and what obstacles I would encounter and I figured out how to accomplish those tasks without technology. While I realized that life can proceed without technology, it would not be an easy way to live. I believe this was a fantastic exercise for me to realize how I can incorporate technology into my life a little more (by using some off time to get into Twitter maybe), and how I can eliminate it in certain ways and introduce more engaging activities instead.

Project #15 SmartBoard Presentation

Skype Project #14

This is an interview with Ms. Melinda Long, a former teacher and children's book author. Her books are filled with adventure and optimism, which I believe are great messages for our youngsters. I read her book, "How I Became A Pirate," and "Pirates Don't Change Diapers," to my son. I also made a book trailer for the former. I hope you enjoy listening to what Ms. Long has to say. I sure did!

Progress Report on Project #16

When Hillary, Greta, and I sat down to decide on a final project, I was inspired by EDM 310 for Dummies. We thought it could be comical and of course beneficial to future EDM310 students if we made a brief, web-based EDM 310 for Dummies. We are thinking of the areas in this class that gave us the most trouble so that we may create tutorials, offer resources and websites, or simply give sound advice on the subjects. I think it will be a lot of fun to make and hopefully useful in the end as well.

Blog Post #12

I suppose this could be considered more of a project than a blog post, but it does remind me a bit of an example of how to write digitally. Students will pick a topic, their favorite place to vacation, their favorite artist, writer, their favorite recipe, etc. Then, they will create a presentation on this topic using Prezi. Prezi is a program that allows you to make an organized, different, and entertaining presentation online.

Smoky Mountains National Park on Prezi

This is an example of a Prezi I made on the Smoky Mountains National Park, where I spent my honeymoon and my favorite place to vacation. For this project, students will need to go to the Prezi website and click on the "sign up" button that's on the top right corner. When choosing which type of Prezi to use, the "Public" option will do just fine and better yet, IT'S FREE! After watching these tutorials: Step 1. Learn Prezi
Step 2. Learn MORE Prezi, students are free to create! Perhaps, this could be a blog assignment after the video on Digital Writing and students would be asked to explain how their students could make them to demonstrate how effective and easy it is to write digitally. They could also list the benefits.
Prezis are quite fun to make and by being able to group and frame ideas together, they are very easy to follow when presented.

C4K #10- Mrs. Yollis' Class Blog

I have been following Mrs. Yollis on Twitter and following new links she posts almost everyday. She is a very inspiring woman who really seems to tear down some brick walls. I gained a lot of knowledge about the benefits of blogging for students, parents, and teachers while visiting her blog. I love her motto, "Learning and Sharing Together." This sounds like a beautiful classroom any child would be lucky to be in. I have recently read some comments of bloggers on a particular post that stated their concerns with internet collaboration becoming more encouraged and frequent than face to face collaboration. One thing I love about Mrs. Yollis' projects is the fact that they often work in groups which allows for face to face interaction while doing so technologically.
I love the fact that she has involved the parents in the blog as well. Her idea of a blog being an open house all year long is dead on and a very creative and intriguing way to describe it. I believe parents will be more inclined to interact with their students for many reasons. For one, it is easy for them to glance at the blog while at work and see previous work done by their child, or possibly get a heads up on a project. Also, on Mrs. Yollis' blog, there is a link to Mrs. Yollis' website which has games, homework pages, help for homework, and various other fun links for parents and children to enjoy together.
I especially loved Mrs. Yollis' video on how blogging is learning. It was amazing how well these children could enunciate their words and performed on camera. It's clear another skill being taught is confidence in front of an audience. I also liked seeing how well these students worked together and supported each other.
I loved her tab created for teachers who are interested in finding out how to blog also. This wiki was filled with tons of different resources that would be incredibly useful to teachers wondering if they should embark along the blogging adventure. Skeptics are likely to have their interest spark and their mind opened when they see that Mrs. Yollis' blog has had 72,000 plus visitors from around the world in just a year and a half. The EDM 310 class isn't failing miserably with our numbers; however, compared to Mrs. Yollis' class-well, we don't compare. Her blog is so entertaining, informative, creative, and inviting!

C4K #2

As always, I enjoyed the blogs and projects done by children over the past month of October. They are always creative and give a bit of insight into how teachers from around the world are using technology in the classroom and what benefits their children reap from it. In October I commented on Dylan's (of course I chose him because he shares my son's name) wikispace. First, I had to research a wikispace to find out exactly what that is, but I loved the fact that 3rd graders knew how to create something that a 25 year old didn't even know existed. Dylan's wikispace was an animated picture of himself with a skateboard, a dog, a cat, and a beautiful landscape. I could really tell a lot about his interests from his wikispace and he seemed to really enjoy creating it! I told him I enjoyed his creation and that I hoped he continued his love for animals as well as technology. I also commented on the New Zealand flag poll. The argument was between keeping the old flag or changing to a new flag that is black with the New Zealand fern leaf on it and New Zealand in text below the leaf. I chose to switch flags, simply because I think the fern leaf is pretty and it is a more distinct design than the original flag which people often confuse with Australia's. I also commented on Mariana's avatar. She made her avatar look a little bit like her and gave her avatar similar interests as her. Her avatar had binoculars, maps, and a compass. She loves animals, the outdoors, and adventure. I told her how I also love the outdoors and would love to see some of the animals that New Zealand has roaming the country. Next, I commented on Nate's animation of the Australian outback. He did a great job adding animals, such as dingoes, kangaroos, and koala bears to depict what the Australian outback looks like. His animals would run and climb trees. It was very interesting to watch and well thought out! This week, I commented on Mr. McClung's class that is learning how to write professional letters. I told him how impressed I was that his children were learning the proper form at an early age. This is a skill that can be carried on for years, as well as an effective and creative way to involve the community and students. I look forward to seeing what these children will accomplish throughout the year. It excites me to add these students and the many more we have connected with to my PLN because hopefully we all know children can be some of our most valuable learning tools.

Blog Post #11

Little Kids, Big Potential
Ms. Cassidy focuses on what fantastic abilities children have if they are given the proper tools to enhance these abilities. She states an insightful claim in her title, "Little Kids, Big Potential." This may seem like just a catchy title; however, it is a fascinating way of conveying the message that when children are given: support, an audience, the possibility to create friendships and share ideas from other continents, new tools and the ability to learn on their own- amazing facets of learning can be possible. I really enjoyed hearing the way Ms. Cassidy became interested in technology. I found it very interesting that she has not always been a computer geek. I like the fact that she was given computers and took it upon herself to find an integral use for them in her classroom. After watching the video with her students, it was very apparent that the children really love the work being done with technology in the classroom. The children mentioned loving an audience. There are several benefits to children having a worldwide audience. Ms. Cassidy mentions in her Skype interview that there is a cluster on her class blog that shows students where the visitors of their blogs are from. I can only imagine how much it would excite a student in Alabama to get a comment from another student in Italy. The possibilities of personal and educational connections are limitless. Collaboration with students all over the world is a wonderful way to teach students to have an open mind and consider the many different ways traditions or everyday tasks are performed in different areas of the world. The children also commented that they felt their writing was improving each day. Ms. Cassidy contributes this partially to the fact that her first graders want to impress the viewers of their blog. She states in her Skype interview that her children become so excited when a post they wrote receives a large number of page reads. This is another way to get children excited to learn.
In Ms. Cassidy's Skype interview, she shared with the EDM 310 class her views on technology in the classroom and its extreme importance. She stresses the idea that technology will not go away. The world is forever changing and we will need every aspect of technology to change with it. So how then would teachers expect to stay stagnant? Then, would we not be teaching our youngsters the ways of the past? Sure, some information may stay the same but the ways in which we find it, use it, and apply it are rapidly changing. Furthermore, I believe it is ignorant of us as teachers to expect our children to come into a classroom eager to learn if we are unwilling to perform that task ourselves. What kind of example is that for our youth? It was very comforting to hear Ms. Cassidy speak on the use of her PLN. I must admit that I am a bit overwhelmed of what my first experience in the schools will be like in a few months. It put my mind at ease a little to know that with the use of Twitter, nings, plurk, or various other networking sites, I can build a solid PLN to ensure my intellectual journey will never cease.