Sunday, August 19, 2007

Future Classroom

As I sit and reflect on this whole entire class as a whole, as well as any previous knowledge I come to some conclusions on how I would like to see my future classroom. First of all, I think that education is something that needs to be used as a tool and as another option and not as the only source. In this way, it is similar to using a pen and paper, it is another option or tool where there is a time and a place to use it. After my experience with Kathy Cassidy and her class, I would love to give my children the opportunity to start blogging at a young age. Why not? If they can read and write then they should have this chance. I also believe that I would love to use every chance I get to spice up my classroom by using a power point or another form of multimedia presentation, just as another way of conveying the subject. If I end up in a school alike my old school with only one computer per classroom I think the center idea would work great. After writing my own research essay for the class, I also got another brain wave. If students were allowed to send the essay electronically, they could most definitely set up a link after each quote within the essay. This way as the teacher, you can just click on that and there is the site. Proper forms of citation are still necessary to learn however. Overall, I think by using the technology provided and coming up with inventive ways to use it, classrooms can be extremely fun and enjoyable for students. However, as a teacher we have to be aware that there is a limit to how much technology should be used per lesson! I can't wait to get out there and see what I can do with technology!

Friday, August 17, 2007

My Digital Ownership.

Where in the large spectrum do I fit into digital citizenship?
I think in order to come to a clear answer on this subject, one has to look at their past with technology and how much it was a apart of their past. My family did not get a computer until 1999, and I remember clearly the worries of the Y2K and how it was going to totally crash this new computer. Me and my brother were totally excited to wake up Christmas morning to a computer, we played some hunting game non stop for a while -eventually it DID get boring! Before the days of a computer, my house ran just fine. My parents encouraged us to spend as much time outside as we possibly could. We never really had ANY technology when I think about it now. We did have a Sega system, but we rarely played it, we just were not interested. From 1999 until I believe 2001 we never even had the internet, when we did get the internet it was dial up until 2003. Before that I had really only experienced a bit of "the world wide web." However, from 2003 on I believe I really have become a "citizen." I love to surf the net and look up information that really has no relevance to anything. I am also an addict to keeping in touch with friends and family. My MSN messenger usually is always on, even though 3/4 of the time I am not physically at my computer - but what if someone wants to leave a quick message...right? I have also in my past years had a Hi-5 account, when that went out of style I got a myspace account and currently I am all up in the hype of Facebook, just like everyone else. I really really enjoy keeping touch with people who have moved away from me. I feel that with a site like facebook, where people can post pictures or tid bits of information is amazing. One of my fellow classmates who left in grade 6 just found my class on the site. How amazing is that. Or how amazing is it to find out that someone who was expecting a baby had it. I am all about websites like this, even though i am fully aware how careful you really have to be. I also really enjoy websites like these because you can post pictures, so people who have moved away can get an idea of what you look like. In one high school class my class started to talk about loosing touch after high school, because everyone older says that eventually the people you graduated with you will not see again. Do you think this is true in this day and age? I am sure after the facebook phase goes out, something else will come up where once again we can reconnect with long lost people. I think that in "this day and age" it is so much easier to keep in touch and there are so many options out there for a person.
As for other technology I didn't get a cell phone until I moved away from home in November of 2005. Now i would probably admit that I am pretty addicted to it as well. Once again my excuse for this is. - I like to know whats going on! I don't own an Mp3 player or an Ipod but I do own a satellite radio and am in love with it.

Overall, I think I would call myself well in touch with the digital world. I love to fiddle around with technology and get them to work in the way that I want them to work. Technology is out there, its time we all embraced it - look at the power it gives us!

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Too Early?

It is time to address a question that has been lingering in my mind for about four or five months.
What is an appropriate age to get children on the computer?

What targeted this question was when I worked at a Day Care this past semester. I was with the toddlers (the youngest group at day care, between one and two and a half) and as a reward they got "computer time" if they were good. Some of these children were not even talking clearly and to put them on a computer seemed a little bizarre to me, but I went along with it. So the teacher had groups of three toddlers on the computer at a time. In my mind it was disastrous, and I really doubt that they got any benefit from it. Just as the program which was I believe Arthur learns to _____ (I can't remember what exactly) one of the children would press a button and shut off the computer. Then when it got started again something else would happen. I personally think there was other worth while activities that children this age need to master before a computer is a good thing. Learning to count, learning to talk properly, learning to make decisions, learning fine motor skills and learning gross motor skills are all assets when using the computer.
I think children should be able to enjoy the small things in life free from the computer until they are old enough to grasp the idea OF the computer and understand what it is used for. Thats my rant for the day, I would really love to hear everyone's personal ideas about a good age to introduce computers. And yes, I know that some children are ready before others, but using age was the easiest word without confusion!!

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Bullying

Right now at Wal-Mart we are doing a campaign to stop bullying. I started to read an article that we had posted in our coffee room about "bullying." So I came home and found in on the internet. The article is from the Leaderpost and is called Family recalls bullying problem. It was posted in the August 9th edition. Bullying can take on many forms and happens everywhere. I am very glad that someone like the Red Cross, who usually does stuff for disaster relief or does swimming lessons is raising awareness about bullying. The monies raised for bullying will be put into workshops at schools, at workplaces and other places where bullying exists.
Being a couple years out of school, I think about my own personal school experience. I was extremely fortunate that my classmates were all very close friends and we all got along, so bullying within my class was never a problem. Bullying in my school was less I believe then from other towns that I live by. In a town just up the road from my hometown of Preeceville, I know that bullying was a problem. In Canora, two suicides were perhaps linked to bullying. This article, from January 2005 is about the Canora situation. Bullying is a very serious thing that happens in our schools and can be verbal, physical and sometimes even worse non-verbal. As said in the Leaderpost article bullying has a life time effect. The older gentleman in the article is still affected by bullying that perhaps happened thirty years ago.
The question I have is how do we stop and solve bullying if the bullying happens non-verbally or even through hate emails. I think this answer is both extremely difficult to answer, but yet very easy. We have to raise the awareness in our classrooms early and make students feel very comfortable coming to you to talk about bullying. Bullying is everyones problem and has an effect on everything a student does. Like the little girl in the article, her grades dropped and she became quiet and reserved which was very different for her.

Overall, I am very glad a well known organization like the Red Cross is helping to raise awareness for bullying. So donate a simple dollar next time you are at Wal-Mart and slowly but surely maybe we can all make lead way on this issue in so many schools.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Digital Story

Here is my digital story. I had some trouble with getting some old pictures from discs, but once i did, this program was a breeze! It would work really well for making slide shows for weddings or events like that. Also, this could be really helpful in the classroom for open houses. It would be really neat for parents to walk into a classroom where a slide show of all the events their children have partaken in where on a screen. Children would love to share that with their parents and friends.

My video is on friendship. As my friends know I am very camera happy and take a million pictures. I thought this was a perfect way to be able to show my friends how much they mean to me. Another friend along with myself sat down and wrote the sayings that are within the show. Every picture has some meaning to do, which is why it is there. I also used Vimeo, a website that I have used in the past for posting silly videos with my friends. It works really well and is so easy to understand.

Enjoy!


Friendship from crystal and Vimeo.

Imax

So this weekend I had some company who I have not seen in about a year so that was very exciting. One thing we did while they were here was go to the Imax theatre. We watched a wonderful documentary called "The Alps." It told the story of a young mans dream to climb a certain mountain in memory of his father who was killed climbing the mountain. The filming really was extraordinary and breathtaking. During the forty five minute film I got thinking about my high school experiences with documentary's. I thought to myself that if I was watching this in my social studies or science class i would for sure be dozing off by the first ten minutes. However, the large screen and all the noise had me captivated, I was hooked into the story line. How great is it to be able to offer something like the Imax to a classroom? As a teacher to have this at your disposal is just amazing. As a rural kid we made two trips to Regina on school trips to go to the Imax and the Science Center. Of course our trips to these places were more extravagant then those of the kids already in Regina. We would get up at six board the bus at seven, then travel the three hours. Once in Regina, we'd eat and even shop. All of these trips were very informative and I even still remember them. I think by using places like the Imax is a wonderful way to switch the way you are teaching and offer another source. The science center and the Imax have deals for classroom's, exciting ways to get children to think as well as every age loves it. As one can clearly see, I am all about the Saskatchewan Science center and Imax, check out the website!

Whats your thoughts on class trips?
Besides the fact that they require A LOT of planning to make sure everything runs smoothly, I believe they are very beneficial!

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Educational Poetry

Hey, just came across this poem, one of my teachers actually had it posted behind her desk. It is very interesting and sure makes you think about every action that you do while in the classroom.

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.
I was reading a Blog from the Cool Cat Blog the other day and found a quote that is interesting. The quote stated, "The one frustrating thing about teaching is that sometimes you feel like you're putting your hand in a bucket of water... when you take your hand out, you don't see the mark." How true is that, I have had many chances to work with children and sometimes wonder if they are actually LEARNING what I am offering. The truth about this blog is that you can not give up, but keep on trying your hardest to find ways to teach in the best possible way that you can. From a students point of view, I loved when teachers would come up with creative ways to teach interesting ways to remember little tidbits of information is the best way, and I still find myself referring back to those.

Some day's no matter what you are doing, whether in general life or in a teaching career you have to realize that you are making a "mark" even when your hand comes out of the water and you do not see one. It is important to not give up on these days, but think of ways that maybe next time you can make your attempt more successful.

Friday, August 03, 2007

"Blogging Buddies"

Today while at work, a little boy recognized me and was very excited to see his "blogging buddy." During one of my classes last semester (Elng to be exact) we were each paired with a young blogger from Moose Jaw. Over the course of the semester we frequently checked in to our buddies blogs and commented positive feedback as well as questions. Finally at the end of the semester our whole class made the trek to Moose Jaw for a morning with these students. In the beggining I felt this was maybe not the best idea, but as I got to know my student i felt that it was very positive. We were able to first hand see the progression and improvement of a student. I started to enjoy this so much that even after the University year had ended i still continued to leave a message now and again for my buddy. Kathy Cassidy, the teacher of the particular class also had her students doing some amazing things. They were making videos, clips, editing things as well as making wiki's. A lot of the time we were totally amazed at what each child could do! Kathy proves that kids can pretty much do anything if they are taught and are allowed a chance to "fool" around on the computer teaching themselves certain things. I think that way to often in our classrooms we limit what the child can do on the computer simply because they are "expensive." Overall, I was very glad also to see my little blogging buddy and was pleased with the experience of having a blogging buddy.

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Whew!

Holy, what a crazy summer! From countless car troubles to a break in at my apartment to working every waking second it seems sure is busy! But here I am. After the big break in at my apartment, I realize how much one depends on a computer and takes for granted all the "stuff" stored in the hard drive. I think its super important that you have back up discs just in case something does happen! It really takes no time at all to make back up discs, with the OODLES of pictures you have taken with a digital camera or even all the "useless" information from past classes that you just might need again some day. My best advice for the day is..DO IT!