Week 10 Homework

An Open Letter to Educators: Morgan Bayda

The Dan Brown video was good. It speaks truth. It is something that at one point or another we've all felt as students, how is this class beneficial to me. Dan Brown was just able to make a valid argument for it and had enough courage to post it on youtube. There have been classes where I felt that it was a waste of time but at the same time there have been classes that where very beneficial and that I learned a lot by going. I am a visual learner, If it's a lecture I need to be there. If were watching a movie, I need to watch it. If it's hand on, I need to have a hand in it. I agree with his argument and find that there are basis for his idea. Although technology seems to be making its debut, it still something that I personally need to have a hands on type of instruction for. I'm excited to be a part of the future of education and I am saying that I am not afraid of change and willing to embrace it as well.



Comments4Kids

My comment this week was for a student named Chelsea who had a great argument for school starting at 10:00. When I was a 6th grader I felt the same way. Chelsea thinks that school should start at 10:00 and still get out at the same time. I don't think it would make a difference if it did start a little earlier and let out later. I told her to be excited about going to college and then she can start at 10:00.

Week 9 Homework

ALEX

The Alabama Learning Exchange is a great site for educators. The website offers different options to choose from the course of study to different websites. I think that ALEX is very useful. It even has a link for Technology education. It offers personal workspace, professional learning, and it has a podcast treasury. This site is helpful especially for a first year teacher.

As a new educator I can find this site useful for me. It can help me with lots of subject. I appreciate the section it has on lesson plans. I know that I will definitely be using the site my first and maybe all my years teaching.



ACCESS

ACCESS is a great site as well, it offers additional education for a student. Their mission is to provide equitable, quality learning for all students. Their goal is to improve student achievement. The students are able to achieve all this from the comfort of their own home. This is very helpful to a student.

What I like best about this site is that it offers remediation for the high school graduation exam. This is a great feature since so many students have problem passing the entire test and just don't have enough time in a school day to study. It also has a tech support if there are any problems. This site is awesome for Alabama's high school students.



Comments4Kids

This week I viewed a movie in Mrs.Yollis' class called The Polygon Movie. The movie was so cute. Those kids were saying some real tongue twisting words. Smart group of kids is all I have to say. Mrs. Yollis has found a really fun way to make her students learn and I for one enjoy her method.

Week 8 Homework

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture: Achieving your childhood dreams

This lecture was inspiring and enthusiastic as well as hilarious . I really can't see how he was able to have the strength to present this lecture with such courage. I really loved how he got down and done a few push ups to confirm how well he felt. After listening to this lecture I googled, Randy Pausch and I found out that there is now a book of his last lecture.

Achieving your childhood dreams is a mouth full. Most childhood dreams consist of what seems to be the impossible. Randy Pausch's childhood dreams seems to be impossible. Hearing his dreams come true makes these impossible dreams a closer to becoming a reality. He seemed to be such a confident and smart guy. Achieving his childhood dreams had to have been an awesome experience in itself because his dreams where not small dreams. His dreams ranged from winning stuffed animals to being in zero gravity, wow. Yes, he actually achieved most of these goals. The ones he didn't he learned awesome life lessons from like he said he never made it to the NFL but football brought him where he is today. I think it's awesome that most of his dreams tied together like him writing an article for encyclopedia on virtual reality. His allegory on the brick wall was motivating in so many ways and just with those words. It makes you want to run through the wall.

I took from this lecture that his life has been full of adventure. Randy Pausch achieved a lot in his short life. He seemed to be an amazing guy and I'm sure anyone who knew him was fortunate. I know he had to have been a great educator and I like his methods of the master's degree. The plan they set up was very fair. Most people do learn better hands on than reading it from a book. To be able to help kids learn with fun. The program Alice is a great approach. He's right kids would much rather have fun than learn. Learning while they play, it's great in a manipulative sort of way.

Lessons learned is to have fun, never loose the child like wonder, help others, have loyalty, never give up, get feedback, don't bail, be prepared, be good at something and don't complain just work harder. This lecture is worth so much. It's sad, it's funny and most of all it's rewarding for anyone who watches it. The headfakes are awesome.






Comments4Kids

My Comments4Kids assignment this week was for a 7th grade girl named Yazmin from Arizona. She wrote a very insightful poem titled "The Child Who Witnessed Slavery". She done an excellent job tuning in to the feelings that the slave owner children must have had.