Sunday, January 27, 2013

Blog Post #2

Did You Know? 3.0 - A John Strange 2012 Version

I was shocked by how many people use technology today. I knew it was getting more and more popular, but not as popular as it really is. YouTube has changed quite a bit since it first came out. There are so many advertisements before and after each video. It's so helpful though because you can find practically anything you need on there. I'm glad teachers are incorporating these technologies into their classes.
The first statistic in the video completely blew my mind. 25% of the population of India with the highest IQ's outnumber the whole US's population. That is amazing. First of all, when did India get to be so smart? Secondly, since when does India have that many people? 48 hours of YouTube videos being uploaded every minute is pretty amazing, too. I do wonder how people actually figure these things out, but still, that's two whole days of watching videos. With the top ten jobs not even being invented yet, it makes me wonder what those jobs will be. I hope to still be around when they are invented.

Mr. Winkle Wakes

I found this video quite entertaining. I understand now how much times have changed, even in the past 5 years. I bet George Washington is enjoying watching us live our lives. I bet things would have turned out differently had they had the kind of technology we have today. I don't know what kind of things they had 100 years ago, but I know today is a huge step up from back then. I imagine if I have been asleep for 100 years and woke up, I would probably want to go back to sleep. There's no way I would understand how anything worked. I'm thankful to be a part of these changing times because it's a lot easier for me to adapt to them than someone who isn't familiar with them.
Technology today is helping save lives as well as speeding things up for everyone. We live in a much faster pace than people did 100 years ago. I think that has actually shortened our average lifespan because everyone stays so stressed out. It't not healthy. X Rays have been so influential in the health world. People 100 years ago could have saved so many people if they had been able to use that machine. School has even changed in the past 5 years. Everything is becoming more online and interactive. It's teaching students to be responsible and helping them learn.

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

Ken Robinson's story of the little girl drawing a picture of God was great. I love that. Sir Robinson is quite funny. I had a hard time following him sometimes. He made some good points about the school systems educating the creativity out of kids. The joke about the kids being wisemen and saying, "Frank sent us," instead of frankincense, was probably the best joke I have ever heard.
Sir Robinson says that teachers educate from the waist up and focus more on their heads. I'm not sure what that meant. He said that all our lives people try to tell us that we shouldn't do what we enjoy doing or like doing because we'll never get a job. For me, that's exactly what happened. I haven't always been on the 'teacher track.' My dad always told me I would never get a job as a teacher and that I might as well give up before I got too deep into school. I finally came to my senses and decided I'm going to do what I'm good at and what I love doing. I still think degrees are worth something; it shows that we accomplished something.

Future Schools and Change

I think schools will be a lot different than they are now. There will be more technology and interaction with teachers all over the world. I won't be surprised if kids could even stay at home and go to school. Hopefully the lunches will be better all over the country. If technology can change in schools, then I think so can the food. All students deserve at least one good meal a day.
I think tests and quizzes will be different, too. I don't think they will be more difficult, but I think teachers will expect a lot more from students. Kids these have gotten lazier and don't think they should have to do as much school work. You have to earn your degree. It shouldn't just be given to them. I love the idea of all classes not being burp back. That is one of the best teaching methods. Thank you Dr. Strange for doing that for students.

Pinterest

I would use all of those ideas in my classroom. Actually, I already do. I love the idea of it being a social networking site. It's a great way to get ideas from other teachers and find out what does and doesn't work. I'm very big on organization and it's a great way to stay organized. I hate clutter and Pinterest keeps it from getting that way.


Vicki Davis: Teaching Ideas and Apps:

I loved this board. It keeps things kid friendly and in today's times. It's not boring and provides useful tips on how to keep your classroom 'hip.' The pin that says "I teach. What's your superpower?" is my favorite. I have such admiration for teachers because it is such a difficult and time consuming job. I like the pin that was about ways to meet your classmates. Everyone should use those tips as an icebreaker for students. Even adults could use it every now and then.

Rachel Friedrich: Technology:

Who doesn't love the Reading Rainbow song? This board is great. It even has a Wheel of Fortune interactive game for students to play with. I love music and silly songs and this is just the board for that. It's also guy Bill Nye- The Science Guy. He's a legend.

Pinterest could be useful to me because it will help me keep my thoughts organized. When I find a new teaching trick or a cool new video to watch, I can pin it to my board and revisit it whenever I want. Students can do the same thing with projects and things. I'm not sure I would use it in my classroom because I'm not a big fan of technology. Unbelievable, I know. I like paper and pens. Students can use it outside of class just like they can use Twitter and Facebook, but I'm sticking to notebooks and pencils, markers and chalk, that sort of thing.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Blog Assignment #1

About Me
My name is Emily Barnes. I am 21 years old. I was born in Gulfport, MS but I have lived in Fayette, AL pretty much my whole life. I have one sister that is 13 and in the 8th grade. She is a majorette for the middle school. I have moved all over Fayette County and lived in Biloxi for 6 months while my mom was married to my sister's dad. I graduated number 9 in my high school in 2010 and was in Phi Theta Kappa while I was at Bevill. I transferred from Bevill and ended up here.

My cousin, Jill, went to South last year and I had recently gone through a really bad break up and wanted to be as far from Fayette as I could. She told me I should come visit and see if I liked the college. My mom and grandparents weren't thrilled with how far from home it was but I knew I needed to get away. I told them that I would pray about it and if I was supposed to be at South then I would know as soon as I walked on campus. Sure enough, I got here for USA Day during the spring last year and absolutely fell in love. I knew this was home. I called my mom right away and told her this is where I needed to be. I got all the paperwork filled out and everything was set. I attended Orientation and I moved on campus in August.

I am in Kappa Delta Sorority and Silver Wings. I also help out with JagTV. I love horses. I have been riding since I was 6 years old and I started horse showing when I was 7. If I could, that's all I would do all day everyday. It's my life. I have a horse named Clue. I got him right after I turned 15. It was the best birthday present ever. I taught him how to jump and get lead changes. He taught me to have patience; LOTS of patience. He is probably the best thing that has ever happened to me. I like to swim and go camping, too. I love playing sports. I play tennis and softball. I played on a flag football team at Bevill. I like to read and watch movies, too. I have to admit it though, I am a nerd. I like to play video games. Black Ops is my favorite. I can play the trumpet and piano, but that's not my favorite thing to do. I like to stay active and be outside.

When I was little, I played teacher. I started out just lining my dolls up and talking to them. As I got older, I sat pencils out in front of them and pretended like they were taking notes and tests. When I was in 4th grade, my teacher gave me her teacher edition books of our old textbooks. That pretty much made my year. I got a podium and a marker board for Christmas. Instead of going to the mall to get toys and cool stuff, I went to the teacher store and bought teaching supplies. I have always wanted to be a teacher. It's something I think I will be really good at doing. I love being with kids and being a teacher just makes sense. I want to be that teacher that makes a difference in a kids life. Not a big difference, but just someone they remember and actually teach them something.

Imaginary Classroom
I am a visual and do it yourself learner. I will have games for the kids to play to learn their math or reading skills. They will be able to comprehend simple math and reading words. I'll probably start each day with a question or something pertaining to the day's teaching. Just to get their minds focused and ready to learn. I'll have the basic spelling and vocabulary tests at the end of the week, along with a few bonus words. I am a big fan of flash cards, so I'll use them throughout the week to help teach.

I'll be teaching somewhere around 1st - 3rd graders. They learn by repetition. They like to do activities throughout the day to learn, too. They learn by coloring and cutting and pasting. I'll show them videos and then get them to do the same as the video. I'll have rewards for the ones that show they know and understand what I'm teaching.

The tools I will use are flashcards, videos, powerpoints, songs, books, and games. The students will get in groups or have partners and have a certain task they must complete. I'll give homework, too. I'll let them write it on the board and help the rest of the class understand it.

My classroom will be colorful. It will keep kids interested in learning. I will have some kind of calendar that the kids can use to help learn the days of the week, months, and countdown to summer. I will have cute name tags on the desks or tables. I will have disciplinary incentives for the kids. If they get so many gold stars by their name then they get a prize out of the treasure chest at the end of the month. I will have a line leader and a caboose for when we go outside of the classroom. And I will definitely have class outside every now and then.

Randy Pausch and Time Management
In Dr Pausch's video, "Time Management," I learned that I'm not the only one that procrastinates. I learned that others have that problem, too. I also learned that I was not the only child to ask my mother, "Why?" after she told me to do something. Now I realize that it's actually ok to ask why and what happens if I chose just not to do it. I learned that it's better to do the right things adequately than do the wrong things beautifully.

Dr Pausch said, "Good judgement comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgement." That couldn't be more true. I've learned that we are probably going to make some bad decisions but it'll only help us out in the future. We'll make better choices based on our experience. After all, "You can't fake experience." I learned that not planning at all is planning to fail. I have a problem with not planning everything for the week. I think if I did actually have a plan, then I wouldn't forget everything I have to do all the time.

Dr. Randy Pausch died when he was 47 years old of metastasized pancreatic cancer. He was a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon. His last lecture was more for his family as a video memory for them. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.