The Edible Schoolyard/A Night in the Global Village

How inspiring! "The Edible Schoolyard" was so very inspiring. This podcast takes place at Martin Luther Kind Junior Middle School.It was about how kids are working in the garden and the kitchen as part of their education. The garden part is partly used for social studies. A few of the things mentioned were about photosynthesis, composite, condensation, etc. Also, there is a "kitchen classroom" where they cook and learn different concepts about the kitchen that kids back in the day learned at home. It also talked about how kids are learning about where their food comes from, working in a community, etc. Also, the kids do not feel like it is school, so its a better environment for learning. The kids also get to taste all different kinds of foods from the ground, etc.

Unfortunately, "A Night in the Global Village" would not work. I tried it several times, but every time it would get to "28 seconds" it would go back to zero. I tried to fast forward ahead, but that would not work either.

I think the big thing that these podcasts can do for me, as a teacher, is just broaden my view of education. It can give me good, creative ideas that I have not thought of to educate my students and get them excited about learning. I feel the traditional way of schooling is just plain boring. With entertainment at the root of our existence, nowadays, education has to be modified to fit this age of technology and entertainment around every corner.

It can also give my students a way to kind of have a say in their education. They can watch different edutopia podcasts and can tell me which ones they would like to experience. I also believe that these podcasts can be shown to inspire my students.

iTunes University

iTunes University, or iTunes U, is a remarkable idea. Things can be looked up by category or by specific universities. It is completely free. College students always love hearing that.

As a student, I believe that iTunes University would dramatically increase my interest in lecture classes. I love my hands on/active classes this semester, but during my Freshman and Sophomore year, I hated sitting in class for hours and hours. It is education on-the-go. If I took notes, but did not understand what I meant from what I wrote, I could just go back and listen to the lecture again. Also, I could listen to lectures over and over and rewind to parts that were more difficult to understand and fast forward through the things I already got.

As a teacher, I would probably spend less time repeating myself if my students used iTunes U. Because we all know that teachers get asked the same questions over and over because there is always someone that is not paying attention. Also, as one article said, teachers would have more time for their students, like interacting with them, and not just lecturing them and spitting information at them.

Click here and here for links to the information I found.

Using Ipods in Teaching

I read two articles for this blog post.They are "Ipods in The Classroom" on the CampusGrotto.com and "Duke Sees Growth in Classroom Ipod Use" on news.duke.edu. I must be out of the loop because I have not really heard about the use of Ipods in the classroom, although I think it is a brilliant idea. The two articles I read talked about how Duke University has adopted this use of Ipods.

The main problem with using Ipods in the classroom is that some people abuse the privilege and do not use them correctly. Some people are using them for their intended purpose of entertainment and making it rough for everybody else who is trying to use them to learn. Other than that, everything is else is good. It makes studying easier and more convenient because the Ipod can be taken anywhere, essentially. Class lectures can be uploaded, as well. It's pretty much on-the-go education. With life being so hectic and crazy, this idea seems perfect. I wish South Alabama used this teaching method.

Dr. Christie

Under Dr. Christie's Educational Technology Guide, the first thing that caught my attention was the instant messaging part. There are articles about instant messaging, lists of instant messaging "vocab," etc. As a teacher, I need to be up to date on the latest "fads" with the age groups that I am teaching. I need to know how my students tick and what interests them. Although I am still young enough to know the "fads" with kids in school and the "vocab," I will not always be and I can refer to her website to keep me updated.

She also has a page for instant messaging and text messaging that describes what they are. Also, she goes into some detail about the pitfalls and potentials of them. Children are only going to be more technologically savvy as the years go by. The information she gave got me thinking about how I can use this progression of technology knowledge as a way to reiterate life lessons in safety in driving(on phone, texting,etc.), not interacting with strangers(online), etc.

Under her Educational Technology Guide, she has a whole portion for rubrics. She has sample rubrics that I could use, depending on the projects that I want to do. She also explains why rubrics are important. I see that rubrics are important because it gives students a way to kind of grade themselves before turning in assignments. I think that is a really good idea and something I would like to use when I teach. I always hated when I was not really sure what my teacher wanted from me for assignments.

The other thing that caught my eye under her Educational Technology Guide is different roles a teacher can take in the classroom. The different roles a teacher can take are a facilitator, collaborator, curriculum developer, team member, community builder, educational leader, and an information producer. She had some samples of how other teachers have succeeded at these different roles. This can help me by letting me see which roles are best for me in my class or school.

Wikipedia: Is it reliable?

It is kind of intersting that this is our blog post for the week because this is also my group's podcast topic. I did not know about companies, etc. changing information on their wikipedia pages to make them sound better. I guess I never really thought about that. I did not think that people would care that much about what Wikipedia said about them, their companies, etc.

I personally believe that Wikipedia can and cannot be trusted, to a degree. I believe that Wikipedia is alright for a general overview of a certain subject, but not good for details. If you look up "Boston Tea Party," it is good for getting the idea that it was a protest by Americans against the British Government, but the little details might not be correct. It is a good idea to check the sources that are posted and research how trustworthy they are. Also, it is a good idea to look up the same information other places and compare.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

Randy Pausch was something else. He is very laid-back. His lecture was very informal. You can tell that he loved life by his lecture. Pausch went ahead and put everything on the table at the beginning of the lecture. He was open about his cancer and even made a few jokes about it. He did not want there to be an "elephant" in the room.

Most people summarize at the beginning of a lecture and let you know what they are going to talk about. Pausch explained what he was not going to talk about. It made his lecture unique. Throughout the whole lecture, Pausch included humor as a big part of his lecture and that made it easy to pay attention to. He also had powerpoints that had alot of pictures or short phrases. They were simple and not loaded with so much information that I was struggling to read it in time or overwhelmed by all the information.

Another thing that made his lecture really good was that he talked about his own personal experiences. He shared life lessons that he has learned. An example of a life lesson that he learned was, "When you are screwing up and nobody is saying anything to you anymore, that means they gave up" on you. He was just explaining that those that love you continue to try and make you better.

Pausch gave credit where credit was due. He commemmorated the people in his life that he felt deserved it. He did not have a problem with saying he did not know something. He gave good advice. He had good morals and believed in honesty, humility, forgiveness, and thankfulness. He was a good motivator. Throughout the lecture, he talked about overcoming "brick walls." At the end of his lecture, on the very last slide, he told everybody that the lecture was not for anybody else, but his kids. That really touched me and ended his "last lecture" perfectly.

Once Again, The Fischbowl...

I read posts from August of 2006 on the Fischbowl blog. I believe that the video that we watched the first few weeks of school actually began as a powerpoint presentation for teachers at Arapahoe High School. The powerpoint was just updated to a video.

Karl Fisch, creator of the fischbowl blog, was asked to speak at a faculy meeting. He keeps the teachers and the school updated on technology upgrades. He did not want to just have another faculty meeting. He wanted to do something different to inform them about things, so he created a powerpoint. I watched the powerpoint and it had some information that was not in the video that we had to watch. Overall, it was pretty much the same message, though.

He uses his blog to spread his ideas and opinions, and information, in general. He has his powerpoint presentation posted to his blog for easy access. He has posted his updated video to this 2006 blog post also, even though the video was made in 2007.

After the presentation was shown initially, he answered questions/concerns regarding the powerpoint presentation on his blog. He also expounds upon things, clarifies, and explains why he made changes to some things. He tells some of his sources of information.

I like his blog. I think it is well done. I like how he writes like he is talking and it is laidback and comfortable. It is also well organized.