Mary Lou's Blog

Course Reflections

2006-12-13T19:16:00.000-08:00

This class has introduced me to technology I would not have learned about in the school setting. Although I have read about many of these tools, I have not had the opportunity to see or use them. The Power Point projects my classmates have created were lessons for me about how to use these tools. They were professional development courses. I hope I will have the opportunity to use some of these in my school in the future. The greatest lesson I have learned in this class is to think beyond what I already know. I find that I am now expanding my lessons and thinking about what else I can provide for the students. Taking graduate classes, especially after all my years out of graduate school, is very important to me. It has opened my mind to higher learning, and helped me look at the students differently. We older teachers do get stuck in our ways of thinking. Professional development and college classes are a wonderful way to allow us to find alternate modes of educating today’s children.

Student Blogs

2006-11-09T05:35:00.000-08:00

I have been reading the blogs of the students in our class throughout the semester. I have done so to see what they have written, and to make sure I have not missed doing an assignment. This has also helped me understand how to write a blog, since this is my first experience with blogging. I have found that my fellow students have done a great job on their weblog pages. Susan’s blog is well-written and very neat. I completely agree with her opinions about today’s students in her review of A Digital Native. Students today are on such a fast pace it’s hard for them to enjoy the simple pleasures I enjoyed before the “ease” of technology.
Beverly’s blog is very concise and professional. I enjoyed reading all her articles. I also enjoyed Beverly’s web page. I have made short cuts and used these links numerous times. Thank you Beverly for the wonderful resources.
Brandon’s and Marianita’s blogs are well set-up. The writing is excellent, and both give a good synopsis of the articles they read. They have strong opinions and their responses are well thought out. Marianita incorporates her teaching into her writing, so the reader can get a picture of what she is doing in her class and how these articles pertain to her situation. Brandon gets his point across effortlessly. I enjoy reading his blogs because he writes with such ease it feels like you’re having a conversation with him. I truly enjoyed reading all the blogs and finding so many new resources.

Mary Lou's Blog

2006-10-08T18:24:00.000-07:00

Mary Lou's Blog

Digital Storytelling: Be the Next Ken Burns!
Sharon Betts Multimedia, July, 2006

http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/reports/Multimedia_Instructional/index.cfm

This article focused on how teachers can use digital storytelling for all subjects. Betts states that digital storytelling merges text, images, movies, music and sound together to tell a story digitally. This type of learning provides students with a better understanding of what is being taught, because they are able to visualize the concept through digital media. Additionally, students can create their own digital stories for most assignments. Most students are very adept with technology and, with instruction from the teacher, they will catch on to this skill quickly. The article provided some web sites to use for further investigation of digital storytelling. I will review these to see which ones I can use for my middle school classes.

Mary Lou's Blog

2006-10-03T19:22:00.000-07:00

Mary Lou's Blog

Portrait of a Digital Native

http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=170701917

Today’s students have grown up with an incredible amount of technology. They have had so much video and audio stimulation in their lives that they become bored without it. I have experienced my own children at the computer writing papers while on My Space, and instant messaging at the same time. When I have commented about them getting their work done, they tell me they are doing it. While I find this difficult, I understand that they have developed the ability to work this way. Whereas, I still need to write things out in a quiet room, deep in concentration.
I do see students with the ability to multi-task, but I still believe students need to focus on solving problems without so much outside stimulation. Teachers need to provide some quiet time for deeper calmer concentration to occur. Classrooms should have a mixture of all kinds of learning in order to reach every student. Our job is to prepare students for the future, in the work environment and daily life, where they will have to use all their acquired skills. They should be able to work either way, using a single focus or multi-tasking.

Blogging in Education

2006-09-21T19:24:00.000-07:00

Blogging is a great educational tool. It allows students and teachers to communicate about numerous ideas relating to the classroom setting. Teachers can assign work, collect assignments, and post important dates on the blog. Students can post ideas about their assignments and respond to the ideas of other students and the teacher. Additionally, people outside of the class can respond to these ideas too. This allows students to read other ideas and break away from their own line of thought. Blogging allows the shy student to voice his/her opinion without feeling like they are in the spotlight, and it also will provide time for all students who want to be heard to speak out. There are so many positive aspects to blogging. I hope I can encourage students to utilize this tool properly in order to enliven their assignments.