C4T #1

Brian Bennett
Brian Bennett is a biology and chemistry teacher in Evansville, IN. He blogs frequently about how to incorporate technology into teaching instructions, and also comments on education policy and pushes for open-internet policies in schools.

Comment on post #1
Brian's first post that I read was titled "Don't Miss Today". He talked about how teachers are planners; they plan everything, and sometimes too much planning can turn into just an "ideal", which is discouraging for teachers. Then, he stated that sometimes he gets caught up in the future of teaching rather than the needs of his students now. He said that we should always work for a better system, but to not look too far ahead and miss what it is that our students today need.

In my comment back to him, I stated that I was a student at South Alabama studying to be a math teacher, and that I am so excited to start teaching to show students that math can be fun. I want to incorporate technology and show my students that they really can enjoy math. I told him that I really liked his last sentence about never looking too far ahead of yourself to miss what your current students need. I thought that was well said, and I hope to always be present for what my students need right then and there.

Comment on post #2
Brian's post was titled "I Can't Teach Science". It was basically telling how that "teaching" the way science works only takes the magic away from students actually seeing how it works. He states that science is suppose to be observed and questioned; it is living. There should be debates, discussions, and troubleshooting taking place. He says, if not, then we are only teaching our students letters and numbers, and this is why our test scores are so low.

I commented on his post and said that I am studying to become a math teacher, and this post really interested me. I said that just like science, math also needs to be discussed and troubleshooted in order for students to really grasp it. If this was done more often, maybe our math scores would be higher.

Project #5 Google Presentation

Blog Assignment 2

Did You Know? 3.0 - A John Strange 2012 Version
Did You Know? 3.0 - A John Strange 2012 Version is based off of the original Did You Know? 3.0 video by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod. It is a total eye opener! The video is basically showing many statistics about how technology has changed over the years and where it is going in the future, along with other statistics about our country and students of today. Some of the statistics it gave were: there are more K-12 Honors students in India than the entire K-12 population of the United States, 93% of all 8-18 year old Untied States children had computers in 2010, and the top jobs ten years from now do not even exist yet and will use technologies that have not yet been invented.

This information is just mind-boggling! It's kind of scary to think about how much technology has advanced and how much more it is going to continue to advance in years to come. This video also put more pressure on me as a future educator. Like it said, we will be teaching and training our students for jobs and technologies that haven't even been invented yet. How do we do that? Our role is so important, and this video really puts it into perspective. I am ready for the challenge of getting our future students equipped for the unknown, and am hopeful that they will have a major impact on our upcoming society because we taught them well.

Mr. Winkle Wakes
Mr. Winke Wakes by Mathew Needleman is a short video describing how Mr. Winkle woke up after more than 100 years and found nothing to be the same as it was when he went to sleep that long time ago. He went into a business and saw many computers and printers and people talking to one another through the computers. He felt overwhelmed there, so then he managed to find himself at a hospital where he also felt like he didn't fit in. There were machines that were breathing for people and keeping them alive. All of this was nothing like he had ever seen before. He left there and continued walking until he came upon a school. This place looked very familiar to him, so he entered. He sat in a classroom and watched as the teacher lectured and the students listened and took notes attentively. This was exactly how he remembered schools being over 100 years ago.


Why are schools still so outdated compared to hospitals and offices, when schools should be one of the top places incorporating technology? Maybe it's the budget that schools are on. It is difficult for schools to find funding for even the most necessary things. Or, maybe it's the teachers and faculty that don't want to have to use so much technology because even they do not know how to use it efficiently. Whatever the case may be, there needs to be more technology being used in classrooms. Technology is a huge part of our everyday lives, and it's only going to become even more so. There is no way of really getting around it, so schools really need to get the students exposed to learning with the use of technology. A class to keep teachers informed on the lasted technologies and how to use them would be a good idea also. 


Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

Sir Ken Robinson talks about The Importance of Creativity and points out that schools are killing it. He says that children are born with creativity, but as they get older, the majority of kids tend to lose their creativeness because they are being raised to think that the arts won't get them anywhere in life. Math and science are at the top of the curriculum for schools around the world, while music, drama, and other types of art are at the very bottom. When schools have to start cutting classes and programs due to funding shortages, what is the first to go? Art classes of any shape and form always get cut first. Yes, math and science and other core classes are very important in education, and one can't really succeed in the work force without them, but creativity is also very important.

Students should not have to hide their creativeness in the classrooms, but rather incorporate it into their studies. Allowing students to be more creative could heighten some students' grades because not every person learns the same way. Where some people may find learning and studying better in quiet, peaceful areas, others may need a place that is more loud and open. Every student is different, so there should be different ways of learning and teachings allowed. Children shouldn't get punished or put down for being different because they are creative, rather they should get praised for being artsy and thinking originally and not being scared of making mistakes.

A Vision for 21st Century Learning

A Vision for 21st Century Learning describes how our world is today. We seem very busy and occupied all the time, always on the move. We use cell phones, computers, internet, so much technology every single day. That is what our lives are consumed with. Since technology is so prevalent in our everyday lives, why isn't it incorporated into schools more? Schools seem to be one of the very few places today that still lack technology, or a good use of it. However, classrooms should be one of the top places that technology is at. That is where our children are learning and being trained for the future.

Do I think that technology should completely replace everything that runs classrooms now? No, some things should still be left the same. Students still need to be able to make crafty projects that illustrate what they have been learning in class, and they should still learn much of a subject like math by a teacher that is in front of them teaching it because it is already such a difficult subject for so many. Technology is meant to make things better and easier for us, not harder. Children are already using technology everyday at their homes and anywhere else they may be, so why not add more technology usage in the classroom?

Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

In the Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts video, Vicki Davis, a school teacher in rural Georgia teaches her students to use technology in everything they do in her class. That class reminded me a lot of the class we are all taking right now, EDM310. Her students write blogs, tweet, make videos, and talk to other students from across the world. Ms. Davis seems to be very passionate about what she does, and really wants her students to succeed in their future careers.

Like I said earlier, technology is becoming so important in our education, and can even hinder us from doing as well in our classes if we are not technology literate because more and more classes are starting to depend on technology than ever before. As illustrated in the video, using blogs and other ways of teaching make it more fun and interactive for children. Some may even forget that they are actually learning because they are enjoying what they're doing so much.

Project #2 Wordle

Blog Assignment 1

A Little About Me
Hey everyone! I'm Ariel Robinson and I am 19 years old. I am a Secondary Education/Mathematics major here and I absolutely love it! I know it may sound weird that I love being a math major, but I really do. Math is so important, and I can't wait to start teaching and showing students that math can actually be fun.

I grew up right here in Mobile, and graduated from Satsuma High School in 2010. I did look at a few colleges, but I really always knew that South Alabama was the right school for me. Since I am from here, I was able to visit the campus a couple of times before coming here. Also, my mother and brother graduated from South and they love the school. My mom earned her nursing degree and my brother received an accounting degree. He is even considering coming back to South to get another degree.

I have a wonderful family that I wouldn't trade for anything. I am a daddy's girl, but my mom is my best friend. I share absolutely everything with her. I have one brother who is 23 years old, and like I said earlier, graduated from South in 2010 (the same year I graduated from high school). My grandmother is also a very important person in my life. She babysat me a lot when I was younger when my parents had to work. I hope to one day be half the woman that she is!

I have always wanted to be a teacher ever since I was a little girl. My cousins and I use to always play school when we were little, and I always insisted on being the teacher. As for the math part, I enjoyed math when I was in grade school and was always good at it. When I got into high school, one of my teachers really inspired me to major in it. I figured if I'm good in math and enjoy it, then why not be a math teacher? There is a need for good math teachers and I think I will be a good contribution. I want to help students learn how to have fun with the much dreaded subject, and learn to love it because it is so important! I hope that I can make a difference in at least one of my student's life just like some of my past teachers did in mine.

Now, for my interests. I am a pretty simple girly girl; I love all of the girl things: shoes, clothes, purses, etc. I do not like to play sports; however, I do enjoy watching them. Roll Tide! I am a Southbound Orientation Leader for the University and I love it!! It is the best job to have and still be able to go to school. It is a great opportunity to meet many new friends and to also meet new students coming to South. I am an active member of my church's college group, and also work with the pre-school group there as well.

Randy Pausch on Time Management video
I have watched a video on Randy Pausch before and I really enjoy him! This is a great video for this class because I already know that if you don't manage your time well, this is going to be a difficult course. I am, and have always been, a perfectionist. I love organization; I find it very hard to concentrate if things are a mess and not in order. I have a planner and write absolutely everything in it, from school things to personal notes. I also like to make lists for everything because if I don't, I will more than likely forget about whatever it was I was trying to remember. Pausch talked about how everyone needs to have a plan because it is not a problem to change it (this will happen); it is a problem when you don't have a plan because you have no basis to go off of.

Practice Post

My first post.