Anne Davis Rocks

Wow. Talk about blown away! My students have been emailing me with excitement each time Anne Davis or anyone for that matter leaves them a comment. One of my students took joy in letting each one know they are not "special" in that Anne comments on everyone's blog. Well, just a few minutes ago I found out just how special my class is to have someone like Anne reading their first attempts at blogging.

Check out what she wrote- I hope Anne will forgive me for reposting her blog here, but in my opinion it warrants repeating.

You’ve come a long way baby!  -- Written by Anne Davis

April 26th, 2007 11:46 am

The bouncing baby bloggers entered the blogosphere with this delightful announcement this past February. To say that have come a long way is an understatement. Remember all you seasoned edubloggers out there, as Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach said in reply to comments on the announcement “it takes a whole blogosphere to raise a digital child.” Sheryl is their instructor for their class. Here’s the course wiki. So if you haven’t commented to any of them consider doing just that before they close the class in May. Give them the benefit of your experiences and wish them well. I’d like to whet your appetite for some of their interesting thoughts on their learning. Of course you’ll need to travel to their blogs to read some of the conclusions - a great way to spend a few minutes of your day! Enjoy!

Chris of c.michaels says Own It!

All semester our professors have been continuously talking about the idea of ownership and how students need to own their learning in order for them to better understand the material. My first impression of this idea, was that is completely ridiculous. It simply didn’t make any sense. As I heard more and more though, it made more sense and it seemed like it might actually be effective in the classroom. Now after being in the classroom for a few months and looking specifically for examples, I’ve seen it and that it does indeed work.

Kimberly of EDUC 330 (incorrectly                              

) labeled herself as Computer Unable in a beginning post had this to say in Learning through practice.

Working in pairs on Monday the class split up to complete a public service announcement about forest fires by using video clips, audio clips, and photos. The iMovie program proved to be simple to use with the guide, and we cut, edited, added transitions, and completed a video in one class period. I was amazed at how simple it was to create the video. I would definitely consider using this technology in an elementary classroom.

Rachel of EDUC 330 proclaims “I Have Seen the Light!!!”

Praise the Lord - I understand! To be completely honest, all throughout my learning of how to incorporate technology into the everyday classroom, I’ve had doubts. I had a hard time wrapping my mind around the concept of fluidly using technology in elementary lessons without it being a huge distraction (or in my case, complication). Yes, I heard mentors talk about blogging, wikis, projects, etc. but growing up without technology in the classroom and not seeing it used, it was a stretch of the imagination for me.

Priyanka of Teachers’ Words of Wisdom expresses horror and follows up with good counter points on What, No Recess?!?!

I was horrified to read that 40 percent of American schools have or would be eliminating recess! I couldn’t believe it! In Changing The Recess Paradigm?, it talks about how quite a few schools want to cut down on recess in order to increase more academic instruction.

Megan of Megan McInnes on her post Observing Technology in the Classroom shares some real benefits in technology as a tool for learning.

What was the neatest thing for me to see was there was a student in the class that had a few disabilities. I thought it was so neat how well his project was done. Using this technology of making a video really seemed to suit his learning style and the limitations he had. Now I can see how important technology can be for students like him, he could present what he learned in a technological fashion allowing him to learn and do the same projects as his classmates.

Andrew of Learning Enhanced Technology shares a new tool, WOT, that sounds quite interesting.

WOT is a social networking device designed to enhance internet safety and reliability. I downloaded Wot yesterday as a browser extension for Firefox and am intrigued. WOT allows you to check the reliability of a website based on user feedback, so that when you go to a website the WOT icon shows whether or not other users view the website as safe and reliable based on a general trustworthiness meter, reliability as a business partner, as a keeper of personal information, and as a safe destination for children.

Sarah of Sarah’s Technology Enhanced Learning posted about students’ reactions to technology in “Teaching about Plane Shapes” .

I can’t put into words how shocked I was by the student’s reaction to the laptop, it was the equivalent of buying a new driver a brand new car when they get their license. They were absolutely thrilled and their excitement for technology really made me think about how much I take computers and my laptop for granted. It also made me think about how little the students must be using the computers in their school if it seems so novel to them when I presented them with a computer. I also found it unique how I was able to take a technology free lesson and turn it into a technology friendly lesson. I know that it strengthened this lesson.

Sharlene of If you give a girl technology shares a post entitled “Education In a Non-Traditional Classroom Setting” about an after school program that she finds promising.

Going above and beyond the required basics of model after-school programs, this program provides economically disadvantaged students opportunities that may not have been readily available to them prior to this experience.

Monica of Me & Technology has a profound post that will touch your heart. The title of the post is The Missing Piece Meets the Big O.. by Shel Silverstein.

Wednesday evening, a 20 year old sat in the children’s books’ section and read this short simple story, but found a strong and courageous message

Angel of Ariana’s mom posts thoughtfully about Protecting Our Students!

The tragedy at Virginia Tech has really caused me to think of my life, my future career and my family and put everything into perspective. The story of the Professor who was a Holocaust survivor and risked his life and died trying to save his students touched me deeply. It caused me to reevaluate what my role as a teacher will be.

Jennifer of techlife is feeling Technologically Torn.

Technology has its pros and cons and there are definitely situations when it is difficult to determine which side outweighs the other.

Lizzie of The new and improved technological Lizzie shares her continuing journey to use technology in the classroom with this post, So I used Technology…a little bit.

I had this wonderful lesson plan all ready and created to use to integrate technology within my classroom, but as soon as I had it done my class was done learning about that subject. So I switched really quickly into integrated technology into the science circus that I taught with Angel.

Katie of Designs for Tech gives a thorough Lesson Plan Critique.

Even though the lesson was quite stressful, it was 100% worth the stress and effort. The students begged for math to continue when I told them the lesson was done and I am scheduled to go back in a week to allow the students more time to play math games during their “Friday fun.”

Lydia

of Technology Enhanced Learning has many good reflections on her blog. Her closing statement on High Stakes resonates with me.

Hopefully soon, our nation will return to valuing more than test scores.

Amy of EDUC 330 is seeing the value of having her materials on a wiki in Wikis and Webquests.

I always wondered why W&M was pushing for us to create an online portfolio. It is so inconvenient to make and it’s almost like learning another language. However, today it hit me when i was talking to my CT. I was planning the math lesson for next week and she asked me if she could look at my lesson plan to review it and make sure it fit into her curriculum. I told her that the lesson plan is saved on my computer and that I didn’t have access to it now. I was in the process of making another appointment with her when it hit me that I had uploaded it onto my wiki. I pulled up the wiki and my lesson was there! We were able to look at it right then and there. It felt really cool to have my stuff on the web and I didn’t even have to e-mail it to myself or print it out. Now I understand a little better how an online portfolio could come in great handy!

Amaya of Amaya’s Edutastic Blog has a really intriguing post on Teaching is Candy…No…Cookies…and I’m A Cookie Monster!

I challenge all three of the people who read this blog to pose a simple question to someone today, and see if you can’t change their life for the better. Maybe you’ll get a “fine” or maybe a “well, thank you, how are you?” But, you could get a “well, I have this problem with my mother, well, not really with my mother, but, wait, sit down and I’ll tell you… I think I want to be an elementary school teacher, but I’m not sure and I really need to talk to someone about it, but my mom lost her cell phone.” Don’t you wish you’d listened before?

Photo credit: http://www.stopdesign.com/log/img/200312/hp_blog_lg.jpg