Monday, May 2, 2011

Final Project What is a PLN?


This is for all those future EDM 310 students who get half way through the entire semester and still don't have a clue what a PLN is. An easy concept once you get used to it, in fact you'll question how you ever thought you could be an educator without this knowledge. But in the beginning, many of us struggled with wrapping our heads around this concept, so I hope this makes it a little easier.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Special Metaphor Assignment (Blog Post 14)



1. I believe that I missed the metaphor, because I really was not paying attention. I think that I read into it to much. I was so concentrated on doing the assignment and doing it well that I did not even catch the humor in the post. I also believe that the post was actually kind of difficult in getting the metaphor revealed. After reading up on Tom Johnson I should have caught on right away, but like I said I was probably concentrating to hard on getting the project done.
2. The best metaphor that I come across is the one that "football is life". In being a coach I am surrounded by sports and this metaphor is the one that sticks out to me. In so many ways this is true. Football teaches you life skills the biggest one being whgen you get knocked down you have to keep getting up. Now football is not actually life, but the metaphor is used by so many coaches, because it can teach you so many skills that you will need in life.
3. To help our student learn about metaphors, first thing is we have to teach them what a exactly what is a metaphor. Then we have to show them the proper way to use metaphors. Also we have to show them when is a good time a metaphor is used and what it is used for. If we do this I believe that the students will catch on and begin to use metaphors.
4. I believe we use metaphors to open our eyes to certain things. I think that we need humor in a way to make life enjoyable. And using metaphors does bring out the humor in our lives. This is because metaphors can have a funny swing to them and usually are humorous.

PLN Final Report

My PLN started out with a few coaches that I was following on Twitter. I also had a few websites that I kept in contact with that I mentioned in my first report. These particular things were very helpful in my continuing to learn the coaching progress. I have actually gotten my first coaching job this year. I will be coaching at McGill Toolen High School in the fall. This helps my PLN in that now while I am finishing up school I will get to learn under other coaches. I also will get the experience I need that will help me when I do get a teaching job. Not only will I get the experience, but I also will get to meet new coaches. And I have come to find out that in this business it is more of who you know than what you know. So meeting new coaches around the area can really help me out.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

C4T 4

The first teacher I was assigned was Jenny Luca. Her page was called Lucacept-Intercepting the Web. Her recent post was a few videos on the new volkswagon commercials.
I left her a comment saying that these commercials were hilarious and that she has a great sense of humor.
The second teacher I was assigned was Jenny Luca. Her page was called Lucacept-Intercepting the Web. Her recent post was on the royal wedding. She had two different videos of the wedding on her blog.
I left her a comment saying that I did not get to see the wedding but heard it was fascinating. And that it was a really good idea to put it on her blog, because this is something that everyone should know about.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

C4K 7,8,9,10

C4K 7


I was assigned to Mr. McClung's World, more specifically Prosser's Gabriel. This was under the section band of the week. Prosser's Gabriel is a song that is sung by the muscician Tim Barry. It tells the story of a planned slave revolt in Virginia. He used the song to set up that day's learning.
I left a comment that this was a neat way to get the kids interested in the topic that would be taught that day. I also said that it is great that the kids are expanding their minds and getting a little culture.
C4K 8


I was assigned Tori from Ms. Thompson's 6/7th grade class. Her post was about facial masks that her and her friend created. They made them out of dirt and water and spread them over their face. They waited for it to dry and peeled it off. Tori said that thier faces were smoothed.
I left a comment saying that this was very creative and even though I did not try it I bet it actually worked.
C4K 9
I was assigned to comment on Mrs. Yollis's Class Blog. I left her a comment in the section of Family Blogging Month. My comment said that I was very pleased with her blog. And I thought Family Blogging Month was a great idea because it got everyone involved.
Mrs. Yollis's Class Blog was a great one to visit. She had links everywhere that you could click and go to something she thought was interesting or educational. The blog listed and had links to the kids blogs. As I mentioned she had a month said aside for family blogging which anyone could get involved in. Overall it was one of the best blogs I visited and help me learn a lot of things.
C4K 10


I was assigned Adia's Blog. She is one of Mrs. Yollis's third grade students. Her blog post was about a girl scout meeting. In this meeting Adia's grandma told them about her homeland Japan. She had a lot of interesting facts about Japan and also learned how to make Sushi.
I left her a comment saying that this was very cool that she got to learn about Japan and learn to make Sushi. She had a lot of pictures on her blog from the meeting and I told her that this was a good thing to have. And keep up the good work.

Blog Post 13

ALEX


The Alabama Department Of Education came up with an educational tool in the name of ALEX. ALEX stands for Alabama Learning Exchange. It was created for the teachers and educators to be able to communicate and share their ideas. Anyone is allowed to get on the website and fool around looking at all the different things it offers. There is available lesson plans on the site, which is helpful for ideas for your students. Links to other helpful websites can also be found and are very helpful. The website is not confusing when on the homepage you can click on whatever you would like to look at.
ALEX is a very helpful website. I first found out about ALEX in my education class at West Alabama. The teacher provided us with this site and told us how to navigate it. Like I said it is very easy to navigate. And very informative to teachers, students, and even parents.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Final Project Progress Report

I will be working with Paige Bryant on the final project and we will be focusing on the education of the future. You may be thinking "Hey, that's pretty generic", but no worries, we plan on putting our own little spin on it. The most exciting part of the project is that it will closely resemble Dr. Miller multimedia project. I look forward to putting his format into action with my ideas.