Interview with Mr. Sullivan

Sorrowful Goodbye

EDM 310 has been a learning experience that I will never forget. The only thing that comes to mind is good luck.

Good luck to Dr. Strange and the staff for their future with this course. I think you guys have done amazing things that we will all be grateful for at one point or another. There has been a lot of effort and hard work put into reinventing this course and I think it has been successful. I have learned an immense amount of material that I can not wait to introduce to my future students. Through this learning experience I feel much more confident and qualified to be in front of a classroom. I truly hope to keep in touch throughout the semesters.
Thank you so much for your hard work.

Classmates, its been real. I feel that we haven't spent much time together because of the hybrid change. Although, I enjoyed getting to know each of you through your presentations at the start of the semester. I hope that you all enjoyed this course and learned about tools that will help you in your future classroom. I hope to keep in touch with many of you through social networking sites :)

Final Post

1) List of things I learned about:
-Access
-Alex
-Picasa
-YouTube
-Twitter
-Skype
-Blogger
-Comments4Kids
-Comments4Teachers
-Delicious
-GoogleDocs
-GoogleForms
GoogleEarth
-Podcasts
-How to make a video
-iTunesU
-PLN

WOOOOWWWWWW! This is so exciting that I learned about all of these tools, but then again it is kind of sad that I could have been a certified teacher and would not have known about any of these. How will I use them in my teaching? The possibilities are truly endless. I was bored out of my mind in elementary, middle, high, and college schooling, and I refuse to put my children through this same thing. Can I change educational schooling on my own? NO! Can I change it in my classroom? Absolutely!

2) OF course there are always things that could have improved my learning capacity, but I am so satisfied with what I learned in this class. I would have liked to use more interaction and collaboration with my students and my teacher instead of hybrid, but regardless, I learned a ton.

3)The only topic I found useless was GoogleEarth. The actual project itself was a waste of time, in my opinion, but the process of saving to a site and then to my hardrive and then to my blog, etc. was a good learning process. Making the tour was time consuming and rather pointless.

4)I am 60/40 on the excitement issue. There were times that I literally got excited when I would look at my finished product of a project, post, or comment. I would also get excited when we were introduced to tech savvy teachers and classrooms through Skype and commenting. It truly is an excitement to know that there are teachers out there who are trying to change the schooling system by bringing it up to date.

5)Negative. In order to complete this course you simply had to read directions, follow them, and THINK FOR YOURSELF!I think this latter aspect is what most students found the most difficult Many courses and professors do not require you to think outside of the box.

6)The only times I would find myself being bored is when we were required to make 3 or 4 blog posts in one week. Like most students, I would wait until the weekend to do mine, and it is extremely boring to read and type for hours on end. While the assignments were always interesting, it is inevitable to stay entertained by that many posts.

7)The only change I would make is blog posts. Instead of having 3 or 4 due by Sunday night, I would maybe have two due by Wednesday and two due by Sunday. The majority of students are procrastinators, and this feels like an overload, even though it is our fault. Also, 86 GoogleEarth project!

8)I am gonna go with a good-great tech literacy level. I am beyond proud of myself for the things I have learned and accomplished. I feel much more ready to become an educator. I feel now that I can complete basically any tech project.

9)This thought makes me nervous. I have learned so much in this course, and I know I will not forget it, but I know technology is always changing and I do not want to miss out on all the new stuff. I think the most obvious answer to this dilemma is to keep up my PLN. I am connected with tech savvy people from all over the world, and I believe they can keep me up to date.

A Wonderful PLE

This makes my heart so happy to know that there are teachers out there who do amazing things for their students. This student was so organized and mature beyond her years. She uses technology for every aspect of school, and you can tell she truly cares. I have to admit that PLE/PLN is in no way as sophisticated as hers, but it was experience for me to view hers and get good ideas. She showed how simple it was to store everything she needed on that one page. She was able to access everything online from her home page. I was very impressed with some of her tools, and it will definitely help me when teaching my students how to create and maintain PLN's. I am even more inspired by her teacher! The fact that it is a completely paperless course is so exciting to me. This video shows that it is possible to do that, and that the students work better that way.

Two Questions That Can Change Your Life.

I lovvvvvved this! So creative and simple, yet to inspiring. I hope that everyone simply felt better about themselves after viewing this video. We should remind ourselves daily that we are doing great things with our lives and to always keep our head up and keep truckin' along. Hopefully, every night before we go to bed, we can feel that we were better today than yesterday. I feel this is a great theory to keep yourself happy with life. For example, I am proud of myself tonight because I taught little girls how to dance. When we become teachers we will constantly be faced with negativity, doubt, and stress. Some simple philosophy as this can keep us going. It is truly interesting to look at humankind as each individual being a simple sentence. After careful consideration, I consider my sentence to be...

"She taught hundreds of girls how to dance and to love it like she did."
Dance is the poetic baring of the soul through motion. ~ Scott Nilsson © 2001

Substantive Presentation: Why Blogging is Useful in The Classroom

My Favorite Places

The Link to My Wordle

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Use of Multimedia in Special Education

I will be going into the field of Special Education, primarily early childhood. I plan to use everything in my classroom that I have learned in EDM 310. I feel the tools we have been introduced to are excellent and so valuable, and are quickly taking over education. A lot of people may argue that early childhood may be too young to introduce technology, but I disagree. Some also might argue that certain resources might not benefit in SPE, but I also disagree.

What do you think?

I feel that blogging is such an amazing resource to help children develop critical thinking skills. Parents and some teachers are so fearful of the internet, and yes it has its faults, but overall it is a great tool for education. I know that I will encounter many parents who do not want their young child using the internet, but I plan to research and educate parents on the safe use of the internet we will be using. I think that as long as I am monitoring my students' use, then there is no harm done.

I think that blogging helps kids to think for themselves at a young age.

For my SPE students, I think that tools such as virtual worlds and Second Life would be beneficial. It will be a great occupational therapy tool because students can view and be a part of a person living an everyday life. These tools will also spark their creativity senses and let them explore their own feelings and views. I also feel that internet use will help my SPE students feel like they are living a normal life. These kids often feel like they are not good enough to fit in with other students, and this will give them a way to connect to the rest of the world. Hopefully it will open their eyes to the many opportunities in life, despite any disability. I hope to participate my students in Comments4Kids. The kids who are a part of this program are getting amazing benefits from it; I think that my SPE students will probably enjoy the confidence that they will gain from it.

PS 22

These children are amazing! They were very touching and seemed so heartfelt. It is unbelievable how much power children hold in their hands. The fact that a huge celebrity found these children online and want them to be a part of their show is incredible. These children now see what big things they can do with their life if they only put themselves out there to succeed. As a teacher, I will have my students post their work online because I feel it will give them a sense of success. From this EDM class, I have gained so much respect and perspective on my work. When I am able to see what great things I can do, then I feel proud of myself and only push myself harder. I think it will show my children that they can connect to the rest of the world with a push of a button. Children today need to know that they can achieve anything that put their mind to, and I feel that blogging and using the web will give them a sense of accomplishment.

1) My first example is none other than amazing little Kaia.
She is so young, but holds the world in her hands. Through her father and teachers who care about her, she has admirers from every walk of life. Her story is one that is priceless, and people love to be a part of it and continue the connection.

Kaia's Story



2) My second example is EVERY child in the world that is a part of Comments4Kids. I know this is such a general example, but I think this program is beyond powerful. These children are getting comments from people all over the world, and I know it is making a large impact on their lives. These children are so young and do not have a clue of the great things they are witnessing. Not every school aged child gets to be a part of the web and they do not get to connect with people from all over. These children who are a part of this are truly going to do great things with their lives, because their teachers introduced them to something wonderful at a young age.

Support Blogging

Comments4Teachers

Week 7,8 & 9- Sharon Elin of edutwist.com

7- Mrs. Elin has a post which contains Dan Brown's Open Letter to Educators. She simply talked about the major need for educational reform we have in this country. She feels that all educators agree that we need a change, but unfortunately no one knows how we should go about it. I responded by saying that I completely agree with her. I feel that Dan's video was a little extreme, but he makes excellent points. I stated that we need to continue to spread "discomfort" until something is done about the educational system.

8- I commented on the post "Web 2.0 Costs More Than You Think." She expressed how sites and tools are no longer free and open to the public. Mrs. Sharon said she wants to get upset about these new charges, but she understands that somebody is working those sites and they have to somehow make money. She feels that if a tool has proved its success to her, then she will happily pay for it, but she has to be frugal and not subscribe to every tool out there. I stated that this change is inevitable. We live in a world of web based everything, and there is no way it could be free forever. I agree that we have to support the tools that have been great to us in the past.

9- I commented on the post "Technology "Graveyards." Mrs. Elin was explaining how school districts need to send old technology to the dumps, and hire a professional to discover and decide on what technology will be the most useful for classrooms. She states that many schools or teachers do not do enough research before making a decision, (they simply do not have the time), and there needs to be a specialist to do it. She calls them technology tour guides. I feel this would be a useful addition for every school, or even every district. this tour guide would be dedicated to the well being of the classrooms. This person would not only have this responsibility, but they would teach the teachers how to use the systems. They could introduce useful and creative lessons to use with the new technology.


Week 10 & 12
David Warlick of My 2 "Cents" Worth

Week 10- I commented on the post "He Was Bouncing off the Walls." Mr. Warlick was basically telling about an experience he just had of going to a local school and giving teachers a lesson on web 2.0. He mentioned that it went well, but teachers are going to have to break down a lot of walls in order to improve their learning methods. I mentioned the skype session we had with Mr. McClung, because I asked him about this same situation. I asked Mr. McClung what he thought about tour guides coming into schools and introducing teachers to the latest technological advances, and he said it was a good idea, but a lot of teachers do not want to be taught anything new. I had some interesting and very disagreeing comments to my comment on Mr. Warlick's blog. Please read! "He Was Bouncing off the Walls"

Week 12- I commented on the post "Learning Begs for the New Information Environment." Mr. Warlick was explaining a conference he went to for technology and education. He said one thing that he was most appalled by was a video created by the education department. He said they usually are not that high tech unless someone from the technology department creates it. He met a student who was building something virtual and Mr. Warlick asked him what it was for and the student replied that it was for a technology class. Mr. Warlick asked if he did anything like that for History and Literature and the student smirkingly replied no. Mr. Warlick gave him an example of how to do so, and the student's eyes were suddenly opened to the thought of technology in all subjects. I agreed that teachers often think they can not do much more than a powerpoint, but if we sat down and thought about it, then we could. I mentioned that as teachers we need to rethink the idea of teaching and schooling altogether.


Weeks 13 & 14
Dan Carver- It's Elementary My Dear Readers

Week 13- I commented on a post about teacher evaluations. The state of Iowa (where Dan lives) is thinking to tie teacher evaluations with standardized testing scores, similar to Alabama. He feels that in theory this would make sense, but in reality it just isn't fair. He says that the curriculum changes from district to district, it is not state wide. So, if Iowa makes a statewide test, then some districts will not be prepared, while others may be. He feels that if they are going to tie these two assessments together, then they need to find common ground first. I replied saying this made perfect sense. I explained that my mother taught at a very low socio-economic school, and they started blaming teachers for low test scores. The teachers there knew it was unfair and that they were doing their best, but there were too many factors affecting students' work ethics that they had no control over.

Week 14- I read his post entitled, Do Not Pay /Teachers 100,000 dollars! This post really touched my heart and made me feel proud of wanting to be an educator. Mr. Carver was blogging about how it is often noted that if teachers got paid as much as doctors and lawyers, then our educational system would be a change for the better. People argue that this will bring in the brightest of people to the educational world. Dan feels that this is not what education needs. All this would do is bring in people who do not care about teaching. People have never gone into education for the money, and they never will. . I told Mr. Carver that I agree completely. It takes special people to teach; it takes people who care. As educators we will affect thousands of lives over the course of our career, and hopefully it will be for the better, because we care. If we bring in teachers by an increase of salary, then the majority are not going to be interested in the lives and young brains that are in their hands.

The Stubborn Zax

Although this cartoon was not made to be a put down for teaching methods, it certainly fits it well. Some teachers, a lot of teachers, are a Zax inside and out. Some are so set in their own ways that they will not budge to better the education of their students. I think for many educators, teaching has simply just become a job. It has become a routing to perform their job everyday, that they forget they have an enormous daily impact on the lives of 20+ students. I truly wish that I could see the era of reform for education, but I do not think it will be in my day. ( I know that is negative!). Although we have come so far with technology in education, education in itself is still the same. We still sit in a classroom and listen to a teacher. Teachers still just lecture. Students are still forced to simply sit and listen. We desperately need a change, but unfortunately I do not see it. I thank God for the amazing teachers we have learned about this semester. There truly are teachers out there who believe in a change, and I hope they know what an inspiration and what amazing individuals they are.

My Physical Fitness Survey Results

Comments4Kids

Week 4/ Mr. C's Class Blog- The title of of the post I was assigned to was called, "To Build A Fire." My student used the tool www.goanimate.com to make a short cartoon. The cartoon was a man on fire and then he walked his dog in front of a silhouette of buildings. I commented that it was very creative and the details were amazing and interesting. I also that it looked like hard work to create this piece of art and that I was very impressed : )

Week 5/ Mr. Lamshed's Class- The title of the post was "Tie Tuesday Photos." I was not sure of what Tie Tuesday was so I researched more of the blog and I learned that it was a day that the boy's wore ties; the lesson is so that they will know how to tie ties! I commented that the class truly seemed like a "community" of learners, and that it was great to see a class doing an interactive project. Also, around the world other class are joining in and I think that is awesome.

Week 6/ Pesburne- I was assigned to comment on Kefu's post, and it was artwork that he created; it was a blue background with white bubbles. Kefu said that he chased and played with the shiny bubbles. I told him that bubbles were very interesting and I hope he enjoyed himself. I said that his artwork was very detailed and sophisticated.

Week 7/ Quam Students- My post was titled, "My Favorite Superhero." The student said his favorite superhero was Flash, because he has a cool outfit, he can run on water, and he can run around the world really fast. He said he does not understand why Batman and others are called superheroes because they do not have real powers. I posted that Flash seems like a cool guy and he has very useful characteristics. I added that it was very mature and smart of him to think analyze the meaning of superhero!

Week 8/180 Days of Kindergarten- I was assigned to Day 108, and I learned about everything they accomplished on this day. I commented that it was great to see such organization and technology in a Kindergarten classroom, and it is great to see how much they get done in one day. I also added that I really enjoyed a website that she posted about; it is a temperature learning website for kids.

Week 9/ JK McClung- I was assigned to a particaular lesson learned, which was, "Always Dress out for PE." Basically, he did not dress out for PE and split his pants while playing! I commented that it was a very valuable lesson learned, and that you learn something new everyday, whether you want to or not : )

Week 10/ Mrs. Kolbert's Student Blogs- My post was entitled,"Faces," and it was posted by Leo. He informed me that everytime he typed a smily face, it automatically turned into a computerized yellow smily. (I thought this was very humorous!) I told him that it was definitely a mystery and sometimes computers are crazy like that! I urged him to do some research to discover what was causing this.

Week 12/ Pesglaze- I commented on Sean's video about the beach. It was his first video, and he did a good job. He was very quiet, and all I could understand was that he saw dolphins leaping over the waves. I told him that he did a great job on his first video post, and I hope he keeps up the good work. I also added that I am sure the dolphins were beautiful.

Week 13/ Pesking- I commented on Ramona's story. Her post contained a short video of her and her friends bowling. She explained that her friends were doing very good, but she was not because it was her first time bowling. She also stated that the bowling ball was so heavy that she was scared it might break the floor. I commented that bowling was a fun sport, and it did not matter who won or lost, as long as you had fun with your friends. I told her that I was not very good at bowling, but my friends are supportive and we always have a good time. I told Ramona that she was a wonderful writer and to keep up the good work.

Week 14/ JK McClung- I commented on the post by teacher called "Explorer Tests Results." Basically, his students took a test to see what occupations they might be interested in, based on interests. I commented that I took one of these in high school, and I thought it was very beneficial. I said that I hope his students really enjoy the results, but also that they understand that they do not have to do what the test said!

Sweet Kaia

This assignment was really enjoyable and quite touching. If you truly care about education and the future of children around the world, then this should have moved you at least a little. This is a story that is so inspiring and almost magical. This sweet little girl is going to do wonderful things with her life because she has a family that is leading her in the right direction of education. There are people all over that truly love her story, and it is impossible for her to understand the extent and importance of it.

As teachers, this should completely inspire us to do great things with our classrooms. We are capable of touching so many lives and reaching out to and connecting with an amazing amount of people, if we only try. As teachers during this day in time, it is vital for us to step out of our comfortable educational shells, and create the opportunities for our students that they deserve.


This assignment should show us that it is simple to touch the life of another child. Reaching out to other people will be an educational growth experience for us as a teacher, our students, as well as the person we are reaching out to. The children of today live in an era of media and this must be incorporated into their education, or this generation will turn their backs on educational schooling because they deserve better than it can do for them.

A positive review of educational blogging

"I think it’s the most beautiful tool of the world and it allows us the most magic thing..."

—Florence Dassylva-Simard, fifth-grade student