Tech and Topics is the WORST!

Just kidding!!!

As a final blog specifically for my Tech and Topics class, Mr. Becksfort has asked that we blog about what we think could be added to improve the class.

Being that my mind is pretty fried and I can barely remember to brush my teeth in the morning with all the school stuff swimming in my head, I can not think of anything to add to this course which would improve it.

I really enjoyed all the great new things I learned about, especially incorporating technology in the classroom and the various new websites that are available out there. Maybe one things that may prove helpful for future students is a list or write up of the websites or various other materials we learn about during class. I personally wrote down almost all the websites we talked about, but they are scattered throughout my pages and pages of notes. Maybe make it available online or at the end of the semester OR make it available online and it have the ability to be added to as time goes on. Then we could always have the newest stuff known to us.

Ok, that is all I have for now. Mr. Becksfort, thanks for making this class awesome and by far the best one this semester and maybe even all of graduate school :)

Teacher Infographics

I personally love Infographics and I came across this one the other day. It is about teachers and their salaries in comparison to the world. I thought I would share it with the internet world.


Via: Teacher Salary Info

Henry VIII, His Wives, and a two minute lesson

Below is my "Glog" of Henry VIII and his wives. It is for my lesson I am to "teach" tonight for my Tech and Topics class. Its getting recorded. Maybe when that is edited, I will post that here too.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Online School

1. What are three advantages to online school?
2. What are three disadvantages to online school?

These are the questions that my professor, Mr. Becksfort (introduced in a previous post), would like my/us to answer this evening instead of having class... which was pretty sweet...


For me three advantages of online schooling are:

1. For children who do not fit well into the "good student" stereotype, they are able to use online school as a way to learn at their own pace, without the distractions or pressures of a "structured" classroom.
2. I'm going to make the assumption here that by "online school" it does not necessarily mean replacing a school building. So, an advantage of online school, in this aspect, is that it is a way to extend subject learning beyond the classroom. The teacher can teach a portion of the lesson in the classroom, then instruct the students to go home and complete the other portion of the lesson online....
3. (Reason number 2 extends into number 3.) ...Thereby requiring the students learn independently, while also allowing them to explore the subject at their own pace and possibly following their own interests.
4. Since I only had to do three, I'm going to stop here, but there are many more I can think of.

The disadvantages of online schooling are:

1. I personally enjoy the classroom setting, being a part of a classroom with other students, getting immediate feedback from the teacher, along with certain level of accountability. So, for me an online school setting does not allow for these interactions. Thus allowing me/the student to not feel like I need to do the best I can do (possibly to seek approval from the teacher or my classmates) and doing only what is needed to get by... see point 4 above :)
2. There a quite a few children who are unable to be connected to the internet beyond the school building or a library. If the teacher would like her students to do an online activity as a part of the lesson, this fact may keep some of her students away from doing all they could do. Of course accommodations can be made, such as allowing them to do the work on the classroom computer or they could go to a friend's house. But this takes away the advantage of "working at their own pace"
3. The amount of distractions that are available to take the student off track are abundant... in the time that it has taken me to write these answers my mother has called me twice, I had to turn on some music and my husband is looking through another web page next to me and I keep looking over there... its practically a miracle that I have not checked facebook at least once. 

Online Presentation stuffs

Today in my Tech & Topics class we discussed the various online presentation tools available. Our professor, Michael Becksfort, has his own blog with a post about all we talked about so I won't tell you about it here... but I will link you to his blog post so that you can see what I saw.

But I do want to tell you about two of the ones I thought were most interesting.
**First, Prezi. When I first heard about this site, I was super excited! So excited that that weekend I went home and made one for a meeting I had that same week (you can see that first prezi in my previous post). It is just so exciting how I am able to take a presentation from a boring "linear" slide show to a visual pleasure. 
**Second, was the Glogger. Mr. Becksfort, just introduced this one to me, and I haven't had a chance to explore it very much, but it looks like great fun! Anything to make teaching and learning creative and fun, I'm game for!


I think that we are also supposed to say what we think of only presentations. My opinion is that they are GREAT! The ability to take our work wherever we want to, to work on it whenever we want to, and allow anyone to see it AND add to it, is just an awesome opportunity for teachers... and their students. Like Mr. Becksfort said these online presentation tools "gives [us] the possibility of an outside assignment," beyond the classroom walls... Its like an extra lesson without adding class time.

Alright, that is all I'm typing today. My battery is almost dead and there is lasagna waiting for me at home.

My first of many Prezi presentations

Enjoy this Prezi I made a few weeks ago for an Open House at my work/church.
(By the way, Prezi is a VERY fancy way to do presentations and is found at prezi.com)

First Blog Post

This blog has been set up as part of a class for my Masters in Secondary Ed (for Social Studies). The class is "Tech and Topics" where we learn all about awesome technologies we, as teachers, can use in our classroom... when we eventually get there.

While this is the fall semester of my third year in Grad school, maybe I will begin blogging about it. But, like my other blog, maxandthe11thdinosaur.blogspot.com, I probably won't stick within very long. Only time will tell.