Week 6

Blogging is not only used in the United States classrooms, it is used all over the world. When searching for international schools that use blogging to help in their education, I found this blog from a school in New Zealand. In this blog, two students read a book from a famous author in New Zealand named, Lynley Dodd. In the blog the teacher first starts out by telling who the students are and an overview of the book. Then the students make a podcast telling people what the book is about from their perspective. It is really interesting and they have different blogs for different books by the same author.

Another website I found was a blog written by a teacher from Scotland. He talks about a school in Nepal and how it has grown from 13 students to 137 students. The school is now having to turn kids away because of lack of materials and resources. I hope kids can one day realize how lucky they are to be living in a place where all kids can go to school and not be turned away for the simple reason that the school system can not afford them. Education is something I think is taken for granted by a lot of students which is something I hope can change. This is a picture of some of the students that go to the school and they are lining up for assembly.

Week 5

When looking for different schools in Alabama and how they using blogging in the classroom, I found a teacher from the Hoover school district getting his kids involved in blogging. The class is photography and they each set up there own blog page and they post there pictures they took and talk about where they took it, and if they like the picture or not. It also looks like they are connected to other classrooms in different states.

This picture was actually taken by the teacher, it is called crybaby bridge. I really liked this sight because the pictures are so pretty to see from all the different students. The website is http://www.sphsdigital2.blogspot.com/ go see the website to look at the different pictures, they are really pretty!

The next website I found is where teachers update parents on what has been going on in the classroom. Such as what they have been learning, the different activities they have been doing, and also assignments. The students also have a blog page. It is used apparently for the whole school and all teachers can post their assignments on there. This would be a great website for students if they have maybe missed school it is a way for them to catch up at home and be prepared for the next day. The website link is, http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=102331&new_display_count=10 .

Week 4

This video really amazed me the facts in this video are unreal, I never knew technology was growing by such leaps and bounds! Being a citizen in the United States I always thought we were the best country in the world, I guess that is what i get for listening to politicians. In the video it said every seconds thirty-four babies are born, five in India, four in China, and one in the US! No wonder we have so many immigrants coming into the states, there country is overflowing! There were so many interesting facts but one that I really thought was interesting is that Great Britain in the 1900's was the richest in the world, largest military, center of the world business and finance, strongest education system, currency was the worlds standard of value, and they had the highest standard of living. It makes me wonder what they are now?

I always knew that some countries were somewhat more intelligent that the US but I did not realize how many more college graduates there were in China compared to us, the US has 1.3 million graduates, and China has 3.3 million, is that because they have so many more people? I knew at one time that the China had a policy where you could only have one offspring per family, since they have so many more people maybe that is why there is so many more graduates. Another shocking fact that I saw was China will be fluent in English is 10 years, does this mean Chinese will be a thing of the past?

Since I recently turned 21 I thought this was interesting, we have watched twenty thousand hours of t.v. (I agree with this), ten thousand hours of video games, I do not agree with this because I do not play video games nor was I allowed to play them as a child growing up so I know this does not apply to me, ten thousand hours on the phone, I agree, and the last fact was two hundred fifty thousand emails or texts have been sent and received. It amazes me that four year olds are now computer savoy! When I was four I do not remember seeing computers that much, much less playing on them. Since I love text messaging I thought it was interesting to know that the first text was sent and received in December of 1992. It so neat to me to know how different people use the Internet to their advantage, one in eight couples that were married in 2005 met online! I believe this because it seems like there are new dating sites popping up everyday.Another fact I found interesting is that there are five times more words now than when Shakespeare was alive.

I love to know interesting facts about times today compared to maybe fifty years ago. Even though sometimes people do not like change sometimes it is for the better. Even though I think video games are ridiculous, they are a thing of the future. I still believe having technology is a good and bad thing.

ACCESS

ACCESS stands for Alabama Connecting Classrooms Educators and Students Statewide. This website was organized by Governor Bob Riley and State Superintendent of Education, Dr. Joseph B. Morton, the purpose is to innovate ways to bring other learning options such as Internet, into the classroom of high school students in Alabama. The plan will provide teaching and classwork through the Internet, with of course approved Internet sites, with the most recent interactive modes. This is also a good tool to have for a high school teacher because if there is something you want your kids to learn but are not certified in you can go on this website and have what is called an E-teacher instruct your class, the teacher is filmed from what the website called a delivery school site. This is also a positive if you are wanting to teach something and no one in the state is certified or properly educated in that field. ACCESS lists these objectives for the website: provide access to advanced diploma courses, provide access to additional course offerings, provide access to advanced placement or dual enrollment courses, access to remediation and supplemental resources, leverage existing resources and distance learning offerings. provide teachers with additional multimedia and technology tools to enhance instruction. By the summer of 2007 ACCESS wants to be connected to all high schools in Alabama.
Since I am studying to be an Elementary teacher this website would not be helpful to me. But, if I were going to be in secondary education I would definitely want to know more about this site and how I can use it for the best interest to the students. This is a great program because it does not limit a child to certain classes just because of where they go to school. With this program it can help all Alabama students and give everyone equal opportunity's to be in classes that are not offered at his or her school.