My EDM 310 Blog Assignments are Now Complete - May 3

To my fellow classmates:

WOW! It's finally over! No offense to the instructors but I think you remember how it felt to finally complete a class and finally graduate. I did not get the opportunity to meet very many of you and the ones that I did meet I did not get the opportunity to get to know you, but that's just how it is sometimes. I liked our class. I thought it was informative and I learned more than I thought I would. Good Luck to all of you. I wish you well in all that you do!!

What Did I Learn? - May 3

I am a Physical Education major. Although I have learned many things in this class I am not sure how much I will actually get a chance to use it. I just don't have time to stay on the computer for long lengths of time. Not to mention that every time I sit down to write a post I am interrupted a dozen times with questions of little importance from parents and children. Maybe someone could use a blog to vent some of their frustrations. It might be different if I was able to do it at work but right now my job is to go to school and be a mother so until that changes my opportunities to post and chat are few. I did learn that you can blog about any topic, just be careful, once it's posted it's there forever. I learned how to do a podcast and I might be able to incorporate it into my PE classes. Since my major is different than most people in this class I will not use a lot of these things just because my profession won't permit it. I'm not saying that I will never have the opportunity to use the things I have learned but it won't be as accessible to me because I will not be in a typical classroom setting. I do feel like I can surf the Internet with more confidence. I know where to find things and I know how to put a blog together, do a podcast, and a presentation with pictures. And even though I think Twitter is nothing more than a rumor mill and a waste of time, I know how to do it. I think the most important thing I learned was that with everything there are good and bad things and each person has to choose what works for them. I know in some of my post that I have been negative about technology, but for the record technology has helped us in so many ways and is not all bad. The key is moderation. I hope to take the things that I have learned in this class and be able to use them in teaching PE. I can use blogs to help my students and their parents stay informed on class activities and due dates of assignments. I can use blogs to inform parents and players of teams that I coach of dates of practices and games and what to expect from me as a coach. I could even set up a blog for my students and/or players to blog about practices and games and upload pictures for others to see and share. I can use twitter to inform a parent about a discipline problem, a child getting hurt, or to cancel practice or a game because of weather. I think maybe the key is to find the time to use the tools that we were taught. The more that I write about what I could do the more I think if I do use some of this stuff then maybe I won't be so bogged down. How about that? You have changed the opinion of a true cynic of technology!! I still will stand my ground about being active but maybe I understand you a little better and I hope through my posting you can understand me a little better. Thank You.

Essay about Twitter - April 26

I am going to be honest. I did not spend any time trying to find out how twitter works. I know this was the assignment but I don't have time to sit on the computer and talk to people. I have a facebook page and I can't find time to talk to my friends much less twitter people about World/US events. I am a single mom of two, living with and taking care of my elderly parents in a three bedroom house, trying to study for my classes, helping my children with their homework, taking them to practice and ball games (volleyball, basketball,softball) which I help coach and trying to fight an ex-husband that wants to make my life miserable. Maybe this was a bad day.

Evaluate a Classmate's Podcast -April 19

I listened to all of our class's podcast, including my own. I thought they were good for amaetures. We were all nervous and not really sure what to expect or do even though we told ahead of time how to prepare. I think they would have been better if we would have done a trial run of the podcast. If we could have taken the podcast that we did and gone home, listened to it and critiqued it, we could have come back and improved on it so much. If we could have done the podcast without an audiance and had a practice run I think they would have been great. There was a lot of pauses and saying "um", and they sounded like we read every thing we had to say. I know the point was to talk about technology but maybe if we were able to debate the topics it would be really interesting. I thought they were good but also thought they could have been better.

Evaluate a Classmate - April 12

I found it hard to evaluate just one classmate. I read several in our class and thought they were all good. I think that each blog contained a description of the topic assigned and their personal opinion about that topic. I think that evaluating a blog is very difficult because it contains people's personal views and who am I to say they are right or wrong? Each person has different opportunities and goals in life and that means that some topics are more important to some or even mean something different than it does to others. Without pointing out any one person, I thought that some blogs were strictly informational and some were opinionated, mine being one of them. There wasn't one that stuck out to me. I thought they were all good.

The Standford Challenge - April 5

The Stanford Challenge

Carol Dwek, Professor of Psychology, suggest that fixed minded students believe they have a fixed intelligence which is a fixed trait and don't do as well as growth minded students who believe they can develop their intelligence throughout their whole life. She says that when given her growth minded philosophy to these same fixed minded students that they started improving and making better grades.

I don't think this is a new concept. We know that when we praise children and give them the right tools they will excel. I agree that it's a mindset to think you're smart and do well but you have to factor in influences. It wouldn't matter if a student was given her growth minded philosophy if that child did not have enough positive influences. Yes people can change, but for the most part they stay the same. And what about children with learning disabilities? Most children think they are dumb and they can't learn when diagnosed with a learning disability. And when you've been teased about how dumb you are, you start to believe it. I know. I am one of those students. I always knew that the brain was like a muscle and the more you studied and learned the smarter you became. At 38 years old I still have problems convincing myself that I am not dumb, I just learn differently. I think it's a great motivational tool. Just remember that there is always exceptions to every rule!!

iTunes U. K-12 Video Podcast- Mar 29

I know I have been pretty negative about all this technology but through this process I have actually found some positives, this assignment being on of them. I searched for grades K-5 video podcast for Physical Education and this website came up: NASA BLOGS. This website was really cool. It addressed many topics from space, to the earth, to the clouds and even fitness. It had a lot of information that was presented in a "fun" way. I guess maybe why blogs and podcast are being so praised for is because of the access to so many topics at the touch of your fingertips. This particular topic on fitness suggested that the students make a blog on fitness. They would have to research different techniques and post how they would teach a fitness class and what they liked and didn't like. Exactly what we are doing for this class. Producing a fitness podcast could help students make connections that otherwise might not have clicked for them. So I am going back and forth on this podcast issue, but my mind is not closed to it. I might even consider using this project for one of my classes. Then I can document how we did it and produce our own podcast!