Bye Bye Bye!

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Final Post!

I have to say, I really learned alot taking EDM310. Throughout this semester, we have gone over many things in this class from basic blogging to posting voicethreads. I found some things helpful, and other things....not so helpful, to be completly honest.
I would like to teach kindergarten in the future and I found that some things would be useful in my classroom, and others wouldnt. I would love to have a class blog or website, this way all class info can be available anytime. It would be convenient for parents to know what their child is doing as well as check what the homework was if they missed it. I know having a class blog to refer to in elementary school would have helped me out alot!
I also liked using Skype. I don't think this would be useful in my classroom. I found it useful to chat with my mother in New Jersey. It was cool to be able to see and talk to her, even when shes so far away. Also, it would be beneficial for meetings and conferences, however I dont think I would use it in my classroom.
Google spreadsheets could become a useful tool when it comes to keeping a gradebook! It is important that you have a hard and an electronic copy of all grades for each student. Having it on a google spreadsheet would be perfect. Not only can you use it for grades, but you can use it for other important documents such as important student information and personal file.
I had already been familiar with ALEX and ACCESS, from another class but by doing a little more research on it for EDM310 made it more clear to me. They are both great guides to creating a successful lesson plan for student mastery. There are specific guidelines and examples that are easy to follow and understand. I found these materials to be very helpful in making lesson plans as well as become familiar with the Alabama ciriculum.
These are just a few things I have learned from EDM310. I find that by taking this class, I am able to not only understand technology, but I also know how to apply it to managing a successful classroom. I really didn't think that any topic was not covered in this class. I do feel however that there shouldn't be weekly blogs. How many times can you blog before you get it? I think that maybe doing a blog assignment every other week would be good, and the other weeks can have a project assigned. I think that would lighten up on the work and make it easier for us to keep up in the class. To be honest, I was not at all excited about this class. I think Mr. Sullivan was great and all, but I was just not looking forward to coming to class every week. I don't think I have ever been excited to go to a class, so don't take it personally. :)
I think the most intellectually challenging thing we learned was using voicethreads, videocasts and google earth. I think so becuase they were much more detailed and required a little more time than usual assignments. I would consider myself to be technologically literate to an extent. I feel that I know all of the basics like how to post pictures and blogging, but when it comes to the more complicated stuff, I'm not that great at it. Hopefully, I will be able to learn more about technology in the future and pass my knowledge on to my future students!

Project 7 Voicethread

project 15 interview

Substansive Project and blog

HERE is a link to the blog

Teaching Technology!

Our assignment was to give a lesson on how to use technology to someone not familiar. I just purchased an iphone and immediatly became addicted. When my mom came to visit, I showed her how to use my iphone. When she first saw it she said how rediculous and how expensive an iphone is. I told her that it is worth every penny. I have never been so addicted to a phone. I showed her how to take pictures, check email, and download apps. I downloaded a few games, a few ringtones, facebook, google earth etc...She was amazed. Especially at the selection of apps available. What she also found cool is that there is an ipod in the iphone. I was surprised she didn't know that to begin with. Needless to say, she is looking into purchasing an iphone!

Contact Me!

• Ashley Hernandez

• Myspace/xokissmiiashox
• Facebook/Ashley Hernandez
• YouTube/ashleycristinaxo
• Del.icio.us/ashleycristinaxo
• Skype/ashley.cristinaxo
• AIM/XoKissMiiAshoX
• GMail/Ashley Hernandez
• Get your own Widget

My Favorite Disney Movies from 1991-1995

Tour of NYC

here is a link to my page...download my places

Comments for Teachers Week 13 and 14

I wrote 3 comments on Mr. Scott Elias' teaching blog. The three comments I left were in responce to his review and discussion on his Ipad, his blog to the class of 2009 and his advice on what you need to know being a teacher.
In responce to his ipad blog. I asked him if it was similar to the iphone. I also discussed how I loved my iphone and hope to one day splurge on an ipad.
In responce to his blog on the class of 2009, I told him that I admired how positive he was as well as inspired his students. I really never had a teacher who went out of their way to write a blog with words of wisdom, and I admired that.
In responce to his blog on what you need to know to be a teacher, I told him that I agreed that you need to be positive and interesting. If you are a negative, boring teacher, you will hate you job and your students will hate you.
I really enjoyed the blog by Mr. Scott Elias!

Using Skype

Part of our assignment was to use Skype and document what we thought of it. Honestly, I had never used Skype before this class. I used it to Skype with my mother who lives in New Jersey, where I am from. Obviously, with her being so far away, I don't get to see her as often as I would like. We skyped for about 30-45 minutes. I really got a chance to talk with her and I even got to see her new house and my dog that I miss terribly. I still Skype with her every once in a while, when I find the time but I am glad that this class introduced me to it and I will continue to use it to stay in touch with the family I am away from.

April 25th

7th Grader PLE
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All I can say after watching the video by the 7th grader is WOW. I was very impressed and could hardly believe that this was created by such a young person. I agree with her. I feel that is a great way to learn. Using technology to learn is way more organized than book learning. The classroom that she is in must be a very fun, engaged classroom environment. The student uses Simbaloo which I would like to figure out how to use and learn more about it. It seems like a great way to stay organized and keep up with technology. I really admire what a smart girl she is and I wouldn't be surprised if that is how all elementary students will be taught in the future.

My Sentence


I really enjoyed the video, "Two Questions That Can Change Your Life." It asked a really good question as to what your purpose in life is. Not only that but it gives advice to make a sentence, then each day, ask yourself if you have improved from the previous day. I think that is a great way to live a positive life. My sentence for right now is, "Trying to get my education so I can improve and impact the lives of many children."

Two questions that can change your life from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.

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Comments for Kids!

I actually liked comments for Kids alot better than comments for teachers. I was really amazed how young some of these kids were and how much they knew. Alot of the kids talked about the beach, camping, and other fun activies that they love. I commented on all of their blogs that I enjoyed reading their blogs, and I admire how smart they are! I would keep this a part of the assignments, but take out comments for teachers.

Comments for Teachers (combined)

I am going to be completly honest here. I did not like commenting on teachers blogs. The teachers I got assigned, really didn't have anything of interest to me on their blog. I do admire however that they have a professional teaching blog, however, I just wasn't into it. That is my honest reflection! :)

Work in EDM 310

I think the most interesting thing I learned in EDM 310 was how to use Google docs. You can use Google docs for just about anything. We used it to email and share documents with our classmates. One specific example was making our own surveys and having the class respond to it. When we made our survey we sent it out and from there, other students would be able to take the survey, and then save their answers. I am glad I was taught how to use Google docs becuase it will help me later on if I have to email something to numerous people for a responce.

The Zax!

I have always loved everything Dr. Suess has written. Behind all his comedy and silliness, there is a valuable lesson. At first, I wasn't sure what the point of the Zax was, but after watching it, I really understood the main idea. The Zax wouldn't "budge from their tracks" but as they stood there, the world around them was changing. The world will not wait for you to budge, you need to adapt and open up to the new changes. I think that concept applies to almost everything in life, however it seems a little more important when it comes to teaching. If we all had a teacher from 1850, chances are we wouldn't learn a thing that is relevant to the real world. Us as educators need to embrace and move with changes that occur in order to be effective. I would never want a teacher like a Zax who would not budge from their tracks!

My Survey

Here is my survey!
http://spreadsheets.google.com/gform?key=txj45N0Clp5UyI7Z-225NVA&hl=en#edit

These are my results!
http://spreadsheets.google.com/gform?key=0AmLpslHe3tF8dDJYYklvZWhsX2FoNnNaYnFmU2V4ZWc&hl=en&gridId=0#chart

PLN

For everything I need to know, I look for the answers online. If something randomly pops into my head, I whip out my iphone and google the answer. I don't think I could live without the internet!

Some of my PLN's are...
facebook
myspace
google
yahoo
youtube
blogger

Dear Kaia:

I really enjoyed this assignment. I thought it was amazing how a little girl could have so much thought. I really liked that her father is teaching her that everything has its own unique beauty, no matter what it looks like at the first glance. Her father is really doing a great job of making her a intelligent little girl. It is also cool to see how a little girl at such a young age could contribute to something as complicated as a blog. (Even though I'm sure her father is helping her." Not very many girls her age are so intelligent and thoughtful. I really thought it was a great idea to make that blog for her. Her pictures are also beautiful!

An Open Letter to Educators

This weeks assignment was to read the blog, "An Open Letter to Educators" by Morgan Bayada and to watch the video by Dan Brown. I found both of their opinions on educaton very interesting. They both brought up very good points about the education system in universities nowadays.
Every student in college has or has had a boring teacher who will do nothing but stand at a desk and flap their lips for hours about information that could be better understood by researching on the internet. I for example, have a history teacher this semester who does just that. He sets up a powerpoint and displays it on the overhead projector. He reads it to us and does nothing but talk in a monotone voice and explain information that puts me to sleep. Whats worse, is that he hands us copies of the powerpoint so whats the point of coming to class? Does he just like hearing himself talk? I think so. I dread going to this class and when I am there, I would rather run face first into a concrete wall. I have gotten such horrible grades on the tests because he will put 1 essay worth 75 points and 5 i.d questions worth 25 points. Therefore if you happen to not know the essay, or don't understand completly, because he is such a horrible teacher, you automatically fail the test. Even if I memorized the information, it would be burp back education, because the second I walked out of that class, I would throw all the information out of my head.
That is not the education I deserve when I am paying money I don't even have (loans=debt)to get a degree.
In the video, Dan Brown says that he dropped out of the University of Nebraska becuase he felt, his schooling was getting in the way of his education." I think he should have stayed in school. Although we all as students, will have a professor who bores us to death, we need to suck it up and do the best we can until we reach our goal of a degree. We can use those horrible teaching styles as an example of how NOT to teach our future students!

Alabama Learning Exchange

The assignment this week was to research the ALEX website and see all the great things it has to offer teachers. I personally am already familiar with this website. I was introduced to it in my classroom management class. Since then I have used it in my classes to create lesson plans, and I have found it extremely interesting and helpful.
When you go to the website, it has numerous links to go choose from such as courses of study, podcasts, and lesson plans. All of these links serve a great purpose and gives you great insight to be an effective teacher. What I really like is that you can choose a grade level and choose a lesson plan based on the course of study. It is filled with the grade level requirements for the state of Alabama which is also very helpful. I would recommend this website to anyone and I will use it in the future to construct my lesson plans!

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

I really enjoyed Randy Pausch's last lecture. I found that he was a very optimistic and inspiring person. He has been diagnosed with cancer and only has a few more months of good health before he dies. What he discussed was his childhood ambitions and dreams and how he achieved his goals. I think that anyone could relate to this lecture. I really admired that no matter how much he was going through at that time, he never once acted in a negative way, but used his situation to inspire anyone to carry out their dreams and live each day as if it is your last. I would have really liked to see him do a lecture live, it really must be amazing to meet a person so optimistic and just enjoying what is left of his life. I know I could never be like that. I feel that anyone could benefit from this lecture whether you are in a rough patch in your life or not. This will really make you stop and think about what you have and how great life really is. I am sure that this man made an impact on all who had the pleasure of meeting him. RIP!

This is How we Dream

I really enjoyed this assignment. Dr. Miller talks about how much has changed since he grew up. In his day, if you wanted to know something, you needed to open up a book. Now, if you want to know something, you can whip out your iphone and with the click of a button, you can get all the information you need. What goes beyond looking up the information on google, is finding a video or audio on the information. Therefore, you can either read, listen, or watch and learn simultaniously! There is pretty much nothing you can't do when it comes to technology. I also feel that Itunes U is a great idea. If you think about it, you can get ideas and information with others which can help a great deal when doing assignments for school. Also, Itunes U is available with the click of a button on your iphone. I plan to use alot of technology in my classroom. By then, who knows how much more technology will have grown!
It was kind of hard to get involved with the video by Michael Wesch. He seemed like he had a good sence of humor and was trying to be entertaining, but I'm not so sure it was working. He was discussing MTV and how different words caught on and how they changed. I really didn't pay much attention to this video to be honest. I just wasn't into it.

Alice Christie's Website

After looking at Dr. Alice Christie's Website, I found that the website design section would be the most useful to me as a teacher. I feel that as a teacher, it is important to make yourself available to your students as well as their parents. What better way to keep your class involved than a website! It makes it so easy for parents as well as your students to keep up with whats going on in the classroom. It would also help with keeping class grades up because they will always know what assignments to do as it will be posted on the website. The section in Dr. Christie's website gives tutorials and resources on how to create the website as well as great suggesions as to what you should include in the website. I definatly agree, and think that having a class website for the community is a great idea. I would recommend this website to anyone wanting to be a teacher.
After watching the video and learning about Itunes University, I was amazed! I didn't even think we were that technologically advanced yet. It is amazing to see what kind of apps you can have on your iphone or ipod touch. Now you can even learn anything all by the touch of your ipod. What I found really interesting was that some schools are using it as ways to give their lectures to their students. I remember learning when I was little by reading a book. We hardly ever got to use the computer. It amazes me to see how far education has gone and it also makes me wonder where we will be in the future.

All About Me Presentation

What I've Learned This Year

I really enjoyed this blog by Mr. McClung. He brings up many good points and valuable insight to new teachers. He tells you what to do and what not to do. It is common that before you start teaching, you have a set way of how you want things to go. Chances are they are not going to happen the way you want. The main focus is on the students and in the event plans do not go the way you want, take your students into account and fix it in a positive way. Flexibility is key!
Another thing is to not be afraid to technology. As educators, we are teaching children who love technology and rely on it heavily. It is important to keep up with technology because it could be a new and fun way to learn. Bottom line, Mr. McClung is opening our eyes to how the real world is when it comes to teaching. I would recomment this blog to anyone wanting to be a teacher!

Langwitches Blog

The website I chose to write about is the Langwitches Blog. I really found this blog site extremely interesting and insightful. A few things I enjoyed most was the fact that more and more children are becoming more familiar on podcasts, skyping, and blogs even at younger ages. When I was younger, I was cool because I knew how to work a VCR! Now children all over the work are learning to use skype, podcasts and blogs. Not only are they using them to communicate with family members (Long Distance Storytelling), but they are learning from them in their schools.
Using more technology as a learning tool is controversial. Some think it is more "up to date" and could intrigue students to learn to their fullest potential, while others think it is just something to replace the standard classroom including the teacher and the textbooks. I personally feel that technology is a great way for those hands on learners to understand the material they are learning in a better way. I don't feel that we should do away with textbooks completly, but I feel that they both can create a great learning environment for a child. Especially with all the technology we have and how it is flourishing all over the world, it would't hurt for a child to learn about it!

podcasts

I am going to be completly honest here. I really disliked this weeks assignments. First off, it took me forever to find the podcasts as well as watch them. I really don't know how I am going to write 4 paragraphs on this!
The main point of this class is to become technologically literate by the time you are done, this way when we are teachers, we will be successful at teaching our students the latest in technology. I agree that it is very important to understand technology. However, I didn't find much of this material this week to be helpful to me as a future educator other than trying to figure out how to open the podcasts. That task alone made me learn more than I already knew! So I guess thats a plus!
Before this weeks assignments I really wasn't too familiar with podcasts or what they were about. After watching them, I do think that they are pretty cool, but the podcasts themselves weren't too thrilling for me. I really didn't learn much out of them other than some tricks and tips on using a smartboard, as well as different approaches to use a podcast. Such as the next time I am in a drive-thru! I thought that was odd, but funny at the same time.
I found the "Smartboard Lessons Podcast" to be somewhat interesting. I really like how much you can do with a smartboard. I'm sure that if they had these when I was in school, I might just be a little bit smarter! I didn't like how much the people were talking about random stuff in the beginning though. It made it a little more difficult to pay attention to. But over all I found this podcast the most relevant to education.
I didn't enjoy the others so much, such as "This Week in Photography." I didn't find it at all relevant to education and to be honest I really didn't watch too much more of the podcasts. I really hate to be so negative about this weeks assignments but I really didn't enjoy it as much as I have been enjoying the other assignments this class has to offer. Hopefully I will learn a little more about podcasts which will make me enjoy them more.

Gary's Social Media Count

There really isnt much to say about this "Social Media Count" other than it is amazing how all of us rely heavily on social networking. Personally, I am always on my facebook, and I am addicted to my blackberry. I think if someone were to take these away from me, I would go insane. They are definatly convenient ways of communicating with others in your life. I really found this count interesting.

The Fischbowl

This article asks the question, "Is it Okay to be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher?" I feel that all educators should be familiar with the latest technology." After all, teachers have a direct impact on the students they teach. If teachers arn't familiar with technology, no knowledge will be passed on to our future leaders. Therefore, in his "list," I agree that all educators should have a basic level of technological capability.

"If a teacher today is not technologically literate - and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more - it's equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn't know how to read and write." I really found that quote to be interesting. If a child had that teacher, they wouldn't learn anything. Therefore I feel that all teachers should be somewhat familiar with basic technology, to make their students better people and more qualified for future jobs.

It's Not About the Technology

I really enjoyed this article by Kelly Hines. The article discusses how all of us as humans rely on technology in our everyday lives. It really makes me think about the technology that was popular when I was little, compared to the major advancements that have progressed since. For example, when I was born, people relied on their beepers to alert them when they needed to reach someone. Now, we have smart-phones, text messaging, facebook, myspace, and even skype.

The question,"What do we need to bring into the future?" is asked. As a future educator, I feel that I must always be aware of the latest technology. It would make my lessons to my students alot more interesting and fun for them to learn, being that they will also be up to speed on the latest technology. When I was younger, I always liked my computer classes alot more than my other classes that required a book. Therefore, as a teacher, I will never stop learning and make sure that my knowledge is passed on to my students.

A Vision of Students Today

I really enjoyed this video. It really spoke the truth about what college education is all about. I also really enjoyed the way this video was made. Having real students in the video displaying the actual messages of the video was really interesting. The message of this video was that a college education is all about the money. The degree you get at the end of your college career, is just a piece of paper and chances are, everything you learned throughout those few years, has vanished. The video mentions a few great (and true) points about the typical college student and their education. For example, some of the students said that by the time they graduate they will be 20,000 dollars in debt, they spend hundreds of dollars on books that they barely ever use, and mostly everything they learn is forgotten by the time they are done taking an exam on it. I can definatly agree and relate to those statements.

Ken Robinson Talks About Creativity

"Creativity is as important as literacy." This quote by Ken Robinson really caught my attention. His speech was about the importance of creativity in schoos and how we need to nurture creativity, rather than undermine it. I agree with what he says in this speech. I feel that creativity makes a student, regardless of age, unique. Ken Robinson also says that children are born artists. I also feel that statement is true, which makes it very important for our schools to embrace individualism and creativity.
The way I see it, if each child weren't allowed to express themselves, and needed to learn and do their assignments a certain, specific way, all students would be the same. If that were the case, we wouldn't have some of the best artists and musicians. I as a future educator, will embrace each child's individuality and creativity. I really enjoyed Ken Robinson's speech on creativity. I hope that alot of educators will take his advice and allow children to express themselves rather than mesh into the norm. Dare to be different!

Harness Your Student's Digital Smarts

I really enjoyed this video. What I really liked about this video was the teacher, as well as her teaching technique. The students in the classroom also looked like they were heavily involved and interested in what they were doing in class. In my opinion, the best way to learn, is to learn by using the latest technology. I recently observed a classroom for one of my education classes, and it was very behind in technology. There weren't any computers, let alone enough books for each student. Needless to say, hardly any of the students were interested or attentive in what was going on.
This teacher knew that most children love technology. She used that to encourage her students to learn. Using technology in school makes it fun and exciting to learn. I'm sure that most students would rather learn via computer rather than read a book. Another thing I admired was that by using technology to learn, the teacher is preparing her students for their future careers, being that nowadays most jobs involve some kind of technology. I would recommend this video to anyone but especially those who are going into teaching as a career. It offers some good insight on how to make learning fun for students.

Did You Know?

I really found the video, "Did You Know" very interesting. Some of the facts that the video mentioned, were unbelieveable. You would never even think about the facts they mentioned but when you actually saw them, you would be amazed! The video went over how advanced India and China are compared to the United States. It also mentioned certain facts such as how many babies were born during the duration of the video. I also liked the part of the video where they showed how long things like the ipod, facebook and the internet took to become popular.
This video really made me realize how advanced we are, but in comparison to India and China, were are incomparable. Not only do they have more people than we do in the U.S, but they are also more advanced when it comes to education. I really admire their education systems in China and I think we should be more like them. To sum things up, I really enjoyed this video and I will recommend it to anyone because it can relate to all of us!

Mr Winkle Wakes

"Mr. Winkle Wakes" was an interesting video about Mr. Winkle, who wakes up after 100 years and is fascinated with all the technological advances. He goes to a hospital, a business office, and a school. He is amazed by the machines he saw in the hospitals, that "breathed life" into those people. He was also amazed by the machines he saw in the business offices as well as all the noises he heard. When he got into the school, however, he was comforted that everything remained the same since he fell asleep. He saw a computer in the school that was collecting dust from not being used.
It really made me realize how we have advanced with technology over time. We have the most incredible machines from the ones in hospitals that keep people alive, to computers in which we are able to communicate with anyone, anywhere in the world. The video also made me realize how our schools really dont have many advances. Not all schools have computers or smart boards and I think that because the world is so much more advanced, our schools need to catch up so our future leaders of the world will be familiar with these new inventions.