Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Journal 10 - 100 things that make me Happy

100 things that make me Happy!


  1. 1. smiles 
  2. 2. surfing
  3. 3. camping
  4. 4. the desert
  5. 5. stars
  6. 6.my girlfriend 
  7. 8. christmas
  8. 9. presents
  9. 10. my parents 
  10. 11. Joe 
  11. 12.Malina
  12. 13.Meghan
  13. 14.Kristen
  14. 15.Jennifer
  15. 16.Brianna
  16. 17.Winter Vacation
  17. 18. Dancing with My GF
  18. 19. Swing
  19. 20. sunsets
  20. 21. cliff
  21. 22. the ocean
  22. 23. sunsets while surfing
  23. 24. dolphins playing while laying on long board 
  24. 25. cookies
  25. 26. cake
  26. 27. candy
  27. 28. snowboarding
  28. 29. not failing this class
  29. 30. beer
  30. 31. reading a good book
  31. 32. watching marry poppins 
  32. 33. drawing 
  33. 34. painting
  34. 36. inking
  35. 37. mixed media art
  36. 38. oil paints 
  37. 39. my water colors 
  38. 40. framing my own work 
  39. 41. running 
  40. 42. jumping
  41. 43. pole vault practice
  42. 44. my team
  43. 45. making fun of bobby
  44. 46. getting paid to coach
  45. 47. hitting a good plant 
  46. 48. seeing my athlete succeed 
  47. 49. making it to nationals
  48. 50. getting a lifetime best at nationals.
  49. realizing that there is a number button next to the bullet button 
  50. laughing my but off when i realize that i had miscounted 
  51. the thought of completing this class and not having to retake it...
  52. maintaining my GPA 
  53. Graduating in Spring 
  54. becoming a teacher 
  55. helping others 
  56. realizing how much im loved by my family 
  57. Carl
  58. Tim
  59. Angela 
  60. Matt 
  61. getting into pointless contests with carl 
  62. winning
  63. Supermario Cart 
  64. 10 hours of movie marathons with carl 
  65. midnight movies premieres
  66. realizing how lucky i am in life
  67. maintaining a stable income
  68. Bri
  69. eating 
  70. drinking
  71. laughing
  72. crying from laughing too hard 
  73. playing soccer
  74. scoring goals 
  75. pickup games
  76. just kicking the ball around 
  77. riding my bike 
  78. breaking my bike because i rode it too hard 
  79. learning to fix my bike 
  80. my truck 
  81. picking my gf up at the airport tomorrow 
  82. kissing my gf
  83. back massages 
  84. learning how to be a good coach 
  85. picking up tips from other coaches 
  86. being told that one of my athletes is really doing well
  87. having my athlete PR 
  88. realizing that this list is almost over
  89. vacation in hawaii 
  90. traveling in Europe
  91. backpacking 
  92. cooking out doors 
  93. bonfires 
  94. shooting guns 
  95. yelling in the desert 
  96. having alone time 
  97. accepting myself 
  98. being unique 
  99. seeing number 99
  100. Finishing This list !!!!!

Journal 9 ( NetsT IV,III)

Associated Press, . (2010, December 6). Camera system connects homes to classrooms. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/12/05/391116msrecordedlessons_ap.html

Cameras are now being installed into certain classroom to allow students to view the class even if they are not actually in school. So for example if a student misses class due to a band competition that is taking place out of state the student can still view the class through a live online streaming video or through the use of an archived video if they are unavailable for the use of the live stream.  This is a pretty cool concept and has some amazing potential in making sure that students are kept up to date even if they are forced to miss large sections of class.  It has great application for students who become chronically ill and miss class for weeks at a time.

Q : How would teachers react if this new technology lends itself to more students becoming truant because they can simply view the class at a later date.
A: In my opinion I think that this is a great tool but should have a password that is needed in order to access the video feed otherwise students would be able to ditch class and just make it up at a later time. I think with some sort of prevention of students accessing it at leisure is needed.

Q: Are there any advantages for this in regards to the teachers?
A: This tool can also help teachers in case of planned absences. The teacher can simply record the lesson ahead of time and then have the substitute teacher replay the video feed to the class, this way the class will stay on track and not lose any time because of teacher absences.

Journal 8 (Nets-T V,III)

Manzo, K.K. (2010, January 8). Whiteboards' impact on teaching seen as uneven. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2010/01/08/02whiteboards.h03.html 
 
This article is discussing the use of Interactive white boards in the class room.  These interactive boards are supposedly the future of the class room but at 5,000 dollars a board they do not come cheap. Teachers have to apply to even be considered to have a interactive white board in their class and once they are given the ok for it they must then go through training before they can have the board in the classroom.  All of this cost money and resources to the schools and debates about if the boards are actually useful have been raging for some time. 

Q: Do the boards actually make for better learning?
A: I believe that the board will not actually make create better learning but it is most definitely a powerful tool to be used.  In the article there was a reflection of a study done on the effectiveness of the white board and ¼ of the teachers who used it were more effective without it… However that means that ¾ of the teachers were either more effective or just as effective with the board.  In order to be a successful teacher you need to be organized and engaging for students this facilitates learning best.  Teachers who were more successful with the board were already successful at running a class room and being engaging, so this tool just served to supplement their success even further.

Q: Why are these boards such a big deal?
A:  These Boards are becoming a big deal largely in part to their interactive abilities. Teachers are given a whole new dimension of possibilities when using these boards. Students can get up and trigger actions on the board and see their work come to life, successfully engaging the students peak interest in the lesson.

Journal 6 (NETS IV)

Associated Press,  (2010, November 29). Va. students' phones, laptops can be searched. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/11/25/389553vcuccinellistudentsearches_ap.html

Cyber bullying and sexting (sending sexual picture/text messages via text) has become an increasing problem as of late in schools all across the Nation.  In Virginia students’ laptops are now able to be seized and searched if students are suspected of breaking the rules and having explicit material on their phones and laptops.  This is a very delicate situation and cannot be taken lightly, school officials are trying to be as diplomatic as possible as many of them do not seem to clear on exactly what the law will actually allow them to do. Overall the whole subject is still very hairy, many school officials do not feel that it is appropriate to be doing these confiscations.

Q:           Is confiscating the students’ phones and lap tops a violation of their civil rights?   
 A:            In my opinion since the students themselves are not actually 18 they do not have the same rights as adults and within school grounds it is completely acceptable to confiscate and check laptops and phones. It would be similar to a parent taking their phone away from the student.

Q:           Are there better ways to stop cyber bullying and sexting than confiscating and searching student’s phones and lap tops?
A:            In my opinion I do not think there is a better option out there right now short of simply trying to teach the kids how to behave appropriately with their digital citizenship. But kids will be kids and they will always misbehave so it comes down to the people in charge of the schools to try to enforce proper behavior since it appears that the parents of the students are failing to do so.

Cross Word Puzzle Using Excel

This is an example of the cross word puzzle that i created using Microsoft Excel. on the separate sheets i have the clues for and on a third sheet i have the blank boxes. The neat thing about this cross word is that i could print it as a normal crossword puzzle or it could be done on the computer and the clues are interactive when you point on the boxes.

Cyber Safety Site (NETS-T IV, V,III)

this is my cyber safety site. I used this site to teach about internet safety and proper citation methods. any one interested in taking a look at it can visit it at this site here. Internet Safety Site!

Monday, December 13, 2010

Inspiration Assignment Nets T (I,II,V)

This is my inspiration. It maps out most of the assignment that i have done this semester and connects it with at least one of the Nets standards from ISTE's Web site.  The underlined NETS-T is a hyperlink that takes you to ISTE website.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

School 2.0 Wiki (Nets-T II,III,IV,V)

Here is a link to my Wiki Page I used a program called Be Funky to edit a picture i had. The program is online based and free to use, but you have to option to upgrade for a monthly fee. Here is a Link that will take you to my Wiki Page.
http://csusmwebtools.wetpaint.com/page/Be+Funky...again

And this is an example of the work i created. The first image is my original art piece the second is my edited version.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Classroom News Letter (NETS-T I,III,IV,V)

this is an example of a classroom newsletter, this letter will allow me to communicate with my students exactly what i will be going over in class and will have information relating to future assignments that will be due. My plan would be to have the directions to written assignments inside of the newsletter thus insuring that my students would in fact have to use the letter to know what to do with the assignment.