Randy Pausch's last lecture was entitled, "Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. I was a little apprehensive about watching this lecture because of the length and the fact that it was a lecture, but i became instantly interested. Randy Pausch is an amazing man, professor, educator, and creator. His expectations for his students, projects, co-workers, and life in general were set extremely high and always achieved.
There were a couple of quotes throughout Randy Pausch's presentation that connected with me and my philosophy in some way or form. The first quote was that "you can get more out of not achieving a dream than you can if you do achieve it." I agree with this in someways. It is not always the accomplishment of achieving a goal but rather the journey you travel when attempting to accomplish it. I feel that they experiences and hurdles that you come across can better educate someone rather than just the opportunity to say, "I accomplished this."
The second quote in Randy Pausch's lecture that really touched me was, "Wait long enough and people will surprise you." This particular quote was actually stated by a man named John Snoddy whom had worked with Randy Pausch, and this quote inspired Randy as well. I feel that this quote is absolutely true. If you just act patient with students or other people in general, even though your expectations for that persons life or work are not set very high, if you are patient they just might surprise you. Sometimes people need to be pushed to their limit before they begin to realize their potential in life. They need someone to be willing to be patient for them in order for them to thrive as students, coworkers, peers in general.
There are a ton of things that Randy Pausch said in his last lecture and their are a ton of points and concepts that he touched base on that have really touched me or made me think in a different light. I encourage everyone to watch this lecture....you can definately connect with professor Pausch right off the bat. He seemed like an inspirational, motivational, and intelligent man and I am lucky to have watched this video. If you would like to see this inspiration for yourself, just click here.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
My Family Presentation
Here is my presentation about my family and the people who are very close and special to me! Let me know what you think!!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Fischbowl- Customer Service
I am so delighted to have been able to run across this particular blog. This whole scenario happens to me on a daily basis. I always have to call some company of some sort (especially with me working at a doctor's office and having to call insurance companies all day), and it seems like I spend more time talking to a machine or listening to annoying hold music more than an actual human being. It becomes so FRUSTRATING! I hate how everything these days that deals with customer service has to be somehow linked to a computer.
When did the idea to talk to a person over the phone become so ridiculous? When did hospitality and good phone manners just all of a sudden get thrown out of the window? I feel that a lot more people need to start taking notice of customer service and phone relations and start trying to change them. I have spend 5 hours on the phone talking to robots and people who seem not to have a clue what I am talking about and whom also don't try to even care about what my problem is. It is so aggravating and annoying that this suppose to be simple phone call in ones life has now become such an inconvenience. Please everyone check this out and tell me what you think...this particularly interests me due to the fact that it is basically the story of my life!! Please click here to see this video and read this blog on customer service.
When did the idea to talk to a person over the phone become so ridiculous? When did hospitality and good phone manners just all of a sudden get thrown out of the window? I feel that a lot more people need to start taking notice of customer service and phone relations and start trying to change them. I have spend 5 hours on the phone talking to robots and people who seem not to have a clue what I am talking about and whom also don't try to even care about what my problem is. It is so aggravating and annoying that this suppose to be simple phone call in ones life has now become such an inconvenience. Please everyone check this out and tell me what you think...this particularly interests me due to the fact that it is basically the story of my life!! Please click here to see this video and read this blog on customer service.
Peers Podcasts
The first pod cast I listened to was from a group of girls last fall semester of 2008. The title was, The Last Lecture of Randy Pausch: It's time for talk: Conversations with future teachers. Two students by the names of Kelsy and Crystal were the personalities featured on this podcast and I do have some critiques. I feel that it sounded like the girls were reading directly off of a script and that the broadcast did not obtain a natural feel to it. I also feel that one of the girls could have practiced their lines a little more due to the fact that she was "tripping" over her words and pausing a lot!
On a positive note, I feel that the two girls picked a great topic that gave them a lot of information to work with. They had a lot to talk about or "read" about. They used their time fully and effectively in order to discuss the life and lecture of Randy Pausch, the late professor. For the first pod cast the girls were featured on, they did a pretty adequate job.
The second pod cast I listened to was, My Classes Here at South: How is Technology used in them. In this podcast, the two personalities were Jill and Matt. I felt that this podcast was very well done. I felt that the two students hit on a lot of different, good, and accurate information concerning their topic. They focused on online classes, clickers, blogs, and etc. They filled their time well with very useful information.
They started off a little nervous it seemed like but they both remained very conversational with each other. Especially when compared to the first pod cast I listened to. They worked well together and seemed to vibe off of each other. It didn't seem like they overly practiced or that they read off of a script, they just became comfortable with their topic and each other and went from their. I hope to model this behavior when conducting my own pod cast in class coming up in the near future.
On a positive note, I feel that the two girls picked a great topic that gave them a lot of information to work with. They had a lot to talk about or "read" about. They used their time fully and effectively in order to discuss the life and lecture of Randy Pausch, the late professor. For the first pod cast the girls were featured on, they did a pretty adequate job.
The second pod cast I listened to was, My Classes Here at South: How is Technology used in them. In this podcast, the two personalities were Jill and Matt. I felt that this podcast was very well done. I felt that the two students hit on a lot of different, good, and accurate information concerning their topic. They focused on online classes, clickers, blogs, and etc. They filled their time well with very useful information.
They started off a little nervous it seemed like but they both remained very conversational with each other. Especially when compared to the first pod cast I listened to. They worked well together and seemed to vibe off of each other. It didn't seem like they overly practiced or that they read off of a script, they just became comfortable with their topic and each other and went from their. I hope to model this behavior when conducting my own pod cast in class coming up in the near future.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Is it okay to be a technology illiterate teacher reveiw
I completely and 100 % agree with these statements. I feel as though all teachers should have some sort of knowledge of how to use technology and how to teach technology. As the blog stated, " teachers should have a basic level of technological capability." In this day and age, the whole entire world revolves around technology in some form or another. Just imagine what our students will be encountering in the future when it comes to technology or better yet, imagine what our students children will be encountering in the future when it comes to technology. I also agree that the " I am just not good with computers or the old generation is not good with computers excuses needs to be thrown to the fish. Like the post goes on to state, (in paraphrasing), "personal computers have been made available for over 30 years now. " Computers are no longer like foreigners in the country anymore or a brand new invention. People who are so called not good with computers still, need to learn them and learn them quick and stop using excuses.
The blog also goes on to state that in order to teach it we have to do it, and this is right too. If we as teachers don't understand technology and how it is used or how it works, how can we expect our students to? Especially when we (the illiterate technology teachers), are the ones struggling to teach it to them. I feel as though we as a teaching society need to step our game up and get with the program, literally. We need to become extremely accustomed to the new day and age of technology because if we don't, then "they", have the right to pass us up as future educators.
The blog also goes on to state that in order to teach it we have to do it, and this is right too. If we as teachers don't understand technology and how it is used or how it works, how can we expect our students to? Especially when we (the illiterate technology teachers), are the ones struggling to teach it to them. I feel as though we as a teaching society need to step our game up and get with the program, literally. We need to become extremely accustomed to the new day and age of technology because if we don't, then "they", have the right to pass us up as future educators.
Podcasts
The first podcast I listened to was, Smart Board Lessons. Teachers from Naperville Central High School in Naperville, IL, discuss the benefits of using smart boards in the classroom. They list things such as, they are seamless, meaning they provide all types of multimedia pieces in only one piece of technology which in turn, provides the instructor and lesson with a lot of more time. Lesson archives are mentioned, stating that the smart boards provide memories of all lessons so that nothing is lost. That feature goes along with the next feature of being able to provide PDFs for students. If a student is absent then the instructor can PDF a lesson for a student so that they may still have access to the lesson that was taught. The smart boards also provide means of pod casting and classroom interaction with both the teacher and the students.
The next podcast I listened to was Kid cast. Dan Schmit hosted this sort of radio broadcast and discussed learning and teaching with pod casting. He talks about how he was shocked to discover that there were not as many student created pod casting content "out there" as he expected. He goes on to state that the content he did discover was mediocre and was just done for a project in which students were asked to create a podcast. He also provides his opinions and thoughts on technology and its applications.
The next podcast I exposed myself to was Mac break weekly. Alex Lindsey was one of the guests featured on this radio like production and he discussed computer companies such as Apple and the Apple phones. They provided news like commentary on their own opinions of certain technologies that are out in society today and what their dislikes and likes were.
Edtechtalk was another podcast I listened to and they discussed mainly Bill Gates recent presentation. Zen presentation was also discussed as well as 10 things you should know about face book privacy. In my opinion, the face book topic was a lot more well thought out and organized when broad casted over the podcast, because, when they discussed the Bill Gates presentation, it was more of their opinions and scatter brained thoughts.
I also listened to this week in photography podcast which was my least favorite. They talked about HDR pictures from what I could gather. The hosts on the show were saying things that were just way over my head and hard to grasp the concept of. I felt like they did not do well at relaying information to those listeners whom do not know what they were talking about. For example, it was more like doctors trying to talk to dogs, thinking that they were still talking to other doctors. They went on to discuss their personal opinions about HDR and photo rescue software.
The next podcast I listened to was Kid cast. Dan Schmit hosted this sort of radio broadcast and discussed learning and teaching with pod casting. He talks about how he was shocked to discover that there were not as many student created pod casting content "out there" as he expected. He goes on to state that the content he did discover was mediocre and was just done for a project in which students were asked to create a podcast. He also provides his opinions and thoughts on technology and its applications.
The next podcast I exposed myself to was Mac break weekly. Alex Lindsey was one of the guests featured on this radio like production and he discussed computer companies such as Apple and the Apple phones. They provided news like commentary on their own opinions of certain technologies that are out in society today and what their dislikes and likes were.
Edtechtalk was another podcast I listened to and they discussed mainly Bill Gates recent presentation. Zen presentation was also discussed as well as 10 things you should know about face book privacy. In my opinion, the face book topic was a lot more well thought out and organized when broad casted over the podcast, because, when they discussed the Bill Gates presentation, it was more of their opinions and scatter brained thoughts.
I also listened to this week in photography podcast which was my least favorite. They talked about HDR pictures from what I could gather. The hosts on the show were saying things that were just way over my head and hard to grasp the concept of. I felt like they did not do well at relaying information to those listeners whom do not know what they were talking about. For example, it was more like doctors trying to talk to dogs, thinking that they were still talking to other doctors. They went on to discuss their personal opinions about HDR and photo rescue software.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Nelson Central School Blog in New Zealand
This blog takes place at Nelson Central School in New Zealand. The teachers use the blog to update the community on the activities and lessons the students have been taking part in. The students get to upload pictures and videos of their learning experiences on the blog to share with the community. The blog is also used for advertisement purposes. The teacher informs the community and parents of concerts, shows, or any other event that the school or students will be taking part in.To Visit Nelson Central School Blog, click here.
Blog In Auckland, New Zealand
This blog is all the way in Auckland, New Zealand. The school is called Meadowbank, and they use blogs as well as wikis in the classroom. The blog is used to show others what all the students have been working on and doing throughout the year. The blog shows videos of presentations and discussions. The students get to write their stories on the blog in order to share them with everyone else. To visit the blog in Auckland , New Zealand, click here.
Mr. Crosby's Sixth Grade Blog in the U.S.
Mr. Crosby is a sixth grade teacher who has his classroom use the idea and concept of a blog. The students use the blog to communicate back and forth with Mr. Crosby about assignments, homework, and classroom discussions. Mr. Crosby also uses his blog to show the world and other classrooms how they use ibooks and other technology in the classroom. The blog is strictly used for educational purposes and is barely graced with photographs.Click Here to Visit Mr. Crosby's Class Blog Page.
Mrs. Perry's 4th grade blog
Mrs. Perry is a fourth grade teacher in the U.S and uses a classroom blog. Her students use the blog to comment on Mrs. Perry's assignments and their activities for the day. They use the blog for homework purposes....to share their ideas with one another and especially with Mrs. Perry...and to share their classroom events with society.Click Here to visit Mrs. Perry's Classroom Blog.
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