My Presentation

New Handouts

Ms. Averitt has distributed some interesting articles on RSS Feeds and Podcasting. I have added them to the list of handouts on the right but here are links anyway!
Ford Motor Company

BLOGS BY TEACHERS

This website was made by a teacher who teaches 2nd grade. When you first enter the blog she says that people on this could either be really old or really young bloggers, and that is because the students use it as well. She lets the students blog and write different things sort of like their projects. She also takes many pictures so everyone can see what the class is learning what to do. I think that it is great that Mrs Kristin Heng-Ling Sok Khin is letting such young kids use a blog because first they could think it is cool to see their work online. Also, at the same time they are learning how to use technology at such a young age and that really is something that students need to learn young now. This blog was a clever idea with many bright colors and fun artifacts, to make the blog something fun to look at and read.

Another Blog that i found was on blogger.com and the name of it was Ms. Frizzle, a spin off of the teacher from the Magic School Bus. She used a blog just to talk about what she was doing with her students. One thing that i thought was really neat was how she had end of the year reflections from her students on their experiences in her science class. One thing that i thought was weird though was that she wanted to keep her school, students, and herself anonymous. Usually teachers blog because they want to share what they are doing in their classroom with other teachers, parents, and the students. By making the blog author unknown, we still can learn everything, just without knowing who is doing it, other than knowing she teaches in the Bronx. I feel that if a blog is published then information should be there as well, just not maybe very specific. It was very cool the difference of the two blogs I found, both with the same purpose.

DID YOU KNOW?

When i first sat down to watch this video, i just thought that it would be something else about the Alabama school system, but then it was something very touching that was completely unexpected. I thought that the numbers of the statistics is amazing and it shows how much people hand the world are changing. A couple of statistics that really shocked me was that 1 out of 8 couples that get married met online. I thought that even though those places were out there, I did not realize how many people participated in that. I also thought that is was astounding that kids that are 4 years old know how to work a computer. Another fact that was cool was that if Myspace was a country it would be the 8th largest in the world. There were so many of these facts that really put things in perspective.

I really think that this presentation is very important for any person to watch, but especially any person who has any influence on any child's life. Technology is making a drastic difference on everyone in the world and it is so weird, and something that no one really ever expected. Many children need to learn important things about technology because that will be their future, and by watching that movie, it brings alot to the table. I thought that it was really funny that they played on the initial "BC" by saying "BG" for Before Google, because that is so true. I cannot remember a time when I did not have Google, let alone a computer. I believe that any educator needs to realize about all of the growth that is happening and this video was a great way to gain someones attention.

ACCESS

The point of ACCESS is that "the State of Alabama will provide equal access to high quality instruction to improve student achievement through distance learning opportunities." Alabama is one of the lower ranked states in the country when it comes to academics, and they really are looking to provide new things for their students. ACCESS is fundamentally going to help out because people can access it from anywhere and they will have references from many different places, not just specifically their district, city, or state. One problem with ACCESS however is that many of the districts are lower income and they do not have the funds, because the base of ACCESS is new technology. If that technology is not accessible, then how will the students learn. Even though this is a slight set back, the overall plan of ACCESS is ingenious. Students who are above average will finally have their chance to be challenged, while the other students are still learning everything they need to know also at a high level.

I believe that ACCESS is just one of the many new building blocks of Alabama state education. In the past, the state has not had the best reputation for public education, but with the new programs like ALEX and ACCESS, they are making huge strides. Coming from Illinois, Alabama's public education system was a lot different, because certain states were ahead of the times. With new improvements, Alabama is slowly closing the gap, which is a positive for everyone in the state. I thought the great thing about ACCESS was that it really looks like it will help the AP students and really challenge them, and I feel like that was not as much as of a priority before. Also, as said above, it just doesn't focus on the "gifted" students, because it has something for everyone. By bringing different settings, places, and resources it will really challenge the students and help them have a better learning experience.

ALEX

ALEX or Alabama Learning Exchange is a new concept that the state has come up with to help students with their academics. Not only is it focusing on the students but also the teachers, administrators, and parents that are in students lives daily. When they all succeed together that is when the states scores will improve and it will do better in national standings. ALEX has courses of studies for every subject, and it also shows the improvements from different years. There are courses of studies from the years 1999, 2003, and 2007 therefore we can see the benchmarks the state is making to attain their goal. ALEX is really just another thing that Alabama can do to slowly improve the education. Other than courses of studies on the website their are also web links, lesson plans, and a special "personal web page" on the site. These are just more resources that can help teachers. In the past 10 years the state has been making huge strides and ALEX is slowly helping the process.

Also on the ALEX webpage, there is a professional learning link. There is a page that says Alabama Learning Development and they talk about different programs professionals can be involved in to help. For example, "The Alabama Leadership Academy (ALA) was established to increase the achievement of all students in Alabama by supporting the growth and development of superintendents, principals, and teachers as instructional leaders." The Learning Development really helps the schools be more efficient, because they are taking care of the administrators and teachers first, because those are the people who take care and teach the students. The Alabama Learning Exchange has really started to have a large impact on the progression of Alabama school systems with the help of different links and pages and different developmental programs. It will slowly help everyone in the long run.

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Mi Vida

Hi! My name is Taylor Irvin, and I play volleyball here at South. I was an elementary education major, but then i switched over to physical education because what I really want to be is an Athletic Director. I am from Chicago, and I have lived there my whole life but I moved down here because of the chance to play Division I athletics. That was hard to do because it is about fourteen hours away and I am very close to my family, but it was something I knew that I should do because not many people can have that accomplishment. I love to read, lay out, and really just be with my friends. My true love however is Notre Dame football. I have been a huge fan since I was in 7th grade. Its great down here in the south, and I did not know that I would love Alabama this much when I first came down here, however, I am not sure how I feel about all the Alabama and Auburn fans (just kidding)! Have a good day!

Hey!!!

Hey everyone!!! This is my blog i hope you really enjoy reading everything! Have a fabulous day!!!