Stanford "Minds" Video

In this video, a professor of psychology talks about how students mindsets, either fixed or growth, affect their performance in academics. She tells of a study that the University performed where half of the students were given tips for success and the other half were given those tips and growth mindset speeches. The half of the study that were given both of the skills performed at a higher level and had more confidence.

The professor stated that by telling people that their mind is a muscle and the more that they use it the more that it will grow, people have a greater chance of trying new things and believing in themselves. With a fixed mindset, people get discouraged because they are too worried about not being good at something to go out and try the new experience.

As a teacher, I need to keep this in mind because I want my students as well as myself to be of the growth mindset. With this mindset, my students will go on to further their education with the confidence in themselves to succeed. This will help a people and should be taught at early ages in schools.

WGBH Video

I found a video in the K-5 section. The name of the video was "A Night in the Coral Reef". This video outlined which sea creatures came out at night and what they did during the night. The plant eating fish are out in the reef only during the day, they retreat to their hiding spots inside the reef at nightfall to hide and sleep. The flesh eating fish and creatures come out to prey at night. They stalk the reef looking for sleeping fish or troll the sea bed looking for food. The sea polyps open their receptors to catch passing plankton as it floats through the water. An octopus is also show searching for food with its tentacles. The sea urchin skims the sea bed at a slow pace, eating as it goes.

In my Kindergarten class, my teacher installed a touch tank where we could learn and feel the sea creatures like the sea anemone and the sea urchin. This is where I first learned to love and be fascinated with the sea. My Kindergarten teacher is the reason that I want to teach at the Kindergarten level. I found this video to be a great asset in my classroom. I want my students to be able to see animals that they may have never seen before in their own environment.

I will use this video and others like it to create a fun, educational setting for my kids to learn. I hope that using this new technology will incorporate traditional teaching methods with cutting edge methods so that the students will be taught and stimulated to the highest level. I want to instill the love of learning into my students lives at an early age, and I think that videos like this one will help me to accomplish this.

Edutopia Videos

The first video that I watched was "The Edible Schoolyard". This is a program that teaches middle school students where their food comes from, how to prepare it, and how a garden relates to the other subjects that they learn about. The children plant the seeds, tend the garden, pick the produces fruits and veggies, then go into the classroom and learn how to prepare and eat these foods. The program also allows teachers to teach math and science skills in a new way which allows all students the opportunity to excel.

The second video that I watched was "A Night in the Global Village". This is a program where children are taken to a 5 acre ranch, divided into groups and have to spend the night in an impoverished situation in one of the various structures that depict a living space for people around the world. Each group is given a meager amount of supplies but they must barter with the other groups in order to be able to cook their meal. The next morning, there are chores to be done and a time for reflection on what they experienced the night before.

I found the first concept fascinating. I would love to be able to plant a small garden outside of my classroom and get the children involved in the cultivating process. This would be an opportunity for growth and new concepts to be brought forth as well as teaching them the values of working, tending, and preparing your food. The second video was very interesting. I would also love to take a group of children to the ranch and have them experience what its like to be impoverished. I feel that kids today don't know what people around the world go through on a daily basis and this would be a great way to let them glimpse into these people's world. I would use this video in my classroom so that the students can see what these children went through even if we could not go to the ranch ourselves.

Alabama Virtual Library

"The Alabama Virtual Library provides all students, teachers, and citizens of the State of Alabama with online access to essential library and information resources. It is primarily a group of online databases that have magazine, journal, and newspaper articles for research. Through the AVL, an equitable core of information sources are available to every student and citizen in Alabama, raising the level of excellence in schools and communities across the state." You can view the AVL from home once you go to your Public Library branch and get a user name and password.

The AVL site offers several tabs located on the left side of the page that takes you to helpful links such as frequently asked questions (FAQ), news, training, support, campus, home, and publications. These tabs contain pertinent information that helps the user better understand the AVL. Under the campus tab, you can look up a book or other material from various different methods. You can look it up by an age group, a topic, look for a magazine, or from a particular database. These tools help to you to locate your text in the most efficient manner possible.

I will use this tool in my classroom. I believe that it will help my students to be able to access books and other materials that the library has to offer from the classroom or their home computer. This will cut down on the time they have to spend looking for a book because they will have done the research on the AVL. I will also find this site helpful myself. I will be able to look up texts for class and research them more efficiently.

Accessibility For All Presentation

I found Mr. Sullivan's presentation fascinating. He was well versed, knowledgeable, and brought props relating to the subject so that we could better understand the topic at hand. Growing up in and around the deaf community, I learned that these disabilities are not disabilities at all, unless we make them so. Deaf and blind people can do all the things that seeing and hearing people can, just with a little modification.

I will take this knowledge from the presentation to my classrooms by helping my students to see how their classmates with disabilities can contribute to the class and even teach them a thing or two. I also learned that I need to make my websites and pages that I produce accessible to all. I learned how to do that so I will continue to set a good example for my classroom students and teach them how to as well.

Podcasts

The first podcast that I listened to was KidCast. The host of this podcast believes that questions should be at the center of student pocasts. He says that they build an extended conversation and help develop a student's sense of inquiry. He suggests playing the Question Game where you have to hold a conversation that is all questions. Its like brainstorming with questions.

The second podcast that I listened to was SmartBoard Lessons Podcast. I found the music at the introduction and the conclusion to be catchy. The two hosts seemed to relate well to one another and talk in conversational tones. I could tell that they had been doing podcasts together for a long time. I did find the fact that they talked about personal stuff a bit annoying because they veered off of the topic of their podcast a lot. Other than that, I enjoyed the program.

The third podcast that I listened to was ConnectLearning. I like the music in this one as well. I think music adds to the podcast because it grabs my attention and lets me know that they are about to start the program. In this episode, the host was talking to Ann Krembs who is a librarian from India who wants to make an actual library like in the schools on the world wide web by making it virtual. I like this idea since we are moving more and more into a web based society.

The fourth podcast that I listened to was MacBreak Weekly. This seemed to me more like talk radio. I do not enjoy talk radio. The hosts discussed news and information pertaining to Macintosh computers and all Apple in general. The hosts were all well educated on their topics because they are all Apple users and they give constant feedback on the newest products and services that they try. In this podcast, they discussed Apple stocks, news about the iPhone developer, and software news, to name a couple.

I found these podcasts to be helpful in learning how to do a successful podcast. I gained some insight and tips on what to do during my podcast and what to look out for as well.

Fischbowl Best of 2007

I found this article to be enlightening. I agree to an extent. I find that yes, teachers should be technology literate. At the same time, I also believe that teachers have a lot on their plates and should not be afraid to ask questions if they don't pick up on the new technology as quickly as the technology professional would like them to. I don't believe that teachers try to cop out of learning new technology on purpose, they just also have to worry about their curriculum, as well as how to implement technology in their classrooms.

I believe that as we progress further into this 21st century, we will see technology become a more integral part of the classroom than it is now. I have learned how blogs can be helpful to children as young as six. I never would have thought to use this blogging technology with children that young. I hope to continue to learn more about how technology can be implemented in my classroom of Kindergartners so that they will be adept for the challenges they will face in their lives.

Fischbowl Did You Know 2.0

I found this video amazing. I have never thought about how much technology has in the past and continues to affect our lives on a daily basis. I thought it was really interesting to find out that 100% of college graduates from India spoke English and that China will be the number one English speaking country in the next few years. The presentation also said that most four year olds had used a computer and the Internet. That just amazes me! I liked how the video said that they were trying to place laptops in the hands of needy children around the world. I think this is a great idea so that all children will have the ability to succeed. Technology is moving and progressing so fast! I cant believe that soon a laptop will have more information than even we do as humans. I would love to share this video with others so that we can talk and learn even more about technology and how it can help us in the classroom.