K-12 Blogging in the Classroom (U.S.)

While searching for K-12 blogs, I came across an elementary school in Nebraska where every teacher has a class blog. Willowdale Elementary is located in Omaha, NE. The students write something and give it to the teacher for her to post on the class blog. One of the blogs I enjoyed was Mrs. Brown's Kindergarten class. I found that their blog on making a gingerbread boy was very cute and creative. The class made a gingerbread man or "boy" as they call him. When the class took the cookie to be baked, they pretended that he ran away. They acted out the story and then went back to the classroom and ate the gingerbread "boy".The picture on the left of this page is the Kindergarten class making the gingerbread.The class also was reading a book called, Snowmen at Night. On the blog the children have summarized what the snowmen like to do. That was very cute as well.
The other class blog I looked at was Mrs. Sempek's class blog. She teaches fourth grade. One of her students wrote about how good it is to donate winter clothes because people need them. That is a very important life lesson and makes me feel good knowing that teachers are teaching children about giving to those in need. Another post from that class was about a food drive that the school had. These students realize how great it is to give to the needy. These blogs are also helpful to parents to let them know whats going on in the classroom.The photo on the right is of Mrs. Sempek's class collecting food for the food drive.

ACCESS

The Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide, also known as, ACCESS, is a distance learning program for high school students. This purpose of ACCESS is to provide these high school students with the knowledge and technology that they will need for their future. The ACCESS program “provides classroom courses and Alabama certified teachers via technology.” This program is also supposed to prepare these students with the skills that will prepare them for college.
The ACCESS program is web based and it also has real two way video and audio. This may help students feel more comfortable as far as questions go. I have taken online classes that have not had meeting times and have felt confused about something. Sure, I emailed the teacher but it would have helped if I had the tool of video, so I could ask the professor questions over video. People who don’t agree with the program may argue that students may not do as well if they don’t have the face to face conversation. This tool is the answer to that question. This first started in October 2005 as a test to see how it went.
With the program there are two different things that are required for the program, for the online (web –based courses) “schools must provide students with onsite access to computers with reliable internet sources”, and for IVC courses (Interactive Videoconferencing) “schools must provide a reliable Internet-connected computer access to an IVC equipped H.323 standard school lab.” The ACCESS distance learning program is used during the school day, and during the normal school hours of operation. This is a good thing because these students would not be distracted and wouldn’t have to change their normal school schedule.
There are many credited people/organizations that support distance learning, the governor, Alabama legislature, State Board of Education- State Superintendent of Education, Appalachian Regional Commission, Bell South Foundation, Access Task-Force/Executive Board K-16 Representatives, and Southern Regional Education Board. This program is changing the environment and the way children learn. Technology is our future. Our students and children will have a great education and be a part of the history of education.
• All information in this post was retrieved from: ACCESS WEBSITE

"Did You Know?" video review and thoughts

The video, “Did You Know?”, had some very interesting information to back up what it was presenting. It is a fact that many other people from other countries speak more than one language and that they think, analyze, create, and apply information that they gain. I think that we do need to prepare our students for the future. By using technology in the classroom we can all make a difference in these children’s lives for their own good and the good of their future. By introducing our students to different subjects we could impact the teachings for the future.
This video made me think about education in the public school system. When I was in school I remember the same way I was taught, my mother was taught in the 50’s and 60’s. In my opinion, if our world is changing, shouldn’t the way we teach in school change as well? Because technology is widely used, why not have more technology in the classroom? When I think about the basic skills I learned in elementary school, I think about the fact that I still use that information today. Reading, writing, and basic math skills are learned at an early age. If children are taught more “advanced” skills today they could very well retain that knowledge and it would stick with them. The information I have learned in my 3 ½ years of college, I only use computer skills and teaching skills. The other classes I took I don’t remember very much about them. I only remembered that information for the test and passing the class. Teaching useful skills that children will use for the rest of their lives is for the benefit of the child. Using technology in the classroom and teaching more advanced skills could have a better outcome in the lives of children. We must empower them because they are the future. In my next post, I will discuss ACCESS, which is the Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide.

Katelyn Post #3

ALEX stands for Alabama Learning Exchange. This website lets gives you information on the requirements of education for each grade level, lets teachers view lesson plans for different subjects, and lets you create a “workspace” for your information. There are eight different icons when you go to the ALEX website. There is a lesson plan icon that allows you to choose the grade level, and subject that you need a lesson plan for. This is a great way to find lesson plans that you know will be appropriate for your students. There is another icon for Professional Learning. This icon allows you to navigate to different websites that have information about Alabama school information. I was personally interested in this section because they had information on Special Education which is my major.
This website is particularly useful for students as well. Now that I know about this website I can use it to access information that I will need for my classes. There is also a search and a help icon which can come in handy when looking for information. I think that is website can be useful for parents as well. They can look up requirements for their child before they start school to gain knowledge on what their child will learn in the future. As a student and future teacher and parent I am looking forward to using this site.
Technology in the classroom is one of the great things about teaching and being a student in today’s society. It makes learning more convenient. Instead of having to go to the library to find books for a research paper/project, students can go online and find information. Another useful website is ACCESS. The Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide is an actual distance learning program for students. Students that are in high school can take classes online. I think that in today’s society with the amount of technology there is, why not have distance learning available? This site was created to improve students’ abilities. Some of the courses that are offered on the site are Geometry, Physics, Biology, and Algebra I. These classes may be difficult for students and they may want to take classes online with written explanations. I think that distance learning is a great thing.
These two sites were particularly helpful to me because I plan to be a teacher. I need to gain more knowledge as a student and ALEX had a good amount of information on Special Education and IEPs. I enjoyed reviewing the lesson plans and I know I will find then very useful as I continue in my education and when I start teaching. The ACCESS website was new to me. I had no idea that there was distance learning for high school age people. I think that it is wonderful that students can come online and take classes just like college students can. The technology that we have today is amazing and I look forward to using it in the future.

Katelyn Post #2

I’m twenty one years old. I’m from Maryland. I lived about 30 minutes from the Nation’s Capital, Washington D.C. I have lived there my whole life and miss the metropolitan area very much. I enjoy walking the streets of D.C. and people watch. I love to grab a cup of coffee when I am in the city. The coffee shop I prefer is a bar, restaurant, bookstore, and coffee shop all in one. It’s called Kramerbooks & Afterwords Café & Grill I love this place because it has everything I enjoy, food, books, coffee, and cocktails! They have a very wide variety of books.
I enjoy reading fiction. For the past few years I have been reading vampire novels. A few of my favorites are the Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer, The House of Night Series by P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast, and The Blue Bloods Series by Melissa de la Cruz. I have always been a big fan of reading. I grew up in a hous ehold of educators, so my parents read to my sister and I every night and now we are both book lovers.
You may be wondering why I came down south if I love the city so much? Well, I wanted to focus on school and get my B.A. in Special Education. My good friend lives down here and told me to apply to the University of South Alabama. I checked out the college online, applied, and was accepted. I drove 1,055 miles from my home in Maryland to check out the campus. I was very pleased with what I saw. I found an apartment and now I am in my second semester here at South Alabama.
I live alone in my apartment, which I do not mind. I have only made two friends here in Mobile. I love having friends and hanging out but I am a bit shy at times. I would definitely like to make some friends this semester. I feel like such a loner at times because it seems like a lot of people here know each other. One of my goals this semester is to not be so shy and to associate with people so I can make some friends.

Katelyn's First Post

My first post is about using this blogging website. The site seemed very simple to edit information, however, at a second glance I'm a bit overwhelmed about all the different things I can do to manage my blog. I'm very interested in learning how to use this site and take advantage of the technology that we are going to learn this semester.