second life!

I have actually heard alot about second life but this was the first that I had heard about the orientation areas that the video showed were offered in Second Life. I thought that it was really cool that the creators could make the scene look like London and be so realistic. I also thought that it was cool that people could find different orientations and choose what they wanted to learn about.

Week 12 Scribe Postfrom T4T Scribes (Shared Learning Blog)
by Sammy Jane
During week 12 we used classtime to get caught up on all of our assignments. We also used classtime to have another lesson over the Smart Notebook Software. I thought that the tools that he taught us how to use were awesome. I know that there was a math major in the classroom who really appreciated how you can download a scientific calculator to use with the board. I also really liked how he showed us how to resync the board. I am terrible with reading manuals so I am sure that if he hadn't showed us how to tap all of the dots that I would have never figured it out. I also really liked the highlighter tool. I would never make it through school without all my highlighters and now I can have one electronically! I think that everyone really appreciated Michael Mount coming and teach us how to use the IWB. I also think that everyone really appreciated the extra time to get last minute assignments done.
Samantha Settlemyre

Akitas

I really hope that my presentation didn't bore anyone but I really love these dogs. I hope that maybe with the information that i provided about the akitas will make more people want one. The one thing I wish I would've spent more time on was how to go about adopting an akita.

New GoogleSite!

Please check out my google site! I'm Quite proud of it!My google site is split into 3 pages. I have a home page, video page, and the page where my unit plan is imbedded. I didn't choose to use the classroom template for my page. I kept my site simple and sweet. I really like how my page turned out. I also really liked this activity itself.

Click here!

Screencast!

How to make an oridinary photo look like a portrait:

Blogging Buddies!

I visited and commented two sites today.
class 1

class 2

A bit late!

I really liked the Wizards of Apps video. I think that if it hadnt been animated like it was I would've never watched the whole thing.

I think that this video was important because it showed how to make the internet a safer place for our students so that we can use blogging buddies and different programs.

I think that the video also showed positive ways to sue the internet. It made us all aware that even though we all use myspace and facebook, they can still be hazardous.

I actually used PIPL to look myself up. I really liked the site. It showed how you could look up your name in different forms and what all would show up.

Constructive Comments

Today, I commented on Adam's and Amack's blogs.

Collaboration!!!

I liked Paula's video. When she talked about how the site was made because the student was so comfortable and confident in that topic, I thought that was great.

Parallel Play or Collaboration-Leveraging the Wiki Platform for High Quality Work | dotSUB

I do think that collaboration is very important in the classroom because it is a chance for us as the teachers to get to see how our students are grasping what we are trying to teach them.

I really just liked the fact that this gave the students a chance to show what they could do.

Sam's Must Think Alike :)

I really enjoyed Sam's video and her take on how to use technology.



Sam showed how she could read books off of her IPOD. I have alot of friends that do this. Some of them have even gotten their text books on their IPODs. Being a special education teacher, I think that this would be a great thing to encorporate in the classroom.

I personally, have never really messed with editing any videos but I do devote most of my time to photogrpahy and editing pictures so I think that is why this grabbed my attention the way it did.

In Your Spare Time

My survey was about what people like to do in their spare time, if they would ever make that into their careers, and ho much time a day they spend on their hobbies. I took three other surveys. One of them was about girl scout cookies, another was about travel, and the third was Adrian's.

This has actually been my favorite assignment thus far.
I actually got a few results back so I really like that it is so interactive.

Digital Citizenship

I thought that the Digital Citizenship: Digital Teenagers video was very informative.


I think that my most significant takeaway from this video is that these students are learning about things in more than a memorization kind of way. A lot of the topics that were covered could easily be bypassed by younger students but now that they have had to work for and on the knowledge, they may actually retain it.

I thought the video was great because I rememeber making presentations similar to these in high school. Even now, UCO is having a video contest about real life scenarios like these.

I would really like for my students to be excited about projects like these. I think that they would be more enjoyable than just listening to me lecture.

This week I commented on the Dear John VoiceThread which I loved me because I had also read the book. I also commented on a Storm Development VoiceThread.I thought that all of the photos that were used were perfect!

Project Based Learning.

I really liked the Project Learning video. I think it is a great way to get all of the students involved. I also think that project based learning is a great way to include all the differnt kinds of learning skills.




I think that my most significant take away from this video is that fact that with projects like these, kids aren't just memorizing random knowledge that may not remember long enough to use. These are hands on activities. I think that there is a whole other sense of accomplishment knowing that they buil that robot or that they planted those flowers, rather than saying, well, I read the passage, I'm done with that.

Like I said before, I really appreciate this video because I do learn best from hands on experiences. They're are so many dimensions to project learning that every student, no matter what learning style can play a part.

I really am hoping that when I have my own classroom, we will have many projects like these.

PANAMA! Voicethread Assignment

PANAMA!

This voicethread is about a vacation we took to Panama to see my mother's family.

These were for my Diigo account:
http://room18space.blogspot.com/ (comment can be found under dog pic.)

http://room18space.blogspot.com/ (comment can be found by the Pocket Pouch pic)

http://bellevue8.blogspot.com/2009/12/what-represents-new-zealand.html#comment-form
(new zealand game!)

What We’Re Doing To Stop The Violence

View more presentations from bgalva010.

Step by Step:Inclusion

I thought that this video was great because it demonstrates inclusion in the school system. I think that it is great that students with special needs are being mainstreamed. In the video, it shows another student helping Heather. I thought that was amazing. I also think that teachers still have to keep a helpful eye out and make sure that students like Heather are staying caught up and adjusting well to the mainstream enviroment.

Who I've Been Chatting To..

I've been trying to find other Special Education majors to chat with but I havent had alot of success so far. I did, however, find Special and Stephanie. I also found AMACK and Jamie on our Blogger site. I'm hoping that maybe we can keep in touch and help each other out with this class.

A Peek for a Week in a Kiwi Junior Classroom

Let's take a peek!
A Peek for a Week in a Kiwi Junior Classroom
http://dotsub.com/view/df775d26-5877-4829-83ed-6633dbdef58a


My biggest take away from this video was how she said that even 6 year olds could utilize the site. I thought it was neat whenever my 5 year old nephew came home from school telling us about the fisher price sites he got to play on that day. It still just concerns me that maybe younger kids are getting on computers too early. I'd like to take science outside and teach real life mathematical experiences.

I do like the idea of kids having kind of a syllabus to go by day by day like we do in school. Some kids like to work ahead and that could enable them a bit more.

This is just a random blog composed of all out boredom.I'm practicing hyperlinks and trying to see what I remember from high school. These are a couple of the bloggers that I have commented on:

< href="http://t4tscribes.blogspot.com/">

The Breakfast Club is my all time favorite movie..

Nafiza's Blogging Life

I thought that Nafiza's video "Digital Generation Project Youth Portrait: Nafiza"http://athena.uco.edu:8090/webct/urw/lc5116001.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct was quite intriguing. I, myself have a facebook, but that is about as far as I go with the internet social systems.



I think that my biggest take away from this video was the fact that Nafiza was so young yet, she was such a big leader in her organization. I think that it is awesome that some kids can step up like that and help out others in their community.

I think that this video shows how the internet can be utilized in so many different ways. I think that just about everyone has a facebook or a myspace these days but I hadn't really heard much about Second Life. I doubt I'll ever open an account but I think that I'd like to look into the site.

I hope that whenever I am a teacher than I have a student that steps up like Nafiza did. Sometimes, I think that some students would rather seek help from their peers than asking a teacher and the whole class hearing.

Blogging at all Ages

In "We Like Our Blogging Buddies: The Write Stuff With Blogging mentors" http://dotsub.com/view/0b9d4c2e-43ae-49f2-a7dd-753ba629ab75, the video showed how blogging can be a positive attribute in the classroom. I think it also helps that each child is getting one on one attention whereas in a classroom without the program, each child would get a minimal amount of attention.



My most significant take away from this video is that there a a way to guarantee that a student is getting all the attention possible in the reading and writing subjects. Some students start writing with habits that never get caught and then as they grow older, those habits like not using commas or not using proper punctuation become an even bigger problem. It is essential that students develop the proper habits early in life and carry them through their lives.

My only problem with using this much technology in class come from a personal experience that occurred when I was tutoring a special needs student last semester. The school that he attended used computers quite a bit in his classes. This meant that he wanted to do all of his work on a computer and that wasn't always an option. When using a computer wasn't an option, the work was often not completed. Another problem that we faced was that some programs have automatic spell checks and grammar checks. This meant that he wasn't going back and proofreading his work, which should have become a habit by now. So, when he was just writing in on notebook paper, he wasn't catching his mistakes and often many points were being deducted from his grade.

I would try to incorporate "Blogging Buddies" in my classroom but maybe at a minimum. I would also want to see plenty of physically written work as well. I do think that it is awesome that the program assures positive feedback from the mentors. I think that a little positive feedback can go a long way. It is too often that a student's work is nitpicked which can be discouraging.

An Age of Technology

My most significant takeaway from the "Cameron" video is that I am twice Cameron's age and he probably knows four times more about technology than I do. Even though, I consider myself to be quite speedy with technology, there are still some areas where my knowledge is lacking. I'm sure I could learn alot from him. I think that Cameron's video connects with my life because there are quite a few times where I find myself answering my parent's questions about their IPOD's or their computer. The part in the video where Cameron had actually made a video to help his teacher make her math lesson more interesting was great. I remember when I was in high school, we made several videos for my AP English class. It definately livened up the classroom. Those videos caught people's attention more than just reading the assigned book would. This is the kind of enviroment that I would like to use in my own classroom. I think it would be great for all the different kinds of learning styles. I also think that as teachers it is our responsibilities to help kids grow as technology does.

A Little Something About Myself.

My name is Samantha Settlemyre. I am a junior here at UCO and I am majoring in Special Education. I am the youngest of two children. My older sister is 26 and I will actually be 21 tomorrow =]. My older sister has two amazing children. My niece and nephew are pretty much the greatest kids ever. I moved here from Oktaha, Ok, which is about three hours away from Edmond. My family still lives there so i frequently visit. My parents are great! My mom is pretty much my best friend. I attended NSU in Tahlequah for two years before venturing to UCO. I can say without a doubt that I definately like UCO so much more than NSU. Music and photography are a couple of my greatest passions in life. I also love sushi, my friends, and family time. If you have any questions, just let me know!