C4K 2 Update

Ms. McGeady's post about 2k Reading Day was great! I love reading so I want the students in my class to find books they love to read. This event was a great idea of how to incorporate reading in the classroom and make it fun. I wish there had been some more student input in the post. It would have been cool to see what the students thought about reading day and hear what their favorite parts were.

C4T Steven Anderson's Blog

Mr. Anderson's blog was very tech-filled. I enjoyed reading about his opinions on Twitter and social networking. He also included some great links and videos in his posts. His advice on social networking and PLNs was great for me to read!

6/30/10 Comment #1

Hi, Mr. Anderson. I was assigned to read your blog for a Dr. Strange's class at the University of South Alabama. You can find my reactions to your blog and others here.

I have not yet begun using Twitter so your post brings up some things I haven't considered before. I think the easiest part for me to grasp is the "you never know the person sitting next to you." Growing up in a world with computers, I was always told to be careful who I talk to on the internet. Now, in my class, we are asked to form PLNs and start professional relationships through the computer. Its a little confusing but I'm getting the hang of the idea.

I think PLNs and Twitter accounts and blogging are all ways to reach even further than before to learn more about being a teacher. I've already learned so much through the internet about teaching so I think all these things are definitely on the plus side. The only reason I can think that people would devalue any of these social networks is that they are scared. New things always scare people and it will probably take a while for tweeting and networking to become more accepted but I think when it does, we will all benefit enormously.

Thanks for posting this! -Tyler Tuveson

Comment #2

Tyler Tuveson [Moderator] 6 minutes ago
Mr. Anderson, I've finally given in to Twitter and the credit for that goes to you! Halfway through the video on this post, I went to Twitter, signed up, and wrote my first tweet. My micro-computing sciences class for education majors, at the University of South Alabama, has been trying to get me to sign up for Twitter since the beginning of June. It's not that I'm doubtful it will help, I just haven't been convinced enough that it is so great. I'm still pulling my PLN together and I have heard all the benefits people have experienced through their PLNs. So, I'm still exploring the best way to have a PLN and what ways I can benefit from it personally. I hope it can help me connect with other teachers and I think it will give me so many resources as a new teacher. We shall see what happens! Thanks for convincing me! -Tyler Tuveson

Post 8

What I've Learned This Year by Mr. McClung

Mr. McClung's blog post "What I've Learned This Year" was great to read. I wish more teachers would write a review of their first years as teachers and give advice. As someone who (hopefully) will be teaching in a classroom in the next couple years, I'm open to any kind of advice that is out there.

Mr. McClung said a few things that I can already tell will be a problem for me when I am a teacher. Being flexible is the first one that I can identify with. In my life, I usually picture a way I want an event to go and then expect it to happen that way. I've learned that that is not what usually happens. This will be even more true when you have children involved in your plans.

In the fall, I hope to begin working a few days a week with Marietta Johnson's Organic School in Fairhope. I think this experience will benefit me so much, especially when it comes to being flexible. The organic school's whole philosophy of teaching is that you let the students explore what they want to learn. When I sat in on a couple classes last fall, it surprised me how much the students had discussion with each other and how eager they were to find out solutions to problems they created. Almost everything was led by the students and the teacher was just there to guide them. It was a really interesting experience and I can't wait to go back.

The last section of Mr. McClung's post said to "never stop learning." Teachers should always want to strive to become better teachers. This reminds me of a post I found through Twitter, A Plethora of Technology: The Graduation Speech we Should be Giving in September This post discussed what we should be telling students who are entering high school. In the end, don't teachers just want their students to want to learn? If my students are exploring their own questions and following up on lessons outside of class, I'll feel like I'm doing my job.

Post 7

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

I've seen Randy Pausch's Last Lecture before but I enjoyed watching it again. He accomplished so many things and it seemed like he worked hard to achieve everything he did.

He said his talk was about achieving your childhood dreams. He achieved almost every one of them his dreams. Everything he did in life taught him a lesson which he shared with all of his students. I think that's an important part of being a teacher. No matter what you've accomplished, you should use that to help your students accomplish even more.

His "head-fake" way of learning was interesting and I think very true. People learn best when they don't realize they are learning. Those lessons stick with them longer than the learning in a classroom. I think working in groups is very beneficial, especially considering how bright his students were. Sometimes people that smart can't interact with others that well. He taught them to work in groups with different people.

He credits all the people he worked with with the great things he did but he deserves so much credit. He wasn't the smartest or most creative but he worked so hard which is a great lesson to anyone. Mr. Pausch talked about brick walls getting in the way and he said something that really impacted me. He said that brick walls are there to keep out people who don't really want it. If you want something bad enough you will figure out a way to get around the wall.

Instructional Timeline: United States Presidents for the Last 50 Years

C4K1 Update

Quasia's Volcano Animation was really cool! I hope I can find out how she made the animation. I can't believe third graders are working on things they can post on blogs and share with people across the world! This makes me wish I had be able to do something like that in elementary school or even in high school!

6/24/10: Quasia wrote back to me! It's so neat talking to a student in a different country! Yay, Comments for Kids!

Comments for Kids Summary

Working on the comments for kids from schools around the world was so much fun! I think its great that students from our class are helping encourage young students in their posting blogs and making videos. They are learning to use technology at such a young age and it's really cool that they'll be able to look back at what they did when they were so young. By then, hopefully, they'll be even more technologically literate.

My
6/22/10

Quasia's Volcano Animation

Hi, Quasia! I liked your animation about volcanoes a lot! It looks like fun to make an animation. Now that I've watched yours, I want to learn how to do one too.

From, Tyler

6/22/10

Ms. McGeady's Reading Day Post

Hi! My name is Tyler and I am a student at the University of South Alabama majoring in Elementary Education. I love reading books and going to the library.

I’m definitely going to use this idea in my classroom one day. I think making reading fun is something teachers should concentrate more on. It looks like the students in your class really enjoyed your 2KM Reading Day.

I also liked how you added activities that weren’t completely focused on reading. What were the student’s favorite parts of Reading Day?

July 7th, 2010 at 11:25 AM

Mr. McClung, I read your blog as an assignment for Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama. I really liked reading about your salt dough project. Thanks for including the instructions so I can do something like this with my class one day when I’m a teacher. Have you ever tried putting food coloring in the dough? It would probably be messier but the maps would look cool. Maybe the students could wear gloves so their hands wouldn’t be colored.

I also liked how you made videos of your students explaining what they were making. It was neat to hear John and Jake tell you about their project.

You can find my blog here .

Thanks for sharing! -Tyler Tuveson

7/15/10

Hi, Cinema Owls! I'm a student at the University of South Alabama in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. This is a wonderful PSA. I love the message that you sent. Anyone you know could need blood at some point. Your video looks great and very professional. I hope the students involved have continued to make videos because they seem to be really great at it! Thanks for sharing this!

Personal Learning Network

Like I've said before my PLN is coming along slowly. I feel like once I start getting more responses from other educators I'll be more successful at making "meaningful connections." So far, the one thing I feel I've gained from my PLN is all the websites I've been exploring. Through Symbaloo I found a page with tons of education websites. Through those sites, I've read so much helpful stuff.

My main goal is to be able to find answers to my questions and to find more questions to ask. I love the way the whole teaching community works together from around the world. To me, this is what is so special about a PLN. The other great part is that it is always growing. Every time I sit down to look something up, I end up going a completely different direction but I always learn new things.

I'm following people on Twitter and on Blogger. Both these sites have been great. I think blogs are a wonderful way for educators to share what they are doing in their classrooms and how they are dealing with technology. For me, Twitter has been more helpful for quick solutions and updates. I don't know if I'll begin to use Twitter more once I start following more people but I think it is a great way to begin making connections.

Vocaroo

Blog 6

This is How We Dream

Richard Miller's presentation about using technology to write with multimedia was very interesting. One thing he said stuck out to me, "The limits and restrictions are largely ones we place on ourselves." To be fair, he did follow this up with the fact that he acknowledges some school do not have the resouces to get computers for their students to use. However, hopefully someday, every school will have the ability to teach their students how to use technology to collaborate and be creative.

There are a couple things that I think are so great about writing with multimedia. First of all, the way you can publish something instantly is really gratifying. Not only can you see what you wrote right away, but also, people can respond so much more quickly because they receive your thoughts instantaneously. This speeds up the whole process of collaborating. That is the second part I think is amazing. When you use the internet to collaborate, you get so many different ideas and your creativity can really be limitless.

Richard Miller used some great examples of how to write with multimedia in the classroom. As much as I love libraries, they are becoming less and less used as a place for books and more so a place for computers. If teachers can find a way to encourage their students to use technology to help them write reports or create projects and presentations, the generations in the future will be unstoppable.

The Networked Student

I can see how someone's first reaction may be that the teacher of a networked student has an easy time teaching because all the work is being done for him or her. However, once you finish this video by Wendy Drexler, you can see that the teacher of a networked student has a lot of work to do.

I think that as a teacher, you can tell your students that they need to have connections with people around the world, but to be an effective teacher, you have to show your students why this is beneficial to them. If your students can find something they want to learn more about, then this is a great way to do it. Guiding students in making their own personal learning networks is something that probably takes practive and patience on both the teacher's and the student's parts.

Wendy Drexler's blog is really interesting and she made me excited about starting a personal learning network so that I can teach my students how to network too. This video is the first thing that has gotten me excited about my PLN. It also made me rethink my opinion on the usefulness of Delicious. Now I can work on my PLN and feel like there is more of a purpose than an assignment for class.


Michael Welsch Video

I thought that Michael Welsch's video was so relevant to today and to where the future is leading. Everytime Mr. Welsch used an example from today, like American Idol or South Park, I thought, "Yeah! I know exactly what he is talking about!" I think knowing these things will help us as teachers. If we can look at ourselves and figure out why we have the attitudes we do, then maybe when we have students we can become better teachers.

As a side note, I want to add that I am constantly surprised by the numbers of how many videos are on YouTube or how much time we spend on the internet. You'd think after a while it wouldn't surprise me anymore.

Post 5

SMARTboards are Dumb vs. SMARTboards are Smart

The two articles I read about SMARTboards being a useless waste of technology and money surprised me. Of course, I've never taught in a classroom at all, so I don't know firsthand how helpful smartboards are but, I know teachers who use them and love them.

The critiques made some sense about there being other, cheaper ways of doing everything a smartboard does. Smartboards are very expensive and they take up a lot of room. I don't think these facts are enough to make smartboards completely evil.

I think if a teacher is not technologically literate, but is willing to use a smartboard, then the money is worth it. I think teachers are less intimidated by interactive boards and they may be more willing to use one in their classrooms. However, I can understand the argument that the teacher could do the same lessons on a regular whiteboard with an overhead projector. It seems like from what I read, in this review of the smartboard, the students enjoy using the smartboard more. That could be because it's something different from what they normally use, or because it really does help them learn lessons better than a normal whiteboard.

If a teacher can use the smartboard to his or her best ability and they continue to try to find new ways to teach with it, then I think it's worth the money spent. If a teacher only uses it as a replacement for a chalkboard, then I agree that smartboards are dumb.

This blog I found had a lot of helpful tips for using the smartboard.

EDM 310 for Dummies

This was a great video to watch. I wish the book were real!I liked their idea for the video and the way they presented it like an infomercial.



I like the approach of the commercial for any kind of how to succeed at South or in college. Right now, making an awareness video about the oil spill in the Gulf would actually be a good, helpful thing to do. Even if it didn't turn out very professional, I think it would be something that people would watch because it is an important issue right now.

The Giving Tree Video

My Personal Timeline

Post 4

Student Podcasts

It seems like a lot of preparation has to go into a podcast to make it good. The ones that seemed like they flowed the best were probably rehearsed. It was also funny how some of the kids were obviously reading from a script. It sounded better if there was a more conversational tone to the podcast.

I think the best podcasts I heard were the ones where people sounded comfortable talking but didn't speak too quickly or too softly. I imagine it would be hard to sound like you are at ease but have to remember to speak clearly at the same time.

Eagle's Nest

I liked the Eagle's Nest class radio. I loved how the teacher got the kids to research all of the things they used on their podcast and then they got to talk about it. The students seemed to really enjoy making the podcasts. I would love to use this technique in my classroom.

I couldn't believe that it was third graders who made these podcasts! I hope when they get older they'll be able to go back and listen to their third grade selves. I wonder how much the teacher helped them right their scripts. Or how much help they needed with the actual podcasts. When I was in sixth grade my science class made a news show and each student had a job, like director, or camera guy. It would be cool if every student got a chance to try something different so they can learn about all the different jobs.

Practical Principals

I thought the practical principal's podcasts was really great. It seemed really beneficial for other people to listen to but also it sounded like it started out as just being a great way to talk to another educator.

The two podcasters (is that what you call them?) seemed like they were very open to new technology. The podcast was really easy to listen to. It came off kind of as a radio show that was really relaxed and they didn't sound pressured for thing to say. It just sounded like they were having a conversation because they were!

The Education Podcast Network

I thought this website was a little hard to figure out. The first two I went to had the podcasts right there and you just had to click a button to hear a podcast. I ended up watching some video without sound because I couldn't figure out where I was going.

Once I figured out how to listen to a podcast, I liked it a lot. The guys were funny and sounded like they were having fun making the podcast. The podcast I listened to didn't have very good audio for the one guy. It sounded like the first guy had his microphone right next to him and the other guy was just in the background. I think it'd be important, when making a podcast, to make sure you can hear everyone.

Integrating ICT into the MFL classroom

This looked like a cool website that I will explore more later on. I wanted to watch the video about podcasting in the classroom but it wouldn't load for some reason.

The website looked like it could answer a lot of question I will probably have about podcasting now, and when I use it in my classroom. And I do plan on using it. It seems like such a good way to give students a reason to learn things and then put them to use. It also teaches them how to collaborate and they get to use technology!

Tyler's Travels Presentation

Screencasts and videos online

You can also find my presentation here.

Post 3

Scott McLeod

I was really amused by Scott McLeod's post Don't teach your kids this stuff. Please. I think the way it was written sparks something in the people who read it. I wish someone had said something like this to some of my teachers in high school.

I went to Scott McLeod's webpage and it is obvious he is really into anything that has to do with technology. I'd be curious to find out how much time he puts into managing all of his websites, videos, posts, and tweets. I think its interesting that he is the co-creator of the Did you Know? video. I'm also interested in finding out more about the Center of Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education, of which is he the director.

All of our assigned videos and posts have been about how we should use more technology in school more. When I first started reading this post, I thought it would be interesting to read a different opinion. Of course, halfway through it, I realized it was still the same side of the argument. I'd be interested in reading someone's blog really about how technology is not important in schools just to see how I would respond.

iSchool Initiative

Travis Allen's video about the iSchool has some great points about how a completely tech-savvy school could save schools and students lots of money. An iSchool would put everything at the fingertips of students, teachers, and parents.

I will be the first to admit that I can not wrap my mind around the iSchool initiative. It seems like there are a lot of pros but I can't imagine having everything in a school linked back to an iPod Touch or an iPad. I think just changing the way you access school assignments doesn't "fix" the nation's education problem. Maybe colleges would benefit from something like this more than high schools would. I don't think you can jump right into iSchool. If we can't even get teachers to teach more about technology, how are we supposed to get them to use iSchool? The video was interesting but a little overwhelming to me.

Lost Generation

I absolutely loved this video! The massive amount of work put into making this video is evident. Not only is the technique amazing but the message adds to it and pulls the whole video together.

I might sound like I'm gushing over this video but I was so impressed by the technique. When the writing started to reverse and the speaker started reading the lines backwards, I thought, "Wow! This is brilliant!"

Virtual Choir



Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir was really cool. At first I just thought it was good singing but then I realized what Jennifer Chamber's post said about the people having never met or performed together.

It looked like a lot of work went into editing this. I can't imagine ever being able to do something like that but it seems like a really cool thing to be able to do. If someone can create something like this, imagine what other things people can create on the internet together. I think that's the important part of what we should teach our students. Working together is a value that any teacher should instill in his or her students. Working together, on the internet, makes the possibilities seem limitless, if only you know how to use technology.

Comments for Teachers 1: Summary of Pagie Baggett's Blog

I loved reading Dr. Baggett's blog. Her posts were always interesting and led me to think about different issues in teaching. I plan to keep following it even thought the assignment is over.

Comment #1 6/9/10

Dr. Baggett,
I'm following your blog as an assignment for Dr. Strange's class I'll be summarizing my comments on your post at the end of June on my my blog
The video you posted brought up some good questions about how to motivate students. I think the best thing to do is to remember every student is different and will respond to different types of motivation.
I'm looking forward to reading more of your posts!

Tyler Tuveson

Comment #2 6/15/10

Hi, Dr. Baggett! You really have been posting a lot! Yay for you!

This research seems so crazy! I wonder why they keep trying the same thing over and over again if it's obviously not working. Like the article said, even if it does work, it won't be beneficial to our students in the long run because they are only learning to pass tests. I feel really sad and angry for these teachers that are having to be the guinea pigs for this research.

I understand that the goal of this is to encourage teachers to work harder and to reward teachers who do work hard at teaching but this is just not the answer.

I think if teachers were interested in money in the first place, they wouldn't have chosen teaching as a profession. So why try to, essentially, bribe them with their own salaries?

Comment #2b 6/15/10

One of my favorite parts of your class was when Mr. Trione came to visit! I hope you are able to continue having him come talk to classes. It was also really neat to see him talk to the first graders that came to hear him too!!

Your gift from Mr. Trione is so beautiful! I'm jealous!

Comment #3 6/22/10

Hi, Dr. Baggett!

Your post reminded me of a video we were assigned to watch and post about on creativity. The link to the video is here . My thoughts on the video are in my first post under The Importance of Creativity.

I've always loved taking art classes and while I don't feel completely uncreative, I think there is always room for more creativity. I agree that creative people are sometimes seen as unorganized and lacking discipline. However, I think this is a sad misconception.

I've heard teachers talk about the importance of creativity in the classroom. And I understand that some teachers may think that there isn't room for creativity in every subject. It may be hard to let your students be creative in math or social studies but, if they don't have the chance to express creativity, then how will they ever continue to become more creative?

Post 2

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today
A Vision of Students Today showed a lot of insight into a college student's life. Primarily because the facts and statistics were created by college students. While I'm sure at least one person exists, I couldn't give you the name of a student who hasn't Facebooked or texted during a class or instead of working on classwork. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen a friend's Facebook status say something along the lines of, "I'm on Facebook but I really should be writing a paper." While the internet is an amazing tool for finding and learning new information, it is also a great tool for procrastination. I think part of what I was impacted by the most in this video, was the amount of hours/work done for school compared to non-school related work.
I'm interested in where the student's facts came from. I understand that they "surveyed themselves" but I would have liked more information about how that surveying worked. Its interesting to me that so many people collaborated on a Google Document and came up with these facts about students today.
My favorite part was where they added up the amount of time each day students spend doing something and it equals more than 24 hours a day. I have felt, on more than one occasion, that there needed to be more hours in the day to finish everything I needed to do.
The only thing I might add to the video was a better transition from talking about how students spend their time to statistics on student debt and not having jobs after graduation. The didn't say where those statistics came from. But, I do think it worked well as an ending to the video because it shows that we spend all this time in school and it doesn't seem to get us very far in the real world after graduation.
My biggest question is how are teachers supposed to prepare students for things the teachers themselves aren't prepared for? I hope this class will find a way to answer that. So far, most of the videos I've seen have been trying to convince me (and have done so successfully) that there is a problem in education today. Where are the videos that tell you how to fix it?

Kelly Hines Post
In Kelly Hines's post Its Not About the Technology she says that students don't need everything technological to learn what they need to in the 21st century. Immediately this made me feel better about not being technologically literate. While I still think it is immensely important to be tech-savvy to be a teacher, I think it is more important to being with the right attitude about teaching. You could take the most technologically literate teacher in the world and he or she may not be able to teach as well as a teacher who doesn't know how to use Skype or Twitter,but is willing to learn.
Just like Kelly Hines,I've heard teachers say that if they've taught it and the students don't understand it,its not the teacher's fault.Two years ago I had a math teacher who said since all of the students in our class didn't understand something,they should get outside help.I think it's a sign that if everyone in your class doesn't get what you're trying to teach them,the teacher is the one who is at fault. Just because you stand in front of a class and teach all day, doesn't mean your students have learned anything.
While I feel like EDM 310 is going to help me in ways I don't even understand yet,it would be nothing if I wasn't getting the same experience out of other education classes.

Karl Fisch Post

In Karl Fisch's post Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?, Fisch says that its not okay for anyone to act like they are proud of the fact that they "don't get computers." I wouldn't say I've ever heard anyone but proud of that fact but I have heard people sound content with it. I think the first problem is that teachers should never be content with, or proud of, not knowing something. No matter what the subject is, I believe people, teachers especially, should always strive to learn more.
I liked the part of the post where Fisch said, "In order to teach it, we have to do it." I think that's a good quote to remember about any subject we teach. Technology is just another subject that is becoming more and more important with each passing year. If teachers aren't willing to try to embrace it, maybe they should be reevaluated.

Gary's Social Media Count

I really find Gary's Social Media Count interesting! Even while I'm watching the numbers increase, its hard for me to fathom what it all means. At the rate these numbers grow, I can't even imagine what it will look like a year and a half from now, when I graduate. Basically this shows me, that keeping up with technology is almost a full-time job in itself. The students I teach will have been way more exposed to technology and computers. I want to be able to manage to teach them something new even when they think they know everything.

Post 1

Did You Know? Video

The first version of the Did You Know video that I saw was a different version than this one by Karl Fisch. Most of the information was the same but just like last time, the part that impacted me most was the rate at which technology is expected to grow in the next few years. The fact that said "the amount of technical information is doubling every two years" is hard to imagine. It seems like no one could ever truly be technologically literate without spending all day everyday learning everything there is to know about technology. The other fact about computers eventually being more intelligent than the human race is scary. If computers are capable of being more intelligent, how will we ever learn everything we're supposed to know about them?

I think the most important thing, as future teachers, that we have to do, is keep an open mind to technology. Maybe countries like China and India are passing Americans in intelligence are because they are more open to new technology. I agree that technologically literate means different things in different situations. I also think that while teachers may not always be technologically literate, they should be aware that there is always more to learn. If we have to teach our students to be prepared for technology that isn't even invented yet, shouldn't we be able to do the same thing?

Mr. Winkle Wakes Video

I thought the video Mr. Winkle Wakes made a good point. It was interesting to take the point of view of someone who has been asleep for 100 years. I think this showed that teachers and schools are not keeping up with technology the way they should. It makes me wonder where the people who work with advanced technology learned how to do their jobs.

Part of me feels like schools aren't given enough funds to keep up with technology so some of it isn't their fault. However, teachers should always try to find creative ways to expose their students to new things so that they'll at least be prepared for how to handle something new.

When I work on my computer, I just click around until I get where I want to be. When my dad is trying to help me, we get frustrated with each other because he wants to read everything and weigh each option to find the next step. I feel like he takes too long but he says this happens because when it comes to technology, my generation is fearless. I don't think that is entirely true but I am definitely more comfortable with technology than my parents are.

There is no way to teach students about something that hasn't been invented yet. Once again, I believe that the best thing a teacher can do, is prepare his or her students to be able to learn how to handle any new technology. The more comfortable the teacher is with learning new things, the better the students will feel about taking on technology that hasn't been invented yet!

The Importance of Creativity

"Creativity is as important, in education, as literacy." As soon as I heard this from Sir Ken Robinson in his talk about The Importance of Creativity I felt immediately like it is something I should keep in mind for the rest of my life. I love the idea that art and dance and music are all held with the same regard as math and science. Because really, shouldn't children who flourish in reading, writing, and arithmetic be thought of as just as capable as students who succeed in more creative areas of school.

I found this video very entertaining and also thought it was a wonderful argument for the fact that teachers should nurture students' creative inclinations instead of forcing them to fit into society's view of a "good student." Of course, this is always easier said than done. It takes a special kind of teacher to bring out the strengths in every student he or she comes across. For some kids, it is easy to succeed in math and art. For others, it isn't as easy to find a part of school they can do well in and enjoy.

The only thing I would have liked to see included in this presentation is a way to help teachers find a better way to help kids. I was completely convinced that Sir Ken Robinson was right about everything he said concerning creativity in schools but I need some tips on how to be that kind of teacher!

Harness Your Students' Digital Faults

I think Vicki Davis is an excellent example of a teacher I would consider technologically literate. Even though she doesn't know everything about technology, she is open to learning new things. Her classroom seemed like a place where students could easily have access to learning how to be comfortable with using new technology. I liked that she said her students actually taught her something new. She doesn't expect her students to know everything. She doesn't even expect herself to know everything. An effective teacher is one who can admit there is always more to learn.

The edutopia website seemed like it had some great tips on how to incorporate technology into everyday classroom activities. My mom is a teacher. So, every time I learn something new for a class, I share it with her in hopes of helping her to become a more technologically literate teacher. Plus, I want to see what works with her students and what doesn't. Its amazing what teachers can produce when they work together and share new teaching techniques with each other. Some of the things I've learned in my education classes that I've shared with my mom, she's turned around and shared with the teachers at her school. I hope that in having access to teachers around the world, we can open our minds to learning different ways to enable our students to be technologically literate as well.