Seven mistakes, seven brilliant things, and rules by education innovation.

The first statement I took from Seven Stupid Teachers Make with Technology is teachers using their class computers like they do their home computers. The reason this is a mistake is teachers spend more time looking and sending jokes rather than use it to enhance classroom lessons. Nothing of educational importance comes with this, and it should be left at the house. The other statement I thought was important was teachers thinking technology will go away. Not only will technology not go away, but it will continue to play a much larger role in schools as each year passes.

The first important concept I got from Seven Brilliant Things Teachers do With Technology is creatively finding and using resources. Teachers are continuing and need to continue to find ways to bring technology in the classroom. Whether it be through their own finances or grants, it is important to keep our students ahead of the curve. Sometimes a teacher has to sacrifice more than they bargained for. The other concept I took was learning to be a co-learner. This is very important to me because students do not respond well to being lectured all class. It is much better for the students to be a part of the teaching process. We should be teaching them while they should also be teaching us.

In New Classroom rules, the first rule I thought was important was completing all assignments neatly and on time and submit on line or post to your blog or wiki, and share it with your followers on Twitter. The first reason this is a great rule because completing your work on time would be much better than spending hours catching up on your blogs like I have done. The other reason it is important is sharing your work on Twitter and posting blogs will allow others to see your work and comment on it. They can learn from your work and you can learn from them. The other rule was know what you are supposed to be learning, why, and what you will do with the knowledge. This is obviously important because without knowing what you are suppose to be learning on why you are suppose to be learning, then what can you actually learn?

At the Teacher's Desk

At the Teacher's Desk is a great page that consists of numerous blogs. For example, the teacher makes a blog about a project to raise awareness to lead-contaminated soil in major U.S. cities. The blog leads to several other schools participating in the event. Blogs such as this can be very helpful because it can cause a movement between many schools. This movement would not have been possible without blogging.

Another great thing about the blog is that they gave you many links in each one. The very first blog talks about one of William Kist's book, The Socially Networked Classroom. They give you a link to find other William Kist books and they also give you a link to where you can buy the book they are talking about.

They also used the blog to discuss and show a Skype session between an ESOL class and a Spanish class went, and improvements they could make the next time they Skype each other. In this case, blogging was beneficial because they could see their Skype session and learn ways to improve it. They could also post the session for all the classes to see.

At the Teacher's Desk was an extremely well put-together blog. It had everything you could want in a professional blog. Lins, pictures, and well-informed blogs. It is obvious by this blog, that great interaction comes with it.

Michael Wesch video

Michael Wesch's video made some great points. At the front of the video he showed the picture of his classroom and how disengaged and bored they seemed. Then he showed the picture of the American Idol auditions and how excited everyone seemed to be. This is a problem many teachers face it seems. Classrooms full of students who are not really that interested in participating in class, just there to get a passing grade. He also spoke of how people seem to feel insignificant in most places. In a big city people feel disconnected because there are so many people. In the suburbs people feel disconnected because they are away from everything and can only feel connected through television. This, he explains, is why people are so excited to be at American Idol. They have a chance to be on television for the world to see. There's not that feeling of being lost. They feel this is their chance to shine.

Teachers can take note of this in their classrooms. Classes should be less about the teacher standing up lecturing the entire time, and more about students and what they can do to make the classroom more fulfilling. This is why blogging and commenting is so crucial. With blogs, students can communicate with other students and teachers from around the world. Many classes have an isolation feel to them. It's just you, your classmates, and a teacher. Blogging takes this element out.

Wesch also spoke of the new generation and how "whatever" has translated over time. Today, the term "whatever" is an expression of each individual being the most important person on the planet. They don't do what's best for the class or society. They do what they think is best for them. As a future teacher, this will affect the classroom. Teachers should be able to adapt and design lesson plans that fit each student, not the entire classroom.

Later in the video, Michael Wesch talks about the comments people make on YouTube, and how obscene they are. He explains that anonymity, physical distance, and rare and ephemeral dialogue creates hatred as public performance. He also explains that people do this online because they don't have to worry about the fear of social anxiety. This could also be a problem for teachers because it almost seems as if all the social networking is causing students to be loss open in public. People have no problems at all expressing themselves online, yet are amazingly shy once they are in public. This is also a reason why blogging and online networking can benefit the classroom. Students can express themselves much more.

You can watch the video here

Students posting their work to blogs.

It is very beneficial for students to post their work to blogs for several reasons. One reason is because it is simply fun to see the work that you do on a video like the students of the PS22 chorus.

It is also beneficial because you get to let people from all over the country see the results of the hard work you are putting into your classroom like these students did. You get to receive encouraging comments from people are over the World which can provide great motivation for wanting to do well in the classroom.

Posting videos can also help teachers like this one because it can give a teacher a good feel for how her class is going and who might be having behavior problems and what can be done to make the class run more smoothly.

The most beneficial way for students to post their work to blogs is because it gives the ability for many people to comment and give feedback to your work. Some of it may be all positive, and some will still be positive but also critical in a way that can help the students improve on what they are doing. This class is a great example.

Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators & Students Statewide (ACCESS)

Along with ALEX, ACCESS is a great tool that can be used for future and current teachers. ACCESS's main goal is to create equity through additional educational offerings for all Alabama public high school students. ACCESS is great to use for students to prep for a major test. You can use ACCESS to get ready for a graduation exam for example. ACCESS can be used as an actual class participation so long as you have a computer.

There are plenty of resources available on ACCESS, such as the Alabama Virtual Library, ALEX, chemlab, and more. A good feature in ACCESS is Connecting Access Staff and Teachers (CAST). Some things that come from this feature are; open source technology information, supplemental reading and interesting links for distance learning tips, helps for ongoing changes in the Desire2Learn Learning Environment, chat room for teachers and staff only, discussion boards and content specific blogs, and content specific group collaborative tools.

Click hereto see the ACCESS website.

Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX)

ALEX is a great website for teachers to use, regardless of subject you may teach. ALEX provides you with a ton of different things such as, exercises for each subject, lesson plans, websites, and much more. It covers basically every subject from English, to Math, to Driver's Ed, to Technology Education. A future or current teacher could use this website to help them form their own guidelines for how their class is run, how they can set up their tests and so on.

One of the things I like most about ALEX is the podcast treasury. In this, you can listen to many different podcasts from any subject. For History class you can listen to a podcast of Jim Crow and the Civil Rights. You can listen to interviews from professionals in each field. Not only will the podcast help the students in the subject you are teaching, but it will also help them get familiar with technology and ways they can use it.

Click hereto view the ALEX website

Dear Kaia

The videos of Kaia blew me away for the simple fact that it amazes how young a person can be and still share her life with others around the world. Originally, her father helped set it up for her just for her family to see how Kaia's life was progressing. It is now used for Kaia to interact with people around the world. I can barely remember being three years old and having about ten people that I interacted with a daily basis. Kaia is interacting with millions.

Many people might think this is a very bad and dangerous idea. Putting their three year old daughter on the internet for millions to see can seem like a pretty dangerous move, but I think as long as the Dad is relatively smart, which he certainly seems, he can supervise this project and make sure no harm could come of this. I think this is a great idea and expect many others to follow this lead.

Click hereto see Kaia's page