Summary Post C4T Teacher # 4

John T. Spencer

is my teacher #4. 

John Spencer:

Embracing Web 1.0

I use blogs, wikis, Google documents, microblogging, concept maps, shared spreadsheets and various multimedia platforms in my classroom.  On some level, I could arrogantly claim, "I'm a teaching 2.0 teacher using the best of web 2.0 to enhance my instruction."  

However, I'd be lying.  

Web 2.0 is great.  Collaboration can be amazing.  Blog comments can help further dialogue.  And yet . . .

The greatest tool is actually Web 1.0.  Here's what I mean: 

At least once a day, I have the students research a subject.  It might be as simple as "find a real-life situation where one would use percent increase or decrease" or it might be "find two examples of war propaganda and describe which elements they used."  Other times, it's more open-ended, where I say, "Begin with inquiry, research, show the bias in your sources and summarize your answer."  

The power of the internet is still the fact that it is a place where one can find millions of sources of relatively accurate information.  A shared document is not much different from a round-robin exercise.  A blog isn't too different from a journal.  A concept map is basically a more versatile web.  Slideshow presentations are basically poster boards on steroids.

However, the greatest tools are often the most basic.  Spreadsheets are still one of the best ways to organize information.  Word processing with spell check is still a powerful tool compared to paper and pencil.  The old-school internet, include all that text (gasp!) is still an amazing source of diverse information.  

It's not that I'm opposed to Web 2.0.  It's just that the obsession with all things 2.0 can easily move from "what works best" to "what's the newest tool around?" 

My Comment:

Hi Mr. Spencer,

My name is Teri Hampton. I am an elementary ed. major at the University of South Alabama. I am currently in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 (Microcomputing Systems) class. You can view our class blog at http://edm310.blogspot.com/ and you can view my blog at http://hamptonteriedm310fall2010.blogspot.com/.

I also think we should not get so wrapped up in web 2.0 that we forget web 1.0. Although web 2.0 has so much to offer us, I constantly find myself using the basics.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

John Spencer:

Best. Day. Ever.

It's cold and it's dark and it's the time when staff lounge energy drops down and we muster up any possible passion before Winter Break.  A few teachers begin talking about the "perfect day" and imagine an afternoon at a Hawaiian beach.

It has me thinking about the perfect day, so here's a list of what it would look like:

4-6:30: Read and Write

6:30-7:00: Eat breakfast with my family

7:00-7:30: Listen to NPR, Sufjan Stevens or sit in silence

7:30-4:30: Teach.  Listen.  Ask questions.  Create works of art.

4:30-5:00: Listen to music

5:00-6:30: Play catch or "get you" or hide and seek with my kids and maybe watch a sunset and break break

6:30-7:30: Run and Pray

7:30-9:30: Talk to Christy.  Listen to Christy.  (I can't say anything more here or Christy would kill me)

Or maybe the perfect day might include hanging out with a friend instead of going to the gym or maybe it would include working out in the garden and spending the day with the kids.

Here's my point: As cheesy as this sounds, I get to live the perfect day on most days.  Whether it's the summertime or the school year, I get to have days that are meaningful, challenging, fun, creative and affirm who I am.  If that's not a perfect day, I'm not sure what is.  Don't get me wrong, I'm sure Hawaii is nice.  I'm sure the water looks pretty.  But after a game of catch, the sunset is gorgeous and after an exhausting day, no tropical paradise can compare to Christy.

Perhaps this post has too much of a Hallmark feel to it.  It's just that after going to a funeral and thinking about how I would live my last days, I'm pretty sure that I would want to live them similar to how I live each day now.

Note: On most days, the 4-6:30 time slot is also used for assessing student work, commenting on their blogs, etc.

My Comment:

After reading this post, it made me feel a little ashamed. I sometimes (most of the time) find myself concentrating on all of the things that are not exactly as I would like them to be in my life rather than on all of the wonderful things in my life. I am so glad that you appreciate these truly meaningful things. Thank you for sharing this post. I will think of it every time I start to concentrate on all of the bad things and hope that it will help me remember all of the good things.

 

Project 16

Blog Assignment 13

ALEX: Alabama Learning Exchange

ALEX or the Alabama Learning Exchange is a work in progress. Its main purpose is to make information available to teachers, parents, and students so that everyone can benefit from it. It is a website where teachers can share their lesson plans, and find lesson plans other teachers have used. It is also a resource for web links and activities that parents, teachers, and students can use. 

It has a search engine where you can find specific lessons based on the grade and the subject. You can also combine different subject areas and find lessons that cover them all.

There is also a section where teachers can go to find different opportunities for professional development and grants. There are also links for teaching and learning tools, best practices, and podcasts.

I believe that ALEX will be an excellent resource that I will use frequently as a teacher. I think sharing resources is essential. If you share lessons that work with others everyone will benefit from it. This website has excellent lesson plans and resources. I can only imagine all of the things that it will offer by the time I am teaching on my own. It is very exciting!

Project 15

Screencasts and videos online

Blog Assignment 12

What does it mean to teach in the 21st century?

Watch this video and tell what you think it means to teach in the 21st century.

I think to be a great teacher in today's society, you must be open to technology and all it has to offer. Teachers are being, for a lack of a better word, replaced by technology. Students can find anything they want to know using the internet. Teachers need to adapt to this shift in society and change the way they teach. Teachers should learn about the latest technology and try to use it when they teach. Teachers should give students access to tools they can use throughout their lives. Teachers should show them how to use these tools and what they can accomplish with them. This is what I believe it takes to teach in today's society.

For this project, I emailed this form to 27 people. I had 18 people fill out the form out of 27. I will list the questions below and the results for each question.

1. How often are you on the internet?
1 -Rarely 0 0%
2 0 0%
3 0 0%
4 0 0%
5 –Everyday 18 100%

2. Which devices do you use to access the internet? (Check all that apply.)
Cell Phone 9 50%
Laptop 16 89%
Desktop Computer 8 44%
IPad 1 6%
Computer Provided by the School or Public Library 6 33%
Other 0 0%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.

3. What type of internet provider do you use?
Cable Internet 11 61%
Local Phone Company 3 17%
Satellite Internet 0 0%
Cell Phone Company (Verizon, AT&T, Cellular South, etc) 8 44%
Other 0 0%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.

4. Which internet browser do you use most often?
Internet Explorer 8 44%
Firefox 6 33%
Google Chrome 6 33%
Safari 7 39%
Other 0 0%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.

5. What is the most common reason you use the internet?
Work 0 0%
School 11 61%
Personal 7 39%
Other 0 0%

6. Which search engine do you use most often?
Yahoo! 0 0%
Google 18 100%
MSN 0 0%
Ask Jeeves 0 0%
Google Squared 0 0%
Bing 0 0%

7. What social networking websites do you use?
MySpace 1 6%
Facebook 17 94%
Twitter 5 28%
Other 0 0%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.

8. What website is your home page?
Google.com – 11
Yahoo.com- 1
Crosswalk.com- 1
Aol.com- 2
Apple.com- 2
Facebook.com- 1

9. How many computers do you own?
1 11 61%
2 5 28%
3 2 11%
4 or more 0 0%

10. What brand(s) of computer do you own? (Check all that apply.)
Apple (Mac) 3 17%
HP 6 33%
Gateway 3 17%
Dell 7 39%
Sony 0 0%
Toshiba 3 17%
Acer 1 6%
Other 1 6%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.

Analysis:

According to this survey, everyone that answered is on the internet at some point every day.

Nine out of eighteen students use their cell phones to access the internet. Sixteen out of eighteen students use laptops to access the internet. Eight out of eighteen students use desktop computers to access the internet. One student uses an I Pad to access the internet, and six out of eighteen students use computers provided by a school or public library to access the internet.

Eleven out of eighteen students use cable internet, three out of eighteen uses a local phone company, and eight out of eighteen use a cell phone company as their internet provider.

Eight out of eighteen students uses Internet Explorer, six uses Firefox, six uses Google Chrome, and seven uses Safari as the internet browser.

Eleven out of eighteen students use the internet primarily for school, and seven out of eighteen students use the internet primarily for personal use.

Everyone who answered this survey uses Google as their primary search engine.

One out of eighteen students use MySpace. Seventeen out of eighteen students use Facebook. Five out of eighteen students use Twitter.

Eleven students out of eighteen use google.com as their home page. One student uses yahoo.com, one uses crosswalk.com, two students use aol.com, two students use apple.com, and one student uses facebook.com.

Eleven students own one computer, five students own two computers, and two students own three computers.

Three students own Apple(Mac) computers, six own HPs, three own Gateways, seven own Dells, three own Toshibas, one owns an Acer, and one owns something other than what was listed.

From this survey, I have learned that everyone that took the survey use the computer at least once a day. Most of these students use their computers primarily for school work. I also learned that everyone who took this survey use Google as their primary search engine.