The Dash by Linda Ellis

Just found this on You Tube and it is very inspirational.

What Next?

Lots going on right before Christmas. Planning for A-Term Web Design class that begins right after Christmas break. Preparing to train at the HRACS February meeting. And finally to begin the last leg of the Capstone II training;  National Certification here we come. What next? Google Certified Teacher? VBEA training this summer at Virginia Beach. Admin and Supervision Pre K-12 Licensed? And who said teachers had it easy?

Finally Finished with Capstone I

I finally finished! If you are interested in reviewing my final product, the link is  My Capstone I Portfolio. I took 15 hours of graduate credit the summer of 2007, and I admit it was challenging, BUT not more challenging than teaching full time and one Capstone class. Praise the Lord I am done!

Collaboration and Technology Vision for Norfolk Christian Schools

Collaborating with colleagues is a very important concept I learned over the years. In the “real” world, I was a member of W. D. Armstrong which was simply a group of companies all selling the same type of products. We all had a gentleman’s agreement not to compete with each other; therefore, we could share openly what was happening and share our opinions freely. Teaching is no different. Our customers are our students. Our goal is to make all students succeed.

Currently I am involved with several local learning communities with my school. As technology department head, I work with other department heads to lead the school in technology usage. Working with the media specialist, I also help share new technology with various departments in the school. Recently we have been asked to share at the HRACS Winter Conference in February 2011.

Being a global learning community member of SMART Board Revolution is new for me and will help further my knowledge of the SMART Board. As I learn more and more of the needs of our local school, I will be able to use this forum further and hopefully one day also be a contributor to the forum as well.

The vision Norfolk Christian has for its students regarding technology is simple; NCS want to prepare students for college. TCC and Liberty University require students to pass a technology course. TCC’s course is entitled ITE115 which we taught as a dual credit course last year. NCS’s vision versus UNESCO’s vision is similar in that we want our students to be challenged. UNESCO also found that people want to pursue careers that they are passionate about and that is one thing I teach clearly in Internet Marketing as students are deciding upon a business to create.

Another avenue NCS is pursuing is teaching online classes. Our principal is requiring NCS students to complete an online course in the very near future as a graduation requirement. Hopefully I will be able to teach ITE115 this summer as an online class.

Well, Capstone I is finally coming to a close and Thanksgiving break is upon us. Hope you have a wonderful break!

Works Cited

"UNESCO INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION NEWSLETTER VOL. XXXI, No. 1-2, 2006." UNESCO’s Role, Vision and Challenges for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). UNESCO. Web. 24 Nov. 2010. <http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001469/146976e.pdf>.

Park the Computers, Exercise Outside, and Engage in Active Conversation and Watch the Grades Go Up

Dr. Myers in his article entitled Entertainment-Soaked Culture Damages Kids’ Brains; Here’s the Antidote explained how Christian young men averaged 33.25 hours per week watching videos, playing games etc. while Christian young women averaged 27 hours per week. His research was conducted in 2003 so you would assume that the time spent in front of a computer screen is even more now seven years later. He continued by explaining how the brain works.

“Take a look at this picture of the human brain. The frontal lobe, shaded in purple, is the executive center. This part of the brain lights up when you come up with a plan and execute on it. In the center, in red, is the nucleus accumbens - a collection of neurons that forms the brain's pleasure center. When a person experiences pleasure, this part of the brain displays stimulation.” God created our brain to allow the cortex prefrontal, purple section, to be stimulated when work and accomplishments are completed. However, the pleasure center of the brain is bypassing the executive center and allowing stimulation without accomplishments. Hence, the once “work brings satisfaction, and the desire for life satisfaction motivates people to work” is no longer.

           

            To continue, Mr. Lax in his book, Boys Adrift, found that video games are shutting down the blood flow in the brain’s executive center in boys 7 – 14 years old. These same boys are receiving gratification while accomplishing nothing in return. Could this be the reason for lower grades and less social relationships? Mr. Lax would say yes. One study used the following to contradict the above mentioned outcomes. First a series of steps was followed as mentioned below:

• Take out TVs, Ipods, video game consoles, and computers from your kids' bedrooms.
• Allow no more than 30 minutes of video gaming per week.
• Set a bedtime of 9pm on weeknights, 10pm on weekends.
• Provide three nutritious meals a day (note that the headmaster had to define "nutritious" for the parents).
• Plan for one hour of playing outside every day, and three hours on the weekend days.

Secondly, engage in active conversation with your students. We are reminded by Paul Stanley that in the three years Jesus walked from place to place and asked over 288 questions to his disciples as displayed in the gospels.

Works Cited

Myers, Jeff. "Entertainment-Soaked Culture Damages Kids’ Brains; Here’s the Antidote." 16 Nov. 2010. Web. 21 Nov. 2010.

Problem Solving 101

Is it possible to train today’s students to become intrinsic learners? One professor at Regent University, Dr. Lou, simply says NO. But are we as educators able to create problem solvers? Hopefully the answer to that statement is yes. Being a career switcher, I know how important it is to train our students to go beyond the “I’m stuck” mentality. Employers want employees who are able to find the answer. Employers today do not have the time to explain everything in complete detail. Many times in web design I will tell my students to Google it. I also train my students in how to use F1 in the various applications we are using to find help when they get stuck. Do they get frustrated with me at times? Well, yes, but I know they will be thankful one day. And the look on their face when they finally figure out how to do the unknown is priceless. Amy Cavender in her article, Encouraging Students’ Digital Problem-Solving Skills, agrees that we need to allow students to problem solve. She continues, “Too many students, too often, will stop as soon as they get stuck.” I try to encourage them to continue by simply asking what are they going to do when they get to the SAT and get stuck. Do they stop the test and ask for an answer? No, they have to persevere. Life is hard at times and we need to strive onward. In middle school our job is to train our students to be successful in high school. In high school our job is to train them to be successful in either the “real world” or college.

In closing, let’s all strive to take our students to the next level of thinking. How do you do this very thing in your classroom? Please share your successes and failures. As mentioned in the Great Lakes Technology Camp, lets train our “net generation” to go beyond “button pushing.”

Works Cited

Cavender, By Amy. "Encouraging Students' Digital Problem-Solving Skills - ProfHacker - The Chronicle of Higher Education." Home - The Chronicle of Higher Education. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. <http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/encouraging-students-digital-problem-solving-skills/24372>.

"Instructional Strategies for Teaching Technology That Go beyond “button Pushing.” - Great Lakes THAT Camp." Great Lakes THAT Camp - The Humanities & Technology Camp. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. <http://www.greatlakesthatcamp.org/2010/03/instructional-strategies-for-teaching-technology-that-go-beyond-button-pushing/>.

Are Student's Brains Really Different

As teachers of today’s students, we need to try hard to stay ahead of the technology curve. Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis conducted brain scan research which proved children’s brains are different than adults. The study involved over 200 participants aging from 7 to 31. The study showed, “children were much more likely to have connections between brain regions close together while older subjects were more likely to feature links between parts of the brain that are physically farther apart.” How are we as teachers going to meet the needs of these students? Studies also show that students are spending 6.5 hours outside of school using some sort of media. If we do not catch their attention, they will multi-task right on to something else which of course they feel is equally important. So let’s engage these students, share are resources, and work together to create the next generation of continuous learners.

Works Cited

"Wired Up: Tuned out | Scholastic.com." Teaching Resources, Children's Book Recommendations, and Student Activities | Scholastic.com. Web. 08 Nov. 2010. http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3752302.

The Use of Technology and Employable Skills

Studies show the use of technology by students increases their employable skills. Specific valued skills include keyboarding and word processing software (De Leon, J., & Borchers, R. 1998). In addition, technology increases the magnitude and excellence of students’ thinking and writing. Tools such as databases, spreadsheets, design and graphic programs, and multimedia programs including PowerPoint allow students to “organize, analyze, interpret, develop, and evaluate their own work.” Technology also allows students to search provoking questions while engaging in problem solving and critical thinking (Peck & Dorricott 1994).

De Leon, J., & Borchers, R. (1998). High school graduate employment trends and the skills graduates need to enter Texas manufacturing industries. Journal of Vocational and Technical Education, 15(1). Retrieved October 29, 2001, from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JVTE/v15n1

Peck, K. L., & Dorricott, D. (1994). Why use technology? Educational Leadership, 51(7), 11-15. Retrieved February 5, 2003, from http://www.ascd.org/readingroom/edlead/9404/peck.html.

E-Learning and the Future of NCS

Steve O’Hear’s article on E-learning was very informative. He suggests that students should be able to blog on problems and use other web based technologies to enhance the learning process of students. He admits that the full impact of internet learning is not completely understood. My daughter recently was taking an online math class at Virginia Tech and in short she ended up dropping the course because she was not doing well in the class. I personally have taken many online classes; however, she was never fortunate enough to take an online class and her first experience was not the best. Our principal hopes to one day soon make taking an online class a requirement to graduate from NCS. His reasoning is simple; he wants to prepare our students for college. More and more colleges are offering online classes and what better way to do well than to have practice before you go to college. I personally am thinking about teaching an online class this summer in Advanced Microsoft Applications. I taught this class last semester as a dual credit class and hopefully I will be able to do that again this summer to a group of students. I am not sure what platform I will use. I am thinking about using Rcampus.com, but I still need to do some more research. If you have experience with another platform and would be kind enough to share it here, I would be greatly appreciative. Happy educating and until next time.

"E-learning 2.0 - How Web Technologies Are Shaping Education." ReadWriteWeb - Web Apps, Web Technology Trends, Social Networking and Social Media. Web. 22 Oct. 2010. <http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/e-learning_20.php>.

My Loved Ones

test animoto I also had to share this one. This was the first ANIMOTO I created a while ago. Hope you enjoy.

Fun Times

Fun Times I just created an Animoto with music in seconds. You are able to upload your own pictures, video, or music. Create a 30 second creation or pay $3 for a longer version. The choice is yours. Visit http://animoto.com/ for more details.

Authentic Assessments

Another busy week in Capstone I! How to develop authentic assessments? Authentic assessments are critical to my teaching style. Being a previous employer, I agree totally with Mr. Wiggins, author of Healthier Testing Made Easy: The Idea of Authentic Assessment, in that students need to know how to transfer what they are learning in the classroom to the real world of work. He does not agree with simply giving multiple choice tests to enable the students to perform better on SOL tests. The authors of How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School explain it as follows:

A major goal of schooling is to prepare students for flexible adaptation to new problems and settings. ... Many classroom activities... focus on facts or details rather than larger themes of causes and consequences. ... Understanding how and when to put knowledge to use... is an important characteristic of expertise. Learning in multiple contexts most likely affects this aspect of transfer.

Black and Wiliam also emphasized the importance of quick and excellence feedback of assessments as the greatest “way of raising standards" of learning. All students want and deserve quick feedback on their work. This is one way we as teachers can assure our students that we care about their learning while at the same time helping them to achieve better on the national tests being given as well as in the real world.

As teachers, therefore, we need to engage our students, make learning relevant, and provide them with meaningful and prompt results of assessments. That is not anything new, but it never hurts to hear it stated once again. Have a great week and until next week Happy Learning! 

Works Cited

Black, Paul, and Wiliam Dylan, "Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment," Phi Delta Kappan, 80 (2): 139(9)

Bransford, John, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking, ed., How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, (National Academies Press, 2000)

"Healthier Testing Made Easy: The Idea of Authentic Assessment | Edutopia." K-12 Education & Learning Innovations with Proven Strategies That Work | Edutopia. Web. 11 Oct. 2010. <http://www.edutopia.org/healthier-testing-made-easy>.

Zig Ziglar Why is Your Faith So Important?

Capstone I - Week 2

One week into Capstone I and I have learned so very much. I created a PortaPortal account, http://guest.portaportal.com/teanderson, which has all sorts of new web sites listed under the Capstone I tab. I created a NiceNet classroom, http://nicenet.org/, to collaborate with my partner in crime, Lori. I signed up for a SmartBoard class and signed up for two SmartBoard discussion classes that I will just be “taking” from for some time due to the fact that I know nothing to add to the discussions at this time. One is http://smartboardrevolution.ning.com/ and the other one is http://www.teacherslovesmartboards.com/2010/04/smartboard-game-resources.html. Finally, I had my middle school students who finish their work early create posters in http://edu.glogster.com/what-is-glogster-edu/#five which they seemed to really enjoy.

If you have diverse students with special needs, check out the web sites below:

• Equitable Access to Software and Information (EASI): Podcasts
• CAST: UDL Toolkits
• Teacher Tap: Special Needs and Technology
• U.S Department of Education: Toolkit on UDL

I can hardly wait until next week to see what else Capstone I has in store for me.

Capstone I Here We Come

If you would have told me I would be blogging just a year ago, I would have told you you were crazy. Blogging is just not something that I would be doing voluntarily. I took a course at Regent last year and the professor suggested that we all begin blogging and networking. Currently I am taking a course entitled TECH410 - Capstone I: Developing a NETS•T Technology Portfolio which is being offered through PBS Online, and part of the requirement is, YOU GUESSED IT, BLOGGING, so here I go. Hopefully by May 2011 I will have my National Certificate for Technology. With this blog, I will be discussing new technology I am finding on my tour through life in the technology world I entered several years ago. Thanks for stopping by and hopefully I will be able to keep your attention by supplying new information weekly. As they say at Bush Gardens, "Sit back and enjoy the ride."