Twitter!!!!!

Today I will be discussing a fad that's sweeping the nation, Twitter. I first found out about Twitter through the G4 network show Attack of the Show last year when it first came out. I then signed up for one and mostly followed sports networks and celebrities as a novelty. But recently, Twitter has shot up and become a phenomenon. I check my Twitter probably every hour, and I use my phone to do it also. I also have created a new Twitter account in order to use for this class. I use this account to follow educational things and people. I actually tweet about 3 times a day or if anything really cool is happening. I love Twitter and I hope it doesnt just fizzle out like other fad sites.

Other Podcasts

Today I had to listen to other students podcasts including my own and I mus say, that I'm very impressed.

First, I listened to my own. It was on the topic of Youtube in the classroom. I dont mean to sound arrogant, but I think that mine went great. We were down one man, but I feel like the two man podcast was the way to go because it had a conversational feel to it.I also listened to three other podcasts. And I think that every one was great.

The only areas for improvement would be to let everyone talk more. In every one that I listened to, including my own, it seemed as though one person flat-out dominated the conversation. So maybe groups could focus on spreading out the conversation also I'd lke to see them become 2person projects from now on. I feel as though that's the best way to do it.

Other People's Blog

Today, I looked at another person's blogs from my class. Looking at hers opened up my eyes to entirely different thought processes about certain things, especially when it comes to different ways to adopt technology in the classroom. Her posts were very well written and i thoroughly enjoyed reading them.

I hope that other people read my blogs too, and If they do, then I hope that my insights will enlighten them. I personally enjoyed the blog this semester although I would have liked to have more freedom to post what I wanted to it.

Overall, I would give Michelle's blog an A because it has been very well kept up and she really did a great job with the assignments. I really enjoyed reading her assignments and I can definately see that she learned a lot by doing them.

Your Mind: Use It Or Lose It.

Today, my assignment was to check out a Stanford video on ITunes called the Growth vs. Fixed Minds. It was a very interesting video that proposed the idea that your brain is a muscle and that it grows with use. They said that intelligence isn't a "fixed"trait and that anybody can be a genius. They said that some kids aren't as confident as others when they're answering questions because they feel "dumb" and they dont want to be teased by other students.

They broke kids into two groups, one group had the "growth" mindset and another group didn't. And of course, the group with the growth mindset did a lot better. They wanted to get into the kids heads that nobody's perfect, so we all make mistakes and that they have nothing to be ashamed of. They said something about race car drivers, but I didn't really get it.

As a teacher and even as a student, I realized that some kids just thought that they weren't smart so they gave up. A teacher should always remind students that they are all smart and nobody's better than anybody else, and I will always do that.

WGBH Video Podcast

This morning, I viewed a video podcast in Itunes's ItunesU section. It was entitled Homo Sapiens vs Neanderthals which can be found under the WGBH 9-12 grade section. I chose this video because I have always been curious about the old times. I personally hadn't really played around with the whole itunesU thing so it was amazing to me the sheer amount of educational content available. The video talked about how Neanderthals were a completely different species from modern humans and that they aren't related from us. We didnt evolve from them. They competed with homo sapiens for food and resources and eventually became extinct. This blew my mind but they backed it up with very interesting and comvincing facts.

I can easily see me using podcasts like these in my classroom to supplement my teaching. I may even assign my students to watch podcasts like this one. If I were studying for a test, then I would definately come to ItunesU again for help.

I have even found myself listening to podcasts for fun. I do believe that podcasts will soon be a normal educational tool as this new wave of technology sweeps into the educational medium.