My EDM 310 Blog Assignments are Now Complete

I have thoroughly enjoyed this course with every fellow classmate. The atmosphere was sweet; everyone interacted well with each other and I was introduced to some new faces I have never seen before. To name a few, Karen Schotta, Lynda Rigsby, Joyce Fisck and Jessica Kiser. I appreciate all of you for your kind words of encouragement and helping me with questions in class and at home. I wish the best for every student in the class and continue your dreams and stay on course no matter how hard it gets. I am presently in the school system and it can be delightful and challenging. Please, remember to keep the children as your focus and reason for teaching; teaching is a mission not a job. If possible, try to establish a good relationship with the parents and do not criticize the child for what the parents don't do. I believe you all will do very well in the classroom. Have a peaceful and great summer!!!!

Things I learned in EDM 310

When I first entered this computer class, I had fears because I did not know what to expect. I had some knowledge of Word Processor, but not enough to say I was a computer wizard. I felt that everybody in the class was ahead of me in technology. But, as time went on, I have been exposed to some great things. First of all, I appreciate Ms. J. Averitt for her patients; she answered my e-mails and help me with difficult problems that seem like a mountain to me. I know that she is just starting out in her profession, but the methods and techniques she uses went across in a professional manner. I learned how to create, edit, post, and comment on blogs. I learned how to do PowerPoint,Excel, podcasting ( I love doing podcasting), and iGoogle Homepage. I really don't feel comfortable with g-mail; I need to familiarize myself with it more. I believe once I do that it is going to be a cool tool to utilize. Also, I learned how to add links and images, and make all images ADA accessible on the blog posts. I presently work in the Mobile County Public School System and hopefully, I will have my iGoogle Homepage set up in my intervention class as an extra resource.

Project 7: Access Lab Visit

ACCESS Distance Learning is an education initiative of the Alabama Department of Education. It provides opportunities and options for Alabama Public High School students to engage in Advanced Placement (AP), elective, and other courses to which they may not other wise have access. This information can be found at http://accessdl.state.al.us/showaccess.php?lnk=aboutaccess. All of the Mobile County Public High Schools should have an access or distance learning lab. I was referred to Mary G. Montgomery High School located in Semmes, Al. I was not disappointed.

Mr. Roger Rose is the ACCESS Instructor and Director of the ACCESS/Distance learning Lab at MGM. They have five teachers and subjects that are taught through this lab. The courses are as follows: German, Web Design, Advance Psychology, Psychics, and Chemistry. Mr. Rose teaches Advance Psychology and he has been teaching in the school system for twenty-five (25) years, but two (2) years as an Access Teacher. The ACCESS lab has two parts. The first is IVC and the second is distant learning. With every job, there are challenges.

Mr. Rose says the biggest challenge is learning the language of this new cultural. Teaching IVC is unlike anything you have seen; new communication problems. For instance, the teacher is in one location and the classes are in another. It is hard to tell whether the students are engage or goofing off. The facilitator in the other area plays a big part for the teacher; they should help keep the children engage during sessions. As for the distance learning, you cannot see the students at all; it is like an on-line course and all you can do is get the context out. Again, the facilitator is the key to keeping the students on task. Last but not least, Mr. Rose desires to create a Psychology engagement course lessons that will keep the students attention.

This technology is nothing you have seen before. It definitely has the potentials to do what it was designed for. This ACCESS lab came with a codex, smart board, microphones, LCD’s monitors, lap tops and Elmo. The equipment is control by the codex; the teacher tunes every location in from the codex. Right now, one of the fears of this new technology is not enough time to learn the new language. Therefore, the students will not reap the full benefit of the learning lab. In Mr. Rose’s opinion, technology is ahead of the teachers who teach in the lab. One of the most interesting parts of the whole interview was his ability to create a testing web-site http://www.rosemobile.com/for his IVC course. This did not come with the equipment. He created it to make the testing process better. The future outcome of the ACCESS lab is “great opportunity with cool tools, but they probably will throw the baby out with the bath water” quotes Mr. Roger Rose.

Project 6: Electronic Interaction

I chose to interview a teacher from the Bessemer School District located in Bessemer, Al. This school district is considered an urban school district. They receive funding from the Federal government and all of its Elementary Schools and Middle schools have a state- wide Title I program. If you would like general information on the schools you can visit their website http://www.bessk12.org/ . This website will give you general information about the Bessemer School District.

Ms. Nikkia White is an English Language Arts Teacher and Technology Coordinator for New Horizon Alternative School in Bessemer; she has been teaching for four(4) years. I chose to interview her because of the interest I have in Special Education and helping students that are troubled. The students they service come from the “base” schools in the district. Because of the nature of the code of conduct for the district, any students that are in violation of the policy and procedures will be sent to the alternative school. The school service elementary schools through high schools; but, the majority come from high school and vary in grade level (9-12). This means that Ms. White teaches any student that comes through the school. Ms. N. White tries to give each student a chance to prove that they can succeed with that special attention.

Some of the biggest challenges she faces are 1) the bad reputation due to non-proactive teachers in the pass just giving students grades and 2) parental involvement. Ms. White says “parental involvement is minimal to none at the Alternative School.”As the Technology Coordinator, technology is very essential for her as a teacher because of the large number of Special Education students. “Often times, at the secondary level, all you can do is make accommodations for students that are experiencing difficulties” quote Ms. White. She uses auditory podcast with the use of MP3 players or IPods; some of her students are auditory learners. She also uses blogs and iGoogle pages as an extra resource. Ms. White feels that technology is essential not just for educational supports, but because we have to prepare our 21st Century learners how to compete I such a digital world.

Week 15: Edutopia

The first podcast “The Edible Schoolyard” had several focus points to draw from. The school is located in Berkeley, California; it is a middle school. The name is Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. In a normal public school the students will be shuffling paper, books, and pencils but this school the students in their first period is shuffling dirt in a beautiful garden. Alice Waters, Founder of the garden in 1994 to improve school lunch programs. Her words were “if they grow it, cook it, they will eat it”. The whole process consists of students planting, harvesting, and eating organic foods from the garden. The teachers have to be train to make the garden a center for learning. The garden and the adjacent kitchen lab is a learning lab for social studies, science, and math. The students are not just learning academics but also, life skills that have been forgotten.

The Second podcast “A Night in the Global Village” is a wonderful way to connect students to other cultures. I like the concept of the whole process. This podcast was filmed at Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas. The main focus is on hunger and poverty. This experience will help students resolve emotional conflicts in the classroom. It teaches children to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. When the teachers and students arrive, they tour the village to feel the living quarters. The scene that is created is from other countries that are poor in nature and unhealthy conditions. For instance, little or no water, no electricity and using nature to survive this will help students appreciate life and what they have and take nothing for granted.

I had the opportunity to attend “Raise the bar and close the Gap” workshop in 2006. Dr. Rita Pierson a wonderful motivational speaker spoke on poverty and how children learn who are affected by poverty. It was an eye opener. Poverty is a whole different world all by itself. Students have only one thing on their minds survival. As a teacher, I could be more attentive to their needs and try to understand their emotional pain. This podcast and the workshop teach you to be considered and try to help build their lives instead of destroying it with unconcern. The first podcast, I learn I could use the environment to make connection with the real world. The student at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School was able to see social studies, science, and math in every day living through gardening and cooking. I know the Mobile County Public School System will not create a garden but I still could use other mean to help students make connections with the outside life.

Even though I will not directly be inside a classroom all day, these principles could still be utilize with my intervention group. Even now, some students I teach share personal things, and some students are struggling to understand basic reading and math skills. I could apply these principles to my intervention group. There are days where I feel that I have not reach them are help them in a great way; so, integrating new techniques will be a rewarding experience for me and the students. With the kindergarten age group teaching from nature sometimes is the best thing. For instance, I could take a leaf from a tree and use it for phoneme sounds, colors and alphabets. They encourage us now to find ways to keep the students engage. I know I will not be able to use everything but there are some good techniques I could incorporate little by little on this teaching journey.

Week 14: Plusses and Minuses Of Blogs In Our Classroom

I have grown to like and appreciate the new web language blogging. A blog is nothing but a web-journal. The order of the blog is kept in order just like you would a written journal. Through this course and the projects we had to do concerning others blogging, I found out that there are different types of blogs and almost everyone has a blog. Blogs are used for advertisement, information, and as a resource for students. Therefore, with all of this in mind, I will discuss the pluses and minuses of my blog and a classmate.

The blog that I chose to review was Karen Schotta. Both blogs are well up-to-date. The topics are assignments from our EDM (Educational Media Course). The templates were nice; each classmate chose a design according to their own personality. Each blog have appropriate topics for their post. The pictures that are posted are clear and some are ADA accessible. We both used links in our blog post; Karen’s blog has more links than mine and I like that. Reviewing her blog is helping me to use more links and pictures.

Wherever you have a positive there is a negative. Each person can improve to make blogging more professional. We must remember that our blogs will be reviewed over the internet; so, there are some grammatical errors that need correcting and some blog posts do not have correct sentence structure. I have some links need correcting and a picture that is not ADA accessible. All of this will be corrected before May 4, 2009. Also, some of the information on a few posts is not on the topic. We must make sure we report information concerning the assign topics.

After the audio podcast our group did on Interesting Blogs on the Internet, made me aware of how to do a blog that is attractive for the internet users. First of all, I now that we are not perfect, but we learn from participating and others that have the expertise. As we state in our audio podcast as future teachers we hope to remember to utilize this information in our classrooms. Therefore, we must remember to have great clear pictures that are ADA accessible, correct grammar, usable links and information that relates to the topics. To review our blogs from this class go to http://averittedm310spring09.blogspot.com/.

EDM 310 Podcasts: Critique for Improvement

I listened to four podcast and the one I participated in. First of all, I would like to include that everyone did great research on their material. I believe we all did a great over all job. The assignment was given so we could critique one another for improvement. Everyone could use improvement in one way or another. The podcasts I chose to listen to were “Burp Back Education”, Source Materials for High School Teachers, Technology used in the Classroom at USA, Can Podcast be used in Classes I will Teach, and Interesting Blogs I found on the Internet (which was mine).

In all of the podcast, we could enhance vocal variety. Some of the speakers were speaking too softly even me. Some of the podcast could use more interactions among the panelist. To sell our information to the public we must first have excitement in the delivery of the topic being discussed. We want to hold the audience attention. To have a podcast more exciting also we must remember to not present it as a read along topic.

In a few podcast presentation, I heard a lot of ah’s and some pauses. When I took a speech class it was told to me that too many ah’s could ruin a speech and an audience will lose interest. Last but not least some of the moderators could have been more verbal with casual talk among the panelist. One of the major responsibilities of the moderator is to set the tone through a strong introduction. I believe that everyone has gotten over a little of stage fright and we will definitely piggy back on this experience for future references. So, when we are in our classrooms, I hope that we remember that podcasting can and is a useful tool to use in teaching.

Math and Technology

Mathematics with Technology is a professional development podcast that will inspire teachers to embrace a different mind set towards technology as a resource. Judy Chandler, a math mentor and trainer expresses how some teachers have the attitude that technology will not help or they don’t have the time to integrate it their curriculum. She stresses the importance of technology as a teaching tool. Technology integrated with mathematics will engage the students with a manipulative experience, have immediate feedback and give them a visual representation with a visual experience. In other words, technology will help the students connect with the future.

As a teacher, we must help our students to think mathematically. The way things are now students have sequential lessons and too many are disengaged and frustrated. Judy Chandler explained that the piece that is missing is “Thinking Mathematically”. Today we do this by asking questions, but with technology it will give students hands on experiences and an alternative demonstration for learning. Technology that is integrated properly will help student explore, prove models, apply and reflect, and challenge all students to think hard. Technology will give students critical thinking experiences to prepare them for the future.

If I was a math teacher, I would definitely use technology as a resource. As I stated earlier, children have different ways of learning. Some children are visual, kinetic, and auditory learners; integrating with technology will help them reach their fullest potentials. In an earlier post, I stated that if we are going to help prepare our children to compete globally there must be some changes in how we approach technology as a resource. A teacher can hinder a student’s progress or help. I would like to share something about myself. I was not aware of the different resources that you could use as tools with technology; if I am going to help prepare children for this promising future, I need to be exposed to the latest trend in education. I am glad that I have taken this course because I see how it could help shape children for academic progress. Even though math is not my specialty, I have access to help others enhance their classrooms are use it as I tutor children who are struggling.

Growth vs. Fixed Mindsets

In this video podcast, Carol Dweck explains the difference in the mindset of two different set of students. The title of the podcast was “Growth vs. Fixed Mindset”. Students with the fixed mindset think that their intelligence is based on a fix trade and they are concern with how they have before they start a task. Every activity they do is based on how much of their intelligence will be shown. Students with growth fixed mindsets believes that intelligence is something you can develop through education and a passion for studying. There was a statement printed on the video podcast that says in New York, fix mindset students nose dive and growth mindset students soar.

Professor Carol Dweck explains to us that they conducted a study for eight weeks. In this study they divide the students into two groups. Some students had study skills and the other had study skills with growth mindset lesson practices. The students with just the study skills had no motivation but they had good study skills. Also, their grades went down. The study proved that students with growth fixed mindsets do extremely well. Those students were taught that the brain is a muscle and it gets stronger with you and these students had a significant improvement in their grades. Even in the business world, people with growth fixed minds make mistakes, but it’s how they view that mistake that make them so successful.

This will help me as I continue on my educational journey in a lot of ways. First, I learned that to be a mentor I must admit my mistakes and learn from them. How can anyone motivate a person to excel if they never admit their own failures. Secondly, I feel that I have something to help me identify how childern mindsets may be. Once I identify this, perhaps I will be able to mold their thinkng towards a growth mindset. One of the things that Randy Pausch left with us was becoming a teacher or professor is a great position to have to help other reach their goals. So, this information will difintely be a valuable tool for me now and in the future.

Week 10: Video Podcasts

As I explore the different podcasts, I see more and more that podcasts are a really good tool to use for teachers, students, principals, and counselors. I reviewed several podcasts and there were two that I chose. They were Mathtrain TV and Electronic field trip Webisodes. These podcasts are a great resource for teachers to enhance the subject that is being taught. In the Mobile County Public School System, on the elementary level we have to set up educational centers in the classrooms for the students. The centers are design to increase classroom participation and to raise the students’ awareness on any topic. As an educator, I think that these two podcasts will greatly improve the students’ academics.

Mathtrain Episode 39 is a wonderful video podcast for sixth graders who are struggling with math. This podcast is done by students who have mastered the skills that are taught; sometimes students learn well from each other. In this podcast, the viewer can actually see how the problems are being solved step by step. It is great for visual learners and for parents who cannot afford to pay for tutoring. Almost, every household has a computer or have access to one.

The way the economy is going the educational budget has been cut tremendously; therefore, money for field trips has been cut. The video podcast Electronic field trip Webisodes will be a wonderful tool for teachers to use to further enlighten students on social studies topics. I presently work as an Instructional Paraprofessional and at the beginning of the school year I had to help assist the fifth grade teachers in their classrooms. Sometimes, I helped with reading and social studies. If I would have known then about this podcasts I know it would have helped those students in a powerful way. This video podcast will allow the students to go places they have never gone. For instance, it has a field trip topic on The settlers in the new frontier. The students can actually see how things were then and how things came about and they will be able to process the information through visual learning. In the future, through podcasts and other technology resources I will be able to help students develop academically.

Week 8: Podcast done by Students

I listened to two podcasts from last semester’s EDM 310 classes. I must say this, they all had courage. I have the opportunity of hearing how it should be done from listening to professional podcasters and guidelines from the instructor. The students from last year were the test subjects; there were a couple of things that I would improve and implement them into my podcast to make it better. I listened to You Tube-For Education? and Possibilities for using Facebook in an Educational Setting. The information was good but the presentation of the information is what I will focus on.

In both podcasts, there were too many ah’s and um’s. When I took a speech class, it was stated that too many ah’s will ruin a great topic. I will try to keep that in mind I present my topic on March 10, 2009. Also, some of the panelists were not enthusiastic about presenting the topic. Every presenter must remember to speak with enthusiasm to keep the attention of the listeners. If the presenters are not excited about the topic the audience will not be excited either. So, on Tuesday, I will speak with enthusiasm so that the listening audience would desire more information. Last but not least, I will cite the links to the resources of the covered material. One of the podcast I listened to forgot to do that. So, with all this in mind, on next year someone will be critiquing mine for improvement.

Podcasts

There is a lot of talk going on about podcasting; I just found out the meaning of the word podcasting. I have nieces and nephews who were talking about the different technology gadgets available for a Christmas present. The newest were the iPods and MP3 players. But now, I know that it is just another way of reaching the world through learning at society’s connivances. After viewing the different podcasts shows has enlighten me even more as to how all of this could fit into education. Earlier in one of my blogs I mentioned that technology will definitely help us get our students prepared for global marketing in education. I listen to all of the podcast shows given in the courses syllabus and these are my findings.

First of all, all of the podcast shows did an introduction with music. For some of the podcasts, there were several people hosting but you always had a main host that would introduce the panels. I noticed that the conversations flowed very smoothly. In other words, you must know your material that is being discussed. When we do ours, we will not have music, but we can have a main host to introduce the panel. Connect Learning and Kid Cast both of these had one host but the approach was like an interview. I listen to several Kid Cast shows and one in particular was the students themselves did the podcast on a particular topic. I would like to try that with some fifth graders where I presently work. I think that it will be good exposure and another way to make learning fun.

Secondly, Mac Break Weekly and TWIP hosts integrated some casual talk in between their topics of discussions. That is something I definitely would like to use in a podcast in the future. You must have excitement in your voice to sale the show. I do have some favorites. Connect Learning with David Warlick as the host and Education Technology Talk were the two that held my attention. Episode 91 Connect Learning was very informative. It was a podcast workshop with Library Media Specialist. The topic was about using podcast in the library with the students. The thing about technology is this it will not become alive unless teachers, administrators push hard to make it happen. I presently work around educators who are just stuck back in time. My goal and desire is to use whatever I can to help my students get to the next level.

Education Technology Talk is a good podcast that I would consider prescribing to because of the professional development topics that are being discussed. I listen to episode 19 about the responsibility of educators to be professional online as well as in the classroom. As an educator you can not loose your professionalism even though you have clock out for the day. We may not be in the classroom but our image is still important. There are certain things that we should not put in a blog if it is for educational purposes. This episode discussed online etiquettes for educators. I am glad that I have been exposed to podcasting. I must say I am having a wonderful time in the class. When I took this class I knew nothing about blogs, podcasting, Access labs and Alex and all of this I will use one way or another in my career.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

There were a lot of gold nuggets given in Randy’s lecture. Before this assignment, I knew nothing about Randy Pausch and never have heard any lectures he has given. From the introduction of the video, he set the tone of this lecture. Randy viewed his battle with cancer as another opportunity to enjoy life and the people around you. He was a professor at CMU. This video presentation of Randy’s Pausch Last Lecture will motivate you to continue your dreams and enable others to do the same. He uses his own life experience to help awaken your dreams.

I liked how he shared his own childhood dreams. He named several in the lecture and with each one there were lessons of courage, tenacity, and hard work. One thing I would like to mention, not all his childhood dreams was achieved but there were lessons gained from trying to obtain the dream. For instance, he never made it to NFL but he learned the value of hard work and the power of enthusiasm from Coach Graham. There were several quotes and sayings he uses after each dream was accomplished or attempted to accomplish. I will name two. First one, experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you want and secondly, brick walls are there to let us know how bad we want something. These are quotes that I will definitely share with young adults as well as my students at Whitley.

His second focus point was enabling others childhood dreams. The way he did that was through careful advice he became a professor. Professors and teachers have an awesome task before them. They can either break or inspire dreams in their students. Professor Pausch had his first assignment when he had a student come to him with his childhood dream. Tony wanted to work with Star Wars; this was in 1993 and Randy did not think that that would be possible, but it came to pass. I gathered from this experience is sometimes as a teacher you may not think a dream is possible but if the student has a deep passion for that dream help them get there.

Another focus point is learning how to work together in a group. Randy created a course Build Virtual World. In this course several other departments was bridged together to accomplish a whole part. This was a big success on the campus. Students learned the value of networking and as a teacher he learned how to encourage them and inspire them to excel higher than where they were. Everybody needs someone to help them reach their dreams. Parents, mentors, bosses, and students all play a major role in helping a person obtained their dreams. Success also depends on the character we portray such as loyalty, forgiving, truthfulness, grateful, cherishing and listening to feedback. I work around children every day and all they want is for someone to believe in them. From this point forward, like a mighty warrior, I will carefully point those arrows in the right directions.

International School Teacher's Blog

The School I found was Lorne Skuce Public School in Oakville, Ontario. The teachers basically use their blogs the way teachers in the United Sates use theirs. It advertise to the public; if you are relocating into that area, you can use the blog to find out about the mission, goals of the school. They use their blog for the parents. You can check homework schedules and check out up-coming events. It was not anything so outstanding that appeal to me. You can check out Lorne Skuce Public School at http://lor.hdsb.ca/index.html

This is the second blog I found of Calwell Primary School in Australia. There is nothing so interesting about this blog. The teachers and school use the blog just like all the others. One particular thing I notice was, there were not pictures or videos. But, they had information concerning programs, the school mission and goals and parent information. The parents could access information from their children's class with a password. I do not think this blog would help me in my area of interest. To visit Calwell Pimary School go to http://www.calwellps.act.edu.au/contact_us.

Pictures Forest View Elementary

Teachers Blog in U.S.

I was very fascinate with Forest View Elementary Blog. They use their blog for several different reasons. The colors were very eye-catching and the pictures were wonderful. The blog is a great advertisement tool; Forest View Elementary did an outstanding job with that. If I was moving into that area I certainly would consider that school. Also, It is a multicultural school with a warm learning environment. The teachers, students, and parents have resources on there that is helpful for each group. The parents can keep up with the different upcoming events and the district offers a parent newsletter to enlighten the parent concerning progress of the whole district. My favorite was one of the kindergarten classes. The teacher showed how teaching five years old can be fun and rewarding. He also posted pictures from different field trips. If I was a kindergarten teacher, I would certainly glean from this particular teacher’s blog. You can view Forest View Elemenatary School at htt:p//www.forestview.dpsnc.net

Elementary schools are my favorite but I must say Washington Middle School had a very good blog. For the middle school age children, if I had to choose I would consider taking a look at the campus. They also advertise their school but with less color. I understand the reason; you are appealing to the adolescent group. The teachers posted their homework assignments, and upcoming events concerning their class rooms. For parents I like that because you can keep up with your child’s assignments. The athletic department posted their events and that would perhaps attract athletes. Washington Middle School also uses their blog to let the community and parents know about the different programs they offer. If you want to know more about Washington Middle School go to http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/washington/

ACCESS

ACCESS is another program used in the Alabama Department of Education for enhancing education through technology. As I stated earlier, technology is the number one tool used by many organizations for expansion and advertisement. If we want our students to be able to compete globally, we must continue to invest in programs like ALEX and ACCESS. As the name implies, ACCESS allows classrooms statewide to connect with each other. The purpose is to share information through distance learning for advancing student achievement. According to the power point, this can be achieved through a strong infrastructure.

The power point presentation presented two modes of delivery. Course work can be taught through the web and videoconferencing. First, principals and guidance counselors must be professionally trained statewide. Secondly, preexisting IVC labs must be connected to state network systems. Thirdly, establish pilot sites to blend online and interactive videoconferencing. Students can benefit from both online and videoconferencing courses. IVC will provide additional teachers and allow teachers to grow professionally. Online learning will improve test scores and students will have easy access to lecture notes. If we continue to utilize this program our students will be able to compete globally.

Report: Avoid Plagiarism

These articles focus on how to bypass falsifying information. Another word for falsifying is plagiarism. Plagiarism is simply taking credit for some else’s work. Stealing people thoughts or ideas is just as dangerous as robbing a bank. Even in high school, students were punished for dishonesty. In college, a student can be withdrawn or loose their scholarships if found guilty of plagiarism. With all the information circulating, students should be able to shun plagiarizing their research papers.

There are a lot of things that a student should credit. For instance, all interviews, conversations, a person’s exact words, photos, diagrams, charts, and illustration. When paraphrasing students should use their own words and site all sources. Bates College did a beautiful article on plagiarism; this article lists the proper way to cite footnotes and the bibliography page. Copyright laws are very complex. But, I do know this, you may not sale or copy without an author’s permission. So, to have acceptable papers students should follow the guidelines on plagiarism.

Report: ALEX

Technology is the tool organizations and institutions use to stay competitive on a state, national, and global level. After reviewing the information on the web site about ALEX, I found it to be an impressive tool for teachers. ALEX is a technology resource for teachers on professional development. Because of NCLB (No Child Left Behind), all school districts must meet certain standards. ALEX will help administrators, principals and teachers meet state and federal regulations. It will also help make learning enjoyable and illuminate or enhance the thoughts of students.

Some of the unique resources include course studies, lesson plans, web-links, professional learning and distance learning. The course studies are design to help school districts meet yearly progress (AYP). The lessons plans will help guide new and veteran teachers; the curriculum will be homogenous across the state of Alabama. Also, if a student should transfer to another school or district, they will not fall behind in the curriculum. The professional lessons focus strictly of developing strong leadership in our school system. I am an Instructional Paraprofessional for the Mobile County Public School System, ALEX will be a good resource for me to use in small group intervention. Technology is the channel for educational advancement.

Report: Web Accessibility

This is a very informative power point presentation by Mr. Sullivan. Personally, I am considered as having vision problems. I wear optical devices now contact lenses and eyeglasses. The different tools they use for alternative browsing was an eye opener for me. First of all, laws had to be implemented to include accessibility for everyone. Along with laws are guidelines to ensure that every disable person will have products and services accessible for their use.

The adaptive software included screen magnification; this is unique software for people with low vision. It has the capability to read aloud the information to the user. Another interesting tool that I would like to elaborate on is the Reader software. This software reads all or part of the screen and allows navigation through the users’ speech. From screen readers to voice browsers are all important tools to help make services accessible for disable persons. The future advancement for accessible software depends upon the cooperation between federal agencies and their contractors.

Read All About Me !!!!!

I was born in Mobile, Alabama in a community called Trinity Gardens. We lived there until my sophomore year in high school. We moved to Kushla, Alabama; it is a quiet, country, safe, and peaceful community. My parents were married for forty-three years until October 13, 2005 when congestion heart failure claimed my father’s life. I am the forth child of six and the oldest girl. I have sixteen nieces and nephews and a fun, energetic eighty-one year old grandmother. There is another joy I share in life; I have the honor of being the god-mother of three handsome boys.

I graduated from C.F. Vigor High School. The last two years in high school was the highlight of my life. I was inducted into the Scholastic Society. I received an Associate in Applied Science degree from Bishop State Community College and a Certificate in Allied Health from University of Alabama at Birmingham. In the fall 1989, I pass the accreditation examination as a Registered Health Information Technician. I love seafood, pecan pie, strawberries, reading inspirational books, watching western movies, and football. Currently, I am an undergraduate student at University of South Alabama seeking a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. Upon completion of these courses, I will be able to apply this knowledge in a way to help people develop socially, intellectually and emotionally.