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.