Finally Done my Eportfolio

As of Friday I finished my Eportfolio. I feel this assignment was very valuable and something that will be a working document that I can add to whenever I want. I have to be honest I was a little skeptical at first about the Eportfolio. I was kinda confused about how it would work for applying for jobs. after reading Jenn Hall`s blog about the her eportfolio and how she applied to work in Mexico and how easy it was to just give the employer the web address to see her portfolio. I now see the how useful they can be not only for applying for jobs but also as an ongoing document that will last me mu whole life. I really enjoyed working on Dream weaver and I thought it was very easy to do. I very much enjoyed the assignment and I`m glad that it was assigned to us. I know prior to the class i would not have made an electric portfolio and now that I have I am glad that I have!
Here is the Link to my eportfoliohttp://education.uregina.ca/web/willer2h/eportfolio/All%20about%20me_clip_image002.jpg

What Kind of Disney Princess Are You?

You are Jasmine. You are loyal and would visit the ends of the earth for what you believe. You would never let obstacles stand in the way of true love.

I just filled out this survey asking what kind of Disney princess are you and I am Jasmine. You should take the quiz and see what you are the address is here
Try it. It is fun!

The Facebook Skit

I was sent this from a friend and I thought that it was really funny. I have join facebook and I do believe that it has some great social purposes and fun to see where your friends are from highschool, but this skit does question, what people are doing with your profile and possibly if you are not careful people could be stocking you! Enjoy the clip though it is very funny.

Windup Laptop

While reading the Readers Digest in the April issue I notice a article aboutwindup laptops. The laptops are powered with a wind-up crank, have very low power consumption and will let children interact with each other while learning. Manufactures
plan to have millions of $100 machines in production within a year. These laptops will have all the modern trappings; mikem speaker, camera, USB ports, a screen that's visible in bright sunlight, even a wireless network between laptops in a classroom. The laptopss will be sold directly to governemnts for distribution though schools by the end of the year.
For more info go to www.laptop.org.
I think this is a wonderful idea that will help many 3rd world countries. I would like to be a great congraduations out for OLPC, the company who invented these laptops, super work guys!!

MySpace - Tech Task #9

Last week I participated in the session "Why Youth Love MySpace" on the TappedIn site. I have to admit, it was a really cool experience. It's amazing that professional development can be so global and versatile. It was so interesting to hear all of the different perspectives in the group. There were University students such as myself, teachers, counsellors, and parents from a wide background covering a very wide age range.

Karen Connaghan lead the discussion. She dispelled a lot of the myths parents and educators believe about MySpace and tried to focus on the purpose and benefits of it. Something that came up again and again from the "paranoid" parents in the session were comments such as "it's not safe", "they don't know how to communicate in real life" and "it's just a tool for cyber-bullying". Ironically, I don't think any of these people have a MySpace or really understand how it works. Karen responded to these comments by saying that "moral panic is a common reaction to teenagers when they engage in practices not understood by adult culture". And that sums it up right there! Adults do not understand MySpace, so they are very quick to determine it's evil and should be banned from schools. This is a myth that needs to be addressed in our society! There are good and bad things that come with almost everything in life but sometimes we have to just accept some bad things to get the good.

So, what does MySpace really do for youth? It gives them a tool for socialization, hanging out and shaping their identities. It allows them to form their own culture and way of communicating. On MySpace, youth can express themselves through photos, fashion, music, media and the written word. This gives youth a tool to explore their identify at an influential age.

Something that I found interested was the idea of using the word "friend" as a verb and not as a noun. I became to think about this and how the term friend has change and how with these sites allow you "befriend" other people, when is essence who have just meant that person. Many of the adults at the dissusion do not understand how the "friend" has changed and when they look at the daughter's/son's friends list, they fear that these "friends" might be pretators. For my me I feel that these sites are a way to connect to other people that live across the world and can be useful. Although, I do believe that you have to teach your kids to be aware of what do on these sites and to teach them that there are people out there that can hurt you and to be save.

My Space!

This one is for all the people obsessed with my space!! You know who you are!

My Podcast Assignment

The Show From Zefrank


So i finally got around to tech task #7 where you have to listen to a podcast. It has been super busy with other assignment that I kept putting it off (opps!) So I started looking for a good podcast to listen to about a week ago. I did find two and I added them to my Itunes, they were about the new gadgets, that are being sold and how they work. Well, to be honest, I totally didn't get what they were saying and I was getting very bored. I wanted something that I could relate to and enjoy watching. Then after class, i went to the ZEFRANK show website that Alec had shown us in class. I just went to the website to check it out and I really enjoyed it. Then I left it for a while . so today I found some time to work on it and I thought I would use one of his vodcasts/ videoblog to use for the assignment.

I listened to his July 28,2066 show, where he talks about "just playing with [things]" to figure out how they work. He mentions that if he wants to figure out how to photo show pictures, he just does it, by playing with it, without reader the manual. He states that reading the manual is a waste of time and by the time you read it and become an experts on it, the technology you are using is obsolete. This just reminded me of the presentation our Math class had on Math makes sense. The speaker stated that students need to become problem solvers and not be told what to do all the time. This is outline in the material from Math Makes Sense program. At the beginning of each lesson their is a part where the students are presented a problem and they work together to solve it, without any prior teaching from teaching.

This idea was also, brought in class by Alec, who suggests that we live a society where education like technology is taught in time, meaning you learn what you need to know at that particular time. If the child knows it then why explain it to them.

I complete agree with all of these perspectives. I believe, as teachers we should be teaching your students to not be dependent on the teacher. The Speaker from Math Makes Sense, is a classroom teacher and he explains, when it is math time in his class the students know what is expected of them and he says, he doesn't even have to be there for his students to work on the problem solving procedure. I found this amazing. I would love it for my students to be this independent!

As for the assignment for listening to a podcast, I think it could be a great resource to use in the classroom. I know sometimes the voice of the teacher can get very boring and when you get a chance to listen to someone different then it is a great thing.

Hot Potatoes!

In class today we got to create and play with a program called How potatoes. this program allows you to create quizzes and and such on the internet. I create a word search today here is my link
hot Potatoes

Learning so much!

Tristen and I have been working very hard on your final project and it is coming along very well. In the last couple weeks we have been filming and editing very hard. Some things that I have experience with lots of technology and programs, such as audacity, garage band, and adding music form Itunes. One of the most surprising and fun things I have experience with this project was on Sunday afternoon. We wanted to split the audio and video so we could place images in front of the video while still playing the audio from the video(the stuff we filmed). We went tot he help icon and we figured it out for ourselves. It felt so good that we were able to figure it out without the help of Alec! I guess it just proves that when you have no body to lean on to, you have to depend on yourself. Although it took a long time, and you got frustrated it helped you to realize that you can do things on your own. Thanks Alec!

telecollaborative project

Technology has entered the classroom and it can be overwhelming for the teacher who is already using "every single" moment of his or her day to the maximum. So when is there time for technology and how can you implement it?

Link


That is where TechnoSpud comes in. Technospud, provided by Jennifer Wagner, provides ways of seamlessly bringing technology into your classroom working within your existing curriculum. She can show you how technology can move from a "stand alone" tool, to an "always used" tool, with you and your students.technospud

One of the easiest ways to bring technology into your classroom is to join an online project. Technospud.com is proud to sponsor several Online Projects each year. Whether it is stacking oreos, rolling eggs, or sorting colors of frootloops, your students are learning!!! And Jennifer can provide many ideas on how to make it fun and leave your kids eager to learn more!!

one activity that she has on her website, is stacking oreos, on top of each other. It is a math activty dealing with estimation. the students were not allowed to move the cookie once they placed it and took their hand off it. Then the challenge was to get other students around the worlf to see how many they could stack.

I think this activity is great because it includes both technology and math1

The World Today!

I found this and it got me thinking about our world and the state of it that it is in. I have thought about these issues for a while now. 5% of the world population has 90.5% of th worlds wealth. there are so maybe out there in our world that has nothing. I feel that there is something wrong with these and we need to teach our students more how to be more giving.

In my school, they fund raised for lots of things but I feel that the students really didn't see the effects of their money. For example, we raised money for the school supplies for African child but we didn't raise anything for Telemerical (which raised 5.6 millions dollars!!! YA Saskatchewan!!!) I think students should realize that there is poverty in their neighborhoods and they cna make a difference with this families. Well I'm getting kicked out of the computer lap so bye for now!
Heather

Does any else rememeber this commercial?? What I love is how Barbie is dressed, still the slity dress. I don't forget the "bad boy" image coming to pick her up!!!

Vidoes create by Kids!!

After doing some research on Bratz dolls I came across this video. The fact that children made this video I think that is pretty cool. As for the content, it's so stereotypical. There is an exchange student in it and plays up to the high school stereotypes.



This video Crazy. As if this is meant for 10 years old. I mean " tippsy off of bicardi!! Come on!! Who makes these!!! I hate the fact that the women who singing these song were fine with saying such things as "Get a drink and you can pay for it:, or things like "You like your hands on my boobies"!!! Kids shouldn't be introduce this language. Wow this sure does drive me crazying!!!

I mean when you have grade 3's telling you that they watched the Jack ass movie number3 and saying the inapporiate things about. Something has to be done!!!!

Connection in the City

So in yesturday class on Alec blog and in class he was talking about how they are are going to be puting wireness internet down town. My first reaction was oh that is so cool. People could serf the net anywhere downtown. But then I got to thinking, you could only do this if you had a lap top and wireness internet on your computer ( which I think is manatory for lap top that are new) How many people really own a laptop? Especailly people of the downtown ares, many of these people who would use are business people and many those people have offices whcih have desk tops! Another thing witht he wire internet for free, how would they monitor it and such. I was told that this service would have some limitation to it, such a what could be accessed and on this server, Then in fact are you not breaking thier pravacy. I mean it is your computer should you be able to look at what you want using the your computer. But then I guess you shouldn't be watching inapporpirate images when you are having coffee. I wouldn't want a child to see these things. Is in the end I think I have mixed feeling about this new technology, I believe that it could be great but how to you monitor it.
For more information Clink Here

wow! It sure has been awhile since my last blog!! Well we are all back from our break and I have to say that it sure wasn't a break. I basically planned to do so much during the week and I got nothing done! But then I didn't do anything fun either, like skiing or a trip.I really should of made my last winter break rememberable but in the end it was the same as any other winter break!

After class on Tuesday I went to Alec's blog to check out the link to Media Awareness he had up there.
Media Awareness

In this site there is a brochure directed to teachers to help their students understand what media education is and the importance of being aware of what you see on TV, magazines, and internet. We live in a media centred world, and I believe that students need to be able to analysis images and text in media and decide whether this images are appropriate or not. Many times are society will take things at face value and not think critically about what they are seeing. For, example while looking through magazines I started looking at the girls in this magazines. I noticed that most of the girls were showing cleavage and very skimpy clothing. Also I noticed that this women were in very sexual poses or in dismissive positions. Then I watched the movie Killing you softly posted by Tristan. In this clip she talked about when women or girls are posed in fashion magazine spreads most of their poses are dismissive to the male making the male in the dominate role. The speaker of the video even suggested that in SEARS catalogs the babies are posed in this dismissive role. The girl in shy and looking down and usually standing backish the boy in dominate being bold, with straight shoulders and looking at the camera. This got me to thinking, about how this might effect children. If all they are seeing is women and girls in these dismissive roles then of course girls self esteem is going to be effected. Even in today's world the media placed these sterotypes in media.

By now I am sure you have guessed that for mine and Tristan final project we are creating a documentary/ video on the how the media effect women's body images of themselves. I am super excited about and feel that it will be a great resource to use in the classrooms. I am o looking foward to seeing how it will end up.

I never realized how much I depend on my cellphone until I read Kels' blog either. I text all the time also. I use it before I will exactly phone them, probably because it is cheaper. then I got to thinking about this. I walk down the university halls and all i see is people talking on their phones. one of my friends made the comment, that when people ask her for her cell phone number and she says that she does not have a cell, they give a bad look as if she is an alien or something. We live in a world that needs to be connected. In fact I was not work as a special needs teenagers was player with her own cell phone that she got for Christmas. Even my grade five students had cell phones which they played with during recess. it's becoming overwhelming for someone who doesn't have one to fit it.

This bring up the controversies with Regina Public Schools to where they are banning the use of cellphones in schools. After seeing the you tube video of a prof throwing a cell onto the floor and also seeing how many cells are used even in my classes I can see how the schools want to bane the use of cells in schools. I think what we need to keep in mind is to be respectful with our use of the cell phone. there is a time and place for them and when a teacher is teaching it;s not the right to text a friend or at the supper table. Adults and youth need to realize that a cell is something the helps you communicate to people in your life it shouldn't be your life. just wondering if anyone has any thought on this?

Technology At Any Age!

So I went to my school yesterday to teach a lesson on the circulatory system. You might think I'm crazy that I'm still teaching with taking 5 classes plus tutoring for our math class. But I love it! It helps me be connected to the main focus of why I want to be a teacher. Every time I go there my students give me a big great hug and are so excited to see me. I was surprised because these guys are grade 54 and I thought that for sure the boys would have nothing to do with this.
for today's lesson the children got touch and feel a real pig's heart. The students were able to point out each chambers in the heart and see what it looks like. It was a great hangs on experience that i am sure the students will never forget. Along with the pig's dissection I showed a power point presentation that walk through each part of the heart and where is it located. I never thought about this as being a technology each the class because I was just showing picture and a brief description blowned up from the projector. but then my teacher was so intrigued by what I was doing, and wanted to know how to hook up the projector and the laptop together. I had done this lots during my internship but today was the day that she felt that using this kind of technology would be a good thing and trhat she would like to use it some day.

My co-op is a great women, but has an old school teachings style. So when I started using very minimal use of it in the classroom, it was difficult for the students to understand. I think she is started to see the benefits of using computer in the classroom can have students and is started to use them more in class. For example, i was amazed to see the students typng up their stories that I started to help them write in December. As a side note it's funny to see things that you do still in action and the other teacher working with it.

So inclusion I guess bring technology into the classroom can be brought at any age and at any level of experience. I am so pround of my coop and I hope she continues with this new philosophy!!

So I went to my school yesterday to teach a lesson on the circulatory system. You might think I'm crazy that I'm still teaching with taking 5 classes plus tutoring for our math class. But I love it! It helps me be connected to the main focus of why I want to be a teacher. Every time I go there my students give me a big great hug and are so excited to see me. I was surprised because these guys are grade 54 and I thought that for sure the boys would have nothing to do with this.
for today's lesson the children got touch and feel a real pig's heart. The students were able to point out each chambers in the heart and see what it looks like. It was a great hangs on experience that i am sure the students will never forget. Along with the pig's dissection I showed a power point presentation that walk through each part of the heart and where is it located. I never thought about this as being a technology each the class because I was just showing picture and a brief description blowned up from the projector. but then my teacher was so intrigued by what I was doing, and wanted to know how to hook up the projector and the laptop together. I had done this lots during my internship but today was the day that she felt that using this kind of technology would be a good thing and trhat she would like to use it some day.

My co-op is a great women, but has an old school teachings style. So when I started using very minimal use of it in the classroom, it was difficult for the students to understand. I think she is started to see the benefits of using computer in the classroom can have students and is started to use them more in class. For example, i was amazed to see the students typng up their stories that I started to help them write in December. As a side note it's funny to see things that you do still in action and the other teacher working with it.

So inclusion I guess bring technology into the classroom can be brought at any age and at any level of experience. I am so pround of my coop and I hope she continues with this new philosophy!!

Happy Feb. 14th day!!!

I though this was so true and funny! When you have no one, you will never be disappointed. Have a great day for everyone who is celebrating being single this day!!!!

A Gril like Me- Our we teaching our children to have poor body images

In this video created by a High school student, she examines how society inadvertently teaching our children to have poor body images of themselves and question their own very existence. In the video, many women ages 16-18 years old make comments about being inferior to the other more dominant race. Saying, they never felt pretty or adequate compared to the white girls. Many girls made the comments of trying to be more white in order to fit it. for example, bleaching their skin with skin bleachers, just to have more lighter skin, that is closer to the general population. one women expressed feeling that she could not be a princess because she was not white and only white people could be princesses.

Later in the video, we saw an experiment redone, by the film making, wanting to know if this concept of poor body image was learned at a young age. the experiment went like this: the child of African decent was presented two dolls. a black one and a white one. the children were asked to to pick the doll that was the nice doll or the doll they would more likely want to play with. The film making tested 21 children and out of the 21 children 15 of the children picked the white doll.

My question is why. Why is society trained to think that if we you are not a white, skinning, blond head girl, you are seen as being ugly. How is this passed on. Is it through the media, where all you seen is white girls, possible, but i like to think that there is African American women out the setting good role modeling for our students. Then how to you explain why women at Asian decent surgically get eyelinds. I believe that something is wrong with our society when only a very few amount women represent what all women should look like. I would really like to know who set these judgments in our society, because they are creating a world of women with poor body images.
-Heather