Week 3 Wimba

After listening to this week’s Wimba session one question stood out that some asked “What things are you going to take from the reading and use in your teaching and in your life?” This was a deep question and after reading the book so for I would say in both my career and life would be do not limit your possibilities in life. Keep an open mind and always strive for excellence no matter the setbacks and hurdles you endure.

Think Out Loud PPP Week 3

After thinking long and hard I decided on presenting my CBR project. I decided to submit to the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education. I would submit and hopefully be accepted under New Roles of the Instructor and Learner.

Comment on Sharol's Week 3 Blog

Reading this book is helping me not only in my professional life but my personal as well. Focusing on the possibility and not the limitations has been something I've done my entire life. But I have found that lately my attitude has change & it is changing what & how I view the world. Chapters 5-8 all spoke to me in some little way but chapter 5 did the most. When the conductor allowed others to input on how to lead them. I think that this is something I will definitely try just to see how I can better service my students.

Other useful information I received was over the abstract and the publishing/ presentation project which still confuses me but I'm rolling with it.

Sharol,
It always good when you can find a book that can help you both professionally and personally. Keep striving forward and keep up the good work.

Comment on Kelly's Week 3 Blog

Leading from Any Chair: I was really struck by this, because I feel as teachers we are supposed to do this every day. There's that old saying, to not be the sage on the stage, but the guide on the side? That's exactly what I thought of when I read this chapter. It's giving students more "power" in the classroom to learn. Once we do that, students will be more confident and might take more risks! I have a few tattoos that my students love to ask about, and one of them says "Believe" on my arm, so they always ask me what that means. I always tell them that everyone needs to believe in something, and even if you don't believe in anything, you need to especially believe in yourself. I think leading from any chair means that students need to believe in themselves to take charge in the classroom and in their lives!
I also love Rule Number 6! Speaking of my tattoos, I have another one on my ankle that says Live Laugh Love, and it's another one that my students ask about. This one is kind of self explanatory, and we see it all the time as it's a common expression, but do we really take that advice? Each day, do you make an effort to live, laugh AND love? Live and Love are the easier ones- everyone is already living (although I challenge you to take it to the next level and LIVE every day), and everyone loves something (their self, a family member, something else, hopefully!), but do we take a moment to LAUGH every day? Just remembering to never take life seriously (because we won't get out alive!) has saved me MANY a day when teaching in my school seemed impossible. Even this year, my classes are a little crazy (they gender-ized the freshman class, and I teach the majority of the GIRLS, so there's a-WHOLE-lot of attitude in my classroom on a daily basis), so just remembering Rule Number 6 makes me feel much better each day!

Kelly,
Live, laugh, love is great quote and can truly tell you like it as well since you got it as a tattoo. Ironically I was trying to get these words over archway above my bar in my living room. I didn’t work out but I haven’t given up, Im going to try it again.

Comment on Kelly's Week 2 Blog

How can we unlock our greatest potential? By thinking outside the box of course. The authors present us with a few examples how. By using the nine dot challenge, we learn that everything is not as it seems. We need to shift our focus. This reminds me very much of positive thinking. If we think positively, anything is possible. We need to stop letting others, or ourselves define us. If we define ourselves, then we're setting limits. In order to be truly potential for anything, we need to be LIMITLESS. This almost seems impossible, since people (especially THESE days) are very... what's the word... nervous? Power hungry? Money hungry? You get the picture. We're so worried about our lives and about being successful that it's too risky to believe we are capable of doing anything and everything. But what if we fail? What if we invest everything and fail, like many people have been doing these days? If we get into that mind set, then yes, we WILL fail. Because then we think nothing is possible. We also need to realize that each person affects everyone else. We need to get out of that mind set of "well, it's only me, so what impact can I have in the grand scheme of things?" Yes, I am only one person. But as that one person I have the ability of affecting everyone I meet everyday. No matter what anyone's profession is, we all make a contribution to life EVERY day. By paying it forward, we start a trend to affect others, creating that great ripple effect. And in turn, we'll get that back in extraordinary amounts in the future.

Kelly great post I love how you mention we need to shift our focuses. Stop letting people decide for us or think for us will change open up tremendous opportunities for individuals.

Comments on Alonzo Moses Blog

This week’s reading was “The Art of Possibility” by Zander, R. and Zander, B. They start off by giving us a brief insight to their background. The first chapter explains to us how our constructs of reality are all invented. If this is the case then we should be able to recreate our own reality!? Chapter two introduces to us to the Universe of Possibility. The stories they shared with us gave us an idea of how we could bring more possibility to those around us. The third chapter talks about giving people an “A”. I thought it was pretty good to see what an “A” could do for people. “The A is an invention that creates possibility...” (Zander, R. and Zander, B., 2000.). Chapter four, Being A Contribution, explains how being a contribution can be a successful outlook.


You mention you like the chapter giving people an "A". This is a good chapter I always tell my students you all start off with an "A" but it is your job to maintain that "A'. Many are successful but then many are not. It all depends on who decides to put in the most work to maintain it.

The Art of Possibility 5-8

Chapter 5. Leading from Any Chair: We're all leaders. How can we make a difference in the people will influence each day? How do we listen to those who help us make our dreams become reality?
Many of us are natural born leaders and many of us do not realize how much of a leadership role we actually have on others. I never thought I was a leader; I was just a teacher but as more students I taught each year and the feedback I continued to get from students. I realized I was a leader and had led my students to believe in themselves and accomplish more than I could imagine.
Keeping an open ear is always a good way to listen to those who help us make our dreams become reality.
Chapter 6. Rule Number 6: Don't take yourself so seriously. Life is a journey--enjoy and learn along the way. Live, laugh, and love!!
I love this quote. We often to take life for granted and don’t enjoy what life has to offer us each and everyday. Yes each day may not go as we want them but we should cherish and enjoy each and everyday we wake and take a breath, because each day is not promised to us. Live it, Love it, Enjoy it.
Chapter 7. The Way Things Are: Sometimes settling for the way things are is a lowering of expectations, sometimes it’s finding a starting point so that one can make things better. Where are you in this continuum?
I refuse to lower my standards and my expectations. If you lower your expectations what are you proving? That you will give into anything, if that was the case African Americans never would have had equal rights and the same thing goes for women.
Chapter 8. Giving Way to Passion: Control says that the only way to avoid disappointment and frustration is to not care at all. No hits, no runs, but most importantly, no errors. What are you doing in your daily life that expresses your passion or the things you are passionate about?
If you are passionate about something you are going to show it. You will stumble it happens to all the greats. You pick yourself up dust yourself off and continue on for greatness.

Think Out Loud PPP Week 2

This week we had to decide if we wanted to publish or present as well as where we would like to publish or present. After thinking really hard I think for the moment I would prefer to present. I feel more comfortable presenting because throughout my undergraduate career I attended several research conferences where I had to present my finding from the research I participated in at the University of Michigan.

The Art of Possibility 1-4

Chapter 1. It's All Invented: How can we think outside the box we live in? What assumptions are we making that we're not aware that we are making? What might we invent that would give us other choices?
We should always strive to think outside of the box but we often stay inside our bubble, our comfort zone. We don’t like change, we play it safe and not stray far away from what works. We assume that if we play it safe nothing should go wrong but that is not always the case in life. I don’t know if there is something we could invent but just give others the confidence to take chances, make mistakes, that’s how true legends are made.
Chapter 2. Stepping into a Universe of Possibility: We live in a world of measurements. The Zanders recommend that when we look at how different things appear we can see them as possibilities. How are your thoughts and actions a reflection of the measurement world?
I’m always reminded of a famous quote by an unknown author “go big or go home”. The world is a big place and we should take advantage of what the world has to offer us.
Chapter 3. Giving an A: Giving Yourself an A.
Giving your self an “A” is a good stratergy some would say but do really deserve that A. We often give ourselves more credit then we actually deserve. We might want to strive to keep that are but do we really keep up? I would always tell my students you all start out with an A but is your job to maintain that A
Chapter 4. Being a Contribution: Over the years, I’ve observed how people handle various situations in their lives. People who succeed do not have fewer problems than people who fail. It is how they perceive issues and how they react to situations that makes a difference. The purpose of this chapter was to help us look at how we can contribute in order to make a difference in the lives of others even if it’s only one person. How will I be a contribution today?

I believe should always give back. You wouldn’t be the person you are if someone hadn’t instill values in your life as you are growing up. Many of us tend to stray away from great core values but many of us stay on track. Just don’t think about yourself reach back and bring some up with you on your journey.

Reply to Stephen

Reading the first three chapters of the book (The Art of Possibility by Zander, B and Zander, R.S.) I found myself shaking my head in agreement. The part about thought process and the "Give Them An A' chapter really hit home. In my new job as an 8th grade teacher I have found so many students that are so worried about making a mistake and so stuck in past failure that they doubt the knowledge that they have. Many students will not answer questions because they are afraid of being wrong which makes it difficult to get a feeling for how they are doing until assessments are done. The whole idea from the first chapter was very enlightening. Realizing that my students may not see the potential, may not be able to see out of the box, makes me want to develop my lesson plans to such a higher level. It is so hard to break out of old habits that I almost have to teach them so they do not realize they are learning or what they are achieving. The book also caused me to reflect on my own thought patterns and what was helping, or in some cases deterring me from achieving at a higher level. This journey has given us a lot of tools and a lot of ideas but if I (we) don't step out of ourselves and use them it would be a shame. I am intrigued by the possibility of giving everyone an A. I found the letters from the students told us everything we needed to know abot whether the idea was a success.

@MathTeach
I will have to agree to disagree. I understand the whole idea of protecting the children of students being afraid once they feel they have gotten a low grade and they are incapable of doing better. To a point students need to experience failure if they have never failed they don't know how to pick there selfs up and try again. Some of the greatest inventors failed several times until they got it right. This is the way can be viewed everything is not always the way we want it but we keep striving to do better to reach that pinnacle and beyond.

Response to Allen

As a visual artist I understand what it’s like to have your work taken without permission. Taking an image even one that has been watermarked and using it without paying the artist is wrong. If found the artist has the right to request you take down the image. Just because you change the image or remix music doesn’t mean the original artist should not get some sort of compensation for their work. I think in the case of modifying an image it depends on the how the modification is use. Was it paid for or was it used without permission? Is the artist who made the change profiting from the modified image?

I believe if the artist purchased the image for the intent of reuse and it was sold as such then the original artist has no say. If the image was taken without permission, even from news media then the original artist should have the right to collect compensation. Music, video, imagery and print media should not be used (even snips) without permission from the original artist. The entire remix controversy is simple in the fact that creating art for profit off of someone else’s work without permission is copyright infringement. It really is that simple. There is no doubt that it is creative but it is taking their hard work and profit and claiming it as your own.
Now there are alternatives that people should consider. Most agencies that sell images, video clips and audio clips offer “free media”. You still need to read and understand how you can use this media but it is out there. Then we have other sites that are built on user content and many of these offer shared content, again with restrictions. When these site find copyrighted materials the take them down. YouTube for instance will send notification to users and explain why they removed a video and how to contact the copyright holder. The “Fair Use” of media has some merit only if the guidelines are followed and enforced. If you think about it we have done this for years in the form of critic reviews, the releases of movies, videos and music.
The other source people should consider is creative commons. The sharing of many forms of media and art. Depending on the license you can use, distribute or even remix these items. It has opened a world of possibility for the remix community. Think about a gathering of artists from around the world with the purpose of sharing and blending their ideas to create new unique artistic expressions. I have personally used music from this site. I have also added to free images at several stock photography agencies. The free content is out there we just have to find it the legal way. Respect artist by respecting their copyrights. If you do use someone’s work remember to give credit where credit is due!
Thanks for reading!

@Allen
I totally understand what you mean about when someone takes something from you that you have spent a lot of hard time and effort into. I really want something you should patronize the artist so they can continue produce more of the product that you liked by that artist. We live in a remix society but I believe you should pay the originator because they are the ones who originally created the idea.

Week One Readings

It is ironic that we would be talking and reading about copyright issues this week. I work part time for a mega church located in Texas. We are currently being audited from CCLI to make sure we are obeying our copyright guidelines. We have faced some opposition from some who believe that we can just throw lyrics on a screen and broadcast them with out giving credit for the use. We wish it was the easy but we have to abide by the rules or risk the chance of ultimately being sued by the author of the song. I am pretty familiar with copyright I can remember taking a class during high school called mass media law were we learned and studied cases that involved copyright infringement and other legal issues. We were even thought a way to copyright a piece of work for short term while you are applying to get a piece copyrighted. We were told a simple way of just mailing the piece of work you want copyrighted to yourself that has been postmarked is a temporary fix until you work has been officially copyrighted.

ETC_Final Project

Relevant and Innovative Learning Scenarios

1.     Target Audience: 11^th – 12^th grade students

2.     Materials-

·      Students need access to computers or laptops with internet access

·      Schoology Accounts

3.     Objectives- Students will:

·      Create individual student schoology accounts

·      Evaluate the functionality of the web 2.0 tool

·      Formulate and discuss opinions via blogs and discussion boards

·       

4.     Procedure:

·      Students will log on to http://www.schoology.com

·      Students will then click on the button that says “Students Use Access Code”

·      Students will be given a special access to code for their classes

·      Students will create a user name, password and enter email address

·      Students will then wait for the teacher to accept the request

·      Upon acceptance the student can edit there profile, and have access to other areas of schoology

·      Teachers will click on the tab in the left pane labeled courses

·      Teacher will then select the there preferred course

·      After selection the teacher will select the drop down menu labeled “add content”

·      The teacher will be able to select from various categories on what type of assignment they would like to publish. In this case select create discussion

·      A new window will pop open; in this window give your discussion a title. You have an option to add a description and tags for the discussion board

·      The teacher has the opportunity to copy the discussion to multiple course and share with other groups

·      After everything has been the completed the teacher will click create

5.     Web 2.0 tool- The web 2.0 tool that was selected was schoology. Schoology is a social networking tool made the classroom. It similar to facebook and other social networking platforms, but offers it in an educational manner.

6.     Social Participation/Social Learning- The ultimate goal would be for the students to use the tool as a medium to communicate and collaborate virtually with their peers. A platform where students can discuss homework and classwork assignments and allow peer feedback.

7.     Making Connections- Through this tool I would like the students to make peer connections. When the teacher is not available the students should be able to help each other on difficulties or when they feel the teacher is not making sense or not comprehending.

8.     Create/Produce- The students will discuss and collaborate on a discussion board created by the teacher. In this assignment the students were asked what are some activities you would like to participate in?

9.     Reflection- The students will discuss and reflect via a blog on how they feel about the web 2.0 tool. Would they like to continue using the tool and do they feel it has beneficial to them in and outside of the classroom.

PE5_Schoology

I had one group of my seniors to sign up for schoology. The unique thing about this tool you dont have to key in every student manually yourself. Schoology assigns each class its on uniques access code. Once the student uses that access code they are placed into the correct class for you. Once the students signed up I had instant notification that they did. The students loved seeing how it looked so familiar to facebook. And they are amped to be trying something different in the classroom. One student already ask how many students are actually going to get on here? By the looks of it, it seems to have gone over well with them.

PE4_Schoology

After finally being back on campus after a week, and after a week of benchmarking. I am finally able to work with my students again. I have been becoming more familiar with the web 2.0 tool schoology. This week I got a chance to setup my classes and begun to use some of the features that it offers. What I do like about the tool. It is user friendly for teachers and students.

BP6-Link to another's blog

Follow this link to my comments on Richard's blog.
http://motivatingliteracy.blogspot.com/2011/01/bp4-new-web-tools.html

BP5-Link to another's blog

Follow this link to my comments on Melissa blog.
http://melissacoopersdigitaled.blogspot.com/

BP4_Schoology

Last week I found edmodo a nice school social networking web 2.0 tool. This week I discovered schoology another school social networking web 2.0 tool. I thought it would be a good idea to compare the two programs to see which one would serve a better purpose in my professional environment.

BP7-One Minute Video

PE3_FCP

I started working on a small project just for fun to apply some of things I have been learning. I still have a more chapters to watch, I plan to have them completed by the end of next week. Wish me luck! The footage is from a stepshow that my church hosted.

PE2_FCP

Today I continued working with chapter 3 and got all the way to chapter 4. Chapter 4 got into some very advanced editing techniques. I was introduced to tools and techniques that I have never heard of before, for example the roll tool and ripple edits. I have been practicing on some of these techiniques and starting to become more familiar on how to use them.

PE1_FCP

After talking it over with Rena, I decided to get training in Final Cut Pro. On day one I got a chance to view tutorials from chapter one, two and a part of 3. I have worked with final cut before but never had official training on how to use the software. While watching the tutorials I have gain some valuable knowledge on shortcuts and ways on how to setup preferences in the program. I decided to keep a notebook on what I have learned so I can go back and refer to it until I become more familiar with the software.

BP2_Edmodo

The Web 2.0 tool I choose try in professional environment is Edmodo. This tool can be used in elementary, middle school, high school as well as higher education. This tool took me by surprise, I taught something of this magnitude would not be free or you would have limited features and they would want you to pay to unlock the premium features.

This Web 2.0 tool designed to help students in teachers communicate in and out of the classroom. With the world of social networking craze becoming more popular, why not have a platform that can bring this to the world of education. Edmodo brings the arena of social networking to the classroom. You are able to connect with other teachers across the world. Sharing content and information that can assist and gain valuable lesson and ideas.

You would think this tool would be very hard to learn. But the actuality it is really basic and simple. Once you have signed up by creating a username and password with a valid email address you are all done. Once inside the tool you can then begin setting up your classrooms. After you create a class you are given a special code to give to your students. The students use the code when they register for the site. What is great about the special code is that it sets the students up in the correct group for you. Making easier for the teacher not having to input all the students manually. The only draw back for me was the difficulty in finding where the communities were located. It ended up being at the very bottom of the page in small print. I would like to see if they would change that feature on the tool. 

This tool is packed full of features that can be very beneficial for teachers. You are able to send mass emails to students, manage assignments, grade papers, send notes, work with students in groups or one-on-one. The students are able to access the site from their cell phones and its full functional. I started implementing this tool in my classroom and I cant wait to see how this implementation fares. 

BP3_iGoogle Screen Shots

BP1_Welcome to my blog

Hello my name is DaMarcus Wright, I’m not new to blogging but this will be my first blogging site done by me. I love to follow blogs especially mac rumors. A great site to keep up with possible could be happening in the world apple computers. I look forward to see how my blogging experience goes.