Electronic Interaction

I took a little bit of a different approach with my electronic interaction because it was rather difficult for me to get ANYONE to respond! So, with Ms. Averitt's advice, I contacted a college student, Tiffany Collins, through the social utility Facebook. She is a freshman at Georgia Perimeter College in Atlanta, Georgia. I chose to contact Tiffany because she graduated from Murphy High School, just as I did, and I also thought it would be interesting to get a student's perspective on technology. The following is our conversation:

Me:
Hi Tiffany. My name is Elizabeth Ashley Corley. I am a junior at the University of South Alabama with a major in Secondary Education and English. In one of my current courses, Microcomputing Systems, we are to contact a teacher, or another student, from another county or even another state. I see that you reside in Georgia and attended Murphy High School as well, I graduated in 2004. It would be greatly appreciated if you could answer a few questions for me related to your experiences with technology in the classroom. Would you be so kind to help me? If so, simply write back and we will go from there. Thanks a million; take care.
Elizabeth A. Corley

Tiffany:
Hi Elizabeth.Yes I would be more than happy to help you what would like to know?

Me:
Ok, for starters what school or university do you attend and what year are you?

Tiffany:
I attend Georgia Perimeter College and I am a freshman.

Me:
What is your major and are you at all familiar with podcasts, blogs, or any form of technology used in the classroom?

Tiffany:
I major in Journalism/Creative Writing. I take the following classes: English, Biology, Spanish, and Humanities. I am familiar with podcasts and blogs however I don't use them in class. We do use computers and laptops for the majority of the time during my English and Spanish class. The computers provide us with electronic versions of text books, study guides, quizzes, and other useful tools that are necessary to most students. Also power points are becoming vary common when during lectures.

Me:
Oh, very interesting; the idea of using laptops in the classroom versus the common textbook, paper, and pencil sounds terrific! I hope that that will soon be a part of South's curriculum, too. I am more of a visual learner and most material doesn't stay in my mind for long if it is not interesting. So tools such as PowerPoints and websites really help me to retain information not only for the test but also long after. In my current class, we discussed burp-back education, which is education that is merely forgotten after it is used, such as forgetting information after you've taken a test. So, does supplemental technology such as your laptop, websites, and PowerPoints help you, as a student, learn better or does it help you in any way? What is your viewpoint of technology in the classroom as we roll into the year 2009; is it vital?

Tiffany:
Yes. Using technology in class helps me learn better in class because I am also a visual learner. I and so many other students find power points and personal laptops a great way to stay interested during class and saving work is always easy. I believe in 2009 itechnoogy will be vital because most of our everyday life consists of depending on technology and soon our education will also.

Me:
Well, Tiffany I thank you so much for helping me with my assignment. You should go to iTunes and download some educational podcasts, they are actually a very interesting way to learn on the go (ipods, etc.). Also, check out my student blog at corleyeedm310fall08.blogspot.com. Again, thanks and good luck on your future endeavors! Go technology!

Tiffany:
Your Welcome Elizabeth. I will definitely do so! Go Technology!

Just like me and many other students, Tiffany is already experiencing the technology shift first-hand. For many, this is a good thing as it can improve learning and makes a lot of things simplier such as tests, lectures, and turning in assignments.

My EDM 310 Blog Assignments are Now Complete

Well fellow classmates, we have come to an end for this semester. If you all feel like I do, we got a lot out of this class that is definitely not burpback by a long shot. I enjoyed you all, and I hope you do well in your future endeavors. Hope to see you around sometimes...don't be a stranger!

Elizabeth "Ashley" Corley

I Love This Class!-What I learned in EDM 310

I can honestly say I enjoyed and gained a lot of knowledge from this EDM 310 class, and Ms. Averitt is a wonderful and helpful teacher, honestly! I have learned sooo many things I probably wouldn't have been exposed to as thoroughly as I was in this class. I learned what a podcast is, how to search for and download one, and even how to make one-well not technically, but I can say I did one! I learned what a blog is and how to maneuver them; I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that I will implement blogging in my future classroom. I learned about many wonderful tools available for teachers, parents, and students such as The Alabama Virtual Library, ACCESS, and ALEX.

These are things that I would have never learned on my own. Ms. Averitt did an exceptional job of exposing us to new things that are helpful, and maybe even vital, to our future careers as teachers. I really must say, I enjoyed this class, I learned a lot that is definitely not BurpBack! No, there is nothing I can think of that I would have wanted to learn; Big ups to Ms. Averitt!

Blogs Pluses and Minuses/Student Comparison

The person I will choose to compare and contrast with is fellow classmate Kimberly Pierce, simply because I experienced the most with her as we were group members (along with Brooke)and both did not know what a blog or podcast was before this class. We had heard and seen the word 'blog' several times before, but never actually new what it was until this class. It felt good to know that there was someone else that didn't know about this besides myself!


At first, the idea of blogging was a little different, but we found that it's actually not as difficult and scary as it seems. It's actually kind of fun! And as Kimberly researched the history of blogs for our podcast, she found that blogs have actually been around for quite some time; it was just new to us.

While piecing together our presentation, I found that blogs actually have many benefits. They help us, as teachers, to understand our students a little better through their writing-when they’re at home in a more comfortable setting familiar to them, their personality will just shine through their writing; They allow the students to engage with one another; They help the student to enjoy writing as a conversation and arouse their interest in learning; They allow the student to become a better writer through student and teacher critiques or comments; They help to encourage computer literacy. Blogs also help to keep the parents involved by giving them easy access to view their child’s workload and their work progress, as well as what the teacher is doing, what the teacher is teaching their child, and what the teacher expects of his/her students. Blogs also give the parent(s) an easy means to contact their child’s teacher and they can interact with other parents as well.

But just as their are many benefits of blogging, it has it's negatives to go along. There are many households that do not possess a computer or internet access, so the child will either have to go to a public library or wait until a school day. The internet can also be dangerous for children if their activity isn't monitored. But overall, the pluses outweigh the minuses.

Kimberly's blog can be viewed here.

ACCESS LAB EXPERIENCE

ACCESS, the acronym for Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide, is, yet, another wonderful program offered to Alabama teachers, faculty, students, and their parents. ACCESS reaches out to students by offering the opportunity to take elective, Advanced Placement, and other on-line courses not offered in their school. Students may take a wide variety of classes ranging from chemistry, to psychology, to foreign languages. Students are even offered tools such as an interactive on-line chemistry lab. Through ACCESS, teachers and faculty are given the opportunity to infiltrate the use of technology and help many students across the state of Alabama by inviting their knowledge, expertise, and desire to help. Again, parents are not left out of the equation. They, too, have the ability to view the courses and course descriptions offered to their child/children along with a helpful guide.


I had the pleasure of visiting an up and running ACCESS lab at Mary G. Montgomery High School in Semmes, Alabama. Mr. Roger Rose, an ACCESS and Psychology instructor, walked me through the basics of the lab. Students sit at the tables with laptops in front of them. They stay in the lab for a certain amount of time just as they would in a regular block, or period, for a class. In all, there were 25 available laptops for the students. Mr. Rose showed me his 'special' laptop, the Kodak Hub, which has access to other ACCESS labs; it shows exactly what they are doing at that moment, and the classrooms and the instructors can interact as they can see and hear each other in real time on the flat screen televisions. Through this Kodak Hub, Mr. Rose, and other instructors, can teach other students enrolled in that particular class, such as if Mr. Rose is teaching psychology to his students at MGM, he can simultaneously teach students at Murphy high school and both the students at MGM and Murphy can see and hear each other through the laptop and televisions mounted onto the walls. Mr. Rose also presented an ELMO machine, which eliminates the usual dry erase board and markers or chalkboard and chalk. This ELMO machine/laptop allows the instructors to do work on it, kind of similar to a projector, as it is simultaneously shown on the flat screen television, which is extremely cool! Again, students from other school can also view this.


Mr. Rose also noted the extreme importance of being computer and technologically savvy in today's classrooms. Just as in this class, Mr. Rose, and fellow instructors, are implementing the use of podcasts into their regular classrooms as well as the ACCESS classroom. Mrs. LeGrone, a chemistry instructor, is the forerunner of the podcasts at MGM. She uploads all of her lectures into podcasts and also onto TeacherTube, which is just like youtube for teachers.

My visit to MGM's ACCESS lab was a very interesting and informative one. It is really amazing how students are able to receive a quality lecture without even physically being at the same place as the instructor and other students. They can talk to the instructor and other students, raise their hands, and participate in all class discussions and assignments while hundreds of miles away. ACCESS is wonderful as it offers the students classes they are interested in taking but are unable to at their school. Whoever thought of ACCESS hit the nail right on the head. It is truly wonderful and I will be sure to enlighten my future students and parents of this program.

Mr. Rose's website can be viewed here.
Mrs. LeGrone's website can be viewed here.

"Broken" Duke University/Center for Documentary Studies

I watched a podcast/video called "Broken," which is a HIV education film from South Africa. In the video, a little girl, Dolly, is raped by her intoxicated father. The brother comes in and catches what the father has done to his sister and tries to help her. The father then tried to beat the little boy. Later that evening, the mother arrives home from work and questions Dolly why she has not yet cooked dinner. The girl burst out crying, so the mother asks the brother why she is crying. He explains to her that the father raped her, but the mother simply tells the boy to stop lying and asks the father did he rape Dolly. Of course, the father response is, "No, that is a lie," and that is the end of that.

So many parents ignore signs that a child is being hurt. In this case, the mother is actually told what the father has done, but she thinks because he simply says he didn't do it that he is telling the truth, despite the little boy's claim and the girl crying. The mother is so concerned with staying with the father that she ignores what she is told. The father is so busy drinking alcohol that he cannot see how he is hurting his children. The message of the movie is the children are our future, stop hurting them.

EDM 310 Podcasts

In my EDM 310 class, I, and my fellow classmates, and two other group members had to put together a podcast and present it. Before this class, I, and probably many of my classmates, did not know what a podcast was. Before preparing to put our podcasts together, we were required to listen to some podcasts to get a feel of how to put one together. We were not perfect, but for our first times we actually did good.

My group members included me, Kim, and Brooke. We talked about the history of blogs, how we can implement them into the classroom, and interesting blogs. Our knowledge of the topic was thoroughly explained, we were all well prepared, and we talked clearly and intelligently. We could have been a bit more laid-back and conversational, but as a whole we did great!

Rachael, Keller, and Joye did an awsome job to me. I mean they did really good. They were knowledgeable and they were conversational. The word "um" was used too much, but they were very good!

Susan, Bridget, and Angela were also very in-depth with their information. Like us, they also could have been more conversational.

I believe that we all did well over all. We could have been more conversational, more natural, more comfortable with each other and our topics. We now have podcasts under our belts, and I'm sure if we had to do another one we would do better.

Mathematics with Technology

Judy Chandler-a technology integration specialist, mathematics teacher, and a mathematics mentor and trainer-discusses how she has encountered many teachers that do not consider technology as a valuable classroom resource for their students. She has heard various excuses/reasons for them not implementing technology into their classrooms such as: my students are doing just fine without technology,we have to finish the book by a certain date, technology is an add-on (it is not essential to the students' learning), I do not have the time to learn about technology, or I do not have the time to include technology in my lesson plan.

Some of Judy's colleagues, as well as many other teachers, wondered and questioned what role does technology play in mathematics and education. Judy explains this by relaying the National Council of Teachers in Mathematics' findings that technology is one of the six key principles of high-quality mathematics education; that technology is essential in the teaching and learning of mathematics and that it enhances the students' learning. Judy goes on to explain that by implementing technology into the classrooms, students can become fully engaged hands-on with the material at hand and can get feedback. Technology can promote critical thinking and offers a different approach to demonstrate learning.

Many students, like myself, are more of a visual learner and can learn much easier when the material is and interesting and easy to relate to. Judy makes many great points that by implementing technology, it allows the student to have fun while learning. The student can enjoy interesting tools specific to math, such as interactive examples. Judy's goal may have been to give a better understanding of how technology can not only help the students in mathematics but also the teachers, but she actually makes a good point essential to all areas of study. I believe that the points that Judy makes in her discussion will help teachers in Science, English, and all other subjects as well.

"Growth" vs. "Fixed" Mindset

In the podcast "Growth" vs. "Fixed" Mindset, Dr. Carol Dwech, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, explains that students, or just people in general, that have a "fixed" mindset believe that their basic intelligence is a "fixed" trait. They believe they have a certain amount of knowledge and that's it. When faced with a task or an assignment, one with a fixed mindset focuses primarily on how they will look-will they look 'stupid' or will they look smart. They base their activities on whether or not it will allow their 'smartness' to shine. Contrarily, one with a "growth" mindset believes that their intelligence is not just a fixed trait, that, in fact, they could broaden or expand their knowledge through studying and thinking outside the box.

Dr.Dwech developed an eight session workshop to teach students the growth mindset where one half of the students obtained lessons on study skills and a growth mindset while the other half simply got the study skills session. Students that were exposed to just the study skills were not helped much, at all, in part because they were not taught the optimistic outlook of the growth mindset. Their grades just continued to decline. In the growth mindset session, students were taught that their brains are muscles and it expands and forms new connections every time they learn something new. They also learned that it is okay not to be knowledgeable about everything, that no one would laugh or make fun of them because they didn't know something.

Dr. Dwech also tried this growth mindset on race car drivers. Through her conversations, the drivers were taught that mistakes on inevitable-it's how you view them, learn from them, and what you do with them that allows you to enter the "zone" after making mistakes. It is essential that you know that you will make many mistakes, you have to LEARN from them and keep going. Keep learning new thigs, broaden your intellect.

I think this growth mindset is essential for teachers, and mentors, to have especially because we will be dealing with the youth. Just as Dr. Dwech says, you cannot be a good mentor if you, yourself, do not possess this positive and meaningful mindset. If you limit yourself to the fixed mindset, you will never reach your full potential-ever. You will remain simple-minded. It is good to go out and explore new things knowing that you can, in fact, learn new things even if you make mistakes. It is good to know that you are not born with this one small set of knowledge, your brains stretches every time you learn-and learn as much as you want because it is a very strong muscle!

WGBH Podcasts

The podcasts featured by WGBH ranges from grades k-12. The podcasts take a subject or a question and explains it. One that I watched, for grades 9-12, was about why the moon doesn't fall. It explained that in fact the moon does fall, it's just moving at such a high speed that as gravity pulls it down it makes an actual circle, or orbit, around the earth. If it were to slow down, it would then fall on us and if it sped up, it would orbit the sun instead of the Earth. So it's just a basic balance between the moon's speed and the universe's gravitational pull.

The podcastd were very insightful because it was more visual, which is great for me because I am a heavy visual learner, and it explains the concept so simply that it is very easy to understand and grasp it. Some were actually kind of entertaining...it reminded my of my FAVORITE science show 'Bill Nye the Science Guy'!

This would be great for students that may not understand a concept maybe the way the teacher is presenting it. It could give them a different perspective on the concept that they may relate better to or understand better.

Check out one of Bill Nye's episodes on "quick sand": Bill Nye at youtube.com

Edutopia

The Edible Schoolyard

The Edible Schoolyard is a podcast about Martin Luther King Junior Middle School, in Berkely, California, that allows their students to plant organic fruits and vegetables. The garden and the kitchen are used as the students' learning labs where they learn many subjects-life, science, math, and social studies. The garden is the actual center of teaching. The students learn how to cooperate together through group projects, ecology, photosynthesis, and much more. This edible garden also gives the students and teachers a nutritional diet.

I really enjoyed this podcast. It made me think back to Randy Pausch's lecture when he discussed the concept of the "head fake." These students are having so much fun gardening together while learning so much more.

This podcast really backs up my thoughts that learning should be fun. I learned so much more in many of my classes thanks to the instructor making it interesting and relating to me. This video really shows how having fun can be educational.

The Edible Schoolyard can also be viewed online: The Edible Schoolyard

A Night in the Global Village

A Night in the Global Village is a podcast about students at the Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning in Denver that give up their privileged status, as Americans, for one night to basically talk a walk in other, less fortunate, shoes. They explore structures/houses set up to mimic Guatemala, Thailand, Zambia, Appalachia, and a refugee camp. In each house, they are enligntened a little more about the actual housing structure and conditions. The students are grouped up and have to work together because no one group has all the resources they need, such as water, food, and wood. They have to work together to figure out how to "survive" the night, and this is made even more difficult while no one from the refugee camp cannot speak any English.

This is a really good program because it allows the students to actually put themselves in the shoes of ones less fortunate rather than just reading about. It is something about being able to actually see how others struggle and survive life day by day. It gives them a chance to reflect, be thankful for being an American, and maybe even a chance to help those less fortunate.

I wish I could send my younger sister to this camp because it really hurts and annoys me to see how ungrateful she is. She gets anything she wants from my mom. You name it, she has it. But yet, my mother can ask her something simple like take the trash out and she pouts! Not only does she pout, she may even yell a little. I'm always telling her she's ungrateful...I'm going to tell my mom about this podcast!

Accessibilty for All

I, unfortunately, did not get to experience Mr. Sullivan's presentation, Accessibility for All, in person but did get a chance to view the physical presentation on-line. Watching this, I learned that there are laws and acts that protect people with disabilities. I learned about different ways the Internet, or computers period, can be easily used by ones with disabilities by making them easily accessible. Zoom Text and Magic are computer software that magnify the content of the screen for people with low vision or a learning disability. JAWS and Window Eyes, typically used by those who are totally blind, actually reads all parts of the screen for the user and allows them to respond by using the keyboard. Via Voice and Dragon Naturally speaking allows the user to speak their commands into a microphone. This software is typically used by ones that suffer from hand impairments such as cerebral palsy.

I know and a little bit more knowledgeable on how to handle a student, or students, with a disability in the future.

Alabama Virtual Library

The Alabama Virtual Library (AVL) is basically an on-line library with such resources as journal, magazine, and newspaper articles. The AVL is an informative and reliable on-line resource for research readily available to all state of Alabama residents. AVL can be accessed from any computer by simple obtaining an AVL card from a local library. The school system can also issue AVL cards to their students,teachers, and faculty as well.

The AVL has many great resources for research. You can begin your research by selecting an age group(elementary, middle, or high school; college or university; general public), a topic (i.e. science, social science, news, reference, etc), browsing a particular magazine or journal, or by searching for a specific database. There is a variety of databases to search from such as Britannica Elementary and Kids Search for elementary-aged students or the Oxford English dictionary for the general public.

I think the AVL is a terrific and informative website that is user friendly. I found many things interesting on the website as I browsed through the High School category, since that is what level I will be teaching at in the near future. I also found some resources that are of interest to me. I will, personally, use this website for my own future research needs and will pass this information on to others as well.

Podcasts

The first podcast I listened to was the SMARTBoard Lessons podcast, episode number 142. The subject of this particular podcast is teachers connecting in cross-country collaborations, a.k.a teachers getting together and sharing ideas. Host Ben Hazzard and co-host Joan Badger discuss Hazzard's website teachersconnecting.com and pdtogo.com/smart. At the beginning of the podcast, the 'session' was light as Badger and Hazzard discuss their hectic summers. As the podcast progresses, Ben and Joan discuss many great and useful websites for teachers, such as bighugelabs.com/flickr, that has many great tools and ideas to make lecturing and information interesting and easy to learn for the students. Joan and Ben expand on how they, and others, used bighugelabs.com for their own individual teaching needs.

Kidcast.tv is a podcast, hosted by Dan, was put together in a very similar manner as SMARTBoard. A little music was played at the beginning, the host comes in and introduces him/herself, and then they share their experiences relating to their subject. A little conversation may be held at first, such as their day or their exciting weekend, but for the most part the conversation is limited to the subject of the podcast at hand.

One thing that I noticed a lot while listening to the various podcasts is how conversational the tone of the podcasts are. It not so much as a stern, "Hey you! Listen to me teach or lecture!" It was a very calm and normal tone as they gave their insights and useful information. There were funny points that made you laugh in the podcasts as well as points when you pull your paper and pen out and write down the information being dished out.

Listening to these podcasts really, really helped me a lot as I'm thinking of how to piece together my future podcast. The host(s) spoke clearly and intelligently and the information was ready and accurate. But most of all, I learned that I don't have to be so nervous because the tone of the podcasts were more conversational than anything.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

Dr. Randy Pausch was an exceptionally inspirational professor at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Pausch, who was married to wife Jai and had three children, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006. Around the time of learning that his pancreatic cancer was terminal, Pausch was given the opportunity to deliver a 'last speech/lecture' at CMU. After learning of his serious state, Pausch decided to deliver his last lecture, basically, for his kids. The lecture was entitled Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.
On September 18, 2007, Pausch delivered a moving and inspirational speech that included his childhood goals, how he achieved them, helping others achieve their childhood dreams, and how to be a better person. Pausch spoke of many of his childhood dreams, but one in particular that stood out to me was his dream to play in the NFL. Although he did not make it to the NFL, Pausch learned from playing football as a child thanks to his former Coach Jim Ghrahm. He spoke about how Ghrahm rode him an entire practice. At first, it made him feel bad until another coach pointed out the it was indeed good that Ghrahm was riding him because if he wasn't, that meant that he'd given up on him. Pausch explains that your critics, the ones who point out your mistakes and faults, are the ones telling you they still love you and care. Pausch also learned fundamentals from football. The fundamentals of anything is the foundation.
Pausch taught his students through a concept he called the "head fake." He believed using the head fake, or indirect learning, was the best way to get one to learn because they think they are doing something else but in actuality they are learning while having fun, such as when you send your child out to play football. They may think that they're out to simply learn to play football but they actually learn and gain so much more. They gain the fundamentals-teamwork, sportsmanship, perserverance, and teamwork.
Pausch best put this idea to work through a project called Alice. Alice is a way to teach students computer programming by allowing them to simply have fun making movies and games. Pausch's goal, and legacy, was to enable millions of kids to have fun while learning something hard. The 3.0 version of Alice, due this year, teaches students Java language by writing movies and scripts with characters themed from the popular computer game 'The Sims.' One of Pausch's former students, Caitlin Keller, helps carry on his legacy by bringing Alice to middle schools.
Dr. Randy Pausch had many valuable points in his last lecture, many of which stuck with me and will shine in my life day by day. Pausch spoke of brick walls in our lives-obstacles. Obstacles, brick walls, are not there to stop us but to show how badly we want something. The walls are there to keep out the ones that don't want it badly enough. Brick walls allows us to show our dedication. Don't let them keep you down, never give up.
Watching this video touched me in many ways. Dr. Pausch was a very smart and dedicated man. He wanted to make sure his children learned while enjoying his last lecture-the head fake. His intent was to touch the lives of his children, but in actuality he touched so many more and I am just glad he lived long enough to realize that. I honestly enjoyed the video.


You can view Pausch's Last Lecture here.

International Blog Use

Teachers, even internationally, are using blogs in their classrooms also. Ms. Tarasevich is a 9th grade teacher, at Abanskaya School, from Russia. The students use this blog (http://welcometoaban.blogspot.com) to post their traditions and pictures and invite people from other cultures to comment and share their traditions and way of life. I think this blog is not only good for the students, but also for the teachers because it takes them into the life of others around the world. This can be very helpful in showing that we all have more in common than we think such as some photos of summer on their blog and how they celebrate Easter.

Ms. Kimberly Brown is a 6th and 7th grade teacher, at Haultain Community School, from Canada. Like many American blogs used in the classroom, Ms. B's class is given assignments and then post them to the blog. Ms. B also interacts the parents, at schoolnotes.com, by posting the assignments, it requirements and due date under the 'classroom and homework information' tab on her blog. You may view this blog here.

Although it seems like we're a world apart from those living in other parts of the world, we are closer than we think by the use of this technology.

Teachers Using Blogs in the Classroom

Will Richardson is a New Jersey school teacher, at Hunterdon Central Regional High School, that teaches journalism and literature. Richardson implements blogs daily in both his journalism and literature classes. Getting students to post their work as blogs allows them to not only edit and critique the fellow classmate's work but to also become aware of their audience and the way other view their work. Blogs allow the students to interact with each other, providing constructive criticisms and compliments. In Richardson's classrooms, students can really help out a fellow student that may not be up to par with their paper and they may even get productive ideas themselves.

Mrs. Thorp is a retired third-grade teacher that really wants to pass on her knowledge to parents and fellow teachers. This blog is truly amazing: http://mrsthorp.com/ . On her blog, Mrs. Thorp provides many links available to parents such as, help your child to be a good speller; helping your child to learn to read new words; what can parents do to help their child's teacher. This blog is a really good one for parents that want to be more involved with their child's learning at this crucial age. They may not know how or where to start, and this blog is a great place to start.

ACCESS

ACCESS, short for Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide, is yet another wonderful program offered to Alabama teachers, faculty, students, and their parents. ACCESS reaches out to students by offering them the opportunity to take elective, Advanced Placement, and other on-line courses not offered in their schools. Students may take a wide variety of classes ranging from chemistry to foreign languages. They are even offered tools such as an interactive on-line chemistry lab. Through ACCES, teachers and faculty are given the opportunity to infiltrate the use of technology and help many students across the state of Alabama by inviting their knowledge, expertise, and desire to help. Again, parents are not left out of the equation. They, too, have the ability to view the courses and course descriptions offered to their child/children along with a helpful guide.

I was, once again, impressed with the websites and tools Alabama has to offer its students, faculty, and parents. ACCESS is great for students, and parents, that want to take their education a step farther, and I, again, definitely plan to incorporate this website into my classroom in the future and into my home as a parent.

ALEX

Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) is an educational website created for the residents of Alabama. ALEX gives teachers and faculty many useful resources such as the Course of Study tab including, but not limited to, web links pertaining to the choice of study, lesson plans designed down to the grade level, study guides, and interesting activities and ways to implement them in the classroom. Teachers and faculty can converse with each other about lessons plans and teaching techniques/strategies. Students can also take full advantage of this website by exploring the web links tab, reviewing lesson plans and helpful ways to study. They can even take an on-line course, such as a foreign language or an art, that is not offered in their school as a course of study. But this website is not only helpful and useful for teachers, faculty, and students, but also for the parents. Parents who want to get more involved with their children's learning hands-on. They, too, can explore web links and review and implement study guides or lesson plans and other resources.

I was completely naive to the abbreviation ALEX before completing this blog. Looking over the ALEX website for this blog, I found myself becoming extremely interested and amazed at this wonderful website. Its user-friendly site is so helpful for students, faculty, teachers, parents, everyone. I will be sure to keep a close eye on this website as I plan to use it when I begin teaching. I am proud that Alabama has such a great program.

My Google Presentation

In my Google Presentation, I will present my life on a daily basis which includes: my daily duties as a mom, my family, me as a student at South, me as a full-time worker, some of my crazy hobbies and probably some of my friends too. I hope you'll enjoy it!

Ashley Corley (Elizabeth)

About Me

Hello fellow classmates. My name is Elizabeth "Ashley" Corley. I have been attending the University of South Alabama since the spring of 2007. My experience here at South as so far been a great one. The professors are very knowledgeable and helpful, and the students, for the most part, are nice and helpful too. I am a junior pursuing a degree in Education and English. I attend South full-time, work full-time, and I am also a full-time mom. My daughter's name is Brianna Noel. She is, in my eyes, the most energetic two year-old I have ever came across! In my spare time, I enjoy going to the movies, hanging out with friends and family, and traveling. I hope you enjoyed getting to know a little bit about me and I look forward to a semester with you all! Bye.

Ashley Corley (Elizabeth)