Blog Assignment 15: Final Reflection

Final Report on PLN

Throughout this course, I would say that my PLN has definitely expanded. By reading different educators' blogs and subscribing to them via RSS feed, I'm sure to continue visiting them in the future to see what's going on and leave a comment here and there. I hope to continue posting on my EDM 310 blog about education and technology-related topics. I also hope that the people I've followed on Blogger will continue to post things every once in a while so that I may see the interesting things they've found on the web.

I still visit my Twitter account to see what's been happening with the people, businesses, bands, magazines, museums, and authors I follow. I really like using Screenr as a screen-capturing tool. It's very user-friendly and it gives five minutes of recording time, which is usually just the right amount of time. I developed my Symbaloo page, and I really like it. It has all of my favorite bookmarks and interest areas on it, and I plan on using it in the future. Delicious is still a really good way to bookmark, as well. My Facebook account is very active, as usual, and I'm still in love with my Gmail account! I'm still so happy that we were required to get one for this course because I probably wouldn't have gotten one otherwise, and then I wouldn't have learned about the amazing GoogleDocs and iGoogle!

I've also added a new favorite book to my PLN, and it's The First Days of School by Harry Wong and Rosemary Wong. It was the textbook used in my Classroom Management course this semester, and it really offers amazing advice and knowledge on the importance of being an effective educator. I also plan to explore the TED website further for more talks on education and technology. I find the talks from this site to be really interesting.

Summary Post C4T #4

The Power of Educational Technology: Liz Davis

My first comment on Liz Davis' blog was for a post about how she introduced Twitter to her technology class of high school seniors. In total, the students could see the value of Twitter as a networking tool; however, they didn't think it was appropriate for teens their age. This may have been due to the fact that the majority of Twitter users are either teachers, businesses or celebrities, to name a few. The students remained faithful to Facebook as a social media, as they believed it could do everything that Twitter could and more. The students didn't seem to understand why someone would want to publish what they had for breakfast, as well. Also, Liz Davis teaches in an all-boys school, so one of her questions asked if girls might have responded differently to Twitter.

In my comment, I agreed with the students that Twitter might not offer as many interesting applications as Facebook; however, it doesn't decrease its value as a networking tool for college research or job/internship opportunities. I mentioned that I have a Twitter account where I follow educators, bands, authors, magazines, and museums, but that I didn't follow any of my friends for fear that the status updates would be unending!

The second post I commented on was called "Two for Tuesday". Liz Davis publishes a post like this every Tuesday with two possibly useful websites for her followers. The post I commented on had a Thanksgiving theme. One website was EarthCam.com and the other was FreeRice.com. On the EarthCam website, viewers could watch the Macy's Day Parade in New York via live video stream. And the FreeRice website was really cool! You answer questions about vocabulary, definitions, etc., and for every question you answer correctly, 10 grains of rice are donated through the World Food Programme to fight world hunger.

All in all, I thought both websites were really neat. I also liked Liz Davis' idea of "Two for Tuesday" and I loved that she used her blog to share all of these wonderful tips with her followers.

Summary Post C4K #8-11 and (Blog Assignment 14) Yasmine Special Assignment

First of all, I'd like to say that I have LOVED commenting on kids' blogs. I think it's really awesome that these teachers are pushing these children further in their educational journey and exposing them to all types of learning.

For C4K #8, I commented on the Wellington Primary School's blog. The post was on the Food Chain, and it had photos of the children using art in science to draw and represent food chains. I wrote that the food chain is definitely an important science concept to understand, and that it looked like some great group work was being accomplished.

My C4K #9 was for Miss Byrne's class, and I was assigned to Maggie's blog. She wrote an amazing post about the Chilean miners and their rescue. I was very impressed with her writing skills, and I mentioned that I thought it was equally impressive that she was up-to-date on current events of the world.

For C4K #10, I commented on Ms. Millar's 3rd Grade class blog. I was assigned to Cstre's blog, and their post was about a Kerploof picture they had made for a mnemonic (that they created on their own) about the planets. This student's mnemonic was "My Vicious Emu Made Jeff Suffer Under Nuts" and it had a picture of an emu making Jeff suffer under nuts, and then the emu exclaimed "HA-HA-HA I made you suffer under nuts!!!!!" while Jeff says "Help me!" I thought the picture was very humorous, and the mnemonic a great way to remember the order of the planets.

C4K #11 was for Mrs. Huebner's Class, and I was assigned to Asya's blog. I commented on her post about her birthday plans, which included inviting a couple of her friends over for the weekend where they would go to a water park and then hang out at a family friend's house to play tag with other kids and their dogs. I wished Asya a Happy Birthday, and then I wrote about how I also love going to water parks. I wrote that I hoped she ate as much candy as her heart desired, and that she would keep on blogging.

Instead of writing a Blog Assignment 14, our EDM 310 class commented on Yasmine's blog. Yasmine is a student who has been going above and beyond with her blog, so her teacher requested that we all visit it and leave a comment (to not only encourage Yasmine, but also her classmates). I read her post about how food allergies are so common (Yasmine has them), and that having things such as corn syrup and sugar substitutes in our food is not a good idea. Yasmine believes that more natural sugar should be used in food today, and she plans to write a letter to the First Lady about this. She asked for some advice in her post, and this was my response:


Hi, Yasmine!

My name is Amanda Brewton. I am a student in Dr. Srange’s EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, AL. I’m majoring in Elementary Education/Special Education and minoring in Spanish. In our class, we are also required to keep up with a blog. Actually, we turn in ALL of our homework, assignments, and projects by posting them on our blog. Pretty neat, huh? :)

Yasmine, I’m very impressed with how you’ve realized that action needs to be taken in order to change something. I think that this is a great idea! I also stay away from sugar substitutes. I try to stay away from any kind of substitute (for something natural) really. I would much rather have a piece of fruit than something that tastes like fruit. Plus, having natural and organic foods in your diet is another great idea, in my opinion. I agree with Malissa in that I think you should write up a petition that you get a lot of people to sign. You could ask your family members, family friends, and friends to sign it. Make sure to explain what you want them to agree with, though. Plus, you may even educate someone in the process! Maybe some people don’t know how harmful sugar substitutes can be.

Your initiative and passion are very inspiring, Yasmine. Your blog looks awesome, and I really do hope that you are successful with however you decide to contact the First Lady.

Good luck! Keep on blogging!

Amanda Brewton


*I was very impressed with Yasmine's work, and I really do hope that she continues excelling.

Project 16