Additional Assignment #3

The most important thing Ken Robinson said in this video is about giving student's medicine. There has been a huge jump in children being diagnosed with ADD/ADHD in past few years. I think it is a cop-out. Teacher's don't want to change the way they have been teaching for years. They can't seem to deal with a student needed more interaction and movement and think medicine is the way to fix this. Unfortunately you are suppressing the ability of this child to express him/herself artistically or any other way. Maybe you should think about changing your way of teaching and let the children move around and experience a different education. Maybe they would be more apt to pay attention! I agreed with everything he said. I have seen videos of his before. He's a great speaker with great insight to the education reform! I don't have any classes other than this in the college of education. In the Physical and Health building I feel some classes teacher's just expect you to learn and be there and sit in your chair and just hope you pass. Other classes are more involved and teacher's give the students the ability to express opinions and learn from each other and be a better student. I think it's important when, as a student, you run across a video and a speaker like this, that you show other prospective teachers. It's important to do research and look at other blogs and videos and learn as much as you can to improve the educational experience of the student. This project was so great! I wish I could figure out how they did it! I think I would probably be the narrator. I like to speak and read things. I'm not very artistic so I think I would be a good narrator!

Teacher Post #3

The first post I commented on was called "We Should Listen to the Kids!" She is basically saying that students don't get the opportunity to voice their opinions. It's been taught that teacher's are always right and student's shouldn't have to have a say! She also posted a video of a little girl speaking about this issue! Here is the comment I left:
Hi! I am from Dr. Strange's EDM31 class at the University of South Alabama. This young lady on here really makes people realize the importance of a child/students opinion. There is so much teacher's can learn from a student's reaction or statement. It's important for teacher's to give the students the ability to comment and have discussions among themselves. It's important for students to be heard and since they don't have the power that teacher's have it's important that we teacher's give them the ability to speak out! We are definitely never to old to learn from a child! Thank you for the blog! I appreciate it!


Here is the video of the little girl!





The second post I commented on was called, "Are Task Boards Useful in the Classroom?". Jenny basically was saying how she used her task boards for younger grades to ensure the learning takes place. She states most children can't stand to sit in a desk and have a teacher teach for long periods of time. Task boards give them the option to have groups and move from different activities! Here is what I posted on her blog:
Hi! I'm a student in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class and I agree with task boards being important for students especially in lower grades! I think having them in groups to learn is great and a good way, like you said to separate the different types of learners and levels! I think it's great you are giving the children the ability to stay on the computer until the project is done! I think it's important for them to love the computer and learn how to do fun things on it! Also, modifying the task board itself is a great way to implement a new and fun way to use them. As a teacher you have to be able to modify and adjust to what your students like! Thanks for the post! Check out my blog at doughertycarlyedm310.blogspot.com!

C4K #3 and #4 and #5, #6, #7

My first blog comment was on the littlevoice/littlescholars blog! The entire blog was fantastic! They use a lot of videos to tell their stories. All the children do all kinds of projects and videos! I watched a few of them and they are really great!




My second blog(#4) comment was called Indy's Intriguing Ideas. I looked around her blog and she is very smart and very artistic. She made a quiz about where she is from which is New South Wales, Australia, and I of course knew nothing about it so I told her I would learn about it and re-take the quiz and hopefully make a hundred. Her quiz was very good. It asked about the bird, the flower, the population among others! Very intuitive! I also commented on her drawing of a postcard they had to do! It was so good! Here's what I said to her on her blog! My name is Carly Dougherty. I live in the United States of America and attend the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. You’re blog is amazing! First of all I tried your quiz and I knew nothing! I promise I will learn all about where you are from! Second, your postcard is amazing. It’s so beautiful! Did you really draw this? If so you have a wonderful talent! I look forward to visiting your blog more and I hope you keep it up! You are doing wonderfully! I was very impressed with Indy's creativity!


My third blog (#5) was October 17, 2010. His name is David and he attends school about half and hour outside of the capital of Tasmania, Hobart. He is an avid blogger and is doing a great job! He posted a blog about anger. He described a few things that made him angry, like getting in trouble for doing something he didn't do and he also said that sometimes he gets so mad he will punch something! But he said he got mad at his dad one day while moving and was able to relax and help his dad out. So I posted on his blog in return, Hey! My name is Carly and I am currently a student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama USA. I am taking a class called edm310 and was told to check out your blog, so here I am!! You seem to be doing such a great job!

You’re Dealing with Anger blog is very good! I’m glad you are able to pinpoint what makes you angry! I get angry to. I am sure everyone does! Sometimes if I feel myself getting really angry I will step back from the situation and take a deep breath and count to ten. It really helps me, so maybe it could help you! At least you were able to get through your anger while helping your dad!You are doing a great job blogging! Keep it up!


My fourth blog(#6) was on October 24, 2010. I commented on Jon C's blog! He just started so he didn't have much! His post was that he loved the Minnesota Vikings as well steak and basketball! I commented back Hi Jon! I am a student at the University of South Alabama and am enrolled in a class called EDM310. I was sent to your blog to comment! First of all, I am a huge Saint’s Fan for football! I love basketball as well! Duke and North Carolina are my favorite college teams! I also love volleyball! Steak sounds so good right now as well! I also like chicken and macaroni and cheese! What else do you like? What are your hobbies? How is school? Can’t wait to hear back from you!
Carly Dougherty

My fifth blog(#7) for Kids was on October 31, 2010! I got to see Rhiannon's Blog! She was such a good blogger and had questions for everyone to answer after her blog! I read the blog about a run they had to do to raise money for uganda! She ran 13 laps to raise money! She asked at the end of the blog is you have run? If you enjoyed it? and how long did you run? I posted on her blog, Dear Rhiannon,
My name is Carly Dougherty and I am currently a student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama USA! Congratulations on such a great accomplishment! That is so great that you ran 13 laps!! It’s very important to raise money for other people!! I try and run everyday! It’s great exercise and really good for your heart! The longest I have ever run is 13.5 miles! It took me a long time and was a lot of work! It was worth it though! Keep up the great work on your blog! You are doing great!

Blog #10

I read the article by Morgan Bayda http://morgbayda.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/an-open-letter-to-educators/ and also watched the video included in her post. The video was of a student, Dan Brown, who had dropped out of college because his schooling was interfering with his learning. They both had great points about society today and university's not up to par with society! Here is my response to this post: This post and video were very interesting. I have been taking this class at The University of South Alabama called EDM310 for a about 3/4 of a semester. I started this class a little nervous because of how different it is. We meet only certain weeks throughout the semester and the rest of the time the work and “learning” is up to us! It is a great change of pace and really requires you to be responsible and put your mind to work on your own! I think the video, though he was a little wired, had a great point. If schools don’t start using the technology age to its advantage, society will decide it doesn’t need it anymore. After taking this class and relying on myself for work and learning has given me a new outlook on education. I go to my other classes (mostly my pre-req) and I am in a lecture hall with no interaction with other students and no interaction with the professor! In my major classes for Physical Education they are much smaller and teacher’s do ask for interaction but not the extent of this class! The only downfall I am having with all of this technology age is I haven’t figured out how I am going to implement what I have learned in this class into a PE class. Any ideas? Great post! Please check out my blog!


Tom Johnson's Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home was a great article. It really showcased the cause and effect of good teaching. He is getting parents involved as well as giving students the ability to work on their own. I feel if you trust students and give them some space they will achieve in a level you would never expect.


I watched the movie Two Questions That Can Change Your Life by Daniel Pink. He asked two important questions. 1. What is your sentence? 2. Are you better today that you were yesterday? I honestly never really thought about having a sentence and the importance of it. I asked myself if I was better today that I was yesterday and I am not sure if I can answer it. I guess since I had never thought of asking myself that question I never really paid attention to my actions day to day. So tomorrow I will ask myself that question and see if I can answer it! I think for now my sentence would be, I want to graduate to provide a better future for my daughter. I'm sure it will change eventually. Everything I do in school is getting me one step closer to providing a better life for my daughter. That's most important. So for now that's all I have. It's definitely something to really think about.

Two questions that can change your life from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.

Waiting for Superman

Skype Interview

Smart board Presentation

Nicole Kelley and I did our Smart Board Presentation on Nouns and Verbs.

Short Story

Timetoast 9b

Below is my link to my instructional timeline on Duke University.

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/84760

Blog #9

Mr. McClung wrote a blog on his experiences of his first year teaching! He had some great insight and advice for the future teachers! First he mentioned about him only thinking of himself. He thought about his superiors watching him and he forgot about who is most important, the students. He mentioned that communication and technology are very important in the classroom as well listening to the students. They don't have the voice and authority that a teacher has so why not listen to them and give them that voice? He also said not to be afraid of technology and not to worry about perfect lesson plans! Lesson plans don't usually go as planned. He said not to take that to heart and not to be yourself up about not having class go exactly to plan. I responded to his post with:
Mr. McClung, 
My name is Carly Dougherty and I am currently enrolled in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama. This is a wonderful blog to read for first year teachers! I agree that communication is one of the most important aspects. Communication with students and with faculty/administrators. i agree with technology use. In this age we have to fully embrace the capacity of technology. It is important to teachers as well as students to be able to know and use technology in and outside of the classroom. I feel like as a teacher I would want my lesson plans to go the way I wrote them and would beat myself if they didn't. I'm glad you posted that you were like that and had to get out of the mindset in order to succeed. I also agree that a teacher you must continuously do learning. Just like doctors and nurses, they have to continually learn what they do. There are so many websites and articles and video to read and watch for teachers that it makes it easy to continue learning. You just have to make yourself want to do it. Again thank you for sharing your first year experiences with all the new/upcoming teachers! I really appreciate your words!

Additional Assignment #2

1. What do you think? If learners are motivated, can they teach themselves?
Yes, I do think if learners are motivated and have the correct materials and tools, can teach themselves. 
2. If those motivated learners are kids, can they teach themselves?
I believe kids have the ability to teach themselves if they have the motivation and resources. Children are sponges and I believe that if they are taught correctly they can teach themselves. 
3. What conditions are necessary for kids to teach themselves? For anyone to teach him or herself?
I believe they have to have someone that is responsible and reliable they can go to for help. I think they need a knowledge of technology and how to use the computer. Knowledge of technology is the most important thing for a student to have to be able to teach themselves.
4. What role do computers and internet access play in the process?
As mentioned before I feel if someone is teaching themselves then it is most likely going to be through the use of technology. Having access to computers and knowing how to use them is very important in the learning/teaching process.
5. What role does motivation, a desire to learn? 
Motivation is a huge aspect of the desire to learn. It is very important to want to learn. My personal experience has showed me motivation is the mindset I have had in the past few semesters. My grades  have become better, my teachers have noticed me more and I enjoy school more. You have to want to learn and not think you HAVE to learn. 
6. What roles do a problem, a question or multiple problems or questions play in the process?
This is where the reliable or responsible teacher that is leading these students to teach themselves. Everyone has to have someone they can go to or email when they have a problem or question.
7. How do you motivate someone to learn?
I believe showing them to have fun and teaching them how to learn without realizing they are learning is important.  Allowing the children/students to do self-assessment and learn responsibility is a great way to show them it is possible to teach yourselves.
8. How are you motivated to learn?
My family motivates me. I finally found something I am truly happy with and I look forward to doing something I love for hopefully a long time. I have been lucky enough to meet great people and teacher's in my classes that motivate me as well.
9. Can anyone who is not motivated to learn learn?
I think you can learn but not the extent that is necessary to fully enjoy what you are learning. I don't think you can put what you learn into your job and class if you aren't motivated.
10. Do you teach yourself? When? Why?
I feel like this class teaches me certain things. I feel responsible for everything and it keeps me on my toes. It has also taught me time management. I teach myself as a coach for volleyball. I look up drills and plays and workouts for my team and for me to know. I do a lot of research for coaching.
11. What role does a teacher (either answer generally or use a specific example) play in your learning?
I feel like have a teacher who truly enjoys what he/she does will give you a better outcome than a teacher who is there collecting a pay check. Like mentioned before I have had amazing teacher's in the Physical Education Department that have encouraged me to be a better student and have really showed me how fun this major is!
12. What is the most important idea, question or emotional response you take away with you as a result of watching this video?
There are some children not as lucky as we are to be able to have both in classroom and out of classroom learning. Some only have the choice to teach themselves.
13. What other questions or issues are raised by this video that should be considered and discussed by aspiring teachers? 
Why are there children in this world as well as other  countries that have no supplies and access to the learning materials that are needed for the growth of learning and education?

Blog #7

Achieving Your Childhood Dreams by Randy Pausch was inspiring. First of all, I really can't say I wrote down dreams as a child. As awful as that sounds, I think my one and only "dream"-if that's what you call it-included sports. For him to be able to achieve all of his dreams in one or another makes me wish I had some sort of list. I jotted down notes on a piece of paper my daughter was drawing on and they are all spread out and in no particular order-probably not smart since I should start at the beginning at the lecture-but I'll try and tell you what I gathered in the best way possible.
Dr. Pausch has achieved so much it's hard to start at one place. First off, his quote, "The brick wall is there for a reason, to stop people who don't want it badly enough." This should be in every classroom, office or gym. This is what people should aspire to reach. The ability to look at the brick wall and say I can beat you. In the Building Virtual Reality class he taught at CMU there were groups of five students and you through out the semester you had the ability to work with about 15-20 people. At the end of each project he gave the students surveys and asked them to fill them out about the other students they worked with. He then put all of it into a spreadsheet and displayed it for all students to see where they stand. It allowed to students to see where they stood with other classmates. It allowed the students to see what other students thought of them. He gave these students the knowledge and the importance of feedback-giving and receiving. This course also gave the students the opportunity to show their projects to the school/community and gave them the excitement of learning.
     The excitement of learning. Having fun. These are things you only hope for when going into a school or classroom. His whole philosophy was pushing students to do better, setting the bar higher and higher and most importantly having fun. His classes focused on group efforts and getting students to become self-reflective. He believes in his students and his work. Some other quotes he mentioned were to focus on others and not yourself. This should be the mission statement of all educators. Isn't that what this job is supposed to be about? Pausch also states the importance of your dreams, how to enable someone else's dreams and the lesson learned from reaching or still going after your dreams. There are many people who play a part in your dreams and successes. People like teachers, mentors, parents and most of all the students whose lives you touch.
     Going back to my goal. As I said I never had a list. I always had one thing and it was sports. In seventh grade I started playing volleyball. Keep in mind, I started playing basketball when I was five. My dad coached girls basketball and my childhood memories involve being at practice or games with him. I also started swimming, playing tennis and dabbled in a little golf but I liked having teammates and not just myself. As I was saying though, I started playing volleyball in seventh grade. It was the basic bump back over the net, three players in the front and three players in the back. Nothing at all special about it. But I remember the feeling I got playing. I have never played this sport before. I had never even touched the ball before. But it was this feeling of this it is. Like Pausch said, "When you know the exact moment that your life changed that's a big deal." This was one of those moments. From that moment on volleyball was what I wanted. I kept up with basketball through Junior year of high school then quit to focus solely on volleyball. I knew whatever I did in life I wanted to be like my dad. Anyone who has read one of my blogs knows how much my dad is respected around this community. Growing up in the gym with him and seeing now all the girls and boys he has coached and taught it's amazing. He is still their favorite. I want that. I want to make that difference. I want to make a difference in education and in volleyball. I am confidant I can do that in volleyball. I have to work on my confidence to do that in Physical Education. Luckily, at South, there are great teachers that I feel will one day be my mentor.
     As Pausch has stated, give people the chance to impress you no matter how long you have to wait for them to show it. What a wonderful saying. There is good in so many kids. Take for instance my best friend. She is a teacher at an inner city school with kids who have no home life and no respect for adults. She treats them like adults and they have come to trust her. It takes a long time to get these kids to respect you and to understand you. She was patient with these kids. Eventually they showed her the type of person they knew they were but didn't know how to show it.
     He leaves this world as a respected, fun and dream-seeking teacher. More than that he leaves a legacy. He leaves a program that is teaching students to learn without making them feel like they are learning. I feel you don't have to be a child to have dreams. I have dreams. I have dreams every night about my future. I wonder am I doing this good enough? Did I put enough into this assignment? Would my parents be proud of me? Most importantly will my daughter be proud of me? As his last lecture, Dr. Pausch gave a "head fake". This lecture was for his children. I only hope to be have half the wisdom and knowledge he has to share with my daughter. Rest in Peace Dr. Pausch.

PLN Report #1

When I started this class I was reading the list of projects and didn't even know what PLN stood for! Now that we have been in this class for awhile, I must say everything that we do leads up to a PLN. I have gotten lucky and really enjoyed all the teacher blogs I have been assigned to so I have added them to my symbaloo account. I have also added my google mail, docs reader. I did some searching on symbaloo and came across a webmix that was made for Education. It has all the tools needed for someone teaching in education! It's awesome! I am enjoying trying to find new things and different websites, people and ideas to follow! If I had not taken this class I would have never known this website existed. It's an easy way to get to something very quickly! Let's my pray I progress as the year goes on!

Blog #6

As I watched the video by Wendy Drexler the realization of being replaced by technology really struck a cord with me. I feel like technology is important, but as I have stressed in previous blogs, I am going into education to make a connection with students. I want to be that teacher that students depend on. I want them to know that I love what I'm doing and excited to teach them. I just don't understand how I can do that on the personal level if I am replaced by technology.
If that really happened. If technology replaced teacher's, then where would all the teacher's be that have been teacher's for 35 years. What about the students like me who are 25 and going to to school to finally do what they know they want to do and in the end are being replaced by technology? I really love technology. I believe it can do great things and bring education to whole new level, but I feel like students would miss that interaction, face to face interaction, of their teacher and other students. I really just hope that we can learn to incorporate both education by teacher and education by technology. On a lighter note, the video gave me great insight on how to do my PLN, which I have been struggling trying to figure out! The video was very interesting and creative.

7th Grade PLN

She has done a great job with her PLN for the age that she is. She is more experienced than I am! She did make good points. She is able to do her assignments the way she wants and how she wants. She said she being online for her science teaches her the responsibility she needs to do her work. She likes that everything is neat and looks really cool online. I think she has done a great video. It seems very interesting and I guess I'm just old school and didn't really think schools went to online learning in middle school! I am very far behind in the education technology age and hope one day I can catch up!

Dr. Wesch made some great points. Sometimes school is not about the students. I have so many big classes this semester, Anatomy and Physiology has 146 students and Biology has 101 students. I feel disconnected from the teachers as well as students. I thrive on having an identity in my classrooms and right now I don't. He says you have to make your own identity or else you won't have one. How am I supposed to make an impact on a teacher who has 100 other students and not to mention more than one class? Dr. Wesch also discusses how we communicate. He brought up points about self awareness. I think as an overall speaker he was fantastic. The videos he showed gave us insight on what we really look like and do. He made it creative and funny. He spoke a little quick at times, but that's how is it! I feel like my life, personal and collegiate life depends on creating an identity. I am 25 and it has taken me this long to figure out exactly what I want to be. When I made the decision to go into Education about a year ago, I decided it be time to take it serious. I used to take a few classes here and there, sometimes not even go to class. I took it for granted. Now that I have a child, work full-time, have a second part- time job as well as go to school full-time, I know not to waste my time or my professors time. I am in Physical Education as South and have made it a point to have a great interaction with my teachers. I have found that the teacher's I have had in the Physical Education building know me by first name, know what I do outside of school and know that I strive to be perfect in their classroom. Without me making my identity known, I would never have the experience I have gotten at South. It is an amazing feeling knowing my teacher's know me and know they expect the most from me.

C4K #1 and #2

My student was Edgar. He is 14 and has an older brother and a younger sister. He said his challenge was to get a good education. I commented back asking for him to tell me more about him. What his favorite music or movies were, things like that. I also told him a little about myself.

Edgar's Manifesto was that he promised to get to bed early so he can wake up and get to school early and be ready to learn. He also said not to be tardy to class and not talk to his friends in the hallway. He promised to be a better student by not talking when then teacher talked so he could pay more attention. The last thing he promised was to get good grades by turning his homework in on time! I commented that I am very excited to see your blog! Your manifesto has started off great. I think all of your promises are great and I hope that you can continue to keep these up! Going to sleep early is very important! Make sure you eat a good breakfast too!! I used to talk a lot in class and realized I was missing out on a lot of great information from my teacher! Good Luck with these! You can do it!

Blog #5

Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom

I think this video was very interesting. It really showcased the importance of using different technology vices in the classroom. I think it gives the teacher the ability to have students hear different aspects of education and it gives them a different way to learn. I think it also gives the students the ability to be creative and learn how to do podcasts. If I were going to be a teacher in the classroom (I'm going into Physical Education) I would really try to incorporate podcasts into the classroom. It is a way to always keep your lessons you've taught near and gives the students the ability to go back and listen.

Eagle Nest Radio and Class Blog

This is so great for young kids to experience! It teaches them technology in a fun and useful way. They sound like they are having such a great time and really understanding the abilities of podcasts. Like mentioned before, it gives student's a way to keep up with what they have done through out the year and are able to share all of their projects with other people! The kids seem so excited to do these kind of things and just think they are so young! Imagine what they will be able to do when they are older, just because they started so young!

Education Podcasting Network

This is a great site to get started with. It's easy to navigate and it's great to see other teachers working hard to get podcasts started. It makes it something to really think about. Before having to read about podcasts and listen to them, I knew nothing about them. I didn't realize the ease and creativity that comes from doing them. Podcasts give the students the critical learning lessons of technology. I think it is so interesting. I would love to start a podcast, but of course I would have to think of a topic first! Anyways, there are only positive things to say about podcasts.