Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch should be required for every college student or be required if you are a human being! It is remarkable how encouraging Randy Pausch is even when he was given only six months to live. In his speech, he used lots of laughter and even tears. This does help people connect to him. For me, this lecture was very uplifting and I do feel where this can help me as a person.

Sports have always been a huge part of life. I do feel that while I was growing up that softball and being a cheerleader helped me stay out of "teenage trouble". When Randy mentioned football, I was all ears. He said that football got him where he is today. This is expressed through hard work and fundamentals of the game. Another point that Randy made pertaining to football is that experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. This is a wonderful statement that has loads of meaning!


The brick walls expressed throughout the lecture is how everyone feels at times in their life. I love the way he would make a statement and then a brick wall would appear. This is the way that everyone else in the whole feels also. It is great to know that you are not alone! He puts a better approach on the wall by saying these walls can express how badly we want something.

It is great that he was able to lay his dreams out as a small child and then reflect on those same goals in his life. I loved the way he mentioned we could accomplish ours dreams. He said they can be fulfilled by telling the truth, being honest, apologizing when you screw up and by focusing on others and not yourself.

Randy Pausch was a great man and by that one can conclude he was raised in a good home. All of the quotes that he mentioned were positive. This is what the whole is missing today, honest people. I am so happy this was an assignment for the class!!

Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

There is no doubt why Karl Fisch won the most influential post of 2007! In his post Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher? Karly Fisch expresses his thoughts about teachers who do not want to enrich their life with computers. He describes that all educators should as least acquire basic knowledge of technology. This will help the teacher inside and outside of the classroom.

The most important fact ,to me, that he revealed was when a parent lets the teacher know he/she was not good in math so that means him/her child will not be either. Parents should never express this to their kids because then the child feels as if they do not have the ability to do well in that particular subject. The same goes for technology, we should never give in and say we are not good and stop at that point.

It is very important for teachers to learn as much as they can about technology. As Mr. Fisch commented, computers have been around for more than 30 years and computers will be here. So teachers should never give up on learning about the new technology in this world because it is going to only help them in their career!

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

The YouTube video A Vision of Students Today by Michael Wesch is a wonderful way to describe college in today's whole. I do agree with the facts that were shown and did enjoy the video. When I watch these videos, the first thing I do is see how long the video will be. This video was around 5 minutes so I was interested being on it was not to long.

One fact was that a very small amount of teachers will know my name in their class (could not remember the exact percent). At USA I was afraid that I would be in a class with a lot of students however my education classes have been very small. I came from Faulkner State Community College where the teachers know your names and are happy to see you each day in class. This is true here at South. Also another fact that was brought to my attention was the use of cell phones. It is hard for me not to text the entire time I am in a class. I do realize that the information that I am learning will benefit myself in the future so the cell phone can wait.

At the end of the video, chalkboards are mentioned. I would like to watch the video pertaining to chalkboards for the fact that I feel that I take better notes from a chalkboard. This may be the child in me but would be sure to say that other also students agree. PowerPoint slides are great and can be reviewed at a later time for reference. When a student goes from comprehending a fact and then making the transition to paper, the information really sinks.

"What I've Learned This Year"

The post "What I've Learned This Year" by Mr.McClung was a great way to be prepared for the first year of school. The post was very interesting and he made great points on each topic. Some topics that I received the most information from was being flexible, communicating, listening to students, and never stop learning.

In the section of the post directed on being flexible, Mr. McClung stated how there can be times when everything does not go perfectly. He mentioned to just go with the flow and make the activity run as smooth as possible. This is a chance for you as the teacher to learn what was wrong with the lesson plan and make adjustments. Communication with fellow teachers is also a topic in the blog. He suggest to build strong relationships with not only the students but also the teachers. I could see where this would be hard to do the first year of school since you are the new face on campus. Listening to students is a must. Mr. McClung gives an example of a comment left by a child on the last day of school. This must of made him feel wonderful to know that he really connected with that student. The last part of his blog is to never stop learning. This is important because if we use the same material year after year, at some point this will not be the most accurate information.

Podcast

For this podcast, I listened to "The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom". The podcast mentioned very important facts about podcast/vodcast and the advantages of using podcast/vodcast in the classroom. It expressed what teachers, principals, and students though about the podcast.

The first fact was that children born after 1980 are considered millenial because these children have never experienced life without technologically(phone and computers). An advantage to a podcast is students are not missing out on a teacher's lecture. If a student is home sick, the student has to more less teach themselves the lesson for the day. When the teacher uploads the podcast, it is like the student is in the classroom along with the other children. This allows the sick student to stay up to date on their assignments in class.

When the podcaster interviews the thoughts of the students on podcast, there were many different responses. One student commented that podcast makes learning fun for them. Another student expressed that her parents like the podcast for the fact that Beyonce was not always in her ear. The principal's thoughts was that parents could hear the lectures going on in the classroom and she felt that was important.


The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom

Improvements to Videocasts

Watching the Videocast of students in a previous EDM 310 was a great way to get our brain's going. I watched the Videocast "Who is a Technologically Literate Teacher?: . The Videocast was good but I could tell the students were nervous. Normally I do not like to criticize other people's work but being on this is part of our assignment, I was willing to give it my best.

The first suggestion that I would give is to make sure you speak loudly. This is especially important if you are the one sitting away from the microphone. I feel that if one speaks loud, they are able to hold my attention for a longer period of time. My next suggestion would be to act excited about the Videocast. I know that the students were probably very nervous and uncomfortable doing the Videocast but a little excitement is always fun. It did seem that the students loosen up later in the Videocast.

My last suggestion would be that the Videocast was a little long. The subject was kind of cut and dried but it did seem to me that it went on to the point that the Videocast was boring. I am sure there was a time limit for the Videocast that the students were required to meet. Other than those few ideas, that would be the suggestions that I would be able to make about the Videocast. I am happy that I was able to watch the Videocast from the other students to get a feeling of what it is all about.