The Edible School Yard

The edible school yard is about Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkely California. These sixth grade students are planting, harvesting, and eating. The garden and the adjacent kitchen act as learning labs for social studies, math, science, and life. THe garden is the center of teaching but is only part of what also goes on in the classroom.

In my opinion, because this is a hands on type of learning and the students are doing it themselves they are learning and remembering what they are learning. These students are able to tell you what they are learning and give their own mini lessons.

These students are also using cooperative learning. Some of the students are stronger in math and some in the science part of it and when they work together they are able to make better sense of everything.

When the garen was started is was to provide healthier food in the cafeteria, it was said in that, "if they grow it, they want to eat it." These children are also learning things that children use to learn at home with their families. This home learning most times is not still taking place. The students are not only seeing but they are making it happen. I personally observed how much the studens love and appreciate many aspects of their schoolyard garden.

More on what works in education can be found at edutopia

From the Apple.com site I found this on iTunes U; “Learning no longer happens only at a desk. Students now expect constant access to information, no matter where they are. Which is exactly why more and more faculty are using iTunes U to distribute digital lessons to their students.”

Teachers are using iLife and iWork applications to create customized ed. Materials. For example, language lessons that students can listen to on the bus or at home. With the help of things like Podcast Producer and Wiki Server, IT professionals at schools can help produce and distribute all kinds of multimedia content on iTunes U or a class wiki.

Once your classroom presentations and lectures have been captured and published, students can download them from iTunes. Then they can transfer them to iPod or iPhone and take it all with them. Any place can be a place to learn. iTunesU

I think iTunes U could be a very useful educational tool. iPods are a big deal for most students and for them to be able to access their lessons on their iPods would also be very useful to them as well. As for teachers, having students download their lessons onto their iPods will cut down on repetition. If a student is absent on the day that a teachers went over a particular lesson, they can download it to their iPod and then there you go. I wish I would have had this type of availability when I was in high school.

A video on iTunes U can also be found at iTunesU.

iPods in instruction

Presently, an increasing number of professors at various universities and colleges are experimenting with making lectures and study materials available to students via iPods and other MP3 players. Some K-12 educators and schools have also started using the iPod to enhance their curriculum and to support learning objectives in content areas such as – mathematic, science, reading, foreign language, and
history among others.

Duke University was the 1st to provide iPods to all incoming freshmen.
About 75 percent of freshmen surveyed said they used the iPods for their academic work. Some of the most popular student uses included recording lectures, taking oral notes, and even using the devices to create electronic flash cards.
But at the same time, some of the students said that while the iPods have potential in the classroom, they are still underutilized. According to the survey both students and faculty said more specific ideas of iPod use in the classroom were needed. Some also complained of the inability to share files from iPod to iPod. This info was found and more info can be found at iPods as well as iPods

Alice Christie

How can Alice Christies site be useful in teaching? It can be very useful. She has many useful tools on her site. From How to topics to an Educational tech guide. I would say that any time I have a uestion about something to do with teachnology I could probably find the answer on this site which can be found at AliceChristie.

This site of Alice Christie has many publications. These publications are a sort of How to on different topics about teachnology and using it in the classrroom. There are topics such as "Teachnology to Enhance Literacy in Elementary School Teacher" and "It's Elementary! Using Electronic Portfolios with Young Students." There is a list of these type publications that can be read for help.

Alice Christie also had an Educational Tech guide along with a video that can be viewed at AliceChristie.
This tech guide has topics such as "Discovering Art in a Web 2.0 World," "Constructivism," "Digital Media and Photo," "Instant Messaging," and "Internet Safety."

This is a very educational video for teachers as well as parents and students on different topics in different subject areas. I would definitely recommend this site just as it was recommended to me

NPR Blog on Wiki

How and when (if ever) Wikipedia can be a trusted source of info? I think the podcast that we listened to in class Wednesday night addressed this. I also read the blog at NPRblogonWiki. This blog told of how many large companies have made changes to blogs that were in reference to them or contained info on them. Some of these companies were Walmart, Exxon Mobil, as well as Congress and the CIA. Anyone can make changes on wiki, even the average person.

The group from Wednesday night made a good point about wiki being a good starting point for research but should not be solely depended on. What is good about wiki is that you can check your sources that are listed and determine how reliable the information is. I know from my own experience that I have used wiki to look up basic things but never anything that I need in depth info about. Wiki is a good tool and should be used but only to a certain extent. A podcast on wiki can be found at wiki.

Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch Last Lecture:Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. This was a GREAT lecture. It was very inspirational. One of the podcasts that I watched for last weeks post was about this same lecture and just hearing the students from last semester talk about it was inspirational.
The way that the lecture was layed out was so organized. Everything was broken down with important points. The really important points were emphasized by being repeated throughout the lecture.

In this lecture, Randy Pausch spoke on three main points. These points being: Childhood dreams; enabling dreams of others; and lessons learned. On the first point, Randy Pausch talked about brickwalls, this was something he brought up more than once. Brickwalls are placed for those who really don't care to achieve their goals, those who keep going, this proves how badly we want things.

Another point that was made in the lecture was about people who are critical, critics still love you and care. Randy Pausch said that if you are doing something really wrong and nobody says anything or trys to correct you, they have lost hope in you so when someone is critical, this is a good thing. I really enjoyed how these points were thrown into the lecture, it made the whole lecture encouraging.

Also, Randy Pausch talked about what he learned from his childhood dreams, not only from the ones that he did accomplish but also from the ones he did not. He actually said that the dreams that he did not accomplish are the ones that taught him the most.

What really kept this lecture interesting were the many pictures. Randy Pausch had many pictures that really caught your attention because they were funny. While watching this last lecture, I had many emotions. I was sad for one because he knew that he had liver cancer and that he didn't have long to live, I was also amazed at the attitude that he had about it all, and I also learned some really mportant things that I hope to pass on to my own students one day.

This lecture can be viewed at Randy Pausch.







Also, if you would like to visit his homepage, it can be found at Randy Pausch home

Fisch Bowl 2007

In returning to Fisch Bowl 2007, I chose to read the October blogs. Theses different blogs made some good points. Let me back up, all of these blog posts were related to filtering the internet in schools even for teachers. The different blogs will really make you think about the same thing that all of these people are trying to figure out, "how best to meet the needs of our students?"

The first statement that really stood out to me in one of theses posts that,"not one of those who sigh or are critical of filtering decisions has their job on the line should "Johnny" access inappropriate content. This was straight to the point and oh so true. This guy also pointed out that these critics would not sit in court with him either when a lawsuit was filed.

This made me think, filtering is neccessary, as sad as it is to say, even for teachers because in another post, someone said, what if the teacher uses bad judgment? We are suppose to be able to entrust our children with their teachers but truth be know, not all teachers are trustworthy. On the other hand though, some of the internet does need to be accessible to teachers and students because it will enhance their learning experience.

One of the other posts suggests way to save youtube videos and similar sites locally. Teachers could save these type things from their own computer and still use them in their lessons. If necessary, these saved videos could be approved before the students are allowed to view them.
This is a link to a youtube video that I watched that I thought all should watch, it is not related to filtering but it is related to education. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CRlmhWSvEM
I couldn't figure out a picture to incorporate so thought a youtube link would be good.

These posts from October can be found atOctober