Week 4 Media Project

Wow this project has been a stress and a half. Everything that could have gone wrong this month has gone wrong. Anything from moving and not having internet to being sick and not having things work out. It is nice to see it all coming together. I have found that my original idea isn't very exciting to me. I actually am not enjoying creating it at all. If I hadn't spent all the time on the content proposal than I would change...I don't want to redo the content proposal. I will keep on working on it and I am sure that I will get excited when it is close to being more complete I will be excited.

Week 4 comment

Cynthia posted:
Complaints, complaints, complaints! Sometimes all you hear are complaints. Complaints about the amount of work we have to do… Complaints about how little money we make… complaints about who left the clothes lying in the bathroom floor. So many complaints but surprisingly very few solutions. Wouldn’t it be nice if every complaint included a proposed solution? If everyone that complained had to devise a solution to their problem there would be way less complaining going on.

It’s easy to blame, criticize and gripe, but not so easy to create a solution to fix the problem. Less complaining and more solutions…that’s my motto!

I commented:

I completely understand how annoying it is when people complain with out having a different solution. Just the other day I was out with a few friends and we were trying to decide where to go for dinner when the girls turned down the guys suggestion for dinner. I while they we away I simply said "Since we shot down his idea we need to come up with a new idea." Simply complaining will not get anyone anywhere.

Week 4 Glogster

Finding a way to properly display student work in a online portfolio. Well I haven't found an online portfolio but I have found something that will work fabulously. Gloster Edu is an online poster making sight. With documents saved on their server, with the correct password and info parents and students can see their work. The poster is a media rich presentation. The "poster" can include photos sounds and movies. A great way to display work!

Here is my newsletter I set up using blogger:

Week 4 Reading Beign the Board

Right now my district is in the process of major budget cuts. I constantly hear teachers talking about how bad the class sizes are going to be and the fact that we are going to loose teachers. I think about that I go back to something that my principal had said that the voters won't feel the effects or larger class sizes because we are professionals and work even harder to get our job done. How this is. I am fortunate enough to work with some amazing teachers who really will do everything they can to make sure that class sizes don't effect achievement. We make the choices and we control our lives. We are always in control of our lives. We can be happy in any circumstance depending on our attitude. If you think happy thoughts they you will be happy.

week 3 comment

Cynthia wrote:

This is how I feel, even though we still have a boatload of work to do.

I commented:

I can understand the feeling! Writing a thesis has been a huge fear of mine since I was younger. I never wanted to get a masters because I would have to write this huge long old paper and I am not good at writing. So this overwhelming task is now finished and for some reason I feel a but underwhelmed. I was expecting to feel super excited and wanting to celebrate but I turned it in and just want to be done with it, however, we still have these other major parts to do! AHH! It will be celebrating time when I have master's degree in my hands!

Week 3 Reading The Way Things Are

I often like to think that I am a person who is always looking to make things better and to find better solutions, however, lately I find myself just settling for what I have. I don't see how desiring more can make me happy but being thankful for and using what I have helps me not to complain. However there is a difference between not complaining and reaching for the stars. I wonder if my attitude is simply just being busy and overwhelmed with life. I feel that it is challenging to look toward better things when you are simply trying to make it through the day with a smile on your face. This is going to be a goal of mine to always look for better things in life and go after them when ever the opportunity arises.

Week 3 Software updates

In the technological world things are constantly changing. Things have to be cutting edge all the time. In education we have the struggle of always having the newest and greatest. Often times there just isn't the money that is needed for upgrading all the time. With such money resrictions it is important to get the best for your money.

Interactive whiteboards are a great assets to education. Leading the market are Smart and Promethean but coming up quickly behind is Mimio. Our school choose to trade in our smartboards so that we could afford to get a mimio in every classroom, seeing how Mimios are less expensive. I love my Mimio and use it everyday, but when challenged about its greatness in comparison to Smart and Promethean I started thinking. The fact was brought up that the software that runs on the Mimio is not nearly as advanced in the educational frame of things. Mimio is starting to break into the education world where as Promethean and Smart have been there for a while. It was also brought up that Mimio software couldn't possibly be a good because it hasn't had an update in almost six months. So that brings up my question: Is a Mimio (which in every way but the software "better" than others) not the way to go because it simply doesn't have updates often and because the software doesn't have the bells and whistles that the other software programs have for educators? How often should a program require an update to be considered a good use of money. I know that on my iPhone I am always having to updat appliations and it gets frustrating when everytime I turn around I am having to update something new. At the same time though I don't want something that is going to go out of date because they lack the update.

Here are links to see and compare the two products for yourself.