Reflection of the "I Believe" project

Creating the "I believe" video was very difficult. I was unsure of how my video would be appealing by just reading my essay, and I was confused on how to create it. I ended up recording myself on a MacBook reading my essay, I added an intro and then some pictures. In the end I was not so happy on how it turned out but i felt it was good enough. I discovered that I still need to learn how to record a video and make it enjoyable to watch by adding certain things to it. I did not find it very fun,because it was sort of awkward recording myself just reading an essay, but I did learn how to use the program iMovie, which I can find useful for future projects. I can use this project of creating my "I believe" video in my future classroom in many ways. For example, I can have my students create videos for different assignments. I can also create videos for lessons that the students can watch and learn from. I feel that the future of teaching will consist of all technology and using video in the classroom will become a necessity. I'm glad that I was able to learn how to bring video into the classroom,even though I still have much more to learn to become skilled at it.

Survey

Open Education Resources

Open Education Resources (OER) are learning, research and teaching materials that can be obtained with little or no cost on the Internet. I agree that teachers and students should use OER, because of all the benefits it offers.
as a student and learner, OER can offer textbooks online, which can save lots of money and there is not any need for heavy books to be carried around to class.
also all the information is very acessible by just getting online.
The benefits of OER as a teacher are being able to get lesson plans online and course work. there are also online courses avaliable that will save time instead of lecturing to a large class. I can use the resources to add to the curriculm I plan on having in the classroom.

My Belief Statement

I believe that teaching can touch the lives of others. Teachers can improve the lives of many students and give them the motivation they need to stay in school and become successful.  I have had the opportunity to witness a teacher that inspired students in education. When I was 12 years old my family moved to a different neighborhood where I had to attend a different school for the 6^th grade. I was put in school with students that were considered below the poverty level, were diverse and did not have a well-family life. The teacher that I had was so caring and giving to the students. The teacher encouraged the students and made sure everyone was in a positive mood every day. She would play music and make the students feel comfortable in class. I felt at ease during class and my whole class got along. She not only taught us the lessons that were necessary in social studies and English, but life lessons too. With some of the students having school as an escape from the struggles at home, she made sure they were given the attention they deserved in class.  She gave everyone the opportunity to voice their opinions and made the lessons fun.

 I learned that education is very important, especially for the children that need to escape their lives at home and become successful in their futures. Students have to be motivated to get out of bed in the morning, attend school and work diligently. A caring, motivational teacher can do that for the students. My plan for becoming a motivational teacher is to make sure all the students get their basic needs in school and work my best to have them reach their highest potential. Although, in order to get the students motivated the teacher needs to have fun activities done in the classroom. The students’ need to be interested in the material taught in school and because most of the lessons are not exciting, it is up to the teacher to change them. It is exactly the kind of motivation, caring teacher I had and would like to become.

Top 10 Cool Tools for School
1.http://kailamatlock.blogspot.com/
2.http://carlyc11.blogspot.com/
3.http://bridgit-walters.blogspot.com/
4.http://caitlingarden.blogspot.com/
5.http://angelasedu183.blogspot.com/
6.http://jw096719.blogspot.com/
7.http://ladylancer.blogspot.com/
8.http://jonathangreer8.blogspot.com/
9. http://helffrichtyler.blogspot.com/
10.http://sasyouregonnahearit.blogspot.com

All these tools made my Top 10 list because, I believe I can use them when I teach during class or as a student.  they are all very useful and can benefit the classroom greatly and make it easier for the teacher along with the student. At the top of my list I chose Edmondo as a social networking site between the teacher and student. I feel that it is important to use social networking in the classroom. Edmondo is also an appropriate site where it won't have any personal information like Facebook or Twitter, it would fully just be a connection where the students can ask the teacher questions or collaborate with one another.

Cool Tool for School

Teachers are always looking for ways to improve their classrooms. Through the internet teachers can find many tools that can benefit their lesson plans. One tool that not only helps teachers but the students as well is YouTube. YouTube is a useful way to find out information on the internet. YouTube is a site that includes videos from all around the world on pretty much any topic imaginable. All you have to do is search a topic and videos will appear that matches your search where you can then view them. Teachers can use the site to show the student’s interviews or clips of a television program that is educational via the computer.

A Distraction in the Classroom

Facebook, Twitter and other social networks are great ways to promote buisness, share ideas with others, connect with people over the internet and most of all helping teachers improve their classrooms. Social networking can benefit the classroom by having collaberations between teachers and students. In additon, teachers can follow other scholors on the social networking sites, which can help them gain knowlege in preparing lessons and which ways are best for teaching students. Although, with the many reasons why social networking in the classroom is a great idea, it can also be a large distraction for the students. Students are not being able to get their studies done. Even though the students are having the struggles to get the work done at their own homes, it has also been complicated to get the students attention during class time with all the distractions of the social network. Students that have class with a computer right in front of them are driven to go on facebook instead of participating in the class. It is causing students to slack on their assignments and also lose sleep because they spend most of their time online and when it is too late decide they need to get their work done. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/technology/21brain.html is a site that explains how technology has become a serious distraction in today's society. If this issue is ignored it can cause extreme consequences in the success of students in this day of age. In result, people would put much less of an effort into their work and lose their focus in completing their future goals.