Take my funny survey please

I believe Project...

This is my short viedo on what I believe.


http://youtu.be/fnRUbrh-prU

mdsmith@edinboro.edu

I cant recall if I mentioned this but here it is again. Create a blog post reflecting on the process of creating your "This I believe . . .' project. What did you discover about yourself? What was fun? Rewarding? Difficult? Easy? Also, discuss how you might

Thu 4/26

This I believe Reflection…

                Self Discovery: What I found out while I was making this project was my past, and what I had gained throughout my life so far. Although I did grow nostalgic over the subject, I found that karate and that short experience within the CCD classroom was what morphed me into what I want out of my life. I realized that I find something different and challenging within the teaching field, and it’s something that will keep me interested and busy.

                Fun: What I found fun about this project was mostly the story writing, but that was more essay based. I think that even though it was a small part, the ending song ‘twinkle twinkle little star’ was the best part of making this short video. I loved working with some of my friends in order to put it together, and I enjoy adding humor to my work.

                Rewarding: I found out about myself, and I was able to work with new software such as Microsoft Movie. I thought it was fun, and although I’m sure that there are better movie makers out there, I found Microsoft Movie very accessible. Not very handy though, but still…I took what I could get.

                Difficult: Working with Microsoft Movie maker. It wouldn’t take any of the audio tracks I wanted to add, and even when I went through the trouble of making the audio re-save files, it was still difficult. Audacity was not much of a help, but then again, I had never really worked with the program. I resorted to ‘Record Tool.’ I found it deep within the program accessories of my own computer, and it was a lot more helpful than anything else.

                Easy: Making the essay. The only hard part about the essay was keeping it to a minimum, and well as trying to focus on the main points I wanted to tell the readers and listeners about. I also found that it was slightly troublesome trying to figure out what I wanted to tell everyone. Divulging in deep information on the computer is simply one thing that I’m not sure I’m ready for, but I suppose it has to start somewhere.

                Classroom uses: I would try not to use Microsoft Movie Maker in my classroom. I would instead work towards Garage Band and IMovie. I have not yet worked with IMovie, but I’m guessing that it is a lot more accessible to use within a classroom. Within my classroom, I would be happier to speak about my becoming a teacher, and I would love telling my future students about what had made me want to become a teacher.

OER

OER:
I was surprised to read that the OER expands over a wide range of knowledge. I was not surprised though when I read the part about the reliability of some of the content. I think it gets a little sketchy when a large source goes through the trouble of trying to ‘gather’ up everyone’s information without having outstanding credibility. I saw that OER is looking into trying to explore their database though. It scares me that pretty much anyone can post content up, or so that’s my understanding of how OER receive their information.

How OER effects me as a Learner: I would be able to access a diversity of websites and links. Which I noticed is a lot like EBSCO Host from my high school…But I still find such sites as these very helpful. Since the articles are short, they are easier to read and even informative. In some instances though, they may lack credibility, or even information.

How OER effects me as a Student: I would be able to further expand on criteria on some of my classes. I also think that this site would be great as a resources page and so I would be able to use it to my advantage in the essay and research paper area.

How OER effects me as a Future Teacher: I would use this in my classroom to give examples of not only other persons’ works, but also as a reference to many different subjects. Although I based most of my articles on art (Which I did because I like art, and I thought that reading multiple articles on subjects I actually enjoyed would make my work assignment a lot easier and faster…) I noted that there were many other categories and helpful areas. Since I did narrow in on Arts and humanities though, I believe that I have expanded my knowledge even further in some way, even if it was just a little bit.

http://www.oercommons.org/courses/science-and-technology-of-arts/view

Exploring the world of how music can become a science study, I think that this would be very enjoyable to read about if I were a learner who liked to expand my knowledge on music and how it could be thought of as a ‘natural’ science.

   http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2005/10/21/creative-writing/

I believe that as a student, this article on Creative Writing would be very helpful. Although, I have always been interested in taking a creative writing course, I believe that I would not have to after reading this article. I think that it’s not only very informative about how to do a ‘set-up’ of it, but I think that I would be able to actually use it within my other course work and studies. I like this link very much, and have a note of it for later reference.

http://www.oercommons.org/courses/my-place-asia-australia/view

As a teacher, I would use this source to give examples of different art ideas and culture standings of diverse peoples. I think that this article would be good to go over in an art class with my students if I wanted examples of different artistic

I believe...

               I believe education should be devoted to teaching persons of all learning and physical diversities. I believe this because it is important not only as a teacher, but also as a growing learner, that we can all learn. Some persons need no help learning on their own, and some persons need extra special help in order to learn, even a small amount. Even though some people may take longer to teach than others, I know that I will be willing to put forth the effort and time in order to reach the learners who are willing to try.

                 My first interaction among students was through teaching small groups of younger and older individuals in my father’s karate dojo. When I had first become a green belt, which is considered a ‘novice’ to some people within the karate world, I was already trying to help others around me learn what I had already knew. It was fun and easy teaching my peers and friends how to fight and do wazas, and sparring. It took a lot of patience, but once I found out the groove that was best for my learner, I was able to teach them. I loved leading in most of the activities and lessons in the karate class, but where I learned my true passion was among CCD students.

               I remember being told that I would be working at a church, with students who were getting prepared to receive their first holy communion. I thought I would be frustrated dealing with students in a subject that I was not sure that I could even teach. As I’ve learned over time, I know that everyone has their own views on different life lessons, from algebra to religion, and even with Karate. I also learned, that no matter what a learner or student or even a teacher believes, they have that right, and I could or wouldn’t affect their own opinions and viewpoints.

                However, once I was lectured about course material and what I would be preparing the third grade CCD students in, I felt more at ease stepping into the classroom. Finally, when my time to meet the students was upon me, I was told at the last minute that I would be instructing a ‘unique’ classroom. There were two children who had autism, one child who was a paraplegic, and three students who were considered by the other teachers of the school ‘normal.’ I had never worked in an inclusive classroom, and although this was not considered an inclusive classroom, I was still teaching these kids.

                When I had first met these students, I was worried at first, having made one of the children with autism cry due to not giving him Oreos when he wanted them. Once I was used to the class, and worked alongside them for the rest of the year, I grew to enjoy it. I loved learning about their lives, and how they learned, what they enjoyed and what they thought about things within their world. I wanted this to be a continuing feeling, something that I would be able to do for the rest of my life. I want to work with those extra special children, and I want to learn about them. I believe I taught those children, and they for sure taught me, and this is why I believe that as teachers and as a learner, I should be devoted to teaching, no matter the learning or physical diversity.

Top 10 Favorites

My favorites of the 10 Top Tools for the classroom:

1. http://karisadurfee.blogspot.com/
2. http://bridgit-walters.blogspot.com/
3. http://ladylancer.blogspot.com/
4. http://rlagnello.blogspot.com/
5. http://carlyc11.blogspot.com/
6. http://kailamatlock.blogspot.com/
7. http://valletto.blogspot.com/
8. http://helffrichtyler.blogspot.com/
9. http://caitlingarden.blogspot.com/
10. http://jonathangreer8.blogspot.com/

These are the sites that I liked the most, and that I thought would be beneficial for not only my future, but my classroom's future.

Cool tool for School

I picked Google docs, because it is the most useful to me right now during my college life. I found that it is a great way to back up my files, and make sure that I have important essays or content when I need it. The only issue with it is that if I run into no internet connection, then I may have a problem with downloading or opening a file. So far thoguh, I was able to open my essay and have it ready for class, I plan on using it for my group presentation and project planning as well. I enjoy using Google docs becuase it's easy and available. https://www.google.com/,  click on that link, and then go to the top of the page and click on 'Documents.' If you are logged into your blogger.com site, then I'm sure that you already have the ability to obtain google docs.
How I would use this in my classroom is by sending projects that I want to present to my class over the google doc links. At school, I would then be able to open and download the files, and further show my projects for the class.

widgets for tweets

Get your own Widget tweet and start here to get your own twitter feed for your blog, like I do on the side of my account.
I'll try my best to explain the FIRST 10 steps, since those were the ones that I followed to get my little 'widget feature.'
Once you're inside your Twitter account, go to settings, from there, look to the left of your screen and go to the 'Profile' options.
Go to the center of 'Widget's' options, and Further click on "My Website." and click on the option of 'Profile widgets.'  In a box, you'll be able to add your blog name, simply copy and past it from your blog acount.
Next, hit on your own 'Finish and Grab Code option.' after that, it will give you an embeded link, but it is esier to just click on the little blog icon, it'll look the same as the one that the above website uses.
It'll take you to another page, simply click on the add a widget option. you should be taken to a last confirmation page.
Simply hit 'Save' and you should be all done.

Current Issues: Kicking children with disabilities to another school.

My current issue was originally focused on equal rights amongst children with handicapped disabilities within the school system. When I came across a NYtimes article though, my thoughts were changed to that of what this one short paged article had to say. “Court Affirms Reimbursement for Special Education,” (Tamar Lewin, 2009), is about a mother who has to send her child, T.A., to a private school in order for him get a better learning. While attending the public school, T.A. was seen as having learning disabilities, but only when his mother transferred him over to a private school, did T.A. become legally labeled as a child with a learning disability.

Along with the article above, this article deals with the Forest Grove School District and some of the law approved acts and documents that backed up the IDEA acts as well as FAPE. Findlaw, although it is a little long and wordy, I think that if you are really interested in the article about the court hearing, as well as the ideas and laws that IDEA and other such disability acts have tried to lay down for schools to follow through with, than I would definitely suggest reading the ‘Findlaw’ article.

What I think that is a major issue with this type of debate, is that children with disabilities are still not getting the appropriate education. I know that it may not be the same in every state or district, but I still feel that if a child needs special attention, and it’s CLEAR to not only the parents, but to staff and employees of the school the child attends, then it should be the responsibility of that school system to give up funding for special services. If worse comes to worse, there should at least be aid from the public school that the child came from given to the parent in order to help the child in another, private school, to help alleviate financial issues. Like in the embedded video below, I think that they give a great example of how schools should handle special needs students….

  

At the same time though, I feel sad knowing that not all parents would so easily be able to move and relocate simply to educate their child. Due to the fact that the school can now help aid families with disabled children, (through the bill mentioned in the above video…), I still think that the schools are being limited to what they should be giving the student as well as the child. What if the money is not enough for the entire family to relocate? What if the child can’t adjust to change? What then?

Issues like this, if they persist, what will our education system become? I wonder what will happen to those disabled children that have parents who not only have to deal with medical bills, but also private schools now…Simply because their own school refused, or was unable to dish out the money needed to provide services specifically for that one child.

In some respects, there are being steps taken to improve schooling for children with special needs. There are small improvements being taken, the best example I can give to you, is the short video listed below…

 

But remember, simply because of one school passing a bill and maybe leading the way for other schools to slowly take a stand as well, does NOT mean that the fight is over. Only time will be able to show where our future education systems will take us.

Think of this; if your child had a learning disability, and you, as their parent were aware of it, would you be happy if the school your child went to refused to give him or her special services simply because it would cost THEM more?

Twitter

Although a little late in writing my response for the new blog we were supposed to write about, Here is my opinion on Twitter, and how it may improve my teaching skills.

Firstly, when I first created my Twitter account, I was unsure about it, although the only real thing that I can think of for using it with would be to use it to look up Tosh.0, I believe that I could really have no potential enjoyment for it. I think that it is a very tricky, and somewhat difficult program. Although I could see where it would be helpful to send out a short message and news feed, I think that it is also slightly aggravating. What I find aggravating about the Twitter is that it doesn’t seem to hold a lot of information, although I have to admit that I do think that the ability to make quick connections with other ‘potential sped’ teachers, is interesting.

I think that the only way Twitter would really help me in my teaching career would be to use it to get to know other people, as well as other peers. To quickly be able to get to know other Sped teachers, or other educators is a very positive step forward.

Slide Show presentation

What I learned from my powerpoint project was how to add video, sound and interesting features to my presentations in order to keep everyone interested in what I'm tryingt o show them. I enjoyed this presentation more than I thought I would. What I really kinda had issues with was using the technology, like trying how to figure out how to embed videos such as the one above. Anyway, hope that you enjoyed my presentation, and have a nice week.

Reading chapter one response

Reading chapter one:

The section that caught my eye the most, related to teachers opening up to the world of the internet. I feel that by bringing this sort of technology in the class room is a great thing. By making sure that our future teachers and students have such abilities like being able to connect across the world with others, while also keeping the users safe with the “Keeping kids safe” idea, I think that it’s a very progressive step forward.

The thrill of knowing that it’s possible to have such things as the internet, (as well as live feeds to other areas of the world), in our classroom will open up many opportunities for our teaching curriculum. In example, I would suggest maybe being in the historical field, and wanting to learn a topic about Japan. With the use of “connecting” across the world, we will be able to make such connections with other nations that we would want our students to learn about. Also, with ease we will be able to simply connect over the internet with other areas of the world that we want to learn more about. Knowing that I’ll someday be able to display a live camera feed over the internet with a classroom in Japan excites me. To be able to speak with someone across the world and learn about their culture and their government and traditions, along with many others would be a great experience to bring to my classroom.

Future students will be able to ‘link’ or even ‘facebook’ with their pen pals, or even brining ‘skyping’ to the classroom by means of using technology further in the area of a face to face opportunity in learning as explained above. Although I’m sure that there will have to be added security along with such progressive movements in the internet usage among younger students, there will always have to be ways to better keep our students safe.

Some of my interests include:

Origami, which is a craft of making paper squares into animals and objects. I was taught by my brother when I was a kid, and I've just been doing it ever since. 

 I have always enjoyed music, it pumps me up and it calms me down. I hope to always be a music lover, and one band that has been my favorite since I they were an underground band would have to be My Chemical Romance.  I do not believe I will  ever stop loving them.

My Chemical Romance

This is one of my all time favorite shows! It's called MXC, and it used to play every single day on Spike TV. Once more, this is something that my older brother got me into. I really like this show, and just like MCR, I do not ever plan to ever give it up!
Bryanna Bujnowski is my email that you can contact me at...Feel free to send pictures of bands, videos and even little origami animals that you've made.

A little info about me:

My name is Bryanna Bujnowski, but I love to be called Bry (Pronounced Bre).
I originally came to Edinboro University to be an art major, but I found myself drawn into another field of study: ECED/SPED.  I look forward to working with children who need my help with anything from different learning methods, to that of physical needs.
In this blog, as well as this course, I am hoping to become more involved with todays technology.

-Bry