Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture"

Randy Pausch was an inspiring man, author of The Last Lecture Really Achieving your Childhood Dreams. He had a PhD. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. He also taught computer science and human-computer interaction at CMU.

The Last Lecture was an awesome show, and very well put together. He had stated what he was NOT going to talk about and that was "The elephant in the room" his cancer. The presentation was broken down into 3 parts: His Childhood Dreams, which were being in zero gravity, playing in the NFL, winning stuffed animals, being Captain Kirk, and being a Disney Imagineer. Next was How to achieve your dreams, and lessons learned. Throughout the entire lecture he never once felt sorry for himself, it was all about how happy he was to be alive.

In October of 2007 Randy appeared on Oprah, which is not something that I normally watch however I had to the TV on and heard him telling his story so I watched. I was glued the whole time it was very moving to see how positive he was even after knowing that he was going to die soon. He said Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things. To hear a healthy person tell you something like that is somewhat moving but when it comes from someone who has 3 little babies, and is losing everything, it makes you think.

The one quote that I will take with me is "Experience is what you get, when you didn't get what you wanted". It was amazing to see just how much he loved his family, his friends, and his work you could see it in the pictures of the presentation. He had a lot of "experience" in his life and he doesn't really tell you until the end that he didn't get into Brown or Carnegie Mellon right off the bat. Those were the lessons that he was sharing. My favorite part was the very end he said the other head fake was this wasn't for you (meaning his students and colleges)it was meant for his children. For their viewing when they get older to see that their father lived life to the fullest which is the greatest lesson he could teach them.

The Best of the Fischbowl 2007

This is a picture taken from Karl Fisch's blog, it is of 9th grade students holding a video conference and live blog session with Daniel Pink author of A Whole New Mind. I read the post from the Best of the Fischbowl 2007 it was for the month of October intitled Two Steps Forwardand More Thoughts on Filtering and Even More on Filtering by Karl Fisch. This post was dicussing internet filtering, Mr. Fisch doesn't like filtering because it blocks out a lot of resources that might be needed for projects due to pop-ups or the category of website. He also feels that there should be levels for overrides to unblock the sites, for example the teachers at Arapahoe High School (where he works)in Centennial Colorado were given an override to unlock sites that can be used for educational purposes. And then the Administration also has a higher level of override that allows them to view more sites. Both of these overrides are logged to see what site was viewed and from what override. Filters also keep classrooms from connecting with the outside world and prevents the expansion of ideas, for example the filters at Arapahoe kept students from viewing Pangea Day

The library uses the same type of filter that Mr. Fisch's school uses the 8e6, and I can understand his frustration with it. I find it frustrating because before students come in to do their homework that is normally what you will find me doing, I always hit the dead end when I go to my blog, email, and facebook because they are considered social sites. Its not that I don't know the override its just a pain to type it in everytime you click on a link or go to another site.

Filters are a pain when doing research because children want current information but half the information is blocked. When a child younger then 18 comes into the library to research they aren't allowed overrides, so the only way they can get information needed is the old fashion way through books. Even then those are hit or miss. For example students have been coming in looking for information on famous African Americans, there are only so many books and when almost every school requires this the books have all ready been checked out, then you add that to the filter and the student can't do their project.

I think that at every level of learning there should be a lesser degree of censorship. If we give all the students the same punishment, then we are telling them as a whole that we don't trust them to think on their own. Filters are equivalent to the banning of books, some of my favorite books are banned because one person didn't like the message that it sent to our youth. Banning websites because of the pop-ups makes it that much harder for our students to get there work done.

EDM 310 Fall 2008 Podcasts

I listened to two podcasts done by Dr. Strange's EDM 310 Fall 08 classes. The first podcast I listened to was "Burp Back Education", by Patricia Robbins, Megan St. Amant, and Courtney Morris. The next podcast I listened to was titled "What I learned from Randy Pausch's Last Lecture", by Brandy Wimberly, Amanda Bentley, and Daniel Griffin.

Monday October 27,2008
"Burp Back Education"
I thought this podcast was very good, it gave loads of information and tips for a teacher to use when expecting students to retain information for long periods of time and not just for a test. I thought this podcast was more like a conversation then, the other one I listened too! The speakers had knowledge of classroom experience and teaching skills. There were a few distractions that were a nuisance, for instance you could hear clapping in the background and laughing. I also thought that each speaker talked on a different level and it made it hard to hear them. I found myself continuously adjusting the volume for the three of them. Other then those few things the overall podcast was good, they gave a more conversational feeling then a lecture.

Monday November 24,2008
"What I Learned from Randy Pausch's Last Lecture"

This podcast the students introduced themselves before they gave the talk about Mr. Pausch's Last Lecture. I didn't like the fact that they said um and like a few too many times, and their pronunciation was off. The first speaker Brandy Wimberly babbled a bit about her thoughts and then let it open for the other two students to put in their thoughts. At first this one sounded more rehearsed and not conversation like. I didn't like that all of the students knew what they were talking about, it sounded like one did more research and looking in to find out facts and the other two just watched the video. I did like the that they gave quotes that had an impact on them.

Of these two podcasts I now have a better idea of what to do and what not to do! I know how important it is for the groups to all be the same distance from the microphone so that the listener will be able to hear all on the same volume level. I like the idea of podcasting and think that it would be a great way for a class to learn from because it is something that would make a child remember the lesson and not just regurgitate back for a test.

Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

After reading the blog Is it Okay to be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher? by Karl Fisch, in his blog he talks about the accountability of teachers to learn how to use technology and not just say "Im not good with computers". I can understand his frustration with this, I work at a branch of the Mobile Public Library and it is housed within a Lutheran School. One of the teachers is going back to school and frequently comes into the library to use the computers however, she doesn't have a clue what she is doing. The really bad thing is that she doesn't want to learn she just wants you to show her how to do it for that assignment.

The library also has a Goodwill Easter Seals volunteer, she is in her early 60s tries to learn how to use a computer but from one day to the next she can't remember even how to turn one on. I do give her credit for trying, but it gets old having to figure out how she pulled the security system up, which then locks the computer making it inoperable for the rest of the day.

When I think back to my childhood I feel lucky, because I remember going to computer class in kindergarten and learning where to place your fingers on the keys. I also remember my Dad who had a computer that he played with and then when we got old enough he built us our own. I know how to use a little of everything on a computer, but then I look at the kids that come to the library and they seem to know way more then I do NOW. These kids come in and use proxies or anonymizers to override our security system to access myspace, facebook, and other sites that are restricted for anyone with out parental consent and under the age of 18. When I first started working there I had no idea what these were, but I quickly became formiliar.

I think that as an educator one should know how to use a computer to its full extent. Especially if their classes are going to be expect to know and use the information. One of the comments that Mr. Fisch made will stick with me for a while. He said "If a teacher to day is not technologically literate- and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more- it's equivalent to a teacher 30yrs ago who didn't know how to read or write".

Podcasts

I have never listened to a podcast before this experience, so I was kind of wondering what they were going to be like. I'm not sure if they were supposed to be interactive or not because my computer didn't want to work to even play them with sound. I thought some of them were very informative however, there were a few that just went on for a good while about the speakers lives.

The first podcast that I listened to was Smartboard Lessons Episode 126. It was broadcast by Ben Hazzard and Joan Badger the title was Cause and Effect Commercialism, they gave the link above right off the bat for references. It was an interesting conversation, talking about Flicker, smart recorder, and notebook 10. I think to understand what they are talking about you really have to know what these things are.

The Next Podcast was Kidcast Episode 53 He was talking about ways to re-energize a field trip, I found the idea to set up a podcast for group discussion a great idea. He also said that field trips are what children remember the most and you have to place hooks to connect the memories, and build exploration. With his idea you can have the children interview, reflect back and make observations, make it more then a brochure or display. The next was Ed tech talk With Clive Goodinson he was in Kenny Bumport, Maine(sp). He is a comic strip drawer and has a website for kids to go in and create there own. The website is called Pixton, callers were discussing the security of the site for their children.

The next podcast was Connect Learning 91, David Warlick was at a workshop in North Carolina with area Librarians. I liked this one because it was helping them to see how they could or have been using a podcast in their work. One Librarian said that she uses podcasting with EC children who can not read or write very well, because it gave them a chance to express through voice. The example was one of her students that can't write an he created a rap to help him remember his work.

The last two podcasts were Mac Break Weekly and This Week in Photography (TWiP?. Mac Break was dicussing the iPhone; shooting videos and then posting them to sites like You Tube. TWiP was discussing the Nikon SDK which stands for software development kit. This podcast is on photography, new inventions and making digital photography better. They also were talking about the Senator who wants to pass that camera phones to make a clicking sound before the picture is taken, he says that this will make them safer for anyone who might have their picture taken without there knowledge. Even if you make it illegal to have a silent camera people will find a way, this reminds me of the law in Mobile that you can't walk downtown in high heels! I get the safety issue but it is still pretty stupid.

International K-12 Blogs

The first international blog that I found is for Sandaig Primary School in Barlanark in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The school uses this site to provide information for anyone who visits. It offers a variety of pictures and videos for the viewer to see what the students are doing. It is very interesting to see just what the children of the world are doing and what the teachers put emphasis on.


The second international blog that I found was for Room 9 at Nelson Central School in New Zealand. It is a classroom taught by Rachel Boyd, she has 23 6 & 7 year olds. Mrs. Boyd uses the blog to post the children's work for the other classes, parents, and students to view what the class is doing. Also to reach other classrooms as a teaching tool. The most recent post is movies that the students made, "The Lorax Speaks for...". This blog has inspired me to teach outside of the box, one of her blogs shows a project in which they took a bath tub and used it as a flower bed which they call a Legacy Garden it is very cute.

U.S K-12 Blogs

The first blog that I found was for a 7th grade math teacher in Decator, AL. Her name is Jeanne Simpson, and she teaches at Cedar Ridge Middle School. Her blog is called Seven West Math.She uses her blogs to connect with parents and students for things that they are working on, what happened in class for that day, and concerns that parents might have. She also has a blog that she talks about different things, life helpful tips for teachers, games etc. She also has a blog that students go to, to get homework assignments and they have links to help sites.



The second example of teachers useing blogs that I found was an article in the New York Times about Marisa L Dudiak in Frederick County, Maryland. She is a second grade teacher who had her students write about the field trip, where they had gone to the Native American Farm. Her students were so talkative about the day they had that instead of facilitating a class discussion she had they tell about it in the blog. They wrote about learning to use a bow and arrow, sitting inside of a tepee, and petting a buffalo.