Technology Education
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Podcasting
Podcasting is audio that is recorded and then delivered via an RSS feed. Podcasting is similar to the radio but better. The concept is the same but with podcasting, listeners can pick the time and the place they choose to listen. There are also so many podcasts out there from educational ones to cooking ones. You can learn about all sorts of things from a podcast. I like to use http://podcast.com/ to view a variety of podcasts for anything you could imagine. There is also http://www.podcastalley.com/ which is a great site for podcasts as well. The possibilities are endless when it comes to using a podcast. As a future teacher I will use podcasts in my classroom by setting up tutorials that my students can use as resources when they are at home doing their homework or studying for a test. This will also let parents get an idea of what is going on in their students classroom on a regular basis. I think it is very important for parents to be involved in their students education and podcasting can help make that possible.
Creating my podcast was more difficult than the blog because I had never made a podcast before. I used Garage Band which is an application for a Macintosh computer used to make podcasts and other audio projects. I was familiar with Garage Band but had never created anything before so it took some time and some playing around with the features before I was confident enough to make my first podcast. It was frustrating trying to get the sections of audio in the right places at the right time and it was also frustrating to get the backing tracks just right. It was fun once I got the hang of it because I chose my own tracks for the backing audio and got to play around with all the features. I feel better about podcasts now after I have completed one. I learned a lot doing this assignment and I hope to learn even more as I use podcasts in the future.
Publishing my podcast onto my blog was more difficult than creating the podcast. I was not sure of what hosting site to use and it seemed that everything I was trying was not working and it was very frustrating but I figured it out. I think I was actually making it more difficult than I needed to because all I really needed to do was post the URL of my podcast but I wanted the actual audio to play directly from my blog but all of the embedded files to do that were in the wrong format not supported by my system. I got over that and just posted the URL to make it easy on myself! I enjoyed creating my podcast and I am glad to share it with all of you. Enjoy!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Readability Index Calculator
Ever want to know how well written your big term paper is?
Below is a link to a pretty cool tool that I use on big papers to see how well I wrote them. When you go to this link it explains how it works a lot better than what I probably could so check it out using some of your past papers to see how your papers rank.
All you have to do is copy and past a sample of your work in the text box and click calculate score. [NOTE: Make sure the method box shows Flesch-Kincaid (English).] After you click calculate score it will show a grade level number and a reading score ease number both of which are explained after you click calculate. It's pretty cool to see where your work falls on the spectrum. Just keep in mind that it doesn't tell you necessarily how well written your work is but how easy it is to understand and the grade level people will have to be at in order to understand your work. So you obviously want scores 12 or higher when writing for college level courses because your audience is more than likely other college students and college professors.
I hope this is useful for you all!
"What Teachers Make"
"What Teachers Make"
He says the problem with teachers is, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?" He reminds the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about teachers: Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.
I decide to bite my tongue instead of his and resist the temptation to remind the dinner guests that it's also true what they say about lawyers.
Because we're eating, after all, and this is polite company.
"I mean, you're a teacher, Taylor," he says. "Be honest. What do you make?"
And I wish he hadn't done that (asked me to be honest) because, you see, I have a policy about honesty and ass-kicking: if you ask for it, I have to let you have it.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honor and an A- feel like a slap in the face. How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best.
I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall in absolute silence. No, you may not work in groups. No, you may not ask a question. Why won't I let you get a drink of water? Because you're not thirsty, you're bored, that's why.
I make parents tremble in fear when I call home: I hope I haven't called at a bad time, I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today. Billy said, "Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don't you?" And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.
I make parents see their children for who they are and what they can be.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids wonder, I make them question. I make them criticize. I make them apologize and mean it. I make them write. I make them read, read, read. I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful over and over and over again until they will never misspell either one of those words again. I make them show all their work in math. And hide it on their final drafts in English. I make them understand that if you got this (brains) then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you give them this (the finger).
Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true: I make a difference! What about you?
By: Taylor Mali
This anecdote sums up the reasons why I want to be a teacher. For all the current teachers and teachers in training, if anyone ever tells you that you took the easy route just shove this in their face and tell them just what you make...
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