My Presentation

Canada Teacher Blogs

Mr. Clarence Fisher is a seventh and eighth grade teacher at Joseph H. Kerr School in the Canadian city of Snow Lake, Manitoba. He started the August 2005 school year explaining what blogs are and encouraging his students to post a few times each week. He also encouraged the students to read the blogs of other students and make comments. I was impressed by Mr. Fisher's periodic notations about the process of introducing the use of blogs to the students and the troubles he encountered in the process. He didn't have any class pictures posted, but his blogs were very interesting. To view his online personal journal click here.Clarence Fisher

8th Grade History Teacher Using Blogs

Mr. Eric Langhorst is an outstanding 8th grade American History Teacher at South Valley Junior High in Liberty, Missouri. He has developed a great web journal that contains ideas, pictures, news items and general thoughts about using technology in the junior high classroom. The site includes a classroom homepage, a student resource page, a parent resource page, a teacher resource page and much more. To view Mr. Langhorst's web classroom click the link icon Langhorstclassblog.

Correcting links that do not work

The four most important reasons that links do not work are:
1 The link is not correctly spelled.
2 Nothing is placed between the two parts of a tag.for example: APTT web site
3 You forgot to include http:// in the address. It must be included
4 Sometimes google doesn't like / after the address. Try removing it.

Did You Know

Most of the information given during this video presentation didn't surprise me. I was told in the fifth grade, during the mid 1970's, that in my young adult years computers will run the world. What was shown during this video was something that I had anticipated for a very long time. As a matter of fact, I expected some of these advancements much sooner.
Although I appreciate all of the sophisticated technology, and the speed at which the information is delivered, I also realize that new age developments bring on new age problems. Confronting and solving new age problems require an entirely different way of thinking. The quote in the video by Albert Einstein was exactly right when it said "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." I feel that children born today have a different mindset then those born two decades ago. Fortunately, babies born today are mentally equipped to learn, to adapt to, and to advance the technology of today, just as babies born in previous decades accordingly mastered the technology of their day.

Alabama Connecting Classrooms and Students Statewide

According to the website ACCESS is a distance learning initiative that provides high schools with basic courses, advanced level courses, and electives that might not otherwise be available. Students in all locations should have adequate technology training and the opportunity to learn at their maximum potential. ACCESS uses online and interactive video conferencing technology to link classrooms and offer coursework to students in all schools throughout the state where those courses may not be available.
The website shows a video recording of Governor Bob Riley and State Superintendent of Education Joe Morton giving their full support and encouragement of this program. Supt. Joe Morton stated that rural and low income area school students will be given equal access to courses and teachers as a result of the implementation of this program.
As a future teacher, I believe this is another great asset for the Alabama School System that will motivate students and build their confidence academically and boost their technology skills.

ALEX- The Alabama Learning Exchange

According to the website ALEX is a project of The Alabama Department of Education that gathers and shares many types of educational material and information with administrators, educators, parents, and students. This program not only allows administrators and teachers access to material that meet state standards, but gives parents and students the opportunity to learn what the state standards are in all subject areas for grades K through 12.
The link also states that the ALEX Team is determined to provide the best resources to meet the unique needs of teachers, administrators, parents, and students. It explained that most of the resources (lesson plans, web links, etc.) are located and connected by national board certified teachers. As a result of this effort, parents, teachers, and administrators will operate from the same page and guideline, and therefore have the same reasonable expectation of the students.
It seems ALEX is a great asset to the Alabama Department of Education. As an Education major, as long as this information is available, I'll certainly benefit a great deal from it. As it improves and expands, I hope to grow along with it.

Introducing Me

Hello Everyone,
My name is Silas Darrell Smith. Until about five years ago, all my friends and family called me Darrell. In 2002 I bought a personalized license plate that read "SILAS", and now it seems everyone calls me Silas. You can call me Silas or Darrell because I don't have a preference. I'm 41 years old. My wife Carolyn and I have been married for 10 years. We have one 8 year old son named Gabriel. I work at Gautier High School in the Special Education Department as a teachers assistant. I'm an ordained minister. I'm a gospel musician (piano & organ). I love the Lord, singing, and playing gospel music. I'm a new member of Friendship Baptist Church. I'm a junior here at USA and my major is Secondary Education emphasizing English. My short term goal is to teach high school students English. I'll gladly receive any good advice, instruction, and support.

Thank You,
Silas Darrell Smith

Adding a picture

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Hello Tue-Thur 4

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