Week 3 Blog Comment #2

Week 3 Blog #1 Comment#1

Week 2 Art of Possibilty

I think that it is Interesting that we are reading this in Month 11 as we are heading out of the program and on to our new lives as Full Sail Alumni. This book so far has re-iterated what we have been doing this whole time in the EMDT program. It's like we just needed a reminder in words of what it is we have been doing and how it is a good idea for us to do the same in our profession.

The thought of giving an A at the beginning of a class sounds pretty crazy to a lot of people and they would wonder where the motivation to do quality work would come from. But this is the same kind of stuff we have been doing in this program and I have started to do in my own classes at my job. I ask the students to create and I want them to try their best in my class as we learn new programs and tools that they can use for all subjects in their education. I know that they don't all have the same talents and skills so I can't realistically ask them to create the same quality work for everything that we do. What I can ask them to do is to try their best, and they will only do this if they know that they will not be penalized for this and therefore won't be risky. So I took this idea from one the first months in the program (i can't remember which one) and created Risk Free activities that allow students to try different programs and projects with no risk to their grades. In doing this I have seen students give me some pretty awesome things that they normally wouldn't have done and would have just followed the rubric exactly to get the grade. The Art of Possibility spells this out with great examples of how this truly is the best way to get the most out of your students and make them not just play it safe for the good grade.

Week 2 Wimba 2

I think that I will always be battling copyright laws and myself over whether or not I am breaking them. In the wimba session this week I was overwhelmed with all of the things to think about and how many issues/laws that there are regarding copyright, fair use, and creative commons. One thing that I took away from the wimba as it was said more than once was that we need to ask ourselves "can we teach the unit without this"? I need to ask that of a lot of my teachers as sometimes they find things that have nothing to do with their unit or they just think is fun and it is a direct violation of copyright. Can you successfully teach this unit without using that media? It is a very direct question that most of us could probably say yes to, but on the other hand this"piece" of media will enhance my unit and help the kids to better understand it. So at the same time we probably don't need this, it sure would be nice and help me out. I think this is a question that I will struggle with every time I use something that is not mine. There are some blatant cases law breaking when I show a Disney movie just to fill time or when I put songs into my presentations or videos that are not created by me and I have not gained permission for the use of them. Those are easy, but when it is a movie or a picture that would help me describe the situation I am teaching than I would love to use, even if I don't have to have it. I am not sure that this will ever go away...

Week 2 Comment 2

Week 2 Comment 1

Week 1 Wimba 1

I was not able to attend this weeks Wimba as I have not been able to attend the majority of the class wimba's this year. It can be difficult to do this living on the other side of the world, so it is very nice to be able to access the archives or download the session to view later in the week.

This session kind of made me panic a little but at the same time it kept me on my toes which is a good thing as sometimes I feel like I might be losing steam after all these months. I need to be active and not waste time waiting for something to happen as the ships above are. Time management is key and I did appreciate hearing that our priorities might need to change a little during these last two months of the program. I might need to volunteer to take on projects a little less or think twice before I spend a saturday reffing for a middle school basketball tournament. These are all good things as was said but I needed to hear that it is ok to not say yes for a little as I complete the program and do the best job I can on the assignments left.