I'd Really Like to Eat a Child

Today, I need to write a book review for the book "I'd Really Like to Eat a Child." So I thought I would share the book with all of you and discuss my ideas. First of all, I think the title needs to win an award in itself. Every time I tell people the title of my book, everyone has a shocked look on their face. I think every single person has thought they heard me wrong. Yet, that really is the title of the book.

The book is about a young crocodile named Achilles who has bananas every day for breakfast. One day, he decides he would rather eat a child. His parents try to get him to eat sausage or even chocolate cake instead, yet he refuses. His parents grow concerned that he won't eat, while Achilles leaves to go on a swim. Down at the river, he comes across a girl, where he becomes excited at his opportunity to eat a child. Yet, when she sees him she is not scared at all. Instead she finds him cute, and even tickles his belly. Achilles returns home, determined to grow big enough to eat a child, by eating more bananas.

Overall, I found this book really cute and fun to read. There were also a few different themes I picked up on. One would be wanting to grow up too fast. I don't know about everyone else but when I was little I always wanted to be bigger and go to school, or do things older kids did. Achilles wanted to eat children and be bigger than what he really is. Yet, he learns (as well as I did), that it takes time to grow big enough to do certain things. Also, the book has the concept of "biting off more than you can chew," literally. Again, I have gone through the situation where I thought I could hand more, but turns out I couldn't. I think the book covers the aspect of growing up very well. It seems to be a great story for kids to relate to as they grow up.

This book is very friendly and the colors and cartoonesque pictures help convey that. Readers are brought into the story with bright yellow colors as the day has just begin. Achilles is obviously drawn smaller than everything else, to convey the idea the he is young and little. Every picture seems to be scribble like to convey the childish feel. As the story progresses it seems legit as the pictures become darker. The color hues move from yellow/white to pink/purple, to dark blue. It conveys the day turning into night through Achilles day. These artistic elements are crucial to the story as they convey feelings/emotions.

If it weren't for TE 348 I would have never tried to analyze childrens books as much as I do now. I now try to find underlying themes that are conveyed through characters or plot. I also now look into the artistic elements to see how they contribute to the story. I actually like the fact that I look deeper into these stories as I can see which ones are worthwhile. Overall I think the story of Achilles the crocodile is very worthwhile and fun for a growing child to read.

Wikis, Blogs, and Weebly

Over the course of the semester we have looked at a lot of technological mediums to either communicate with our students or other collaborators. We have looked at ways more specifically to either have a class page or have a page to display more information. These sites include blogs, wikis, and even an actual webpage sit like Weebly. They all have their own strengths and weaknesses, and each offer something new and refreshing.

A wiki has been the most recent thing we have done, and to be honest, I think that this has the most potential out of the three depending on the use. If a class website is in need, I feel Wiki is the best. Simply because it offers more by allowing editing options for anyone. I think this opportunity really makes a wiki extremely beneficial and different from the rest. AS a class website, wikis offers different pages to be used. There can be a home page, to give a brief introduction. This can give an overview of what the website is for and maybe what students (or parents) should do. There can be pages with specific details on educational information or information that pertains to the class and their agenda. Although all of this can be offered on a normal website, the big thing for Wiki is students are able to edit. This means, they can go in and ask questions on the same page as the information. This keeps the information a lot more organized as it all on one page. It allows the teacher to see the question about the information presented, and respond in an orderly fashion. Overall, wiki keeps thing organized because students can present their problems right at the text. They don't have to wait until class or make a post, it all is on one page. I think this is extremely beneficial as it allows organization and may make things easier in order to respond. A Wiki also seems beneficial in that it seems the best medium to have the students make a group project. Again, it seems to be because of the opportunity to edit. Students can get in groups and create websites about some topic. They could work collaboratively, even if they aren't together due to the editing. This makes group projects easier for students and more importantly the parents of those students. Also, when other groups read the website they could offer questions about the material right on the page. As you can see, my big point with wiki is it allows others to edit your site. I think this is a way that Wiki as a "one up" over the other mediums, and is better to use depending on the reason for the site. Mostly, I feel Wiki should be used to present educational information and group projects simply because of the editing.

Recently as well I have been working on my portfolio on weebly. And let me just say, this has been fun! I like figuring out the pages and how to embed things and making it all look professional. I think weebly is a great tool to create a class website that simply talks about agenda or the class itself, or as a tool such as the portfolio we are creating.I feel weebly is a great way to just present and agenda or information about the class itself because it would all be straightforward information. There probably wouldn't be as many questions so a normal discussion would work just fine. I feel the portfolio is beneficial to use on weebly also because I feel that this is the one out of all three that can be made to look professional. This way when you are trying to market yourself as a teacher, your website has a professional feel to it. It may make people look at you in a better fashion, as the professional website is basically a reflection of yourself in your profession. I think this is a way the students can use weebly in class. They can each make a weebly about themselves, their goals for the semester, and their concerns. Then at the end of the semester they can go back in and reflect upon whether they have learned and accomplished their goals. Weebly could also be used to present educational information as well, although I think Wiki would be the better choice due to editing. Overall, I feel weebly is a great way to present information in a well organized manner. There is still room for discussion, although I don't think that aspect would be as utilized as it is in a Wiki. The weebly seems to be a good way to make an organized website to present class information or personal information. It may not have the editing skills of Wiki, but I think it's ability to look professional offers a "one up" if a class website or a personal portfolio needs to be made.

Blogging on the other hand has been my favorite in the PLN aspect (although I think out of these three weebly is my favorite). I have enjoyed blogging because of the opportunity it offers to share new information and to read others thoughts. It is a great way to basically have a journal. I am comfortable writing my concerns and accomplishments as well as anything I found interesting or confusing. I have been able to express myself all semester in areas of technology and education and I really think I have learned a lot from that. I have also learned a lot from reading others blogs by seeing their thoughts, concerns, interests, ideas, or any information they had that was new to me. I think blogs offer something new than the other mediums as a blog has many different posts on a plethora of information. A weebly or Wiki may be to a specific criteria, yet blogs can be just about anything everytime you make a new post. I think this is beneficial as you don't have to decide at the beginning on what the concrete material is going to be. You could simply make it a reflection blog, so it can be about any topic. This seems to be the "one up" that blogs have on the others. Blogs can be used in the classroom as a reading or writing device. Student's could make blogs as basically a journal. It could present concerns, ideas, thoughts, questions, or accomplishments. It could be a great way for students to learn about each other by reading others. The teacher could also make a blog to reflect on what was presented that day. This could clarify any confusing thoughts and maybe show students what were the big ideas from that day.

Overall, I think blogs, wikis, and websites such as weebly are all beneficial in presenting information. They seem to be familiar in that they are used to present information through a medium of technology. Yet, they all have different aspects that make one more beneficial than the other depending on the goal of the project. Weebly seems to be good to use when presenting educational information or for group projects since students can edit with questions or elaborations right on the page. Weebly seems to be beneficial for a professional page about yourself or the class, since the layout options make it look more professional. Lastly, blogs seem to beneficial to talk about a wide array of topics and express feelings. Obviously they all can be used in any of these ways, but they each have their own aspects that make one more beneficial than the others. Overall, I think these three mediums are really interesting, and I cannot wait to use them to present material using technology to my class.

Wikispaces

After creating my wiki and editing others, I found it could be a pretty useful tool to use in the classroom. It seemed fairly simple to use and the best part was the editing of others websites. There seems to be a lot of uses for wiki spaces, and it may set up ways to collaboratively work with students. One of the biggest things about wiki spaces is that it allows other members to edit your own website. This way, everyone can add their 2 cents to the website to either correct the answer or make it more well rounded. There are many different ways that wiki spaces can be used in the classroom, and allow information to reach everyone and be changed by anyone.

One example of a use is simply using it as a discussion board. Sure there are other websites to use to create discussion, but this one makes it all seen on one page. Whereas actual discussion boards means everyone must make new posts or reply to posts, which means reading it may take effort by clicking on different posts and keeping track. Whereas wiki spaces allows all of the information to be on one page so it is easy to read and keep organized. Students don't have to continually click on posts to see what others have said, instead it all is right there at the main website. This goes along with the idea that it can be used to announce something. If the teacher has something important they would like to tell the class, then they could post it on wiki spaces. This way, if students have questions or want to add something they can do so right on the same page. It keeps things less confusing as all of the information is on one page, which seems to be a successful part of the site.

Simply having a wiki space as a classroom site would be extremely beneficial. Things such as study guides, notes, and what needs to be done for homework could all be posted for the students to view. Again, they could even add questions to the page to keep things organized. This also may save the teacher as a lot of the students may have the same questions, but as long as one student asks, the rest could see the response. Posting all of these things on the website would be very beneficial to the teachers and the students. Again, it is a great way for the teachers to contact all students in an organized fashion. Every announcement or any work could be posted, so that all students can see and add questions. Which like stated before, students could see each others questions so that would save the teacher some time, and allow for the students questions to all get answered. It would also be extremely beneficial for the students because it can teach them responsibility in an organized fashion. If a student is absent or forgets what to do for homework, with wiki spaces they really have no excuse for not completing things. It will be their responsibility to get on the class site and see what is all due or what all was done the day they were absent. IF they have any further questions they could edit the page with them, but ultimately the goal of the website would be to save them time and save the teacher time since the students will be responsible for checking the site.

Also, the site is a GREAT way for planning. This was shown in the introductory video for wiki spaces where four friends wanted to plan a camping trip. I am not sure how much this concept would be used in the classroom, but it could be somewhat altered. This idea of planning could be used to plan a class party, so students can sign up for what to bring. In elementary when we did this during class it wasted a lot of time because it was unorganized. This would save time in class because students would sign up on their own time, and everything would be on one page to keep it organized. Students could see what others are bringing, sign up for something else, and even add things they think should still be brought.

Wiki spaces could also be used to create group projects. Students could be assigned to form a website about a particular subject. They could then work in groups to complete some in class, but also add and edit the website on their own. This way they can help each other learn by fixing each others mistakes or adding on to make the answer more complete. Other groups could then look at these websites and ask questions about that groups topic. That way everyone is learning something new, while working collaboratively on one website.

Overall, wiki spaces provides a lot of the same functions that other mediums may offer that we explored (such as blogging). Yet, I think wiki spaces is extremely beneficial due to it's use of editing the one page. It keeps things really organized so you don't have to look through separate posts of people. It is a great way to teach the use of technology. It shows students how to get on the Internet, make a web page, and even edit somebody else's web page. Overall I think the use of wiki spaces teaches students responsibility, technology uses, and keeps things really organized!

Conception of a Teacher's Job

"If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn't want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher's job." ~Donald D. Quinn

I came across this quote in a magazine earlier, and I found it really interesting. I don't know about anyone else, but I come across a lot of people who say teaching is the easy way out. They say that I shouldn't even have to go to college o be a teacher, it's just an easy career that one chooses. The "hard" or "successful" jobs are seen as these doctors, lawyers, and dentists. I mean yes they all have extremely difficult jobs as well, but that does not making teaching any easier. It seems that maybe people have these stigmas about teachers because of comparisons of pay with other careers. In my eyes, teachers don't get paid enough for what they do. It seems that teachers do not get enough credit for their job, which this quote points out. I mean as a teacher I am going to have a room with 30-40 students that all learn differently or have a different pace. Yet, I have to find a way to make it work and make sure everyone is learning. Does society not realize how extremely difficult this will be/is? I think that the people who say it is easy don't realize a lot of the struggles and adaptations teachers don't have to make. Which is why I really appreciated this quote. It points out that teachers have to accommodate to a lot of diverse students, and even deal with students who don't want to be there so they act out. All this is done, usually, with no help like these other careers have. I am not trying to bash on other careers, because I know I could never be a doctor, lawyer, or dentist. I wouldn't be able to handle what the do. Yet, teachers have different struggles that I feel I may be able to make work. It's not that I feel teaching is easier, it's that I feel a passion for the job, so I know I can handle the stresses that come with it. Overall, I jsut really appreciated this quote because it pointed out some things that non-teachers may feel to realize so they think this career is "easy." I don't know if anyone else has this problem, but hopefully this quote gives everyone something interesting to think about!

Nervous Again...

One thing that I have commented a lot about in this class, whether in my blogs or on others, is that I am really nervous to be a teacher. It makes me very apprehensive that I am having these feelings, sometimes I question whether being nervous means I will be a bad teacher. I know it's not the fact that I won't like my job, because that just doesn't make sense in my head. I have a passion for kids, teaching them new things as well as me learning from them. Not liking being a teacher seems really silly to me, so this makes me think that my apprehension means I am simply not going to be good at it.

First of all, as I stated earlier, I know I am going to LOVE being a teacher. That is once I am comfortable. I know that I will really appreciate my job as an educator simply through the experiences that I have had. I tried to follow an engineer around in their daily work, and I got too bored! I knew that wouldn't be the right thing for me. I even tried to follow a nurse anesthetist around, but found I am no good with blood. Really, I only followed these other professions around simply because my uncle said teaching wasn't worth going into. I doubted my choice at that point, and tried other areas. Yet, I came out of this experience longing to be a teacher more than ever. I know that it is one of the few jobs that can actually make me proud of what I do. I will be educating future generations, which is something really crucial. Not only will I be educating them, but I will be forming bonds with students and making a difference in their life. I know that the feelings from these experiences are amazing! For example, when I tutored a year ago, I had a young girl that really struggled with math. She came in every day frustrated beyond belief and really doubted her self. We constantly worked on practice problems, where I had repeatedly told her that I knew she could do it. Yet, she wasn't seeing immediate results so she was constantly beating herself up. But, I seen progress from the start, starting with her confidence. By the end of the semester, she had brought her grade up two whole letter grades. When she came up to me with the biggest smile on her face and gave me a huge hug, I knew what I wanted to do. I could see how happy she was with herself, and knew that I had made a difference for her. Yet, as an educator I know I will make a difference in more than academics. I came across this type of situation also when I tutored a year ago. I had a young boy that seemed to be interested in topics that other boys in his grade found "dumb." Therefore, he was very shy and really talked to nobody at school. So when I met with him, I focused strictly on him. The first couple of times we met, he never smiled and barely talked. I could tell that he was very insecure and it really broke my heart to see a student so upset with who he was as a person. Therefore, I took interest in his hobbies and what he was up too. At first, he was shy and barely responded, but when I had repeatedly talked about his interests (remembering what he told me to start), he could see that I truly did care. I remember when he first laughed with me even, it was probably the best feeling I had ever felt. To know that even though I couldn't be with him all of the time and make him feel better, I could see him once a day and make a difference. My last day with him he gave me a huge hug and wrote me a letter thanking me for everything. I don't know how I will top that moment, but it's time like those when I know that teaching needs to be my profession.

With all of this passion to be a teacher, you would think that I have confidence myself. Yet, I don't. I honestly have never been more nervous in my life for student teaching and beyond, and these situations are still 1 to 2 years away. Yet, I can't help thinking about it and I can't seem to settle my nerves when I do. I hate that I feel this way, because I am afraid it will hinder what I do as a teacher. I honestly couldn't tell you the whole reason why I am nervous. I know that as a student teacher I am afraid of what the main teacher will think of me. That really scares me. I found an article for future student teachers, so that I could see if it had any meaningful tips. The article said to come in early before the school year starts to help. I know that this would help since I could form some sort of relationship with the teacher. I could see how they plan to set up the classroom, and hopefully become comfortable with them to ease my nerves. It also says to observe other teachers before you go in. This way, you don't have to completely mimic the teacher in the classroom. I have observed some teachers and I plan on doing more before I go into student teaching. I know that this will really help because I could find methods that I like or don't like, and even get advice. The last tip in this article states to invite the principle in to observe you teach at the end of the year. This is where my heart dropped in the article. Another person judging me? No thanks! I get nervous enough to have the teacher in the room, but the principal too? I think I would have a heart attack! I only hope I can gain the confidence to be comfortable with myself as a teacher, and be even comfortable enough to be judged by whoever.

To be honest, I debated posting this blog. A lot of others in the class seem really confident as a future teacher already. I have made so many comments about how I am not, so I am afraid people will question me. I really am passionate for this and know I will be fine, I just get very nervous in these types of situations. Therefore, any advice would be very much appreciated. =)

PLN

As this course is ending, reflecting on things we have done has taught me a lot. For example, the personal learning network was a core part of the beginning weeks. We used devices such as twitter, blogging, RSS feed, and social bookmarking on delicious to build our PLN. So far, I think that these tools can be very useful, although there were some weaknesses throughout the development of my PLN.

After weeks of working on my PLN, I found that my favorite part was probably blogging. I like to write my ideas or thoughts and see what other people think. Most people comment providing feedback that could make our ideas better or more detailed, so it really beneficial. Also, if I write about a confusing topic, it can provide the opportunity for different points of view to be heard. This way their ideas could either build off of mine or correct mine so I can better understand the topic. I also found I like to read blogs just as well as write them. I like to see what other projects people are working on and what other people are thinking. It's cool to see the different blog topics and it even inspires some of my writing. Overall, blogging helps my process of reading and writing, by giving me ideas and feedback. One drawback would be that it does not receive immediate feedback. It can take days before someone notices and comments. Also, with the amount of blogs on the Internet, it is hard to find ones that are interesting or most beneficial to read.

Twitter can be the quicker more efficient form of blogging, although it is not as elaborate. It can be useful to get a small point across in the most efficient way to get immediate response. The tweet deck gives constant updates, so I can keep track of when my students or colleagues update their twitter. It is the best form to use if you want a fast response for something short. The draw back is that it only allows for so much writing. There is a word limit, so that you can't post an elaborate idea. This makes it hard to share some things at a quick way. Some ideas can't be condensed enough to fit within the word count. Therefore, sometimes it is a struggle to decide whether to tweet the topic or blog it. They both are beneficial, but sometimes no one is better than the other, so it makes it difficult to choose.

The RSS is very beneficial as it is a great way to organize blogs you want to follow. It shows the most recent updates between all of the blogs in the feed. It is extremely beneficial that all of my blogs I find interesting are all on one page. It saves a lot of time for trying to find a blog to read, or when I am looking for a blog to respond to in my own blog. This can help update you with colleague’s ideas, what the students are blogging about, or any other topic of interest in the blog feed. The one thing that I absolutely hate about the RSS feed was actually building it. I had the hardest time finding blogs that I found interesting enough to follow. There are still some on my feed that I don’t ever look at, but I have a few that are very beneficial. Once I did have some good ones, and once I keep finding more, I know I will appreciate the feed as it organizes all of my blogs to follow.

Last time we wrote about our PLN, I had not used my delicious account yet. But, the time finally came when I forgot some websites for my paper while I was on a public computer, and I was relieved that I had saved them to my delicious account. Overall, my bookmarks on my computer save me by making it so much easier to access websites I use a lot. To have an account where I can open all my bookmarks on any computer makes me feel safe. I no longer have to worry about going somewhere because I would have to search for websites. Instead I can just open My Delicious and have all of my bookmarks that make my life easier at home. The main drawback is that it is work to keep it updated. Right now with a click of a button I can add a website to my tabs, or bookmarks, on my computer. Yet, to add it to my delicious account I would have to open delicious and submit it. It doesn’t take long, but I always seem to forget, so I am not very good at updating.

Overall, at the beginning of the course I thought these networks were a waste of time and just busy work. Yet, now I see how beneficial the PLN can actually be. I seem to be more organized and have a lot of places to turn to for ideas. The organization makes easier access so I don’t have to worry about wasting too much time looking for ideas. The biggest dilemma I have with a PLN is actually developing it. It seems to take a long time to actually get it started, and even keep it updated. Yet, I know that it is very beneficial after all.