This is the CFK special takes the place for blog post 14

Yasmine my name is Phillip and I too have an allergy, but mine is to peanuts.  Mine just started about a year ago and boy does it bite.  I would eat peanuts all the time and I loved them very much.  Now I have to be very careful about what I eat, and I too must read labels when I go grocery shopping.  I know how you feel and it is not very fun not being able to enjoy the foods that you love.  I too wish that more people would quit using sugar substitutes and instead try using sugar or even better do without. I totally agree with you and applaud you for wanting to write the first lady of our United States.  You are a very intelligent young lady and I wish you the best in your life.  Just encase you need it the address for the White House is:

The President of the United states
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.
Washington, DC 20500

I'm a student at the University of South Alabama in EDM310.  If you want to comment back my blog post is http://cooperphillipedm310.blogspot.com/
Thank you and have fun learning.  :-)

Comment For Kids final Summary

This has been a lovely opportunity for me to comment on all my childrens blogs this semester.  The final three children that I comment on were Cierra, Rocio, and Ashyln.  These children blogged on issues such as the treatment of the Native Americans, the learning of a first Wordle, and teaching us about a town that is named after Columbus's mother.  All of these children posted interesting topics and the grammar was also very good.  The first child described the mistreatment of the Native Americans a topic which is close to my heart since my wife is a Native American.  I agreed very much with this child and with the wrong doings the Europeans put the Indians through.  The second child done a Wordle for the first time and this was also a very nice Wordle.  The childs choice of colors for their Wordel was also very colorful and lively.  The last child explained how a city in the United States was named after Columbus's mother.  I never knew this and was extremely fascinated by this fact. 

I love the blogging and rewards that come from blogging, which EDM310 has introduced me to.  The children who i've commented on will look forward to these comments and remember them as long as they are blogging.  It has been a pleasure to comment on these childrens blogs and I will miss this once I leave EDM310.  This just lets me know how interconnected we are in our small world today.  Also we as teachers do have the POWER to change a childs life for the better.  All it takes is love and patience.

Additional Assignment Number 5

These blogs from Mr. Spencer are always a hoot to read due to the interesting thinking on his part.  :-)  He covers ideas that correspond to ways that children are being taught in classes today.  Teachers need to remember that children learn not from concrete ideas, but from ideas that challenge us and empower us.  Also teachers need to remember that children do not think at a pen level and tend to think as a pencil.  This being because children are always changing (feelings, emotions, and their perceptions of the world.) each and every day.  This is a normal process and should be used to get the children to think in a looser manner concerning their education.  Children should also never be blamed for things that they attempt to do.  Teachers tend to set high standards and get upset when students can't make those standards.  If teachers would learn to embrace children's feelings and strengths our children would perform much better.  Also we must remember that all technology will not be helpful as Mr. Spencer was talking about and we must teach from technologies that will both be informative, comprehensive, and fun.  We owe it to our children to do the best that we can at our teaching jobs, and must remember that we are also a major influence on their lives.

Blog Post Number 13

For this blog I went to the ALEX Teacher Created and Thinkfinity Resources website.  alex.state.al.us/index.php This place was well constructed and laid out.  The website was divided into eight sections were teachers can get information on any number of subjects that range from (Personal Workshops, Creating lesson plans, searching the web, and Professional learning tools.)  All this information at the hands of a teacher is very important for us as educators.  The reason being we will always have access to the information we need to construct our lesson plans and also search the web for additional information.  This way we can give our children the best education that we possibly can.  Also this is a gateway to more information on projects, events, and lesson ideas for us from the ALEXville section of the workshop.  This technology is the way that we as teachers will use to construct our lessons and ideas in the near future and personally, I cannot wait till I can take advantage of it.

I love the course of study section because this area will give us access to examples of classroom lessons and websites on everything from Math, Science, History, and Foreign Languages.  This will not only save us time and energy, but will enable us to give our children a more knowledgeable and well rounded educational opportunity.  This web site used in conjunction with blogging could really help our children learn more from teachers.  This information would also work excellent at supplementing our classroom material that is mandated by the state.  This is just one of eight great sections that are geared toward teachers expanding their knowledge and understanding out of college.  The last thing I would like to point out is the web resource section of the ALEX website that gives information on teachers, administrators, and student web sources.  This information will be useful for finding peer to peer information, professional development information, and student based ESL for English as a second language students.  I will use this information before I even graduate college and will highly recommend that all teachers use this wonderful resource tool that is at our disposal.

Phillip's EDM310 Project 15

This is my video I done with Prent and Annmarie for project 15.  Hope you guys enjoy!!!! 
This was a lot of fun doing this crazy video.

Blog Post number 12

This blog post will be due on the 1st of December 2010. 



On this post the class will post a blog concerning the current use of technology and how it impacts our children's educational process.  Also give two examples of how technology could be used in schools.  Write at least two paragraphs and NOT four sentences for this post.



The technology being used by our schools right now is good, but it could be better.  The reason for this is, that we do not have enough technology to fully immerse our children into it right now.  Schools must also get the funding so they can get more computers for classes and also begin to get more ITouches and begin to use these as portable encyclopedias.  Children today learn more with technology than with the old fashion paper and pencil.  Children our more versed and comfortable with technology than ever before and it is also a very important social factor in growing up.  In this I mean they have Twitter, Face Book, and My Space just to name a few.  Children in today's schools learn from the Smart Boards that are in our classrooms, but even these fail to include the most basic function of schooling which is involvement.  The children look at the board, but there is very very little interaction from the students.  Also the state mandated curriculum makes it very difficult, but not impossible for teachers to let students sprout off on their own and apply what is being taught in class to real world issues.

Our technology also needs to be used to help our children and until we have the computers, programs, and accessories to compliment what is being taught in the classroom our children's education will only suffer.  The internet is a wealth of information for students to use and also we have the ability to interconnect with people we never dreamed of with the use of blogging.  This will only help our children in their education, so why do the state education systems not embrace technology?  There are some people who would say the internet is bad and only good for nothing.  Too these individuals I say YOU are wrong and here is some reasons to support my theory.  We as educators watch what our children do each and every day.  Being a teacher is a full time job and one that is not to be taken lightly.  Also technology has the ability to be controlled, so only specific sites and data can be seen.   Two the information from blogging and the internet will only reinforce what is being taught in the classroom.  And finally if we let the children have a more active role in the use of technology instead of a passive role they would learn much better and keep higher grades in the long run.

Progress report for Project #16

Me and my class mate Prent Davis will be doing this project together. We are thing about doing a puppet show either with socks or stuffed animals about not being late on EDM310 projects. Our working title so far is: "The best excuse ever given."
This will consist of a puppet who comes up with the greatest excuse ever given to Dr Strange for being late on an EDM310 assignment. What we have come up with so far is: The student gets abducted by aliens who then take him to their version of the German beer festival known as Oktober fest. Finally the aliens drop the student off at South Alabama 10 minutes before his project is due. This will probably be a video and will be around ten minutes or less. We are also thinking about putting in some drawings of the situation the student goes through in the video also. Any concerns or ideas please post and let me know thanks.

Phillip's Project 6 summery

On this Summery of my project 6 questionnaire I was very shocked by what I found in return. I was hoping people were more educated about what games they let their children play, but most people didn't know very much about games and/or the rating system on the box. I sent out this questionnaire on gaming's impact on America's children. Out of 18 returns 17 people stated that gaming has greatly influenced our children today. The next question was "How many TV based gaming consoles are on the market today?" The correct answer was 3 the XBox360, the PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii. Six people said 6. Seven people said 5. Four people said the correct number which is 3 systems. And one person said 1 system. The games that most people like to play by genre are: 4 people said role playing. Six people said they liked racing games. Four people said they like to play games in the other category. Three people play fighting games. And 1 person plays educational games.

I was also curious as to see how much money per year people would spend on video games and here is the results. 12 people said that they spend less than $50 per year on games for systems. "This shocked me, for I would have thought people would have spent more money than that on video games." 4 said they spend more than $50, and 2 people said they spend more than $100 dollars per year on games. The Next question in the lineup was "How many hours a day do you play TV based gaming consoles." 17 people said they play games more than 2 hours a day and 1 person said they play for more than 4 hour per day. "I guessed most people would have answered around four or more hours per day, so I was astonished when they were less than that." I also asked a question that went "If your child wanted a bloody and violent game would you still buy that game knowing your child should not have it?" 17 people said they would not buy it and 1 person said that they would. "I guess that one person doesn't care for their child's well being that much!"

On the back of every video game box for any system you have a code that goes something like this: (Early Childhood, Everyone, Everyone 10+, Teen, Mature 17+, Adult 18+.) This is put there by the entertainment Software Rating Board. The ESRB labels the games according to the content in the game. For more information here is the ESRB website http://www.esrb.org.  Out of 18 people 1 said they don't know don't care! 11 said they didn't know what the initials of ESRB stood for and 5 people knew what the initials stood for. "This is very scary that these people will be buying games for their children one day and they do not even know how to pick the right game for their child." The next question in the lineup was what games are younger children playing today? And the responses were 4 people said role playing. 1 said violent games and 12 people said sport games.

An interesting question I asked was "How often do children play games?" 8 people said that children play between 3-5 hours a day!!!! I could not believe that response when i seen it, but it does shed some light on why children have difficulties in doing school work. How can they do school work when children are tied to a TV screen for up to 5 hours a day? the last question I asked was "Do you think video games are a cause of divorce and separation of couples in the United States?" 13 people said yes and 5 people said no.

In conclusion I learned that most people do not take the time to see if something is good for them or their child. The child says I want it and then the parents buy it for them. The time also that children spend on video games is crazy and should be better controlled by their parents. This inability to monitor children's time on video games could account for the lack of attention and poor grades that most children in school have. Also parents need to be more proactive in what and how their children are doing, especially when it comes to video games. Until parents can make children do more work and less games it will always hamper the child's ability to effectively learn.

Summary comments for kids 3-7

The students I had this time around were Colin,Lisa,Caleb,Hayden, and Friendship. these were some of the brightest children that I have seen lately. I enjoyed being able to comment on their blogs. The blogs ranged from a description of Australia to the USS Alabama, to the wonderful love of a boy for his Oscar fish. These blogs like most children's blogs were between 3-5 sentences except for Lisa's blog which covered a whole page and most of the page was on Australia's Idol. I also got to comment on the Anti Aircraft guns on the USS Alabama and this picture that was done was very beautiful and at the same time somber.
The first two children in my summary are as follows: Colin told us a mysterious story in a mysterious voice and he done a very good job. The second was a story of a girls dream to be a singer and her wanting to participate in Australia's version of American Idol. Friendship also took the time out of her busy day to blog me back ten facts on Australia. The summary of the next three children are: for post number 5 I told my child that I, like him also had two Jack Russel dogs. We are both in very big family's and told him of my 9in long Oscar I had as a child growing up. Number 6 child learned that I liked the Atlanta Braves and that I, like him also loved mozzarella sticks. I also told him pizza with sausage and pepperoni is my favorite food and I am married to my wife of nine years Jess. Child number 7
done hers on the guns of the USS Alabama and hers was very breathtaking. She had the water and the cold steel Grey of the guns contrasting each other and it was beautiful. I told her that she needed to post more pictures of the Alabama if she had them for they were gorgeous. I though it was very nice of this child to want to post a picture of the battleship on her blog for all to see and admire. These were great children I had the chance to comment on and I thank Dr. Strange and the children's school's for giving me this fantastic opportunity to comment on the children's work. Here is the picture of the Alabama guns.

Phillip's EDM310 Teach Someone Video

Picture of My Second True love: The Enterprise D

This is one of the best pictures of the USS Enterprise that I have found.  :-)

Phillips EDM310 Blog Post Numb. 11

This was by far the most enjoyable video I have seen to date. Thanks to Dr. Strange for finding this video and posting it for us to watch. This is the right age for kids to be learning this new technological information. If we can catch children when they are still young (b/t grades k-6) we would have a much better chance of fully integrating our children into this new technological age. I applaud Mrs. Cassidy for introducing blogging, skype, and videos to her children. This is the best way for us to go about getting our children ready for their future.
I believe that if we give our children a chance to work with technology they will run with it places we never could have imagined. This is our new learning environment of the future, so we had better get ready for the change. When I get my classroom I will definitely be using this technology to open my children's eyes to the world around them. Also children's minds are growing very rapidly during these early school years and we as educators must be ready to capitalize on that fact and nudge our children into this new technology. We also cannot have any reservations about what we are doing and must also remember that we are the starting point for our children's future. Not only do they depend on us, but our own futures depend on it.
Video #2
Mrs. Kathys SKYPE interview was very interesting and informative. As I have stated in the past getting kids to this kind of technology is very important at the early developmental years of children. Mrs. Kathy has done that and ran that ball to the goal line. I was very impressed with the video her children made and this shows the love for her children and the way that she teaches them. Her approach to teaching is slow, but gets the children into the technological world of today. Some children may do this at home, but most probably didn't know about blogging, video talking, and twittering until Mrs Kathy showed them.

I would use all the techniques that she has covered. The reason being why would you only teach somebody about half the world? That would not be very smart in today technologically linked world. That would be like going through life with only one side of your body. The only impediments that I noticed with her teaching was the fact that once a week is not nearly enough. These brilliant children should be blogging two or three times a week. The benefits would be great for children using this technology. The computer skills in processing, blogging, and being able to successfully understand and convey feelings and emotions to/from others would give these children a great leg up in the future to come. This would also open up new avenues of information that were previously closed to these students. This will also give students the chance to stay up front on what is going on with their parents,peers, and the world. I am so glad Dr. Strange showed this video and I can only hope he can get more delightful videos such as this one.