final blog!

So when we first were told we had to blog I was a little annoyed. I didn't really want to share my life with anyone on the internet. After actually doing it though I realized that I enjoy it. I may even keep up with following other blogs! It is such a good way to communicate with other teachers and see what other classes are doing. I really enjoyed looking at things that teachers are doing to adapt to this century and the ever changing technology!

teachers and blogs

When first hearing about Kathy Cassidy's blog, where she puts her students in videos on it, I was a little concerned. After reading it the past few weeks I have realized how cool it really is. I like the fact that her class is able to communicate and do things with other schools and classes all over the United States and even the World. I would enjoy to do something like this with my students when I become a teacher! I just wonder how the parents feel with their children being on the internet for all to see. I think its a good idea and all, but I dont want the world watching my child. Its sad but there are some creeps out there...

popcorn and cell phones :(

so i'm a little upset that this fun technology video is not true, as you can see by my last weeks post, ellen gave me some websites to look at... the videos she posted show how the cell phone popcorn popping trick is not true. I don't know if I really thought it was true or just that I wanted it to be true, but now that i know it doesn't really work i'm sad. on the other side though, i am kinda glad because if the radio waves can pop popcorn what is it doing to my brain?!?!

popcorn and cell phones!!

so one of my friends sent me this video of a group of people using their cell phones to pop popcorn. It looked like it works though. I actually want to try it! here is the link:

http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/portable/video/x5odhh_pop-corn-telephone-portable-microon_news

It kinda freaks me out though if it is true, that your cell phone waves can pop popcorn. It scares me that if it can pop a corn kernel what is it doing to my brain?!!?!

We should try it out in class next week!!

school uniforms

so i was reading one of the blogs i was following today and the teacher that writes it was talking about school uniforms in a public school. I must say that from a parents point of view, it is the easiest thing to not have to worry about dressing your child in the morning, but from a students point of view there are many pros and cons. I think it would be great to wake up in the morning and not have to worry about that i am going to wear. at the same time, i can see a lot of students annoyed at the fact that they cant express themselves the way they wanted to.. I dont know how i would feel in a school if i, as a teacher, would be ok with wearing a uniform to school everyday.

a whole new mind

so before reading Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind I was not too excited. It didn't really look like a good book, however after reading it I realized I was 100% wrong. This was a really interesting book and something I could definitely incorporate into my teaching. I loved the section on the different senses, and how at the end of his explanation of each he gave a list of website links to go to that had to do with each sense. I though it made the book a little more interactive and fun. I am glad I gave the book a chance and I am excited to visit more of the websites, especially the games!!

Spring Break

so i know i havent written in a long time but i have a good reason!! technology hated me over spring break. my macbook broke so i brought it to IT. turns out my hard drive broke, and none of my information could be taken off it. so i lost EVERYTHING. my pictures, itunes, word documents, everything is gone. so i had to wait like a week for them to get the parts in and then fix it. When i got it back i put leopard on it since i had no system what so ever, which is kinda cool. I guess im kinda happy but kinda annoyed at the same time with the whole situation. I have a fast "new" computer now, but i lost all my info. from now on im going to make sure i back up all of my docs. hopefully this doesnt happen again!!!

so today i was waiting for class to start and there was a kid across from me reading a news paper. I decided to be a creep and read (or attempt to read) the opposite side of his paper that was facing me. I could only see the headline cause my eyes aren't great, but it said something about how librarians in schools were incorporating technology into their teaching. I thought that was really cool and i tried to read it but i just looked like a creep. I think that is a great thing that they are being able to use laptops and other technology in other subjects. Looking at this article made me think of a program my high school just started. Each year the freshman would receive new laptops but only some would really get to put them to use. A group of students would be part of a class that lasted four hours. Each hour a new teacher would come in and teach the basics, math, science, social studies and language arts. They wouldn't actually teach however. The students were given all the information they needed on their computer, the teacher would just be there to explain anything if they had questions. I don't think it was a good program at all for many reasons. First of all, teachers are there to teach, and by putting everything on the internet and then never actually teaching it in class is doing nothing. The students are expected to teach everything to themselves. I understand this could be good for older students, say seniors, to prepare them for college, but not students just entering high school. Im not sure if they still are using this system, but it would be interesting to go back and see if they do and see how its working.

finding other blogs!

So I was searching through the other people in my classes blogs and on Ashley's I saw that she was following a blog by a teacher named Mrs. Cassidy. She is a first grade teacher who blogs about what her class is doing and has a blog for each of her students. I love the idea of blogging 

about her class and the things her students are learning, but I am nervous with her students blogging themselves. I think by putting her students' videos on youtube and putting their videos on her blog is not a good idea. There are many messed up people in our world which is so sad, but i think it is unsafe for her students. SHe probably takes steps to insure the safety of her students, but it still makes me nervous. 

I do like though how her blog can give parents a way to see what the class is doing every day with out really being there. This is definitely something i would do in my classroom as a teacher!

my technology problems this week :/

So, this week firstclass has made all its users change their passwords, which i was very angry about. I know it is silly and probably for the best that i change it, but its just annoying because my passwords are pretty much almost the same for everything. my other technology fun of the week was passing in my portfolio for the teacher candidacy yesterday. I dont know how long it will take until i find out but hopefully it is soon. other then that i have been technologically ok for the week so far. who knows though its only tuesday :/

about me

My name is Lizzy Cohen and I am an elementary education major with a concentration in disability studies and a minor in communication, sciences, and disorders. I don't really know what I want to do from that so Im attempting to figure it out. I am from New Jersey, about 15 minutes from New York City, which is great! When I am home I spend all of my time in the city. I love seeing plays, going out to eat, and shopping. I came to Maine because I was ready for a change from the city life, and I sure got it! I am a proud sister of Chi Omega. We are a sorority on campus and I love it. I know everyone thinks sororities are stupid but we actually do a lot of things that impact the community. We raise money for the Make-A-Wish foundation of Maine and we have been doing it for over 5 years. I think thats it about me! any questions just ask :)