This is my final video reflection for ECMP 355 Sping 2012, I used xtranormal for this assignment.  This is the first time using it and it is definitely something I'll use again.  This class has been so helpful and interesting, I'm super glad I took it!!

Today I had the day off and decided to do some catching up on some blogs that I follow.  Of course I read some of my classmates blogs which are always interesting!  After I finished looking at those I decided to look at my favourite educational blog by Jeff Dunn.  I found so many interesting things on there!  I haven't looked in about a week and there is seriously so much I haven't read yet!  This guy is awesome, always posting stuff and none of it is stuff I wouldn't care about.  If you haven't checked it out already, you really really should!  So, the first post I looked at was called The 50 Best Blogs for Future Teachers this post is really good, especially for us teachers who haven't finished out degrees yet!  One of my favourites from this post is a blog called Teach Paperless which the author actually just shut down but you can still look at all the posts written before!  Another one of Jeff's interesting posts is called Considering Using Technology in the Classroom?  Read This First. These are just a couple of his interesting posts, I seriously suggest checking out his blog.  I don't understand how this guy comes up with an interesting post every time he 

So, this tech task is coming in late but here is the second assignment for the DS106 assignments.  This one is about trolling, so I thought it was a pretty neat one to do.  So, what you do for this assignment is choose one famous person for the photo, another similar one for the quote and then a third similar one for the name attached to the quote.  In total all three are different, so fans of any of these three people would end up getting upset.  The trick is, make these three people similar enough that non-fans wouldn't notice!  Can anyone figure out the three people I used?!  It should be pretty easy, I obviously used famous beautiful women from the past.  I thought this was a really fun assignment, something I would do with my class!

For the first project I decided to do something from the writing area because I really enjoy to write.  I actually found this tech task to be awesome because I feel like I can use this website in my own classroom and some of the writing assignments could be used as writing prompts when teaching an English class!
So, I looked through almost all of the choices and I decided on one called Find your Voice.  I decided on this one because it asks you to find blogs that you really enjoy because of the bloggers expression in their blog.  This was actually tougher than I expected.  But I did find a few that I really enjoy.  Another reason I wanted to do this one was because I wanted to look at other blogs that are more personal instead of about education and this seemed like the perfect oppourtunity.  I also want to start my own personal blog and it was neat to see other people and how they found their voice.
So the first blog I found was actually shared by the other person who did this assignment, its called The Bloggess which is seriously funny!  She is so sarcastic and she talks about her everyday life in a way that I would talk to my friends about the crazy things that happen in my life.  It seems like she over reacts and overexaggerates.  Seriously, take a look if you want a laugh!
The next blog I enjoyed is a blog that is pretty much just pictures, it is also pretty funny and good for a laugh.  I chose the blog called Awkward Family Photos, I saw the book a while back and really wanted to get it but decided against it last minute but I always wanted to.  Although this blog doesn't have many words in it but has a theme that really sets it apart from others.  (These photos actually inspired a Christmas style photo my brother and I did and gave it out to family and friends this past year).
Another one I found is one about cupcakes called Cupcakes Take the Cake, I really enjoy making cupcakes and this blog is probably the best blog I've found about cupcakes.  It actually features anatomy styled cupcakes which I could see myself [attempting] to make for my own class.  If you like cupcakes look at this blog!!  The writing is also in a way that you would just talk to your friends which I really enjoy.
I also found some about hair and fitness that are pretty neat.  Through this assignment I found that if there is any topic ever that you want to know more about...do a google search for a blog related to that topic, there will be one.  There are sooo many blogs about everything and I had no idea!  So, I need to find my own voice and theme to start my personal blog. 
Also, how do you get your blog out there so more people know about your blog?

I have decided to read the article called, School Isn't Like a Job by John Scammell.  I read both articles that Dean gave us to choose from but I decided to blog about this one because last semester I did a presentation on retention policies and their effects on students.  This article reminded me of the points I brought up in that presentation.  In this article it talks about giving students a zero on assignments if they haven't completed them, the point that Scammell makes is that school is not like a job, student's are not getting rewarded with money and it just matters if they have learned the material or not.  If not, I don't think its a matter of how low of a grade you should give but more of a question, how do I rework this so this student can get something out of it.  Many people are thinking the opposite, if the student doesn't do the work their grade should reflect it.  I just feel that you should give a student the grade that represents their knowledge of the material and I need to give students the opportunity to show me what they know.  After reading some of the comments I have mixed emotions on the topic, there was one comment in particular by Tom Berriman saying that it teaches students a "why try mentality" when giving them a higher mark if they fail a test.  I do agree but I feel it's more complicated than that.  I don't believe in giving zeros out all the time, but I do feel that if you have given the student multiple opportunities to show you they know the material and they don't deliver I think their grade needs to reflect that.  I really do feel it's a complicated decision that needs to be made different situations.
I feel that giving a zero is more than just a zero, the research I found while doing my presentation last semester showed the negative effects on retaining a student.  This article gives a perspective that I had not thought of before.  Retaining a student has really negative effects on them, including their self esteem, future learning and even drop out rates.  I know it may seem like a zero is just a zero and it's no where near holding a student back but I think it could have some of the same effects.  It may not, it probably depends on the student but I want to try my best to not give a student a zero.  

I just read the article in the Vancouver Sun about the study conducted trying to figure out if coffee drinkers live longer or less than those who do not drink coffee.  This article and study was pretty confusing, it seemed to contradict itself, the study was observational and there were no controls in it.  If you want to get a clear answer you would have to set a control environment where it is the exact same with both coffee drinkers and non coffee drinkers.  There are so many things in peoples lives that may cause them to live longer or not as long such as: unhealthy behaviours (drinking, smoking, not being active), peoples wealth (wealthier people may be able to afford things to prolong their life), stress, illness passed down from family members, etc.  So there is no way to know if coffee is the reason for prolonged living or from a shorter life.  
After reading this article I felt I needed further information on this topic to decide for myself whether I'm buying into this or not.  So, I looked at a Q&A on the Harvard School of Public Health website about the same topic.  From reading this article I concluded that there definitely needs to be more information found on this topic to be conclusive.  In this article they say that coffee has so many different compounds and that leads to diverse health outcomes and it does say that there are some health benefits, such as: protection against type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, liver cancer, and liver cirrhosis. I'm not sure how they came to this conclusion.  It also states in this article that there is no constant, so I have no idea how they are coming to any conclusion..and it seems like in both articles they are on the fence about it.
In my opinion I think if you live a healthy lifestyle you are probably going to live a long and healthy life (assuming you have no other health concerns) and if you want to drink coffee, go ahead..I'm not a coffee drinker and I'm not going to start because a bunch of articles say it might be good for you.

Just to give an update on my google survey, which was What social media tool would you use in your classroom?  These are the total results I have gotten: two edmodo, one facebook, one blog, one wordpress and one twitter.  Its pretty neat, it seems that everyone that answered picked something different.  
The second part of my tech task this week was to explore some of google's more hidden features.  I chose to check out the K-12 Google app.  It is actually pretty awesome!!  You know how teachers love to get free resources?  Yup!  This is such an awesome place to get some lesson plans and ideas, usually I would type in something to google to try to find ideas for a lesson plan and search through tons and tons of different entries until I found something good.  Now I can check the K-12 Google app before searching other sites, these lesson plans are reliable and creative.  I suggest taking a look :)

First I wanted to give an update on my survey, I have gotten three ansers so far and they have been: Edmodo, facebook and a blog.  I think it's pretty cool to see other people's opinions on what social media tools they would use!  I hope I'll get more answers too!
My post today is inspired by something I heard in the class from Session 4, at the beginning it was discussed that bullying is the biggest problem online for kids.  I wanted to offer an awesome video that I learned about in my arts ed class and then used in my pre-internship in March.  You'll find the video at the bottom of thia post.  After we watch the video with the class, we would split the class into groups (one group for each character in the video) then each group would go to the front of the class and "be" the character they were assigned.  The rest of the class would ask that character questions and any one of the students at the front may answer.  If you have a quiet class it's probably a good idea to have some sample questions that the students can ask.  When I took the class we used the websitde digizen and you should check that out.  They have a bunch of stuff about it. 
Here's the video!  Awesome to show to a class

This week we were asked to create a survey on google docs and then embed it onto our blog and I am super proud of myself that I have actually accomplished this!  I wanted to keep my question relevant to what I have been talking about lately, so I decided to ask about social media in the classroom.  Please answer the survey :) I'd love to find out the results!

So, it's been a little while since I've posted anything on here.  I went to Saskatoon for the weekend to visit a friend, I had an awesome time and I'm so happy I went.  The only thing I wish I would have done is spend an extra $30 and get a better hotel.  My hotel was less that what it showed in the pictures online and were probably from a few years ago.  The 'free wifi' didn't really work anywhere in or around the hotel, so that is why I'm just posting on here now.  So, what I had wanted to post about a couple days ago was an addition to the blog I posted last week about social media in the classroom.  I had said I don't think that facebook is a good idea in the classroom, but I did a little research and looked at one post in particular by Jeff Dunn, called 100 (Updated) Ways to Use Facebook in Your Classroom.  I haven't really changed my mind but I have opened my mind a bit, I think it could be a good idea to just make a different facebook profile, for example I would use Miss Hopfauf instead of mine now.  In this aarticle there are a few things that I really think would be some cool things to use in the classroom are:
- connecting with museums and educational places all over the world
- students can poll the public for assignments using facebook
- facebook book club
- using facebook as a journal entry
- having a class group
- reminding your students of important things coming up
- use facebook for giving homework help
...and tons more!  You should take a look at this post, Jeff Dunn has quickly become my favourite blogger on technology in the classroom.