Additional Post # 1

1. Why did you miss the metaphor in Tom Johnson's post, or, if you "hit the nail on the head", why do you think you understood the metaphor and why do you think that others in the class missed the metaphor?
I am a very straight forward type of reader, Sarcasm is not the first thing I look for in a post. In a video, sarcasm is very apparent to me and I can pick up on it in a second. With reading this blog post, it did not jump out at me. I have to read it over and over again. The metaphor, to me, was hidden within the post.

2. What metaphors have you encountered since I asked you to create a log of them?
I come across metaphors on a daily basis. On Pinterest, I saw a perfect example of one. "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly." That is one of my favorites. Also, What a Wonderful Day to be a Cow is a great book full of metaphors. "It's not exactly rocket surgery"and "We'll burn that bridge when we get to it" are just a few that I've heard today.

3. What other things can we do as educators to help our students to understand and to use metaphors?
Most students do not understand the exact definition of a metaphor. A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea. I know that students have all heard of angel hair pasta, or that they would "kill" to own that video game. We use metaphors daily! Maybe students just don't know how to recognize them off the top of their head. I think that if more exercises were done on metaphors, students could strengthen their use of metaphors.

4. Why do we use metaphors?
I think people use metaphors to involve that creative aspect into it. For example, noodles. No one likes to eat plain noodles. We all love alfredo sauce, meatballs, and parmesan cheese on our noodles! That right there is a metaphor. Taboo subjects can be discussed with the use of a metaphor, too. Without metaphors, communication amongst people would be boring, dry and not entertaining in the least.

Blog Post #13

This was one of the hardest assignments that we have had this semester. Basically, my days include having my cell phone, my computer and television all nearby. Without these devices I didn't know what to do at first, then I got productive with my day. Cleaning my dorm room, catching up on some reading from one of myfavorite book series were just a couple of the things that I did, but were not on top of my to do list. I would have done homework but the computer was forbidden. It was nice to just relax for the day and not do anything I didn't want to. I'm not going to lie and say that it was easy, I had to start over a couple of times due to a phone call from my parents and a message from my sorority that was crucial to see at the moment. I had told my friends that I was going to be MIA for the day, and though some of them had forgotten, and called or texted me, they were supportive. It was actually nice to be cut off from the world. Having all of the technology taken away made me appreciate the things in life that I often overlook. For Dr. Baggett's class we were assigned a tree to draw, and there is a beautiful tree right outside of our sorority's house. Since I had no other obligations, I decided to go outside and start sketching that tree. It was a peaceful kind of day and I would have never taken advantage of it had I been inside on facebook, watching television. I will definitely try to incorporate these kind of days into my life more often! When I have my own classroom, I imagine that my students will be even more into technology than today's students. Most of them will know even more than I do! That's scary to think of. Of course I will have technology in my classroom, but there will also be a balance of blogwork and work that involves markers and gluesticks. I believe that balance is key!

C4K #11

I was assigned Jonathan's blog this week, his post was about how to make comet ice cream. I had never heard about this type of ice cream until I read this post. It is basically just ice cream, but you add in crumbled cookies. I told Jonathan that this was such a creative idea and that I would have to try it!

Project 15

Blog Post #12

Watch the video The Future Of Learning and write a one to two paragraph response on how you think classrooms in the future will be centered around. For example, will books still play a huge role or will technology? Will there still be the need to even come to class or will the Internet act as a teacher?

Classrooms in the future could be just as they are now, or they could be more highly developed. No one can tell the future, but if I could, I would say that there is without a doubt in my mind that technology will take over the classrooms. Look how far we have come today. When I was in 3rd grade the closet we got to the Internet was the game Oregan Trail. Schools all over the nation are starting technology with their students earlier and earlier. For example, my cousin in Kindergarten is a whiz on the computer, and thinking back when I was that age, there is no comparison between her abilities and mine. I am excited to see these students so very involved in the technology aspect of school at this time and I can only imagine how much more involved they will be in the future.

Project #14 - Skype Interview

Final Project Progress

Our group has gotten together a couple of times to discuss some ideas for our final project. We have a couple idea up our sleeve but nothing is set in stone yet. Each of us email and every time we do, someone has a new idea that could possibly top the last one. I am really excited how our project pans out, and I'm excited to see how Dr. Strange and our classmates react to it as well.

Part 1 of C4K #10

Mrs. Yollis' classroom blog is very inspiring! Anyone who intends to become an educator of any sort, they should take time to look at all of the effort that is within her blog. There are countless pictures, numerous links that tie into her points, and creative projects for her students. I mean, look at this! Most third grade classrooms do not have a happy birthday video recording planned for that week. Her students are incredibly lucky that she is so enthusiastic about her career! Look how many people are viewing her blog right now. That is truly something to be proud of. After searching throughout her blog, I really got excited about how I am going to incorporate technology like this into my classroom! Prior to viewing her blog, I did not know that it had won several awards. Even if you were not a student on Mrs. Yollis' class, with theis blog, you could still know exactly what goes on in her classroom. This blog is kid friendly and exceptionally useful to any new teacher. Mrs. Yollis' classroom blog is without a doubt one of my favorite blogs to get ideas from. I cannot wait to get started with my own classroom of eager students one day!

For the second part of C4K, I commented on Mrs. Yollis' post on the dog her and her husband babysit for a while. She mentioned that having an animal teaches children responsibility, which I totally agree on. She asked if we had any animals and I said that I had a Teacup Poodle, Fiona. Mrs. Yollis asked if Fiona requires attention from my parents and I, and she does. I said that we didn't really mind because Fiona is part of our family.

C4K #7 #8 & #9

I was assigned Ms. Dorby's classroom for the C4K #7. Her class was to create an animal made up from two existing animals. (ex. and elephant and a mouse...) How creative! I would love for my future class to do something along those lines for a project! I wrote back and said that I would love to see pictures of the student's animal creations. All of the student's descriptions of their new animals were so cute and hilarious to read through!

For C4K #8, Lorenzo's blog had a picture of the Eiffel Tower, and then below it, it has Lorenzo's interpretaion of it. His picture was awesome and he really got the details of the tower included into it! I praised him on his work and said to keep it up!

My next student was Jack, a student who was in a history class that really took advantage of technology. He said that he took this history class by word of mouth basically. This history class was technology based, and he loved every second of it! I loved that he actually enjoyed it! Most students just want to pass the class and get it over with, but Jack truly enjoyed his time there. I wrote to him telling him about how in high school I had some boring classes, and if there had been technology in it I would have loved it more. He was an exceptional writer, too.

Blog Post #11

Ms. Cassidy's class having a blog is a great idea. Even though I wouldn't necessarily think that first graders are ready for the blogging world, she introduces it to her students quite well. She mentions that they are protected and that their parents are fully aware of what their children are doing. She keeps them safe by only posting the child's first name, not their last. Safety on the Internet would be my number one concern as a parent, and I feel like Ms. Cassidy does an excellent job at that. She also mentions that there are pictures but they do not match the student's name. Ms. Cassidy made a point that technology will not ever go away. She is absolutely correct! Even at this young as an age, technology is crucial to these students. She teaches her students to use correct etiquette. Like technology, etiquette is important at a first grader's age. It is never too young to learn. The only thing that would possibly stand in the way of the Internet in my classroom would be keeping the children safe. Ms. Cassidy's tips on safety are exceptional. I know as a first grader, I was so excited on that day that we got to use the computer. So I can only imagine how excited my class will be using it regularly! I will definitely introduce the Internet to my elementary class in the future. Ms. Cassidy has given me some useful fun ideas to introduce to my class!