Fun Times

I have to admit when I first started this class, I was a little angry that I had to actually take it. I was supposed to graduate, but then I was told that I needed 3 more credits, even though I did not need this particular class. I could have taken another elective, but I decided to go with the computer class instead. It also fit my schedule very nicely with the soccer and everything else that was going on. To be honest, I'm glad that I took the class because I learned more than I thought I would. I thoroughly enjoyed the class and loved the hands on approach...lectures soemtimes get a little boring. Class went pretty fast as well. Lori...your an excellent teacher. I like your enthusiasm and you seem to be on your game every class. Thanks for everything and thanks for those home improvement tips! To everyone else, good luck with everything that you do. Enjoy the summer and relax. Those kids will be around in September...worry about them then!! Well, it is about that time to go. I will see you all tonight!!

Videos galore!!!!!!!

What can I say...it's amazing what you can see and do on the internet. Videos are everywhere, whether it be from video streaming, youtube, teachertube, etc. It seems like you can get anything and everything from the internet. I feel like that our society truly loves to see others do something...anything. Maybe that is why there are so many reality TV shows now. If used right, these videos would be very helpful for a student. As a history teacher, story telling is fine, but visuals are so much better. I am really going to explore these options more. It seems to be really helpful and a little more exciting.

Feeling pretty good...

I just handed in the final project and I am feeling pretty good about it. I have a lot on my plate and finishing these classes has definitely freed up some time for myself to do some other things. Actually, its about time I finshed this master's program...I started a long time ago and stopped when I got my teacher's certification. It was tough to come back, but it is well worth it and needed to be done. Anyway, looking forward to the summer now!!

Mygradebook.com v Excel

To me, there really is no comparison between Mygradebook.com and Excel when working on grades. I feel that Mygradebook.com provides so much more to the teacher (though more work at times), the student, the parent, and yes, the administration. So what does this website actually provide? For the teacher, you are able to to input and access every student's grade through the internet. You can print out reports and summaries on the class as well as the individual student. There is also a place where the teacher can access the student's parents by phone number and email as long as you input the information. The teacher can also access the rank of the student within the class. This can also be given to the student if the teacher allows this. Grading sheets, final grade calculations, and attendance is also provided. Finally, it provides a calendar to everyone when assignments are due. This will help students who are sick or on an extended vacation.
For parents and students, this website provides the student's grades, what is missed, and what is to come. It is a great site for parents and students because the access is always there (as long as the teacher continues to keep up with it). The site is also very private. Each student is given a password that he or she has access to. It is just a good way for parents and students to see how well they are doing without constant contact with the teacher.
Administration can also gain access to this site to see grades of particular students. Within my school, it is very important to see how well the seniors are doing for graduation. Seniors who are in trouble can be targeted and given the extra help to get them through.
When I look at Excel, it just seems that you can calculate grades and print out a report. There is no privacy, there is no student and parent access, and to be honest, it seems a little "ancient" compared to the Mygradebook.com. Maybe I am not too familar with everything on Excel, but the other site seems to be better allows more to be done.
On a personal note, I truly believe that Mygradebook.com is a great site and very useful. The only problem I see with this site is that, at times, it is time consuming. If the teacher does not update the site daily, work will pile up and it will pile up rather quickly. It also seems to be more useful for grade school and middle school students. Most high students, as well as their parents, do not use it at all. Out of my 125 students, about 3 or 4 of them actually used the site. Maybe 1 to 2 of them used it on a regular basis. With that ratio, the site seems to be a waste. As long as it is used and looked at by the students and parents and actually kept up by the teacher, Mygradebook.com can be very useful.

Finals

So I gave my first final today. I only got the scantron portion of the test corrected. Some were pretty bad while others were really good. I just started reading the short answers and essays. It takes me so long to read all of them. The first one that I read was completely made up. I felt like the student was asleep the whole year...maybe he really was!! Oh well, you have to take the good with the bad I guess. Hopefully I can get these essays done quickly.

Just Blogging...

Well, its been a little bit hectic the past couple of days. I got a lot done. I finished the two projects that are due this week and got all of my finals copied. Yes, the dreaded high school finals will be given this week. Though it is an easy week, I hate grading them...especially the essays!! It just takes a long time to do and some of them are so hard to read. I also had a long weekend of coaching (7 soccer games in total). I coached my U-15s, helped the U-17s, and saw my U-18s play their last game. Though I am happy that the season finally game to an end, I am a little sad to see my U-18s go. I had most of them since they were 10 and now they are off to college. I almost feel like they are my kids, but it is nice to know that many of them will be playing at the next level. Well, before I continue to babble even more, I have to get going. See you all in class!!

Webquests

I really like these webquests. There seems to be a tremendous amount of work involved in creating one of these. I really like the webquests that are made for the smaller kids, but since I am a high school teacher, I might as well do something in my field. I did see something on the 1920s that was really cool and seems that a lot of time was spent on it. I actually do something similar to the webquest, but it is in paper-form. I would consider using these for future lessons if it works out. Besides, my students love to work on the computers in the media center.

Why are Weddings........

Can I ask you all something....why are weddings so expensive? Why are rings so expensive? Why are weddings so stressful? I am a guy and I am finding that the last few months have been pretty hectic. Just a few questions for you all.

New Technology

I have been learning a lot of new things the past couple of weeks and I have to say that I loved the animoto site. It seemed so simple to create a small movie...I just wished that I knew the music before hand. I also liked the sites that you can make games and puzzles...most of my students love this stuff. There is so much out there that I never knew existed. It is tough to soak it all in, but I am hoping to use some these sites for the future. I just spent some time reading about LibraryThing and I think a lot of my kids...at least the readers...would love this site. You can actually talk to people about anything that you are reading. It's a giant book club. I am not such a huge reader (and I am a history teacher!!), but I am a big movie fan. Is there a MovieThing??? I would probably look into that.

Mowing a lawn

I mowed my own lawn for the first time today. I was actually excited about it. I always felt that once I mowed my own lawn, I would truly feel that I owned a house. It's pretty crazy to feel a sense of accomplishment just by mowing a lawn. By the way, has anyone taken down wallpaper? If you have, I would say that it is the worst job imaginable. Just getting the clue off is a chore. There's just too much work to do!!! At this point, I just want to get enough done to move in....hopefully in a few weeks!

Thinkfinity

I wanted to comment about this website, but did not get the chance to earlier. I must say that this is definitely a great site to use. There is a lot of material and I am planning on using this at some point the next school year. I am wrapping things up at this point and getting ready for finals. It gets a little hectic, so maybe next year I will use this site. It is worth it. Anyway, time for class!!!!

RSS and Newsreaders

I was taking a look at RSS and thought that it was pretty cool. I am trying to read through all of this, but sometimes I do not have the time to truly get into everything. From what I read, it seemed to be ok. I like to be able to get into the websites that I want to get to without all of the adds and pop-ups. That I like...but I need to spend more time trying this all out. By the way, I have been looking at everyone's blogs and they are looking pretty good. I need to add soe pictures to mine...maybe next class.

Long Weekend

Well, I hope everyone had a great weekend. The weather was good. I spent a lot of my time working on my house. I am sorry if I talk about it a lot, but its pretty exciting for me. It's the first time I ever did this and I am starting to realize how much work I have to do. All weekend, I painted, cleaned, mowed, transported furniture (free furniture which is a great thing), and ripped up smelly carpet. I didn't mind the carpet so much, but I hated pulling out the staples. I have so many projects that I want to do and NEED to do...I wish I could just snap my fingers and they would be done. I got a lot accomplished, but it was pretty tiring. Like I said, I didn't realize how much goes into a house and with the one I bought, there's a lot to be done. Anyway, I hope everyone had a great weekend and relaxed a little. See you all tomorrow night!!!!

Technology Integration

Well, I have been trying to look up some articles about Technology Integration and I have found a lot....however, I am having a hard time getting the full articles. I am able to get the Abstracts of everything, but that's about it. I did print an article up, but it's a shame that you have to subscribe to everything to basically read an article. I did find a pretty cool web site that deals with technology integration and different lessons. I will share the site tonight if anyone is interested. I also recently found out that my school has an eboard with a ton of educational tools and technology. I guess you learn something new every day!!!

One project down, five more to go

I just wrote my paper on online safety. Some of the info I read was interesting. To be honest, I understand that we should be careful with our kids, but to introduce age limits and laws to MySpace users and other communication devices is a little much. There will always be bad people in this world...no matter what laws are put on the books. Education and parental monitoring is the key to providing a safe environment for our students using the internet. I know it easier said than done, but we tend to teach our children about everything else...why not internet safety as well? If our technology continues to advance, then maybe our education and parental monitoring should increase. When it is all said and done, I just hope that our youth will use the interet properly and not get into siutations that may be dangerouse to them. It's just my opinion. Anyway, I am glad I got this done.

Comparing Schools

I just learned how to use a site to see how good your school is compared to other schools in the state of NJ. I love this. I just recently bought a house in Berkeley Heights (thank God for the way the real estate market is today) and now I can to see how good the schools are there. I heard that the schools are pretty good, but now I can see the numbers. Defintely good to know!!

Flickr

I am checking out some of these photos on flickr and they are pretty amazing. I especially like the pictures dealing with nature and landscapes. I am actually wondering if there is a way to get some of these pictures into my Zune. I basically just use this for music, but I know that I can somehow get pictures on it and movies. I just need to find more time to really check all this out.

Back on!!

Well, after that short "do not allow this guy to write anymore blogs because he might be spam" nonsense, I am able to get back on the air. I actually felt like I did something wrong...like I was some sort of shady character. Anyway, I am back on now and I am just trying to think of things to write about. See you all tonight!!

Blogging

Well, I am pretty happy that I was able to access this site, but I realized that I spelled "computer" wrong in my last blog. That's pretty bad. Anyway, just wanted to see if I could do this from home.

Compter illiterate

I am finally taking my last class for my Masters program at St. Peter's College. My last class is Computers in the Curriculum and I am realizing how bad I am at computer technology. Of course, I can search topics on the internet and do email, but I am pretty bad after that. I guess you don't realize how much is out there when you don't actually use it. Anyway, I hope this class will shed some light into my technology world. God knows I need it.

Well...I did learn something new. I learned how to blog for the first time...pretty cool!!