The End is Near

Wow can you believe it, we are almost done with this semester. Myself, I am almost done with my CTER career. I can't believe how fast time goes by when you are busy with work, school, and family.

I have probably learned more in this class then any class I have taken so far. I am excited by all the new technologies I have tried and I plan to use many of them in my classes in the future.

Good luck to all on our upcoming final projects. Let's enjoy the last week and a half and then the rest of the year!!

Melanie

Student Lead Discussions Part 2

Last nights discussions were great again! I really enjoyed listening to everyone talk these last two weeks about something they are pationate about. I think we have all come a long way since the beginning of the CTER program and all are taking away vast amounts of knowledge.

Thanks to all the instructors and classmates who have contirbuted to my ever expanding base of knowledge. I really appreciate it. I am excited about what the future holds for me and for my upcoming students. I hope to be a better teacher because of everything I have learned from this program.

I have had the best instructors and the best classmates that anyone could ask for.

Melanie

Student Lead Discussions

I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed all my classmates topics of discussion last night. I am very excited to do mine next week. After hearing many of you talk about using your webquests in class I am eager to use mine next semeter and see how it works. I plan to do it as a class project.

I am also very excited to show my students my instructional video and I might even have them work in groups to create a math related instructional video and present it to the class. I think they would really enjoy this and get a good deal out of the project.

I will discuss more of my plans for my future classes next week and look forward to hearing some input from my classmates. I believe if we want to be successful teachers in the future we need to adapt to our changing world and our changing students. To me this means using the things that they are intrigued by to engage them in their classes. I think the teachers who are able to accomplish this will be more successful then those who do not even try.

Only two more weeks until Thanksgiving!! I love turkey day!

All the things I have learned!!

I can't believe my CTER career is almost over. I have learned so much the last two years it is unbelievable! The current class I am in has been by far one of the best classes. I have learned so many things about instructional technologies, I can't wait to try some of this in my classroom.

I am planning to use my webquest next semester in one of my algebra classes. I also plan to use a blog as a communication tool with my classes. I will post daily and include announcements, class assignments and upcoming class events and projects. I think this will be a great way to communicate with my class since they don't need anything but the URL!!

I think I will also share with my classes some of my other projects so they can see the great use of technology for educational purposes. I am excited to start next semester and implement alot of what I have learned. I think the future of education HAS to include the use of technology. We have to be able to comunicate with todays generation and technology is the way to do that. I still believe that many traditional methods of teaching are wonderful, but I think now is the time to add to them.

I have enjoyed this class so much!!

Melanie's Instructional Video

I hope you all enjoy!!

Melanie's Digital Story!!

I hope you all enjoy!!

How time flies!!

Wow, where did the month of September go, and look it is already the middle of October. This semester is just flying by, in no time it will be December and I will be finished with the CTER program. I am excited and sad at the same time. I am excited because I will finish an advanced degree and better myself as an instructor. I am sad because I have really gotten to know many of my fellow CTER classmates and I will miss taking classes with them.

I am really having fun with our current assignment, the digital story, it is fun to work with new technologies and learn how to use them. I really like this asignment because I get to share my life with all my class mates who may not know me outside of our classes. Everyone will get to see other sides of me.

I am starting to get nervous about the instructional video and the final project. I hope they go well. I am looking forward to them, just wondering how on earth I am going to make it through the rest of the semester.

On a happy note, my brother in law just got back from his second tour of duty in Iraq. He is currently in Oklahoma and we will all get to see him on Saturday at their welcome home ceremony in Wichita Kansas. Everyone is excited. We haven't seen him since last Christmas. I know my nephew has missed his daddy, it will be a very emotional homecoming.

That's all for now.

What a Busy Month!!

Wow, the month of September has come and gone. This year has flown by!! The last few weeks have been busy ones, at work, at home, and with my classes.

I believe now that I truely am crazy and like to torture my self. Here is a quick peek into my life.

I am taking two classes from UIUC right now. I only needed one to finish my degree, but I really wanted to take a statistics course also so I went ahead and took both. They are really keeping me busy.

At work I am teaching 19 hours, 15 is a full load, two of them I have never taught before. Am I crazy, yes I believe so!!

At home, I have a 3 year old who always wants me to play with him, and a baby who is almost 9 months old and gets into everything!! Needless to say, by the end of the day I am so tired I simply fall into bad and pass out!!

I just keep telling myself that by Decemeber, it will all be over and I will be a better person because of it!!

Until later -- Melanie

Melanie's E-Portfolio

Here is a link to my e-portfolio.

Melanie's Portfolio

Enjoy!

Blogs of Fellow Math Teachers

Here are some blogs of my fellow math teachers in the CTER program.

If I missed anyone, let me know and I will add you.

Trish: http://teachertrish.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/hello-world/

Rita: http://rgrunloh.wordpress.com/2008/09/05/use-of-wikis-in-education/

Melinda: http://mrshaf.blogspot.com/2008/08/about-me.html

Rebecca: http://rmhfoley.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/about-me/

Class Week 2

Wow, what a busy week this has been with work and the classes I am taking. I can't believe we are already into Septemeber. This year seems like it has flown by. I guess that's what happens when you have a baby in January. It is hard for me to believe he is already 8 months old and my oldest son is 3. Wow how time flies.

This week I have been very busy working on my E-Portfolio. It has really been a fun experience. I had not done anything with my E-Portfolio since I started the CTER program, truthfully I was afraid!! I had such a hard time with this exercise in our orientation activities. However, now I feel differently. Since I didn't really like the portfolio I had created a year and a half ago I decide to start fresh. I asked our technology instructor what software she recommended and she said Macromedia Dreamweaver was great. I downloaded it onto my computer at work and began exploring. It is very easy to use!!

I hope my portfolio is what Vanna is looking for, but if not, I can make changes in the future. I want my portfolio to remain on our school website so incoming students and their parents can review my credentials. I think all our faculty should have one!!

I was showing my portfolio to one of my colleagues and she said she would love to learn how to do things like this and told me I should head up a session at one of our inservices since this is useful professional development tool!! I was excited!! That would be really fun.

I other news, I am also taking a Statistics class this semester through Math Teacher Link and I turned in my first assignment. Only 7 more to go!! Some days I think I might have a breakdown with all my class work and all my work for my job and my life at home. Then I stop and think that it will all be over in December and it will all be well worth it!! Yeah!!

Until later.

Intorduction of Myself

Hi everyone. After last nights class Vanna asked that we post an introduction on our blogs, so here you go.

My name is Melanie Smith and I am from Garnett Kansas. I grew up here, graduated from high school here, moved away for college, and then moved back about 2 years ago. I have an Associates Degree from Allen County Community College in Iola Kansas, which also happens to be the place of my employment. I have a Bachelor's Degree from Emporia State University in Emporia Kansas as well as several graduate hours in Mathematics. My goal is by the end of this semester to have my Master's Degree from UIUC!! (If all goes well!!)

As I mentioned I am employed at ACCC as a Mathematics instructor. I teach everything from Elementary Algebra to Calculus III!! I love my job, I couldn't imagine doing anything else. I also love the college I work for, everyone there is great to work with.

On a personal note, I have been married for almost 4 years. My husband is great. I have two wonderful little boys. My oldest, Addison, is 3 and my youngest, Aleck, is 7 months. I also have 3 dogs and a cat. We have a busy house.

I am looking forward to this semester. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!! I hope everyone has a great semester and I look forward to working with everyone.

A Vision of Students Today

I think this youtube video created by the student's at Kansas State University (My Home State!!) sums up alot about what learning is like today and what the future may hold.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o

It's a really cool video for those who haven't seen it.

What can we expect in the future?

When I think about what learning was like when I grew up and what learning is like today I am amazed at how the times have changed. I don't feel that the curricumlum has changed dramatically, but the way we learn the curriculum certainly has.

24 years ago when I began my career as a student there was not even a computer in the classroom. I don't recall any computers in the school, maybe the principal or front office staff may have used one, but not that I can recall. My first real memory of a computer in our classroom was when I was in 4th or 5th grade and we were allowed to play games on it as a reward for good behavior. Now at many schools when you walk into a grade school classroom there are many computers present. They are used to enhance childrens' skills in many different subject areas. They are used as a "hybrid" to traditional instruction where the teacher lectures, but the students complete their assignments electronically. This delivery method was not possible 20 years ago, probably not even "invented". Most people probably never imagined that todays' children could use computers to learn.

20 years ago students were taught by a teacher in the front of a classroom. Today students can be taught via satellite by a teacher 100 miles away!! They can be taught over the internet using a web cam by a teacher in another country!! With all the capabilities we have today we should expect to see more and more college graduates receiving high paying jobs as young adults, but are we? Is all the technology that we have available today really helping our students learn more effectively or is it hindering their capabilities as human beings? Only time will tell.

What does the future hold for todays' students? I think the future is wide open. It is up to the student to make good use out of what they are learning. It is up to them to take the knowledge they gain through the uses of technology in education and apply it to their own futures. I think the future of learning and education is wide open and there will probably be many advances in technology and methods of instruction in the next 20 years that we can't even imagine.

My hope for the future of learning is that teachers will still be needed. I hope that it is still in the best interest of students to have a physical being on hand to put knowledge into their minds. However, when you can get all the information you need from a "connected" computer is a college degree really going to be that apealling to an employer? Who knows? The future is wide open!