video podcast

itunesU: Teachers Domain : WBGH: Grades 6-8: solar eclipses and total solar eclipse animation videos.

I just finished watching the solar eclipse videos on ituneU. As a future teacher these videos are great for showing in class. The eclipse videos explain that because our moon is 400x smaller than the sun and that the moon is 400x farther from the sun it cast a shadow on the earth when the moon lines up between the sun and the Earth perfectly. The shadow that it cast only falls on a particular area and it only happens for a short period of time.

These videos are particully helpfull for a teacher to be able to visually explain what a solar eclipse is and for the student to understand how they work. The ones that i viewed were on a 6-8th grade level so that students at that age would easily be able to understand what was being shown to them

This video cast is an great tool to be able to use in the class room and explore things without having to check out a video and get the TV system rolled into the class room. Now you can pull it up on the internet or itunesU and let the class view it!

learning something new

today I watched the movie in itunesU entitled A night in the Global village. I watched as these young teens went out on this large farm that used to teach the kids about what other countries are like and how language barriers can be such a problem. The biggest thing though is that in our society today we do have to struggle as much for the things that we need. It shows these kids that not everyone is as privileged as we are. Nothing compares to actually experiencing what 3rd world countries are like, but if you can not experience it then this place is close to it. The heifer farms also raises cattle to send to foreign countries. Cattle and other animals are staples of like to those people.

I also watched The Edible Schoolyard. This was amazing. The art of gardening is being lost now that supermarkets provide so much that people don't have time to farm and grow. they grow their gardens and then they take these foods and they make things in the kitchen with them. They have to actually plant and build it themselves. These were middle schoolers who were doing this and they were so proud of what they had accomplished at the end of the semester. What these kids were learning was what families used to teach generation after generation to their children but now our society is slowing leaving that behind.

As a teacher i would love for students to be this hands on. To see what is like and experience the need for adequate shelter. The idea of not knowing if food will be readily available tomorrow. To put themselves in someone elses shoes. Growing and harvesting and working for you need.
these podcast are an excellent source for teachers to pull up in the classroom and show kids. They can learn from watching but experiencing hands on would change the way they think about how that salad got on the table for supper.

visited a few podcast

first i listened to Smart Board Lessons Podcast #146 on itunes. I found that they told how to use different ideas in the classroom. The talked about making word clouds in the classrooms. These word clouds use one word and you make that word bigger and emphasize it. students learn how the work off of that word. They tackle a problem on each podcast and address how to help the kids.
next i listened to KidCast, their podcast it was #56 about questions make the world go round was about making some podcast based on some observation done in a study.They asked many questions to Dan (podcast leader) and was answering so that they could set up their own podcast and how to develop a podcast. EdTechtalk is another podcast that i browsed by, This was Teachers Teaching Teachers #123.This site has more than one person talking and they are teachers who are helping other teachers with in classroom ideas. Each teacher has groups in their rooms and they are pod casting on how to do things in their classroom. The photography teacher is on there talking about how her students use their photos in class and the ceramics teacher tells how she uses blogs in her classroom . They also set up some web pages together to be used in the classrooms.
I'm learning so far that podcast are more like a radio show. These people are just having a one way conversation to get out some piece of information. Or if there are two or more people they just converse about a piece of information and they try to share their knowledge with others. So next week when I try to pod cast lets hope it turns out half as good as some of these.

Randy Pausch some lessons learned

Where are the words to express how this man is still changing others lives? I sat here quite grateful to have learned something from him. His choose to discuss some of his childhood dreams in that presentation and I sat in thought after hearing that, maybe when we come up with our childhood dreams it is then that we truly know what it is we want. When then world is simple and there is no one to say "you can't do that". Randy Pausch took his dreams and made them come true and inspired others to do the same.
His techniques in teaching, made teaching fun. He taught a virtual reality course that taught students from departments all across the academia spreadsheet. It allowed the 50 students to work in small groups creating worlds. He taught them to work in these groups with a dependency on each other that made them bond. He used no books in his classes. These courses were strictly taught with a series of projects. He said he was never a fan of academia himself he liked fun. He made learning fun. It was so much fun that the classes were showing these virtual reality words in an open classroom and people were lining up to get in to see them.
He didn't say life was easy, he talk about the brick walls that you will face in life. Those walls are put there to keep the people who don't want it bad enough out. If you want it bad enough you will figure out how to get around or over those walls.
He emasized fun, learning is fun. Life should be fun other wise what is the point? He believed in karma and doing good and in his way of inspiring others to do good. When a person is that positive about life even though the future is grim it really makes me sit down and say what do I have that is so big compared to that to gripe about. I am truly blessed. He has taught so many students through these courses over the years and i can imagine each one has carried on is some way touched by the time he put in with them. I was touched to have just listened to it.

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