Teachers Domain

Through the iTunes University I went to the teachers domain and looked under grades K-5 and watched two different podcasts. The first one was called A Night in the Coral Reef. It was very interesting. It was a very short film on fish and a coral reef. I would use it in my class if I was teaching science. I think the students would really enjoy it. It had a lot of pretty colors and interesting fish.

The second podcast i watched was called What is a Planet? This one was a little bit longer and it was, to me, a lot more interesting. It talked about the planets and how they determined what was a planet. I would again use this my science class.

Edible Schoolyard?? Hmm...Sounds Tastey!!

I watched a six minute video on The Edible Schoolyard and it was very interesting. It was about a school by the name of Martin Luther King Junior Middle School in California that literally had an edible schoolyard. HA! First period students would come outside and plant gardens and grow vegetables and other sorts of foods and then use them to cook all kinds of yummy foods! They would cook them during class in the classroom. It was very interesting how well the kids worked together. The person who started this was a lady by the name of Alice Waters and she did this to serve the kids better food in the lunch room and it just became this thing where the kids took it over and it became a class. The teachers integrate all subjects into this class from math to science. The kids love it, they have fun and learn at the same time. It also teaches them how to work together. It would be nice if I could do something like this in my classroom when I begin to teach but that is wishful thinking!

A I watched a video called A Night in the Global Village. It was about a group of students who took a field trip with their teachers to this village at the Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas. They were trading one night as an American for one night of the less fortunate of the world. They were divided up into groups and some stayed in refugee camps, while others where in Thailand homes ...etc. It was very interesting to watch the students try to get through the night and cook their food. The next morning when they woke up they were very excited and ready to talk about everything they had experienced. I really liked this video!

Listening to Different Podcasts

I listened to four different podcasts and they were all very interesting. Some were good where other were very boring. The first podcast I listened to was the SmartBoard Lessons Podcast. There were two people who hosted the show; Ben Hazzard and Joan Badger. It worked well for them. At the beginning of the podcast they introduced themselves and the topic they would be discussing. There would be music at various times during the podcast which made it enjoyable. There was never a time where I could remember that there was a period of silence. They also brought in special guest that would talk during the podcast. I really enjoyed listening to their podcast!

The second podcast I listened to was the KidCast. There was one host named Dan Schmit. The podcast didn't have any music, at least the few I listened to didn't! Being there was only one host, I think it might have been hard for Dan to find words to fit the time. It seemed really boring at times. I am assuming that this pidcast is for teachers only because in one of his podcasts he talks about "99 bottles of beer on the wall" and I would not fit that appropriate for children. Which brings me to my next point...why would he call it "KidCast"? Why not call it TeacherCast? Who knows! I really didn't care to much for this particular series of podcasts.

The third podcast I listend to was the MacBreak Weekly. There were four hosts. There names are Leo Laporte, Merlin Mann, Scott Bourne, and Alex Lindsay. They seemed to work real well together, always finding something to say. One person would say something and then another person would find something to say off what the first person said. Never a silent moment. There was music in various moments. Anytime someone said something funny they would play funny noises in the backgrounds. It seemed more like a morning show on the radio, nothing for kids. I really enjoyed listening to it.

The fourth and final podcast I listened to was This Week in Photography. The hosts were Scott Bourne and Alex Linsday who are also hosts on the MacBreak Weekly. I didn't really care too much for this series of podcasts. There was music in the background. They did bring in special guests during some of the podcasts. The series focuses on gadgets so most of the podcasts talks about photography. I'm not really into photography, but if you like taking pictures, then this would be really interesting to you.

Randy Pausch

I really enjoyed watching this video. It was very inspirational. I loved how he achieved most of his childhood dreams. Wanting to be at zero gravity and then finally getting through all obstacles to get there was great!

Then I loved how he tried and tried to be a Disney Imagineer and finally he got to work with the Disney team on the Aladdin project. Wow, looking back on that he must have been very proud of himself. Being a part of the Disney team and getting to work with some of the most talented people in the world must have been something really special.

I really liked how he taught his classes. He would keep telling them, " I know you can do better!", and sure enough they would! His classes would built virtual worlds and it got to be such a big deal that they would set up events for this where family and friends could attend to watch and see the projects.

I would defiantly recommend everyone watching this, just as a inspirational video. All kids should follow their dreams no matter how big or how small they are. Our dreams are what gives us hope and without hope what are we living for?