Blog Post #16 Final Reflection

Blog Post #5 Part 2

My Personal Learning Network has grown so much since I first started this class. When I first started I have never heard of a PLN. Now I have started my own little PLN. Most of my PLN consists of other Elementary Education major students at the University of South Alabama. This is so we can discuss about what is going on in are classes and certain situations that have came up. I also have a few teachers in my PLN that I gained this year from doing some in school tutoring. It is great to be able to ask people questions to teachers that have experienced some of the questions I have. Even if they don't have an answer we discuss it and come up with a good solution. I can't wait to see how much my PLN grows over the years. I hope I can even teach some people about what a PLN is.

C4T #4 Summary

The teacher I chose is Becky Goerend and her blog is called Live the Conversation.

The first post she wrote is called Reflections on my first year as an elective teacher. She was getting exhausted teaching elementary school so she switched and became an elective teacher. The main difference between the two was she got really attached to the students she had all year long where she seen 300 students every 2 days being an elective teacher. Even as an elective teacher though she still had a big impact on the students and they looked up to her. I think it is good to switch jobs after a few years that way you are not always doing the same thing year after year. It sounds like Mrs. Goerend is a great teacher if so many kids look up to her.

The second post she wrote is called Thoughts on Wikipedia. Her insight on Wikipedia was to let her students research it. She says it may be your best source of information. Yes Wikipedia is a site with information that changes but usually that is with updated information. Wikipedia is a sight that has other resources in its footnotes section so you can see where the information comes from. I wish when I was in school we could have used Wikipedia as long as we could have provided other sources as well to prove that it is right. I'm glad that some teachers are open to it though like Mrs. Goerend.

C4K November Summary

My first kid was Breena who is in Mr. Wigmore's 14/15 class. She wrote a blog called my weekend... and she told all about the fun things she did. They included riding her bike, swimming, eating at the food court, and dancing with her sister. Her weekend seemed very fun and eventful.

My second kid was Ayleen who is in Mrs. Mena's 5th grade class. She wrote a blog called Me and My and Dad Different and the same. The things that make Ayleen and her dad the same are they both are neat, they both like to draw, lions, the San Diego Chargers, color, cake, and projects. The things that make Ayleen and her dad different are their gender, her dad knows a lot more about math, and she likes more animals than him. I think it is sweet that Ayleen wants to write a blog about her and her dad.

My third kid was Grace K. who is in Ms. DeBuhr's 6th grade class. She wrote a blog called 1st Quarter Review. In her blog she mentioned how she feels like her school is her second Family. I think it is great she can feel this close to people. She also loves to blog which I think is great because a lot of the other kids I have had have not seemed that interested in blogging.

Blog Post #14

Teaching Can Be A Profession 

In Mr. Klein's article the number one thing he thought that needed changing was to professionalize teaching.

The first thing he talked about was there not being good enough academic training for prospective teachers. His solution was to have better teacher programs. I am not very far along with my education classes but I do agree that as a soon to be teacher we do need the best programs as possible to learn from.

The next thing that needed work on was a new approach to recruiting teachers. His solution was not letting everyone that has a teaching degree to become a teacher but only let the top third of graduates become a teacher. I don't agree with this. I think there are already many people with teaching degrees that can not find jobs. I also do not think only the top third of graduates should get a job because just because you are smart and do good in school does not mean you are the best at teaching someone else.

The third thing that Mr. Klein thought was a problem was with how teachers get rewarded. His solution was based on each teachers performance instead of his or her seniority. I agree that teachers should be rewarded on their sole performance of how he or she is teaching each semester instead of what they have done in the past. People can tend to get lazy over time; not saying everyone does.

The next thing that was a problem was how seniority is a distraction in school. His solution was that the least effective teacher should get laid off rather then the ones that are the most recently hired. I agree with this because I think anyone should be fired if they are not doing their job right. Now if the boss has to make budget cuts and everyone is doing a great job then I think there should be a lot of factors considered like what else the teachers do besides just teaching the students.

In conclusion I think this is a great article to read for anyone that is getting a degree in teaching or associated with schools. It will open peoples eyes and their thoughts to change. I think over the years it is more likely that the expectations of teachers will change; hopefully all for the better.

Project #12 Part B

As a group we took are lesson plan on the continents, oceans, cardinal directions, and equator and taught it using the SmartBoard. The project was done by myself, Laura Andrews, and Hunter Tallent.

Blog Post #13

What Did I Leave Out?

Assignment: How can we use Project Based Learning in Math? 

1. Watch PBL Maths Formative Assessment.

2. Watch Math PBL.

3. Write a post and summarize what you learned in each of these videos.

Answer the question in a post that adheres to the standards found in the ACCRS and in Writing A Quality Blog Post.



After watching PBL Maths Formative Assesment I see that it is useful for students to work in groups to try and figure out problems instead of just on their own. It creates great brain storming activities and discussions between the students. In the video the students watched a little video about the game pool and they have to come up with what kinds of math they see. The students then draw a rectangle for the shape of a pool table and start drawing triangles to see where the ball will go once it hits one of the sides. The teacher walks around talking with groups but still letting them come up with the answers themselves as a group.

After watching Math PBL it shows you how creative students can be when they are using math to develop something in a 3D way. The students developed a park that includes a parking lot, a fountain. a water slide, food plaza, a concession stand, a dog park, a gift shop, and more. Everything is very detailed with trees, umbrellas, tables, chairs, and other things like that. The program they are using in Mind Craft. It uses math because you have to use cubes to create things and the cubes are 3 feet long. Giving the dimensions of a block and the dimensions of the area they have to build their park the students can do a math to figure out how much room they have to work with to build everything. I think this is a fun and educational way to teach students about area, feet, perimeter, and other measurements. If you watch all the way to the very end though you can see how this project can get out of hand if not monitored properly.

Blog Post #12

Below is Group 1's presentations on assistive technologies available in the classroom.

Teaching Math to the Blind
By: Ronni Nall



Technologies for Hearing Imparied
By: Laura Andrews




The Mountbatten Brailer
By: Hunter Tallent

C4T #3 Summary

The Blog I was assigned is called The road to learning by Sharon Plante. She is a Teacher/Director of Technology at EHSSouthport.

The first post I commented on was called Connections make learning more impactful #edscape reflection. It was such an inspirational post on all of Sharon's great PPLN's (Personal and Professional Learning Network). She was sharing how before, during, and after teacher conferences they all share with one another what they learned. There were many different networks such as twitter, facebook, instagram, and a few others they use to share all their information on. One thing she said that was very enlighting was that she used to do all these things on her own but now she doesn't have to because that is what she chose. It makes me excited to know one day I will have a great source of PLN's just like she does.

The second post I commented on was called To BYOD or Not To BYOD: that isn't the question. BYOD stands for bring your own device. Sharon shared with us her research on letting students bring their own device to school to use it for group work or to set up for rotations. This is so some school work can be done even if schools don't have the funds to supply devices and it is not mandatory for the students who can't afford it. Schools agreed to it as long as cell phones weren't used. I thought this was a great idea of a way to use technology even if the school could not afford it. It will be interesting to see how this goes in the next few years.

Project #10

Project #14

Lesson Plan Project 

Blog Post #11

What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?

After watching Back to the Future I was shocked to see how many 4th graders did not know simple questions such as their home phone number; the country, city, and state they lived in; and other questions like this. This is something that needs to be worked on with teachers and parents at lower grades. I did like how Ted let his class do hands on activities to help them learn instead of just lecturing. He also has a class blog where all of his students write about everything they learned. I think this is a good idea to see what information the students retained after learning about that particular curriculum.

After watching Blended Learning Cycle I learned about the blended learning cycle and what it is. This is when the 5 E's which are engage, explore, experiment, explain, and evaluate are combined with the ways of learning which are online, mobile, and classroom. It is so important to get the kids hooked on something and then let them go through the process of trying to figure it out. It is also cool to see what all they come up with.

I could not find the video of Making Thinking Visible but after reading some of it I thought it was interesting to think about how we as people come up with the answers that we do. Some people get things so easily while others have to think long and hard to get the same answer or maybe even a different one. Everyone's brain is different and we as teachers need to remember that when teaching and listening to others.

After watching Sam Pane 4th Grade I thought this would be a great activity to do at the beginning of the year with your class if it was a grade level high enough to know what was going on. This teaches students how to be a good digital citizen. One of the kid's did a digital comic saying her digital super hero stopped gossip online and another student's would stop you from putting personal info in to win something. After all the students were done they would walk around and look at the other students work. This is also good because you never know what some students will learn that they didn't know before.

After watching Project Based Learning I thought it was interesting that they combined History, English, and Information Processing into one long class but the same amount of credit hours if they were all separate. I have never really thought about doing something like this because starting in intermediate and middle school you start switching teachers for certain subjects. I feel like making one long class like they did you can accomplish more because you have more time then you would if you had to split your time into three different classes. It will be interesting to see in the future if this develops more.

After watching Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Program I learned that PBL is a great way for kids to think for themselves. It lets us know as teacher that the students really understand what we are learning about. PBL also helps students with public speaking which is a big fear in many people as they grow up. It also helps kids understand what adults go through everyday. I feel learning this way will help students more in the future then the way I was taught.

Project #12 Part A

C4K for October

My first student I had was Andy who is in the 2nd grade. His blog post was called Here comes the sun-ish and it was a painting of a banana. The banana was negative space though and he painted the background orange and red which are colors of the sun. I thought this painting was very unique and creative.

My second student I had was Kadyn who is in the 7th grade. His post is called Myself and he tells about his hobbies and interests, From him I learn that in the summer he likes to ride his scooter, in the winter he likes to snowboard, his favorite color is purple, and he doesn't really like school but if he had to choose his favorite subject it would have to be math. I thought these were all interesting things and some things we had in common were we like to snowboard, the color purple, and we both like math.

My third student I had was Phoenix who is in the first grade. Her post is called School and she says that she likes school. I think that it is good that someone as young as her likes school and that she has started to blog. I asked her why she likes school so maybe be the next time she gets on her blog she will respond.

My fourth student I had was Sulieit who is in the fifth grade. Her post is called Going to the Museum and it is about her and her class going to the museum. At the museum they learn about maori food, the haka, and they got to experience the volcano room. The volcano room started shaking and all the kids started screaming. It seemed like a very fun field trip.  

Blog Post #10

What can we learn from Mrs. Cassidy?

After watching First Grader's in Mrs. Cassidy's Class, Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 1, Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 2, and Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 3 it was cool to see Mrs. Cassidy's take on technology in the classroom. She started using technology in her classroom ten years ago when she got five computers in her classroom. She has started using web pages and class blogs in her classroom in the last five years. She protects her students by only putting his or her first name on each of his or her blogs and if she puts a picture up she does not put a name with the picture. Some good things about using a classroom blog is parents can go look at their child's work when they have time, and students learn that they need to be careful with what they write and say. Technology is not going away so teachers have to learn to evolve and teach with their new sources.

Mrs. Cassidy approaches using technology in the classroom by making her class blog, use the internet, and skype. Mrs. Cassidy tries to make her class blog at least once a week. A lot of the time it may only be a sentence but they are only in the first grade. Blogging helps kids with reading, writing, and being punctual. Students can use the internet by clicking on pictures to take them places so they can learn. Students can also play games on the internet to help them with their site words or letters of the alphabet. Mrs. Cassidy uses skype in her classroom to be able to skype with people to learn things. It is kind of like having a guest speaker without them having to be in the classroom. My favorite of her approaches was how she uses skype. I have never thought of skype being an easy way to have a guest speaker that can't make it to your actually classroom. I think this will allow more opportunity for kids to learn more from people around the world. I know with using something like skype you could run into some malfunction with internet connection but if that were to happen then I would just improvise with what the guest speaker was going to say or I would maybe try to do it the next day instead. I think there are many benefits to Mrs. Cassidy's approaches but the main ones I like is that blogs help the students read, write, and interact better.

Blog Post #9

What can teachers and students teach us about project based learning?

From reading Seven Essentials for Project Based Learning  I learned that as teachers we need to remember that the world is always evolving and we should not teach how we were taught. There are seven essential elements of meaningful projects. The first is A Need To Know. This tells you that you should have some sort of entry event such as a video, a discussion, a guest speaker, a field trip...instead of a packet of papers. The second is A Driving Question. This helps the students get a clear concept of the project and gives them a challenge. The third is Student Voice and Choice. This tells us how we should let students do projects in a way that interests them. The fourth is 21st Century Skills. This tells how we should have projects that build students skills such as collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and the use of technology. The fifth is Inquiry and Innovation. This tells us how when students answer one question this gets their brains working to come up with more and more questions. The sixth is Feedback and Revision. This helps students show that their work has meaning. The seventh is A Publicly Presented Product. When a student knows they are doing a project for more then their teacher and classmates they will usually do better quality work. As a result of all the seven essentials we are doing project based learning.

After watching Project Based Learning For Teachers I learned that project based learning is all about students teaching themselves what they need to know. Teachers are more of a guide to make sure that all the right materials are provided to the students for them to be able to do this. I think this will work good as long as what the students are learning about is something that interests him or her. If it doesn't then it may be a little harder to get them interested in the project based learning.

Before reading Project Based Learning in PE I never really thought about PE being a subject you could do project based learning in. I always thought PE more of learning different types of activities by doing them and testing over what you have learned. After reading this article though I thought it was a great idea for a high school PE class to come up with a physical fitness program for middle students. This project is under the Alabama state standard for physical education. From doing a project like this I think kids would get a better understanding of what kind of physical activity a person needs.

After watching What Motivates Students?  I learned that students can be motivated in many different ways. If you were to find a way that gets all your students extra motivated then more work will be accomplished. A few examples of things that motivate students from the video were students like to hear they have done a good job, they want to do well in life, good grades means they don't get grounded, fake money gets given out for good behavior and they can use that at their classroom store, and some students get candy for good behavior. An example I seen when I was in a school was if homework from the night before was not done then students can not take their Mac home that day.

After watching and reading about Two Students Solve the Problem of Watery Ketchup By Designing A New Cap  this made me realize how fun a project  like this can be for students because that is something they wanted to do. Sure you could shake a ketchup bottle and get the same solution as a new cap but that was not good enough for the students. So they brain stormed and came up with a new cap that looks like a mushroom. How it works is when the bottle is upside down the water gets trapped below the mushroom allowing the tomato paste to come through the lid. I was very impressed with what the students did to come up with this.

Implications and Teaching Opportunities for Camera Use in Teaching and Learning

A study done by Zogby Analytics.

Part A

From the data we were given you can see that smart phones are growing at a rapid pace and before long almost everyone will have one. From the high percentage we were given of people who said that their smart phone never leaves their side we can see how addicting smart phones have become. I can say for myself that I have my phone on me the majority of the time. My smart phone is my watch, my alarm clock, my agenda, my social network, my camera, and has an answer to any question I have. So I can see why so many people always keep it on them. 

With all the technology a smart phone provides I don't see why teachers, schools, and students don't use them for educational purposes. This is not something that can happen over night but I do believe it can be started in schools. I don't think that educational learning should be 100% done with smart devices because there are a few draw backs. For example, if you have your whole lesson plan on a smart device where you have to use the internet and say the internet is down that day then your whole lesson plan is useless that day. I do think using smart devices for projects and doing research is a great way to get students engaged though. 

Part B

Here are some ideas for lessons if all students were to have a smartphone or tablet with a camera:

• For any project that includes pictures students have to make the presentation on their tablet and present it to the class.
• For Reading students have to record themselves then go back and listen to themselves to see if they made any mistakes like in this video
• They can use keynote to make something similar to a powerpoint
• They can use the camera to load pictures to their class blog 
• Students could use their tablet to take pictures of things they don't know and then be able to bring it back to class and research what it is

Project #9

We had topic #5 on Mark Prensky's book Teaching Natives: Partnering for Real Learning

Google Slides

Blog Post #8

What can we learn about teaching and learning from Randy Pausch?

Wow! Where do I even begin? This video Randy Pausch's Last Lecture was so inspirational. There is so much to learn from this that I believe anyone can take something away from this video. In this video Randy talks about his dreams, how to help other people enable their dreams, and lessons learned.

Randy's six dreams were being in zero gravity, playing in the NFL, authoring an article in the World Book Encyclopedia, being Captain Kirk, winning stuffed animals, and being a Disney Imagineer. Something he discussed about before going into detail about each one of his dreams is you may not get to do exactly what you want but you may could do some form or fashion of it. His dream was not to become an astronaut but to just experience the zero gravity. He did this by riding in something NASA has called the "vomit comet". It wasn't as easy as he thought and he ran into some complications, but if you have something you can bring to the table you have a better chance of finding a way to accomplish your dreams. His next dream was to play in the NFL which he did not come close to but he was able to play football in school. Here he learned that it is all about the fundamentals. I thought a good key point he brought up was if you are screwing up and no one says anything is when they have given up on you. Through all his other dreams some good key points he made was that you hit brick walls to prove how badly you want something and wait long enough and someone will surprise you,

For enabling childhood dreams you always need to push kids. An example he shared was when he gave his college students a project and they blew his mind away. He did not know what he was suppose to say to them but ended up telling them "that was good but I know you can do better". As a result the kids did even better on their next project.

We can learn lessons from are parents, a mentor, and even students. Remember to never lose the child-like wonder, to always help others, loyalty is a two way strip, and never give up. From just remembering these few things it can help you out in your life journey and even help accomplish some of your dreams. If you need help from people along the way some good things to remember are always tell the truth, be earnest, apologize when you screw up, and focus on others not yourself.

What I have shared with you is just minimal stuff from what Randy shares with you. So if you get a moment go and watch the video. It may just help you out and give the guidance you were looking for. Not only was this video inspirational but it was also very heartfelt.

C4T #2 Summary

The blog I was assigned is called The Power of Educational Technology by Liz B Davis. She is Director of Curriculum at Keys School.

The first post I commented on is called Using Design Thinking to Reimagine Back To School Night. In this post she tells us about what she is going to do with the parents when they come to back to school night. It consists on five parts and basically the parents get broken up into groups interview each other, share their ideas, and come up with ways of what their partner needs. I think this will be a fun activity to do with parents and keep them engaged with back to school night. it is also a good way to get the parents thoughts about school and what should be going on.

The second post I commented on is called My Google Teacher Academy 2014 Application. In this post Mrs. Davis had to make a one minute video that answered the question "How do you innovate in the classroom or educational community to generate positive change?". She made her video into a rap about innovation and positive change. It was very cute and upbeat. She mentioned that you have to take risks, step out of your comfort zone, use chromebook and google apps for education, and design thinking projects. I liked her video a lot and could tell that she was a fun educational teacher just by watching this one video.

Project #13

Lesson Plan Project

Project #7 Part B

Teacher Movie for Parents

Teacher Movie for Students 

Blog Post #7

I think all schools in time will go to technology based learning. Our world is continually evolving and we all have to evolve with it. I think technology is a good source to learn things because it can give you almost information you need at your fingertips as well as making it fun. I think there are many website sources out there that I don't know about that will be good to use in the classroom. As my strengths I would say I am pretty good at figuring things out so if I came across a new site or app and needed to know how it works I could figure it out. As a weakness I think there is a lot out there I don't know about. For example, that recording and QR website are both really good sites that I have never heard about and I will definitely use those when I am a teacher. I think to get ready I will just need to pay attention and take inn all the different methods of project based learning teachers do and find the ones I will want to do one day.

From watching How to make an audio QR code I learned a great way to record yourself and how to turn it into a QR code. As a teacher you can use this to record yourself reading a store or even giving directions that way students can listen to over and over again if they want.

From watching iPad in the Reading Center I learned that using ipads to record yourself while you are reading is a great way to go back and check yourself to see if you have made any mistakes. I also think this will encourage students to read  because it will be fun to use the ipad.

From watching Poplet as a Center I learned that this is a great app to use to let students let you know about a book he or she read. You can take pictures of the book and add text to each picture you take until you have enough to make a little slide show.

From watching Alabama Virtual Library as a Kidergarten Center I learned that this is a great source for students to figure out what a word means and even examples of this word. This is very educational for kids to learn on their own.

From watching How to use a and build a Board in Discovery Education  I learned that this is a great source for kids to use for showing you what they know about a certain thing. Each board has a title, a picture, and facts about what the student knows. In DE kids can even record themselves and at it to their board.

From watching Using imovie and the Alabama Virtual Library in Kindergarten I learned that even children as young as kindergarten can use technology to teach you what they know. To me this gets kids so involved because they love using technology.

From watching We All Become Learners I learned that everyone is a learner when it comes to technology. Students teach teachers and teachers teach students. I think a great project for students would make a lesson teaching something. This lets students get involved and you never know what else someone may learn.

Project #8

C4K Summary for September

My first kid was Johnathan who attends Pt England School. His blog was about a group of people from the revolution that came to his school to stop bullying. I thought this was a great idea for the school to bring a group of people in and do a fun educational skit because it teaches the kids what is not okay.


My second kid was Lawrence and he is in the 4th grade. He had to invent a new food for his blog. The food he came up with is called a pinechip. It looks like a chip made of blocks and tastes like pineapple. I thought that his food was very unique and that it may even be healthy for a chip.


My third kid was Aidan and he is in the 5th grade. His blog had to be 100 words making a story and use a few certain words. The words he had to use were orange, forgot, pepper, crocodile, soft, and lugubrious. With these words he created a story about him and his mom going to the zoo. It was very creative and made me think that he likes animals.

Blog Post #6

What do you learn from these conversations with Anthony Capps?

In Project Based Learning Part 1: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher I learned that we have to teach project base learning as a lesson and not just something that is done after the lesson we teach. It is good to have an audience for the students work so they will do a better job. It is also a good idea to cover content that is going on presently in the world.

In Project Based Learning Part 2: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher I learned that you should never give a limit to what students can do. You should always make a project so they can go above and beyond by applying themselves. This way students can learn more and more.

In iCurio I learned that iCurio is used as a search engine to search text and videos on subjects that protein to the Alabama state standards or any other state you wish to look at. Students can also use this site to store stuff that he or she finds valuable. This helps them stay organized.

In Discover Education I learned that it is a great source to use when you need any sort of illustration to go with your notes/lecture. Kids learn very well visually so by having illustrations it could help them retain more information.

In The Anthony - Strange list of Tips for Teachers Part 1 I learned that you need to be interested in learning, work is not separate from play, be flexible, and get kids engaged. As a teacher you are always learning so if you don't like to learn this is probably not the profession for you. Even though you only work roughly eight hours a day there is still a lot of work and learning to be done at home. Always have your end goal in mind and if you have to take a different route to get there that is okay. Always keep your learning fun so your students will stay engaged.

In Don't Teach Tech - Use It I learned that technology is always there even if we don't want it to be. We should use technology a little at a time and then by the end of the year students will have a wide span of different technologies to use. Technology can be shared between people and is less messy. I still think doing some hands on craft is good for students to use.

In Additional Thoughts About Lessons I learned that a lesson is at least four layers thick. You have to break it down into year, months, weeks, and days. You have to figure out what you are going to cover over the whole year, then how many weeks you will spend on each thing out of the year, then out of those weeks break it into days, then you have to specifically break down what you are going to teach each day. This helps you to stay on track and make sure you cover everything you need to teach.

Project #7 My Sentence Videos

My Sentence is...

My Passion is...

Project #3 Presentation

Ronni's Presentation 

Blog Post #5

A Personal Learning Network is a source for someone to use to learn things. This can help me as a teacher because it can teach me things I don't already know as well as help my students learn things. After watching Michael Fawcett's Offer His Insights video you see how useful PLN is because one of his students had a space question and after putting it on twitter it was answered within thirty minutes by no other then NASA themselves. How cool was that? Very. To me that is a great example of using your sources. You form your own PLN however you want to. A good way to start off is by adding all the social media sights you use then adding people that is in your same field of studies. So for me I would start adding and following teachers since that is what I am going to school for. I looked into Symbaloo and I think that is a great way to keep your PLN organized. It seemed very easy to use and was very structural.

C4T #1 Summary

The blog I was assigned to is called Venspired and it is by a lady named Krissy Venosdale. I have not been to a bunch of different blogs but I can say out off all the blog pages I have ever been to her's is my favorite. It is so colorful, fun, and artsy. It just attracts your attention and makes you want to discover more about it.

The first blog I commented on is called 'Right Now' and it talked about being a person who imagined the big picture of things. Meaning that you know what your end goal is and you know what you have to do everyday to get there. Krissy was saying how she needs to slow down though and notice the smaller things. When I commented on Krissy's blog I told her how I am a big picture person also but it is the little things that the students will remember. Those little things are what make students experiences through school so I will not try to over look them.

The second blog I commented on is called 'Hope is Waiting For Us' and it talked about how much the author loves creativity. She went on how she dislikes feel in the blanks and answering the questions in the back of each chapter and thought hope might be lost. She found hope again when entering an elementary classroom and she seen all the creativity and happiness in all the kids. When I commented on Krissy's blog I told her how creativity is a great thing to use in the classroom. It makes things fun and interesting. The more fun you make things for students the more eager they are going to be to learn.

Project #15

Search Engines

The search engine I use 99% of the time Google so when talking about these other search engines I will compare them to Google since that is the one I know most about.

1. WolframAlpha reminds me of Google since it has one search bar on its main page then once you type something in it goes to a different sort of page set up that is nothing like Google. For instance I typed in Facebook and on that page you have a button that goes to the website, then there is what seems to be the definition of Facebook, and then a few other options to click on. After taking the tour I found out that WolframAlpha is knowledge engine not a search engine. This meaning that its information comes from built in knowledge created by humans. I think this search engine would be great when you are needing a bunch of knowledge on something specific. 

2. Bing is a search engine I have never really liked; not for any particular reason I might add. It is a like Google as far as having the main page with a search engine bar. I do like how on the main page you have a range of things going on in the world from news to celebrity gossip to click on and check out. When I searched for Facebook on Bing I had a list of a bunch of different websites to choose from, I had a little bit of background information on what Facebook was, its stock price, and a list of other websites that people who searched for Facebook also searched for these other sites. I think Bing has come a long way since the last time I got on it. I feel that it gives you a lot more information on what you are searching for; kind of like a background check. 

3. Ask has a search engine bar like Google as well as having a question of the day on its main page. I feel like the questions of the day did not have any relevance to anything; just a bunch of useless facts unless maybe being on Who Wants to be a Millionaire or some other question game show. After searching Facebook I had question/answer scenario with some different websites to choose from come up. I think ask.com would be a good search engine when you needed to find the answer to a question.

4. Yahoo I think is a good search engine for news related searches. On the main page of Yahoo you always see news related stuff on the front page which I think is a good source to find out what is going on. You can also use Yahoo for your e-mail. When searching Facebook I had different links to websites come up; most being about the news on Facebook.

5. Cuil I think is the closest search engine I have found to Google. Honestly, I would say it is identical to Google just a different name. Everything happens and shows up just the same as Google. This may be because the people who developed the website were ex-googlers. I still would not use this search engine over Google even if it is the same because there would be no reason to change to it.

6. Excite is a very "busy" website and what I mean by this is it has too much going on on its main page. Simple is better. First off you have a tiny search engine bar then you have over 100 links to click on all being about different various stuff and all the writing is too small. I feel like it is all just too clustered and it should be better organized. When searching for Facebook it was the same as Google with different links about Facebook coming up. To me this is one of the low end search engines and any of the above search engines would be better than this one.

7. Hotbot kind of weird-ed me out. At first I thought it would be cool for younger kids to use because the main page seemed fun with having a robot on it. It was also easy by only having the search engine bar on it. I have never been to this webpage before though and it already knew that I had different searches on other tabs opened; for example the college of education website. After searching Facebook different links came up to click on just like on Google.

8. Gigablast seemed to be set up a little weird to me. It also had a small search engine box but it did not have a whole bunch of stuff going on on the main page which was a plus. After searching Facebook though I had different links come up and under those links I had a 'search in category' option which I thought to be different but I think it might be good if you were needing it for different languages or origins.

After looking at all these different search engines WolframAlpha, Bing, and Yahoo were my favorite. I will try exploring and using these search engines more often. Sometimes we as humans get so used to one thing that once we try something once and don't like it we won't go back to trying it. It is kind of like a first impressions thing.