Shift Happens?

Shift Happens, what an interesting use of words. After viewing the video at http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2007/06/did-you-know-20.html, I definitely do want to join in the conversation. The facts and statistics in the eight minute video were rather astounding. To think that technology is growing that quickly. It is hard to wrap your mind around that fact. I am 33 years old and I can remember when the first chat rooms started on the Internet. I remember being in California and talking with many people around the world from many different countries all at the same time. You had to be a quick with typing just to keep up with the chats. Now texting on your cell phone is the big thing. I'm still a holdout on that one. I also had a Myspace page as recently as last year. It is amazing that your entire life can now be on the computer screen at a place like Myspace and your life can be public for the whole world to view. Kind of sobering also. Makes you want to be careful about what you say and what you post. We very much have to teach our children to live and function in the world that is unfolding around them everyday. The way is here and that way is a future full of technological wonders.

I do believe though that to much tech can be a bad thing. I deleted my Myspace and got rid of many of my multiple e-mail accounts. I had become so wired, as they say, that I had forgotten what it was like to stop and loose myself in a good book for awhile. It is easy to be overwhelmed by all the information that is at your finger tips. It would be wise to teach our children to deal we the informational overload stress that will goes hand-in-hand with our technological advances. Our children are going to have to balance their lives so they do not leave their social abilities behind. As we teach our children how to get plugged in we must also teach them how to get unplugged as well. The future is going to be a challenging place and we do need to prepare or children for all aspects of it. Now go check out the video and get involved in the conversation!

ACCESS Granted!

A little German for your teenage daughter? Or perhaps you'd prefer your son to recite poems in Latin. How about letting your little Einstein work on thier Calculus? Well, if your son or daughter is interested in furthering their language skills or creating a new mathematical theory while in high school then look no further than Alabama's educational initiative called ACCESS. ACCESS, which stands for Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide, is an amazing program designed to give students the opportunity to excel in subjects beyond what their local high school may offer. The site is designed for Advanced Placement students to take classes beyond the current level offered in their school. The site also offers a wide array of elective classes for the students to take in order to widen their learning skills and knowledge base.
I've provided the link to the ACCESS site for you to check it out. Just go to this link and enjoy: http://accessdl.state.al.us/index.php

I've also put just a small sampling of the language courses offered here below:

Foreign Language:
French I
French II
German I
German II
German III
German IV
Latin I
Latin III

As you can see, this small sample of classes offered are more than able to help the students get the advanced learning they may need to stay competitive in our modern world. This is absolutely one of the best educational tools I've seen offered for our students at our local area high schools.

ALEX Who?

I went in search of ALEX and guess what I found? A popular Internet sensation perhaps or maybe some famous actor? Could ALEX be a new hot band that has broken out? Actually ALEX is none of these. What I found out is that ALEX is short for the Alabama Learning Exchange web site (http://alex.state.al.us/index.php) and a very well thought out site. Someone had the foresight to see the need for and develop a web site to meet the needs of educators in the state of Alabama and beyond. The site compiles mountains of information and lots of great links in one spot. The site is extremely easy to navigate. From the home page you have eight colorful boxes to choose from. Each box takes you to a different page with tabs leading you to what you are seeking. I would suggest registering with the site though. I wanted to try the create your own lesson plan and in order to use that feature I had to register. It was quick and simple to register so don't be wary. This site is a great resource for teachers and students who are becoming teachers. The interface for creating lesson plans was easy to use. The interface was also easy to edit when needed. Having access to a wide array of lesson plans can give you some good and quick ideas about how to formulate you own plans to fit your classroom. The site also contains a link to ACCESS. ACCESS is the state of Alabama's Distance Learning site for high school students. ACCESS stand for Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide. The ACCESS site provides great opportunities for high school students looking to excel in advance subjects but unable to take the classes they need at their high school.

All in all, I was quite impressed with the site and I will definitely use this site as a resource for my future classroom.

Introduction

This is my first post for EDM310 at South and also my first official class at South. I'm very excited about continuing my degree. Elementary Education is my major and I can hardly wait to graduate. I am looking forward to getting out of retail and starting a fulfilling and rewarding career as a teacher.

First, a little background info. I was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama. I'm 33 years old, on my second marriage, and my wife and I have eight children between us. Literally, hers, mine, and ours. I had four children from my first marriage and she had three. We recently had a baby boy together. We've been married for a year and a half now.
My first job was the US Army. I served from August 1994 to January 1999. I was trained as a M1A1 tank crewman. I spent my entire enlistment stationed at the National Training Center in the Mojave desert in southern California. After leaving the Army I came back home to Alabama and I got into retail with Walmart for a few years. I left the retail sector to go to school. I attended Brownsville Revival School of Ministry in Pensacola, Florida. I felt like the LORD was calling me to preach. I graduated BRSM in 2003 with a degree in Pastoral Theology. The door never seemed to open for a position or maybe I did not push hard enough. Nonetheless, I then went back into retail, worked for Walmart again for a few years, and then started working for Target about three years ago.
I made up my mind to go back to school and become a teacher. Teaching has always come natural to me and I have a tremendous amount of patience. I started school the summer semester of 2007 and I am now half-way as of the beginning of spring semester 2009. I hope to be finished by the end of summer 2010.

That's all I've got for now!