Should the state require teacher certification for parents who homeschool their children?

Should the state require teacher certification for parents who homeschool their children?

What are the current requirements for parents homeschooling their children? It seems like there should be some standards in place for parents to follow if they are going to choose to educate their children at home. If simply any parent can teach their child curriculum that the parent doesn't understand then how is the student benefitting from this form of education?

Project RDs finished...But still have many questions??

So I have my digital storytelling rough draft put together. But I am trying to figure out how to cite the images I have placed in my story. I have finished the images, text on each image, and the voice over, as well as including background music. But now I am at a loss and confused as to how I cite the images that i have incorporated into it. Any suggestions out there?

Podcast... I have copied my audio, selected my background music and am struggling to make sense of the audacity program. I guess I will leave it as a rough draft until next Friday. Maybe this stuff will make more sense then.

MACUL Bound

I recieved confirmation from MACUL that I was officially registered on Monday. With that information, I met with my principal and discussed the importance and relevance that this conference would be considering I am pursuing my Master's Degree in Educational Technology. My principal agreed to cover the cost of the sub since the registration fees were already covered. Woot! I am very excited to be attending this conference---one of our special eduation teachers is presenting along with a former co-worker who is now in charge of Mt. Morris's technology departmnet. I am sure there presentations will be insightfull. I've also been flipping through the schedule of events/key note speaker booklet that I recieved about two weeks ago and getting a general idea of the different sessions I would like to attend. I'm sure this conference will be extremely valuable and informative and I am looking forward to gaining insight to help me on my road trip to become more technologically literate! ha ha...

Hackers...

I just read the article on the Read Write Web, Hacking Into Your Account is as EASY as 123456, and was amazed by the simplicity of many passwords. I thought mine was simply to remember, but I guess you would have to know me pretty well in order to figure it out. Then again, I have several different account names and account passwords, that I have a difficult time keeping them straight. But, even so, I still try to make them more discreet. I was impressed when this article discussed if there was a "brute force attack" that a hacker could "access 1000 accounts within 17 minutes." This in turn makes me cringe at that thought and screams "IDENTITY THEFT" blatantly outloud. If breaking into an account is that easy, then stealing someone's identity is just as easy.

Video on Blogger???

I found a great video clip on teachertube that I wanted to share on my blog because it was a great teachable moment for me. I have seen some of you post videos on the blogger account and your wikis. Do you first have to download the file than upload it to that site, or is there an easier way? I've seen the embeddable player link, what does this mean? What am I able to do with this? I don't remember reading about embedding in our textbook, but maybe I am blocking that information out. If any of you know how to do this and would like to share, I would love your input. Thanks!

Have a great day and see you in class tonight!

Science News for Kids Website

I've subscribed to Science News for Kids RSS Feeds and have already discovered several articles that I can pull up and share with my students, which allows them to see topics we are discussing in class from a current perspective. This article Smart but WISE highlights the an infrared telescope that was recently sent out into space. According to this article, astronomers will be able to gather more information about stellular space and the distant galaxies that surround us. My 8th graders just finished a unit exploring the age, scale, and formation of the universe. The students were full of questions about how do we know this and what if questions. Plus, they were all very intrigued in the images that have been gathered from the Hubble Telescope. I would have loved to have shared this article and focused some more attention on this updated technology to emphasize the different forms of radiation that we use to explore and understand space more thoroughly. I think I might just open the unit back up for a brief 15 minute discussion to share the current science news that I just discovered! :-) Great website for RSS feeds if you are looking for articles to share with students.

I was reading the article Teacher Shake Up Shakespeare with Mixed Media from the google RSS reader from Edutopia and I was really impressed with the videos the students created of a rap they wrote to further explore MacBeth by Shakespeare. This gave the students a real outlet to showcase their understanding and allowed the students to be creative. Together they collaborated their ideas and differentiated Shakespeare's word and revised his literature into a modern day terminology.

I remember studying Romeo and Juliet in my 9th grade English class and it simply went in one ear and out the other. However, as I read and viewed the video clips associated with this article, I questioned...would I have been more motivated to understand Shakespeare if I had the ability to create a rap, song, or play promoting the key ideas that present in the literature? Heck Yea!

WOW! Technology is Exploding

Ok... So I must admit, I am really behind in terms of understanding what forms of technology are out there for educators and students. I thought I was blown away in my first Master's class, but after reading the book--I just discovered that I am an outdated teacher already. Outdated and I've only been teaching for 5 years. I am definitely interested... That's right, the book hooked me and has motivated me to "change my wardrobe" and fill my closet with new resources to use in my class. I was truly impressed with learning about wikis, podcasts, screencasting, Flickr, etc. Although I am nervous about the time this course will consume away from my family, I am ready to get my feet wet and learn something new.

Too many log ins...To many email accounts... To many subscriptions

I've got myself all confused. Some places I have my school emial account associated with the subscription because it is onef the few websites that is not blocked in our district. Other locations I have a different email account, username, and password. I'm so darn confused as to what is what... I'm going to SCREAM! Last night I spent three hours setting up accounts, establishing my wiki (which was an editing disaster), and updating my blogger account, subscribing to RSS feeds, and now... I don't remember my logins, my passwords, the correct email account associated with each of the locations. ??? Why am I attempting to earn my Master's Degree in Technology if I can barely use technology myself?!? AHHH!!!! I have a feeling I will be redoing everything I did last night....

Destination Master Degree continues w/ Read/Write Web

Here I am as a student again... I guess the saying the learning never ends- is indeed true. At the moment, I am a combination of excitement and anxiety. Excited to learn more about the educational resources available, yet anxious because some much of this stuff is foreign to me (i.e. podcasts, digital storytellng, avatars, etc)... However, I'm sure the butterflies will soon fly away once I get familiar and accustom to the new technology tools that I may use to engage my students in the learning process.