Project 10a

My Personal Learning Network

In order to help lay out how I have progressed this semester in my personal learning network, I used Symbaloo. Over the past two months, I have learned to stay connected with my classmates through blogger. I have mapped out my journey into four sections. The first corner is my Education section. It includes The University of South Alabama website, Blogger, MySpanish Lab, etc. All of this links I use today for my classes.

The second corner has websites that I use for social purposes and/or learning situations. For example, I use Twitter for both social purposes with my friends as well as educational purposes.

The bottom corner includes websites that I have for personal use. For example, I use MyFitness Pal to keep track of my daily activity and calorie intake. It helps me to stay active and fit.

The last corner contains websites that I use for online shopping. As you can tell there are not many listed because I am a broke college student. However, I know this will continue to grow as I begin to teach.

Blog Post 9

What I've Learned (2008-2009)

After Joe McClung taught for his first school year, he was inspired to write a blog post about the school year. In his post he mentions what he learned throughout the year and how he conquered his mistakes. He has continued to write about every academic school year after his first post.

His first blog post really stuck out to me because he explained many challenges that new teachers face and how to overcome these situations. As a future educator, I believe it is important for every Education major to know what they will experience once they have a class of their own.

At the beginning of Mr. McClung's post, he has a picture stating that the most important decision to make when you begin teaching is to stay positive! Life may not always be easy, but it is manageable. How you react to the challenges that life brings determines the outcome of your growth. This same concept can be seen in your "life" as a teacher. Every teacher needs to be optimistic about their journey through the classroom.

Mr. McClung points out that many teachers do not have lesson plans that are student focused. In his opinion, many teachers get so caught up focusing on the delivery of their lesson that they forget about student comprehension. A teacher could give what they consider to be a "perfect" lesson and feel accomplished, but what does that lesson truly mean if the students do not understand it? It means nothing because no lesson is ever perfect. I loved the statement that Mr. McClung made about lesson plans. He said, "In order to be effective you have to be able to let your audience drive your instruction."

This statement caught my attention because no matter how much a teacher plans out a lesson, the students determine the outcome. In my opinion, as long as the teacher teaches the criteria that is required it does not matter what they have to do to help their students to comprehend. You may plan to play a game or go more in depth on a certain concept. But who is to say that every student will be enthralled with that specific concept? Or why would a teacher prevent his/her students from asking a question that goes more in depth on a concept other than the topic they had planned? It is our job as teachers to keep our students hooked on learning.

Throughout Mr. McClung's first year of teaching, he found seven key points to be very influential to his year. The first point he made was to "Read the Crowd." This idea goes back to the belief that no lesson is perfect. You have to be able to "read" your students to see if they are comprehending the lessons you create. He also says to "Be Flexible." By this, he means that teachers have to be prepared to make a spontaneous decision when necessary. If something goes wrong, teachers need to be able to work through the problem and make it better. This should be done with a positive attitude.

Another key step to a good school year is to "Communicate." Communication is the key to resolving problems. It keeps relationships strong and durable. However, this is one of the hardest skills to develop. But without communication, how would teachers be able to truly understand their peers and students?

According to Mr. McClung, teachers must also "Be Reasonable." As teachers, we are always going to have high standards and goals for our students. It is important not to get disappointed when our students fail. Our disappointment only makes the student feel like a failure. Instead, be uplifting and encourage the student to try again.

Another key point Mr. McClung mentions is "Don't Be Afraid of Technology." If there any of my classmates out there who are in EDM 310 and still haven't eased to the idea of using technology, I advise you to change your major now. No, I do not believe that every single lesson must be taught using technology, but I do believe that it is important that we incorporate the use of technology into the classroom because it is now a necessity for survival in our society. The high demand for technology that exist today makes it important for teachers to make sure their students now how to use it for beneficial purposes.

No classroom is adequate without a teacher who is willing to "Listen to Their Students." How do you expect to relate to your students if you do not listen to their needs and concerns? In my future classroom, I hope to not only establish trust between my students and I, but to also truly try to relate to their lives. Every student is different and unique. It is my job to help them find their strengths and encourage them to continue working to correct their weaknesses.

At the end of his post, Mr. McClung encourages other teachers to "Never Stop Learning." It is never too late to change the way you learn or correct the way you think. As teachers, we beg our students to keep learning and to never give up. Now, my question to you is, why should teachers stop learning? If we want to stay up to date with society and technology, we, as teachers, must continue to learn for ourselves.

What I've Learned This Year- Volume 4

In June, Mr. McClung posted about his fourth year of teaching. In his post he addressed two main themes to his school year. They are "You Have to Dance With Who You Brought to the Dance" and "Challenge Yourself".

The first thing I did when I saw "You Have to Dance With Who You Brought to the Dance" was re-read the theme and ask myself "What in the world does this mean?" After reading though, I discovered that Mr. McClung was using this theme as an illusion to make his point that teachers must remember they work for the students, not their peers. Over his previous school year, Mr. McClung confessed to having worried way too much about what his peers thought of his teaching style, rather than worry about what his students thought.

I can relate this concept to my own life right now and to my future. If I sat here and worried about what my peers thought about me, I would get no where. Not everyone will like you or agree with your beliefs. However, it is important to stay true to who you are for this is the true statement of integrity. Mr. McClung said that the one rule he always follows is, "Are the kids having fun?" After his past year, he left behind his fears and focused on being true to who he is.

The second theme that Mr. McClung told bloggers was to "Challenge Yourself." He believes that it is important to change your lesson plans up and stay creative. I agree with him that teachers cannot get too comfortable because it is real easy to get lazy. He encourages teachers to try something new. For example, he realized that he was beginning to get lazy because he was so comfortable with his class, so he decided to teach something new this year.

Overall, I am glad that Dr. Strange assigned the reading of Mr. McClung's post because they each include great advice. I cannot wait to begin my career as a teacher, and hearing others talk about their experiences only encourages me more.

My Book Trailer

C4T #2 Summary

C4T Assignment 2

Over the past few weeks, I have been reading blog post by Aviva Dunsinger. She does not have a Twitter account at this time. According to Aviva, her blog is a "Primary blog for the 21st century."

The first post I commented on was called "The BIG 'Little' Things." In this blog post, Aviva talked about the end of the school year with her class. She moved up to sixth grade this year and into a new classroom. Throughout her blog entry, it was evident that she was going to really miss her class from that school year. Her entry focused on the "little" things her students had done throughout the school year that had a big impact on her life and career as a teacher.

Here is the comment I left for Aviva:

Hi! My name is Amy Archer. I am a student at The University of South Alabama, and I am currently taking Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class. In our class we are learning to comment on the blogs of teachers, children, and our classmates. I was very excited when I saw your blog post on the “little (big) things.”
I have always believed that it is the small things in life that matter the most, so this post really caught my attention.

However, I am not a teacher yet, but I am working through my classes daily in order to obtain a degree in Elementary Education. I have never had a class of my own, but I have tutored numerous amounts of students in the past.
I can recall many students that I tutored who inspired me to keep pushing toward my goal of becoming a teacher. The one student that inspired me the most was a sixth grade student named Laquisha. She stayed after school for tutoring on Wednesday afternoons. She is so precious, and no matter how many times it took her to solve a math problem she kept trying. Her determination showed her true character. She inspired me to always believe in the students I teach.


I love that your students are working together, excited about learning, and learning from each other in your classroom. I know that it had to be tough switching grades and classrooms this school year. How did your switch go? Are you enjoying your new classroom?


Amy Archer

Aviva has not added a new blog entry since I made my first comment, so my second comment was on an older blog post. In this blog entry, Mrs. Aviva talked about a math lesson she created for her students. She had her students determine how many times she would need to cut her cake in order to serve one slice to a certain number of people. She challenged her students to come up with two different answers.

She uploaded videos of her students discussion about how they got their answer. Each student explained their answer in a picture, words, or numbers. It was neat to see how every child answered differently because they thought out the problem differently.

This is the second comment I left Mrs. Aviva:

Hi! My name is Amy Archer. I am a student at The University of South Alabama. I am a Junior and I am trying to obtain a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. I LOVED your blog post! You are very creative, and you are doing a fabulous job at getting your children hooked on discovering the solution themselves.

I love that you challenge your students to find the right answer and explain it using picture, word, and numbers. This gets them to think outside the box, and they truly discover what they believe to be the correct answer.

I hope to be as good of a teacher as you some day!

Amy Archer

Project 9b

Untitled Prezi on Prezi

Blog Post 8

This Is How We Dream

In 2008, Richard E. Miller from Rutgers University created a video called This Is How We Dream. His video discussed the impact that multimedia has on today's society. In his opinion, we are no longer a reading/writing culture, but, instead, we are now a listening/watching culture. The issue that rises today is whether our students are producing their own multimedia or just consuming the products of others. He challenges teachers to teach their students how to produce their own multimedia and establish their own personal learning network.

In Part 1 of his video, Miller discusses the incremental changes that multimedia has placed on our country. We no longer have to work with a pen or pencil at a desk in the library. The use of laptops, personal computers, and the Internet, have redefined the requirements for a "work space". Students no longer have to go to the library to write a research paper or to discover the history behind a famous author, president, or scientist. Most libraries now have an online virtual library which allows you to search topics and books with the click of a mouse. Also, if the online virtual library does not meet a student needs, there are many educational websites that do. Many universities, such as Harvard and Stanford, are now posting their research to the internet in the form of a word document that can be downloaded for free.

As a future educator, I believe the world we live in today is one of the best generations to learn. I want to make sure my students know how to use the Internet to its fullest potential. In order to do this I will make sure that they know how to search the online library for the school or city in which I teach in. I will also help them to identify and differentiate between reliable and non-reliable sources.

Part 2 of "This Is How We Dream", showed me some of the fundamental changes that multimedia has brought to this generation. Richard Miller believes that it is the duty of educators to be in the business of sharing their ideas and resources freely. If all educators came together and developed their own ideas from another teacher's idea, imagine how talented and creative our education system would be. It is important that we, as future educators, help and encourage each other.

There are many resources that teachers can use to help teach the basic fundamentals in the classroom. One example is iTunes U. Teachers can use iTunes U to download and share academic lectures with their class. They can also use it to find educational videos or speeches to broaden their lessons. The use of multimedia allows ideas and topics to be pushed to the top of our culture. If we were still writing and publishing every single document that was written, it would take at least two years for these documents to reach the people. Multimedia sources also allow us to be environmentally friendly which I believe is highly important because we already create so much pollution each year from cars, airplanes, factories, etc.

Carly Pugh's Blog Post 12

Carly Pugh is an amazing writer and such an inspiration to Dr. Strange's EDM310 class. Her Blog Post #12 opened my eyes to a new resource that I did not know even existed. For her personal post, she taught viewers how to create their own personal YouTube playlist. By creating a YouTube playlist, teachers can organize different videos that they would like to use in their classroom by categories.

This really caught my attention because I did not realize that this was even possible. I obviously have not been using YouTube to it's fullest potential. I was thrilled to know that I could create a YouTube playlist because I am constantly watching YouTube videos for my education classes and, literally, copying and pasting the URL links to each video into a word document so that I will not forget the video that I watched.

Carly challenges teachers to create playlists that are motivational, educational, or just plain fun! Her personal playlists are outstanding. She is going to make an amazing teacher and her categories of playlists will surely continue to grow. Today, I established my own series of playlist. I created one for videos based on mathematics because in my math classes, I learned how fun and resourceful these type of videos can be. I also created a playlist specifically for videos of historical speeches or lectures that were taught by other teachers. Another playlist I created was an inspiration playlist that I will use to store videos that are encouraging to me and help to further my understanding of my purpose as an educator. I believe these type of videos are important to have for whenever I need a "pick-me-up" on a bad day.

At the end of her blog post, Carly leaves viewers with an influential video. This video asks bloggers to think about six different questions. It encouraged me to live my day to its fullest potential and to re-evaluate where I am on my educational journey. The question that stood out to me the most was, "Do you approach life with the magic, the vulnerability, and the curiosity of a child?" I believe that since I have been in college, I have been so focused on achieving my degree that I often forget to take a second and live in the moment. To be a teacher, I do not just have to know what to teach to my students, but I must be sure to be an enthusiastic learner so I always know how to teach my students. Our community, culture, and country is constantly changing and will be never ending in change. It is necessary for me to stay up-to-date and be accepting to the changes I will have to face.

EDM 310 Is Different

At the beginning of the semester, I watched the two videos The Chipper Series and EDM310 For Dummies in order to learn the purpose of EDM 310. This class is not like any other class that I have taken at The University of South Alabama, and it should not, by any means, be taken as a joke. In our EDM 310 class we discover what it means to be a teacher in the 21st century and how to become technologically literate.

The Chipper Series is a cute video that was created by Jamie Lynn Miller to show students the importance of being on time with your work. In the beginning Chipper tried to make excuses for her late work. She wanted to redefine procrastination and make it "okay" to turn in her work late. However, procrastination means that the student turned in his/her work at the last minute, but it was not late.

Throughout the series of events, Chipper continues to live a life without deadlines. She wants to be "taught" so that she doesn't have to learn. This is the wrong way to look at education. Teachers could give their students the answers test, but this would not be "teaching" students. Giving students answers is only allowing students to "memorize". If the teacher challenges and guides their students by assigning projects or lessons that are due at a certain point, the teacher would be truly teaching. It is the job of a teacher to help students to learn from their mistakes and become the most responsible and mature student that he or she can be.

Of course, Chipper learns the hard way that she cannot go anywhere in life without preparing and adapting to deadlines. She is fired from all of her jobs because she refused to follow instructions. While working as a garbage collector, she finally has a change of heart and decides to go back to school. She decides not to procrastinate and go to class. Overall, this video demonstrates the importance of being a responsible student.

EDM310 For Dummies was established to help students realize that the assignments for EDM310 can be completed with patience, time, and help. This is another video created by Jamie Lynn Miller. In this creative video she implemented that is necessary to get help if you are struggling in EDM 310. She listed sources that have tutorials and instructions on how to complete projects in this class. Some of the available sources are Blogger, Skype, Delicious, Twitter, and YouTube.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn

Christie Odom suggested that our EDM310 class watch Learn to Change, Change to Learn. This video attacks the education system that exist today. However, I agree with their attack because they are reasoning that the education system is not allowing students to reach their fullest potential in the classroo. Many schools have banned cell phones and the use of texting. They block social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

As a future educator, I have accepted the fact that technology is not a choice, but it is now a part of learning. The social networks that exist today allow students to establish relationships, community with others, and connectivity with various other students. This video amplifies the situation that many students collect more data outside the classroom because it is restricted at school. In today's society, school is only one way that students can learn.

After spending two months in this class, I already know that I not only want to teach my students, but I want to prepare them for life. In order to do that, I realize it will be necessary to help them become technological literate. I plan to incorporate technology in every way possible in order to allow my students to be creative, use their different abilities, and become a resourceful learner.

Scavenger Hunt 2.0

Web 2.0 is interactive, accessible, and collaberative. It is important because it leads to higher levels of engagement, differentiation, critical thinking, new capabilities, alternative learning environments, extending learning, and life long learning. On the website there are many different tools that teachers/students can use. The tools are divided into groups. The groups are presentation, video, mobile, video editing, and community tools. The only negative side to this website is that links come on go. However, each time a resource is lost it is replaced with a newer link to replace it.

Upon my exploration of Web 2.0, I found a website that can be used to create videos. Animito has many different features such as Cinematic A.I., Spotlight, Included Text, Images, and Music. The Cinematic A.I. allows you to focus on the content of the video because it analyzes music, photos, and video clips automatically for you. By using Animito, you can use included text which allows you to mix relevant messages, quotes and statistics into your video.

The image tool allows you to select photos from Facebook and Instagram. This can sometimes be much faster than choosing a photo saved to your computer. It also allows you to choose pictures you may not have taken from another person's Facebook and Instagram. The music tool allows you to upload music from your iTunes. All of these resources make this website unique and creative. I was also interested to know that Animito has an application for the iPhone which allows to upload videos from your phone.

Another website I found on Web 2.0 was Make Belief Comics. This website allowed me to create my own comic strip. Here is the comic strip that I created:

On Web 2.0, I also found a website that allowed me to create my own personal poll. Here is the poll that I created:


Please, feel free to respond to my poll. I would love to see your response! The more responses I receive, the more acquainted I will become with this website. If you have not visited the Web 2.0 website, I encourage you to do so. There are numerous resources that anyone can use.

Blog Post 7

The Networked Student

Wendy Drexler made a video with one of her students named Alec Couros called The Networked Student. Her video was inspired by the connectivism course called "CCK08". This course was offered in the fall of 2008 by George Siemens and Stephen Downs. Connectivism is a theory that proves that learning is a part of a network of many diverse connections and ties. The video helps viewers to understand the technology that exist today.

While watching the video, Alec walked me through his process of networking. He first started his journey to connectivism by putting on his thinking cap and becoming an adventurous student. He explored Google Scholar, created his own book marking site, and searched for opinionated blogs. After exploring, he proceeded to create his own blog to experience networking for himself. He also used other resources to learn. For example, he used iTunes to listen to podcast of lectures.

The world is infinitely spinning and technology is growing with each new day. Information management is one of the major challenges to the 21st century. New tools are being made every day which gives students more and more opportunities to get connected. Some people believe that teachers will eventually no longer be needed because of the vast improvement of resources. To those of you who believe this statement, what will students do when they cant figure out how put in a source for a picture or how to add a link to their blog post? How will students stay focused and manage the information they learn? How will the students know how to differentiate between good and bad websites?

Without a teacher there to guide students, the networked student would not have any guidance. The teacher teaches the students how to build their own network and take advantage of different learning opportunities. When a student gets stuck or comes across an inappropriate website, the teacher is there to help he/she get back on the right track. Teachers are also the role model for students and they show their students how to communicate properly and respectfully.

I believe that teachers play a major role in the networked students' lives. I loved the ending when Alec states, "In her heart she hopes that when he leaves her class he will continue to work and use his network to navigate his future and solve world problems." As a future teacher, I know that technology will have a big impact on my classroom and students. I want to use networking in my classroom because it is my goal to see every student become a hardworking professional when they grow up.

The society we live in today is web based in every aspect of life. It is important to me for my students to be prepared for the future, to know how being connected through a network can benefit their academic career, and how networking can lead them to the unimaginable.

Welcome to My PLE

One of Wendy Drexler's seventh grade students made a video about her personal learning environment. The student was in Wendy's Science class which is paperless and all networked. In the video, the student explained her daily process of networking.

At the beginning of the day, she visits her agenda to see what the class would learn that day in Science. She then proceeds to check her "Pocket Tank". This is a Google document that teaches the students how to write a scientific report. Depending on what the lesson is about, she finds websites on that specific topic and post them to her personal book marking account. She then proceeds to use a special note taking resource that keeps her notes organized. After she completes assignments she post them to her blog for peer review.

Although I was very impressed with her daily routine, I was most impressed with her personal project. For her personal project she created a digital poster about her research. She was able to do this by using Blockster. On her poster she had videos, pictures, links to websites and resources, bibliographies, and much more. It was very eye catching and more elaborate than your basic poster project. Also, by using this resource instead of a piece of poster board she was able to be more creative and think outside the box.

Learning this way gives students more freedom to be creative and open minded. I cannot wait to establish networked students in my future classroom! However, I understand that I will have to establish boundaries because I do not want my students to get distracted with Facebook and other social networks. Allowing them to have more freedom will force my students to become responsible learners.

After watching this student's video, I have been inspired to broaden my personal learning environment because she used so many tools that I did not even think about using. I was very impressed with her work and the fact that she is only in the sevent grade. I want to help my future students to believe they can accomplish anything they set their mind to. By becoming networked students, my future students WILL be able to achieve their goals in life.

C4K Summary for September

C4K #1

The first blog that I was assigned to comment on was the blog of a student named Juanchi. He goes to Chesnut Tree Elementary School, and he is in Ms. Greta Sandler's class. Their school is located in Buenos Aires. On their class page, it states that the class is "5th Chesnut", so I believe that Juanchi is in the 5th grade.

Before I commented on his blog, I looked at their class blog and the teacher's blog. While reading Ms. Sandler's blog, I found that she and I have a lot in common. She is an ESL teacher who teaches English as a second language. I found this interesting because I am currently learning Spanish as a minor.

The lastest blog entry that Juanchi had shared was a YouTube video from a major soccer game. He posted this video because he believed it to be the greatest attempt to score a goal in the history of soccer. He called it "the best missed goal."For those of you who do not know, the Latin American countries are really into soccer. Soccer in Latin America is like football in America.

Here is the comment I wrote for Juanchi:

Juanchi,

Hi, my name is Amy Archer. I am a student at The University of South Alabama in Mobile, AL. I am studying Elementary Education in order to be a teacher. I am also studying Spanish. I see that your class is from Buenos Aires, so I know that you really enjoy watching football. Football is called "soccer" in America. Football is used to describe "el fútbol de americano" in America. I really enjoyed your video. I am glad you decided to share it. Are you on a football team? Do you play football for fun with your friends? If you had been in the football game in the video, do you think you would have made the goal?

Amy Archer

C4K #2

My second assignment was to post on the fifth post down of Mr. Capps' Classroom Blog. Mr. Capps is a former student of The University of South Alabama. He is currently teaching 3rd grade at Gulf Shores Elementary School in Room 302. His blog is very welcoming and literate. If you have not checked out his blog yet, I highly encourage you to.

The post that I commented on was about a game that his students had played to learn how to count by 10's. The game was very creative because it also included counting money. The children had two dices labeled up to 6. Each time they rolled the two die, the number that they rolled was the number of pennies they received. Now, the object of the game was to have the fewest amount of coins. Every time a student got 10 pennies, they would trade it in for a dime. When the student had 10 dimes, they traded their dimes in for a dollar bill. Each student continued to play until they had received two dollars.

Here is the comment I left on Mr. Capps' Post:

Mr. Capps,

Hi, my name is Amy Archer. I am a student in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. I loved the money game that you shared in your blog! It is a very creative way to teach students how to count by tens and add multiples of ten. I was also impressed that you incorporated the use of pennies, dimes, and dollars because this allowed the students to see the true value of money. I believe it is important for children to learn at a young age that money is not bad or stressful. After all, the use of money and saving is how we survive in this world.

Another idea that stood out to me was that you had students in the classroom helping other students who did not understand a concept completely. Peer tutoring is a great idea for any classroom because the children who give help are reinforcing in their brain what they already know, and the children who are receiving help are encouraged by their classmate.

I love how you included pictures because they are a wonderful insight to your classroom. You are doing great things with your students! Keep up the hard work Mr. Capps!

Amy Archer

MAK Morning Talk

This video is the Podcast of Group MAK. I hope you enjoy our video!

Project 9a: My Timeline

I created this timeline based off of the Alabama Course of Study. In fourth grade, the state of Alabama requires students to understand and interpret the Gettysburg Address. If I ever teach fourth grade, I could use this timeline to introduce my students to Abraham Lincoln and his impact on our nation before I go into detail about his Gettsyburg Address. This is just a practice timeline, but I wanted to try to incorporate a topic from the Alabama Course of Study because I will have to follow it in the future. I hope that you like my timeline. If you think I could add any dates, or other topics to better my timeline, please comment below.

Blog Post 6

Randy Paush's Last Lecture

Randy Pausch died on July 25, 2008, of pancreatic cancer. Before his death he made his last lecture. His last lecture was very inspiring to me, and I learned that no matter what happens to me in life I cannot change what comes my way. However, I can change how I react to the situations that I am dealt in life. If any of you bloggers have not watched his last lecture yet, I highly encourage you to take the time to watch it.

In his last lecture he talked about his childhood dreams, how to enable the dreams of others, and the lessons he had learned. As a child, Randy did a lot of dreaming. A few of his childhood dreams were to be in zero gravity, play in the NFL, and to become an imagineer. Although Randy never made it to the NFL, I loved how he interpreted his football career. He believed that football helped get him through life because of the fundamentals he learned and the hard work his coach instilled in him.

Randy said, "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." This quote not only gives me a better outlook on my life, but it also instills in me an approach to teaching and parenting that I want to use one day. Learning from your experiences is what Randy called "head fake" learning. "Head fake" learning occurs when children learn indirectly. For example, in football, students are "head fake" learning how to be group adaptable and the importance of teamwork and dependability.

In my future classroom, I believe that is important that I incorporate "head fake" learning. Sports and extra curricular activities are a great way for students to "head fake" learn, but group projects can help them to learn how to be a part of a team as well. I want my students to learn how to adapt to any kind of group. Whether they are the leader, recorder, discusser, creative mind, or even the participator, each student can contribute their part to the group. This is important to me because we all have to learn to adapt to different groups in the real world.

Another great quote that Randy mentioned when he talked about his childhood dreams was, "Brick walls are there for a reason: They let us prove how badly we want something." This was evident when Randy achieved his childhood dream of becoming an imagineer. In order to be a part of the Aladdin Project, Randy was a cap cleaner. Although this job was not the job he had dreamed of, it still gave him a chance to be a part of the Aladdin Project. He did not have to have a high job in this project to be influenced. Just by working with the crew, he saw how the Aladdin Project brought together artists and engineers.

After learning about the Aladdin Project and seeing how the artists and engineers had to work together, only made it more clear to me that I really need to influence "head fake" learning in my classroom. Both of these professions are very different. They think with different sides of the brain, and therefore, they do not think a like. It is what the two professions can create together that makes them adapt to each other. This is another reason why I will make sure to incorporate a lot of group activities or projects into my lesson plans. It is important to allow students to think off of each other and build new ideas with different personalities because you never know who they will have to work with one day.

Another topic that Randy Pausch touched on was on to enable the childhood dreams of others. He told viewers about the ways that he had learned to help others through his on teaching. One of the most important aspects that stood out to me that he said was, "You have to the set the bar high for your students and do not settle for less." The reason he said this was because he had assigned his students a project and was not really impressed with their work. Although he was not impressed with their work, he did not think their work was bad either. In conclusion, he ended up telling his class, "Your projects were pretty good, but I know you can do better."

This idea really stood out to me, and I plan to use it my classroom one day. If you really think about it, teachers determine the outcome of their students abilities to a certain level. I know that some students will decide for themselves if they do not listen or put forth effort, but what about the students who do what teachers ask of them? How will these students know they are not doing the best they can unless we challenge them? I really saw a different outlook on how I should teach just by knowing that I will be the one setting the bar of achievement.

The last topic Randy talked about was the lessons he had learned in life. He said that he had learned from his parents, mentors, and students. I agree with every part of this because your parents are the ones who guide you through the first eighteen years of your life. Mentors are also there helping you through childhood and then again when you are no longer living with your parents. Later in life when you become a teacher you learn from your students. I am a strong believer that teachers can learn just as much from the students as the students learn from them.

Some the advice Randy left listeners with was to respect authority while questioning it, loyalty is a two way street, never give up, and to help others. He also said that there are ways to get people to help you. The first step is to believe that you cannot make it alone. Next tell the truth and be earnest. And lastly he said to apologize when you mess up and focus on others, not yourself.

I honestly believe anyone can learn from these steps. We need the support of others through life, and it is not possible to make it without a little help along the way. As a future teacher, I will practice these steps at the school in which I work in because I know that I will need help from my colleagues. Also, I want to continue to put others first in my life. As a child I remember learning that key to living a joyful life was to put Jesus first, then Others, and then Yourself.

As a future teacher, it is my goal to help each and every student that comes my way to develop into the best adult that they can be. I know that in order to achieve this goal I will need help from others, and I will not be able to complain. Instead of complaining I will only push harder. As I help these students, I will achieve my dream of becoming the teacher that students will remember.