On Wednesday, March 10, 2010 Mollie Hogan from The Nature of Wildworks brought her animal friends to visit these 3rd graders' school. Mrs. Yollis made a short video of Mollie and each of the 8 fun creatures she brought for show and tell. It looks like they had a fun fact-filled adventure right inside their school! I commented as follows:
Mrs. Yollis,
Hi there! My name is Ingrid Welborn and I am a student at the University of South Alabama, located in Mobile, Alabama. I am commenting on your video post of Mollie Hogan's visit to your school for a course I am taking called Microcomputing Systems in Education (EDM 310).
I enjoyed the variety of animal friends she brought for show and tell. I am familiar with the Macaw Bird because it is fairly popular. They are very big and loud birds and their favorite hobby is chewing! At this point in time, the only species of the Macaw that is not endangered in the wild is the Blue and Gold Macaw. This is true mostly due to deforestation.
Another animal friend I am strangely familiar with is the opossum. This little creature is the only marsupial mammal in North America. I live in southern Alabama and we see these "dead playing" tricksters everywhere, including my mom's front porch! They hide under the porch chairs and eat my cat's food in the middle of the night! Thank goodness they take off quickly and don't hang out and play dead all night. I loved the cute, fact-filled video you composed of Mollie's visit to your school. It looks like it was a fun filled learning adventure!
Sincerely,
Ingrid Welborn
USA- Secondary Science
Week 9: ALEX (Alabama Learning Exchange) & ACCESS (Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide)
ALEX
I have used ALEX in previous classes, specifically where I was assigned to examine lesson plans or make one of my own by using an example. I believe the site has been updated since last semester and it is even easier to navigate! I must say that ALEX will probably be one of the most helpful resources I will use when I begin teaching. I explored the Science department and was thrilled to find a link to Bill Nye the Science Guy! Although the show does not air on television any more, you still have access to previously recorded shows and even some new DVD's! I know I know, I might seem oddly excited about Bill Nye, but hey I learned from his show! Despite the corniness and predictable quotes, I was one of the Science geeks that thoroughly enjoyed movie day in Biology. There are also simple science experiments (with diagrams) for each lesson that are easy to view and print. I will definitely be using some of these in my future classroom.
I also stumbled across a link to National Geographic for Kids. I can definitely use this at home with my son who LOVES learning about animals. The link above will take you straight to the games and quiz section of the site, but check out the photography! Absolutely amazing. There are also a broad spectrum of podcast variety available for listening and/or viewing at ALEX. There is also a whole section where you can search for Alabama Course of Study Content Standards. This is a lot more convenient than flipping through a huge encyclopedia of standards to be met.
ACCESS
This was my first time taking a good look at ACCESS and what it has to offer students and educators. Here's an overview of what I found in my research: The Alabama ACCESS Distance Learning Initiative was launched onNovember 1, 2004 , with funding of $10.3 million startingOctober 1, 2005 . The distance education initiative was the culmination of research and planning by Governor Bob Riley’s Task Force on Distance Learning. In Year One, the central vision of the Task Force was to "provide equal access to high quality instruction to improve student achievement through distance learning opportunities."
This was my first time taking a good look at ACCESS and what it has to offer students and educators. Here's an overview of what I found in my research: The Alabama ACCESS Distance Learning Initiative was launched on
Objectives two through five will concentrate on continuing to meet objectives of year one, increasing the accessibility of ACCESS Distance Learning to all public high schools in the state. This objective will strive to provide access to Advanced Placement or dual credit courses, remediation and supplemental resources, advanced diploma courses targeting foreign languages, and to provide teachers with additional multimedia and technology tools to enhance instruction.
I did a little research on the concept of ‘Distance Learning’ so that I could break it down for myself and for someone reading this that may be entirely unfamiliar with ACCESS. Distance learning is a system and a procedure that connects students to distributed learning resources. Although distance learning can take a diversity of forms, all distance learning is characterized by (a) separation/distance of place and/or time between instructor and learner, amongst learners, and/or between learners and learning resources; and (b) interaction between the learner and the instructor, among learners and/or between learners and learning resources conducted through one or more media. (Learning without Frontiers)
