Accessibility for All

Accessibility for all is the idea that the Internet should (and is in fact the law) that the Internet be accessible for all people, especially those with disabilities. I was not there for the presentation, but I looked over the power point presentation and was very interested to see all of the laws and programs that are in place to help people with disabilities have access to the internet. I think these programs are wonderful and if I ever have a child with a disability in my classroom it will be wonderful to be able to help them and give them access to these programs.

Podcasting

Podcasting is something that I have been "involved" with for a while now. My favorite TV blogger has a podcast that she and another blogger do about twice a month and I always enjoy listening to what they have to say about the TV world.

Podcasting is a way of publishing audio and videos for the internet.To make or listen to a podcast you must download certain programs to your computer, most being free, and from there you can listen, view, or download your podcast at leisure.Teachers using podcasting, I think, can be a great learning tool inside the classroom. You can give your students podcast to subscribe to that will be helpful to the course, and you can communicate with parents through a podcast in a quick and easy which which would allow the parents to listen and become informed at their own time. Podcast are used for just about every subject you could think of. I listen to a few podcast now about the election, and as already stated I love to listen to my TV blogger and what her thoughts about TV shows today. I think podcasting is really great. For learning, it releases you of time constraints and helps you to learn something new at your own convience. For teachers and students, it would be a great way of communication. My only real problem with using podcasting for the classroom is that not all students have access to a computer, but in this day and age hopefully it will not be long until all do and since most schools have a library of some sort hopefully teachers can work the library and give their kids access to those computers.


The podcast that I like to listen to comes from the website "givememyremote" about televison. http://cdn1.libsyn.com/duckyxdale/TVTalkPodcast29.mp3?nvb=20081013155858&nva=20081014155858&t=0a69007ab57449f846e08

This is the address to the podcast, i'm not sure if it actually works because I always just go through the GMMR website. But I love this podcast because the two people are a lot of fun and I like to talk about TV (I can't help it- I love TV!!) It may not be the most educational podcast ever, but its a lot of fun and is a podcast that I love to listen to.




This is a really great history podcast that I also watch: http://feeds.blastpodcast.com/EVTV1History/index.xml

It gives you a little piece of history each week, and would be great to use for a history class inside a classroom!

Alabama Virtual Library

The Alabama Virtual Library (AVL) is a great tool that educators and students alike can use. The AVL allows students to have access to great resources tools ont the web.The database primarily has access to all kinds of different articles such as magazines, journals, and newspapers clippings that can be very helpful in the classroom, to help students get a better understanding of the world around them. I know at my highschool (Mobile Christian School) we were all required to get an AVL card, I am not sure if all schools require this, but if they don't ai think they should. It was especially useful for our history and science classes, and we used the web frequently. I am planning on teaching in Alabama for a while so I think the AVL will be very helpful. I have actually already begun to think about different articles that I will use in my classroom to help my students, and different projects that they will be able to do by using the AVL. I think it is a great program that can help expand the minds of both students and teachers.

Google Thinking Blog

This article seems a little strange to me. I can see where they are going in that we are learning to think a little differently because of the internet, but it all seems ridiculous to me. Maybe the internet has made some people more lazy, but I still enjoy reading my books, whether I can look up the summary online or not. I really just think these people are over thinking- just enjoy the internet for what is has and be thankful we no longer have to spend days in the library looking up information.

ALEX

The Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX), is a program set up by the Alabama Department of Education that helps to share and index many kinds of educational resources, which through this exchange can now become available to teachers anywhere in Alabama. The program provides things such as Web links, Courses of study, and Lesson plans. It is a really neat program that allows teachers to expand their horizons and give their students a better education.
I would love to be able to use ALEX for my own classroom. Knowing that it is a work in progress and can only continue to go on if teachers continue to add to the index of resources- I think it would be great to add my own lesson plans and be able to have availability to others. ALEX is a great program, which I hope will live on

ACCESS

ACCESS is a program that was developed by the Alabama Department of Education to aid students in the Alabama public school system, and give them the oppurtunity to participate in classes which otherwise, they would not have been able to. To do this the ACCESS system uses the internet to provide a technical infrastructure which can deliver system approved courses to students statewide. Primarily the ACCESS system is giving an oppurtunity to students to learn more and have a greater education then they would have, mostly through the use of the internet and special courses.
I think ACCESS is a great tool and will love to be able to use it in my classroom one day. As it stands now I am going to be working at a private christian school that does not have the ACCESS program, but hopefully one day that will change. I think it would be a great oppurtunity for the students in my class to get to experience studying online with a bigger group of people, and to give them greater oppurtunities to learn and expand their knowledge with more than just being inside of a classroom.

life or something like it

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you feel everything is going great and your life is finally on track and then you wake up and realize that it's really not. That there are people you wish were still in your life but aren't anymore and that makes life a little less great? Well, I was having a week like that until a friend of mine reminded me that well, That is life! The ups and downs, the love given and the love lost, and being sure to learn more about yourself along the way. So in honor of Jeanie and her love of list here are some things I have learned over the past few weeks.. maybe these things will help one of you out too!

-My friends rock! I'm not sure how I would have made it through the last few weeks without them, I seriously do get by with a little help from my friends! And a great thing about friends is that they can be anywhere in the world ( Momma Hooker ) and I always will know that they love me!

-Love is never "a fault." I have heard a lot of "well it's your fault this is happening" over the past few weeks, and I have finally come to the realization Love IS NOT a fault! To say that love is a fault is to belittle it, and no matter how crazy the love may be, you should never belittle love!

-Never be afraid to let people in. That is one of the most important things I have learned. For a while I had been afraid of letting people in then I dropped a TV on a girls head and everything changed. And even though the last time I did it ended in heartbreak, I know now not to be scared, and that is a blessed thing.

-When it comes to friendship, age doesn't matter. This one should be pretty obvious, but it is true. I have found friendship with not old ( this is you Cindy ) but more "older" people than me and my life has been forever blessed and changed because of it, and younger people too. Friendship is such a great thing- and it is my goal to never forget that

.-God puts all people in our lives for a reason. Whether it is to save you over and over again ( Kelsey ), to be a listening ear whenever- and i do mean whenever- you might need one ( Jean ), to teach you more about yourself than you thought possible ( Cindy ), someone to complain to about the crazyiness in our lives ( Jessica ) or to just be somebody who has been there all along ( A and Payton ) each and every person we come in contact with, God has put there. And no- we may not understand why they are there, but maybe one day we will.

-To go along with that.. Just because they are in your life does not mean that they always will be. And it will hurt when they leave, trust me on this, but in the end hopefully you will be able to see the good they did when they were around, and to realize that just because they are not in your life anymore, doesn't mean you can't still love them.I guess that is it for now-

I am so thankful and blessed to have you all in my life. Thank you all for keeping me sane, Love each and every one of you!

live, love, matter.

LIfe and this thing called college

Hello again! So here is a little bit about myself: My name is Victoria Davidson and im a junior at South. My major is History/Education and I couldn't be more excited about it! It took me a while to get there but now that I finally have I am really glad about it. History is my passion and I can't wait to start teaching about it.
Since I started in the History and Education departments my life has been very blessed, not to mention I have been able to take some awesome classes!! I spent my summer taking History of WWII and History of the Holocaust. I never thought I would learn about myself from taking a history class, but those classes truly changed my life and not to mention fired me up and got me really excited about teaching! I have also been able to meet some really great people and isn't that what life is all about!!
I grew up in Mobile and I love it here. I went away to Auburn for a year, and then worked at Disney World for a few months but somehow made my way back to Mobile. A lot of the people I went to high school with really liked to diss on Mobile, but I love it. I live on Dog River which is where I find my peace and I live only about 20 minutes away from Dauphin Island- I am a big lover of the water! I think thats why I didn't make it in Auburn- no ocean around! I have taken up kayaking recently and it to is now on the list of things that I have completely become obsessed with. There is a certain power in being on the water and me and my pink kayak are loving it!
I hang out a lot at the coffee shop Carpe Diem- it's pretty much my favorite. I'm not actually a big coffee drinker- but hit me up with some earl grey and I am in my happy place :) I love my coffee shop and the people there- the other "regulars"- even though we don't know much about each other, maybe just the drinks we like, I cherish them all and my carpe family always makes my day a little better. Reading is life for me- I am always reading, and I do a lot of that reading right at Carpe Diem. Sieze the day with a book!

I guess that is enough for right now.. Hurricane Gustave appears to be headed int he general direction of the gulf coast so I guess its time to bring in the outside furniture!!

vd.

My Welcome into the blogging world

Hey everybody!! I hope you all are having a great second week of the semester! I have never really blogged before but i'm excited about it and im hoping to learn some new stuff! So I guess that is it for now...

vd.