What Matters Final Presentation

Evaulation #2

My last presentation, I thought I did better then my first one. I thought that I had more eye contact with the audience and that I spoke clearly. I still need to work on memorizing my presentations so that I will mainly look up at my classmates the entire time. I rely on my notes too much, so I will have to work on that. I felt more comfortable this time, then the first time I presented. I think that the more times I present, the more I will start to feel comfortable. Overall, I think it went well.

PLN 26-Speaking their Digital Language

I was browsing through The Thinking Stick blog, when I found a article called Speaking their Digital Language. This blog talks about the many 19 and 20 year olds all with their own laptops, mobile phones, and ipods who do not seem at all familiar with blogging or wikis. Teens and young adults aren't in the world of the older technology of what adults think they might know about. They are in their own technology world of: facebook, youtube, myspace, computer games, or video games. Scott Mooney was suprised by this, and pleased to listen to the teens's conversation about today's technology. He thought that teens are willing to share if adults are willing to learn. And people will communicate better with what we are doing, if they understand our "digital language".

I can very much relate to this blog because parents don't understand what kind of technology we are using, and the many daily things we do. I also agree with Scott Mooney about teens willing to share if people are willing to learn.

In the world, our generation technology has become new to adults. They should try to learn what we do for fun, or if we are bored sitting at home with a computer. What may happen in the future, is that the technology and everything else will advance even more and we will not know about in the future, just like adults today.

PLN 25- Christmas light attitudes can be illuminating

I had been looking through many articles when one caught my eye, called Christmas light attitudes can be illuminating by Marni Jameson. This article is about woman complaining about one thing of their conversation of christmas lights-their husbands. The three complaints are: the husbands who will not put up outdoor lights, ones who go over the top with them, and ones who put them up terribly. The first category is about one husband, Dan who refuses to put up lights and rather would watch football.

"I oppose any life-risking behavior on principle."

The second category is about the husbands who do a lousy job, and make all the lights all crooked.

"You can always tell a house that has lights done professionally," one lady
laments. "They're straight — unlike ours."

The last category talks about a husband who could not find light at a store, and chose to take white outdoor lights and spray paint them half red and half green.

"Hey, what's with these lights?" Jo Ann's son asked.

I thought this was a particularly amusing blog. Every family has their own different ways of putting up christmas lights, or may not even choose to do so. I think that people either complain about them or go for it. This relates to me because my dad put up a lot of lights just in one day; there are many different decorations all around our house. And he pretty much spent the whole day doing this. I think christmas lights are very pretty and can get everyone in the christmas mood and spirit.

PLN 24- Fight Hunger While Learning Vocab

I was browsing through the Fischbowl when I found a article called Fight Hunger While Learning Vocab by Karl Fisch. This article talks about the opportunity for students to learn vocab and fight world hunger at the same time. Free Rice is a website with vocabulary words for people. You must click on the best fit definition of a word, and for every word you get right; they donate 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program. This website helps improve vocabulary and sets to your own level.

I thought that even though, this may be boring to students, it is a very creative way to learn and also give at the same time. It is a great idea to improve on vocab and also gives food to the needy. This can relate to us because many of us need to advance in our vocabularly, and this would be a great chance to do so.

World hunger is a very common problem today, more groups and organizations should come up with more ideas like this website and solve the problem. There are people starving out there, and we need to be grateful for the many things we have; especially education. It can lead to more serious effects, and causes.

"Lots of possibilities here for creative teachers and students and maybe, just
maybe, doing some good in the process. And it's also, you know, kinda fun."

PLN 23- Pocket Texting and Open Phone Tests

I was recently looking through many blogs until I found one that had drawn my attention. This blog is called Pocket Texting and Open Phone Tests. This is about a 14-year old boy named Insoo that makes his phone play an important role of school and education. He uses his phone to send an SMS or a text without even looking at his phone. He has his own info to slide the phone open and press all the buttons to send one text. When Insoo has difficult homework problems, he goes on the computer and posts the problem on a online service that has people's response to it. A questionable debate is made on this blog; whether phone tests are ok and if technology is influencing our work and possibly helping us and affecting our future.

I thought this boy is pretty smart to compose a message, press all the buttons, without even looking at his phone. This relates to me because I use the computer all the time for homework in different classes. Google is a big help for research papers and for general information. I think that we always use the computer for different uses, but what might it be like in the future? The technology will be higher and advance even more.

PLN 22- Praying mom wins $9 million in Lotto

I was looking through the Denver Post blog when I saw an article that caught my attention. This article is called Praying mom wins $9 million in Lotto. This article is about a depressed 50 yr. old single mother of two sons, almost losing her home due to foreclosure, wins a $9 million lottery. This praying mother bought her ticket from Safeway. She is going to use her money wisely by paying off her mortgage home, paying for her sons' colleges to finish off and other school loans, and lending a hand for her extended family who live in the Philippines.

I thought this was incredible that this woman was on the verge of losing her home, suddenly wins a lot of money because of her prayers. This relates to Peace Like a River because of the miracles we have been talking about. Some people believe in miracles, others would believe in luck. In my opinion, I think this was a miracle that happened to the woman. In my own personal religious views, I am a Christian, and I believe prayer is powerful. Other people could just believe this was out of pure luck.

In the world, miracles don't occur this often. People rarely see news articles based on miracles like this. The littlest, most powerful things can be defined as a miracle.

PLN 21- Springs man drowns while fishing

Looking through the Denver Post blog, one article called Springs man drowns while fishing caught my eye. This article is about a Colorado Springs man who drowns while fishing. Two men had been fishing at the Arkansas River during nighttime. They had been using glowing worms as bait to see if any fish would get to it; but the man leaned in to far and got swept away by the currents. The current had also done the same to the other man, but fortunately he was able to climb out of the water.

I thought this was very unfortunate and a bit stupid. If the two men might have had life jackets on, they might have saved their lives. Even when they go during nighttime, it is very dangerous because they have a higher risk of falling in and nobody would be able to see them. They could have been much safer if it was during daytime and if they had on life jackets.

This relates to the world, because sometimes there are the easy and simple things to do to keep you safe. This connected to my other blog, on the teens, buckle up. That article also talked about how teenagers need to buckle up every time they drive; because it keeps them safe. One buckle up could save their lives. Sometimes, it is the simplest things that could keep people safe.

PLN 20-Donation will build roofs for homeless

I was searching through some blog and found one in particular. This blog is called Donation will build roofs for homeless. In this article, it talks about the Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper who got a $1.5 million contribution to the homeless initiative. One of the founders, Rich Schaden of a restaurant, announced a speech about this contribution at the Denver Arts Museum on Thursday night. The Schaden's family raises the money for this foundation, this is the largest private donation for for Denver's programs.

This seems so important and touching because just one person can really make a difference for the unfortunate people. Many donations and contributions are being created for the homeless people. I think Denver should make many more foundations to help the issue of homelessness. It's touching that people out there are willing to take the time to help the people on the streets who have absolutely nothing.

This connects to me in a way, because it reminded me of my class last year that would go on little and big mission trips. Once or twice a year, we had a mission week and all of us would be split into groups and go somewhere to help out. Some of us went to nursing homes to accompany old folks and give them help, others went to child abuse centers, poor schools, or even COMPA to help sort food goods. In 7th grade also, our class went to Juarez to build houses for people. There were many different things we did, and after we did it we felt very accomplished to help people out.

PLN 19- Dog Training

I recently suscribed to a blog called Fivestardog. I found a article called Dog Training on this blog and it talks about the necessity and importance of training your dog. Dogs naturally want to please their owner, but without any guidance they will do whatever they want. This could include chewing, barking, tearing up furniture, etc. Obedience training will make dogs even more enjoyable, and can prevent the yelling from happening that people do to dogs when they have bad behavior.

This relates to me because my dog usually opens the door himself out of his room to come out, and he scratches the carpet also. When we discipline him and train him, he no longer does these things because dogs dislike it when owners aren't very pleased with them. I think dogs are very smart, because they can do many things. For example, I have heard many stories before on dogs saving people's lives when something dangerous has happened to them. They are also friendly, loving, and loyal; and that's why I absolutely love dogs.

PLN 1 Evaluation

On my first PLN presentation I thought I did alright. The night before, I had some anxiety, and even when I got up there I was shaking in the beginning, but then stopped. I was relaxed when I was presenting, but just a tiny bit nervous. Presenting will always make me nervous, but I need to learn how to overcome that. I know I need to make much more eye contact rather then just read off my paper. I think that next time, I will prepare by not reading off so much of my paper and relate the blog entries to more of our class.

PLN 18- Supplementing My Kids' Education

I was browsing through Weblogg-ed, and one in particular caught my eye. This blog I read was called Supplementing My Kids' Education. In this post, it is about all the useful supplies in school, not being taken good advantage of. These supplies include technology such as computers. Many classrooms don't ever use computers or any other technology. This is felt like it is not enough for the children in school and in the blog it also talks about a meeting that will be taken place by a presenter on improving this. A lot of work kids do in school aren't making a connection to kids particulary because of worksheets or handouts.

This relates to me because I think that in school a lot of my classes never make good use of the great technology that could be connected to learning. There are so many ways that we can learn from, such as: writing, blogging, typing, reading/analyzing, etc. I think the more different new ways we use, the more we will learn. This blog reminded me of one of my other PLN'S that was called "Pushing Writing Literacy", because it basically summarized the many different new ways we can learn from. In our english class, I think that doing things on our laptops, really helps me personally to learn; I never knew we could do so much that could be related to our learning. And from this, I have learned many new forms of writing and comprehending. New things are always a great additional learning to all of my classes.

PLN 17- Teen boy hurt in drop from 2nd story at school

I was looking through the Denver Post blog and I found an article called Teen boy hurt in drop from 2nd story at school. In this article it talks about a 14 year old boy from Rocky Heights Middle School that jumped or fell from a second story. The boy's injuries were not too serious or life-threatening. Officials are still figuring out on how this happened and what caused it.

This is a important article because many kids are injured today; whether its falling off a bike or falling off a building. I think that parents need to watch over their kids more and not let them do whatever they want. Little things can cause big injuries or even a life-threatening one; sports can also cause long term injuries. I think we need to be careful in all that we do, because we never know what might happen.

PLN 16- "We can't stop it," say Calif. fire crews

I read an article called "We can't stop it," say Calif. fire crews in the Denver Post blog. In this article, it talks about the more then dozen of the wildfires spreading all across Southern California. The strong winds made the fire much worse and made the fires unstoppable. This fire has injured more then 45 people including 21 firefighters. It had burned nearly 600 square miles and destroying more then 1,300 homes, and evacuated more then 500,000 people away. The firefighters are not trying to fight the fire but doing their best to save buildings.

I thought that this was really sad that many wildfires have been lasting so long in California and destroying many homes. I think its a good idea that the firefighters are trying more to save the bulidings rather then stopping the fire, because the winds are just making the fire unstoppable. And I think people should try to make fires stop in dry areas even before they start; the dry grasses are the start of most wildfires.

This relates to all around the world , because in many dry places, fires will always start. It is depressing to see the fires burn all the beautiful nature. Fires will happen, but people should start something to prevent them from happening.

PLN 15- A Conversation About Failure

I recently read an article by Dave titled A Conversation About Failure. In this article it is about Henry Winkler, a director, producer, and author. He had been a speaker for a New York State School Board’s Association conference in NYC on his own experiences and how it relates to many kids today. Henry has dyslexia, a learning disability in reading and writing. Kids have those disabilities today that deals with learning and they face challenges with barely any attention. But in this NCLB group, attention is brought onto the kids and they start to achieve much more. This program tries to brings out more of the children's focuses and talent.

This relates to me because sometimes failures can bring me down very low. The only thing that can keep myself going is if I know that I need to keep trying. Life leads to failure, but when i'm down, I need to bring myself back up; its the only way I can learn until an achievement is made.

To the world, many students in high school drop out because they feel as if they are unable to learn because of disabilities. Those hard things cannot block the way of success. People can give up easily but striving on will be the only way to keep going at it and trying, no matter how difficult it can be.

PLN 14- Learning From The Kids

I read an article called Learning From The Kids by Will Richardson. In this article it talks about how he spends a couple of hours with 11th grade students out of Vancouver and being part of what they do. He learns alot from these students about myspace, facebook, and youtube. He learns that they keep safe online on those websites. He learns about one of the student's that puts her own made videos onto youtube. Will Richardson had an experience of what they do and interacted with them.

I think it would be a good idea for adults to get an understanding of what our age group goes through and does. It helps them see an experience of what we do daily, and can help them engage in our conversations more. There are many things adults don't understand that we do, that is why we have the chance to teach them about it and about our technology and other things today. Adults can learn just as much as we do everyday.

"At the end of the two hours, I was really sad it was over. I asked (halfway
begged) them to make me a part of their networks, because I need some young folk
in my learning community. Not sure if they’ll let me know how things roll out
for them, but for one day, at least, I hope they learned as much as I did."

PLN 13- Pushing Writing Literacy

I read an article called Pushing Writing Literacy by Will Richardson. In this article, I read about all the different types of writing there are and how they are taught to students. There is blogging, commenting, writing articles or essays, IM or Gmail, and writing in video and audio. Blogging helps you reflect on whatever you are reading and gets you to write out a summarization and understanding. Writing essays or articles is a original type of writing. IM is a conversation type of literacy. There are many different and new things taught to students in classrooms, especially today a lot comes from technology.

I thought that many new styles and forms of things are taught to students are essential and important for them to be able to grasp the new concept of what is being taught to them. There are the many different ways to communicate in writing but it is good for students to learn in new ways, it could help them in different areas of writing depending which strategy they choose to do.

"Makes me wonder, with all of the different ways in which I write, all of
the different audiences I write for, all of the different ways I attempt to
communicate and engage in conversations and connections around my ideas, it
makes me wonder whether we’ll ever see these many modes of writing as important
enough to teach our kids."

PLN 12- Aurora girl, 4, found in burning house

I was looking into the Denver Post blog, and I saw a article called Aurora girl, 4, found in burning house. In this article, it talks about a 4 year old girl being rescued from a house that caught on fire. The Aurora Fire Department found her under toys and clothing in the basement. More then 20 firefighters helped put out the fire and the damage cost $30,000. Fortunately, nobody was seriously harmed.

I think that firefighters are truly amazing and brave people. They are brave enough to go out into a burning house of fire, risking their lives to save others. It is an important job, which takes strength and commitment. I would not be sure what we would do today without people like firefighters, police officers, and soldiers. All of their jobs are heroic.

PLN 11- State pushes teens to buckle up more

I was searching through the Denver Post blog and caught a article called State pushes teens to buckle up more. This article is about getting teenagers to buckle up more whether they are the driver or passenger. It says that in 2005, 71 teens died in Colorado from car accidents; 50 of them not wearing seatbelts. Car crashes are becoming the main death for teenagers. A group announced a pledge here in 11 different Colorado highschools to get at least 400 signatures from teens promising to buckle up. Teen seat-belt promotions will be provided in 11 populated countries.

It is extremely important for teenage drivers to buckle up. Without that one buckle click, it is a high risk and danger in car accidents. It is that simple to try to be safe with one seat-belt on. I noticed flashing signs on the roads that say, "Click it, or ticket it!" Teen driving can be dangerous and should be looked at for their young ages; it is the cause of teen deaths many times a year.

PLN 10- ACLU protests school search of cellphones

In the Denver Post's category I found an article called ACLU protests school search of cellphones by Kieran Nicholson. In this article, it is about the ACLU of Colorado complaining to the Boulder Valley School District about it being a crime searching student's cellphone text messages. It's believed after no proof of drugs or cigarettes from students, schools question and search for felonies in the text messages. Principals in the Douglas and Jefferson county search in student's cellphones since last year.

It is important for principals to care about their school and set up rules and regulations. It is a good idea that they look for proof of crimes in student's text messages, but I still think it is a little private to interfere with their cell phones although they would still have a right to do so.
I know that a lot of people at school use their cellphones to text especially, even during part of class, I would understand why the search would be taken place in those schools.

PLN 9- Boulder man kills mountain lion attacking puppy

I was searching through the The Denver Post blog and found a article from the associated press called Boulder man kills mountain lion attacking puppy. In this article it talks about a questionable reason whether the man that killed a mountain lion that had been attacking a puppy; should be charged or not. The people inside the home heard one of the 3 dogs being attacked and that is when the man came out towards the lion. It says there are laws for people to protect themselves and their livestock or property. It is a hard decision for the people to make for the man to be faced with charges or not since it was the protection of a puppy.

It is important to protect the smaller animals from any big animals if anybody gets a chance. I think the man that shot the lion had a right for protecting the puppy. People go hunting for animals anyways on a daily basis sometimes and is almost like the same thing, that puppy would have died if the man would not have tried to save him/her. And people would also kill dangerous animals for the sake of their lives.

PLN 8- A Blog in the Woods?

I had been looking through 2 Cents Worth, and a blog titled A Blog In The Woods? caught my attention. In this article, it talks about the blogs being read by others but there is no feedback to them. It seems pointless to express opinions, or ideas if there is nobody to even share it with. There would not be much to it if blogs were to be posted online and nobody reads it, they need to be able to intrigue reader's thoughts and comments on it. Blogging is a great way to communicate and share ideas out to others.

Blogging in english class, really gets me thinking and expressing my ideas. I think it is a good way of learning and being able to express yourself. It would be boring if nobody gave me any feedback on my posts. In class, if a discussion is being made and nobody chooses to open up and talks about it then it gives learning such a boring experience. Other people's ideas or opinions really open up conversations.

“Does a blog in the woods, that no one reads, make any noise?”

PLN 7- My Flickr Conundrum

I read the article My Flickr Conundrum by Will Richardson and this article talks about the pictures he took while he was on a trip in Australia. He had taken about 400 pictures, mostly of his kids. He pointed out that there could be better pictures found elsewhere then his own shots, and he asked, "Why shouldn’t I just use those to capture my memories?" My own answer to his question would be that it is so essential to capture your own very picture of all the places you have visited, or any breath-taking scenery you may see.

What I find that matters is that someone's own picture is so much better then anybody else's or any other you could find online. A taken picture is very special that is able to have it's own voice and says something about that memory. Pictures to me are so important because I absolutely just love to take pictures everywhere I go even if it is an ordinary everyday sunset or like a blue sky without a cloud in sight. In the world, many photographers see taking pictures as a form of art and I agree, but those shots have meanings to them. Just one camera can capture the memories anywhere you go, and helps you remember that one special trip or day.

This relates to me because I am very into taking pictures and I love to do it. Everytime, I see a pretty view I am dying to take a picture of it; and when I don't have my camera with me I get so mad at myself about it. It is like I want to try to save it and don't want it to go away.

PLN 6- See My Student Inventions

I had been glancing through the Cool Cat Teacher blog and I found one blog that caught my eye called See My Student Inventions. This article is about student's inventions for a project they are doing. One invention called iCoach has a preset of routines on a ipod that you can listen to and give feedback at the same time. Digital recordings can be added to this and Coach customizes that routine on a website. Another invention is called DigiDock, this forms a cellphone into a webcam, makes skype calls, shares everything, and is inserted through a USB. One of the last inventions I thought was interesting was called Perfume Pal; on the computer people can talk to their celebrity about their favorite perfumes and customize their own by the holograms and perfume scents combined on Microsoft surface.

This matters to me because students just like us open up their ideas and share their creativity. Inventions expand you're imagination and can create a world of new ideas. I thought new inventions are very unique and fun. This also relates to me because our class last year had an invention convention and created inventions, but unlike this we basically just threw stuff together.

This is important to the world as well because these new inventions can be sold to people and could make a lot of money. They can be useful and helpful to people in the world.

Reading about new inventions can be fun and got me thinking about what new things will be created next or what will be the next big thing in our generation. I love reading about these unique inventions when they are created by young adults.

PLN 5- Is Payment for Good Grades Legitimate Motivation in This Day and Age?

I have recently read an article called Is Payment for Good Grades Legitimate Motivation in This Day and Age? This article is about the motivation that drives kids today in school. They talk about whether or not paying kids for good grades is good motivation to them. Students today aren't pushed enough to work hard and tends to be easy for them to slack off or give up at any point. Motivation would be very helpful to help kids to work hard at school and push them harder. The adults are making an effort to motivate kids, not only in school but in anything else.

This matters to me because sometimes I know I really need motivation to try and keep up my grades, sometimes I want to slack off but I know that dosen't do anything for me. Being paid would be a good motivation, but I still try hard even when I don't get money because I know that its worth it now and will definitely help later on in life. Getting good grades is essential to me, my parents tend to give me a push once in awhile.

In the world, kids try to take the easy way out and not try at all in school. It is important to do well now because it helps later on in life. If we don't try hard now, it makes a mark in our lives because we wouldn't get into a good college, then we won't be able to get a job; this highly affects our future.

"In this day and age, we need to prove TO kids that the work they are asked
to do 'today' actually has a recognizable relationship to the life they are
actually living and experiencing 'today'."

PLN Entry 4- Putting them in a bubble

I was looking through the Thinking Stick blog and one article called Putting them in a bubble looked interesting to me. In this blog it is talking about how educators are trying to put students in a bubble aside from our generation. In this generation right now, a lot of us download music illegally, use Youtube, and have a myspace or a facebook. Adults try to protect us from these certain things and attempt to keep them out of our bubble. They are okay with us doing those things at home and not at school; adults are afraid that the new things in our world is affecting our learning. When our "bubbles" pop, we will have to deal and face the real world ourselves without any direction or guidance.
This connects to me because I know that I personally do those things that everybody else does, but parents dont really understand our new generation and new technology. I have been in a Christian school my whole life, and they have been putting us in a Christian bubble; entering into a public school is like entering the real world for me and I feel like I am no longer in this bubble. They shouldn't criticize the things we like to do and think that it might effect our learning. And relating to the world, a lot of people are so caught into stuff like computers, cellphones, ipods, etc. that they lose their focus on the real world.
One quote stuck out in this article:

"What happens when they graduate and go off into the world?"

PLN entry 3- Could It Happen Here?

I read an article that is called Could It Happen Here? by David Warlick that is an article that is about a conference to build the future of schools for students to attend at in Shanghai. This conference had been sponsored by ACAMIS, Association of China and Mongolia International Schools, the people are wondering if something like this could occur in the United States.

What Matters?
What's important is the future of kid's education in schools they summarize about. Everybody's education is important of course, but this conversation in the article leads up to talking about the future. And also, how this should be effective to kid's learning environments, it's important that it helps kids to learn.




Here's a quote I liked from the article:

“Come join the search as we together build the future of schools.”

PLN Entry 2-Nata Children recieve new shoes

I was looking through the Nata Village blog and I saw one story that seemed like a good article to me, called Nata Children recieve new shoes. This blog is about two travelers from London that are part of an organization; The Nata AIDS and Orphan trust. They distribute shoes (donated by Flamingo High school) to the children in the village and try to find the right shoe sizes for them. A lot of children are poor all around the world, and I think its important that we share and help them. It is very sweet that organizations take the time to give to children who don't have food, clothes, or shoes. It matters that we should be thankful for just about everything that we have, to not take advantage of it, and to not complain about the smallest things. The world around us can be greedy, and we must not follow that. We have every reason to be thankful even if we dislike something, like school. It's essential to be generous and sharing to everyone, and not take in of any selfishness.

PLN Entry 1- 10.2

Looking through the different blogs on "2 Cents Worth", one in particular caught my eye: "10.2" this blog talks about all the jobs a man named Doug has had. It appeared interesting to me about all of these jobs. It says that people hold on average 10.2 jobs between the ages of 18 and 38, but Doug has had alot more then only 10. He has washed cars, made picture frames and stamps, delivered newspapers, and played music in bands. He's worked as an operator and set up man in a machine shop to moving furniture and playing guitar. I could not imagine how many jobs he kept up with, and takes much hard work. I think having jobs builds up your character and perseverance as you get older. It makes young adults know what working actually means and what it is like to work for something they want. Doug taught himself many things- playing guitar, writing software, coding web pages, and self-publishing a book. Also it states that kids need to be taught to teach themselves rather then being taught by others, having a job and working at it; step by step, teaches you something is what matters. This would relate to our class because we need to work hard in every way we can on everything and learn new things and apply them to ourselves; possibly teaching ourselves something. This would connect to the world because many people have experienced more then one job, they can define what it is like to work for something. Some have taught theirselves many things from their childhood growing up.