Uploading a downloaded video to You Tube.

For this assignment I used Real Player to download a video from You Tube.  I chose City and Colour - "Cowgirl in the Sand".  When the video was downloaded I went into my You Tube account and selected upload.  I then chose browse and selected the video I had downloaded. The video now is available in my You Tube account.   The link for this is: You Tube upload.

This activity was a treat because I love music.  I think that it fits into the NETS-T standards one and two.  It is a creative activity that could enhance differentiated instruction.

You Tube Account

I already had an account with You Tube.  My account name is dsing1. I had previously used this account to make playlists for myself but had never uploaded a video to my account.

APA Action Research

This assignment was not that difficult until it came to explaining the results, which I did wrong.  To complete the assignment I watched a You Tube video APA format in Word 2010 to set the layout prior to beginning my paper.  I chose my two research questions and included them in the Method section of the paper.  I did the t-Test using the data analysis toolpak and copied the tables into my paper.  The APA style states that tables are to be placed after references and each table needs to be on a separate page.  The lines have to be horizontal in the table and the title needs to be above the table in italics. I used the references APA option in Word to create my references.  I used the link Professor Pierce provided as my first reference link 1st reference link.  I used the second podcast I made discussing the assignment as my second reference.  My podcast link:  Action Research Podcast.

This assignment fits into the NETS-T standards as a way to format action research in APA style.

Finally got the Data Analysis Toolpak

Well guys, after many, many hours of clicking and getting frustrated, the data analysis toolkit works! I didn't have Excel and bought the Home and Student Edition of Microsoft Office for home. I brought it home and installed it.  I kept going to options and selecting add-in and was then selecting data analysis toolpak and got nothing.  Finally I did a search for download data analysis toolpak for Excel 2010.  I selected Excel 2010 data analysis toopak and was able to finally get the program working right.  Now I can get those nifty little data boxes with all the cool stats.

This toolpak fits into the NETS-T standards as a tool for sorting and calculating statistical data.

T-tests Assignment

I have really struggled with this assignment.  Technical issues have been a big part of it.  I was able to do the age and discussion posts tests at work on Excel 2007.  This was after I copied the Google doc. at home and sent it to my email address at school.  The browser on my computer at school does not support the Google Chrome or Google Docs.he worksheet that our class received.  When I copied the spreadsheet and pasted it into Excel at work I selected the entire worksheet and sorted the age column.  I then added the data analysis toolkit to Excel.  I did this by selecting tools in Excel and then selecting add-ins.  I selected the data analysis toolkit and hit OK.  When I finished this I selected data analysis in tools and scrolled down to T-test 2 sample assuming equal variances.  I selected number of discussion blogs for ages 22 to 30 and then the number of discussion of blogs for ages 32-57.  I clicked OK and the statistics replaced the spreadsheet in a box that I widened the columns of to reveal all of the data. This was my result
Age and Discussion Posts.

I purchased Excel 2010 Home and Student Edition yesterday trying to continue on with testing more columns in the spreadsheet.  I installed the program into my computer and imported the Google document into Excel.  I followed the same steps as above with adding the data analysis toolkit.  Then I selected the entire worksheet and sorted ages.  I am trying to figure out how to get the screen that I got with the T-test outcomes like the one in Excel 2007.  So far, I have only been able to get the equal variance and cannot find the new worksheet ply screen.  I also cannot copy and paste the t-test pop-up in Excel 10.  I saved my results of the screen on Jing and am including the links:

Fake quiz and age

Millinial and Age

Teaching and Discussion Posts

This is the homework that Dr. Pierce assigned.  We were to follow the process of sorting the independent variable.  Then select T-test and select the cells for array 1 and then select the cells for array 2.  I have Excel 10 and I put "1" in tails and "2" in type and the result appears. I used this process to complete my homework. On the browser tests I had to change how the data was sorted for Internet Explorer and Firefox so that the other browsers would appear together in order to complete the T-test.

	AGE	Gender	Teaching
Score	0.244535528	0.284534544	0.064918329
D.Posts	0.003893*	0.444181273	0.064722595
MelScore	0.035912082	0.3765718	0.014593073

	Chrome	Firefox	IE	Safari
Score	0.112	0.133	0.027*	0.031*
D.Posts	0.258	0.213	0.193	0.126
MelScore	0.448	0.409	0.140	0.069

I represented my scores in the browser test in thousandths because the example was like this.  We were to put an asterisk by any data that was significant.  Dr. Pierce gave an example with age and discussion posts and score and Internet Explorer.  I put an asterisk by score and Safari because the result of .03 was less than p=.05.

This assignment fits into the NETS-T standard 2.  This assignment definitely was a digital age learning experience and required completing assessments.

Online Class Meeting - October 20, 2011

Tonight was pretty awesome.  My first ever online classroom meeting.  I went to the link Elluminate and logged in.  There were a few classmates on at the time and some of us practiced talking.  We realized quickly that only one person can talk at a time and until the person talking de-selects talk no one else is able to talk.  The moderator asked if we had video cameras and my classmate Jana Woofter appeared.  It was nice to see her.  She helped me at the tail end of Audacity when I was about reduced to tears and suffering from sleep deprivation.  The conversation was good in our meeting with good participation as well.

We discussed data analysis from the link that Professor Pierce e-mailed to us in
Google doc.  Prior to class we were asked to create a research question and hypothesis.  We used the information in the hypothesis  and null hypothesis links to aid us in this task.  The class discussed sort descriptives and averaging in Excel.  Prior to the class starting we were to write a hypothesis  and null hypothesis using the information we were given.  Some of us shared our hypothesis with each other and what a independent and dependent variable would be.  I have looked at the spreadsheet a lot and see many possible avenues to compare. In the discussion one comparison brought up was teaching and number of blog posts vs. not teaching and blog posts.   The teaching students blog more than the not teaching students in our class. My initial hypothesis was that younger students experiment more with various browsers than the older students.  After the meeting I think that my hypothesis was not really what we were supposed to do.  I decided to look at fake test scores for teaching and not teaching students.The meeting ended with the moderator telling us he  was going to give us a lot of "painless" tests.  I hope his definition and my definition of "painless" are similar.
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Hypothesis:  There is a significant difference with fake quiz score compared with students that are and are not teaching.

Null hypothesis:  There is no significant difference quiz scores compared with students that are and are not teaching

Teaching and Fake Score Results

Students 30 and ↓	Students ↑ 30
0.064918329
	Alpha = .05
	Result: Significant

Using Excel for action research is a great way to gather statistical information.  This would be in compliance with NET-S standards.  Students are often asked to do reports and research and using tPublish Posthis tool would make their job easier and also most likely more accurate.

How Millennial Am I?

I went to the link pewresearch.org and took the quiz.  My score was 74%.  I think that this is pretty good considering that I am on the tail end of the Baby Boomer generation.  I think being around my students and going to school myself keeps me more in tune with the world around me.  I also really enjoy Facebook.  According to the chart below I am one of the 30% in my generation to have a profile on a social network.

I think understanding the tendencies within generations is useful in understanding the culture and beliefs of others.  I find it interesting that some traits no longer appear beginning in Generation X and new traits replace the old traits.  Values and  morals are not included in Generation X and the Millennial generation, but I believe tolerance is like values and morals. Technology is not mentioned in the Boomer and Silent Generations.  Work ethic does not appear in the Millennial generation.  Something surprising to me is that the Silent generation was the smartest of all groups. This was an interesting activity.  I think this information reveals the necessity of technology in the classroom and complies with NETS-T standards.

Personality Profile - #2

I took the indicator test again  at http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp and got the same results as the two previous times I took it.  My results were INFP.

What it is to be an INFP type...

INFP - Idealistic, loyal to their values and to people who are important to them. Want an external life that is congruent with their values. Curious, quick to see possibilities, can be catalysts for implementing ideas. Seek to understand people and to help them fulfill their potential. Adaptable, flexible, and accepting unless a value is threatened.



Healers present a calm and serene face to the world, and can seem shy, even distant around others. But inside they're anything but serene, having a capacity for personal caring rarely found in the other types. Healers care deeply about the inner life of a few special persons, or about a favorite cause in the world at large. And their great passion is to heal the conflicts that trouble individuals, or that divide groups, and thus to bring wholeness, or health, to themselves, their loved ones, and their community.
Healers have a profound sense of idealism that comes from a strong personal sense of right and wrong. They conceive of the world as an ethical, honorable place, full of wondrous possibilities and potential goods. In fact, to understand Healers, we must understand that their deep commitment to the positive and the good is almost boundless and selfless, inspiring them to make extraordinary sacrifices for someone or something they believe in. Set off from the rest of humanity by their privacy and scarcity, Healers can often feel even more isolated in the purity of their idealism.
Also, Healers might well feel a sense of separation because of their often misunderstood childhood. Healers live a fantasy-filled childhood-they are the prince or princess of fairy tales-an attitude which, sadly, is frowned upon, or even punished, by many parents. With parents who want them to get their head out of the clouds, Healers begin to believe they are bad to be so fanciful, so dreamy, and can come to see themselves as ugly ducklings. In truth, they are quite OK just as they are, only different from most others-swans reared in a family of ducks.
At work, Healers are adaptable, welcome new ideas and new information, are patient with complicated situations, but impatient with routine details. Healers are keenly aware of people and their feelings, and relate well with most others. Because of their deep-seated reserve, however, they can work quite happily alone. When making decisions, Healers follow their heart not their head, which means they can make errors of fact, but seldom of feeling. They have a natural interest in scholarly activities and demonstrate, like the other Idealists, a remarkable facility with language. They have a gift for interpreting stories, as well as for creating them, and thus often write in lyric, poetic fashion. Frequently they hear a call to go forth into the world and help others, a call they seem ready to answer, even if they must sacrifice their own comfort.

I agree with the results. I take care of a lot of people.  I consider myself easy going most of the time and get along well with people.I appreciate beauty and find it in the simplest things  I teach Special education students and have made a point to get to know them as well as teach them.

This type of testing would be valuable for teachers.  Differentiated instruction is becoming less a choice and more the norm.  Understanding our students' temperaments helps us know how they are motivated, what is important to them, and whether they are most comfortable in small group or larger group activities.  Being sensitive to our students' temperaments would be a win-win for the teacher and the students.  I think that this information would apply to the NETS-T to aid in planning lessons.

Personality Profile - #1

This assignment required reading the Myers & Briggs basics at the foundation website: http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/ . According to the Myers & BriggsType Indicator (MBTI), the questionnaire measures temperaments,but does not measure traits, abilities, or character.  The type indicator is based on four temperments:


The Four Temperaments

• As Concrete Cooperators, Guardians speak mostly of their duties and responsibilities, of what they can keep an eye on and take good care of, and they're careful to obey the laws, follow the rules, and respect the rights of others.
  
• As Abstract Cooperators, Idealists speak mostly of what they hope for and imagine might be possible for people, and they want to act in good conscience, always trying to reach their goals without compromising their personal code of ethics.
  
• As Concrete Utilitarians, Artisans speak mostly about what they see right in front of them, about what they can get their hands on, and they will do whatever works, whatever gives them a quick, effective payoff, even if they have to bend the rules.

• As Abstract Utilitarians, Rationals speak mostly of what new problems intrigue them and what new solutions they envision, and always pragmatic, they act as efficiently as possible to achieve their objectives, ignoring arbitrary rules and conventions. 

I have taken this questionnaire in two different classes while working on my Bachelor's degree.  Both times the results were the same, INFP.  I agree that the results are very spot on in my case.  I believe that this is why this test is widely used.  Most people that took the test when I did agreed with their results as well.

Audacity Project - Post #2

When I grew up music was always playing in my house.  My parents were young and liked Rock and Roll.  They even went to see the Beatles in concert when I was a young girl.  They passed their love of music on to me and I passed it on to my children.  Music makes me feel happy and many days after work I crank the volume way up and “sit” dance and sing my way home. I have  had a really hard time deciding on what songs to include.  My podcast time ran out before my song choices.  I had to continuously remove songs.  I also was not very quick to learn that while in pause mode I was not able to snip the tracks.  I also was like a maniac with the mouse and kept getting the choice of arrow tools confused.  This led to multiple re-dos.  I used fade in and fade out for most of the songs.  Again, it took me awhile to realize this could be done with individual tracks and waiting many minutes to fade out an entire project at once, which didn’t really work well. When I finally got all the songs and narrative to meet the time requirement and sound alright I once again struggled for a long time trying to get my finished Audacity portion into the Beanpod.com.  Thankfully Jana Woofter helped me via Facebook and phone.  Thank you again, Jana. So here I sit three days late, sleep deprived and hopped up on coffee finishing this assignment. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?

I used Real Player to download videos from YouTube.  After the videos were downloaded I converted them to MP3 format.  I downloaded Audacity and opened a new file.  I dragged the MP3 music files into Audacity and edited them.  The computer I used had a built in microphone so I did my narratives with the internal microphone.  When I completed my recording in Audacity I saved the file by selecting Save Project.  I named the file Debbie’s Podcast and finally ended up saving the file to my desktop.  I did this because I lost the project a few times.  When I saved the project in Audacity the file extension was .aud.  I followed the tutorial link classmates had shown on the discussion section of the blackboard.  The tutorial showed saving the file as an MP3 file in Windows Media Player.  I downloaded Beanpod.com and registered.  I then logged into Beanpod.com and  scrolled down to where the files are imported.  I selected desktop and the file that contained the Windows Media Player MP3 file with my pod cast on it.  The file uploaded and I copied the link from the upload tab when the upload was complete.  I then pasted the link into my blog.  I tried over and over to get the Lame converter to work, but with no luck. After all the trouble I had been having I used what worked.    I hope this doesn’t count against me.  This assignment would be appropriate for all NETS standards.

Audacity Podcast – My Music Bibliography


Track 1:  Introduction audio clip
Track 2:  Ray Charles - What’d I Say
Track 3:  Trini Lopez - If I Had A Hammer
Track 4:  Audio clip
Track 5:  Tom Jones - It’s Not Unusual
Track 6:  Audio Clip
Track 7:  The Jackson 5 - Got to Be There
Track 8:  The Stylistics - Betcha By Golly Wow
Track 9:  Audio Clip - split track with Echo effect
Track 10:  Pink Floyd - Breathe
Track 11:  Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
Track 12:  Audio
Track 13:  The Indigo Girls - Closer to Fine
Track 14:  REM - Find the River
Track 15:  Audio mixed with Yanni - In the Morning Light

Audacity Post - #1

This project has been very difficult for me.  I have spend many hours and days trying to put the project together.  I am satisfied with it for the most part.  I love music so much it was hard to really choose songs.  I decided to do my podcast about my earliest memories of music and some of my favorites growing up.  I think I am much older than most in this class, so some of the songs I included are older as well.
In the classroom, this project would be awesome for Social Studies.  This month celebrates Hispanic Heritage and this week has been dedicated to Anti-Bullying. Both of these topics would be well represented through music and narrative.  I plan to make a podcast with my students. They will enjoy it and this type of work in the classroom is differentiated and appropriate for my students.The link to my podcast is: http://media29.podbean.com/pb/e8019d404407ef4f6ae17a7ba361dbe2/4eac7543/blogs29/402180/uploads/DebbiesPodcast.mp3I listened to my podcast from this link and it seems the volume isn't as seamless as it sounded on Audacity.This assignment falls into the NETS-T standard 3 because to complete the assignment we had to demonstrate fluency in technology systems and in order to complete our podcast we had to practice with the new learned technogies.

Benderconverter

I teach sixth grade, all subjects, in a self-contained Mildy Impaired classroom.  Trying to make interesting lesson plans for all subjects can be difficult.  I am always looking for something that will make lessons more interesting to my students. Kids become easily bored.  Technology has provided a way to get the students instant gratification and feedback while covering the curriculum.  I have been choosing Science as my theme in our activities for this class.  I often feel that I lack creativity in teaching Science and these activities have shown that it is possible to make some pretty cool stuff to aide in my efforts to teach. 

My computer does not have Power Point so I did this activity in Google Presentation.  First I downloaded a video from You Tube into Real Player.  Then I went to https://docs.google.com/#home and selected new document.  A drop down box appeared and I selected presentation.  An empty slide screen appeared.  I gave the slide a title and selected video.  I added the embedded video into the presentation slide.  When you go to link to view the presentation you will have to select view and then start presentation to see the video.  

I enjoyed this activity.  I believe that using this type of technology teaches students without seeming boring.  The videos are fast moving and "catchy" to keep their attention.  I will be very happy when my fluency in the processes to  make videos and lessons becomes more proficient.  This activity would fit into many NETS T standards.  To view my presentation select the link below.

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=dfngv9cb_0fx7s65fw 

Jing Screencast

http://www.screencast.com/users/debsing/folders/Default/media/18de098b-4e27-4c76-98d6-550714a72913

After many tries from many different directions I believe that my screencast is finally visible on my blog.  I didn't really have trouble making the video; just a lot of trouble transferring it to my blog.  I think aside from the difficulties I had this was an awesome activity.  I can see myself using Jing in my classroom. Our school is asking us to do three Tech Step projects with our students this year.  This program would make it easy to show the entire class, step by step, what their screen should look like and what they need to do in each screen.  Because the videos can be only five minutes I would have to prepare several to get through the Tech Step process, but I think this is well worth it. In the past I have run around the room like a chicken with my head cut off explaining what to do and looking at their screen to see where they are.  This will make Tech Steps and other classroom activities much more seamless.

Jeopardy

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  To complete this activity I clicked on the link in the activity section of the Blackboard:  http://bit.ly/r0SL81.  A Jeopardy board appeared and I made up answers and questions regarding the first day of school.  I always have First Day of School Jeopardy.  You can check it out at  http://jeopardylabs.com/play/first-day-of-school-jeopardy.  This activity is really cool.  Typically I use index cards and a board I made in a workshop out of poster paper.  This is an awesome tool because it would take up less space than all the cards I have in rubber bands for chapter reviews, etc...  I plan on using this in my classroom.  The NETS-T standard 2-a applies to this activity.  

  
  
  
  
  
  

Word Cloud

I created my Word Cloud on the Wordle website.https://sites.google.com/site/educ6305/home/delicious-word-cloud  I typed in a list of words having to do with the curriculum for my 6th grade Science class this marking period.  I then selected GO.  The words showed up and I changed the color scheme, layout,  and clicked randomize. When I was finished the word cloud I captured it with Jing.  I then selected edit in Snagit.  This automatically saves the image in a .png format.  I opened my blog, clicked on image and selected the image.  This activity best fits into the NETS-T Standard 3-A: Modeling digital-age work and learning; demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations.

Jing Image

I found this image at http://www.chem.purdue.edu/gchelp/atoms/states.html.  I captured the image on Jing. I added arrows.  At the bottom of the screen on Jing there was an option to edit on snagit.  I selected this and the image saved as a .png file.  I opened my blog and selected new post.  I selected the image icon on the toolbar and selected the image and attached it.  Once the image appeared on my blog I clicked on the picture and changed the size to large.  The image is also on center alignment.  I teach MI 6th grade students and teach all core subjects. We will be discussing states of matter very soon and I thought this was a cool image.  On the website the image was animated. This activity would be used in the NETS-T Standard 1-a:  Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity, engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.

Insert a Video from You Tube

I decided to see what the video link on the toolbar was for.  When I selected it there was an option to insert a video from YouTube.  I selected this one because we are talking about lab safety in the classroom.  I thought the students would be entertained by this one and learn something at the same time.

Debbie Sing's Picasso Self Portrait

I have really struggled to do this activity.  Making the picture was no problem. I went to the link on Blackboard:  https://sites.google.com/site/educ2201/Home/self_portrait.  Once I entered this site I chose features to build a face by dragging the features to the face.  This activity would be good for my  middle school students.  starfall.com  has a similar activity that would be more appropriate for elementary students. The NETS-T Standard 3 would fit with this activity.  This standard is Model Digital Age Work and Learning.

Snip It Activity

A Picture Says a Thousand Words

This was my first snip it image.  I finally think I have figured out how to get images from the internet to Snip It to my blog. For me, this was no small feat.  I have been fooling with it for hours.  I will be happy when these activities become more automatic to me.

Gmail Address

I had trouble getting my Gmail address.  After school I tried to set it up and it wasn't working because the access was denied.  I also had issues with what to use for my username, and why do they have those squished up letters that you have to type in to do anything?

Introduction

Hey everyone.  This is my first ever blog.  My name is Debbie Sing and I teach at South Middle School in Martinsburg.  This is the beginning of my sixth year teaching Mildly Impaired (MI) students.  I really love teaching.  When I came back to the classroom I found a still in the box  projector and ceiling mounts and was told I am getting an interactive whiteboard.  While I find this news exciting, it is also scary to me.  I took professional development classes learning about interactive whiteboards about 5 years ago, but have never had access to one.  I don't remember much of what we learned.  I think this class came at just the right time, but I admit I am quite anxious about my abilities.  My goal is to be able to fully utilitize the technology I am getting. I look forward to working with all of you.  ~Debbie