Did You Know?

I visited The Fischbowl blog for the first time. The video on there was very interesting to me: it was like reading an interesting facts book. It had stuff on there you would never even really think about. Some of the facts were shocking and just unbelievable. I was actually kind of disappointed that it was over.
It is hard to believe the differences in the numbers over the years. Technology has grown so much, and the Internet is so widely recognized and used now compared to even just a few years ago. Things like texting have also grown tremendously. I know a lot of people that are texting now that weren't this time last year: it almost feels like a must-have thing these days.
The facts about college graduates also surprised me. I had no idea that other countries had that many more college graduates than the United States has. It's amazing how times have changed.

ACCESS

The ACCESS website has a PowerPoint presentation that provides useful information about the program. I learned a lot about what ACCESS is and their goals and visions for improving student achievement. According to their presentation, ACCESS provides high-quality classroom courses and teachers, via technology. It recognizes that limited course offerings is a problem: it is a barrier to improvements in education in the state of Alabama.
ACCESS uses distance learning--teachers and students are separated and do everything online through a web-based style of learning and technologies such as video conferencing. The presentation points out how the online approach is beneficial in ways: it extends resources, professional development, and the professional community beyond the local school. There are pilot sites available to provide feedback or suggestions for improvements.
In my opinion, this is a good program because it extends possibilities for those students really interested in excelling. It may have some disadvantages, but it seems as though the advantages outweigh them. As a future teacher, I would like to see some students become interested in such programs.

ALEX

I did a search in Google for the Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) website, and I'm already interested in it. The site seems very helpful from what I've seen so far.
On this site, you can search courses of study like mathematics, science, English, social studies, or even more detailed searches to find exactly what you're looking for. Once you find the course you're looking for, you click on it and choose the grade of the subject you want to examine. It lists several objectives almost like a guideline to teaching, and each one has links to lesson plans. Some even have web links to helpful related websites. Some have a lot of lesson plans to view and offer possible demonstrations that may be beneficial to the students. The lesson plans can even be saved to your computer.
I have already saved this site to my favorites because I plan on using it. I've been looking at each subject's lesson plans and web links. There are so many possible ways to provide useful information to kids. The demonstrations sound fun, and I think kids would enjoy learning. I can't wait to start teaching. I hope to find similar sites to help me out.

About Me

My name is Michelle. I'm a pharmacy technician at Winn Dixie. I'm majoring in elementary education, and I'm hoping to be done in 2011. I come from a family of 5. My brother just graduated from South in December, and my sister is going to school at MGM. I love spending time with my boyfriend: he means the world to me. We have been playing a lot of Rockband 2 here recently. Just like anyone else, I love music. My favorite bands are Metallica, Tool, and Lifehouse. I have seen Tool and Metallica in concert twice, and I've seen Lifehouse 4 or 5 times and have actually met them several times. My best friend and I even ate lunch with 2 of the members. I hate college and work and wish I could be lazy all the time. I can't wait for the summer break so that I can be at the beach...

Back to school

I already miss the break from school. I miss getting up late...