Monday, Monday

Good morning blog followers! We are not used to coming to school on Monday since the last two weeks were "Mondayless"! A rare two snow winter has given us southerners some extended vacation days. It was nice I must admit!

For my students: Today, we will continue to update our profile page with a photo and any other information you would like to include. Remember, what you put out on the Internet could be viewed by just about anyone, so use discretion! Later, we will begin to create a "podcast" for you to include on your blog site.

Day 1

Today my students created their own blog sites. We have been working on design and profiles. Now we will follow each other and begin blogging about what our class is doing in the upcoming days.

Wow! Can't believe it has been so long since my last post. I guess I am one of the 10 million of the 13 million bloggers that created a blog then left it in-active. Anyway, going to be blogging again for my Web 2.0 class and maybe I'll have time to keep it current. Follow me and see how I do! Morris

Master's Weekend

Well, the last weekend for Dr. Hock's Internet course was completed this past weekend and now we are to finish with a few small projects and one BIGGIE! We opened up a Skype account and have a conference call scheduled for this coming Saturday. We also learned how to build "Mashups" and will be creating a map with mashups for another project. The final project requires us to build a 5 page website using all of the tools that we learned. Mine will represent my Entertainment Technology class at Marion County TEC in Marion SC and will be linked or added to our existing school website. This project will be incorporated as a lesson for my students so that they will see and participate in the creation of this website.

First Week

We have completed our first full week of school with students. I have a great group of students this year and an excellent team teacher to work with. We are combining Sports/Entertainment Marketing with Entertainment Technology and the potential for learning has doubled at least. The students are well receptive and excited about this opportunity. Let's Rock and Roll!!!

The Journey

Hey guys! Morris Ward here keeping you up to date on my educational journey. ECOMP5100 has been completed and I learned a lot! Much of which I will certainly be using in my own curriculum. From newly discovered tricks in Word and Excel to PowerPoint and Photo Story. The mid-term paper I wrote "The Future of Podcasting for Educational Enhancement" will serve to help me implement podcasting as part of my curriculum.

I'm very excited about ECOMP6008 and learning more about incorporating the Internet into my curriculum. This "blogging" thing is really cool and I'm definitely going to use this a lot! Webquests are a great way to get students researching and discovering new avenues of learning. Being able to create websites will benefit me personally and allow me to take part in my school's web design as well. Update you later!!!

Last Day of Sanity

Well, it's Friday and just about time to leave school for the weekend. The last day of not having students - WAAAANGH!!! Just kidding, how could I not be looking forward to 20 or so 16 to 18 year olds that have the world completely figured out?! It's my job to convince them they don't have a clue - and maybe give them one or two!

Seriously, though, teaching any age, anywhere, these days is challenging to say the least. With all of the social and family issues many of our students face today, it's a wonder that we can reach them at all. It has been said of teachers that we spend more time with a student each day than most parents do - which gives us an awesome opportunity to make a difference in a child's future. Most importantly, it is more about equipping students with the confidence to succeed than it is about filling their heads with the knowledge we offer!