If you’ve seen my about me video, you would know that I love anything music related. I like listening to music, or even playing my own music. I’ve played the piano for many years (since about the age of five) and recently started teaching myself guitar. Music has always been a huge passion for me, and so I thought I would share it with you. For the class ECMP 455, I’ve decided to teach a little something music related. I haven’t quite decided what I’m going to do, but I would like to possibly teach something on the piano.

As a side note, last year Joni and I started a Youtube channel, where we post videos of us playing or singing music. The other day we made a new video, and so I thought it would be fun to share with you. Yes the song is by the Jonas Brothers, but it truly is a beautiful song. Hope you enjoy it!

GO SAINTS! I just finished watching the Super Bowl, and I’m happy to see that the New Orleans Saints won the game. I don’t really follow the NFL too much, but I was cheering for the Saints. I really didn’t think they would pull a win, but it just made the game much better. For anyone who watches The Ellen Show, she was the person who grabbed my attention towards the Super Bowl. Don’t get me wrong, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are still number one in my eyes, but it’s about time the Saints won the Super Bowl. Hope everyone had a great weekend, and if you watched the game who were you cheering for?

I was thinking today about all of the new television shows, movies, clothing, ect. that contain something about vampires. It seems as though ever since the Twilight Saga became a phenomenon, vampire are taking over the world (sort of). Vampires are no longer seen as the evil bloodsuckers, but now they are now the love interest in every story. For example, the new TV series The Vampire Diaries, is similar to Twilight where a vampire takes the place of prince charming, and protects the girl from all harm. If you ask me, it’s a little demeaning to women. I would like to think that women don’t actually need someone to come to their rescue every second of every day. It seems strange to think all these fictional characters are becoming the ‘princes’ in all these story. I don’t know about you, but I prefer real life over fantasy.

Who would you choose? Are you all about the vampires taking over, or do you prefer the prince charming?

Prince Charming and Cinderella

Edward and Bella (from Twilight)

In my class ECMP 455, we are blogging. I haven’t really blogged before, except for the class ECMP 355 and so I’m still not really sure how I feel about it. I know I am already behind with blogging in the class, because I’m not really sure what I’m writing and what the best way to blog is. I’m hoping to get caught up in the next couple days, because I’ve been pretty busy and a little confused. So look out for some upcoming blogs, and hopefully I can find my footing in this pretty new world of blogging (I must say I’m not used to blogging yet, but hopefully things will change because I think it’s a great way to share ideas and communicate).

Well first off my name is Janna. I’m Canadian and I’m in my second year of University for Elementary Education. I like many things, like music, making YouTube videos, reading, the colour pink, summer and travelling (and the list goes on and on). Here’s a short video about myself, and hopefully it lets you get to know me a little better! (:

Tonight was the last ecmp 355 class. I have learned a lot about technology in the class, and a lot of useful information that will help me in my future career as a teacher. I am sort of sad that it has ended, it seems like it went by very quickly. Six weeks is very short for a class, but I think it was a great experience and I really enjoyed the class. Blogging was a lot of fun, and I think I am going to continue my blog. I was able to learn a lot from reading my other classmates blogs (which I will continue to do, if they continue to write blogs), and I hope to stay in touch with my mentors. This has been a great experience, but at the same time its nice to be done. It seems like summer has been a long wait, and even though I won’t be doing much besides working through the summer and I enjoyed this class, it will be nice to have no classes. Thanks Dean Shareski for a great spring class, and I hope everyone will have a great vacation!

The best days are yet to come! and I know its random.. but I’ve talked about how much I love music so I’ll share some with you here’s me singing one of my favorite songs on YouTube. lol 
Happy Summer!

Over the last few weeks, I have been able to contact some great people for my mentorships. It was a great experience, and I hope to stay in contact with my mentors. Skype has been awesome for getting in touch with a couple of my mentors, and has also been a lot of fun. I have skyped quite a few times with Gwen Waldman’s classes, and I really enjoyed working with her. Some of her music classes were able to perform for my sister and I, and we were also able to perform for them. I think its so cool how we can now connect with people from all over the world, especially being able to see them and hear them. I was also able to skype with Maria Knee’s classroom, and even though it was only one time (so far ) it was a great experience just to see another class from a different place. I also read Maria’s student blogs, and commented on some. Classroom blogging is a great idea, and I think I would like to use it for my future students. I was also able to contact another mentor who had a student blog. Her name was Kimberly Brown, and her class blog was also very interesting to check out, and read or comment on her student’s blogs.

I thought it was very neat how the students work was posted on their blog, and then everyone was able to view it. Blogging their work is a great way to show the parents what the students are doing, and also to have the students become more familiar with how technology can be used. I talked to Maria’s classroom about their blogs, and the students really enjoyed blogging. They thought it was a lot of fun, and they also loved when other people commented on their blogs. A couple of my mentors had even connected with other classrooms around the world using Skype. I think my mentor teachers did a great job with their student blogs, and it was interesting to see how the students wrote their own blogs, but at the same time commented on each others blogs. I know from writing the blogs for this class (ECMP 355), I have really enjoyed when other people commented on my blogs and shared their thoughts.

Overall I have learned some great tools that will be useful for my future classroom, and my mentors gave me a lot of ideas that I could use in the future. I think skyping with other classrooms around the world would be very interesting, and also classroom blogs seem like a great idea. Thank you so much to my mentors and their classrooms! I had a great time working with you all!

In the past six weeks in the class ECMP 355, i’ve read a lot of blogs and enjoyed writing my own (and can I just say Google reader has helped a whole bunch in keeping track of all the blogs!). I had never really known what blogging was about, or did I think that anything I blogged about would be worth reading. Now that I am more familiar with blogging it has been a great experience. I was able to learn a few things from other people, and read about some insightful subjects.

I was a little worried at first about this class, because I wasn’t too sure if I would be able to keep up. I can deal with the whole internet thing, but I wasn’t aware of all the interesting and useful tools. I had no idea that Google had so many cool things to do. For example, I wasn’t too sure how to make a Google map even though we had learned about it on here, but even looking at other peoples and talking to them about how they went about link and adding pictures helped me out a lot. Also I had no idea how to link in my blog posts, or add pictures and video. My classmates helped me figure out how to do those things, and I think it will be very useful for the future. Blogging was a great experience for me, but also reading my classmates blogs really helped me learn a lot more than just hearing lectures.

I was even able to help a few people on the blogs, which made me feel a lot more confident about my technology skills (which are a little lacking, if I might say so). Over all, this class has been a great experience and I’ve learned a lot about technology. I know have so much more information that I will be able to use in the future for not only personal use, but also in my future as an educator. I just want to say thanks to all my classmates for helping me along, and thanks to Dean Shareski for teaching our class a lot of useful information about technology! Its been a great class

Tonight on our online class we had a small discussion on whether or not teachers can have a normal life outside of school. Teachers are under a lot of pressure to have a “perfect” reputation, because they need to be great examples to the students. Does this mean that teachers should be able to go to the bar with their friend are join social networking sites for personal use? Teachers are always seen as great role models for students, but does this mean you can’t do anything outside of the classroom? I think teachers should be treated the same as any other career choice. They should be able to go out and have a good time,  without being judged on the things they choose to do in their free time. Everyone makes different choices that can either lead to a good or bad outcome. I can understand how it might not be the best for a student to see their teacher drunken at a party, but at the same time teachers are people too and they can’t be expected to have no life outside of teaching. My mom always says teaching is full time job and it doesn’t happen just at school, because teachers impact the lives of the students whether it be inside or outside of the school. I do think teachers should set a good example for their students, but they should have fun too. The big issue is whether or not the career choice as a teacher can allow a person to have a life outside of the job. The answer should be yes, and yet teachers are frowned upon for different choices that they make. If this is the way it is for teachers, should every other career choice be treated exactly the same? Not only should teachers set a good example for other people, but shouldn’t everone else. Tonight I heard how one teacher had to drive to another town to go to the bar with friends. Is this how teachers should spend their spare time, driving to another place to let loose? I don’t know if anyone can answer these questions, but I would love to hear you opinions. As one last point I would just like to say teachers may have to set a good example, but they should be able to do what they want. Everyone should be careful about how they appear to other people, but going out and having a good time doesn’t make them a bad person, no matter what they might choose to do.

I have always tried to imagine what my future classroom will look like, and after this last year and all of the information I’ve learned in the class ECMP 355, I think I can finally image my classroom better. Growing up with a mom who’s a teacher has allowed me to see how a classroom is set up, and also experiencing different classrooms through the years. I have seen many things that I like in a classroom, and other things that are not as appealing.

When I try and imagine my classroom, I see it as an organized fun environment. I would love crafts or decorations on the walls, with a seating arrangement that suits both my students and myself. I think that posters with great teaching quotes are cool, and I love classrooms with bright colours. I would have a “reading corner” because I always thought it was a great idea when my teachers had one. There would be a big bookself with tons of books, and some comftly pillows for the kids to relax in and read when they have completed their work.

There are so many handy tools that will be useful for my classroom. I think class blogging is a great idea. Its a great way to share the students work, and to have the students reflect on different things. It would also help the student learn more about technology and how useful it is. In this class we have learned about a lot of tools, and things on the internet that I think will be very useful for my teaching days. I’m glad we’ve been introduced to all these new tools, and I definitely think they will be quite handy.

I want my future student to understand and repect the rules they are to follow. Respect is definitely something I want my students to have, and not only for other people, but also themselves and their surroundings. I remember my teachers always teaching the students about respect and I think respect is very important. I also hope my students will be well mannered, but I know not every student will be and I will have to teach them. I don’t think that teaching ever end, its just done by different people at different times. I know I didn’t learn everything at school, it was also my surrounds and other people who taught me different things. I also hope that my students will get along, and will be able to work together without troubles. In order for a classroom to work, everyone has to work together and take part to making it the best environment for everyone. It may take some work for the classroom to work great, but I think it will be achieveable if everyone works together.

I look forward to my future as a teacher, and taking everything I have learned and put it into my classroom!