Blog Post #9

Morgan Bayda
I have experienced some of the same issues as Morgan Bayda doing my college education. I have been in far too many classes that consist of me just sitting in a lecture for hours a week and not knowing half of what was being "taught" and that was okay. I could still make a good grade in the class by copying down the power points. I have gone through a class for an entire semester, made a good grade, but never truly learned anything. I went to class, memorized my notes, took the test, and then forgot everything that I had memorized for the test. As I compare my classes that I have taken throughout my four years in college, I notice that the classes that I excelled in and still remember what was taught are the ones that were not quiet. I truly learned in the classes that involved discussion and students' opinions and not the classes that only the professor talked and shared his or her ideas.
I have learned more in EDM310 than most of my other classes because it is not a lecture class where we "learn" by listening to the professor. We learn things by trying them for ourselves and creating everything on our own. The internet has so much to offer and to teach that it should really be taken advantage of in schools. Students can access information and resources that will teach them more than just sitting in the lecture hall.

ALEX
All teachers in Alabama have to go by the Alabama Course of Study. The website ALEX provides an easy way for teachers to access the ALCOS for each subject according to grade level. ALEX states the objectives for each subject as well as provides examples for the objectives. The website also has lesson plans and a link to different websites listed beside each ALCOS objective as a guideline for teachers. ALEX also has a place called "Web Links". Web Links provides teachers with hundreds of different websites for every subject. The websites range from research articles, to lesson plans, to interactive learning for the students. Not only does ALEX provide access to websites for the core subjects in a classroom, but it also includes websites for Character Education, Online Projects, and Library Media. There are also websites available for students to access. One of the websites that is available for students is one that the students can email with grammar questions.
Alex also allows teachers to access thousands of lesson plans through its website. When I clicked on "Lesson Plans" from the homepage, a new page opened that allowed me to check the box beside any subject ranging from English to Drivers Education. I could also click on the grade level that I wanted and hundreds of lesson plans were available for me. You can also search lesson plans by Title, Author, or School. ALEX also has an area available on the website where teachers can search the ALCOS, web links or lesson plans by typing in the title or keyword.
ALEX also includes an Personal Workspace for teachers. Teachers can log in to ALEX and have a web page that allows them to save and share lesson plans as well as other teachers' pages. The Professional Learning section of ALEX provides teachers with access to professional development opportunities, strategies in the classroom, learning tools etc. ALEX also provides access to different educational podcasts for the classroom.