Check it out :)

https://d157rqmxrxj6ey.cloudfront.net/mhdun1/20143

The VERY last blog post EVER is finally here! (sign of relief)

The last article I had to read/annotate and blog about was Shelly Terrell: Global Netweaver, Curator, PLN builder. One of the biggest part of this article, to me, was PLN. Shelly Terrell refers to this as Passionate Learning Networks, and I absolutely love that. She defines this simply as "the people you choose to connect with and learn from." This definiton could not ring anymore true. She also added how learning happens together, which is also very true. Lastly, she gives this analogy: "“Ask a question of the person next to you,” she tells her students. “They find out that sometimes their question isn’t answered,” she explains, which gives her the opportunity to say, “Imagine asking the entire class.” Usually someone knows the answer, she says. This analogy really helped me understand what she was trying to get across in her article, and now I fully understand.

She goes on to discuss winning over skeptics in schools, building a personal learning network, and the global conversation, which was all interesting and insightful. At the end of the article, there was also a video that we could watch with further information, which was actually really helpful. 

Well, it has been one hell of a ride with blog posts and this class, and I really truly enjoyed every moment of it!

This article was all about screencasts, what they are, what they're used for, etc. 

The key takeaways were the most helpful aspect of the article, personally. They really helped me understand what I was going to be learning/reading about and bascially what screencasting is! The article basically defines it as a "student-centered and engaging learning experiences" and depend on "thorough planning and thoghtful and careful editing". Both of these things are very true and really help explain what screencasting really is. 

This article also mentioned YOUTUBE! My favorite social media site ever. I am subscribed to at least 20 beauty gurus and makeup artists, etc. I watch videos on makeup, fashion, DIY, room decor, holday/seasonal inspiration, etc. YouTube is how I learned to do my makeup, dress the way I do, and so much more. It is my favorite thing to do when I don't have homework or a lot to do and it makes me relax. I annotating a line saying how YouTube is how I learned to do my winged eyeliner and Kelly commented on it, I thought that was really funny!

Lastly, this article mentioned how "screencasting has emerged as a prominent teaching tool on the Internet." I have to highly agree with this due to the fact that YouTube is so popular and teaches things that are more important than winged eyeliner and the most fashionable outfit for the winter time. Screencasting is learning by example, and that is exactly what YouTube and sites like that do. Screecasts also give students and people the chance to learn at their own pace because they can just pause the video or go back to a certain clip. It's awesome!!!

This article has been mostly helpful because of the fact that we have to create our own screencasts for this module. Having this article to fall back on and read was awesome and extremely helpful! 

Me right now....

So. The last blog post of module 5 is here. And I'm typing like that man up here ^^

I'm sitting here in my dorm bed and thinking about this semester and how much I feel like I've grown. Today I had to present my last speech for Journalism and I killed it. I find it crazy to think about how I was in the beginning of the semester... I was so nervous to get up in front of the class and present my speeches, but this last one was a breeze! I volunteered to go first and was so glad I got it over with. I also got very positive feedback from classmates and my professor said how much I improved since my last speech. 

Never would I have ever expected me to grow so much in just a couple months. I seriously love school and love going to class. I have always really liked school, but not as much as this semester. I have had the best professors, especially you McVerry! 

With the semester coming to a close soon and finals just around the corner, I just thought I would just sit and talk about my journey this semester and how much I feel I have grown! 

One of the main parts of this article that stood out to me is the part where it says "Our identities as readers are decided for us. I am a slow reader". This mostly stuck out to me because I feel like it's completely false. I do not think that when someone is born they are just born a good reader, slow reader, fast reader, or a bad reader. I believe that reading is something that you work on, all throughout life. I will probably become a better reader in 10 years than I am now, because I will keep gaining more knowledge and information. 

Our "identities" as readers are not decided for us, we work at them! 

Another part of the article that stood out to me is "The problem is not in schools, it could be with parents". I would have to agree with this mostly because children spend more time at home than they do at school. If parents are not encouraging and supporting good and frequent reading at home, they cannot expect their child to become master readers... I was given the luxury of being able to read a lot in school and at home, especially during my elementary school years. 

Overall, I found a lot of personal controversy with this article, but I did enjoy that because it led me to think deeper and pull out more thoughts. Overall I enjoyed reading and annotating this article!