Beautiful Christian Sister

BEAUTIFUL CHRISTIAN SISTER
By Maya Angelou

'A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ
That a man should have to seek Him first to find her.'

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not shouting 'I'm clean living,'
I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven.'

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say.. 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain...
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace, somehow!

Pretty is as Pretty does... But beautiful is just plain beautiful!

Perfect Song

Mrs. Rita sang this song in church today, and I am copying the scripture and lyrics from the song book. It is perfect for me to remember.

Song Scripture:


Now listen, you who say,
"Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money."
Why, you don't even know what will happen tomorrow.
What is your life?
You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Instead, you ought to say,
"If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."
James 4:13-15

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink;
or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more important than food,
and the body more important than clothes?"
Matthew 6:25
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Matthew 6:33-34
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 14:27



I Know Who Holds Tomorrow
by Ira Stanpill

I don't know about tomorrow,
I just live from day to day.
I don't borrow from it's sunshine,
For it's skies may turn to gray.
I don't worry o'er the future,
For I know what Jesus said,
And today I'll walk beside Him,
For He knows what is ahead.

Refrain
Many things about tomorrow,
I don't seem to understand;
But I know Who holds tomorrow,
And I know Who holds my hand.

Ev'ry step is getting brighter,
As the golden stairs I climb;
Ev'ry burden's getting lighter;
Ev'ry cloud is silver lined.
There the sun is always shining,
There no tear will dim the eyes,
At the ending of the rainbow,
Where the mountains touch the sky.

Refrain
Many things about tomorrow,
I don't seem to understand;
But I know Who holds tomorrow,
And I know Who holds my hand.

I don't know about tomorrow,
It may bring me poverty;
But the One Who feeds the sparrow,
Is the One Who stands by me.
And the path that be my portion,
May be through the flame or flood,
But His presence goes before me,
And I'm covered with His blood.

Refrain
Many things about tomorrow,
I don't seem to understand;
But I know Who holds tomorrow,
And I know Who holds my hand.

The Solution

Today I was reading Ephesians 5 and what I was reading really hit me as a solution to my anxiety and fears I have been trying to ignore. I really need to remember to give thanks to God in every situation, for all that is happening to me. This is also what Pam Tebow stressed at the conference. No matter what is happening thank God for it. I realized as I read this chapter, and as I remembered her words, that if I was doing that constantly, it would help my stress so much, and I would have a much more positive attitude. Instead of me trying to fight off negative fears I start with the positive which builds a barrier and a defense against those fears. This would help me to continue to look to God in all situations and praise Him for it, not just worry about what He is doing. It needs to be an attitude adjustment. I want to be an imitator of Christ in all I do. I need to ask my self and reflect to see if all my actions , my speech, my thoughts, how I spend my time, reflect Him.

The Future: The New Adventure

I have been thinking about the future a lot lately. I have been trying and praying not to worry about it, but my mind keeps wondering. As the next stage in my life approaches and the decisions I am making play out, I start worrying. What if I chose something else? I get scared about my next stage. Am I going to mess up again? Will I miss out on an important opportunity? I start thinking about now, and the adventure I am having now that is about to end. It is just starting to get so much better. I am meeting new people, there are new family members. Relationships are growing that are now going to be distanced. I worry about what’s going to happen. What will this decision affect? What relationships will change? I wonder if I will find new ones, and how they might change my life. I start worrying about people I know now, and how I will know them later. I wonder if in a year I will be where I am going, or if I will be moving on. I know I shouldn’t worry, but I the thoughts keep flooding in no matter where I turn. I am constantly reminding myself of my own advice I gave my sister. Just focus on what you have to do now, what God is telling you to do now. Don’t worry about the future, God has it under control and when He’s ready to let you in on what you are to do next, He will.

04/01/07 Learning Artifact

While reading the articles there were points made by both authors that I agree with, but I definitely feel that games can be used to teach students. With Peshette’s article for games he makes a very good point how games can be used with students for auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learning. I think this is one of the great advantages that games have. It was mentioned by both authors that these great games are a rarity and hard to find, which is very true, and can also mean that they will be costly for the whole class. But I don’t think this can out rule games. I also think that Thornburg, in his article disagreeing with games as education, was a little harsh on games that are not the best. I feel that there are many games out there that are great for students to use along with what they are learning in the classroom. Thornburg makes the point that students need to know how and why they are making certain computations, and know why they are learning facts etc. This is very true, but I see these games as aids to students that will help them catch onto what is being taught in class. While the teacher may teach them, sometimes certain ideas and concepts don’t catch on right away unless the student figures them out on their own, which can be done with many games. From my own personal experience I remember playing grammar rock and those catchy songs that explained the rules about verbs and adverbs, along with the visuals with the song, and the game all helped me to remember the roles different word types play in a sentence. I believe these types of games can serve as great reinforcements, even if they don’t address all of bloom’s taxonomy levels.

Darfur is Dying:
I thought it was an interesting game. I think it is a good way to try to get people motivated to do something for the cause. When people go through games like this I think it tends them to think about what really is happening. The people who want people to help out with there cause can use this type of game to get people interested and then thinking about what really is going on. When people start wondering what is really happening they will most likely go the closest source, which will be the website. Depending on the honesty of those who made the website this can be a good or bad thing.

Ayiti: The cost of life:
I thought this was a neat concept for a game. I like the idea of teaching how hard it is to run a household, and get an education. I didn’t play it to long before I died, so it was hard. I didn’t count on getting sick so often. I liked the idea of the game though.

Funbrain
I thought this had some neat drill style games that might help students learn to answer information faster, or to practice a certain skill more, like choosing plurals of the singular form.

Gamequarium
I thought the site was a little hard to navigate through at first. The bright yellow made it hard to look at, so if a teacher used this in the classroom it would be better to open up a link directly to the game.

Funderstanding Roller Coaster
I liked the idea behind the game. I think it is a good way to tie in concepts of physics. This is something a kid might have fun doing in pairs, and then the class watching each others roller coasters. It also could get boring easily if students weren’t interested, or didn’t really care so much about getting their rollercoaster across, since it isn’t really very visually stimulating.

EME4401 Assessment Article

Johnson, D., & McLeod, S. (2005). Get answers. Learning and Leading with Technology, 32(4), 18-23.

This article discussed how assessment is used in the classroom, and how it can be improved upon by technology, specifically a student response system.
The author states that “Tests, quizzes, papers, and projects are time-honored ways to assess student learning, but they often are time consuming to administer and grade, and there are inherent delays between submission, assessment, and feedback Teachers also use interactive questioning techniques, class discussions, and one-on-one meetings to assess students' knowledge and skills, but these often are neither systematic nor all-inclusive.” It then goes to report how while feedback in the classroom is an appropriate method for assessment there are many hindrances to it, and it is not used frequently in the classroom.
Here is where the electronic student response systems come into play. The student response system is system set up in which the students have access to some type of keyboard in which they can direct comments, questions, and answers to teachers prompts directly to the teachers computer. The students use keyboards with screens, or some type of computer program which allows the teacher access to what the students are doing, and allows the students to send immediate and direct feedback to the teacher. The teacher has power to look through all the students work, questions, or answers and can either reply to it, or display it. These student response systems can be used with class to play games, bring about class discussion, and to allow the teacher to check students work fast.

With this article I really liked the idea behind this technology, and how it can be used across a span of different age levels for multiple purposes. The end of the article contained many great ideas of how teachers had already implemented this software. I really liked the point the author made about how this can build students confidence in themselves, and can encourage students to ask questions and make comments to the teacher, that they might not have made in front of the class. I do see the problem where this technology can be very expensive. I think as this becomes more popular, it may become something that will end up being cheaper to do. It would be worthwhile though, to have some type of program set up like this in the computer lab, so that the teacher could set up lessons around this technology that would be worked on only during lab hours.
Some of these ideas of immediate feedback during writing, or discussions could be worked into using class notebooks or sticky notes, if the classroom could not provide electronic student response systems. While reading a text students can write sticky notes of what they are thinking or questions they have. These could be color coded according to purpose, and then the teacher can easily spot who has questions etc. With notebooks during class discussions students can be prompted to write things they think or questions they have. Later, they teacher can read over the students comments and questions to see what they are getting, and what they still need to know. They teacher may also want to point out good questions and comments so that students begin to have more confidence in themselves and speak out during class.
Overall, I liked the ideas. I think the technology would be simple enough that students would easily be able to learn it, and become used to it. I hope that this type of technology can become more popular in the future, and become something we can see in a everyday classroom. This type of technology really makes you think about how much there is out there that we can use to work with our students and help to increase their learning.

EME4401 Ohler Article

Ohler, J. (2005). The world of digital storytelling. Educational Leadership, 63(4), 44-47.

What the Author Says:

Digital Storytelling: A form of short narrative, usually a personal narrative told in the first person, presented as a short movie for display on a television or computer monitor or projected onto a screen.
(2004, p. 1)
*Should be used to enhance students’ skills in critical thinking, writing, and media literacy

First Step:
*In the beginning the focus should be on the story. The problem for many students is their focus on the power of the technology rather than the power of their stories.

*The two important components of teaching storytelling are story mapping and practicing written and oral story- telling before bringing in digital elements.

Story Mapping: A storyboard, used commonly in the movie and TV industry, is an ordered presentation of drawings or photos that each summarize a major story event.
+Enable teachers to quickly assess the strength of a story while it is still in the planning stage and to challenge students to strengthen weak story
+Helps students plan the events of a story
+Enables teachers to quickly assess the strength of a story while it is still in the planning stage and to challenge students to strengthen weak story elements.

*essential components:
+A call to adventure. Normal life is interrupted by a significant event, initiating a physical, emotional, intellectual, or spiritual journey for the main character.
+Problem-solution involving transformation. Characters encounter problems that are solved through a personal transformation of some kind. Transformation can happen in a number of ways, including skill acquisition, maturation, learning, and self-discovery.
+Closure. The story comes to a meaningful conclusion, not necessarily through a happy ending. Often, closure involves the main character's realization of something significant, a moral, or evidence that something or someone has changed.

Written and Oral Storytelling
+The most important tool used in the creation of a digital story is writing scripts and story treatments.
+Oral storytelling is a powerful way for students to develop their own voices and discover what events and details are essential to their stories.

Creating a Tie-In to Academic Skills
The lessons need to be tied to the curriculum and used to strengthen students' critical thinking, report writing, and media literacy skills.

Media Literacy
Creating digital stories is a perfect opportunity to engage students in media literacy, in learning about how the media influence our perceptions of the world

Tapping Dormant Skills
Through creating narratives, students develop the power of their own voices and become heroes of their own learning stories. Most important, digital storytelling helps students become active participants rather than passive consumers in a society saturated with media.


What I say:

While working with these types of projects I think the most important fact to remember is that it needs to be made worth it. These tools needed for projects can be expensive to come up with, so what the student is doing with them needs to be worth it. While using this technology in the classroom can seem fun, the fun cannot take away from the learning. Just like the author said, lessons need to be used that are implanting the curriculum used in class, that are teaching the students’ critical thinking skills, and about technology.

I also agree with the author on the importance of the written and oral storytelling. These parts of the digital storytelling are crucial to the students learning. These are the activities that help students review what information they know, and what they are trying to tell the audience, and then implement that. The students need to work on the writing aspect and practice visualizing what they want to tell, then talking about it, and then transferring it to paper. This can help students learn to vocalize what they know and feel, while teaching them writing skills.

I liked the aspect the author brought up about teaching media literacy, how when the students are doing the projects, to help them see how the media works in our lives, and how they use information to create mind frames in viewers. I think this is an important aspect for students to understand. As students work on these projects they will learn how media can be used to enhance a story and create and draw emotions from viewers. Students need to see how the media does this so that they can know when they are seeing it on TV and in movies.