Farewell to ECU- Week 16

It seems like a lifetime ago, since I started this journey of enrichment in developing into the type of person that I have become. I never thought that I would have excelled to the level that I have while obtaining my master’s degree through East Carolina University. I have been on this journey for close to eight years now, and as I take a good look at what I have accomplished, I am extremely proud of myself. I actually started working on my AAS in computer programs back in fall 2001, after going through a devastating divorce. I needed something to take my mind off my heartache. When I signed up for my first computer class, I started to feel an empowerment that I had never felt before, a desire to want to improve the type of person that I was.

I have been very fortunate in having the opportunity to work within the college system, while completing my degrees. Since I was employed at the community college, I have also had access to the library, learning lab, and help from other teachers who have traveled down this same road.

I have been very blessed to be able to complete my degree at East Carolina as a distance learning student. The opportunity that I have received while working on my graduate degree has been extremely beneficial to me. I have never felt like I was just a number at ECU; I have always been treated with a high professional demeanor from professors who really care about you. Helping the student develop a passion and desire for what he/she is learning is what makes a great teacher. I am grateful for those experiences.

I would like to thank all of my professors at East Carolina University for helping me along this journey. I am truly grateful for all of the help and support that I have received during my past 5 years. I have had the opportunity to make a network of friends while working on my degree, and I will treasure their friendship for the rest of my life. I wanted to thank my professors for having the patience to give me the support that I needed. I know that I have not always had the patience that I needed to complete my assignments, and that my frustration level has been high sometimes, but my professors have always been there for me. This journey has been long, but I can finally see the end of the road with my Master of Science in Vocational Education degree in hand, and my horizon looks wonderful. God Bless You All and thanks ECU.

Food for thought - Week 15

Every day I try to say to myself, "Today is a brand new day so make the most of it!” This belief should be etched into the minds of all educators. If you do not go into your classroom everyday and give your entire self to your students they will not give even half of themselves back. In my opinion, a teacher strives to be a caring and commitment individual that reflective student’s lives. I want my students to trust me with all their hearts. I believe that you must have trust before you can teach.


Becoming a teacher has always been one of my goals in my life. What motivates me to become a teacher is that I love to help and teach students’ new things in life. I want to help students to grow academically and emotionally to become successful in society. In my opinion I think that a teacher can also help all students to obtain very high self-esteem, growth and integrity. A teacher can become, in certain ways, like a parent and most importantly, a friend. All of this is done without forgetting the responsibility of a teacher. This is why it is so important for me to become a teacher, to make a different in someone else life.

Creating a dynamitic presentation within a team-Week 14

In this week assignment our team was to create a Team Agreement & Work plan. This plan will help us schedule the workflow that we will need to create our final project. One of the first steps to working on a project like this is to form your relationship between your group members. Being able to establish strong communication between members will help when it comes to putting the final report together. Team members need to feel a personal and collective sense of power, having access to necessary skills and resources that will be needed to complete the project. Another step is that members must have some mutual respect and willingness to help one another. This will help members to become more motivation and by that will empowered the team in creating a dynamitic presentation that will only amaze your fellow workers.

We are using Skype to communicate between each other and we have a good plan. I am looking forward to seeing how it all will turns out, I have no doubt it going to be spectacular presentation.

WEEK 13- Social Loafing

In the week’s assignment we have started working on our final project and O’ my God, we got a lot to do. One of the articles that we are supposed to create for a synopsis was on social loafing. After doing some research on this I was a little surprise with what I found out.

In today’s business world most leaders are chosen more for their ability to do the task than for their ability to lead their fellow team members. The leader mentality is important in social loafing. These type of leader will then be in charge of assigning tasks, making sure the others in the group are completing said tasks in a timely fashion, and in the case of social loafing, will most likely be compensating for those who will be doing subpar work, in order to be prepared for the accountability of the group's accomplishments.

From the article that I read, researchers have pointed to the leader's position as an example of the individual ability to influence and encourage social loafing. In any group of people, there will be those that have the abilities necessary to do well in the task, and those that do not. Those that have these necessary abilities are often the leader or try to participate in a helpful capacity in the group, and then there are those that do not find a helpful way to participate in the group and are often the loafers. This ability level is what guides a group's dynamics; a loafer would generally be forced to either work harder to compensate on an individual tasks, but in group tasks, can simply rely upon those that are able to accomplish the task more easily.

I have always been a go getter in starting my task ahead of other; I feel that I am a leader when it comes to things like this. And I know that my frustration level get high when all party concern does not do what they are expected too. It makes me very angry, but it seems that I am always picking up that person slack and finishing the job. I need to coin a phrase from Ebenezer Scrooge; people like those needs to be burden at the stake and have a holly stake drove through their heart. I know that extreme but being the fifth wheel does not make it better for anyone involved.

Digital versus Immigant- Which are you? Week 12

In this week’s assignment, we were to create a podcast on the digital native versus immigrant native. I decided to do a video podcast. After researching my topic I thought I would use a quote by Mark Prensky. Prensky argues that students today, digital natives as he calls them having grown up in the Digital Age, learn differently from their predecessors, or digital immigrants as he terms them. Prensky’s ideas are fascinating and useful because they cause immigrant teachers to rethink their assumptions regarding their native students. This may cause better teaching regardless of their students’ technological learning preferences.

This was a good project and I enjoy creating my video podcast. Please let me know what you think and thanks for staying tune.

The World of Web 2.0

Podcasting Assignment - Week 11

In this week’s assignment we are suppose to create an audio podcast. After researching the topic I have decided to do mine on the digital native and how they have taking charge in today’s business world. The way that I decided to create my podcast is by using Camtasia 6.0 software application; I already purchase this software due to having it for another courses. Camtasia is one of the most powerful applications currently on the market for creating podcast content on a Windows PCs. Originally designed as a screen capturing and recording program, Camtasia can be used for adding annotations (‘callouts’) and audio voiceover to slideshows or movies, and can even be used as a light video editor. The Camtasia interface resembles many similar time-based editing applications, particularly Windows Movie Maker.

This will be my first attempt in creating a podcast, so cross your finger. Hopefully I will be able to upload it on screencast.com and everything works great, but time will tell. Stay tune.

Using Skype in the classroom- Week 10

In this week's assignment our group has been using Skype to communicate our group project and in my opinion Skype has been a very beneficial tool in many ways. Using Skype for an educational purpose provides opportunities for interactive exchange between students living on campus or on the other sides of state. Skype can expand the walls of the traditional classroom and engage students to write, share, and communicate with an audience that was inaccessible just a few years ago. Educators interested in helping motivate students to develop both traditional as well as twenty-first century literacy skills in the classroom needs to use every tool that is out there. Today’s students are more digital savvy and already using all types of technology. We as teachers need to enhance new learn styles to draw students in and be creative on how they learn.

I have enjoyed this assignment and I really like using Skype as one of our technology tools. Our group was able to come up with a great design and I was able to upload the design into our conversion. I am posting our final design to this week posting, please let me know what you think. Dr. Ellis always make our classes so much fun, I really hate that this is my last class with her.