Blog Post 9/Assignment 10

Lecture to Educators
This post did not share much information that most students do not already know. Lecturing is not so effective, text books are costly and rarely used, and most of the "facts" teachers inform their students of are more easily found on the internet, not to mention probably more current. What my classmates should have learned from this post is exactly how lucky we are. If you attend a school that has hands on activities and real life training, check out Dan's video before you start complaining. I am so skeptical of these notions because for the past two and a half years my classes have included an assortment of pedagogy. All of my teachers have known my name, although some of them still cannot pronounce it correctly they gave it a valiant effort. I cannot name one class that did not use the required books. Yes, I have had some professors who lectured, and trust me it was boring, but some information is just "need to know." I agree with Morgan and Dan that change is necessary; however, I do not think Dan is making the best decision. I look forward to seeing future videos from Dan, to find out how that decision works out for him. Life does require us to sometimes do things we do not necessarily agree with and often times it is about the bigger picture of things. To get a degree or not? Today that is the question.

ALEX: The Alabama Learning Exchange
ALEX has lesson plans, web links, and interactive activities easily accessible and usable by administrators, teachers, students, and parents. You can choose from any of these categories: Courses of study, Web links, Lesson plans, Personal workspace, Professional learning, Podcast treasury, Alexville, or Search. In the "Course of Study" tab you can search features by grade level, subject, or keywords. By clicking the "Web Links" tab, you are directed to teacher, administrator, or student web links. Each link category is further broken down into topics of interest for you to choose from.
The "Lesson Plan" option has many benefits. You can browse through actual lesson plans by subject, title, author, or school. You can even create and save them in your own personal workspace. To use the "Personal Workspace" you must establish an account, which only takes a few minutes. You can find or create lesson plans, podcast entries, or teacher webpages.
The "Professional Learning Plan" teaches about ALEX, offers training opportunities, views past presentations, and searches for grants. All of these are valuable tools for the Alabama teacher, or any teacher for that matter. The "Podcast Treasury" is pretty self-explanatory. Hundreds of educational podcasts are available at the click of the mouse. "Alexville" is a little different. It is like a blog for all ALEX users and visitors. There are posts and comments to read about with tips, pointers, and appreciations. The last tab is the "Search" box and it allows you to search the database. You can make a more narrow search by clicking a category first.
Taking the time getting to know and play with this free (yes FREE) on-line tool would be beneficial to any educator. I could write revelations about how ALEX could benefit me as a future teacher, but then I would be neglecting to inform you how useful it has already been to me as a student. Finally Dr. Strange has assigned us something to research that I am familiar with. You should not wait until you start teaching to utilize ALEX. ALEX should be a part of your PLN right now! Include it as a link or bookmark it for easy access. Go ahead and setup an account. I already told you; it is free and it only takes a few minutes. Later down the road it could save you a lot more than a few minutes. It has already saved me from a few headaches. It has all the assistance a teacher, student, parent, or administrator could ever wish for. Try it; you will like it.