New Trailer of Final Fantasy XIII-2!!!!!

I nearly fell out of my chair when Jess told me there was a new trailer. Already watched it 3 times and I might pee my pants before I get sick of watching it! Can't wait!

Final Fantasy XIII-2!

I just saw this on yahoo news and nearly wet myself. I LOVE FF 13! I finished it and loved every minute of it. I want my own PS 3 so I can play it more often. Then I found the trailer for the newest FF game and it's a continuation! I am so excited that I can hardly stand it! May I suggest watching it in full screen since my blog kinda cuts it off? I've watched it like 5 or 6 times already and I can't wait!

England #3

London! A great city with thousands of years of history and I only have 2 days to see it all! Well I must first say that I did not see it all. I didn't even get to see everything I wanted to see, but I saw a lot so that's a good start.
The first day in London, my dad, brother and me walked around London and saw the Houses of Parliament, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, etc. What amazes me is that this has all been around for hundreds to thousands of years. Westminster Abbey was first built in like 800 AD and it is still standing today! It's crazy to say the least! Both St. Paul's and Westminster were eyeopening. The architecture really shows that the people who built it really put their hearts and souls into what they did. Religion really meant a lot to the British back in medieval times and even up into the modern era.
The most interesting thing about London is that it is a blend of ancient and modern culture all mixed into one city. You'll see modern office buildings sitting next to sites that have been around for hundred of years. The culture of London is very mixed too. I saw a lot of Arabs, Chinese, Caucasians, Blacks, and many more. There were so many different languages spoken all around you, even in the Tube (aka the subway) or on the bus.
Technology is an interesting part of London too. Everyone around you seems to have a Blackberry or at least a phone and many have Kindle or Nooks. I didn't see too many people on laptops in my travels, but I'm sure they use their Blackberries for that. But something that was interesting in my travels was Internet is available in most places, but it is spotty at the same time. In smaller towns like Exeter and Mildenhall or Lakenheath they have Internet access in the hotels or in your own room for free. But in London, we would have had to pay for Internet and it wasn't available in our room. Makes you miss the USA where you can get on pretty much anywhere and everywhere.
Time to try and find a way home to good old Utah! I hope to be seeing my cohorts and teachers very soon!

England #2

We went to see Conwy Castle in Wales. It was built in the 1100's by Edward I and is the most complete castle that's still standing. The architecture was amazing! There were big towers with narrow passageways and ruins of the royal apartments. The chapel was very beautiful in the fact that it was intact. It was very simple in terms of the fact that there wasn't amazing carvings or anything. But you could see out the window into the harbor. And yesterday we drove around Summerset and saw areas that my ancestors had been in. I could almost see myself stepping into their time period in these small villages they lived in.
The next couple days we will be travelling around the country doing more family research before we will be in London. I'm so excited to go to London and see all the sites there. I want to see the Albert and Victoria Museum as well as the Crown Jewels, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, etc. Stay tuned for more!

PDP My Beliefs

I believe that technology is an asset to us as long as it is used correctly. The internet can provide instant and accurate access to information from all over the world and that is a wonderful thing! Students can communicate with others from the other side of the world and that is a great thing for out students.
I want to be a teacher who allows my students to use technology and to learn from my students. My students are more likely to be more tech savvy than myself. I, as a teacher, need to be comfortable enough with my self esteem that I can realize my students can teach me things and that I don't know everything about the world. I want to use technology as a tool to help my students become interested in what they are learning and to allow my students some flexibility in studying what they want to study.
The idea I had for using technology is allowing them to make a YouTube video about their favorite person in history or on a person or event we may be studying in the unit we are studying. I hope that I can keep up with the spirit of discovery and use that to guide my teaching and in making me the best kind of teacher that I can be.

PDP Lessons Learned

I learned a lot based off reading the articles I read (since videos and surveys wouldn't open). I learned that students really do perform better with technology. For me, technology sometimes is more trouble than it's worth and I get more frustration out of it and don't learn as much, but students that I will be teaching are a little more tech saavy and really like technology.
I learned there are plenty of ways to integrate technology in the classroom. You can create webquests, class websites, class acts, use polls and social networks, etc. I also learned it doesn't have to be fancy technology for students to enjoy it. Creating assignments where they can explore or solve real world problems is really what students are looking for.
The concern I have is when is there too much technology in the classroom? Some students are not tech saavy and they may feel a bit out of place in a highly technical classroom. I also worry about distractions in the classroom that come from the technology that is provided.

PDP Strengths and Weaknesses

Because of some technical difficulties in England I wasn't able to pull up the UNI survey, but based off of the NET standards, I would say that my strengths are as follows:
I have introductory knowledge of technology.
I am a lifelong learner (I always say that you learn new things everyday).
I try and choose technology to enhance my lessons and peak the interest of my students and address a variety of learning styles.

My weaknesses are:
I don't have any idea how to use technology in terms of assessments.
I don't really understand the ethics and legal practice of technology (other than cite your sources in papers).
I don't really know what they mean by looking for sustainable technology.

My goals are to learn more about using technology in the classroom besides doing videos in class. I would like to learn how to assess student learning with technology. I would also like to learn more about running a website for my classroom that will suit my needs.
The following website has a lot of workshops on assessments and having a web presence which would help me on my website.

http://www.larkin.net.au/026_web_presence.html

This article has a lot of great ideas of technology use in the classroom that I would like to use in my classroom.

http://www.edutopia.org/martin-behrman-charter-school-technology