Law Library

• IDEA Reenactment - Wright's Law
• Wrightslaw: Special Education Advocacy
• United States Dept. of Education IDEA page
• Utah State Office of Education Special Ed Site
• Code of Federal Regulations 
• Library of Congress IDEIA of 2004 Actual Bill 
• Utah State Legislature
• Least Restrictive Behavioral Interventions Guidelines
• Adversity.net 
• Utah State Courts
• Federal Open Meetings Act
• Find Law for the Public
• TED talks

These are websites I can go to for legal resources and ideology to help myself, my colleagues, my students, and my community.  All of these are free websites that don't require any kind of sign-in, making it more convenient to use and re-use them.

final reflection post

1. The most valuable aspect of a creating a PLE was learning how to use this technology and the resources available on the internet to share and access information. I feel much more comfortable and informed than I used to and I think that it will help me to better relate to my students and also to be aware of what they're doing and teach them through various ways.
2. I least liked posting the link to the discussion board. It would've been nice if there was just a list of the blogs/wikis of the students in the classroom and the teacher could go straight to them, rather than having to go to the extra effort (though I recognize that it wasn't much extra effort) to post a link.
3. I will probably use a blog for personal use, although access to it will be restricted to invitation-only, but I think it is a nice way to keep friends and family who don't live close enough to visit updated on your own family and what's going on in life. I may use one for my classroom, but that would depend on the resources available for the students and their parents and also how much the parents would actually use it.

internet safety videos reflection

I thought that these videos were very interesting. During college I've heard a lot about cyberbullying and online predators and I thought that these sites and documentaries gave a good update and perspective on these issues. I thought that the mother in the PBS documentary was being an excellent parent, but from the interviews with her children it looked like all of her efforts were just causing a lack of trust between her and her kids and that it was driving them to use the internet at other locations. The interviews with the kids reminded me that I don't want my children to have a tv or computer in their bedroom, but that I do want a computer in the house so that they're not totally isolated from that resource. There are a lot of good things online, but the bad things are just as easily available and I think that, more than anything, education about what to do and what not to do is what will most effectively help my children and also my students. The study results that said that most students do know about internet safety and the professor who said that the ones who are taking the big risks are also taking big risks off-line made me think about the need for trust, responsibility, and accountability for anyone dealing with such a powerful resource as the internet.

internet safety doing

I talked to an incredible 49 year old lady, who is a mother of six. None of her children live at home anymore and although she's heard of cyberbullying and has a basic understanding of what it is, none of her children ever had to deal with it. I talked to her about some of the videos I watched about internet safety, especially as related to cyberbullying and told her about the boy who committed suicide and the girl who had an eating disordered, both of whom had their problems amplified by chatting online and finding sites on the web. We also talked about the video about the mom who was doing all she could to keep her home safe from the dangers of the internet and how we thought that she was being somewhat overprotective, which drove her kids to just use the internet at other locations (like their friends' houses). This woman got nintendos and the internet in her home to encourage her children to play at their own home, rather than at their friends' homes so that she could better supervise and control what games and sites are being used. This was a positive experience because I was able to teach her some things and open her eyes to a few things, hopefully with perspective rather than just to freak her out. It was not difficult to talk to her about these things, but rather I found it pretty easy and very valuable. I look forward to having more conversations about this with her as I plan to turn to her when I'm wondering what to do with my own family.

digital storybook pictures

good website

www.internetfilterreview.com

12/4/08 readings reflection

The article I chose to read was under the "I Have A Questions" section and the question was "How can our family take advantage of what is available on the Internet while avoiding objectionable material and people of questionable character?", which was answered by William C. Porter. One of the most important things I learned from the readings were the different prevention strategies that parents and teachers can use to help their children and/or students be able to use only the good and educational things available on the internet. A couple of these strategies were to tell children what the expectations are, what to do if something comes up they don't want (turn off the computer), be a good example for the children, and put the computer in a very public place in the house where a lot of people can see the screen. As both a teacher and a parent, I plan to have the home computer (and classroom, if there is one) in a very public place where passersby can easily see what's being viewed. I also plan to teach my expectations very clearly and to teach how to react to bad sites or bad people (turn off the computer immediately and tell me about it). I also plan to know how to use the technology that the kids use and to have a filter system in place on any computer that either they or I use. While reading I was thinking that I can use this knowledge to not only bring up this topic with others and share these ideas, but also to possibly teach a class or a group of some kind how to safeguard their homes and families against the dangers of the internet.