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.

12/4/08 reflections

While watching the internet safety video, a few things stood out to me.
81% of students spend at least one hour/week online. 38% enter chatrooms at least once a week. Risk-taking, involving giving out personal information, increases with age. Pornographic web pages now tops 260,000,000 and they're still growing. 90% of 8 to 16 year-olds have viewed pornography online, most unintentionally while doing homework. Companies target teens through pop-up ads. *Typo Squatting, the purchase of domain names to intentionally deceive.* It is illegal to knowingly use a domain name, Truth and Domain Act (2003). 20% of child-oriented sites allow gambilng advertisements (study done in 2002). Hate sites, there were 8,667 sites at the end of 2003 and there were 10,296 at the end of April 2004 (these are growing faster than pornography). Many hate sites are specifically targeted to attract children. Text-messaging, blogs, and other internet sites are used to bully, with those being called "the new bathroom wall", referring to how mean messages used to be written in bathroom walls in schools, they are now done even more often and in potentially more public places. Cyber predators grooming process: internet friendship, (there's a step here), decide to meet, criminal act. Boys are victimized as often as girl

Teachers and parents really need to know, as best they can, what children are doing on the internet and children need to have some idea of the dangers that exist and the consequences of risks that can be taken. I still believe the internet is a good thing where so much can be learned and communicated, but there are also a lot of bad things there, so education about how to use this and how to teach others is absolutely necessary in order for it to remain a positive tool.

week 12 reflection

I saw my teaching partner use a laptop and a projector to present a prepared powerpoint. I also used a laptop and the overhead projector to show the students a video about the first Thanksgiving. My partner's experience seemed to go very well, and mine also worked, but it stopped two times, and I wasn't the one who was able to fix it either of those times. My facilitator had to fix it for me so that we could finish the video, which didn't disrupt the class too much, but it would have been a big disappointment to the students if my facilitator hadn't been there to fix the problem. Also, the students still had computer lab this week and the regular overhead was used for several lessons, so I saw quite a bit of technology used this week. Some experiences went very well, and others had glitches, but overall they seemed to be effective because the students seemed to be more engaged and the teacher had less stress in remembering the material as the technology was either providing a lot of the teaching material or it was a prompt for what needed to be taught. I was thinking that I would like to use a smart board for a literacy lesson, but I asked my facilitator (who is the technology specialist at my school) and she said that they don't have any. I still plan on using the overhead for lessons and possibly doing another video or possibly a powerpoint lesson as the students' seemed to respond very well to those.

11/14/08 reflection

This week didn't introduce any new technology in the actual classroom. However, I did go with the students during their computer time where they went to a lab and they all had their own mac computer to work on. They had previously written letters to veterans for the veterans' day holiday, so they typed up those letters at the computer lab on some sort of kids' program that lets you type and add/draw pictures onto the same document. I tried to use the microphone device that the teacher has, but it wasn't necessary. I also turned on the tv one morning for their morning announcements which are broadcast into every classroom on channel 3 every morning at 8:30. One idea I have for using technology is to use the overhead for modeling new concepts and also to use the resources available in the computer lab more often, especially to teach computer skills to the students. It is even more convenient because the computer lab is right next to our classroom.

11/8/08 reflection

This last week showed a lot more technology in the classroom. My teacher used her laptop (mac), hooked up to the overhead projector to show online pictures of and information about clouds. My BYU partner, Ms. Hauser, tried to use an ELMO for a math lesson about weight, but it wouldn't work so she wasn't able to. My teacher uses her portable microphone every day, and I have now considered using it for when I teach longer lessons. This week I got a cold and realized that I could use the microphone if they weren't able to hear me since my voice was a little weaker than ususal. I didn't need it, but I was grateful for and aware of the option. At the faculty meeting Friday morning, the teachers were taught how to sign up for and use delicious.com for organizing websites and see others' ideas as well. It was kind of confusing so I helped teachers do it and since my teacher's laptop wasn't working during the meeting, I set it all up for her afterwards and showed her how to use it. This was a good experience because I felt helpful and was also able to answer the questions of another second grade teacher. This next week, I want to use the laptop to project something (like an online storyreading of a book) and I also think I might use the microphone at some point and see if it helps my lessons.

10/30/08 reflection

Today we used the book projector tool, which looks sort of like a flatboard overhead, but is actually a camera instead of a mirror, so it can project books, with great detail, making it large enough for everyone in the classroom to see as the teacher reads along. We also used the laptops today and the hanging projector to receive instructions. I'm using my blog now to post this reflection and we used moodle to get our instructions. There has been some enthusiasm about using this technology, especially the book projector (a.k.a. "ELMO"), and there were fewer complaints today than usual because the technology we used was all working well. The technology I was using all worked very well and I was grateful for that. My school has some iclicker things so that the students can each participate silently from their desks and get to use a toy in an educational setting. There is also a computer lab right next to my classroom that I plan to use and I have to video myself teaching a few times, so I will be using that technology as well to both record and to upload.

interactive writing

Some critical attributes of interactive writing are that it must involve either teacher/student interaction and/or student/student interaction, as it is interactive; this is often done by the teacher literally writing with the student, but not correcting a previous writing with the result of discouraging or disapproving of the child. The teacher and the student together write something and correct it together as they go.
Some technology that can be used for this is that they can use a smart board to do their writing together, as opposed to using paper or a chalkboard. Also, they could type up the writing and use the various features found in programs like Microsoft Word to highlight parts of the text for different reasons (like the really strong parts, or the spelling errors). You could use a projector and show a powerpoint to introduce interactive writing or to present a student's finished writing project, including the interactive writing step.

others' virtual tours

I haven't been able to watch anyone else's virtual tour because my computer won't download the file. However, I have been talking to other people about the assignment and looking at the names of others' projects and I'm surprised at how varied the topics of the tours are. My partner, Caitlin, and I looked at six of the most famous volcanoes in the world. Another group looked at the seven wonders of the world, which I think would be possibly the best way to really teach those so that the kids could see not only where they are but what they look like and then judge for themselves if it should be a wonder of the world. I believe other groups did naming the seven continents of the world, which is again a great way to make this lesson more interactive, engaging, and real since you can actually see the continent, learn quickly some information about it, and see where it is in relation to where you live. I have learned a still efficient, yet more engaging and possibly effective way to teach many things in many different subject areas to my students of all ages, and I look forward to using GoogleEarth in my classroom as I think it is (or at least can be) a truly educational tool.

virtual tour

Our virtual tour was about six of the most famous volcanoes in the world. We traveled from places in the United States, to the Polynesian islands, to Asia, to Europe, to South America, and we included the largest active volcano, which is in Hawaii. Each spot gives you a picture of the volcano and information that my partner and I put in, as well as information that was already there as a part of GoogleEarth. I would use this in my classroom when talking about volcanoes (more generally how land is formed or the different physical features of the world) and I think it would be really helpful and interesting for my students to see different parts of the world and to really understand the difference between the different kinds of volcanoes.

Google Earth

I have learned how to mark things on google earth with the push pin thing. I've also learned about the layers (like 3-d) and how you can use different options to view locations in different ways. I've learned that you can make a personal tour as you look up locations and then click on them and hit "play" to see your tour played for you. There are also ways you can look down a road and all around an area, using "street view." I have learned a lot about how to use google earth. I might use this program in my classroom by encouraging my students to be more familiar with the physical world all around them by actually seeing what different things look like. I can use it to show my students things that they don't get to see in their community (if they're in a desert, I could show them an iceberg for example).

Google Earth

re-try kmz link

Oceans and river virtual tour.

kmz website

bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/783427/Main/761241
This is my website for a kmz activity that's about rivers and oceans and how they effect the environment, which is part of the first grade Utah state core.

digital storytelling reflections

After looking at a few other groups' digital storytelling project, I can better see how this tool can be used to convey more emotion and that it allows the students to tell a story, rather than the teacher all the time. Also, this is using technology, which is good, and it helps those more shy students to be able to present without having to physically speak in front of the whole classroom. Just as books teach you about all of the different subjects, this assignment has no limit as to what content area it can be about, although the teacher does have the ability to specify what the students' should be presenting on. I think this is very helpful for the classroom, so long as the computers and internet are available for the students to use.

adapting storytelling

I would adapt this digital storytelling assignment to a fourth grade social studies lesson by having the students (in groups or individually) write a fictional story about life on the Oregon Trail and then make a movie of it to present to the class. This will not only incorporate technology into this assignment, but also the students will hopefully have more fun and better remember what they learned in this unit.

Photostory: Catcher's Mitt

digital storytelling project two

lousy catchers mitt

http://www.teachertube.com/skin-p/mediaplayer.swf

digital storytelling project

lousy catcher's mitt
http://www.teachertube.com/skin-p/mediaplayer.swf

digital storybook

I think that the digital storybook is a great way to get kids more interested in not only reading, but also in writing and in writing and sharing their own stories. By making a bigger production of their stories, as opposed to just handing them in or reading straight from their paper to the whole class, this is a more fun and educational way to integrate technology and language arts.

tech savvy teacher reflection

I thought that the tech savvy teacher was a big help in better understanding how we, as teachers, can use technology to improve and enhance student learning in our classrooms. I am not the greatest at coming up with meaningful science experiments for students to do, but through my own lesson plan for this activity and by reading others, I can see that technology can be very helpful in giving the children opportunities to explore the world through hands-on and through technology. I hope that the resources will be available where I teach.

Tech savvy teacher

4th grade Standard 2
Objective 1 Observe, measure, and record the basic elements of weather.
Identify basic cloud types (i.e., cumulus, cirrus, stratus clouds).
The Tech Savvy Teacher
By Kimberly Crowther and Caitlin Hauser
Throughout our endeavors in education we find that teachers are not adapting the needs of the students. In our modern age, students know more than the teachers do about technology. Teachers would rather use what they know than try and develop new forms of teaching that may enhance students learning and engagement. They do not recognize the resources available to them through technology. In our lesson plan about clouds we use technology and contemporary methods while including regularly used procedures such as journal writing. Our lesson plan is for 4th graders. It follows objective 1 of standard two which requires students to “observe, measure, and record the basic elements of weather.” To complete this objective we decided to focus on identifying the basic cloud types.
In order to learn about and distinguish between the different cloud types, we first used the cloud guide website, recommended by the state core. This website is http://www.uen.org/weather/clouds/index.shtml and talks about all of the different kinds of clouds. The class would go to a computer lab so they could each complete the assignment individually and the teacher could monitor their progress to ensure that everyone is learning. Next, the class will use the kidspiration program to reinforce their knowledge about clouds in a fun and interactive way, which uses technology in the classroom. Finally, the students will take a field trip (outside) to look at the clouds.






The children will need to bring their journals with them for the outdoor activity. (The teacher should try to plan ahead by looking up the weather forecast and try to get a day that would hopefully have some observable clouds.) The children will be asked to look at and identify the different clouds in the sky and then draw and label those in their journals. The students can share their journal entries with one another or they can take them home to show their parents what they have learned about clouds.







Here is how we used technology in our lesson plan. Like we said before, the website http://www.uen.org/weather/clouds/index.shtml helps students learn all about clouds. Kidspiration also allows students to use computers and enhance their knowledge.

copyright use

I have learned some things about copyright before, because of my job working in the library. However, I didn't know about only being able to use 3 minutes of video and 30 seconds of music as part of the fair use copyright law. I thought that was interesting. It was also a good reminder about other things, such as using copyrighted items for rewards doesn't fall under fair use, but educational use (combined with common sense) is generally covered.

September 18 class

Today we set up our "delicious" links for different subjects and different grades, which I think will be a very helpful tool and save a lot of time in finding appropriate and useful ideas and resources. We also talked about and looked at some different programs that can be downloaded (or installed) that use technology to improve student learning. I had a chance to look at these programs and I was really impressed with the kidspiration one, especially for social studies. There were a lot of fun and educational activities on there, for different ages, that I could use in my classroom for students to do on their own to become more familiar with the computer and to better understand a concept if they're struggling with it or if they need a challenge because they're ahead of the rest of the class.

September 7

Today's class was mostly just set-up. We learned about the basic differences between blogs and wikis and I decided to get a blog. So I set that up and learned how to send it to my PLE, also. I'd never done either of these things before and I didn't really know that much about them either. So I think this class is going to teach me quite a bit.

September 12 class

Today we learned about how to use an "RSS", which I actually already heard of, but I'd never actually used. They seem to be very helpful to keep people updated on what they really want to know about. I especially liked the Good Reads link that is now on my blog. Setting up my account on that site and looking around and adding books and everything got me excited to use the good reads site as I think it will be a very helpful tool, both in my professional and in my personal life because I really like to read. I am looking forward to learning more and making more improvements to my blog.