Week 14

I completed the internet safety assignment, the course evaluation, and the course feedback survey as well as checked my grades on Moodle.

Internet Safety Reflection

1. For the article of choice I found an article under "Media" by Elder H. Burke Peterson from the New Era entitled "Leave it Alone"

2. One of the videos I watched in particular really struck me. It was a video called "The Child Predator Fear." It talked a lot about the fear of parents that their children will be targeted by a child predator and something will happen to their child. The video showed the parents perspectives on internet use, but what I liked was that it also showed the perspective of the teenagers. The things the parents seemed to miss was that their children are very informed about the internet and that in general they aren't being contacted or targeted by child predators. Many of the teenagers expressed how they would never give out their information to a random person they met online. A few researchers also brought up the idea that parents may need to realize that their children aren't necessarily victims, but participants. Majority of cases with online child predators is where the children were seeking out a meeting; rarely were the instances where the children were being deceived. I found that all to be really interesting and that understanding should hopefully help how we approach internet safety with our kids. I think the best thing to do, since majority of these cases involve the child seeking it out, is to be involved in our children's lives and aware of what they are doing, but not being overbearing or intrusive to their privacy.
3. I think what I took away the most from the readings and the video was just that there is a great power in technology, which we can use for our benefit or our downfall and ultimately it is our choice. I really love Elder Bednar's talk he gave concerning the use of technology. He so clearly states how we can greatly benefit from technology, but it can also be Satan's tool when used incorrectly. I think as teachers it is so important that we are aware of that and are able to protect our students from the dangers that there can be out there when using technology. Technology can be a great and wonderful tool when used appropriately, but I think it is also equally as important if not more that we are aware of how to properly use technology and that we don't solely depend on it. In today's world we are so "plugged in" to everything that I think sometimes it is good to step back and maybe do things the "old school" way. I know that our classrooms will benefit from the use of technology, but I also believe that that is no reason to let go of other ways and maybe older ways of doing things either.

4. I talked with my sister about internet safety. I thought it was a really great conversation, my sister is 16 years old and as typical of our generation is actively involved in the online world not only for social reasons, but as a large part of her schoolwork. We had a really great conversation about what she thought the benefits were of the internet and technology as well as we got to really discuss some of the dangers. We talked a lot about different instances of people that she knows and that we know collectively that have maybe put themself in more dangerous situations online. I was able to share with her some of the things that I learned and read and some of the church related articles she herself had read, so we were able to talk about that and discuss them. I think it was really interesting to see what her opinions were on the topic, especially since she is still in high school and social networking sites and such are so popular, as is chatting online through yahoo, or aim, or even facebook. For me the point was just to have a good conversation with her and see where she was at as far as her knowledge about being safe on the internet. As I suspected she was very well informed and I was glad to know that she was able to benefit from the internet and technology and not be turned off to it due to bad experiences or the possible dangers. I think we both concluded that if you are using the internet in the appropriate way and are careful in what you do and say then the internet can be a great resource to you for multiple facets of our lives.

TPACK Report

*note* Speaker notes should be on when watching this presentation :)

Lesson Plans!

All of my lesson plans can be found here:

Math Lesson Plan:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dvpbhv5_70dq2ktqc9

Language Arts Lesson Plan:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dvpbhv5_69cjw7vwgr

Science Lesson Plan:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dvpbhv5_68hmk66bv5

Video Reflection

This week we had the opportunity to watch a few videos of how teachers have implemented technology into their younger elementary classrooms. I think what most impressed me was the fact that these teachers proved it to be possible; implementing technology in lower grades. I am currently in a first grade classroom for the practicum and I was under the belief that it just wasn't possible, the kids are too young, there is no way I can use technology with them in an effective way. I was wrong. These teachers proved that it is possible. I really enjoyed the simplicity of it all; sometimes the use of the technology was simply allowing the students the opportunity to interpret and present something in a particular form of media. It would be so fun to watch the students take a particular poem or story or song and have them interpret and represent the text in a way that is meaningful to them through the computer and put it in a slideshow to share with their classmates. The teachers showed me that the students don't need constant supervision or instruction when working with technology. I was under the impression that in order for younger grades to use technology it would require the teacher to be heavily involved and doing much of the work while the students simply sat back and watched, only putting in a few ideas and their input here and there. It is quite the contrary, in fact. The students are fully capable of working independently or in groups once they have been taught and trained in how to use the technology and when the expectations are clear. I found these videos to be really informative and convincing; I felt more convinced and confident in the idea of incorporating technology into my lower grade classroom. It is an effective way to teach and the students are engaged and having fun. I will definitely more closely examine the prospect of technology with younger students.

Technology Inventory

This being the first week in the classroom it was interesting to take a bit of time and talk to our teacher about the technology resources available. I found that there wasn't A LOT of resources available at the school, but that there were still quite a few options. I realized in talking with her that she just didn't utilize all the technology available at the school. In talking to her further she expressed how technology was something that they used more in the upper grades; it was too difficult to do with the younger grades, such as 1st (which is my classroom). I found that to be very interesting. I myself would tend to agree, that some technology might be difficult to use with younger grades, but I still believe that there are MANY resources that she is not taking advantage of that she should. I think the children would benefit a lot from her incorporating more technology into her lessons and activities with them; maybe they would focus more or be more engaged in various tasks.

This week I also completed the Midcourse Evaluation and the Informed Consent.

Science Challenge Videos

I watched the videos of:

Alli,

Nancy,

and Robin.

All were FABULOUS!

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I really learned a lot this week. This assignment opened my eyes to the MANY possibilities there are for use of technology in the classroom; especially with science. I think I forget or underestimate the many resources we really do have that we should be taking advantage of and utilizing in the classroom. Science truly is a subject that is meant to be lived; science should be full of hands on activities and experimentation, not simply reading out of text or being lectured. This assignment opened my eyes to the various options we have as teachers as well as the importance of incorporating these technologies into our lessons and our classroom. The students will really benefit from the hands on activity and the opportunity the technology provides for the students to experiment and explore individually as well as collectively in groups.

Science Challenge

Science Challenge

For the Science Challenge I decided I would address from the State Core for Science for 3rd grade:

Standard 1

Students will understand that the shape of Earth and the moon are spherical and that Earth rotates on its axis to produce the appearance of the sun and moon moving through the sky.

Objective 2
Describe the movement of Earth and the moon and the apparent movement of other bodies through the sky.

b. Use a chart to show that the moon orbits Earth approximately every 28 days.

As far as pedagogy, I would make sure that the students understood and met the objective through assessing them in the form of a chart. I would have the students draw the various phases of the moon to depict how when the moon orbits the Earth it appears differently to us here. The students would record what the moon looked like on each day by drawing a picture of the way it looked and recording what the phase was for that day. If the students could successfully do that as well as write how this shows the moon orbits the Earth then they will have showed me that they understand the material.

For my technology, I will have the students use the program Stellarium. This program makes it possible to view the night sky from the earth on any given day, in the future or the past. Using this tool the students can observe the night sky even when the sky is too cloudy to really see from their homes. This technology will allow the students to observe the moon phases regardless of their circumstances or the circumstances of the night. Each student will be able to complete the assignment with the help of this tool. Students will also be able to use World Wind, a program that allows one to be able to explore the surface of the earth, moon, and other planets. The students will be able to enhance their knowledge and understanding of the moon and how it orbits the earth as they learn more about each of these planets. They will also be able to meet 3rd grade Standard 1, objective 1c; List the differences in the physical appearance of Earth and the moon as viewed from space. They will be able to learn make a chart of the attributes of the Earth and the attributes of the moon. Both these technologies will help the students successfully achieve the objectives and enhance their understanding through this experience of virtually looking at the earth and moon and really being able to SEE what is occurring.

Virtual Tours

I watched the google earth tours of:

Alli Whitezell

Julie Chatfield

Nancy Taylor

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Creating this tour has been a really interesting experience. I have really learned a lot about technology as I have worked on it. I can see the benefit it would have in the classroom as it is a really good resource for the students. In upper grades students can easily get on the computer and check out the tour and self-teach, really, as they follow the instructions and guidelines. I can also see how it is a really time consuming project, for the teacher and for the student if they were to make one. Students could make one and use it as a way to present their findings from a report or the research they've done, but it would take a lot of instruction on the teacher's part to show them how to do it. I think it could be really beneficial for the students, but the time to do it would be an issue, as it is with many projects. If the time could be given by both the teacher and the student I think it would be a really great tool and resource in the classroom and a great way for the students to get engaged in what they were learning.

Google Earth Tour: Ecosystems

My google earth tour can be found here!

As well as below:

Cultural Snapshot

EMO KIDS

We all know this kid:

Whether in our high school, our ward, our class, or even our family. The real question is though, how do we treat them? Are they just another face in the crowd? Do we mercilessly mock them? Do we exclude them? Isolate them? Do we go so far as to beat them? Even kill them?

Seems absurd, right? Why would anyone want to kill these kids? Because they are different? But oh, they do. According to a news report emo kids are experiencing quite a bit of prejudice and persecution from many.

This video shows it well, here is a cultural group being persecuted just for being different.

This video says it all; here is the majority culture saying that we don't want this group because they aren't like

us. We want them to assimilate into what we believe is the better culture and if the group doesn't conform to

majority culture's way then they are persecuted. As seen in the video the "emo kids" resort to negative

resistance theory; they are persistently rejected by the majority culture and as such do their best to contrast

with the group and stand on their own, isolating themselves even more. Is this really how we want to treat

people? We really want to force people to feel even more like outsiders?

The Emo world is getting a bad reputation from the media. All over the media articles are being displayed that

tell of emo kids committing suicide or of engaging in risky behaviors or of having suicide pacts. The media says

that this group is bad and that they are influencing teens everywhere to engage in this suicidal behavior.

An article about a 13 year old emo girl committing suicide hit the news a year ago. The uproar began as

concerned parents everywhere began blaming this culture for the suicide. They blamed bands like

My Chemical Romance for the tragedy. But why the obsession? Why in a tragedy we must find someone to

blame? How could one culture, one band, really force this young girl to end her life? The reality is they can't.

Emo culture doesn't promote young 13 year old girls to kill themselves, it doesn't idolize death or pain, it

doesn't promote self mutilation. The sub-culture exists for the same reason so many other sub-cultures exist...

it's a sanctuary, a place where these kids who feel like "outsiders" belong. They like a particular genre of music,

they dress the same, they can relate to one another. No one in the group asks them to assimilate, to deny where

they come from or how they feel in order to fit in. They aren't worried about acculturation or biculturalism,

all they are concerned with is being with people who understand them.

This article puts it well; are these kids just the scapegoats for some of the horrible things that happen in this world?

Should they really be blamed for things they can not control? Should they really be blamed for just wanting to

fit in somewhere?

This person seems to think they shouldn't be. A blogger wrote about their feelings toward this attack on the emo

kid in this blog. Maybe this blogger is on to something...maybe we all need to be a little less judgmental.

So what does this all mean? Clearly, the emo kid is getting a bad rep from the media and people everywhere are

responding. Some with anger and force and others with just sheer hatred. Is this racism? In one form, I would

say; absolutely. Maybe in the school it comes across as passive racism; a comment here or there, from a

classmate, a parent, or maybe even a teacher. But racism is racism, right? Maybe it's our own

experiences that have shaped us into being anti-emo kid, maybe it's that individual racism, but does that excuse

the poor behavior shown toward this cultural group? I say no. So what do we do? As teacher, as parents, as

classmates?

A child who identifies himself or herself with this group will be in our classrooms as teachers, so how do we

treat this child? Do we allow the media to tell us what to think about this child or tell us how to treat this child?

Do we recognize the stewardship we have other these children and use the pygmalion effect properly?

Or do we judge these children? Do we expect less of them and see a self-fulfilling prophecy as these

students live up to our expectations, or lack of expectations, for them? We need to break that deficit theory.

We need to LOVE these children and teach them. These are the micro factors, the things we can control, and

we can control how we treat one another. As a teacher it is our job, our responsibility, and our stewardship to

see to it that all the children in our classroom feel safe, and welcome. No child should come to class feeling

unaccepted. As we foster a classroom of respect and unity, as we show love and understanding to this group

the other students will as well. There are children that identify with this group and as such it is their culture.

We have to accept that, we have to rely on our own opinions of the student and judge them on their own merit,

not base our opinions off of the media. If we do that with EVERY group we will never really know the truth.

Be open minded, think for yourself and love, not judge.

Google Earth

Standard 1

Students will understand how geography influences community location and development.

Objective 2

Describe how various communities have adapted to existing environments and how other communities have modified the environment.

a) Describe the major world ecosystems (i.e. desert, plain, tropic, tundra, grassland, mountain, forest, wetland).

Location	Activity Description	Google Earth content
1. Arctic Tundra	Click on the arctic tundra and answer these questions after reading about it: What type of vegetation grows in the arctic tundra? Along what arctic coasts is the arctic tundra?	terrain tool on.
2. Sahara Desert, Africa	Look at some of the surrounding pictures and information on places in the area. What are some groups of people that live in the desert?	Places tool on.
3.	Look at some of the animals that could live int he everglades. Why do you think they are so well suited for this ecosystem? What adaptations do you think they have made? What adaptations would they need to make if they were to live in the desert?	gigapxl photos
4.	Using the information given and the available tools determine how high the mountain is. What kind of animals might live in this ecosystem? How do they make adaptations to live in this ecosystem? What adaptations would we need to make if we were going to live in a civilization here?	gigapxl photos

I chose this standard for a google earth tour because I thought this would be a really good way to teach this material. It can be a really interactive, fun way to see various examples of these different types of ecosystems. The students have the opportunity to look at these ecosystems and look at the the surrounding areas and see how they differ and really get to gain a knowledge of what the ecosystem looks like and how it affects the nearly communities. Unlike just reading about these different ecosystems the students have a hands on way of exploring and learning more about these places and really seeing where they are located and what they look like.

So What?

I was able to watch the videos of:

Keri Wooten

Robin Shaw

Alli Whitezell

Riena Kalilimoku

Stephanie Talley

Meagan Miller

All were EXCELLENT and I really enjoyed seeing their ideas and getting new ideas for the future!

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After it all, the question is: So What?

I learned how to make this digital storytelling video and now it's about deciding how I might implement this in my classroom. I really think the biggest challenge that I see in actually doing this in the classroom is just the issue of time. This can be quite the time consuming project, especially for younger students who would need assistance with writing what they wanted to say and who will take longer to find pictures or draw pictures. I do believe it could be done in any grade as long as the teacher and/or the parents are willing to put in the time. This could easily be an assignment that is meant to be completed over a lengthy time period as well as being a take home assignment so that time in the classroom itself isn't being entirely devoted to this one project. There are means to making it work and other than the issue of finding the time I really do think it is a plausible idea for an assignment or activity in the classroom, even if it was a classroom group project. I think it is fun and engaging for the students if the teacher can find a way to manage time appropriately.

Digital Storytelling Video

The long wait is over!

You can now watch my video!

I know how exciting this is for all of you so here you go...

ENJOY!

TPACK

Technological

Pedagogical

And

Content

Knowledge

This week was all about TPACK.

TPACK really is just the incorporation of pedagogy, content knowledge, and technology.

It was really interesting to see the venn diagram and how all of these things work together to really create the best classroom setting and learning environment.

Clearly, it is necessary for teachers to have a good understanding of pedagogy and content knowledge.

These things have been researched and studied for years; what makes an effective teacher?

But TPACK proves that it's more than just those things, that the technology aspect needs to be considered as well. Merely having good pedagogy and a thorough gathering of content knowledge isn't enough. A truly effective teacher takes more than just those things. To really expand and expound a teacher needs to incorporate the technology.

Why is this so beneficial?

I can see incorporating technology as being such a benefit to students. Children of society today are extremely technologically savvy. They have always had technology at their fingertips and to incorporate it into their learning will only better assist them in their process. As teachers we try to use tools and methods that will be most effective for our students; we look for ways to connect what we are teaching them with what they already know, using their background knowledge. What better resource than technology? What greater background knowledge to draw from than just that. Technology is easy for students, it's natural and to use it in the classroom only seems natural. Students will benefit as they have the opportunity to work with something they already know and to build upon their own knowledge using technology as that platform.

My Storyboard

I Bought a New Tank for my Goldfish

by Kenn Nesbitt

AH!

This week's assignment has been INTENSE and all I can really say about it all is AH!

I do think I learned something from it all and this would probably be it:

I SURVIVED and I CAN DO IT!

After it all that is what I came away with. Sure, now I know how to make a webpage for my classroom, I know how to embed videos on it, I know how to use googledocs better and the calendar, I know how to share things, make a survey, and so much more. But, the thing I am leaving with after this week's assignment is just the confidence that I CAN do it. I think as a teacher it is so vitally important to have confidence in yourself and in your abilities. Technology in the classroom is useless if as a teacher you don't feel confident in it; you will never use it. You may have the skills and the udnerstanding and knowledge of how to use the various tools availabe, but if you don't feel confident it is all pointless and no one benefits from it. All of these activities this week have boosted my own confidence. I feel like I can accomplish the tasks laid out before me and that I can use technology in my classroom with my students. I am by no means extremely skilled or confident in it, but I do believe that this is the start and as the semester progresses I will grow in confidence as well as skills. That is the greatest thing I have learned this week and the most useful:

CONFIDENCE

Awkward much?

Personally, I am a firm believer that facebook video posts are just weird...

Talk about really personal and I always feel like I'm interrupting something...like I'm looking in on something I shouldn't be, like some sort of private moment...it's just awkward.

Nonetheless...this is me doing it. Awesome.

This is me trying to figure out how to get a screen shot of leaving

a video post on facebook for Nancy....

And this is me after I figured it out...

YAY!!

Google Video Chat

So here it is...Nancy and I totally video chatted on gmail. Minus the fact that I COULD NOT figure out how to take a screen shot of it, it worked out pretty okay. so..TA DA!! :)

My Technology Experience

My technology experience is pretty basic. In elementary school we took classes twice a week where we would go to the computer lab and learn how to type and use the different programs on the computer. This "training" continued through most of middle school, although now most of the "training" on the computer I received is outdated. The most I ever learned about technology came from experience at home using my family's computer. I "explored" a lot with our computer and since both my parents were pretty computer "slow" I learned a lot by trying to figure out things on my own. Throughout high school due to projects and such I gained more experience working with technology. All-in-all, my experience with technology didn't come from classrooms or lesson, but through my own curiosity.