Sunday, July 26, 2009
Journal #4: Interactive Boards
For this journal entry I chose to focus on interactive boards. These are boards that are replacing traditional white boards and chalkboards, and can show a class anything that can be shown on a computer. There are several different types, some of the most common are the SMART Board, Activboard, and the Ebeam. The interactive boards are useful for a variety of reasons; lessons can be recorded on them and saved for students that may have been absent, built-in maps, teaching whole group computer or keyboarding skills, digital story telling, brain storming, creating project calendars, diagramming activities, teaching steps to a math lesson, and many other uses. Most of the threads dealt with one of two topics in regards to the interactive boards: first, whether or not they are necessary and cheaper alternatives, and second, different ways in which to use them and what teachers find most helpful about them. For the first set of arguments, most teachers agreed that they are not necessary, but they are extremely nice to have. The same argument kept coming up over and over again, "for the last century kids have had the ability to come to the front of the class and interact with the board." However most teachers would agree that the SMART Board is a far cry from the traditional chalk board. There were also several cheaper alternatives to the SMART Board that some of the teachers swore by, such as the wireless projector. For the second set of threads concerning the different uses and the most common functions of the interactive board, comments varied drastically. Some of these teachers claimed that its most important function was simply being turned on, that the white board is only a mouse touch away and that they can interact with it by simply touching it. Some teachers claimed that they couldn't give it up. Other teachers reported using it to create graphic organizers for reading, making concept maps for science lessons, and using it for all math lessons. Still other felt that the greatest advantage was that of being able to seamlessly integrate video and interactive websites into the classroom lesson plan. Some teachers encourage adding audio clips with Audacity, showing video using Smart player so you can pause and annotate and capture to NotebookOne thing that fairly common among all respondents was that students love to play games on it.
Journal #3: Assessment Made Easy
Zucker, Andrew. (2009, 6/7). Assessment Made Easy. Learning & Leading With Technology, retrieved July 24, 2009, from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/20090607/
The article Assessment Made Easy details the advantages of having a laptop computer for every student in a particular school. The focus of this article is a charter school in Denver, CO, that was given a $1 million grant from Hewlitt Packard to initiate the program. One of the most helpful things about having a laptop to every student is that assessment is easier and far more effective. According to the article, students have access to their scores almost instantaneously. In schools where work is handed in on paper and then graded and then returned, students will often go days without knowing how they scored on a particular assignment. Not only do students receive their scores much faster then the traditional method, the teachers are freed from grading work that a machine can grade, allowing them much more time to grade subjective work such as essays. However, essays can also be graded with the use of technology. One teacher reported that she can display an electronic essay for the whole class to see, and mark it up it front of them with the use of a tablet and stylus. While doing this, the teacher can explain to the class how she is grading an editing the essay. The school has so far produced very positive results, it was stated that every graduating senior had been accepted to a four year university (18). The article did say that laptops were not the only reason the school had such a high success rate. Technology alone cannot substitute good teachers and good administration.
How well had the school done before every student was issued a laptop?
The article did not give any facts relating to this question, but it is one that I would like to know the answer. I thought that one of the most compelling statements in the whole article is the one in which it was confessed that the laptops are not the only reason for the school's success. I wish there was some way to document or graph exactly how much of the school's success is attributable to the laptops. Today it is common to hear schools and teachers make the claim that if only they had more money to work with or if only they had more technology. This article certainly makes a case for those statements, but it would be nice to see exactly how much of a role technology plays in the overall performance of the students.
Are students losing the art of the hand-written word?
With these students spending so much time on laptops, I would imagine that certain elements of the hand-written word are disappearing. Not just the obvious, which would be penmanship, but spelling and grammar. I believe that penmanship is basically a forgotten art; handwriting today does not look nearly as neat as it did fifty years ago, in general. That is not so much what I'm getting at though. I would be more concerned with the fact that students use grammar and spell checker programs to the point where they are concerned with neither. If they were to misspell a word or misuse a semicolon, computers will automatically fix it for them, and the student has learned nothing in the process. As much as I believe that technology is an integral part of education and that it should be used as much as possible, I do think students should spend some time writing assignments out by hand.
The article Assessment Made Easy details the advantages of having a laptop computer for every student in a particular school. The focus of this article is a charter school in Denver, CO, that was given a $1 million grant from Hewlitt Packard to initiate the program. One of the most helpful things about having a laptop to every student is that assessment is easier and far more effective. According to the article, students have access to their scores almost instantaneously. In schools where work is handed in on paper and then graded and then returned, students will often go days without knowing how they scored on a particular assignment. Not only do students receive their scores much faster then the traditional method, the teachers are freed from grading work that a machine can grade, allowing them much more time to grade subjective work such as essays. However, essays can also be graded with the use of technology. One teacher reported that she can display an electronic essay for the whole class to see, and mark it up it front of them with the use of a tablet and stylus. While doing this, the teacher can explain to the class how she is grading an editing the essay. The school has so far produced very positive results, it was stated that every graduating senior had been accepted to a four year university (18). The article did say that laptops were not the only reason the school had such a high success rate. Technology alone cannot substitute good teachers and good administration.
How well had the school done before every student was issued a laptop?
The article did not give any facts relating to this question, but it is one that I would like to know the answer. I thought that one of the most compelling statements in the whole article is the one in which it was confessed that the laptops are not the only reason for the school's success. I wish there was some way to document or graph exactly how much of the school's success is attributable to the laptops. Today it is common to hear schools and teachers make the claim that if only they had more money to work with or if only they had more technology. This article certainly makes a case for those statements, but it would be nice to see exactly how much of a role technology plays in the overall performance of the students.
Are students losing the art of the hand-written word?
With these students spending so much time on laptops, I would imagine that certain elements of the hand-written word are disappearing. Not just the obvious, which would be penmanship, but spelling and grammar. I believe that penmanship is basically a forgotten art; handwriting today does not look nearly as neat as it did fifty years ago, in general. That is not so much what I'm getting at though. I would be more concerned with the fact that students use grammar and spell checker programs to the point where they are concerned with neither. If they were to misspell a word or misuse a semicolon, computers will automatically fix it for them, and the student has learned nothing in the process. As much as I believe that technology is an integral part of education and that it should be used as much as possible, I do think students should spend some time writing assignments out by hand.
Journal #2: How Teenagers Consume Media: The Report That Shook The City
Robson, M. (2009, July 13). How teenagers consume media: The report that shook the city.Retrieved July 24, 2009, from guardian.costanley.uk Web site: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jul/13/teenage-media-habits-morgan-
The article How Teenagers Consume The Media: The Report That Shook The City is a report that was written by a fifteen year old boy in the UK. Most of his statistics and facts are not supported and not cited, however he actually sounds fairly credible. The point of the article is to determine the nature of effective media in regards to teenagers. What I understand after reading the article is that teens, at least in the UK, don't consume all that much media. One of the major themes in his article was that teens don't like advertisements. The only advertisements that teens could stomach were outdoor advertisements that were unique. Teens despised pop-up and commercial television advertisements, and opted to listen to the radio via the Internet where stations are advertisement-free. Mr. Robson did have some interesting things to say about the kinds of technology that teens preferred. I was surprised that teens in the UK mostly wanted types of technology that were low cost. I would have to say the opposite is true in the United States (at least for what I can see with my own eyes). Teens in the UK would apparently rather watch a pirated movie than actually go the movies, and they would also prefer to have the most basic cable package because it is so much cheaper. I was also surprised to read what Mr. Robson had to say about cell phone preferences, that teens would rather have a basic phone to call and text, provided that it was a touch screen model. In the United States it seems like teens want every crazy option there is for their cell phones; navigation, mobile Internet, mobile tv, bluetooth, etc.
Why was this article controversial when it was published by Morgan Stanley?
I would have to guess that the reason this article was controversial when it was published was because of the author's credibility. In all reality, the only credibility that the author has is his age--he is in fact a teenager. Ironically, for this same reason, he has very little credibility. He does not have a degree or any real world experience in advertising or marketing, and his statistics and his facts have no references. Several times in his article he gave statistics and no support, he could have made them up for all the reader knows. I believe it was this lack of credibility that made the article controversial. There are probably many experts in technology and media or related fields that have never had anything published by Morgan Stanley, and I'm sure they were annoyed at reading an article by a fifteen year old.
Why Would Morgan Stanley publish an article written by a fifteen year old?
I believe that Morgan Stanley published this article because they probably figured they could get the inside dope on what teenagers want and find appealing in terms of technology and media by having one of them write an article. However, I doubt that a fifteen year old boy is capable of answering this question completely. I don't believe that he did the research necessary to identify with an entire generation of teenagers. I think that at best, he may be able to speak for a small sample of teenagers that are close to him in age, economic status, and vicinity.
The article How Teenagers Consume The Media: The Report That Shook The City is a report that was written by a fifteen year old boy in the UK. Most of his statistics and facts are not supported and not cited, however he actually sounds fairly credible. The point of the article is to determine the nature of effective media in regards to teenagers. What I understand after reading the article is that teens, at least in the UK, don't consume all that much media. One of the major themes in his article was that teens don't like advertisements. The only advertisements that teens could stomach were outdoor advertisements that were unique. Teens despised pop-up and commercial television advertisements, and opted to listen to the radio via the Internet where stations are advertisement-free. Mr. Robson did have some interesting things to say about the kinds of technology that teens preferred. I was surprised that teens in the UK mostly wanted types of technology that were low cost. I would have to say the opposite is true in the United States (at least for what I can see with my own eyes). Teens in the UK would apparently rather watch a pirated movie than actually go the movies, and they would also prefer to have the most basic cable package because it is so much cheaper. I was also surprised to read what Mr. Robson had to say about cell phone preferences, that teens would rather have a basic phone to call and text, provided that it was a touch screen model. In the United States it seems like teens want every crazy option there is for their cell phones; navigation, mobile Internet, mobile tv, bluetooth, etc.
Why was this article controversial when it was published by Morgan Stanley?
I would have to guess that the reason this article was controversial when it was published was because of the author's credibility. In all reality, the only credibility that the author has is his age--he is in fact a teenager. Ironically, for this same reason, he has very little credibility. He does not have a degree or any real world experience in advertising or marketing, and his statistics and his facts have no references. Several times in his article he gave statistics and no support, he could have made them up for all the reader knows. I believe it was this lack of credibility that made the article controversial. There are probably many experts in technology and media or related fields that have never had anything published by Morgan Stanley, and I'm sure they were annoyed at reading an article by a fifteen year old.
Why Would Morgan Stanley publish an article written by a fifteen year old?
I believe that Morgan Stanley published this article because they probably figured they could get the inside dope on what teenagers want and find appealing in terms of technology and media by having one of them write an article. However, I doubt that a fifteen year old boy is capable of answering this question completely. I don't believe that he did the research necessary to identify with an entire generation of teenagers. I think that at best, he may be able to speak for a small sample of teenagers that are close to him in age, economic status, and vicinity.
Journal #1: Do Teachers Need A personal Trainer?
Owens, Aileen. (June, July 2009). Do Teachers Need Personal Trainers. Learning & Leading With Technology, Retrieved July 23, 2009 from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/20090607/.
In the article Do Your Teachers Need A Personal Trainer, Aileen Owens discusses a program implemented to aid elementary teachers in their usage of technology in the classroom. Ms. Owens is the instructional technology coordinator for the Mt. Lebanon School District in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Though she enjoys her job, she had admitted that the system in place was flawed. There was one technology coordinator for 365 teachers. She would generally hold 4-6 meetings each week lasting 45 minutes with the teachers. The system was time consuming and inefficient. She then came up with a system in partnership with Duquesne University in which students advanced in technology skills would become interns for elementary teachers. The interns would help the teachers implement their lesson plans, and design their own lesson plans, integrating and using technology in the classroom. The interns at times also held workshops for the teachers to advance their own knowledge and fluency of technology. The results were fantastic, the system appeared to a success. The interns were helping the students use all different kinds of technology; Podcasts, Powerpoint, Word, etc. The benefits of the system proved to be two-fold; the teachers as well as the interns both gained a lot from the system. Teachers got much needed help, and the interns got in-class experience. Not too mention that the program was extremely cost efficient.
At what expense are children learning more about technology?
I think children learning about technology in the classroom is a great idea and needs to be done. With a limited number of school days, and a limited number of hours in each school day, where are the teachers finding time to teach about technology. I am only wondering how much time each day is spent on technology. With the increased pressure placed on teachers for students to do well on standardized tests, how much time do they have to spend on teaching technology. Is the time they are spending on teaching technology all for nothing? Eventually certain programs are going to become obsolete, like Powerpoint for example. Is teaching technology in elementary school taking time away from other vital subjects such as language arts and social studies?
Is becoming an intern taking away from the Duqusne students' educational experience?
Are the students that become interns really gaining anything by teaching teachers and elementary students technology tools? The article claimed that the interns were gaining practical experience in the classroom, but what are the technology students that don't plan on teaching gaining from the experience? I can obviously see the benefits for those that are going into the teaching profession, but those that are not seem like they are volunteering their time to help elementary student and teachers. Of course their is nothing wrong with volunteering time, but I'm sure it costs a lot of money to attend Duquesne, and the students have the right to get as much for their money as they can.
In the article Do Your Teachers Need A Personal Trainer, Aileen Owens discusses a program implemented to aid elementary teachers in their usage of technology in the classroom. Ms. Owens is the instructional technology coordinator for the Mt. Lebanon School District in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Though she enjoys her job, she had admitted that the system in place was flawed. There was one technology coordinator for 365 teachers. She would generally hold 4-6 meetings each week lasting 45 minutes with the teachers. The system was time consuming and inefficient. She then came up with a system in partnership with Duquesne University in which students advanced in technology skills would become interns for elementary teachers. The interns would help the teachers implement their lesson plans, and design their own lesson plans, integrating and using technology in the classroom. The interns at times also held workshops for the teachers to advance their own knowledge and fluency of technology. The results were fantastic, the system appeared to a success. The interns were helping the students use all different kinds of technology; Podcasts, Powerpoint, Word, etc. The benefits of the system proved to be two-fold; the teachers as well as the interns both gained a lot from the system. Teachers got much needed help, and the interns got in-class experience. Not too mention that the program was extremely cost efficient.
At what expense are children learning more about technology?
I think children learning about technology in the classroom is a great idea and needs to be done. With a limited number of school days, and a limited number of hours in each school day, where are the teachers finding time to teach about technology. I am only wondering how much time each day is spent on technology. With the increased pressure placed on teachers for students to do well on standardized tests, how much time do they have to spend on teaching technology. Is the time they are spending on teaching technology all for nothing? Eventually certain programs are going to become obsolete, like Powerpoint for example. Is teaching technology in elementary school taking time away from other vital subjects such as language arts and social studies?
Is becoming an intern taking away from the Duqusne students' educational experience?
Are the students that become interns really gaining anything by teaching teachers and elementary students technology tools? The article claimed that the interns were gaining practical experience in the classroom, but what are the technology students that don't plan on teaching gaining from the experience? I can obviously see the benefits for those that are going into the teaching profession, but those that are not seem like they are volunteering their time to help elementary student and teachers. Of course their is nothing wrong with volunteering time, but I'm sure it costs a lot of money to attend Duquesne, and the students have the right to get as much for their money as they can.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Social Bookmarking Posts: Nets I and III
These are the results of a research assignment I completed that required the utilization of social bookmarking, which was completed using a website called Delicious.com. I searched the Internet for specific sites given by the instructor, and once there I tagged and bookmarked the site and completed the research requirement. After the assignment was completed, I embedded the tags on this blog.
1. National Archives:
I visited the online exhibit that showed the political cartoons of Clifford Berryman. These were very insightful as a means of depicting how media in this specific way has not changed much in the last 120 years. Mr. Berryman was a phenomenal artist, and had a very unique way of getting his points across. I noticed that he had stylized his drawings in a very distinguishable way; a common theme in his cartoons were bees. Mr. Berryman also had a wonderful sense of using subtleties to indicate whatever campaign issue he may have been addressing. Mr. Berryman, unlike a lot of political cartoonists today, was not mean or underhanded in his drawings; he basically drew the obvious facts in a humorous way without being, at least, overtly partisan. I felt that it rather hard to tell by the drawings whether he was a Republican or a Democrat.
2.National Education Association (NEA); Achievement Gaps:
Most commonly, achievement gaps have been identified among racially and ethnic minorites, English language learners, students with disabilities, females, and students that come from low-income families. For becoming a culturally competent educator, there are three areas that I feel pertain to my teaching style: a.) Gather and organize resource materials related to culturally diverse groups for use by school staff. I feel this is important because I'm a firm believer in cultural relevancy. I feel that the more relevant a student finds a particular assignment, the more effort will be put into it. b.) Network with parent, family, minority community, and faith-based organizations concerned with the needs of diverse students. Solicit their involvement and input in the design and implementation of initiatives for culturally, linguistically, racially, and ethnically diverse groups. I feel this is important because I feel that it hints towards community and parental involvement which I believe is integral in student success. I think this is one of the major reasons for an achievement gap with minority students. c.) Network with other schools that are developing and implementing culturally competent systems. Adapt the processes and information that are consistent with your school's needs and interests. Lastly, I believe this is important because I think it is important to borrow systems that work. I think it is a major disservice to all minority students and underachievers to not utilize a program that has been proven to work. It should be the responsibility of educators to find out what works, and then implement it.
3.Cyberbullying:
After taking the cyberbullying quiz I found that I am a cybersaint. It has never occurred to me to do any of the things that that were listed in the quiz. For one thing, I don't know enough about computers to do most of the things listed even if I wanted to. I have no idea how to send someone a virus or a Trojan horse, don't know how to conduct an online poll to bash someone, haven't the faintest idea how to hack into someones computer, I don't even know how to change my profile to be rude. The only thing I'm guilty of as far as being a cyberbully is I have used foul language a time or two in my fantasy baseball emails-but who doesn't do that? I learned two important things while visiting the website, both dealing with the different types of cyberbullies. The first is the "vengeful Angel." This is important to know because it was said that most times the vengeful angel doesn't even know that they are being a bully. They see themselves as a do-gooder making wrongs into rights via the Internet. This is important so I will be able to identify the different types of cyberbullies and put a stop to it. The other type of cyberbullt I identified was the "revenge of the nerd" type bully. I learned that this type of bully is often times the victim of schoolyard bullying. I learned that much of the time they are looking for power or revenge and rely on their technical savvy to accomplish this end.
4.Kathy Schrock:
The first area that I chose to focus on in "Subject Access" was a copyrighting lesson for eighth graders. I felt that this is important because it is often an issue that is not discussed until high school, and it is every bit as relevant in middle school. It is a lesson plan designed by Laura Keamming. Students begin by completing a copyright worksheet to familiarize them with the content and concept. Then they are to listen to several songs such as "Ice, Ice, Baby" by Vanilla Ice and "Under Pressure" by Queen. They are then to compare the songs and see if they believe ant copyright laws had been violated. It is an interactive and hands-on lesson plan in which students get to work in groups. The second area that I chose to focus on in the "Teacher Helper" section was a web project rubric. This is important for me because I want my students to be comfortable with the computer, even though I am not as comfortable with it as I should be. I would like for them at some point to prepare their own web page, but I was not totally sure how to grade them. The Teacher Helper showed a well thought-out web project rubric. It included areas of focus being; a. content, b. writing process, c. development process, d. web skill, e. layout, f. images, g. group work. I found this to be extremely helpful as a way to grade the assignment as well as how to format it relating to what should be focused on.
5. Report On Multiple Intelligences:
After taking the multiple intelligences quiz I found that I was most a verbal/linguistic person, I scored a 92% in this area. I was actually very surprised by this. I found that I also am a naturalistic person, I scored a 72% in this area. Again I found this rather surprising. I also found that I am an interpersonal and logical/mathematical person, in each of these areas I scored a 69%. This was surprising because I would have assumed that I was much higher in logical/mathematical. I watched the interview of Howard Gardner. I found the interview to be extremely interesting. I learned that the theory of Multiple Intelligences is based on the fact that all students do not have the same minds. All humans have different intellectual strengths because of this. Teachers need to be aware of this and stop placing the emphasis of education on being teacher centered and shift this to being more student centered.
6.Teaching Tolerance:
I focused on grades 7-12, social studies, and the specific topic is the legality of prayer in school. The lesson plan is unique and sounds like a lot of fun. The class is supposed to have a mock trial. One student is the plaintiff, a small group of students are the defendants, another two groups of students are the legal teams, and one student is the judge. To prepare, the students are given a handout created by the US Supreme court which is basically a checklist to see if civil rights had been violated. From here, it is pretty much a standard mock trial. One side of the court is arguing that they should be allowed to pray in school while the other side argues that it is a violation of the separation of church and state. I think this a wonderful exercise for the students. It involves group work and hands-on application. Students will not only be confronted with a hotly debated current event issue, but they will become familiar with the workings of the judicial/legal system.
7. The first question that I found to be extremely interesting was the question, "According to the National Center for Education Statistics, what is the percentage of U.S. schools with no teachers of color on staff?" I was amazed that the answer was 40%. In fact I am so surprised by that number, that almost half of the schools in the United States don't have a single staff member of color, that I would like to verify the answer. I honestly find that hard to believe. If it is true, I am amazed. The second question that I found interesting was, "In a 2007 study, UNICEF rated the treatment of children in the 23 wealthiest countries in the world based on 40 indicators of child well-being. Which two countries received the lowest ratings?" Again, I was stunned to learn the answer was the United States and the U.K. I would like to know how they came up with these answers and what their definition of child well-being is. I am unclear to whether the UNICEF is implying that children are treated poorly in the United States and the U.K. or that children in these two countries are socially maladjusted or discontented.
8. Nettiquette:
I really have never been taught proper nettiquette, but I did score an 80% on the quiz. I think a lot of it is common sense. It is however important to teach nettiquette in the classroom, if nothing else, for the golden rule, which is remember the human. Students more so than adults will often forget that the people involved in Internet communication are actual human beings with feelings and emotions. Students should be taught to respect this just as they would respect people in face to face conversations. :-@
1. National Archives:
I visited the online exhibit that showed the political cartoons of Clifford Berryman. These were very insightful as a means of depicting how media in this specific way has not changed much in the last 120 years. Mr. Berryman was a phenomenal artist, and had a very unique way of getting his points across. I noticed that he had stylized his drawings in a very distinguishable way; a common theme in his cartoons were bees. Mr. Berryman also had a wonderful sense of using subtleties to indicate whatever campaign issue he may have been addressing. Mr. Berryman, unlike a lot of political cartoonists today, was not mean or underhanded in his drawings; he basically drew the obvious facts in a humorous way without being, at least, overtly partisan. I felt that it rather hard to tell by the drawings whether he was a Republican or a Democrat.
2.National Education Association (NEA); Achievement Gaps:
Most commonly, achievement gaps have been identified among racially and ethnic minorites, English language learners, students with disabilities, females, and students that come from low-income families. For becoming a culturally competent educator, there are three areas that I feel pertain to my teaching style: a.) Gather and organize resource materials related to culturally diverse groups for use by school staff. I feel this is important because I'm a firm believer in cultural relevancy. I feel that the more relevant a student finds a particular assignment, the more effort will be put into it. b.) Network with parent, family, minority community, and faith-based organizations concerned with the needs of diverse students. Solicit their involvement and input in the design and implementation of initiatives for culturally, linguistically, racially, and ethnically diverse groups. I feel this is important because I feel that it hints towards community and parental involvement which I believe is integral in student success. I think this is one of the major reasons for an achievement gap with minority students. c.) Network with other schools that are developing and implementing culturally competent systems. Adapt the processes and information that are consistent with your school's needs and interests. Lastly, I believe this is important because I think it is important to borrow systems that work. I think it is a major disservice to all minority students and underachievers to not utilize a program that has been proven to work. It should be the responsibility of educators to find out what works, and then implement it.
3.Cyberbullying:
After taking the cyberbullying quiz I found that I am a cybersaint. It has never occurred to me to do any of the things that that were listed in the quiz. For one thing, I don't know enough about computers to do most of the things listed even if I wanted to. I have no idea how to send someone a virus or a Trojan horse, don't know how to conduct an online poll to bash someone, haven't the faintest idea how to hack into someones computer, I don't even know how to change my profile to be rude. The only thing I'm guilty of as far as being a cyberbully is I have used foul language a time or two in my fantasy baseball emails-but who doesn't do that? I learned two important things while visiting the website, both dealing with the different types of cyberbullies. The first is the "vengeful Angel." This is important to know because it was said that most times the vengeful angel doesn't even know that they are being a bully. They see themselves as a do-gooder making wrongs into rights via the Internet. This is important so I will be able to identify the different types of cyberbullies and put a stop to it. The other type of cyberbullt I identified was the "revenge of the nerd" type bully. I learned that this type of bully is often times the victim of schoolyard bullying. I learned that much of the time they are looking for power or revenge and rely on their technical savvy to accomplish this end.
4.Kathy Schrock:
The first area that I chose to focus on in "Subject Access" was a copyrighting lesson for eighth graders. I felt that this is important because it is often an issue that is not discussed until high school, and it is every bit as relevant in middle school. It is a lesson plan designed by Laura Keamming. Students begin by completing a copyright worksheet to familiarize them with the content and concept. Then they are to listen to several songs such as "Ice, Ice, Baby" by Vanilla Ice and "Under Pressure" by Queen. They are then to compare the songs and see if they believe ant copyright laws had been violated. It is an interactive and hands-on lesson plan in which students get to work in groups. The second area that I chose to focus on in the "Teacher Helper" section was a web project rubric. This is important for me because I want my students to be comfortable with the computer, even though I am not as comfortable with it as I should be. I would like for them at some point to prepare their own web page, but I was not totally sure how to grade them. The Teacher Helper showed a well thought-out web project rubric. It included areas of focus being; a. content, b. writing process, c. development process, d. web skill, e. layout, f. images, g. group work. I found this to be extremely helpful as a way to grade the assignment as well as how to format it relating to what should be focused on.
5. Report On Multiple Intelligences:
After taking the multiple intelligences quiz I found that I was most a verbal/linguistic person, I scored a 92% in this area. I was actually very surprised by this. I found that I also am a naturalistic person, I scored a 72% in this area. Again I found this rather surprising. I also found that I am an interpersonal and logical/mathematical person, in each of these areas I scored a 69%. This was surprising because I would have assumed that I was much higher in logical/mathematical. I watched the interview of Howard Gardner. I found the interview to be extremely interesting. I learned that the theory of Multiple Intelligences is based on the fact that all students do not have the same minds. All humans have different intellectual strengths because of this. Teachers need to be aware of this and stop placing the emphasis of education on being teacher centered and shift this to being more student centered.
6.Teaching Tolerance:
I focused on grades 7-12, social studies, and the specific topic is the legality of prayer in school. The lesson plan is unique and sounds like a lot of fun. The class is supposed to have a mock trial. One student is the plaintiff, a small group of students are the defendants, another two groups of students are the legal teams, and one student is the judge. To prepare, the students are given a handout created by the US Supreme court which is basically a checklist to see if civil rights had been violated. From here, it is pretty much a standard mock trial. One side of the court is arguing that they should be allowed to pray in school while the other side argues that it is a violation of the separation of church and state. I think this a wonderful exercise for the students. It involves group work and hands-on application. Students will not only be confronted with a hotly debated current event issue, but they will become familiar with the workings of the judicial/legal system.
7. The first question that I found to be extremely interesting was the question, "According to the National Center for Education Statistics, what is the percentage of U.S. schools with no teachers of color on staff?" I was amazed that the answer was 40%. In fact I am so surprised by that number, that almost half of the schools in the United States don't have a single staff member of color, that I would like to verify the answer. I honestly find that hard to believe. If it is true, I am amazed. The second question that I found interesting was, "In a 2007 study, UNICEF rated the treatment of children in the 23 wealthiest countries in the world based on 40 indicators of child well-being. Which two countries received the lowest ratings?" Again, I was stunned to learn the answer was the United States and the U.K. I would like to know how they came up with these answers and what their definition of child well-being is. I am unclear to whether the UNICEF is implying that children are treated poorly in the United States and the U.K. or that children in these two countries are socially maladjusted or discontented.
8. Nettiquette:
I really have never been taught proper nettiquette, but I did score an 80% on the quiz. I think a lot of it is common sense. It is however important to teach nettiquette in the classroom, if nothing else, for the golden rule, which is remember the human. Students more so than adults will often forget that the people involved in Internet communication are actual human beings with feelings and emotions. Students should be taught to respect this just as they would respect people in face to face conversations. :-@
Monday, July 13, 2009
My name is Joe Davis and I'm originally from La Habra. I moved to Temecula when I was 9 and have lived there for the majority of my life; I lived in Encinitas and Chico for a little while. I went to Faith Lutheran Christian School until I moved to Temecula and then I went through all the local Temecula schools, and eventually graduated from Temecula Valley High School in 1998. I then went on to have too much fun and didn't end up graduating from University of California, Riverside until 10 years later.
I don't have much experience with technology; I didn't even know how to turn a computer on and off until I started at UCR in 2006. I've always figured I was caught in the middle of a technology gap. When I was in high school, the internet was still a new thing and it was discouraged as a use for information. Since I didn't go to college right out of high school or get a good job that required technical skills, I never really learned how to use the computer. I was too old to have grown up with computers, and too young or too unskilled to use them at work. Basically I have never really had any use for computers other then as a way to manage my fantasy baseball and football teams. I do however understand the value of computers and technology, and am actually very eager to learn more about them. I honestly don't know which Office I am most comfortable with-which ever is on my computer I suppose.
The part of the mission statement that really speaks to me is the first sentence, "the mission of the college of education community is to collaboratively transform public education by preparing thoughtful educators and advancing professional practice." What this says to me is that the College Of Education is going to make educators out of its students. This is all I ask of the COE; make me a thoughtful and effective educator and advance my professional practice. This is why I am at CSUSM, to become an educator. To be completely honest, the mission statement had nothing to do with why I chose CSUSM. I chose to come to CSUSM because it was far cheaper then UCR, it was closer, and it was a way better drive. I had never read the mission statement until I was getting ready for my group interview after I had already decided to come to CSUSM.
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