Internet Safety Reflection

1. I read both Elder Ballard's article and Elder Bednars.
   
2. I watched a bunch of short clips on various dangers of the internet and then watched some PBS documentaries:

• I was shocked by the 13 year old girl who ran away with a 56 year old she met on-line. She was gone for 3 weeks.
• Another girl was frightened into leaving with a man she met on-line who took her for 2 days.
• A young man rated girls at his school on a site he thought was private. His friends later published the site. The boy was devastated to find out that his sister was rated on the site. He said, "Once it's on-line, you can't take it back."
• A Native American fable related internet gossip to feathers that as soon as they are freed into the wind, will go where they may and cannot be recollected.
  
• I watched the short on how bad people can so easily figure out who you are, where you live, where you go to school, where you work, and even what time to find you.
  
• I watched more than one short where mean girls photo-shopped a classmate's head onto a naked body and sent the e-mail to others.
  
• The first PBS documentary I watched talked about cyberbulling that resulted in the suicide of a 13 year old named Ryan. I was flabbergasted and horrified at both his parent's neglect and the power that chatting had to influence him.
  
• The final PBS documentary I watched was from the perspective of teachers. Some felt that teaching without technology was downright foolish. Other teachers emphasized more the importance of reminding students of the importance of real world experiences like READING a book, for crying out loud! One teacher said that students cannot focus like they used to. It's like they are overstimulated by the internet, media, and video games so that they don't know how to sit attentively. SCARY!
  

Truthfully, I am feeling very scared right now. I actually feel very vulnerable, like anyone could be looking up information about me on-line with evil designs. It's as if someone were looking over my shoulder because I feel totally exposed to the dangers of the internet. Already, I have e-mailed my mother and made a pact with my sister to protect our future children from the evils of the internet. Of course, I have seen over and over again what great uses technology has in education, but I think I will be more careful now in what I assign my students to do on their computers at home.


What do you know about internet safety?

• chat rooms are bad places to be
• don't give out personal information, not even on facebook.

What was the person's reaction to what you shared

• I am kind of scared, mostly for my friends and future family.
• I have never been too into internet stuff, but I know lots who are.

What suprised you about the person's reaction to your message? I was not surprised that she is scared. I feel the same way, but I personally know some of her friends that do waste hours on the internet every day; I understand her fears.

What do you think the person will do with what you have shared? She will certainly apply it to her life and be careful with what media she views. She will also be very careful in her future family.

PLE Week 14

I completed items 2-4.

THANKS!!
~Amy D.

My TPAK Lesson

LA Tech Plan
Science Tech Plan
Math Tech Plan

Tech Lessons

Language Arts Tech Lesson

watching videos...

In the spider video, the teacher used technology to give the students realistic images through videos and the internet.
In the “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” video, the teacher explained her use of technology as extending learning and develop specific skills (classification, identification, observation, etc.)
In the final video, the teacher encouraged her students to manipulate and use play around with the technology accessible to the in order to prepare their presentations. This certainly aids students in developing confidence in technology use. Because our world depends so highly on technology, I see its use in education as absolutely essential. This teacher’s manner of teaching kids to explore and create with technology further prepares them to use changing and developing technology in the adult world.
All in all, these videos have shown me that technology can be used to extend learning, develop skills, and peak interest. How could you not use it?

My Classroom Inventory

Well, many of the classrooms on the 3rd grade team at Jackson Elementary have "technology rooms," with various technology resources (computers, projectors, etc.) However, my classroom is pretty much the opposite. I think my teacher likes it that way. If I want to use anything more advanced than a DVD player, I have to check it out from the library. I don't think it is particularly debilitating for our students. I believe in tangible manipulatives.

This situation will be a good way for me to discover how I can bring technology into my classroom because, as a teacher, I may not have a "technology room." This will be good preparation for me if that is the case.

I'm totally sold on the idea of using technology as much as possible, so I will take on the challenge of not having resources in my room!

I completed the mid-term survey and the consent form.

Viewing Science Challenge Postings

I watched:

Beth Duvall, Four Seasons
Nina Wallace, Pond Life
Megan Sorenson, Seasons

Well, I love the idea that technology allows children to go places and see things they never could in a classroom context. Even studying a pond, like in Nina's demonstration, allowed children to see what they could never see without expensive technical equipment.

Megan's idea of using technology to improve data analysis and organization, seems completely applicable to life. In nearly every profession, people us technology to create presentations, organize information, gain knowledge and perform analysis. As a teacher, I cannot imagine passing up the opportunity to use so many valuable tools that relate to science.

Stellarium

In this science challenge, my students will observe, categorize, and make inferences concerning ancient Egyptian uses of constellations. Through the use of Stellarium, they will observe the night sky, record their findings, categorize them and use the links from Stellarium to learn about the cultural significance of each constellation. From the knowledge students gain, they will make further inferences concerning each constellation's possible importance in Egyptian culture and today's. Students will use their knowledge to produce a creative project of their choice. Students will work in groups and finally present their project to the class.

Content
Science, 6th grade:
Standard 4, Objective 2
Describe the appearance and apparent motion of groups of stars in the night sky relative to Earth and how various cultures have understood and used them.


1. Locate and identify stars that are grouped in patterns in the night sky.
2. Identify ways people have historically grouped stars in the night sky.

Pedagogy
We will specifically focus on how the ancient Egyptians identified and used stars within their society by:
Observing
Classifying
and Inferring

These strategies appropriately fit our activity because this project focuses mainly on the accumulation and analysis of information.

Technology
We will use Stellarium to accomplish these purposes. This particular resource aligns with the content and pedagogy because it will allow students to view stars that they would otherwise be unable to see. It also allows them to make sense of the stars they see in a cultural context because Stellarium will portray the constellation art work, if desired, and because Stellarium provides various links to information concerning these constellations.

Viewing and Using Virtual Tours

I watched the following google tours:

1. Megan Sorenson, Lewis and Clarke
2. Beth Duvall, Four Largest Cities
3. Victoria, Battles of the Civil War

I can see that using a virtual tour could be very useful in an elementary classroom. Google Earth provides students the opportunity to see places as they really are. What a great way to build schemata and put things in better context. Using this tool will certainly make curriculum more meaningful for students. Not to mention that it's just awesome!

From a teacher's perspective, however, I can see why a virtual tour might seem unappealing. Creating a quality tour takes TIME. In fact, it takes a lot of time! Teachers have limited time in general, so I think we will have to decided how valuable the tour would be for a given subject and determine if it will pay back enough to make it worth the time.

Lit Trip Through Pride and Prejudice

Buffy's B-day!

Virtually Touring Pride & Prejudice

6th grade, Language Arts Core Curriculum

Standard 7
Comprehension-Students understand, interpret, and analyze narrative and informational grade level text.

Objective 2
Apply strategies to comprehend text.

a. Relate prior knowledge to make connections to text (e.g., text to text, text to self, text to world).
b. Generate questions about text (e.g., factual, inferential, evaluative).
c. Form mental pictures to aid understanding of text.

I chose this content area because I particularly love literature. I have always been personally interested in the happenings of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to discover some locations throughout the book. I believe that teacher enthusiasm for a given topic can in many ways determine the success of an activity in the classroom. I am certainly enthusiastic about Jane Austen and therefore chose to make her work the focus of my virtual tour.

A virtual tour will be a particularly useful means of obtaining these objectives. Google Earth will allow the students to connect text to world. The images will give students a more accurate schemata and context in which to understand the happenings of the story. Through the activities, students will use questioning skills to reflect and make connections from text to themselves. By seeing the literal locations for the four sites from the book, I hope to encourage students to make a mental image of the happenings within the text.

getting ready to take my lit trip!

Location	Activity Description	Google Earth Content
1.Hertfordshire	Read the linked text, reflect on the pressures to get married at the time of the book in relation to pressures today.	Include image and link to text for review.
2.Derbyshire	Watch YouTube video and determine how Lizzy's visit to Derbyshire influenced her relationship with Darcy.	Include images and YouTube video.
3.London	Look at street view of Cheapside and discuss the following lines from Jane Austen's, Pride and Prejudice: "I think I have heard you say that their uncle is an attorney in Meryton"- Caroline Bingley to Jane "Yes; and they have another, who lives somewhere near Cheapside." Caroline Bingley to her brother, sister, and Mr. Darcy "That is capital," added her sister, and they both laughed heartily. "If they had uncles enough to fill all Cheapside," cried Bingley, "it would not make them one jot less agreeable." "But it must very materially lessen their chance of marrying men of any consideration in the world," replied Darcy. Consider the difference between life on this street and life in Derbyshire and discuss the following: why would the Bingley sisters mock someone for living in Cheapside?	Include image of Cheapside and link to outside webpage.
4.Brighton	Reflect, why were the actions of Lydia and Mr. Whickham looked upon so harshly in their day? Why would the author have set such a scene in Brighton?	Include image and link to Wikipedia for information on the old city.

My Storyboard

Winning with Winnie

Watching Videos

My friends did a great job on their digital storybooks, especially:
1.Beth Duvall,
2.Megan Sorensen and Sarah Smith,
3.Nina,
4.Marissa,
5.Ms. Moss, and
6.Victoria

I feel that the hardest part about implementing this in a classroom will be fulfilling an objective. This activity is seriously TOO fun. As an educational tool, I think it will be important to ensure that it fulfills more than one objective because it will certainly take a significant amount of time. Just keeping it focused and giving the activity purpose will make it a highly effective teaching tool, in my opinion.

TPACK

Yeah, for knowledge! So I feel like this whole TPACK idea could be better represented as a smore. You have the graham cracker of pedagogical knowledge which keeps everything together--keeps your kiddos from getting all over everywhere. Then there's your content knowledge--that's the marshmallow. It's what gives your smore its substance. You need substance in a classroom so your kids aren't just playing around all day. Similarly, you need a marshmallow, well, because that's what defines a smore more than anything. Of course, one of the best parts is the chocolate:) That's our technological knowledge. Sure, you could have a smore without it, but WHO would ever want to? Chocolate improves a smore just as technology improves learning in the classroom. All together, you've got a masterpiece. Really. Smores are my favorite!!! And so is balanced teaching!!!

Learning...it's a good idea :)

I did learn some GREAT things this week. I feel like a whole new world has opened up before me! I actually got a Yahoo Home Page once and hooked up some RSS feeds, but I seriously had no idea what I was doing. NOW I get it! Anyway, the more I learn in this class, the more I feel that the resources contained within the internet are actually and literally ENDLESS!

More than anything, I enjoyed creating my webpage. I love photos, on-line videos, and thinking about my future as a teacher. I'm actually really into asthetics. I like making things look organized and freakin' cute. I have been mostly pleased with the looks of my webpage. I'm just glad to know how to get a webpage going. I am certain that I will use it in the future, and frankly it took a LONG time to figure it all out. But now that I've done it once, I feel like I could wip one out in 20 minutes. What a great learning opportunity.

Facebook just gets better and better...

I love g-mail video chat!!

The truth about Amy...

My technology background and experience starts out as a rather sad tale. But I suppose it must be told.

As a child I never found my typing abilities adequate. While others sped home after school to type away on instant messenger, I glared at my mother for denying me the privilege. Now I thank her.

Really, I always felt discouraged by my slow typing and inability to win video games. I just wasn't in to technology. Luckily, my high school teachers required me to turn in lots of typed up papers. Necessity proved my only cure. As I sat up late on more than one occasion, just typing away, I eventually gained confidence in typing as well as speed.

Other than that, I still don't know much about technology, but I want to learn more :)