PLE Week 14

I completed the Surveys and checked my grade on moodle.

Internet Safety

The article I chose to read for my article of choice was titled "I have a Question" by William C. Porter. Th video resources I watched mainly dealt with cyberbullying and internet predators. I watched all the videos on the pbs website that dealt with teenagers and the internet, as well the animated video developed by the BYU animation department and most videos on the UEN website, and Katie's story. The videos were very informative and really made me aware of all the different resources teenagers and kids have to do harm to each other or themselves.
I think that it is important when dealing with kids to not be to pushy. You want to be careful and not boss them around, otherwise they will push back. By being too controlling, you may be breaking the communication line between you as the adult and the child/adolescent. But you also have to be so aware of what is going on in their lives and what they are really doing on the computer. There are so many big secrets that they may not be sharing with you, things that you need to know. It is important to keep that communication line open, and be firm, but not controlling.
I discussed internet safety with an older parent. He knew about internet predators and porn websites and stuff like that, but he did not know much about cyberbullying or eating disorder sites. I think some things that surprised him was one that most teenagers ignore possible predators on the internet. They know not to give out their personal information. It is the minority that find themselves in such dangerous situations. The eating disorder sites really surprised him. We discussed how most adolescents who fall into that category are those who are depressed or have a low self esteem. They are more easily flattered by the compliments predators give. It was a good and enlightening conversation. He had no clue that sites supporting such a bad habit/disease were out there. We also discussed what the prophet and apostles had to say about internet safety and the tips they give. I think that this adult is now more aware of what is out there. I think the missing game is an excellent resource and hope that perhaps he would think about using it with his family, before a relationship is even created over the internet.

My Mentor Teacher and Technology

The actual classroom in which I attend is pretty limited to the technology that we have available. Within the classroom we have a teachers laptop with internet, a TV, VCR, DVD player, CD player, and an ELMO that we can check out. I have rarely seen my mentor teacher really use the technology besides watching behind the lions on the TV and listening to story tellers or music from the CD player. One thing that I believe she used technology well at however was when she did a read aloud. She began by showing a small clip about five siblings from Utah that all play the piano really well. They play the pianos at once and together to make really cool and interesting sounds. The video ended with them playing a famous classical music song. She then had the children lie on the floor and close their eyes and she played the same song from her CD player. Next she taught them words to the song that went along with the book that she was going to read aloud. At certain points throughout the book, they would all sing the song. It was really cute and the children had a blast. I've memorized the song and thing I will do something similar in my own classroom if resources allow. I know the school I'm at has a computer lab, but so far I have never seen my mentor teacher use it. We are not there the whole day however, so she could be using it and I just don't know about it. It would be nice though to see what lessons are available at the computer lab though. I wish she would use it at a time we are there.


My Lesson Plans

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dg9sd2c_17wp2mbhn

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dg9sd2c_2d3sp5qcb

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dg9sd2c_3cvsgcfcd

videos on technology in the classroom

The videos that I watched on technology in the classroom were really interesting. The first video, Bookends of War ( http://etec.hawaii.edu/etecvideos/videos/bow/?page=ft_large), demonstrated one teacher who really was fired up about using technology in the classroom. One thing that really impressed me about this video were the students. I loved how they all came together as a class to create the web page. I think that everyone was excited to work on the project. I thought it was great that they could all work on one project, and get a long so well. The collaboration was really evident in their classroom. I also thought it was cool how the teacher only taught a handful of students how to do certain things, and in turn these students would teach their classmates. Peer teaching is an excellent way to build up classroom unity. Students learn how to respect each other. The other video, Inside Kapunahala (http://etec.hawaii.edu/etecvideos/videos/kap/?page=ft_large), showed us how we can bring technology into the classroom as well. I found this interesting because It was across tall the grade levels. first through sixth were all collaborating and working together to create a new story. The whole entire school had excellent unity and children learned to get to know each other in different grade levels. I also liked how technology never died, no matter what grade you are in, it is still a huge part of the curriculum throughout their elementary years. It also helped students with their oral communication and speaking in front of a group. Both situations really did an amazing job at integrating technology across a wide variety of subjects and curriculum as well as make it relevant for students. The students are really excited to work on the assignments because they know that they will use it again and that it does haave relevance in their lives.

Technology in the Classroom

There is a lot of different things that surprised me when it comes to the technology available in my classroom and school. I figured that there would be more, because I thought alpine was a pretty rich district, but it wasn't really as advanced with technology as I thought it would be. There are not any computers available in the classroom for the students. I figured there would be a couple, but there weren't. So the only computers available are in the computer lab. The computer lab does have available 45 mac computers, however, so that is a lot. They also have some good and fun software like kidspiration and kids pix. I know that this is more technology then other schools, so I can't really be disapointed. I complete part 1 and 2 of the PLE.

Science Project

I commented on Heidi, Karyn, and Heather's blog science activity.

From what I can tell the technology is an incredible tool in the classroom for teaching science. Students don't have to just listen to what the night sky looks like and how the stars are pattern, but they can actually see it. Students aren't just told the temperature of different states of matter of water, but they get to compare the differences from a graph, actually showing the students and giving them a visual. Basically the technology that we had to use was great for students to have a more concrete example. Also doing the video would be great to show parents or students who were absent what they missed or what you are doing in the classroom. It's actually really hard to see many downsides to these different instruments. Technology is unreliable at times however, so it is best not to completely rely on it for your main portion of the lesson. If something goes a rye, as it often does, then you need to have a back up plan.