Internet Safety Sharing

For this part of the internet safety assignment, I talked to my 32-year-old sister. She is the mother of 3 young children ages 7, 4, and 1. From our discussion I pleasantly surprised by what an informed parent she is. She told me that she’s spent a lot of time reading articles and listening to programs about internet safety. I was able to share a few new ideas with her about internet safety—mainly that you sometimes have to shut down an entire system when you accidentally access something you shouldn’t view and that parents need to set the example as good viewers of media when it comes to time. I also shared with her what I learned from the article, “Tangled in the Web” and a more gospel-oriented perspective on how media is useful if we use it correctly. This was a positive experience because I was able to congratulate my sister on all that she knew as well as give her a little more information. This was also an easy assignment to complete because she already knew so much information and yet I was still able to help her learn something new about a topic she is very interested in. Overall, I think this was a valuable experience and I’m glad that my sister is a well-informed, caring parent who understands the importance of internet safety.

Integration Ideas

I enjoyed listening and watching my in class group presentations as well. I learned that the best way to use technology involves student interaction--having the students physically use the technology. Two of the best ideas I found for using technology was to use a permetheum board to review the parts of speech and to use an LCD projector to play a vowel jeopardy game. There are so many different ways technology can be integrated into a lesson. After seeing such a wide variety of technology integration ideas, I am looking forward to my next practicum where I will be able to use these wonderful ideas!

What I Learned

I enjoyed watching other group member's presentations. From watching the different slideshares I learned that there are a lot of ways to integrate different technologies into similar lessons. I also learned that technology really enhances student learning. I was surprised at the wide range of programs my group members used--I saw iclickers to Stellarium. Using technology in a lesson not only helps a teacher achieve the lesson learning objectives, but it also exposes students to technology as the teacher models appropriate technology use. I think that technology is important in the classroom and when it is used correctly, it will contribute to student learning and add an element of fun and excitement to the lesson.

Technology Enhanced Lesson

Technology Integration Project

View more presentations from mle5.

Internet Safety

The article I chose to read for my fourth article was entitled, “Tangled in the Web” from the August 2001 Ensign. I learned a lot of things from the readings, but I think the most important thing I learned is that media is neutral—it’s how we choose to use the media that determines if it is good or bad. I learned that media, in the form of television, the computer, the Internet (social sites, e-mail, and chat rooms), is replacing face-to face contact with others. We, as educators, parents, and concerned adults, need to make sure that virtual reality doesn’t become any child’s reality. Parents need to use Internet filters and TV programming locks to prevent children from coming across things they should not see. It is important to have computers and TVs in high-traffic areas of our homes. Parents should also discuss and watch appropriate media with their children. In addition, parents need to serve as an example of a responsible media viewer—choosing appropriate, uplifting media, and using media and technology (including cell phones) for appropriate time lengths. All family members should be informed about the dangers of Internet pornography. I found it interesting and surprising that if an inappropriate site is accidentally accessed, in order to escape from the site it involves shutting down the entire system. I believe that the main message I got from reading all of the articles is that the Internet and media can be great tools and resources, but you have to use them wisely and safeguard yourself and your family from potential danger. Based on what I’ve read, I want to be the type of parent and educator that sets a good example of media viewing. I also will have computers in high-traffic areas of my home and classroom. I will use Internet filters and TV locks in my home and in my classroom to prevent accidental viewing of inappropriate materials. I want to be an educator and parent that helps children understand media dangers and what types of media should be viewed. I will use what I have learned from the readings and discuss with my family and friends the dangers of misusing media. I want to share the information I’ve learned about ways to safeguard children and I will talk to my family and friends about their opinions and views on the Internet and media.

My Technology Enhanced Lesson

On Monday, I introduced the class story of the week, "The Plant Castle." Before reading the story to my class, I told them that the story had six words that they might not be familiar with (arboretum, cacti, succulents, orchid, papayas, and cacao). I created a PowerPoint presentation with slides for each of these words that I showed to my students. After showing my students the word slides, I had slides displaying each of the four reading strategies we use to identify unfamiliar words. Following the reading strategy slides, I had the sentence each vocabulary word was in on individual slides. When I got to a sentence with one of those words, while reading the story, I held up my computer screen with the corresponding slide displayed. Students could see the sentence text and then guess what word they thought went in the sentence. Following the sentence slide, I had a slide with the correct vocabulary word and then a slide with the definition of the word. We repeated this process six times. By the end of the lesson, the students knew how to read and correctly pronounce each vocabulary word and they also knew the definitions. I think this lesson went well. However, I originally intended to use an LCD projector to project my Powerpoint. This didn't actually work out because my mentor teacher wants the students sitting at the reading carpet when they are being read to and the only place to project the LCD screen would be on the whiteboard in the front of the room (this is because the classroom doesn't have an overhead/LCD screen). But, I used my laptop that has a 15 inch screen and held it out so all the kids could see it. I think the Powerpoint really enhanced the lesson and helped my students learn their vocabulary words. I'm glad that although I had to have a last minute change of plans, my lesson still worked out in the end.

Technology Enhanced Lesson Ideas

My classroom has access to a lot of technological resources. I taught today and used the laptop cart and speakers to project a song that introduced my lesson. One idea I have for my technology enhanced lesson is to use a Powerpoint during a guided reading group to activate their prior knowledge when introducing new information they will learn in the story. I think a Powerpoint with pictures and vocabulary words would be a creative way to introduce a new story the students will read. Another idea I had for a technology enhanced lesson would be to do a digital story to present the work students create during an interactive writing lesson. My students would be thrilled to see their work in a digital story and they would have fun watching the presentation. I am excited to put some of these ideas into place! Technology enhances teaching in a variety of ways that ultimately will benefit my students.

Classroom Technology Inventory

I am completing my practicum in a first grade classroom at Mapleton Elementary. I was very surprised by the results of my classroom technology inventory. I learned that in my classroom, technology is not a big priority. My first graders have scheduled computer time once a week, but other than that instructional period, technology is seldom used in my classroom. I found this interesting because the school has a lot of technology available. While my classroom only has one "teacher" PC, there is a technology cart that contains a laptop and projector (this cart is shared with one other teacher--there are 2 of these carts per grade level). The laptop on the cart serves many functions--it has wireless internet access, plays music, and serves as the tv/dvd player. The school also has big tv carts that teachers can check out as well as a digital camera, a video camera, and smartboards. In addition, the school has two computer labs that are available for scheduling. At my school, however, there's not a lot of extra software available. Beyond the Microsoft Office pacakage, there is a program called Youlead that is for video purposes. If and when computer problems arise, a staff member assists teachers to fix problems, if possible. If not, there is district tech support available to help.
I found it very surprising and somewhat strange that despite the all of the wonderful technology resources available, technology is not a priority in my classroom. Now that I am aware of the resources I have access to, I hope to be able to integrate technology into the classroom and show my students how fun technology can be.

Filing Cabinet Link-Google Earth

Here is the link to my Google Earth Underground Railroad Tour: http://sites.google.com/site/mlesiptstuff/my-files-1
Enjoy!

Google Earth Tour

Here are my plans for a Google Earth Tour of the Underground Railroad.

Location	Activity	Google Earth Content
1. Wilmington, Delaware	Write a 2 stanza Poem about Harriet Tubman.	Wikipedia Link, Image of Harriet Tubman
2. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Make a paper lantern to hang on the hitching post signifying the house is safe. Follow the instructions explained at http://familycrafts.about.com/od/chinesenewyears/ss/eplantern.htm.	Wikipedia Link, Link to Lantern Instructions
3. Rochester, New York	After reading about Susan B. Anthony, create a motto that exemplifies her life ambitions for the Susan B. Anthony dollar.	Wikipedia, Image of Susan B. Anthony
4. Canada	Approximately how many slaves escaped to Canada? You are a journalist in Canada. Create at least 5 questions to ask during your interview with a recently escaped slave.	Wikipedia
Details of image overlay / path / polygon:	The image overlay will be a path connecting the various stops of the Underground Railroad.

TPACK Questions:

The content I am using for this lesson comes from the Utah State Core Curriculum for 5th Grade Standard 4, Objective 2, Indicator c. This indicator states: "Identify the range of individual responses to the growing political conflicts between the North and South (e.g. states rights advocates, abolitionists, slaveholders, enslaved people)." For this lesson, students will focus on the Underground Railroad. During their explorations of this key system, students will learn about the different types of people who helped along the Underground Railroad, including escaped slaves, abolitionists, and born-free blacks. The pedagogy for this lesson will include various activities that will challenge students to gain a deep understanding of this system. These activities will be designed to help students place themselves in the shoes of a slave making his or her way to freedom as they examine those who risked their lives helping others. The technology used in this lesson will be Google Earth. Through Google Earth, students will be able to see the location of the events and have access to the different activities corresponding to that event. Google Earth will also allow the students to read about the specific details of the event.

Digital Storytelling

Messy Room

Storyboard & TPACK Questions

Storyboard

TPACK QUESTIONS

The content I was focusing on in my lesson comes from the Utah State Language Arts Core, Standard 1, Objective 1. This standard states that students will develop language for the purpose of effectively communicating through speaking, viewing, and presenting. The students will be able to speak clearly and audibly with expression in communicating ideas in their storyboard presentation. The students will base their storyboard on a Shel Silverstein poem of their choice.

Students will be using aspects of Bloom’s Taxonomy to create, analyze and interpret a poem storyboard.

In this part of my lesson, students will search for poems by Shel Silverstein on the internet--a list of approved sites will be provided. After picking their favorite poem, students will use digital cameras and internet images (searching for pictures from approved sites only) to create a storyboard outline. In the second part of the lesson, students will incorporate their pictures and chosen text into a video presentation using PhotoStory. This is a good fit with content and pedagogy because students will be able to interpret and express their interpretation of a poem using found or created pictures. In addition, students will make their poem creation “come to life” by creating a storyboard video, which will include incorporating music and narrating the poem text.

TPACK Questions

The content I was focusing on in my science lesson was the phases of the moon. This lesson teaches students how to identify the different phases of the moon.
The pedagogy I am using is discovery and hands-on learning. Through this lesson, students are able to discover what the moon’s phases are and when they will occur. They are then given the opportunity to use this knowledge and look at the moon in the night sky, seeing how Stellarium’s predicted view of the moon compares to the view the student actually sees. In addition, students are able to actively participate in the cookie activity portion of the lesson. Students are able to either eat or cut the cookies into the phases of the moon. The hands-on portion of the lesson helps students to develop concrete connections between the knowledge they gained using Stellarium and the first-hand experience they had with the cookies.
It is a good fit with the content because students need to be involved to discover and understand the fascinating world of science.
The technology that I’ll be using is Stellarium. This allows students to see a predicted picture of the moon, determine the date the moon will be in that phase, and verify that prediction by observing the night sky.
It is a good fit with the content and pedagogy because it enables students to see the actual phases of the moon by using technology. In addition, Stellarium requires student participation in order to complete the lesson activities.

Tech Savvy Teacher Article

Mmmmm… Mmmmm… Moon!

Tech savvy teachers are always in need of some great activities and ideas to liven up their classrooms. Here is a great idea for teaching sixth graders about the phases of the moon. This activity and lesson helps to fulfill Utah’s Core Curriculum for 6th grade Science, Objective 1: Explain patterns of changes in the appearance of the moon as it orbits Earth. For this activity, students will need access to Stellarium and some fantastic cookies. Stellarium is a program that allows viewers to see what the sky looks like at any specific time and place. Stellarium helps to outline the constellations, view planets and moons close up, and explore other aspects of astronomy.
During this lesson, students will use Stellarium to capture screen shots of the different phases of the moon. Beginning at the current date, students will use the search function of Stellarium to find the moon and zoom into a close view. Fast-forwarding through time students will look first find the next full moon. They will then look for each of the other phases of the moon. As each phase is reached, students will return to real time to take a screen shot, as directed by the teacher. As each screen shot is taken, students will make note of the date that phase of the moon. These screen shots will then be arranged into a cycle of the moon with the use of Microsoft Word. Below, screen shots taken in February through March 2009 are shown with the appropriate date and phase of the moon.

February 10, 2009
Full Moon

February 12, 2009

Waning Gibbous

February 15, 2009

Last Quarter

February 19, 2009

Waning Crescent

February 23, 2009

New Moon

February 28, 2009

Waxing Crescent

March 4, 2009

First Quarter

March 8, 2009

Waxing Gibbous

March 11, 2009

Full Moon

Students will also be given the opportunity to apply the knowledge they have gained about the phases of the moon by creating the phases of the moon out of cookies. Each student will be given two cookies. They will then get to eat the cookies into the shapes of the various phases of the moon. Have the students copy the teacher’s demonstration of eating the cookies, stopping each time a new phase of the moon is created. If students did not want to eat the cookies into the various phases, they could follow along with the teacher by cutting the cookies into the phases of the moon. This could also be done using cheese or fruit. The following pictures represent what the cookie eating process will look like at each phase of the moon. (NOTE: Starting at the full moon, students will get the second cookie after the new moon has been created. The new moon is reached when the first cookie is completely devoured.)

Full Moon

Waning Gibbous

Last Quarter

Waning Crescent

New Moon

Waxing Crescent

First Quarter

Waxing Gibbous

The technology was used to enhance the learning experience by allowing students to observe all the phases of the moon in a short period of time. This also allowed them to stop and examine each individual phase of the moon as it occurred. Through the use of Stellarium, students are capable of determining what the next phase of the moon will look like and the date it will occur. This will allow students to further extend their knowledge by observing the moon on the predicted date and seeing how it actually looks compared to what they predicted with Stellarium.

TPACK and Science/Math Technologies

During class this week, I learned about the three different types of knowledge all teachers should have: content knowledge, technological knowledge, and pedagogical knowledge. When all three knowledge types are combined, it is called TPACK--technological, pedagogical, content knowledge. TPACK is the type of knowledge all teachers should strive for.
Content knowledge is knowing about a subject, such as science, math or history. Technological knowledge is knowing about computers, the internet, and software. Technological knowledge deals with knowledge about anything technological. Pedagogical knowledge refers to the methods and techniques used to teach others, especially children. Pedagogical knowledge is knowing how to teach. Each of these three knowledge types can be combined with one other knowledge type:
PCK is Pedagogical Content Knowledge which means you understand how to teach subjects. Technological Content Knowledge, TCK, is knowing technology involved content. This type of knowledge refers to the use of technology to teach content (as a teacher, this would be in the classroom). An example of TCK is a scientist using scientific equipment.
TPK, Technological Pedagogical Knowledge is knowing how to teach using technology.
TPACK is the right amount of pedagogical, content, and technological knowledge used in the right way. TPACK is what every teacher should aim for.
Also during class this week, we explored different science and math technologies. I really enjoyed exploring Stellarium, a program where you can see different views of the sky at any specific time and place you want. Stellarium is a great way to learn about and see different aspects of astronomy. This was a fun program that is very educational. I also enjoyed playing with the digital temperature probe and the digital microscope. These are great educational technology tools that are useful in a classroom setting.

RSS and Web 2.0

In class this week I learned about an RSS. Before attending class, I had absolutely no idea what an RSS was. An RSS (stands for Really Simple Syndication) is a tool that allows you to subscribe to automatic updates from all of your favorite websites without the hassle of actually having to visit individual sites. When you subscribe to an RSS, website updates are automatically sent to your email account, blog, etc. RSS subscriptions synthesize information into one convenient spot. In class, I also learned about two Web 2.0 tools that will be useful to me as an educator. The first Web 2.0 tool is Goodreads.com. This is a fabulous site where I will be able to post and review books. This site will be a great resource for parents and students to find appropriate, age-level, teacher-reccommended books for reading. The second Web 2.0 tool is Delicious. Delicious is a bookmarking site that allows you to store bookmarks of various websites, tagging them with descriptive labels for easy reference and access. This will be useful to me as an educator because I will be able to build a bookmark list of resource websites for lesson plan ideas, educational videos, and other useful sites to use for my classroom.

Technology Experiences

I have been using computers and the internet for many years. I remember using computers in elementary school to play a math game where you solved problems quickly so the aliens wouldn't destroy your ship. As technology advanced, I used computers in middle school to do research, write papers, search the internet, and play different learning games.

I use the internet on a regular basis and am familiar with search engines like google. I find that the internet has a lot of useful information, but it is important to be careful while browsing and to choose only reliable sources.

In high school, I was a member of BPA, (Business Professionals of America) a business club where I participated in competitive events in PowerPoint, Word processing (doing tasks in Microsoft Office programs), and interviewing skills. I use computers every day to check email and complete school assignments. I like technology, but only when it functions correctly! I feel that I know about technology and I can usually figure things out with some time. I believe technology is very useful and helpful. I know that there is a lot about technology that I don't know, but I am excited to continue learning!