PLE Week 13

The article I read was "Fighting Internet Filth" by Mario Hipol. I watched videos on online predators-Katie's story, as well as cyberbullying-about the kid who committed suicide. I also watched some on parents being aware of what is on the internet. There was one about a super controlling mom who wanted to know everything her kids were doing on the internet, and it was just driving them away from her. I watched the cartoon video about online predators, and then one about cell phones and pictures and how they can get on the internet.

I think some of the most important things I took away from the videos were to be aware of what children are doing on the internet, but don't be too nosy. Since that one mom was being too nosy, her son didn't want to share anything with her. So she ended up getting the exact opposite of what she wanted. I also thought it was interesting how one video said a study had been done showing that most students already know a lot about internet safety. I think kids are pretty informed these days, but they do need reminders as well.

For my "doing" experience, I talked to my 13-year-old brother. When I asked him what he already knew about internet safety he said to not give out personal information to anyone. So that's the main thing that has stuck out to him. As I shared things with him, like not chatting with people you don't know, avoiding cyberbullying, telling an adult if anything inappropriate comes up on the computer, he remembered hearing about that already. So he already knew most of the things, he just needed a little reminder. I shared the Faux Paw video with him, and he actually said he had seen it before a few years ago.

I think I was a little surprised at how much he already knew, and that they do share videos and stuff in school. He's already pretty good about internet safety, but I think it was good to remind him, and hopefully he'll continue to remember it, and follow that advice.

TPACK project report

TPACK

TPACK lesson plans


Science lesson plan

Math lesson plan

Language Arts lesson plan

PLE #10

One thing I've learned from watching these videos about using technology with children is that even young children can use technology. Of course the younger they are, the more help and modeling they need, but they can still do it.
It was also interesting to see the different ways that they used technology with the students. Most of them used computers, but they also used projectors to project what they had done on the computers. It looked like the students in these videos understood fairly well how to use computers. It looks like these videos were made a few years ago, so the students now have an even better knowledge of computers since most of them have been surrounded by them their whole lives.
So I guess the most important things I learned from watching these videos is to not underestimate childrens' abilities to use technology. They know a lot more than we might think they do, but they can also do a lot with our help. And it makes learning fun and engaging.

PLE #9

I was kind of surprised at how little technology is available in the classroom I'm in. Basically the only things that are in the classroom are the teacher's laptop (Mac), an overhead projector, and a stereo. There are more resources available to use, but they are either shared as a grade or as a school. I think the other schools I've been in before had a lot more technology that was available in each classroom. So I think I just forgot that not all schools have the money to have all of those resources. It kind of helped me see how lucky those other schools are, and that they should be making use of the technology that they have available for their use.

I completed parts 1 and 2 for this week's PLE

PLE #8

I watched Lizzy's, Kaylee's, and Kate's science projects. I thought they had some good ideas of science projects, and cool ways to use technology to do them. I feel like it's a little easier to use technology for science projects because most science projects need some kind of equipment to do them. So using technology can be a fun resource to use, especially if it isn't too hard. I really like Kidspiration. I think it's pretty easy to understand and use, and wouldn't be hard for kids. It's pretty good to use to document observations. So I'm glad that I got a chance to try out these different programs, and then see how other people used them to get ideas of how they can be used in a classroom.

PLE #8

PLE # 7

Content: Grade 6

Standard 1: Students will understand that the appearance of the moon changes in a predictable cycle as it orbits Earth and as Earth rotates on its axis.

Objective 1: Explain patterns of changes in the appearance of the moon as it orbits Earth.

d. Design an investigation, construct a chart, and collect data depicting the phases of the moon.

Pedagogy: The students will observe the phases of the moon using stellarium. They will make a chart showing each of the phases of the moon.

Technology: The students will use stellarium to view the moon.

The students will observe the phases of the moon for a month. They will make drawings of the moon as it looks each night or observation. At the end of the month we will talk about what the students have observed. They can either make their observations by looking outside, or by using stellarium. For those who want to do a little more, they can use stellarium to find the phases of the moon for the same month but 50 years earlier. They can make a chart showing comparisons or contrasting features they observed.

Google Earth Tour

PLE #6

Google Earth Tours I watched:
Kaylee-Natural Disasters
Elizabeth-Meissen, Germany
Kate-Ecosystems

I think that Google Earth Tours could be a fun activity for older students. I guess it could work for younger students, but I thought it was kind of difficult to learn how to use, so it would probably be easier for older students to use. Students can also just experiment with Google Earth by finding places like the school, or their house. So that can help them get used to using it.It kind of depends on what you want to teach. Tours could be really good if you want to emphasize weather or terrain, or show distances between places.

Google Earth Tour

Here is the Google Earth tour I made about different cultures around the world.

PLE Week #5

I chose to do third grade Objective 1: Evaluate key factors that determine how a community develops. b. Describe how stories, folktales, music, and artistic creations serve as expressions of culture. I chose to do a Google Earth tour of this because I think it will show how different each of these cultures are, and the students will also be able to see where these cultures are located in relation to each other. The students will be able to see different types of important architecture in different cultures, and learn why that particular piece of architecture is important to that culture.

Location	Activity Description	Google Earth Content
1.Moscow, Russia	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Square Students will go to this website to answer the following question. Who lives in the Kremlin?	A picture of Red Square and the Kremlin
2.Athens, Greece	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Parthenon The students will go to this website to answer the following question. What Greek goddess did the Greeks worship in the Parthenon?	A picture of the Parthenon
3.Beijing, China	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_of_China The students will go to this website to answer the following question. What is the ruler of China called?	A picture of a palace
4.New York, USA	What does the Statue of Liberty symbolize?	A picture of the Statue of Liberty

PLE #4

I watched

Lizzy-Mr. Wig, Our Guinea Pig

Angela-Who Am I? ABCs

Kaylee-The One Thing I Won't Eat

Kate-The Scarlet Pimpernel

Robin-The Marvelous Homework and Housework Machine

Alli-Let Me Out of the Classroom

I thought all of these movies were really good. It was cool to see how they used different effects in their movies. Mine was pretty basic, and I didn't really explore too many of the effects options.

I think that this would be a pretty tricky thing to do with elementary students. It was pretty time consuming for me to do, so I would imagine it would be pretty hard to do with the students as well. I can't really think of a time when teachers would have enough time to be able to do a project like this. It seems like teachers have a hard enough time fitting in all of the curriculum. But I guess really ambitious teachers could do this. And they could have students participate by making illustrations for the movie, like in the example movie we watched for our voicethread. So I guess it's doable, just pretty hard and time consuming.

A Tasty Alphabet

Storyboard

Here is my storyboard for my alphabet movie.

PLE #3

TPACK is basically knowing the content of what you are teaching, as well as having knowledge of how to teach it to children, and then combining all of that with technology. So knowing how to use technology to enhance your content and pedagogical knowledge. I think it's especially useful for teachers to have this knowledge now since students know so much about technology. It really enhances their learning, and can make learning more fun for them. It can also challenge the students more because you can do more things with technology.

Asynchronized video message

Synchronized video

PLE #2

This week's assignment was really hard, but I think one of the most useful things that I learned from it was just that I can do a lot more with technology than I thought I could. I like the idea of making a class website, but it is very time consuming to do. I think knowing how to embed things like videos is really useful. It's good to post those on a website because parents can watch the videos with the students. It's especially useful for those students who are ahead in class, and can do some extra things like watch videos or go to websites.

PLE # 1

I have a pretty basic experience with technology. I've taken a few technology classes, like how to use Excel, and the internet for research, things like that. I can do Powerpoint ok. I'm not super good with technology, but I can get around alright. Basically I'm just kind of slow, but I can do things with technology.