Final Checklist

I took my final and have completed steps 2-4!!!

Thanks for the great semester :)

Kristen

Internet Safety

1. I chose to read "Fighting Internet Filth" by Mario Hipol because it clearly listed internet dangers and preemptive steps we can take to avoid encountering problems. This was actually my favorite of any of the articles I've read in the last few days.

2. I watched several movies. My favorite ones were the ones on netsmartz. I liked those because they told them from the person's point of view and it shows how things can happen to children. I also had never before heard of the internet being used by children in such vicious ways. And the scary thing is, if they made a resource video to address it, it must be a problem. I also watched some interenet safety issues movies on pbs.com. These were good, but not as engaging as the movies posted on netsmartz.

3. My most important take-away is that children need guidance. You can't blindly assume that they will be safe and protectedon the internet. They need adults to take active involvement in educating them about dangers and to have relationships of trust so a child doesn't feel the need to surf the internet chat rooms to find someone to connect with. Trust is also important because it opens the door of communication if a child encounters a problem on the internet so they can turn to a parent for help. Parents should also take steps to help internet safety. Suggestions include: placing the computer in a high-traffic area, installing filters, and setting boundaries as a family for how the computer should be used.

4. When I asked the youth if I could talk to them about internet safety, I began my asking them what they knew about safety on the internet. They tol d me that you shouldn't give out personal information. Despite knowing this we viewed their facebook profile together and found many items of listed personal information. Sure they didn't give any information to people who specifically asked; instead they supplied it in ready form!
We talked about security filters for allowing only safe, friends access to seeing certain information. We talked about how they spend their time on the internet. Fortunately, this youth is very directed in their time. They do not spend much time surfing (unless it's on facebook, but they only view other close friends' profiles) but rather use the internet for specific purposes.
We talked about how the computer is set up in their home and we talked about the great things their parents have set up. The computer is in a high traffic area, there are filters that block some unwanted material, and their parents run security scans to scan for spyware and viruses.
In regard to email, the youth deletes any unwanted email without opening it. We talked about why this is important (some emails contain pornography, unsubscribing tells spammers they have a real email address, viruses are often found in attachments from unknown people).

The youth seems well-informed for their age and hopefully are talk will fortify her continual efforts to have safe internet habits.

TPACK Report :)

3 Lesson Plans

Hello!

Here are my three lesson plans. I decided to implement the Language Arts lesson plan using PhotoStory to have the students publish a book that way. Hope you enjoy!

Language Arts Lesson Plan

Science Lesson Plan

Math Lesson Plan

Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Technology Clips

I enjoyed watching the balance between teacher and student efforts in integrating technology in the classroom. I think it is wonderful that those teachers decided to use so much technology with such young children. I like how students were able to have a chance to take their own pictures of spiders in the first clip. One could tell in watching the clip, that they were really trying hard to explore and make great discoveries. The teacher gave them the responisbility to take the pictures, but she coached them along the way. In the other clips, it was evident that the teachers had to coach step by step how to draw and make presentations on the computer. But how great is it that next time, they probably won't need as much help and the kids will be able to probably add even more great effects to their presentations. We are a technology-driven generation and I think it is great that these teachers were willing to be brave and help their students learn new technology skills!

Technology Observations

Hello!

My initial impression of my classrrom was impressed. I wish the schools I attended in elementary could have had at least half of what my assigned school has. My teacher integrates the technology in such clever ways. They have an audio and speaker system so she gives her students the chance to share their work by speaking with the microphone. It sounds so professional and the students take their presentations very seriously. The class also has a document camera, which allows the teacher to project worksheets and draw right on them. She says they also use it for science experiments because the document camera will take pictures and store them so they can compare pictures of their project they set on it. With the document camera, my teacher uses a projector that is mounted to the ceiling to project to a screen in front of the classroom. This helps the teacher present information in a way that allows all students throughout the classroom to see. In addition to this, they also have a TV in the front corner of the room, but they hardly use it because they can show DVD's with the projector.
The students also have a lab with new PC's. Next to this, is a lab of older computers, but this one is small than the newer lab.
I am in awe of all the technology my classroom has to offer. I hope I work in one like it one day!

ps. I have completed both parts 2 and 3 of this week's assignment.

Look at this Voicethread!!!! So cool :)