Plog Post 7: Copyright

Discuss copyright for teachers. What surprised you? What ways have you observed copyright laws being violated in schools (no names, please. Just examples)? How about violations outside of the school environment? Is it your job to teach copyright respect to your students? How can you do this?

     I was surprised at how much gray area is involved in copyright laws, I was also surprised at how many times that i have witnessed a violation. There have been many times that my class would watch various movies, I had no idea that this was a violation of copyrights. Another example that I have seen of copyrights being violated in schools is when my teachers used articles and song lyrics without permission.
     I have also witnessed violations outside of the school environment. This past summer I worked at a summer camp and we would show movies sometimes, at the time I had no idea that this was a violation.
     I do believe that it will be my job as a teacher to teach copyright respect to my future students. I think it is important for them to be informed about the rules, so they don't get into trouble later and because it is important to give credit to the creator. I can do this by talking to the students about copyright rules, and every time a movie is shown to tell them the process that needs to be taken in order to show that movie in a public place. I also think that playing a game with examples, similar to the one we played in class is a good way for students to not only learn the rules but also be able to apply it.

Good and Bad Portfolios

Good Portfolio-  http://www.education.mcgill.ca/edu-e3ftoption/azortfolio.htm
Although this person is still a college student I think per portfolio is really well organized. She has her contact information at the bottom, and all of the links on the left side. Everything is visually appealing, and her pictures are relevant.


Bad Portfolio- http://www.education.mcgill.ca/edu-e3ftoption/alex/home.html
Although this portfolio is organized well when you click on the links there is a lot of words and boxes. I think that if it was less cluttered it would be more successful. Also is a picture of the teacher playing a multiplication game with the kids, but the picture does not truly show what is going on.

Blog Post 6B: Scenario

1. Scenario: You decide to incorporate a digital video project in your classroom. What is the content area/project/age level? What are the preparations you will have to do prior to beginning this project? What are some of the challenges? Be specific- think like a teacher in a public school system and make a checklist and time like of beginning to end, start with prep work and end with the final project. Write this up as an informal lesson plan and post to your blog.

                                                                Lesson Plan

Project: create a 1 min play about different cultural and geographic differences a 10 year old “Sally” may face when she moves from The United States to Mexico.

Grade: 3rd grade

Content Area: Social Studies and writing 

Preparations:

Teacher will split the class into four different groups. The students will create and write a  1 min. play in their groups and get it approved by the teacher. Before the students begin to tape the teacher will show a short video on how to use the cameras. (teacher will also provide props)

During:

Students will show the teacher their play once before the begin taping. After the teacher has seen the play the group will receive a video camera. The group will video tape their play, and hand in the written form of the play, the video tape and camera, and a list of each persons role in the making of the project.

After taping:

The teacher will upload the videos onto moviemaker 2.6 and edit anything that needs to be modified. The teacher will also add any sound effects that the students request or that may add to the video. The teacher will then upload videos to youtube.

The Next day the teacher will have the class watch the four videos and have a class discussion about some similar ideas that the groups had and also and differences.

Challenges: Some groups may have technical difficulties with the camera, so it is important that the teacher understands how to use the camera. It will also be a challenge to help each group since the teacher is just one person.

Blog Post 6A: Group Video Project

1. Reflect on your group project. What worked well? Where could you have improved? How would you approach this differently next time? What skills will you take away with you from completing this project?

I think our group project went well, and that we all worked well together. Since I have never worked with the video program I was really grateful to have Doug in our group, since he was familiar with it. I found the program a little temperamental but i feel confident that i could use it in my future classroom. We did have to retake two different scenes because the camera angle did not work right. I think that if I were to do this project again I would talk about the scene with the group members and talk about where each person should stand.

Plog Post 5: Interactive Whiteboard

1. Interactive whiteboards are becoming more common in the classroom. How do you feel they enhance teaching and learning? Was the technology difficult for you to use? What are the pros and cons to having them installed in your classroom? Think of some lesson plans you wrote in the past. How would you incorporate the smart board when teaching that content?

     I found the interactive whiteboard technology a little bit difficult to use. The lesson that I just taught was the first time that I had every written a lesson based around a smart board. This was also the only time that I had ever used the smart board software. The only other experience that I have had with the smart board is using it for basic internet links, using it almost as a computer screen or a projector. I believe that the software is a little temperamental to use, however I became more and more comfortable as I used it. If I were to make another lesson using it I think I would be able to finish it more efficiently.

     Interactive whiteboards are becoming more common in the classroom and I believe that this is a positive change. I think that these whiteboards are enhancing teaching and learning. With this new technology students can participate and visually see new information. This technology allows teachers to pull from outside sources to enhance their lessons. There will be many pros if I have the opportunity to install this new technology in to my future classroom. Some pros include being able to show the students maps, videos, and internet sources. This will help the students to interact and will enhanced student participation. This technology will make the students feel comfortable and will help students connect to their daily lives with technology; many will know more about it then the teacher.

     Although there are many pros there are also some cons, such as, overuse. While I was observing Thirteenth and Union my cooperating teacher was forced to use the interactive white board every day in her math lessons. Since the third grade teachers rotated who wrote the lessons each week there were many days that she didn’t even look at the lessons before she taught it. Since the students saw the same thing every day they seemed to be a little bit bored with it. I also think that it is important to use this new technology to ENHACE the lessons, and to be sure that the lessons are not based off the interactive whiteboard but rather the content.

     None of the lesson plans that I wrote in the past incorporated the SMART Board. If I had the opportunity I would definitely revise them add incorporate the SMART Board. I may use it to bring up internet sources or show the students pictures of the content. I may also add it at the end of a lesson to review, and have the students interact and play a game or answer questions.

Blog Post 4: Software Skills

1. Reflect on the software skills we learned and the project you created. Was it beneficial to take the time to learn them? Which do you think will be the most beneficial for you? How do you think they will help you as a teacher? Be specific.

  I believe that the software productivity project was extremely beneficial and worth taking the time to learn. It showed us how to work with three different programs, not just one. I learned so many new techniques that i will be able to use for my future classrooms.

I think that the most beneficial was the news letter that we created in Microsoft Publisher. I really enjoyed learning how to use this program. It has endless possibilities for creating newsletters, flyers, and many other useful items that will help me organize my classroom. I think that understanding how to make a news letter is important because there will be many times I will need to send a letter home, this is a great way to let parents know what is coming up. 

Learning how to use these programs will definitely help me as a teacher. I had to make quizzes for many of my methods courses, and it took me a long time to create it, and none of them were as well organized as the one I created for this project. Learning how to create boarders and tables will really benefit me in creating and grading tests and quizzes in the future. I also believe that I have a much clearer understanding of Inspiration, before this class i only saw inspiration as a tool for teachers. I no understand how to use it as a teacher, and how to incorporate it into the classroom for students to use. These programs will help me organize my self, my students, and their parents. I will not only be able to use them as an organizational tools, but also as teaching tools, for the students to use.

Blog Post 3: Inspiration & Web Resources

1. Is Inspiration something you would invest in for your classroom? List at least 10 ideas in your content areas where you could incorporate it- Include uses as a productivity tool as well as an instructional tool.

     Inspiration is definitely something that I would invest in for my classroom. I think it useful for a teacher organization and will benefit students. I could incorporate Inspiration into my class room in many ways. Some ways that I could incorporate Inspiration as a productivity and instructional tool are: 

1 Concept Maps.

2 Outlines.

3 Showing pictures that relate to concepts. For lower elementary.

4 Create diagrams or other graphic organizers.

5 Making quizzes and tests .

6 Students could use this software to create their own concept maps, outlines, or visual reports. This would help me do make sure that they understand the concept. 

7 Study guides for students.

8 Visual aid for students who are struggling with a concept.

9 To help introduce a new concept in an organized way.

10 To help the students compare and contrast different ideas or concepts.

2. What are your favorite Web Resources we covered in class? Which do you think you would use the most why and how? Be specific.

                I like a lot of the resources that we covered in class. My favorite resource was United Streaming. This is a not only a great resource for teachers and parents, but will also be beneficial for students.  I could see myself using  United Streaming the most because of all of its great attributes. This website has Videos on many subjects and content areas. Also many of the videos have detailed lesson plans that can be used with them.  Along with the videos and lesson plans the website also provides a calendar that can be used for the classroom.

                Some of my other favorite web resources were Rubistar, Illuminations, and Library Curriculum. Rubistar provides a great template for grading rubrics, and is a great graphic organizer. I like illuminations because it provides lesson plans organized by grade level and standard. I also like the activities that they provide. The Albright College library curriculum resource proves great resources for different content areas and lesson plans. 

Blog Post 2: Social Bookmarking

Does Social Bookmarking have an application in your classroom? What are some ways it could benefit you and your students? Can it help you now as a student...how?

     Social Bookmarking will have a strong application in my future classroom. As a teacher social bookmarking can benefit me in many ways. I will be able to save websites that are good resources, share them with other teachers, and also look at other teachers social bookmarking sites to find good ideas. Having a social bookmarking site will help to organize my classroom and also help to find resources efficiently by using the tagging tool.

My students will benefit from social bookmarking in many ways. Students will be able to bookmark sites if they are doing a research project, by using this tool students will learn how to find reliable resources that they can uses for current and future projects. This is an important skill because if students do not know how to distinguish a reliable internet source from an unreliable one they will have incorrect information, and will not be able to use technology to their advantage. Also, students can use social bookmarking to learn from each other. They can look at their classmates sites and share resources, which could also benefit them while working on a group project. 

This will not only benefit them in my classroom, they will have their social bookmarking site as they move up through the grade levels. Even if their future teacher does not use it in the classroom they will have the site for their own use. 

Social bookmarking can also help to organize the classroom. The entire class will have access to all information about the class including, homework, and resources to help them succeed. 

Social Bookmarking is also relevant in my current classes. For many classes we must write lesson plans, and research papers. By viewing someone's site that has had the class before you can find resources that they found reliable and helpful. This would also be a great resource for education courses, by viewing saved websites you can gain new ideas and inspiration for current lessons. 

Blog post 1

1. Give some specific ideas of how you could incorporate Blogs in your classroom. What are the advantages and disadvantages to using this technology in your classroom.
     Blogs can be incorporated into the classroom in many ways. One possibility is to have each student create their own blog to use as a journal, or a reflective piece for any subject that the class may be learning. Another option to incorporate blogs in the classroom is to have all students comment and discuss their ideas about a question or topic that the teacher has posted. Students can also view videos, pictures, and use podcasts to enhance and explore ways of learning outside the classroom.
     One major advantage of using this technology in the classroom is that everyone in the class is capable of viewing the blogs and then adding their own ideas. The students in the classroom can be connected beyond the classroom and therefore can learn from each others opinions. Also, it is a great way to organize new information. Students will always know where to find information that the teacher has posted. Another advantage is that students will be more enthusiastic about learning because they will be able to work with technology. We now live in a generation that is filled with television, music, games, and all different types of technology. Blogs are just another great way to engage the students.
     Although blogs have many advantages they also have a few disadvantages. For example, not every student is going to have access to a computer outside the classroom. So, if the teacher assigns the students homework using a blog format, some students will not be able to participate, or they will have rush to do the assignment during class time. Also, some students may not feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas with their peers so they will not have thoughtful responses.

2. What is your opinion of Google Apps? What are the advantages/disadvantages of using google apps over traditional office apps? List as many as you can.
     The first time I had used Google Apps was in class on friday, and I really liked it. I thought it was really interesting to see how easy it was to send, edit, and share information with others. One clear advantage to using Google Apps is its unique ability to be interconnected with other people simultaneously. This would be a great tool to use for college and even grade school classes.  The advantage of using Google Apps in college and grade schools would be how easy it is to share your documents with many different people, and those people also have the ability to edit and add their own thoughts and ideas to the paper. Instead of sending private e-mails back and forth everyone can see the document at the same time. One other advantage is how user friendly it is. Although I have not mastered it I quickly obtained a general understanding of how to effectively use it. Also, you can save your work and it will readily transfer to any standard office application.
     Some disadvantages to Google Apps are some of its applications. The traditional office apps have been around longer and have had time to develop and have more options, unlike the google apps. For example, powerpoint has many different slide layouts to pic from while google apps only has about five. Also, not many people have Google Apps accounts, or the knowledge of how to properly use it.