All About Me Survey

Journal 4: "It's Time to Trust Teachers with the Internet: A conversation with Meg Ormiston"" (NETS I -V)

Schaffhauser, D. (2010, December 1). It's time to trust teachers with the internet:: a conversation with Meg Ormiston. Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/Articles/2010/12/01/Its-Time-To-Trust-Teachers-with-the-Internet-A-Conversation-with-Meg-Ormiston.aspx?sc_lang=en&Page=1

This conversation with Meg Ormiston was about schools blocking certain websites, restricting students to learn above and beyond the usual curriculum. The administrators don't trust the teachers to teach lessons from the internet because they are afraid of exposure. It is important for the students to be taught what is appropriate and what isn't so when they use networking outside of the classroom they aren't abusing it. Even though the teachers would review the website prior to the lesson, the district still won't allow it. It mentioned, "If you're doing nothing but blocking all day long, teachers are going to give up using technology" (Schaffhauser, 2). Technology plays a major role in society today and if our schools keep restricting the use of internet then we are back to square one. No one benefits from the lack of technology; therefore networking should be available at a specific level. Supervision will be provided by the teachers because that is why they are here to teach. They are here to make a safe and comfortable environment for all students. Many parents are concerned with their children running into something on the internet that may harm them, but if they are educated about the internet then things like that won't happen as often.


Q #1: How can teachers make certain that unsupervised students will not abuse the use of the internet?


The best thing for the teacher to do is to teach students the consequences that can happen if you abuse the use of the internet. After educating them on how to network and the restrictions, then the teachers have to trust the students that they will obey the specific internet rules. 


Q #2: What can teachers do in order for the administrators to trust them with the responsibility of the internet?


Teachers need to provide a proposal of the activity or lesson each week to the administrators and guide them step by step what the students will be searching for. Once the teachers present a basic foundation of the material the administrators will get a better understanding of what they will be doing. The teachers will also review the websites several times before presenting it to the class.           

Journal 3: 100 Things That Make Me Happy!

1.    Lacey Smith (Best Friend)

2.   Family

3.   Friends

4.   Pet dog Gracie

5.   Los Angeles Lakers

6.   Mexican Food

7.   Sushi

8.   Soccer

9.   Hurdles

10. Traveling

11. Ocean

12. Beach

13. Sunsets

14. My BMW

15. Wine

16. Margaritas

17. High Heels

18. SHOPPING

19. My Mac computer

20. My ipod

21. My iphone

22. Kids laughter

23. Exercising

24. Nordstrom’s

25. My Danish friend Azra

26. Sunglasses

27. Nature

28. The Hangover

29. Comedy Movies

30. Text messaging

31. Facebook

32. Surprises

33. Chai tea latte

34. Avocados

35. Rite Aid’s Mint Chip Ice cream

36. Chocolate soufflé

37. OPI nail polish

38. Leather Jackets

39. Messages

40. Cabo, Mexico

41. Manicures

42. Pedicures

43. Sleeping in

44. Cooking

45. Being silly

46. Watching Gossip Girl

47. Christmas

48. School

49. Teaching

50. Babysitting

51. Hiking

52. Taking bubble baths

53. Home-cooked meals

54. Dancing

55. Singing to the radio

56. Music

57. Florence + the Machine

58. Mumford and sons

59. FOOD

60. Bedtime

61. Good Grades

62. Giraffe’s

63. Sea World

64. Disney Land (Happiest Place on Earth!)

65. Bowling

66. Flowers

67. Laguna Beach

68. Concerts

69. Men

70. Christmas Markets

71. Europe

72. Birthdays

73. Jacuzzi’s

74. Gossip Magazines

75. Modern Family

76. Road Trips

77. Forever 21

78. Raising Hope

79. Hugs

80. Kisses

81. Playing Cards

82. Baking

83. Smoothies

84. In N Out Burger

85. Running

86. Mommy

87. Daddy

88. Clubbing

89. American Idol Auditions

90. The Biggest Loser

91.  America’s Next Top Model

92. Make-up

93. Doing Hair

94. Jewelry

95. Laughing

96. Taking pictures

97. Getting my hair done

98. Yoga

99. Learning

100. Smiling

Journal 2: "Join the Flock" and "Enhance your Twitter Experience" (NETS II - IV)

Ferguson, H. (2010). Join the flock!. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(8), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/Leading_and_Learning_Docs/June_July_2010_Join_the_Flock.sflb.ashx

Miller, S.M. (2010). Enhance your twitter experience. Leading and Learning With Technology, 37(8), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/Leading_and_Learning_Docs/June_July_2010_Join_the_Flock.sflb.ashx

In the article "Join the Flock" by Hadley Ferguson, it explains the world of twitter. It brings strangers from all places together to collaborate and share their ideas. Twitter is easy to access and participate in, and it's free! People can find people to follow like celebrities, favorite athletes, teachers, and many more. You can make different twitter accounts to separate from personal to business. If interesting articles appear you can copy the link and send it to others. Twitter can be very helpful in finding information and facts about your career. Just like facebook, twitter can be very addictive and time consuming, but you are able to learn new information and meet new people so it is well worth the time! In the second article "Enhance your Twitter Experience" by Shannon McClintock Miller, it mentions the benefits of joining twitter to enhance teacher collaboration. Teachers can connect together and learn from each others teaching experiences. Teachers can also share their favorite book or article and bookmark the sites they think are most interesting. For the most part twitter is safe and provides options for privacy settings. 

Q #1: Do you think twitter would be useful to integrate in a schools curriculum?

I think in general twitter is useful to communicate and collaborate with people, but would not be beneficial for students in a classroom. Blogging is a much better learning technique than twitter for the students. Although students are able to communicate, twitter is more helpful for adults in finding articles for teaching. I think there are several other tools that would be more practical to integrate in a schools curriculum than twitter. 

Q #2: Are there any risks to making an account for Twitter? 

For the most part twitter is safe, but there are certain risks if you don't take precautions. It is important to make your twitter account private and not post any revealing information that someone could take advantage of. 

         

Journal 1: "Do Web 2.0 Right " (NETS I - V)

Light, D. (2011). Do web 2.0 right. Learning and Leading with Technology, 38(5), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/Leading_and_Learning_Docs/February-2011-Do-Web-20-Right.sflb.ashx

In this Article by Daniel Light, he discusses several tools such as blogs and wikis to use in the classroom. He explains the different types of blogging teachers have tried in the past and mentions which tools work the best for the students. Teachers have proven that blogging between students is a successful learning method. It is a great way of communicating with the teacher and also the other students in the class. It allows students who are shy and don't participate on a regular basis in class to engage with an on-line discussion without feeling pressured. It is good to have a balance between using tools on the internet and using tools inside the classroom. They can then apply these tools to the "real world". Daily practice of internet use is recommended to become familiarized with the current technology and interaction with other users. Light uses several examples of different ways teachers have their students use a blog. One teacher in particular had the students use the blog to give their fellow classmates feedback and critique their work. It mentioned, "She wants her students to learn to be self-critical without giving up and to be able to give support and helpful advice to others" (Light, 12). These methods of blogging are beneficial to the students in several different aspects. It is a fun and interesting way to learn and communicate with other students outside the classroom.

Q #1: Would this concept of blogging be beneficial for elementary level students? Why or why not?

It would be beneficial for elementary level students once they are able to learn the tools of blogging and master the frustrations of technology. In our world today kids are becoming technologically advanced at such a young age. I think it's better to start young or else they will never be able to understand the concept of technology. It will also be beneficial because they will learn how to communicate with their classmates and form their own ideas and opinions. 

Q #2: When using Web 2.0 tools, can it have a negative effect on the students? 

Yes, if the students aren't on task and not familiar with the tool they will not learn anything new. Some students may be distracted when using the internet and instead of learning the material they are on facebook or playing computer games. Since the students would be using the internet outside of the classroom they will not have teacher supervision. This may cause some students to get lazy or not even participate with the material they are assigned to.