Blogfolio

1. Intro Video- Learning how to create a video of myself with my phone and uploading it to my blog online, lead me to the idea that I could create videos of myself discussing what the week of school is going to be like, updates, and special events coming up so that parents can view it themselves. I could even use this as a way to walk through experiments with my students, allowing them to stop the video whenever needed. This video can be uploaded to the classroom blog or website. I can definitely see myself using this type of video format at the beginning of the semester as well. The NETS-T standard  that applied to this assignment was standard number 3: Model Digital-Age Work and Learning by having me model and  facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning.  The video “blog” is a type of tool that is an effective use of current and emerging digital technology that I can use to discuss topics to support student learning.

2. Concept Map-This assignment will be great to use in the classroom as a tool to study or to create with students while learning about different content or concepts. I used the Body Systems to create my concept map in class and it seemed like it would be a great study tool. With this new way of concept mapping videos, images, and notes can be attached to any bubble. I loved this tool. The NETS-T standard(s) that can be applied to this assignment are Standard 2: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments through designing or adapting relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity and Standard 3 by communicating relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats. These standards applies to this assignment because it ties in technology and learning, and it is also a tool to communicate information and bring together ideas.

3. Web Site- This assignment was my favorite because I never thought I would learn how to create a website….and I did.  It was not hard at all, Google Sites is user friendly, and I can really use this as a teacher to communicate to my parents and students. The website can be used to describe upcoming events, provide a calendar, information about the class and myself, and to provide resources for students and parents to use to support learning of the content. The NETS-T standard that applies to this assignment are Standard 1: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity through modeling of collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.

4. Voki- Voki is an educational tool that can be used for creativity. In the classroom I can customize Voki characters to look like historical figures, cartoons, animals, and even myself.  I think that it can put a new twist to education and give the students a little something different than the typical lecture and slideshow.  I liked this assignment because it was something different that I had not seen before and if used right, could really add something special to the classroom. I could create some creature that liked to “drop in” every now and then to share a cool story or a bit of wisdom to the students. The standards that apply to this assignment is Standard 2: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments because this tool calls you to design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.

5. Xtranormal is a site that allows you to create two avatars that share a conversation in order to express a thought or idea. When I created my Xtranormal skit, two dogs discussed littering in the park and why not to do it. I did not like this tool, it was not fun for me and it was time consuming. I probably won’t use this in my classroom but if I did use it, I would have students pair up and create skits together. They would have to use this type of digital technology to teach their classmates something about a certain unit we were discussing at that time. Standard 3: Model Digital-Age Work and Learning applies to this assignment in that is calls you to communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students using a variety of digital-age media and formats.

6. Turnitin- Standard 4: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility. I do like this website and will use it once in my classroom at the beginning of the year to show my students what plagiarism is and how not to do it. It will be more of a group activity, students will work together to summarize. I will teach students how to summarize first. That is a difficult thing to learn. I did not do very well with this assignment because I do not summarize research well. I think it’s all important and I don’t know how to condense. This has always been difficult for me. The NETS-T standard that applies to this assignment is standard 4: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility by advocating, modeling, and teaching safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.

7.TED videos- John Hunter’s video discussing his world peace game created for his students was very inspiring. It gave me a different way to look at education and how to approach certain topics or issues. I like his project goes further than classroom lectures and is interactive, involving students in deep thinking and cooperative learning.  I hope to create something like this for my students to guide them into thinking critically and creatively. Ali Carr-Chellman “gaming to reengage boys in learning was also enlightening. She thinks that in order to pull boys back into education we need to cater to the way boys are “in a sense”.  We can’t keep a tight leash on them. I agree. Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity. I think schools are coming away from that and are now trying to integrate the all seven intelligences into the curriculum. I agree that students need to be able to express themselves and have the opportunity to learn in the best way that suites them. There is not just one way to learn and to express meaning. I believe Ken is trying to emphasize the importance of these intelligences so that students have the opportunity to succeed. I think these videos were great to introduce new concepts. We as teachers need to learn from others to keep up with new ways of teaching. TED videos are a great source. The NETS-T standard that applies to this assignment is standard 5: Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership by causing me evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning. 

17 What Technology means to me.

Technology is awesome! It makes everything, well mostly every easier. It's air conditioning, it's cooking appliances, it's a blow dryer, television. Without technology, school would be more time consuming and less visual, creative, and fun. Without technology we would be riding horses still. Yet, the obesity population would be lower if we didn't have technology, and maybe fewer health problems would exists. But without technology, more people would die of terrible diseases and illnesses that are cured thanks to technologies. It's got it's ups and its downs!

16- Younger Americans' Library Habits and Expectations

The article, “Younger Americans’ Library Habits and Expectations,” explains that though Americans under the age of 30 (younger Americans) are just as likely as Americans over the age of 30 (older Americans) to have visited the library, more younger Americans use some type of technology such as computers and the library internet, visit the library website, and use a mobile device to visit a public library’s website or access library resources than older Americans. The percent of younger to older Americans ranges drastically with these findings. Researchers believe the higher rates of technology use at the library is more significant in the younger population due to the use of technology in other areas of life for this population. Though younger Americans are significantly more likely to have read an e-book than older Americans with an increase of use from yours 2011 to 2012, the reading of books in print has remained steady with in this age group. Young Americans find it “very important” (population percent 70 or higher) for libraries to have librarians for assistance, to offer research resources such as free databases to have free access to computers and internet, to offer books for people to borrow, to have quiet study spaces, to have program classes for children and teenagers, and to offer job or career services. Younger Americans also think that libraries should coordinate more with local schools (87%), Should provide free literacy programs (87%), have more lounging spaces (64%), separate spaces for different services (57%), offer a larger variety of e-books (54%), offer more interactive learning experiences (53%), move most library resources online (44%), and make most services automated (41%). 

My opinion of this article is that I don't find any of this information surprising. We younger Americans tend to be more tech savvy than the rest of the population. The generation that is elementary schools now are really going to be the tech wizards. I know ten-year-olds that can work a smart phone better than I can. So when it comes to going to the library to do some research or study, it is more convenient to be able to look up your information on a computer in a research database. It is very helpful to have a librarian assist you when looking for actual text and to point you in the right direction. A librarians assistance would even be helpful when using the library's website. Sometimes help to navigate the site is useful and saves time. As our world becomes more technologically dependent, so will all public places, including the library.  

15-How we sabotage our own privacy for deals and ego

The article, “How we sabotage our own privacy for deals and ego,” describes the fact at no matter how drastic the measures you take to keep yourself off the grid, there is not possible way your information is complete private or secret. If you use a credit card, use online banking, order anything online, you are losing the privacy battle. A business consulting firm conducted a survey of 5000 digitally knowable consumers to establish their criteria for sharing their personal information and how that information might be used. Those that were survey came from the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France and Australia. the surveyed showed that when making a purchase, Americans are more likely to share data (88%), 83 % of Americans are willing to share private information with their banks. So in a nutshell, if you use a credit card, or if you make an online purchase, if you use Amazon, Ebay, or any social media site your privacy is out the window. Banks look at your purchases in order to keep you safe from credit card theft. They look at your pattern of spending money in order to detect something that is out of the ordinary. Companies do this as well to provide advertising that would spark the consumer’s interest, to draw us in to make purchases. Then they get us with the deals and sales, we share our information, make a purchase, and BAMB! our secured privacy is gone.

I am not surprised by any of the information in this article. It is no mystery that what you share online is not completely private. I for one am not to keen on sharing my information online to pay a bill or apply for any financial assistance online (scholarships, MTAG, FASFA) because you have to share so much of yourself. If someone really wanted that information they could crack the code and grab it. It’s no wonder that Identify theft is such a problem these days. When online shopping, we click and maneuver through the web to things that we want, we give our email addresses out like candy to any advertising that we want to see more about. We have Facebook, twitter, snap chat, and insta-gram so that everyone in the world can see where we are, what we are thinking, and what we are doing. The reality of it all is that we want to be in the public eye, we want people to have this information at this disposal, and we don’t want out lives to be private. Why would our bank accounts and credit card information be any different. It’s the scary truth.

14 Secrets of Top Students

The article “Secrets of Top Students” is really a small glimpse of the book Secrets of Top Students: Tips, Tools and Techniques for Acing High School and College. Both were written by Stephanie Weisman who surveyed 45 other outstanding students (all at the collegiate level or higher) on their habits and practices to become a successful student. She found that success for most students came from self determination and hard work, pressure on self to do well, and a desire to learn. To gain success these students studied 20 or more hours a week, sacrificed hanging out with their friends to get that extra school work in, and had support from their families to do well without feeling pressured. A study strategy that was found to be most important to this group of students was to start early and space the work out. The purpose of this article was to describe that being smart and a good student isn't a natural born ability; it’s something that is acquired through hard work, dedication, determination and the drive to do well.

This article really hits home for me because I am one of those students who has to work hard for my grades. I have to actually read the book and take notes, then rewrite my notes in my own words to fully grasp the information. In fact, that is the only way I made it through Anatomy and Physiology and through the nutrition program with As and Bs. I believe that the desire does have to be there to be a good student because you are the only person who can hold yourself accountable when it comes to making the grades. In college, there is no one to hold your hand, make you study, or do your homework. You have to make sacrifices and have drive and determination to be a successful student. Though I do agree, some students do have a natural knack at being a top notch student, but they also seem to be determined students. 

Virginia's Teacher Website

https://sites.google.com/site/msvirginias5thgradeclassroom/

13- LEAD

The article, "LEAD issues 5 digital learning recommendations," expresses the need for digital learning to be a national priority for every child to have access to the same high quality digital tools no matter what their zip code or social economic status. This is necessary to ensure that teachers and students of the U.S. remain globally competitive in order to not fall behind in education performance. The LEAD Commission's 5 point blue print calls on the federal, state, local, private, and charitable sections to act on those 5 recommendations for digital learning and education technology; to solve the infrastructure challenge  by updating the wiring of schools, build a national effort to deploy devices, accelerate the adoption of a digital curriculum, embrace and encourage model schools, and to invest in human capital.

I feel that these are recommendations that need to be taken into action. All students need to have the same opportunity to access digital technology with implementation of use within the classroom. But the problem is, how does our nation afford these types of technologies in each and every school. Is it even possible. I feel that it's not. Just like not all families can afford a television or a vehicle, how can each and every school district afford that technologies that are being demanded of today's youth.

12- Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity.

In Ken Robinson's video he states that "If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original." Why kill students creativity by steering them away from the arts, drama, music, or dance. Ken Robinson believes that we have to rethink the fundamental principles on which we are educating our children. He feels as though creativity is of the same importance as literacy and we should treat it as much. At the bottom of education is the arts in all countries education systems. He expresses that we can't afford to not stigmatize or devalue the brilliancy of the creativity in students.

With education today, we are definitely moving toward the idea that all eight intelligences need to be reached out to in the classroom. Students need to be able to express themselves and have the opportunity to learn in the best way that suites them. There is not just one way to learn and to express meaning. I believe Ken is trying to emphasize the importance of these intelligences so that students have the opportunity to succeed.

11- Ali Carr-Chellman- Gaming to reengage boys in learning.

Ali Carr-Chellman passionately discusses that typical boys' culture is not working well in schools. She describes three reasons why she believes boys are out of sync with the culture of schools today. One is due to the Zero Tolerance Policy. Under this policy students are not able to rough house, or play with plastic weapons, water guns. Secondly boys are not able to express themselves as boys through writing. They pretty much have to write exactly what the teacher tells them too. Last, there are beginning to be fewer and fewer male teachers. For boys to succeed in school, Ali feels that we need to put ourselves into the boy culture, change the mind set of acceptance, design better educational games for boys, decompress the school curriculum, and look at teachers attitudes about gaming.


I agree with Ms. Ali Carr-Chellman in that schools of today do hinder boys from being boys. From the statistics she described at the beginning of her video, the evidence is clear that something has to be done to change the pace of males who are expelled from school, who are diagnosed with ADHD, and who are referred to special education. We cannot expect boys to act like girls, or listen like girls. If gaming in schools will enhance the success of males in education,  then we need to just go with it.

10 John Hunter-Teaching the World Peace Game

John Hunter is a 4th Grade teacher that has given his students the best opportunity in the world. He has cleared a space for his students so they can make meaning from their own understanding. I watched the video clip of John Hunter explaining this project that he created for his students in the 1970s. It began as a 4X5 plywood board, and has now turned into a 4X4X4 Plexiglas structure. It contains for levels at which his students must solve worldly issues. There is a space layer, an air and space level, a ground and sea level, and an under sea level.  There are 4 countries that the children create, with one prime minister and a cabinet. The students at this point are in control and Mr. Hunter is just the facilitator. The students are given a problem out of the 13 pg. crisis document and they are to solve it together. The students also read Sanzu's: The Art of War, from which the students learn to think in a long term more consequential manner. They learn from this book how not to follow the path of war. This project hands control over to the students and makes them think on a deeper level. This also allows creativity and ingenuity to come alive and provides a risk taking environment in the classroom.

I loved this video. It was inspiring to me to see fourth graders take on such a big challenge and really get into it. The students who spoke were enthusiastic about the project and really seemed to have a deep understanding of the situations they were given. Not only are students learning on their own, they are learning from each other while participating in this project. I like how this project goes further than classroom lectures and is interactive, involving students in deep thinking and cooperative learning. 

Xtranormal-Don't be a litter bug!