Week 5: Internet Safety Reflection and Weekly Video

Though the Internet can be risky when students aren't knowledgeable about all of the dangers that are out there, we can turn it around into a positive in the classroom as we educate them on how to use the internet wisely and gain worlds of knowledge and learning from it. It should definitely be a part of the classroom because of all the wonderful resources that can enhance learning and enjoyment both inside the classroom and out. So many questions can be answered with just a click of the mouse-it is so efficient! The great benefit of using it for school is that there are wonderful places, such as UEN, that give students a safe place to learn over the Internet. We don't need to worry about inappropriate content, wrong information, or strangers who try to get information from our students. Rather, we can be happy knowing our students can have access to resources such as interactives, educational games, articles, real time data, simulations, collaboration tools, calendars, publishings, research, and countless other tools. The technology is here and so informative, so why not take advantage of it in school? Our students are already surrounded by all kinds of technology everywhere they go, so we need to adapt to the times! They will need to know how to use it in their future schooling and careers, so now is a perfect time to start.

As teachers and parents, we need to critically evaluate the sites we chose to guide our students to. There are wonderful sites out there, but some can be quite deceiving, which means we need to stay on our toes. We don't want to lead students to wrong or outdated information, sites that require them to give any personal information, any place that may contain inappropriate material or places that could be dangerous.

The five W's are a good place to start when evaluating a website. These are WHO is the author and are they an expert? WHAT is the purpose of this site and what information is here? WHEN was it created and last updated? WHERE does the information come from and where can I find out more about it? WHY is this useful and why should I use it over any other site? Along with the five W's, it is good to look over the site to see if it is easy to use, if it is pertinent, if it is done professionally, if there is any bias, how you can contact the author, and if it is reviewed at all.

Though we do our absolute best to lead our students to educationally accurate and safe places online, it is still crucial to educate them on how to use the Internet wisely. It will help them not only in learning and school settings, but in every aspect of their lives. It is important to educate them on things such as keeping their personal information personal, chat room dangers, warnings for social networking, and what to do if something inappropriate or uncomfortable happens to appear. We can make Internet safety education fun by incorporating good Internet safety games and interactives, having class discussions, giving them specific web activities, and other hands-on and engaging activities. The purpose is not to scare students away from using the web, but to inform them on how to make their Internet experience the best possible. Monitoring their use of the Internet and using special software can always add to the level of protection in the classroom and home as well.

Video: We Didn't Start the Fire

This was such a fun video to watch! I thought it was brilliant because it incorporated a catchy song, which is likely to catch many students' attention- especially those who are "music smart." Music is such a large part of many of their lives, and it is a good method of reaching those students who learn best from listening. It was great to be able to watch the historical events as they were mentioned in the song. The real footage was good to see, and I think it is beneficial to put a picture to the words because those visual learners in the class will gain more from the video. This would be a wonderful clip to show before a history lesson because it would get the students' attention.

UEN Reflection

UEN Reflection Paper

I plan on using UEN in my future classroom because of all the wonderful resources it has for both me as a teacher, for my students, and even for their parents. It is wonderful to have so many useful tools in one place.I love the fact that because it is online, they can all have access to this great information even if they don't have a computer in their home. Public and school libraries can be used. Using technology in school can benefit students so much because that is just one more way that they can learn and connect through. All students learn differently, so we need to give them as many different ways to access information and connect with it as possible! In these changing times, technology is a must, and many students are already very familiar with it and enjoy using it. I have enjoyed learning about all of the things UEN has to offer. I am definitely not an expert in all of it yet, so I plan to continue exploring it more in order to find even more ways of enhancing my classroom, lessons, and student learning and engagement.

Pioneer Library has so many helpful tools for engaging students and adding variety to lessons. EBSCO and SIRS Knowledge Source are two tools in Pioneer that I definitely plan on using. One example of something I would want to do in my classroom, is let my students chose any topic that they'd like to research about Deaf culture. (They would then need to make sure I approve it.) We would work on these projects throughout the semester, and both EBSCO and SIRS would be so valuable in giving the students good information for their topic. I wish CultureGrams had something about Deaf culture, so we could use that, too! I also plan on using Pioneer's eMedia because it has clips of people fingerspelling vocabulary words that I would use. It would benefit my students to be able to watch different people signing, other than just myself, because receptive skills would increase with a variety of signing styles being exposed to them. There are other wonderful tools in Pioneer that I could incorporate throughout my lessons as well.

The Interactives offered on UEN are so fun! With these, students can really enjoy themselves and learning does not have to relate to being bored or confused. One interactive I thought would have good application in my intermediate and advanced classes is the Short Term Memory game. As we discuss interpreting within the Deaf community, students can train their brains to have the kind of short term memory skills a real interpreter needs to do an effective job. There are countless other memory games that students could explore, that can tie into many different areas of study.

UEN is also useful in that it can help keep teachers on track with the core curriculum as well as lesson plan ideas. The core curriculum is easy to find for any content area, which would be beneficial to students and families because they would know what to expect from the class. When searching for lesson plans in my content area, World Languages, there were no approved lesson plans listed. I was disappointed and found lesson plan ideas elsewhere. I think it would be a fun thing for me to try to submit a lesson plan for UEN to have for all the World Languages teachers to get ideas from. I did look at other content area lesson plans and was impressed by the help they could give teachers. What a valuable resource.

Week 4: UEN

What?

This week in class, we learned all about UEN and all it has to offer. There is a lot to learn about everything UEN has! It has some similar benefits and tools as Google Docs, but is much more complicated, along with many more resources for teachers, students, and parents. I'm still trying to decide which one I prefer. UEN has wonderful benefits and different kinds of support for teachers, students, and parents, but Google Docs is simpler to figure out and manage, while still providing very beneficial tools for the classroom. We are also exploring the Pioneer Library, which is included in the UEN website. It includes useful things such as eMedia, CultureGrams, SIRS, encyclopedia, news, and other resources.

So What?

Teachers can have so many tools and resources right at their fingertips if they are familiar with how to use UEN. What a time and energy saver when you can understand everything that it has! Teachers can get ideas for lesson plans, find new ways of teaching students through activities and higher order thinking, and can learn about workshops and other helpful teacher improvement tools. This would help me feel more connected and like I didn't have to struggle through everything without help. It can really help us stay in the education loop, including news and events, new resources and helpful sites, fun teaching ideas, useful technology, and how to help our students and their parents get the most out of their educational journey as possible. What a wonderful time to be in the field of education- there are so many tools to help us be the best for our students!

Now What?

As a teacher, I plan on utilizing the tools that UEN has. I was particularly excited about the lesson plans, but there were none listed under World Languages. This means that maybe I can have something to contribute. I'd like to figure out how to submit lesson plans to the UEN website, and try to get a really good ASL lesson plan up on the website. I enjoyed looking at the different Interactives, Tours, and other activities that it had for students, and would love to incorporate some of those into my lessons. I will make sure I let my students and their parents know about some of the things on UEN that they can benefit from, including seeing the curriculum and having the student and parent sites, tools, and resources available. There are some great things on there that can help parents and students at home, which would also make the classroom experience more beneficial.

Video: Did You Know?

This was a very interesting and even shocking video about the shifting that is taking place in our world. It mentioned that we are living in exponential times, which is so true. With all of the advancements in technology, who knows where we'll be years from now. It's amazing to think of the tools my kids will have in college, that I would never even think of having now. Children are learning how to use computers and other technology from a shockingly early age, and it's easy to see that their brains are conditioned to work with technology, unlike my parents or grandparents. Information is so accessible now. It's hard to think what we would do without it! It allows us to learn so much more, be more informed and aware of the world around us, stay more connected with people all over the world, buy and sell, meet and socialize with people, and be more efficient with our work and time. More and more degrees are being added in Universities and the clip also mentioned the estimation that people will have 10-14 jobs by their 38th birthday. We have so many opportunities in these amazing times!

Technology is so powerful and will really help us get further than we ever thought possible. As teachers, we absolutely can not underestimate the power of using it in our classrooms. We'll have to constantly stay on top of the latest things and work hard to keep informed on the newest and greatest things that will help our students (and us) be even more successful.

Week 3: Google Sites

What?

We worked on our class site in class this week, most of the information and tools were very new to me. Our pages included About Me, Announcements, Classroom Tools, and Homework. The Tools page is the one I am least familiar with, so I plan on doing some extra work with that until I feel more comfortable and confident with it. I've never done much with links and videos, so this is a great activity for me!

So What?

This site would be a great central place for students and parents to keep informed, updated, and organized. There would be less confusion about my expectations, assignment and test due dates, and it would offer more resources to help give students what they need to truly succeed. Most families are able to access the internet in some way, even if it is at the public library, so no one should feel out of the loop or at any disadvantages when it comes to communication and knowledge of my classroom and any opportunities or expectations that arise. The more variety of tools I can use to communicate, the better! Technology and a class site will be at the top of the list.

Now What?

I most definitely plan on using a class site for my future classes. I will include information about myself as well as the environment and expectations for my classroom. This will help students and their parents know what to expect from me, and will hopefully help found a good and trusting relationship between us all. I will also incorporate a homework and calendar page, because I know how easy it is for students to miss information, forget dates and assignments, and forget to communicate things with their parents. They have other classes, a social life, and other responsibilities, so I want to make things as clear and accessible as possible for them. The Tools page is my favorite and I can't wait for my students to be able to utilize the information I put on there for them. Some things will be directly related to assignments, and some will just be there for extra help if they need it. The more resources for learning, practice, and application, the better! I never want my students to feel like they didn't know where to go for help.

I plan on continuing to learn about the possibilities a class site has to offer, and getting more comfortable and familiar with all of the functions that can be used to make it even better for my classes. I know that technology and all of the tools and options it offers is constantly changing, growing, and improving, so I can't wait to stay on the "spirit of discovery"train and keep learning all that I can!

Video: Pay Attention
This video mentioned the different kinds of learning styles that students (and people in general) have, but specifically said that they are all digital learners because of how much video games, cell phones, TV, computers etc are a part of their lives. This kind of technology adds richness to learning and allows for more engagement and higher level thinking, such as reaching the level of creating, not just knowing and understanding. The clip gave examples of how we can use the internet, cell phones, and iPods (podcasts) to help in the teaching of our students.The students already use these materials, why not utilize them in the classroom? The main point was that there are so many other tools that are already popular with our students, that we could use to enrich their learning and reach them on so many levels. Some of these things (like the internet) seemed like a "no duh!" to me, but other ideas, such as cell phone use in class, is something that I'm definitely not used to. I would be so worried they'd just text their friends during the class and would miss what was actually supposed to be learned that day. It would take me some brainstorming to find ways to make phones effective in an ASL classroom. I'm sure there are ways, I'm just not used to the idea of using cell phones in school. But, I know times have changed and I need to change with it. Part of being a teacher means being flexible and meeting your students' needs. That will mean going out on a limb and trying new things. Who knows- I could end up loving cell phones in class. We'll see!

Week 2 Reflection: Everything Google

What?
The lesson today was Everything Google, and it was quite the week in class for me. I learned so much about some more amazing technology! One thing we learned about was Google Docs and how awesome it is to be able to basically have an online collaborative Word Document. It also offers the ability to make presentations, spreadsheets, forms, and other useful options. We were able to spend time in class exploring the Presentation part, which is very similar to Power Point, but in a simplified form. Another thing we went over was the Google Calendar. Talk about wonderful and easy organization! We then learned about iGoogle, which completely shocked and amazed me. There are so many tools on that, with the ability to have it all in the same convenient place! It's even a little overwhelming at all of the possibilities it offers. I will definitely need to play with it some more until I start feeling more on top of it all.

So What?
These resources add a whole new level of communication, collaboration, and organization- all of which can enable teachers to be more productive and successful than ever before in their class planning, research, organization, programs, and communication. With Google Docs, it is now possible to have an easy way to collaborate over long distances, and share information with others. It is the greatest collaboration tool I have seen. With iGoogle's convenient all-in-one-place features and tools, it is easier than ever to stay organized and informed. This means saving time and stress. It is so convenient and useful to have all of your personal information (even including bookmarks!) all saved online rather than limited to just one computer. You can access this page from any computer! What a time saver and a relief. I have included my Google Calendar on my iGoogle page. This calendar is so useful because it can organize your schedule and reminders in separate colors depending on the subject or area of your life. Having the option of the Calendar texting and emailing you reminders will help to never miss an appointment.

Now What?
I most definitely plan on utilizing Google Docs immediately, while I am still a student for convenient group work as well as individual work. I won't have to email my work to myself as I work on it in order to be able to use different computers; it's all online with this tool! I will also continue to use Google Docs as a teacher. I will be able to share information and work together easily with colleagues, and continue my growth and development through research and discovery using it. We can work on research and presentations that can forcus on better lessons, learning, class management, and anything else we may feel we want to improve upon. One thing I may consider implementing in my future classroom is the Calendar. I might like to have a specific calendar that is available for my students to check, which would contain what we discussed in class that day, assignment due dates, and test dates. Parents could help stay informed of how class is going through this method. One of my main goals in the classroom is clear communication, and this would be one more tool I could use to ensure that my students know what is going on and when they need to plan on turning things in to me. I plan on continuing getting familiar with and using iGoogle because it will make both my personal life and teaching life more organized and easy to access. By simplifying my life with this tool, I can devote more time, attention, and energy to other areas that will benefit my students and all those I associate with.

Video: Mr. Deuy Fractions
This video about fractions was entertaining and very different from any math lesson or introduction I have ever had during my time of being a student. It was a rap that explained in basic terms what fractions and division are. One thing I really loved about the clip was that it would definitely appeal to students who learn best through music and rythms. This is a tool that they could listen to and remember the basic process of this math lesson. On the video, it also shows the numbers and fraction/division process as he is rapping about it. This would be useful for those who learn best visually, and like seeing the process done. The benefits of videos like this are that it mixes things up for students and it can incorporate many different student learning styles into one simple lesson.


Video: Introducing Web 2.0

As the video put it, "Web 2.0 is a new set of tools that allows users to collaborate ideas through new mediums of expression." Some of the means of connection and communication that the clip mentioned and explained were Blogging, Wiki, Tagging, Podcast, and RSS (Rich Site Summary). Blogging is something you put on the web that others can read. I have a personal blog and have recently created two new blogs for school. I love blogging because it is so easy to stay informed and updated about what's going on with friends, family, and in this case, school and work. The clip went on to define Wiki which is a website that people (who are allowed to) can collaborate on. I don't have experience with this one yet, though it sounds similar to Google Docs (love that), but in the form of a website. I can't wait to learn more about it. Tagging is something I don't quite understand from just the video's definition alone. It is "a group of page definitions coded into a website that provides information to the search engine to describe content." The clip gave examples, but I'm not currently familiar with any of them. A Podcast is a way of sharing digital audio and video files through theInternet. MP3 Players or portable media devices are used for this. The last thing the clip mentioned was an RSS, or Rich Site Summary- which is a place that shows web content that interests you and that is constantly changing. One example of this is iGoogle.

This clip was beneficial to me, because I don't feel like an expert in new technology. I'm still learning and it was good for me to have the basics explained.