Social Bookmarking - NETS 5

I visited a number of useful sites (which I tagged and bookmarked via 'Delicious) where I participated in various activities and evaluated their merit with regard to my own professional growth and their inherent value to the teaching profession.

National Archives

I read a short article about John H. White, a photographer whose work helped “capture a slice of life, to capture history.” White brought in a visual and firsthand look at the lives of African Americans. It's quality is unparalleled as it is a primary source, untainted by external influences. Such sources are important to use in the classroom to emphasize to the student the values of firsthand accounts versus secondary sources with regard to merit, value, and accuracy. It is clear through White's pictures that he has indeed captured more than life and history, but also the "spirit, love, zeal, pride, and hopes of the community."

National Education Association

"Focus on What Works," an action guide for educators, identifies today’s hot topics and promising public school programs targeted to six historically under-served student groups:

1. American Indians and Alaska Natives
2. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
3. Blacks
4. Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, and Transgenders
5. Hispanics
6. Women and Girls

I agree with the idea of creating a task force/committee. It is important to involve administrators and teachers with the community, and their collaboration can work together to plan, implement, evaluate "organizational cultural competence initiatives." In addition, I feel networking with other schools (or in general, for that matter) is critical to success in identifying such issues and in working towards become a "culturally competent educator." By networking, we can determine what works and what doesn't, what's tried and tested, and most importantly, what addresses the needs of your school. Lastly, I agree with gathering and organizing cultural materials to be available as a resource for teachers. It allows teachers to be even more competent and knowledgeable about other cultures - not just in theory, but in practice as well.

Stop Cyber Bullying

According to the test, I'm "Cyber Risky." I'm not at all surprised. Based on the kinds of questions being asked, I have a basic idea of what they are looking for in cyber citizens. I do let loose every now and then, and I do engage in some of the practices listed on the quiz, but it's without malicious intent. I like to think I have a good handle on my online persona, and changes based on what I learned from this test can be easily implemented.

I read an article on Instant Messaging. While I may have intuitively known much of what was in the article already, this is the first time a lot of the information was actually confirmed. IMs - if unchecked - post a serious threat to the security and safety of any individual. It is difficult to trace and is responsible for facilitating the activities of (though probably not limited to) sexual predators. Based on the information in this article, the dangers of IMing have been made ever clearer for me, and I feel it would be prudent to educate students in cyber safety and Netiquette.

Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators

"Aesop's Fables Online Collection"

I was surprised to find that many (if not all) of Aesop's Fables were available on an online database, not just text, but full-on graphics, analyses, and even audio-book format for some stories. For me, fairy tales and fables are an important element of childhood literature. This website facilitates the introduction of the material into the curriculum and, if they were willing, as a resource students can look into on their own time.

"Educational Podcasting"

This topic caught my eye because of its relevance to video blogging and (obviously) the applications to iPods and what not. Podcasting (and other similar formats) are engaging visuals that convey specific messages and ideas. I can easily see this tool harnessed because of its potential effectiveness within a classroom. While I doubt I'll be making vblogs of my own, I'm sure there are plenty of viable and acceptable resources out there that are in podcast or video blog format that can enhance any lesson.

Multiple Intelligences

According to the test, my top three strengths are Musical, Spatial, and Language. For the most part, they are all accurate. I'm listening to music as we speak. I enjoy drawing (if I ever find time). I also try to be an avid reader and write whenever I can. Bearing this in mind, if I were to teach myself, I'd use engaging lectures. I learn best by listening and even better if I take accompanying notes. Visuals would help as handouts and the like. Flash something on a Powerpoint and I'll get something out of it, but give me a copy of my own and let me study it for a while and I'll be able to retain the entire thing in my memory (possibly even reproduce it for you). Yeah, I know.. my brain is weird.

Teaching Tolerance

Applicable to ALL GRADES, Music, "The Sounds of Change"
http://www.tolerance.org/activity/sounds-change

The lesson discusses the role of music in society. It addresses the accusation that music's role is diminishing by immersing the students in music through the course of the lesson.

The objectives include the following:

• Explain how music evokes feelings and emotion.
• Understand relationships between music and culture.
• Analyze song lyrics to critically examine themes and messages.
• Consider the effectiveness of music to communicate ideas.
• Use music to express a personal viewpoint or message about a tolerance-related issue that’s important to them.

I personally believe music is an important aspect of our lives. Regardless of what subject matter I am teaching, I'm certain I would go out of my way to find a connection to music just for the sake of this lesson and the meanings embedded within.

Multicultural Education and Equity Awareness Quiz

"Compared with White women, how likely are African American women in the U.S. to die during childbirth due to a lack of access to prenatal care, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality?"

I just thought this was a sobering question to ask. Not only does it address a disparity in health care, but it also implies a degree of responsibility regarding single-parentage - yet another disparity among students. Definitely points towards "Equity Awareness."

"What percentage of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender high school students report that their teachers “never” or “rarely” respond to homophobic remarks made by other students, according to a national study by GLSEN?"

I just thought this was a current hot-topic that deserves to be on here. I've seen first-hand many of the experiences it refers, and the degree of apathy attributed to the teachers is unacceptable. It's yet another equity issue that deserves much attention and awareness.

Netiquette Guidelines

I scored an 80% on the quiz =) !! It's important to teach Netiquette for many reasons, some of which were addressed in the cyber bullying site. Netiquette refers to proper online and internet behavior. It is an important element that should be implemented into your online persona, and it would be wise to educate your students about the proper way to behave when online. The Internet will probably be a big part of their lives as well; prudence dictates that we teach them proper habits early on.

Powerpoint - NETS 1

I used Microsoft Powerpoint to incorporate images, videos, links, and texts into a presentation that easily conveys subject matter to students.

EDUC422PowerpointMNoble

Collaborative Rubric

Self Portrait

Newsletter - NETS 1

I used Microsoft Word to format the newsletter, incorporate images, manipulate the text, and create a header – all traditional aspects of a newsletter.

EDUC422NewsletterMNoble

Journal # 4

"Finding Students Who Learn with Media" looks at the benefits of student-created media and its influence on the classroom. Glen Bull supports student use of technology and the use of their products to concurrently foster a better understanding of the material and the medium in which it is presented.

An example of this software would be “PrimaryAccess,” a web-based movie maker that allows students to take footage (their own or otherwise) and present their analyses via posting, narrating, even inserting personal touches into the movie. It quite literally allows the student to step into the world they are trying to comprehend and make sense out of it – creating, in Bull’s view, the optimal learning environment.

Student engagement (or lack thereof) is recognized as one of the primary hindrances and problems teachers face, regardless of whether or not it is caused by the technology itself. I mean, who wants to sit anywhere and watch a teacher drone on about a topic. Studies show a startling increase in interest when students are presented with media created by fellow students for the sole purpose of learning from peers. It allows for those creating the media to be thoroughly engaged as its creator and for those experiencing the media to be engaged as a participant in their classmate’s work.

What types of student-media would you allow in your classroom?
I would allow anything a student offers that positively influences the lesson at hand. I may assign it myself, or God-willing, a student can volunteer personal time and information that they feel is relevant to the subject.

What would you have to be careful of?
The student-medium would have to be cleared by myself and any other powers that be before it is allowed to be presented. Students, being young and naïve, may not fully understand the ethics of properly presenting certain subject matter. As long as it is classroom appropriate, it should be fine.

Journal # 3

"Keeping the Peace" analyzes the pros and cons of instant messaging, a seemingly double-edged sword with regard to its usefulness to educators and students. Levinson comments on how each generation saw the applications of technology - IMs in this case. Older generations would've seen it only for its technological value, an effective means of communication. Newer generations saw the same use and took it a step further with entertainment uses (the larger category of blogging for example). And there’s the rub, it would seem.

After introducing laptops into their school, educators immediately encountered misuse of their educational tools. Similar messaging applications like Messenger and iChat soon became the new means of furtive correspondence between students. Over time, it would seem like it did more good than harm, especially to teachers that actually found suitable and proper uses for it – provided they managed to figure out the laptops themselves.

On that note, the need to train teachers unfamiliar with the technology soon became apparent. Prior to the start of school years, teachers underwent a sort of technological boot(-up) camp to familiarize themselves with the technology that students so easily grasped. Such seminars closed the gap between students and instructors and allowed laptops to reclaim their intended use in the classroom.

Is there any use for laptops and IMing in your classroom?
Traditionally, I would have to say “No.” In my opinion, the true nature of the teaching process lay within the real and actual interaction and instruction between teachers and students. Laptops (and IMing if necessary) would only serve as perks and enhancements to the process, not the primary medium and means of communication.

Do you see technology as helpful or a hindrance?
When used properly, it can enhance any lesson/lecture to the students benefit. When used improperly, it is merely a distraction and unnecessary element of the classroom.

Journal # 1

“Computing in the Clouds” offers an alternative means of file maintenance beyond hard drives and flash drives. People think it’s impossible to fill up a 250 GB hard drive until a year or two of ownership when their computer slows down from all the files they’ve accumulated. Doug Johnson offers “cloud computing” as a solution to this problem.

“Cloud computing” refers to the use of applications and file storage “that reside on a network.” In other words, files and programs don’t run from the user’s computer/laptop from the network itself. As such, the only requirement for speed and effectiveness is a fast connection to this network.

Johnson argues that using this technology in schools (be it strictly for teachers or for students as well) would enhance the effectiveness of technology as a teaching tool. It cannot replace a fully fledged computer, but considering the monetary issues surrounding schools, cloud computing is a cost effective and acceptable alternative to supplying a school with 100 computers, each with their own maintenance and programming issues.

With the dominance of the Internet and the recently developed affordability of Netbooks, cloud computing seems like the way to go. And personally, I’m inclined to agree and seek out my own uses for it in my classroom.

How would you use this in your classroom?
First off, I don't know at what grade level students are expected to be familiar with computers (particularly because of their prevalence in households nowadays), so for the purposes of this answer, I will refer to middle school and upwards.

I would high consider making this an integral aspect of my curriculum. At the beginning of the semester, I would have students set up a variety of accounts (much like we did here in EDUC 422) to establish a functional online foundation for them to easily work on assignments so long as they have access to computers and the Internet. Generally speaking, it gives all students equal ground and resources with which to perform the tasks assigned to them.

What issues would you have to watch out for?
Internet safety would be a top concern. With the issue of privacy, security, even sexual predators online, it would be wise to educate the students on smart use of the technology they are using. Like any other educational tool, its purpose is to enhance the learning experience. But when abused and misused, it can only do harm.