Best Two Ideas

1) I really liked the idea of using a kidsperation to help your students learn a concept. The presentation that i saw included a Kidsperation activity that the students did to classify objects. I think this a great program for this because it allows the students to classify really anything, there is no limit since it is virtual. This helps the students better understand the task at hand.

2. I also really liked the idea of using a flex camera. This is great because it shows the pictures on the board so clearly. I think that the students can all benefit from such a good visual aid.

Doing

I had the opportunity of talking to my 14 year old cousin about being safe on the Internet. I choose her because I really care about her and I know that she has had some negative influences in the past. Fortunately, as I spoke to her I was convinced that she was careful about what she did on the Internet. I first talked to her about how she needed to make sure she was not giving out important information about herself to anyone on line because she has no way of knowing who she is "REALLY" talking to. There are some real sick people out there who just want to take advantage of people and she needs to be as far away from them as possible. I also told her to be very careful about what kind of pictures she may be posting on her facebook. I told her not to post anything that may embarrass her in the future because once something is on the web it will always remain there. I also wanted her to know how addicting the Internet can be. I told her that she needs to limit the time she spends on the Internet and spend more time doing more productive things. I asked her to try and use the Internet mostly for informational purposes and not chatting or wasting time. She assured me that she was going to be smart when using the interenet and only communicate to those she already knows.

Things I learned from others...

I watched Hannah's slideshare presentation and really enjoyed it. Like me, she had no computers in her classroom. But, I liked that Hannah took her lesson into the school's computer lab so that they could create their art with technology. I could tell from her presentation that the students enjoyed being able to use the computers themselves. I also liked that Hannah go to use a flex camera and the projector. This is a great way to help the students visualize things. I loved that the students came up to the projector and displayed their pictures; i am sure they enjoyed having to place them in the right spot so that the camera could capture the image.

Technology Project

Technology Integration Report

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Article #4

What article did you choose to read for your fourth article?
I read "Tangled in the Web" by Name Withheld

What were the most important things you learned from the readings?
I learned that the Internet can become addicting just like anything else. What may start as a half hour of entertainment can lead up to seven hours of wasted unproductive time. The person who wrote this article tells us that at first she would just get on to play some chess. But after some time, she began building relationships with men who competed with her. She was constantly on the Internet and spending less time with her husband and family. The lives of her chess friends, their problems and activities, became her life. She also allowed one of these friends to weaken her testimony of the church and question her believes. She knew that she needed to get rid of her addiction to the Internet but she did not how. She finally talked to her bishop and came to her senses and is now back on the right path.

The Internet is a great source for information and entertainment. But we have to learn how to manage the time we spend on it. We can not allow for the Internet to disrupt our lives in such a way as the person who wrote this article. We should not allow for relationships with total strangers to become more important than that of our family members. In order to avoid these things, we should be responsive to the people that love us when they are giving us advice, and simply take the Internet away from yourself if it is necessary. Make it hard to access it.

How will what you have read influence your actions as a parent and/or teacher of children and youth?
I will always have my home computer in a place with high traffic. This should make it more difficult for my children to get into troublesome websites. I plan to have a schedule that my children will have to follow. They will only be allowed to use the Internet for about half an hour a day. They shouldn't be spending all of their time on the computer; they should be spending time with their family and other positive influences. This article has influenced me to really supervise how much time someone I care for spends on the computer. I know that even I can spend too much time on facebook or my email, but I should not be letting these programs run my life.

How can you use what you have learned from the reading to have a positive influence on family and friends?
I realized that staying informed with new programs and sites that may become addicting is important. I need to stay on top of things so that I can correct any problems that come my way. I also realized that it is good to keep track on how much time my children will be spending on the Internet and what they are doing. I need to be aware of who they are talking to because they do not need to be surrounded by negative influences and people who just want to damage them.

Technology-enhanced Lesson

I had the opportunity to teach my third graders about commas. I specifically taught them about using commas for separating the day and the year in a date, separating cities and states, and also the use of commas when addressing a person. I was able to teach the whole class with the aid of the Promethean board. I made a small presentation which included the rules for the different uses of commas. For each rule I included some examples that so that the students could see exactly what I was talking about. For instance, when I showed them the rule about using commas to separate a city from a state, I included, "Seattle, Washington" or "Dallas, Texas." The Promethean board made it so that all of the students could see the new material at the same time, it also made it easier on me. I did not have to write out each rule on big posters or paper; all I had to do was type things and expose it on the Promethean board. After going through some examples, I decided to let the students show me what they learned. I wrote some sentences on the Promethean board with the special pen you use on it. The sentences included dates, cities and states, and examples of addressing people. None of these sentences included the commas which were needed. The students had the opportunity to go up and use the pen to fill in the missing commas on the Promethean board. This was so neat because I was able to see if the students really understood the concept. It was also neat because it included a lot of interaction and the students were so excited to use the Promethean board; I know that this kept their interest. Something that I know would be hard if I had simply explained the rules of commas.

Possible Lesson

Something that I have really liked seeing during the practicum is the use of the Promethean board. I think it is great because many students are visual learners. I think that I could make a lesson on lets say, contractions, much more inviting by allowing the students use of this board. For example, after I have taught students how you make a contraction, that is you combine two words like "is" and "not" and substitute the O with an apostrophe, I could have the students come up and actually use the special pen that the Promethean board uses to do that themselves. They could model to the class the crossing off of the letter O and adding an apostrophe between the N and the T. Their end result would be a new, shortened word. If asked, students could also underline or circle important things or rules, that help them remember contractions. This could make them feel more responsible for their learning, because they will want a chance to go up and apply their knowledge onto the Promethean board. I think that the Promethean board will also give me a better feel for if the students are understanding the material or not because of their participation or lack of. Not only that but students love to use technology, so anytime they are given a chance to do so, will get them much more excited to learn.