Keeping Safe in Blogs

Hey Guys,

I found a important article that caught my attention. It is about the overall safety of students inside and outside of the classroom over the Internet. The article talks about some websites that student use when they are not in class. These websites are becoming a threat to students. The article states, "In some social studies classrooms, teachers are using blogs to supplement classroom instruction and facilitate discussion among students. Through classroom blogging, students can grow accustomed to sharing creative ideas, chronicling experiences, and articulating points of view. They can reflect on current events or interact with other students in distant schools to share views on a range of topics, such as racism, citizenship, poverty, and politics." Students can use this type of technology safely within a classroom environment, with careful moderation. Students must learn not to give out any personal information. This is so important in today's world because of all of the kidnappings that have happened in the past ten years. Blogs are becoming more and more popular in the classrooms today. Teachers are closely monitoring this blogs to make sure that no one gets hurt. The article states, "In order to create a more protective blogging experience, many teachers actively manage postings prior to publication on the web. Some educators choose to use password-protected blogs, therefore restricting access to a limited audience. Privacy protections, such as blogging under a pseudonym, using only the child's first name, or including just initials as an identifier, are other strategies to help students avoid the risk for victimization." I am glad that so many teachers are taking action in the safety of their students. If I was a parent, I would be glad to know that my son or daughter's teacher watched out for them in the classroom.

Click Here to See Article

Technology in early childhood settings

Hey Guys,
I found an article online called "Technology in early childhood settings", by Linda Bennett. The article expresses the point about how technology is very important in the classroom environment. Bennett explains how there are different steps that can be taken to make sure that technology is used in the classroom. She made a list of ten different skills that teachers and students should know buy heart. Her first step was: "Students will use input devices (e.g., mouse, keyboard, remote control) and output devices (e.g., monitor, printer) to successfully operate computers, VCRs, and other technologies." She then gives an example of a few websites that offer students this opportunity. They can also communicate with other students in other states, or even countries. Her second skill was, "Students will use a variety of media and technology resources for directed and independent learning activities." This skill can be used in Social Studies classes to help then learn about government and history. Her third skill was, "Students will communicate about technology using developmentally appropriate and accurate terminology." She gives an example of how to do this by showing the students the current time and weather in other countries. Her fourth skill was: " Students will use developmentally appropriate multimedia resources (e.g., interactive books, educational software, elementary multimedia encyclopedias) to support learning." Ebooks could be used in the classroom to help students understand the subject matter better. Her fifth skill was, "Students will work cooperatively and collaboratively with peers, family members, and others when using technology in the classroom." Students need to work with others in order to understand the subject correctly. A student, for example, might think that he or she understands the Civil War, but they might have a few facts wrong. Peers and parents can help in this situation. Her sixth skill was, "Students will demonstrate positive social and ethical behaviors when using technology." Her seventh skill talks again about how important technology is. Her eighth skills is , "Students will create developmentally appropriate multimedia products with support from teachers, family members, or student partners." Her last two skills have to deal with sharing information with other students. I think that this is a really great article. It puts everything in perspective for teachers and parents. I think that Bennett did a great job describing in detail the positive outcomes and positives of technology. I hope to incorporate all of these things in my future classroom. I have become more and more aware over the course of the semester about how much technology is needed in schools.

To see the full article click here

Observations in 5th grade

Hey Guys,
Last semester I went to a local elementary school to watch how the teachers in the public schools taught these days. I was happy to find out that there were many classrooms that had many new technologies in them. One classroom even had a Karaoke machine and the students would go up to the microphone and read what they had written in their journals the previous morning. Some teachers even used video clips to catch the students' attention. During a Language Arts section of a class, the teacher showed a clip of a tornado. The students had to watch the clip and write down what some good sentences would be. They then stood up in front of the class and read their sentences out loud. Boy, kids have some wild imaginations.

Learning with ebooks

Hey Guys,
After sitting in my Computers in Education class for the past semester, I have come to realize more everyday about how important technology is today, and how much it will influence the future. In my class we are being assigned to make an ebook, a picture book using the computer. I have found out that this type of technology will benefit students in the lower elementary grades. I am unsure whether or not the students in the upper levels will be willing to sit down and listen to a story. They might have more things on their minds. I am currently making an ebook for the upper level elementary grades. I will be incorporating the fifth grade world geography curriculum into the book, so that the student will have a chance to learn something as well. I hope this project is going to turn out as well as I hope.

Commenting on Cathy L's Blog

While I was scanning some of the blogs that I am a part of I ran across one that seemed like it was similar to mine. Cathy L wrote in her blog about the same experience that I had to go through for the same class. We were assigned to interview a elementary school student and show them an ebook. I chose a fifth grader, the same one I mentioned in "Close Encounter". She decided to interview a child who was a lot younger than the ten year old that I interviewed. We both thought that the experience was a great one. I am glad that so many people have decided that technology is important in the future of the students. Ebook are helping bridge the gap.

Photo Credit: http://www.cofc.edu/~jonesl/schoolhouse.gif

Teaching History with new technologies

Hey guys,

I found a really cool article about a book that I had never heard about. The book is called Histroy.edu. This boook helps teachers learn about how technology can affect their history classroom, from email to the World Wide Web. The chapters are broken up into several different essays, seventeen to be exact. John R. Moore wrote the article about how they enjoyed the book. They mentioned, "As described in the introduction, the essays are intended to "help further the discussion and formulation of successful practices" in using technology." This book can actually help teachers become more aware of the growing technologies around them. Teachers will be more likely to use the technologies used in the book after reading, now that they know what they are doing.

As a future history teacher, I hope that i will be skilled in knowing most of the technologies that the year has to bring. I also know that the technology world is growing faster and faster than ever before. Teachers would have to pay a lot of attention and plan ahead of time in order to compensate for some of the new technologies. Many of the students would most likely already know how to work the technologies to some extent. Teachers on the other hand will have to deal with their normal daily work, plus the extra time needed to turn a regular classroom into a technologically advanced classroom. Some day in the future, everything will be virtual and instant, but until then teachers and student will just have to make do with what they have.

Using Blogs with Social Studies

Hey Guys,
While I was cruising the Internet I found an interesting article that caught my eye. It was entitled "Using blogs in the classroom: a new approach to teaching social studies with the Internet". It was written by a teacher by the name of C. Frederick Risinger. Risinger goes into detail in the beginning of the article about how much he thought he used to know about technology. He then admits that the technology world has been flying right past him. He then goes into detail what blogs are. He admits that he never had heard of these new technologies. He mentions very interesting things about blogs. They can be an interactive tool used by both the students and the teachers. Blogs also keep the students entertained and interested throughout the lesson. Some students will even go online and contribute to a blog after school. Risinger believes that the safety of the blog is very important. Most blogs these days, in schools, require a password or a pin number entry, which the teacher should give out. Later on in the article there is many different websites that help the students and teachers learn how to create a blog together in a safe environment.

This article gave me the inspiration to create a homework help blog for my future social studies class. I would create a blog and have my students act as contributors to the blog. I would offer an assignment and answer any questions that the students may have in class. If any of the students have any questions, they can come in contact with either myself or other students, who may be able to help them out with the answer. The only problem with blogs in the classroom is time. Time is an important thing for teachers. It may take some time to set up the actual blog. Time will also be an issue with the students. I might assign homework on one day, and a student might have a question, and his or her peers might not have time to respond to the posting. That is why I would only assign the students to work on the blogs over the weekend, when they have more time.

You can access the article mentioned Here

Photo Credit: http://www.nws.k12.in.us/nes/oldgifs/social%20studies.jpg