Journal #9: Teaching Green (NETS-T I, IV)

Waters, J. (2011). Teaching green. The Journal, 38(4), Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/research/2011/04/digital-edition_april.aspx

Summary

            This article lists a number of resources educators can use to cultivate a greener classroom environment.  One such resource is a website called Classroom Earth. Classroom Earth is a website which gives educators ideas about how to make students more environmentally conscious. Classroom Earth provides teachers with lesson plans that incorporate environmental education in high school classrooms.  Classroom Earth is current, and is always updating itself to include relevant news issues regarding the environment. Along with daily news, students can also navigate to a page, which gives them ideas on how to reduce their carbon footprint. This website is interactive and will help kids become excited about making a difference.

           

           

Questions

Q1. Can encouraging students to access a website which encourage lifestyle changes be seen as invasive?

A2. The key to encouraging a lifestyle change is to allow students to explore the benefits themselves. Students should be made aware of the benefits a green lifestyle has, but in the end, they should decide whether or not to adopt a greener lifestyle. As educators we should encourage critical thinking. We must help students be confident enough to take their own stance on important issues such as these.

Q2. Will emphasizing a greener lifestyle take away from the current curriculum?

A2. No. The lesson ideas provided on Classroom Earth are mean to tie in with what students are already learning. Ideally, tying in environmental ideas will enhance lessons.  Integrating environmental topics will help keep lessons more relevant, which will help keep kids engaged.

Journal #8: Should Schools Be Held Responsible for Cyberbullying (NETS-T IV, V)

Bogacz, R., & Gordillo, M.G. (2011). Should Schools be Held Responsible for Cyberbullying?. Learning and Leading with Technology, 38(6), 6-7

Summary:

          Renee Bogacz, a middle school English teacher with twenty years of experience, believes it is the school's responsibility to stop cyber bullying. According to Bogacz, it does not matter where cyber bullying takes place, it still disrupts the school environment, and therefore it is up to the school to interfere in cases of cyber bullying. To effectively deal with this problem, educators, administrators, parents and students must all work to eliminate cyber bullying. These groups must know how to recognize the signs of cyber bullying and must be equipped with tools to prevent the problem from going any further.

          On the other side of this argument is IT director, Miguel Gómez Gordillo.  According to Gordillo, parents have the biggest influence on children, and it is the parents who can prevent and stop cyber bullying. Cordillo believes cyber bullies are a product of loveless homes; therefore it is up to parents to provide their children with a loving home environment. Gordillo does however believe it is the school's responsibility to support the values that are instilled in children's homes.

Questions

Q1. Why might involving parents in cyber bullying prevention be problematic?

A2. Parents will have different levels of involvement in the cyber lives of children. As a result, some children will be more supervised than others. Some parents may be more computer savvy than others, making it easier for them to detect cyber bullying. Furthermore, parents who work full-time may have more difficulty monitoring their child’s online activity.  

Q2. Why might having the school be the main source of cyber bullying prevention be problematic?

A2. Schools cannot monitor children’s online activity as closely as parents can. Schools do not have access to controls that can detect what children are doing online.  Schools will discover cases of cyber bullying only if students chose to involve them in it. When schools are finally made aware of an instance of cyber bullying, often times large amounts of damage have already been done.

Journal 7: My Personal Learning Network

          My personal learning network (PLN) is a network where I can interact with teachers and math professionals to learn about different resources, as well as share resources I have discovered. I can also receive input from my PLN regarding questions I have about teaching.

          I have been using Twitter as a PLN to connect with math teachers who have a strong desire to improve the way math is taught. Many of the articles they share address why kids are having such a hard time understanding different math concepts.

          
          Since I am most interested in teaching algebra and geometry, I have chosen to include algebra and geometry teachers in my network. I also have a few people in my network who specialize in technology. I have added them to my network because I am curious about learning how I can incorporate technology into the classroom. 

          
          On April 4 at 3:30pm I participated in a math chat. I found this chat by searching Twitter for the keyword #mathchat. My experience was very positive, and it taught me that a twitter chat is an information gold mine. Generally, chats are more active than the twitter homepage.  Members participating in #mathchat shared many useful articles. One such article that caught my attention was called Khan Academy-Algorithms and Autonomy. This article discussed the importance of focusing less on finding the correct mathematical answer, and more on the process of solving the problem. 

     
          Diigo is another very useful networking tool where members can share websites they have bookmarked. When I log onto Diigo, I can see sites that were recently bookmarked by members of my community. Like my Twitter account, my Diigo Network consists of math teachers specializing in algebra and geometry. On my Diigo account, I have tagged three websites as “PLN”. The first two sites give examples of practical math lessons, the third website is a blog that discusses the benefits of intergrading technology in math classes.  

          
           Another resource I use is a discussion forum titled Educator PLN. On this site I was directed to a video titled: “Get the Math in Video Games”. This video featured Julia Detar, a video game programmer who explained that all programming languages are mathematically based. When the video was over, the site directed you to one of the games Ms Detar created. It was a math game where the player is asked to plot linear coordinates. This video and this game would both be very useful in an algebra classroom.

Journal #6 Grow Your Personal Learning Network (NETS I, III, V)

Warlick, D. (2009). Grow your personal learning network. Learning & Leading With Technology (36)6, Retrieved from http://istelearning.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Grow-Your-PLN.pdf

Summary

          Personal learning networks (PLNs) are a way for us to grow in our knowledge about the world through interacting with people and resources. Today it is commonplace for people to participate in digital PLNs. Some examples of digital PLNs are twitter, Google voice, Skype, Second Life, Mailing Lists, Diigo, Ning, Delicious, Google Talk, wikis, and blogs. A person wanting to start a PLN can use these sources to gather information about a particular topic of interest. When creating a PLN, it is important to remember to include sources of varying perspectives. Challenging our own point-of-views is the best way to grow in our understanding of the world.

Questions

Q1. Can’t this overload of information be detrimental?

A1. A properly established PLN will not overload you with information. The best way to start a PLN is to keep things simple. Start with just a couple sources. From there you can add additional sources as you see their benefit. If you feel a particular source does not properly fit into your area of interest, you can delete it from you PLN. Your PLN will constantly change as you maintain it. It is an on-going process, and if done right, will have many benefits. 

Q2. How can a well-established educator benefit from a PLN?

A2.  All educators can benefit from a PLN, regardless of their professional experience. The benefit of a PLN is that it offers new perspective. Many established educators may have already exhausted all the current resources around them. A PLN can connect them with someone who may have undergone recent training in their subject area and who has a new perspective about how things should be done.

All About Me Survey

Classroom Newsletter

Nets I, II

Using Microsoft Word, I created a classroom newsletter to share with students and parents.

Journal 5: “BLOGGERS BEAT: ARE WE GETTING DISTRACTED FROM WHAT REALLY MATTERS?

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Fingal., D. (2011). Bloggers beat: are we getting distracted from what really matters?. International Society for Technology in Education, Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Bloggers_Beat_Are_We_Getting_Distracted_from_What_Really_Matters.aspx

Summary

            In this article, Diana Fingal writes about an article she read about technology causing attention deficits in today’s youth. Fingal points out this is an argument which has been going on for centuries. She offers the idea that maybe students are distracted from their studies because their studies are just not relevant, interesting, or engaging. She says high school students were bored with school long before the Internet. If kids are free to explore the Internet, they can foster their passion by researching topics that interest them. Fingal points out technology is empowering. The world is changing, and there is no need to fight it. New is not bad.  It is time we start embracing the digital age.

Q1. Do you agree with Diana Fingal?

A1. Yes. Fingal makes a great argument. I recently read an article that said the Baby Einstein series is detrimental to young children because it could potentially foster Attention Deficit Disorder. Some people believe if kids watch these videos, then it will be difficult for them to learn from other sources. But here’s an idea: Why don’t we try to make other sources as engaging as Baby Einstein videos?

Q2.  Do you think technology could benefit some children more than others?

A2. I believe technology will benefit everyone. However, I do believe technology will be especially beneficial for kids who have had difficulty learning. I believe there are many kids who are unfocused in school simply because they have not found an area of study which interests them. If these kids are encouraged to explore the Internet to learn about any topic they chose, I think they could unlock their potential to be very successful. 

Journal 3: 100 Things That Make Me Happy

1. God’s love for me

2. The Eucharist

3. My family

4. My nieces and nephew

5. All things Adam

6. Finding money in my pocket

7. When the dj plays “push it”

8. Slow dancing

9. New socks

10. When my dog actually does what I tell her to

11. Dreaming about my daddy

12. Happy birthday wishes on facebook

13. Lumpy cream of wheat

14. Chicken and waffles

15. Salsa dancing

16. Missing all the red lights

17. Holding a sleeping baby

18. Prayer

19. The sound of rain

20. Heat from a franklin stove

21. All-you-can-eat buffets

22. When kids ask embarrassing questions

23. Running into someone you were just thinking about

24. Sneezing

25. Scratching a good itch

26. Picking at my cuticles

27. When someone calls a butt a “Budunka-dunk”

28. America’s Funnies Home Videos

29. When there are no lines at Disney Land

30. Weddings

31. Sales

33. Playing in ocean waves

34. Hearing the national anthem

35. Sunsets

36. Sushi

37. A full tummy

38. Rocky I, II, III and IV (But not necessarily in that order.)

39. Thanksgiving

40. Laughing until my face hurts

41. Karaoke

42. Cocktails

43. Beer

44. Puppies

45. Back rubs

46. Holding hands

47. Harry Potter

48. Youtube videos

49. Ballet

50. Christmas music

51. Singing along to the radio

52. New clothes

53. Jeans that fit

54. Flowers

55. Big tippers

56. Old people with good stories

57. Meeting new people

58. Sun bathing

59. Stretching

60. No line to get in the ladies room

61. When a crowded bar still has seat covers in the bathrooms

62. The dog park

63. Ice cream

64. Watching reruns of “Roseanne”

65. When I meet other people who like to watch reruns of “Roseanne”

66. Looking at old pictures

67. Thinking about my daddy

68. Tickle fights

69. Lounging in Adam's bubble

70. Candles

71. Pajamas

72. Clean sheets

73. Baby hands

74. Goose-down pillows

75. Hot tubs

76. Cheese

78. Wine

79. Did I already say beer?

80. Jumping rope

81. Working out

82. Dancing with my girlfriends

83.  Remembering how to say certain words in Spanish

84. Having an accounting degree

85.  Leftovers

86. Cake

87.  Living in America

88.  Christmas

89. Hearing an old song that I used to really like, but forgot about

90. Waking up from a bad dream

91. Cuddling

92. Being able to tell identical twins apart from one another

93. Sunny days

94. Down time

95. Irish folk songs

96. Hitchcock movies

97. The Nutcracker

98. Musicals

99. Remembering people’s names right after they introduce themselves

100. The smell of wet pavement

Journal 4: "It's Time To Trust Teachers with the Internet: A Conversation with Meg Ormiston" NETS-I-V

Schaffhause., D. (2010, December 1). It's time to trust teachers with the internet: a conversation with meg ormiston. Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/Articles/2010/12/01/Its-Time-To-Trust-Teachers-with-the-Internet-A-Conversation-with-Meg-Ormiston.aspx?sc_lang=en&Page=1

Summary

            Meg Ormiston feels it is unfair for schools to block certain websites from being used in the classroom.  Some of these sites can be very useful in facilitating learning. In her opinion, it is teachers who should decide what is inappropriate to use in class, not the school. She talks about how most schools block youtube from classroom use. She agrees there are a lot of inappropriate videos on youtube, but she also feels there are many videos, which are beneficial. It is not fair for the entire site to be blocked, just because some of the video content is inappropriate. Ormiston feels restricting teachers’ access to technology will eventually make them give up on it. Teachers will then go back to using the resources they used before technology was available.

Q1.  Do I agree with Meg Ormiston’s stance on this issue?

A1.  Yes. It isn’t reasonable for teachers to be trusted with educating students, but not trusted to filter inappropriate content from the curriculum.  I myself have used youtube as a study aid, and find it very effective. I have also used it to learn how to do various practical things such how to set a mousetrap, how to clean the “U” trap on a sink, and how to change a headlight on a car.

Q2.   Do I think schools and districts will be changing their policy any time soon?

A2.  Yes. I believe there will be administrators who will see the benefits of unblocking access to these sites. I think many current administrators want to keep these sites blocked because they don’t realize the true benefits they can offer. 

Technology Self Assessment: School 2.0

Using the School 2.0 website, I completed a quiz as a reflection tool to assess my current level of skill in technology integration (NETS-T 3).

“I select and use the most relevant, facilitative, and effective media for communicating specific types of information and ideas to students, parents, and peers.”

         This NETS-T was the most interesting to me because I want to learn about the kinds of media that can be used to communicate to students, parents and peers. Can introducing new media really make communicating more efficient, or will it increase the abundance of information available to people, making things more confusing?

         The resource I found was an article titled “Using podcasts to develop a Global Perspective”. It discussed how a technology high school in Columbus, Ohio used podcasts to engage students in learning about other cultures. Groups of students were encouraged to develop podcasts by recording their own debate about particular global issues. One group of students focused on global warming. They researched varying viewpoints of different leaders throughout the entire world.  Then using a Meet the Press format, they recorded their debate and posted it on the Internet.

         This article made me realize the benefits of having students communicate through different kinds of social media. It is not the completed podcast that is beneficial to students, but the process of creating it. Students will benefit from the time they put into researching the different global perspectives. 

Journal 2: "Join the Flock" NETS- III, IV, V

Ferguson, H. & McClintock Miller, Shannon. (2010, June/July). Join the flock!. Enhance your twitter experience. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(8), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Join_the_Flock.aspx 

Summary

            Twitter is a place where a PLN can come together. A PLN is a group of people who use their connections to each other to grow and learn. A PLN can focus on any subject. Educators can benefit from joining a PLN that focuses on their subject area. You create your own PLN by selecting which twitter members you would like to follow. Members make lists of other members who have a common focus.  You can find members with your same interest by tapping into lists. Once you have found educators and specialists that you are interested in, then you can choose to follow them. This means you will begin to receive his or her tweets. Tweets are pieces of information members share with their followers. They can receive updates about a method that was particularly useful in someone’s classroom, or a link to an informative website. You can choose how little or how much you want to interact with you PLN. You can simply observe the tweets or you can re-tweet, which is leaving your feedback for another member’s tweet. If you have a question, you can turn to your PLN and wait for their feedback.

Q1. When is a good time to join twitter?

A1. It is never too soon to join twitter. Even if we have over a year left of school, we can still benefit from the information that is being shared among educators. Reading the teachers’ posts will help us to know what to expect when we have classes of our own.  

Q2. What if we have nothing important to contribute to our PLN?

A2. Everyone has SOMETHING to contribute. Even if you think you don’t.  But, if you are not comfortable with sharing your thoughts with other educators, you will still benefit from using twitter. The beauty of twitter is that you can learn from observing other people’s tweets, even if you don’t want to leave any of your own. 

Journal 1: "Do Web 2.0 Right" NETS-I, III, VI

Light, Daniel. (2011). Do web 2.0 right. Learning and Leading with Technology, 38(5), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Feature_Article_Do_Web_2_0_Right.aspx

Summary:

       Online journaling by means of blogs and wikis helps students develop their writing skills while they participate in the learning experience. A study found wikis and blogs were more beneficial to students when used more frequently. A blog focuses on an individual author’s perspective. A wiki focuses on the final product and is a collaboration of individuals’ findings. Many teachers found blogs to be a more beneficial learning tool than wikis. There are two types of blogs: Individual and classroom.

       Individual blogs give students a place to write their thoughts without having to answer a formal writing prompt. The problem with individual blogs is that many students are unmotivated to write them for various reasons. These reasons could be that students are self-conscious about their peers reading their work or they don’t feel like they have anything important to say.

Classroom blogs are a place where students can comment or respond to a formal topic posted by the teacher. Students can also see each other’s comments.

Q1. As a high school math teacher, how can I use blogs to supplement my lessons?

A2. Classroom blogs would be my best option. I can start by posting an equation or a word problem that is more advanced than what we are currently covering in class. I can then ask the students to try their best to solve the problem. Students can use their peers’ attempts to solve the equation as a starting point. Maybe the first student didn’t get the answer correct, but he or she is at least heading in the right direction. Then, the next student can see what the previous student did and make corrections to it.

Q2. Maybe a resolution to students being self-conscious about their posts is to allow all posts to be anonymous. What problems would arise if all posts were anonymous?

A2. If all posts become anonymous, then students might lose all their inhibitions. Posts might become inappropriate and offensive. Students would be able post entries with no consequences. However, it would be ideal if posts were semi-anonymous. So other students would not know who posted the entries, but the teacher could find out who was responsible for a post, if he or she needed to. 

Pila101-Introduction to Pilar Sanchez

       Hi! My name is Pilar Sanchez. Aside from spending my 9^th grade year at a private Catholic high school, I have attended Schools in San Marcos my whole life. From kindergarten through 5^th grade I attended Knob Hill Elementary School. From there I went to Woodland Park Middle School until I completed 8^th grade. Finally, I spent the last 3 years of my secondary education at San Marcos High School. Subsequent to graduating high school, I attended CSUSM where I recently received a BS in business accounting.

         For the most part, I’m faithful to technology, however I know I will never be completely dependent on it.  I enjoy technology for its speed and convenience.  I am addicted to having an electronic trail of the purchases I’ve made, and the doctor’s appointments I’ve scheduled. I love Evites and their “Yes, No and Maybe” buttons. I enjoy emailing customer support, and not having to worry about a busy signal. I’m grateful for email confirmations, text messages, and video chats, and I love love LOVE tracking my packages.

         Although I may have a soft spot for cyborgs with Austrian accents, there are some parts of my life where I refuse to let technology become a part of. For instance, I will always take notes by hand because I feel it helps me retain information better. Also, it seems the speed at which I read is dramatically slower when I’m reading off a computer screen. So I will never be the proud owner of an Ebook or a Kindle.

         The first sentence of the COE mission statement is very powerful. It makes it clear that the COE’s main agenda is to improve the public education system.  Truthfully, this mission statement had no influence on my decision to enter the CSUSM credential program. In fact, I hadn’t even been aware of it before this class. It does however make me more confident of my decision to enter this program.