Blogpholio

Intro Video

            The intro video we did at the beginning of the semester went along with standard 3b: Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation.  We got together in groups to video each other for 30 seconds.  Then we had to learn how to upload our videos to our blog pages.  I liked this project because it was a good way to get to know the other girls in the class.  I would probably use this activity as an icebreaker at the beginning of a school year.

Concept Map

            The concept map assignment went along with standard 1c: Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning and creative processes.  We had to research our topics and write 5 paragraphs on it using Inspiration Software.  Having students use this software can definitely show a teacher whether or not her students have a conceptual understanding of their topic.  I really liked this software, and I would love to have a classroom edition one day.  I downloaded the free trial on my laptop at home, and I have used it as an outline to write papers for my online class.

Movie

            The movie we made went along with standard 3a: Demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations.  We used Dropbox so we could have access to the song and the pictures that we picked to use for our movies.  We then used Movie Maker on the computer lab’s computers to put our pictures together with music in the background.  I have fooled around with different moviemaker programs, but I never really knew what I was doing.  It was nice to have some instruction and learn more about how to use the program.  I found this project to be very helpful.

Web Page

            The web page that we made went along with standard 4a: Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.  We practiced ethical use of digital information by making classroom web pages for parents.  I honestly had no idea that you could make a website with Google apps.  It was rather easy once you get the idea of putting tables in every section and page.  I will definitely use this in the future to create a classroom website when I have my own classroom.  It could also be a fun group project for students to show what they’ve learned on a particular topic.

Voki

            Our Voki activity went along with standard 2a: Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and activity.  Voki is definitely a digital tool that can promote student learning and activity.  As we discussed in class, a teacher could make an Abraham Lincoln Voki and have him tell the class a little about himself.  I’m glad we were introduced to this website because it opens the door for many teaching and learning opportunities.  I would love to use Voki in my classroom one day.  A teacher could also assign students a person to research and have them make a Voki that looks like that person and have them present it to the class. 

Web 2.0 Sites for Schools: Kerpoof and Kubbu

KERPOOF

Kerpoof is an interactive website for kids that is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company.  You can do tons of things on this website such as: make artwork/drawings, make an animated movie, make a printed card, t-shirt, or mug, tell a story, spell a drawing,vote on others' artwork, and you can earn Koins from the artwork you make that you can use to buy stuff (such as movie scenes) at the store.  I spent a lot of time playing on this website when I was exploring.  It is extremely easy to use and can serve as a great lesson reinforcer.  There are even directions on how to use Kerpoof to go along with your lessons, and it has lesson plan ideas.  I definitely would love to use this tool in my classroom, and I wouldn't mind going on it every once in a while just to play around. It's a lot of fun!

Kubbu

Kubbu is more of a teacher website. A teacher can assign quizzes, group work, and homework on this website, and manage all conversations and grades.  It's hard to tell what all I can do with this site without having any students to test the options on, but it seems like it could be a helpful tool that can serve as one of my multiple means of representation of a lesson.  I do like that this website is free, but my "Do Not Track Plus" icon on the top of my window indicated that I did have 2 followers.    

TED talk: Ali Carr- Chellman's Gaming to Re-engage boys in learning

Ali Carr-Chellman made some very good points in her TED talk.  Classrooms seem to be a female- oriented environment lately.  There are less male teachers, and more times than not, a female teacher's attitude towards boys and their "little action figures and video games" is negative.  Ali also talked about some astonishing statistics with the "100 girls" test.  Some of the findings were: For every 100 girls that are expelled from school, there are 335 boys expelled from school.  For every 100 girls with an emotional disturbance, there are 324 boys with an emotional disturbance.  Boys are also four times more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD.  I think that this is a result of not letting boys get dirty, rough house a little bit, and basically just get all of their excess energy out.  I agree with Ali when she said we need to put a little more time and money into designing better games for the classrooms.  The games we have now are just "glorified drill and practice."  I also agree with re-evaluating the 'No Tolerance' policies that schools have.  Boys should be allowed to write about what they are interested in as long as it cannot be considered a real threat to the school or an individual.  For example, if a boy wanted to write about war, or a murder mystery, or devastation with natural disasters he should be able to.  It crosses the line when he writes about bringing a gun to school or killing someone in particular.  I have always liked video games and I consider them to be a big part of my life, so when I become a teacher, I will do my best to accommodate boys in my classroom.  I understand their wants and needs to play games and get dirty, and I won't deny them of that.

Classroom Web Page

https://sites.google.com/site/msjaclyns1stgradeclass/home

Blog Post # 16- Educator's Guide to Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats

The Educator's Guide to Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats was very informative for me.  I didn't realize that there were so many different forms of cyberbullying. I think it is important to teach children about cyberbullying, what all it entails, and the consequences they can receive for cyberbullying or making a cyberthreat. Children often cyber bully because they feel safe hidden behind a computer, or they are bullied at school and start to retaliate by posting things online that are considered threats or bullying.

Students need to be taught all the dangers that they can be exposed to on the internet.  They also need to learn that bullying is never okay, even when it is online.  People have lost their lives to cyberbullying; whether they take their own or another's.  Parents need to be aware that cyberbullying is a real issue and that children should be monitored while on the computer at home.   

Blog Post # 15 - Technology

I liked the article in The Chronicle  of Philanthropy entitled 'Technology.'  Video games Haven't been around that long, and I do consider them (or rather the making of them) to be an art form as the article states.  I think it is cool that there is a scholarly archive with all the old video games and video game systems in it.  I agree that it is important that these don't disappear because they are such a big part of our society now.  In the future, people will be able to see the first video games, and I'm sure that a museum will eventually come of it.  I think that it would be fun to teach my students about how far technology has come by letting them see the graphics (or lack thereof) of old video games.  It would be fun and interesting, yet educational for them.  

Blog Post # 14- Why Flipped Classrooms are Here to Stay

A flipped classroom is an interesting concept to me.  I think it would be great to do periodically throughout the year, but I don't know if it would be best to do it ALL the time.  Homework isn't generally designed to take up a whole school day, so doing this would involve a lot of extra planning.  But it might be worth it.  A lot of the time, students think they understand the material that they've learned at school, until they get home to work on their assignments-and get stuck.  Doing their homework at school during the day would definitely get rid of that problem.  If I were to apply this in my classroom, I would probably do it for the material that was harder to grasp.  I feel that there is a few set back though such as the students not having access to a computer or internet at home to watch the lectures or the students having a lot of extracurricular activities outside of school (dance, football, soccer, etc.) and just being to busy to sit in front of a computer and take notes at their own pace.

I do agree that it would put a fun spin on an otherwise 'boring' classroom or boring lesson.  Students love technology, and we as teachers need to keep that in mind.  It also minimizes the amount of discipline during lecture time (which is the only time that I would mind my students talking in the first place).  As I've said, there are a lot of positive aspects of a flipped classroom, but not everyone would be able to establish this strategy.

Friends and Family Movie!

Blog #12: John Hunter's Wold Peace Game

 I really enjoyed watching the TED talk: John Hunter's World Peace Game.  John Hunter is a public school teacher who came up with a game to solve world problems.  it originally started out as a plywood board with a map on it and some game pieces that were used to solve Africa's problems.  He wanted his kids to have an interactive experience in learning instead of having them sit while he lectured.  After a while, the game evolved.  It is now a plexiglass structure with 4 levels:

1.  Outer Space level which has satellites, asteroids, black holes, etc.,
2. Air and Space level with cotton for clouds and little airplane game pieces 
3. Ground/Sea level with 4 countries around the perimeter of which the students name
4. Under Sea level with submarines

Some of the countries on the ground level are rich, others are poor and each has a prime minister, a secretary of state, a ministry of defense, and a CFO.  There is also a world bank, arms dealers, and a United Nations.  There is a 13 page crisis document with 50 interlocking problems that the children need to solve.  They take turns negotiating as a whole and as a country to figure out what they are going to do and present their next move.  Mr. Hunter discovered that the children are very engaged in this game and they learn through their own experiences what is right, what is wrong, and when/how to avoid war.  The students win the game by solving all 50 problems and all of the countries' asset levels should be increased.
I liked how detailed this game is and how every child has a specific title and a duty.  I think that every classroom should play this game in hopes that it will brighten the future of this world. I will definitely try to use this game if possible in my classroom.  Mr. Hunter also said that his 4th graders read The Art of War-and understood it.  He then showed a clip of a student who made connections with the game and the book.  I could see the amazement on his face when he realized he was "living" what the book stated. I hope I can engage my students like Mr. Hunter has when I have my own classroom.

Voki

Life Cycle of a Frog Concept Map

Life Cycle of a Frog

I.       Egg

Frogs lay their eggs in water or wet places.  A floating clump of eggs is called frog spawn (tooter4kids.com).  These clumps of eggs are usually too big to be eaten by a fish or animal.  This is why frogs lay many eggs at a time.  The cells in the eggs keep splitting until an embryo is eventually formed.  The embryo gets nutrients from the egg yolk and develops for 21 days, then a tadpole hatches.

A.    laid in water or land

B.    Covered in a jelly-like substance

II.     Tadpole

After the embryo leaves its egg, it is called a tadpole.  It looks like a tiny fish with a long tail.  A tadpole is defenseless in the wild and it uses camouflage to protect itself.  It often hides out in plants in the water and feeds on algae. Tadpoles start to grow legs in about five weeks.

A.    Feed on Algae

1.    also still get nutrients from yolk in its belly

B.    Has gills, a mouth, and a tail

III.    Tadpole with legs

The tadpole gets its hind legs first, and then its forelegs.  When the tadpole is at this stage, its tail becomes larger so it can swim and catch food.  Some tadpoles even eat frog eggs and other tadpoles (tooter4kids.com)

A.    Grows legs after 6-9 weeks and the body elongates

B.    Feeds on larger items like dead insects and even plants

IV.    Young Frog/ Froglet

After a while, the tadpole starts to resemble a frog more and more. At this stage, it is called a froglet.  A froglet's tail is much smaller and its mouth widens.  The lungs are starting to develop now.

A.    Looks like a miniature version of an adult frog

B.    Tail becomes stubby

V.     Frog

It takes 11 weeks for an egg to turn into a fully developed adult frog.  There is no tail and the lungs are fully functioning.  the frog will spend most of its time on land while still making frequent visits to the water or wet areas.

A.    no longer looks like a tadpole

1.    Tail and Gills are gone

B.    Female frog lays eggs and starts cycle all over again

Blog Post 9

In the blog entitled 'Nine Themes of Digital Citizenship,'  The writer lists the nine themes which are, Digital Access, Digital Commerce, Digital Communication, Digital Literacy, Digital Etiquette, Digital Law, Digital Rights & Responsibilities Digital Health and Wellness, and Digital Security.  The blog post also explains what each of those themes entail.  In my opinion, the most important ones were Digital Literacy, Etiquette, Security, and Health & Wellness.  With technology literally everywhere we turn, it is important for people and students to be digitally literate because, as the blog says, learners must be taught to learn anything, anytime, anywhere.  I felt this to be very true.  As far as etiquette goes, it seems like every site I go to where people are allowed to comment on pictures, blogs, Facebook statuses, etc., people are constantly insulting each other and being flat out rude.  If we want to stop this from continuing, we need to teach our youth the importance of digital etiquette.  Knowing how to be digitally secure will save anyone money and stress in the long run.  Knowing how to secure your computer from viruses can prevent you from having to pay repair fees for your computer, or having to replace your computer entirely.  Knowing how to be digitally secure can prevent people from stealing your identity and credit card information online as well.  It is also important to go over  and be aware of the physical and psychological health dangers involved with the digital world.  Staring at a screen for hours on end can't be good for your eyes, and I definitely know a few people who could be considered 'internet addicts.'

When I have my classroom, I do plan to teach my students how to properly be a part of the digital world.  I may not follow these 'nine themes' exactly, but it does have some valuable suggestions.  Before even using the classroom computers or the computer lab, I would go over what it means to be a digital citizen and how to be safe doing so.  Role playing is always a good way to get kids to remember things, so I would get them to demonstrate the proper ways to be a digital citizen. I could also describe what a certain citizen is doing and tell the students to identify what that person is doing wrong.

Blog Post 8

I enjoyed reading the article ''Safe' Social Networking Tailored for K-12 Schools' by Michelle R. Davis.  It was a really informative and helpful article about social networking sites that are made just for schools.  Up until now, I didn't realize that there were sites like this.  Davis stated in her article that 'social networking is playing an increasing role in education.'  I think this is a good thing because there are so many social networking sites out there that students currently use, so they are more likely to be engaged in their schoolwork if they are doing it via a school social networking site.   A few of the sites that Davis referenced were eChalk, Edmodo, ePals, Gaggle, JAM, and Livemocha.  All of these sites sound great considering that none of them collect student information to pass on to advertisers.  

There are a ton of ways that I could use educational social networking sites in my classroom.  I really like the example at the beginning of the article that described how teacher Robert Miller used one of these sites in his 5th grade classroom.  He used it to communicate with students as historical figures, such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, and get them to give the historical figures advice.  I would love to do an activity like this with my students as well.  I would also like for this site to serve as a discussion board for students that need help with their homework.  I would encourage them to discuss their answers and help others.  And since I can monitor everything they are saying, I can make sure no one is cheating.  for the younger aged students, I could post videos on the site that introduce a new subject or further inform on a current subject, and the students can practice their typing and sentence forming skills by writing about what they saw in the video.  These sites are also not limited to one subject.  A teacher could use social networking sites for ANY subject.  That is what makes it so appealing to me.  The only downfall is that these sites cost money.   There are a lot of schools/ school districts that don't have extra money to spend on a year subscription for a full classroom (or multiple classrooms).  I hope that the school I teach at one day will be able to fund educational social networking.

Blog Post 7

The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is a federal law dealing with access to offensive content on the internet by minors.  It has several requirements that the school districts are required to enforce.  If a school can certify that they follow all of these requirements, the can be eligible for a discount on their E-Rate program.  According to the article 'The New CIPA Deadline' in THE Journal,  E-rate funded schools need to have a plan in place that teaches students about online safety and cyberbullying by July 1st, or risk losing their discount.  This is due to a new CIPA regulation.  The article goes on to give resources of how to teach this curriculum to students, and other things teachers can/need to do.

In my classroom, I would definitely take advantage of the free websites that have activities, tools, and presentations that I could use to effectively teach my students how to be safe online and the consequences of cyberbullying.  I could also role play with my students in the computer lab.  I could set up several different scenarios dealing with online safety (a 'stranger' asking for their address) or cyberbullying (a 'friend' calls another person a name on a social networking page), then ask the students to come up with the best way to avoid danger or stop a cyberbully.

Blog Post 6

 The Chronicle of Higher Education's article 'A Future of Badges' by Kevin Carey was an interesting read.  In the article, Carey introduces the concept of 'digital badges.'  Mozilla, along with John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, are sponsoring a competition for the development of digital "open badges."  The MacArthur Foundation says that digital badges are, "a validated indicator of accomplishment, skill, quality or interest."  Basically, the first thing I thought of  when I read about these badges for certain accomplishments was video games.  On many video game systems, you get a badge for completing certain tasks in certain games.  This would be a great motivator/reward system in an elementary classroom, but I'm not entirely sure about the idea of using an open badge system for higher education.  Although it seems like a great organizational tool to have all of your accomplishments, grades, documents, and other academic feats in one place, it doesn't seem as though there could ever be a legitimate program to carry out this system. There are quite a few people out there who are very experienced hackers that would have no problem forging a couple badges here and there.  I guess where I am getting at is, how is it going to be validated and how can we be sure that it won't be hacked?

As far as using digital badges in the classroom, I stated before that it could be a great motivator/reward system to have.  For example, a teacher could have a chart in his/her room with a list of accomplishments, good deeds, and good behavior along with the names of all of the students.  So, if a student does a good deed 5 times in one week, they get a digital badge, or if a student gets a B or higher on 3 tests in a row, they get a digital badge.  All the students' badges can be displayed on their classroom webpage where they (and their parents) can visit it frequently.  

Blog 5

I liked the article Things you should know about...Gamification.  It really opened my mind to the amount of ways you can incorporate games into everyday academics.  Even though it can be hard work for a teacher to start doing, I believe it can be worth it in the end.  I know I responded well to educational games when I was younger, and video games are growing more and more popular with school age children.  

I would one day like to implement gamification in my classroom.  I really like the example at the beginning of the article that explained how one professor turned learning about new plants into a competitive game.  I would love to use this activity in my classroom, however, I would not make all games a competition against others in the class.  Some children shut down when they have to compete against others.  when a game doesn't involve competing with others in the class, I will have them compete against themselves.  

Gamification can be used in any subject.  I would love to use it in math classes because it's one of the most confusing subject for a majority of school age children.  A good way to gamify a math lesson would be to have the kids play MathBlaster.  Math blaster is a game in which you are on a space ship and you have to blow up asteroids by picking the right answer to the problem.  A teacher could use this game many ways.  He or she could use it as a whole group and divide the class into competitive teams, or it could be an individual activity.        

Blog 4

The article, The Virtues of Blogging as Scholarly Activity by Martin Weller was an interesting read.  Weller talks about the many ways that internet blogging can be positive for scholars, teachers. authors and many more.  I thought it was interesting how he brought up the fact that citations of journal articles can be boosted by Twitter.  I never thought of that aspect of blogging before.  Weller also said that just because blogging may work for you or many others, doesn't mean you are limited to just blogging.  People can video blog on YouTube, or a podcaster.  Weller says that our academic ecosystem is much more complex now than it ever was before, and I agree.  We need to learn how to keep up.   

Vision of a K-12 Student Today

Technology is a fast growing career field
technology needs to be up to date for students
technology is changing the world
reading comprehension is a critical skill
young people enjoy technology
11 countries beat the us in literacy
students want to be engaged in their learning
China is now the largest english speaking country, then India
digital story boards
75% graduation rate in US
1 in 4 people will not get a diploma
89% teachers don't use blogs

Blog 2

I thought that the eSchool News articles we had to read were interesting.  In the article titled "Why more schools aren't teaching web literacy-and how they can start," we read that the ~ character should be read as a personal web page instead of an official document.  I honestly did not know that.  I have not been taught how to properly decode the meaning of characters in a web address either.  The only thing I was taught was, "If it ends in .edu, .org. or .net, it's probably a good source."  So this article really put into perspective what it means to be web literate, and how we weren't taught this when I was in school and how schools still aren't teaching it. 
Another part of this article that sparked my interest was the social bookmarking tool, Diigo.  I have never heard of Diigo before, and I am interested in watching the online review and checking it out myself.  This tool is great for group research projects and individual projects. This definitely would have been a great tool for me to use when I was in school, and I will love to introduce it to my students some day.  As for the idea of having a class Twitter account, I'm not too sure.  I have never been to Twitter's website and I'm not sure how it would work in a class setting.

I definitely could relate to the article titled "Web literacy: Where the Common Core meets common sense."  I often use one search engine (Google) to do projects, and, as mentioned in the article, only look at the first page of results and settle on something that's 'close enough.'  I believe that this is a result of not being taught how to research any other way. I was actually taught to not look on the second page of a Google result because the information was almost always not good enough or reliable.  I started thinking that this automatically meant that the first page was full of nothing but credible sources and great information.  Of course, I realize now that this isn't true, but I still used the same methods because I only had a short amount of time to find the information and didn't know how else to go about it.
I also really liked the example the article used to grab students' attention by typing 'ear mouse' in Google, then clicking images, and then researching how the ear got on the mouse's back.  This would be a great introductory activity in a lesson to help students understand the difference between primary sources and secondary sources.  I agree with the article when it stated that "We believe there should be an urgency to teach students to think when they use the internet.  This takes practice in many different research situations."  We need to give children many opportunities to carry out these research situations.

Introduction

My Name is Jaclyn Palmer. I am an elementary education major, and I just finished my senior block in the program.  I am 22 years old and I live here in Hattiesburg with my boyfriend Jeff, our two cats Lumiya and Leia, and our dog Moka.  Originally I came to Mississippi from Las Vegas, NV because of my fathers job. I plan to move back there to be with my family after I graduate.