Week 7 Teaching Kids About Global Poverty

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-poverty-education-lessons

This was an excellent documentary.  These videos should be worked into the classes we teach.  A few college kids went to Guatemala for two months and lived on one dollar a day.  This could really help the students realize what is going on on the world with poverty and clean drinking water.  We hear about these problems on the news or in a textbook but these videos really make it real.  Even if we can get eh students to be thankful for what they have or inspire them to go and do something like this in their future would be great.  Raising the awareness is what will  get things changed. Highly recommend this video series.

Week 6 Chapter 6

In chapter 6 Richardson, talks about Diigo.  I have just recently been introduced to Diigo. I really like it, it is easy to work with.  I like that you can leave notes on the pages for others to see.  You can use sticky notes,  highlight and comment with the Diigo tool bar.  I like that the students can do this with others in the class, at home or on a laptop at grandma's house.  The students love learning all of this technology too. It is fun when you are able to teach them some bit of technology that they actually like and didn't already know....we do know they know it all..ha ha

Week 6 Why Snapchat is the Perfect App at the Perfect Time

http://readwrite.com/2013/11/20/snapchat-perfect-app-visual-web-privacy-free?utm_source=feedly#awesm=~ooJMHMhSs7rqKD

Sorry, I am about to become a hater.   I know there are some good uses of Snapchat but I am having a hard time seeing them at the moment.  The last thing any high schooler needs is a picture or video they send to be seen for a few seconds then disappear.  They all incorrectly think these pictures or videos are gone for good but little do they know that if the police or FBI want to see what has been sent on that phone it is all available when they hook up a special device to the phone.  I love technology but some of it does not need to give the false sense of anonymity to teens.

Week 6 Teaching Critical Thinking (with Dog Food)

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teaching-critical-thinking-dog-food-james-bach

I really liked this article because a lot of the kids now are trying for the right answer, meaning the one the teacher wants to hear.  They are not worried about learning or understanding the concepts.  Students need to think critically as a practice.  A friend of mine gave an Algebra II/ Trig class a test and said NO CALCULATORS!!  What she had given them were graphs( I know she used a more complicated math term) and the students had to give reasons for things on the graphs, not do any calculations and she told me they were having a fit about it.  She told them they had to really understand what was going on, not just calculate it to get the right answer.  Needles to say she is doing this more often to boost their level of confidence about this, they rely on the calculators and forget to think about reasoning.

Week 5 Using Wikipedia for Academic Research-Video

" Don't use Wikipedia!"  That is a phrase you hear a lot in schools, especially schools that subscribe and pay for internet databases. Wikipedia is peer edited so it is not totally reliable. I do agree you should not cite Wikipedia, but you can use it to your advantage.  You can use it to identify terms and categories and maybe something you had not thought about before reading through Wikipedia about your topic.  Use it for what it is, a whole bunch of information added by people all over the world, some know what they are talking about and some do not.  Make sure you use credible sources in addition to the information gleaned from Wikipedia.

Week 5 You're Gonna Hear Me Roar: Overcoming Classroom Stage Fright

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/overcoming-classroom-stage-fright-todd-finley

Loved this article, it really hit home.  I was terrified to start going into the classroom for practicums, then student teaching but I never thought about giving up and changing my career.  Once I got familiar with the building and the staff it was less nerve wracking.  You have to look at the kids as individuals also because if you look at them as a hungry pack waiting to eat you up that's not good!!!  I have had a few professors that you could tell were nervous, it is OK to be nervous as long as it doesn't stop you from doing something.  I am in a high school this year after years of elementary schools...I was nervous at first but they are turning out to be a lot of fun!!

Week 4 7 Tips for Great Selfies

http://readwrite.com/2013/11/06/7-tips-great-selfies?utm_source=feedly#awesm=~onBnsT5thtFcfP

I just had to comment on this article, I can't believe someone actually wrote what I have been thinking.  I can't believe the pictures that people take.  I can't even say kids or students, adults are to blame also.  No matter what site you go to you will always see these selfie pictures, they are often in the news too.  I agree with everything this article says it is like they were reading my mind, although I would have said just let someone else take the picture but if you feel you need to take a selfie please, please follow these guidelines.  The 2 major problems I see are the duckface and the obnoxious background.  Please clean your room before you take a picture of you in it!!  I am not sure where this duckface came from but that should be something to go bye bye really quickly.  Thanks, just my 2 cents!!

Week 4 Podcasting, Video and Screencasting, and Live Streaming

In chapter 8 it talks about podcasting and how it was just getting started around 2004.  In the book it says that Matthew Bischoff had an internet radio podcast that because it was on the net was delivered to millions of people.  This makes me think of the people that you see on your local city's cable channel.  If you are flicking through the channels late at night you can catch a homemade video or live music from some basement band.  If they would put their talents on to YouTube, they would have quite a few more viewers.  This is obviously the way to go now, your best chances of being seen are to put whatever it is on the web somewhere.  I look at all of these videos that go viral, these people were just regular Joes a few days ago.  The internet is a very powerful tool.  I sure hope we can use it wisely.

Week 3 Chapter 7 Fun with Flickr

In chapter 7, Richardson says Flickr is a great "current events"  website.  Sometimes things get on Flickr before they appear on the news' websites .  Flickr Magazine Cover, sounds like a great way to get students involved in journalism or writing period.  Have them design a front cover and then write a story to go along with that.  You could have them add stories all year long and at the end they would have a great magazine of their own. 


Reference: Richardson, W. (2010) Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms.Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin.

Week 3 Pen Pals in the 21st Century

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/pen-pals-in-21st-century-lisa-mims

I loved this article!!!  I think that everybody is so reliant on technology we are losing our writing abilities.  I love the fact that this teacher created her own section on a communication website  to find pen pals that actually write letters as opposed to connecting on the internet. There was something wonderful about receiving a letter back when I was a kid.  It seems like the kids in this classroom get excited to get real letters. I think this is a great idea and they should teach some sort of letter writing in schools along with all of the technology that is being introduced. Some of the high school students I deal with, have to really try to not write in texting slang...btw, b4 for example.  I think it's sad that it has come to that.

Chapter 3 Weblogs

I liked the blogging with students section the most in chapter 3.  I think it is very natural for students to log in to a computer now a days, so why not let them connect with their teacher that way now.  I feel that students may find this a friendlier way to communicate with their classmates and teachers. Having a class blog can keep the parents updated and in contact with the teacher. It would be easier to log in to a blog rather than look for 3 different papers handed out in the beginning of the school year.  I like how the book suggests that the teacher post a question each day so the students can discuss.  They gradually get used to using the technology and work toward creating their own blog.  It sound fun and will be common place sooner than we think.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press.

A Teacher Perspective: Advice for Principals

This article was very interesting to me because there seems to be a big gap between teachers and principals.  I see both sides, it must be hard to come into a principal position with teachers that have been used to doing things one way for years. The teachers, doing things a certain way, now are expected to do things differently. Usually with out good reason, if you ask them.  There needs to be good, open lines of communication between the two, so each may appreciate the others position.  Sometimes principals forget what it is like to be a new teacher and how busy and crazy it is.  As long as there is that mutual understanding and respect the two can get along and help each other along the way.


http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-perspective-advice-for-principals-ben-johnson

Just Ask: Harnessing the Power of Student Curiosity

I agree with this article.  It talks about asking the students what they want to learn about, going along with the common core, of course.  Having the students gather information on whatever interests them would be helpful in keeping them interested.  If they all took the time to look something up and share it with the class chances are it will match with the curriculum in some way.  The article suggests giving the students a little bit of time each week to do this.  I did my student teaching in 3rd grade and I do believe they would enjoy doing this.  Even the high schoolers I work with now, most use their computer time to look up something related to one of the subjects they are in in school.


http://www.edutopia.org/blog/just-ask-power-student-curiosity-nicholas-provenzano

The 7 Things You Should Know About Creative Commons

After reading this article, it is good to know that there is a special license you can apply to your work.  If you want people to use it, you can give it minimal restrictions .  I have had a little experience with this in a former class.  We used Flickr for pictures for power point projects, it was fairly uncomplicated.

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