Final Assignments

I have checked my grades on blackboard and completed the Course Feedback Survey. However, I was misinformed about the due-date of the Route Y evaluation. I believed that today was the deadline, but they have all closed. I planned on taking this evaluation today because I do not do school work on Sundays.

Internet Safety

1. What article did you choose to read for your article of choice?

I chose to read under the "Internet" section on the church website. There were great websites that I found. This one is especially useful for teaching children. It is fun for them to navigate.
http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/

1. Describe the video resources you watched?

I watched BYU's animation department's video on internet safety. It was cute and fun, and kids would enjoy watching it. It taught about not giving personal information online and not meeting in person people you met online.

Next I watched Katie's Story on WebWiseKids. They talked about how she encountered an internet predator. Her parents were worried about her conversations with this supposedly nice man and they got advice from an officer. They gave the family a game to play called "Missing." While playing the game Katie realized the similarities of the situation and was able to have the man convicted after further investigation. There were also lots of videos of internet predators. They are scary and so sad. They manipulate these poor young girls who are searching for comfort. Finally, I watched a video about how easy it was to track people online. These videos were really informative.

Next I went to the netsmartz website and watched several videos. I have heard there has been a problem with cyberbullying. I watched these videos to understand the problems that are out there. This is definitely a problem that needs to be addressed.

1. Write a paragraph describing what your most important "take-aways" were from the readings and video?

My favorite part was reviewing Elder Bednar's CES talk. I remember the feeling I had after he gave the talk, and it was great to recall all that he shared. He made some wonderfully bold statements about cyber life on the internet. It can be dangerous and addictive. It has destroyed families and skews morals. We need to keep ourselves and our families safe.

1. Write a paragraph or more describing the details of your "doing" experience (you don't need to include any names).
   

He knew about how it was important to protect yourself by being careful with the information you place online. He also talked about protecting your software from internet viruses. He believes that for children it is absolutely crucial that you keep the computer in a public place and have proper filters built in. It surprised me that he already knew so much about internet safety. He has obviously been taught well from his family, church, and school.

My Technology Lesson Plans

http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dd25jrrn_1cffbs7gt&autoStart=true

Technology Lesson Plans

One of our computers isn't working and this one does not have Word. I saved my lesson plans as a PDF from my Mac program.

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0Bw_kbhTI6FBcYjkyNDFiNWEtODEyZi00MGJlLTlmMjgtNDQ1MTU4N2VjMTI1&hl=en

The most important reason I can see for technology in the classroom is that it inspires the students. I have seen this time and time again. They are attracted to technology because it is so much a part of their culture. This week the Promethean Board was set up in our classroom and it has made such an improvement. The students love it. It is new and exciting, so they will do anything to get a chance. I have never seen them so quiet and attentive before during math! Technology makes them want to learn. And unfortunately, our class is geared to a math program that has a strange set-up. It has been hard to get students to grasp the concept in a way that prepares them for their tests and workbooks. Now we are able to set up our lessons to be taught in the way that they are being assessed so students better understand the material. Technology is a great motivating tool in the classroom.

We got our Promethean board today. I am really excited, so now I get to figure out how to use it alongside my mentor teacher. She was showing me a little bit of what she has created for it, and we are almost as excited as the students to use it in class. They were oohing and aahing as soon as the peered into the classroom and saw it replacing the white board. As soon as the cables are all wired safely into the wall, we will begin using it for instruction and I will get to experiment with it.

I did all of this week's assignment.

Technology in Science

6th Grade Science

CONTENT

Standard 3-Students will understand the relationship and attributes of objects in the solar system. Objective 2- Describe the use of technology to observe objects in the solar system and relate this to science's understanding of the solar system.

And I will be tying this curriculum in with Social Studies Standard 1-Students will understand how ancient civilizations developed and how they contributed to the current state of the world. Objective 2-Evaluate how religion has played a central role in human history from ancient times to today.

PEDAGOGY

Students will be working in parnerships to explore the night sky using Stellarium. After completing their partner work they will be sharing their projects with the rest of the class. This is a good fit for the content because students will get time to explore the objects in the solar system. They will choose which constellation or object to focus their group project on. Many of these stars tell the stories of the ancient Greek mythologies. Their group projects will tell the story of a specific myth/constellation, about it's location in the sky, and how/if we will be able to see it.

TECHNOLOGY

Stellarium is a great resource for this lesson/project. It allows for students to explore and to be intrigued by the constellation pictures with the overlay. The pictures are intriguing and will help students to select the one they want to discuss. Students will also be able to find out how to locate this constellation in the night sky; some will be only seen in the southern hemisphere. This technology will make the project fun and more applicable to the students.

Malorie- her tour made me want to go to New Zealand even more than I already do!

Ashley- she made an ancient civilizations tour. I bet 6th graders would really enjoy this ancient civilizations tour!

Whitney- she created a tour of health services in the area. It was really useful and well put together. I appreciated that it was so different than anything else I saw.

Human Rights Tour.kmz

Tell 400 Cultural Snapshot

Media Analysis for a Cultural Snapshot

Our Arab/Muslim Friends as Portrayed in the Media:

Time Magazine article Hostile Arabs 

This article is linked from the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee home page offers safety tips to American Middle-Easterners who will possibly face racial discrimination in their schools or homes because of more terrorist activities.

U.S. MUSLIM & ARAB GROUPS URGE VIGILANCE FOLLOWING LATEST NY TERROR CASE 

This is from a YouTube search of "Muslim Children"

Analysis

Now, I have lived among Palestinians and the first YouTube video I posted is not at all what I experienced among the Muslim children. Most were excited to see us and the few who weren't were frustrated with American support of the Israelis who oppress their people. 

I had to search for quite a bit on YouTube to be able to find a positive video that portrays the religious beliefs of the majority of Muslims. 

I am amazed that so many Americans misunderstand the Muslims. However, as I skim through our media and find articles about Jihad it is hard for the American public to believe anything else. To clear up the misconceptions about Islam, it is a peace-loving religion seeking a self-controlled lifestyle. There is a small (very small considering how many Muslims there are in the world) that have created a violent sixth pillar of Islam. These Islamic radicals gain all the media attention, so the culture of power is forced to see all Muslims as threats. And unfortunately they are continually discriminated because they don't have a strong voice as a minority culture. 

How this affects students in the classroom and teacher strategies to assist these students:

This is an account of a Muslim girl attending public school in America

Here is her story  of her childhood in public school and moving to a private Muslim school where she has become a teacher herself.

When teachers create an environment of passive racism, these students with different beliefs and backgrounds suffer. They are bullied and teased because other students have only been given misinformation. Quite often these students feel as if they shouldn't share their opinions or views for the fear of being different. If the classroom is not a safe environment for the student, then their ability to learn will be jeopardized. 

Unfortunately, the religious clothing that the Muslim females wear is seen in a negative light by most Americans. We assume it is a sign of male dominance in their society. However, it represents their modesty and religious sacrifices, so it should be condoned. Also, Muslims celebrate the holy month of Ramadan and fast during the daylight hours. Students during this time need to be carefully watched to ensure they are understanding the material as it may be more difficult for them to focus. 

Even further, this student could possibly be an immigrant or refugee fleeing the struggles of war in their home country. This difficult past was left in the hopes of a better future. These students need to feel that they can be successful in the classroom. 

Teachers should first inform all the students about the different culture, so that there are no misconceptions. If the Muslim student is willing to share personally then it opens his/her ability to communicate about the topic in a respected way. In the process the teacher will be creating an environment of sociocultural learning. Also, teachers should not force assimilation on these Arab students. It is important to respect their religious beliefs and be aware of possible cultural conflicts. Promote biculturalism in a way that prevents resistance to the classroom culture. Furthermore, create a nurturing pedagogy that will only disprove the deficit theory. 

Virtual Google Earth tour

Covering content from 6th grade Social Studies: Standard 4 - Students will understand current global issues and their rights and responsibilities in the interconnected world. Objective 3 - Determine human rights and responsibilities in the world.

I chose to write on this subject because I love being able to open the eyes of students to the wide world around them. Many students will not have left the US in their years thus far. I want to be able to instill an appreciation of different cultures. 

Pedagogy - I want to make this into an exploration of current world oppressions and allow students to realize that little is known of these circumstances around the world. So, I will have them do the exploration in pairs, so they can discuss the situations at each tour stop. They will then have a whole class discussion afterwards to share their discoveries and conclusions. 

Technology - We will use Google Earth to tour several different countries. At each stop there will be pictures, video, or a news article about the current situation. This will link each location to other media and exciting technology. 

Location	Activity	Google Earth content
1. Middle East Israel and the west bank	Pictures of the people and clashing cultures	boundary lines between Israel and the West Bank illustrated  3D images? Panoramics?
2. Ghana	News	Polygon
3. India	Caste system - personal account	Polygon 3D images?
4. Iraq	Kurds - video	link to video

Other video comments

I got some great ideas from the videos I watched. Great job everyone!

Malorie - great music selection. Music makes the whole piece more fun. 

Whitney Lethcoe - she did a creative family history project. I think students would really enjoy doing a video to tell the story of their family. 

Ashley Daley - She successfully made me want to go read The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe. She had this great announcer voice to go with it. 

Allie Becker - fun use of photography and storytelling.

Alyssa Ash - She used a great page turning transition in the story she read. It made it feel as if she was reading it to me in the room. 

_______- (i accidently closed the page before I got her name. whoops) She used beautiful pictures that really brought the poem to life. It is a great way to get students excited about writing poetry with illustrations. 

Digital Storyboard!

Here is my Digital Storyboard. I did a Book Preview, and I hope you enjoy it!

movie inprogress

Storyboard . . .

THE GIRL WHO COULD FLY - book preview

What I've Accomplished

We did a lot this week. Some of the sites seem really helpful and I am excited to know how to better use them. I am confused still by the Diigo sight. I am not sure yet how it is sufficiently useful; however, that is the only one. I enjoy the reader sight. I was able to put a couple of my friends blogs there for my convenience. And the website was a lot of fun to make. Please have an open mind when you read it under the "school" context. I got a little carried away. I want to learn how to use the Jing program or whatever it is the videos are being made of. It is amazing!

My website url is http://bananaand.pbworks.com/ and the link is posted on the right of my blog...check it out. 

This is Matt and I chatting about the web. 

This is a great Education article on my Google Reader

This is of my bookmarked pages on Diigo

And this shows the book I added to our Goodreads group

Why I love Education

The main reason I love education is because I love watching that moment when the lights turn on. It is that moment when the student finds success or understands the material. That is a golden moment. I am excited to take part in that. And kids are hilarious; I am excited to get to spend my time with them.