Texting Assignment

     After reading the article regarding texting among teens, there are so many things that I see.  I have a younger brother, who just graduated from high school.   I know he, being my example, texts a lot.  One month alone, he had around 10,000 text messages.  That absolutely floored me.  I can't even fathom having so many texts.  I remember thinking, does he even sleep at night?  What about during school?  How can this even be possible? 
     Texting is a way for teens to say what they want to say quickly, and in not-so-many words.  Not to mention, the texting "lingo" they use.  One must also wonder whether or not they can actually write grammatically and spell after texting all of the time?
     I do like knowing, however, that we can usually get a hold of most teens because they never go anywhere without their cell phones!  So not only can we talk to them when needed, they can also call someone if they need help as well.  For safety reasons cell phones can be very good.
     I know there have been instances of "sexting" even our small town of Alliance - which scares me to death.  Adolescents and teens fall into that peer pressure of wanting to be noticed and accepted and they don't even realize that sending those types of photos of themselves can be very dangerous.  They are often misled into believing that "nobody else will see the pictures".  But, usually teens can't keep something like that a secret!  They have to show at lease one person to "brag" about the text/picture they got (which can be illegal) and then guess what - before long many have seen this so called private and intimate photo via texting!  Bad mistake!
     My school policy is that they can have their cell phones at school, but they are not to have them in class or they will be confiscated.  I know that these kids are pros at texting and they are even able to wear a hoodie sweatshirt and have their cell phones in the front pouch and text without even being able to see.  Now, that is amazing!  But, that is also why our school doesn't allow cell phones in class.  They must remain in their lockers.


     For the next part of this assignment, Carole graciously agreed to take part in my texting assignment.  She said that when she did the assignment she texted Spencer.  She also said that they texted about the issue of having a four day school week.  I thought this was a good topic for us to text about as well, because my Principal has mentioned this idea as well.  She believes that it would save the district money because they wouldn't have to have staff to cook lunches, clean, etc. on fridays if there were no school.  We could also use those days for in-service training days. Sports could be on Thursday nights and staff could leave early on Fridays to do things on the weekend - and so on and so forth!
     Anyway, this part of the assignment wasn't actually about what we discussed so much as how it felt to text all of it.  Well, I think it was very frustrating to have to text about a topic.  I like to use complete sentences most of the time and it about kills me to use "text lingo".  I feel texting is great for a quick response or question, but terrible to talk lengthy about any topic.  You want to say all these things, but it is too frustrating to have to text all you want to say so you are forced to make it short without saying as much as you normally would.  I still would rather e-mail or call someone than text.  It is not as easy and natural for me as it would be for a teen who has grown up doing it all of the time.  I guess I am old fashioned and like to be able to say what I want to say and hear what I want to hear without cutting it short!  But, we managed to do it for the assignment.
    

Google Earth Assignment

Google Earth was interesting yet somewhat confusing to me.  When doing the Historical Imagery part of the assignment, I did Denver, Colorado because it is a city I am familiar with that is constantly changing.  It was interesting to see the visual changes in development and size as compared to years in the past.  I think it would be great for kids to choose a large city and do the same.  Many of my students will not have the opportunity to go to a large city because they are from lower income families.  This would be a great way for them to see the growth and progression of the city.  We could even just do Alliance, where we live.  The kids would also enjoy seeing how it has grown through the years as well.

I was able to find my home and record its coordinates (42 degrees 07' N  102 degrees 51'  29.56 W).  When talking about directions, coordinates, and location of places like their home or our school it would be great for the students to actually be able to find familiar places and view them on Google Earth.  A bonus would be to find the coordinates so we can actually locate it on a map/globe.

Using Layers, I was able again to go to the city of Las Vegas and find points of interest near a specified location.  I could see icons for museums, health clubs, first aid centers, police departments, etc. which would allow me to locate them very easily if I were visiting Las Vegas. 

Creating a Guided Tour...Now this is where I started to have difficulty on this assignment.  I was able to locate 5 locations, Las Vegas, Denver, Walt Disney World, Paris, and Puerto Vallarta.  That part was ok.  Then I was able to place Push Pins on each location and could see them on the left side of the screen.  But, when I went to find a picture for Denver and went back to add it to the right area under my site an place it in the right location, my Push Pin icons were no longer visible.  So I wasn't sure where to place the pictures.  So, at this point I had to stop with the assignment and talk to you about how to proceed.

I did learn a lot from this assignment, but feel that I just need to be able to play with it more in order to figure out how to manipulate it.  As you said, it is always changing and we just need to learn about it by doing.

Photos in a Classroom Assignment

Using a Digital Camera

Subject:  Computers and Technology                                                          

Grade Level:  1-2

Equipment Needed:  Digital Camera, notebook, and Computer

Objectives:

     The children will be able:

      * to locate and take picture of an item(s) on the school playground using a digital camera.

      * open and print pictures.

      * edit thier pictures by using a drawing tool.

Lesson: 

     Take students on to the playground and have them choose an area where they like to play.  Have them find an actual part of the play equipment where they like to play the most.

1.  Place students in groups of six.  Give each group of students a camera to use.  In each group, assign one student to take the picture and one to record the area where the photograph was taken.  While these two students are taking their pictures and recording, have the other three members of the group locate where they will be taking their pictures.  Have each student take part in this process until every member of the group has had the opportunity to take a photograph and record.

2.  Once the photographs are taken, the students will go to the computer lab and download them onto a computer.

3.  After downloading their photograph, have the students save it.

4.  Using http://www.befunky.com/ have the students edit their picture with words telling why they like playing on the playground equipment they chose to photograph.

5.  Have students display their pictures and share what they wrote on them.

Prezi Assignment

     After experimenting with Prezi, I can definitely see how it would be much more interesting than using Power Point.   I really like how Prezi allows you to zoom in on objects and view them in different order.  I can hardly wait to go back to school and tell my Tech Team about Prezi  and have them compare it to everything we have learned about Power Point.  They too will be so excited!

     In the classroom Prezi would be a great tool to use to show teach any concept on our Promethean Boards.  Teachers are always wanting ways to involve their students in learning activities.  I can see how even teaching basic math concepts such as adding and subtracting could be put on Prezi.  The students could touch the screen of the Promethean Board to interact with each math problem.  The problem(s) could come up on the screen and with Prezi's help the students could touch somewhere to allow the answer to pop up in a certain order.  I just cant wait to use it!

My Prezi can be found on the following URL
http://prezi.com/2vhr8sdrgcyv/body-basics/

Internet Netiquette Assignment

Digital Citizenship:  Describes the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use.

Internet Netiquette:  A set of social conventions that facilitate interaction over networks, ranging from Usenet and mailing lists, to blogs and forums.

When asked to locate three articles relating to either Digital Citizenship or Internet Netiquette on myLesley under myLibrary, I chose two relating to Digital Citizenship and one relating to Internet Netiquette.  Please refer to the following three articles below:

Works Cited

Kubala, T. (1998). Addressing Student Needs: Teaching on the Internet. T.H.E. Journal , 71-74.

Ribble, M. (December/January 2008-09). Passport to Digital Citizenship Journey Toward Appropriate Technology Use at Home and At School. Learning and Leading With Technology , 14-17.

Ribble, M. s., & Bailey, D. G. (2005). Developing Ethical Direction. Learning and Leading With Technology , 36-39.

      When thinking about Digital Citizenship and reading the above articles, I want to address them with a parent's point of view.  Technology  has had a huge impact on how we live in today's society.  I know that when I was young, the only technology was a television and telephone until I was in high school.  Upon leaving high school, the technology began to go in a new direction with the use of computers and bag phones/cell phones.  Today, as a parent/teacher, we now have laptops, cell phones - including smart phones, MP3 players, Ipads, high-definition televisions, and many more advances in technology to learn about.  It is my duty as a parent and teacher to become educated about all forms of technology and using them appropriately.

     We need to teach our children and students to become more responsible with their behavior while using all of these devices in technology.  We need to show them what is appropriate behavior.  First and foremost, we need to teach them about digital citizenship or norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use.  We, as parents/educators need to advocate safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.  We need to exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity (Ribble, 2008). 

     Technology is always evolving in our society and is always improving.  As a parent/teacher, it is so important to make sure our kids are safe and know the boundaries of technology.  I want to do my best to teach Digital Citizenship to my child and my students so they can become knowledgeable and responsible adults in the future.

Wunderground Assignment

Based on the data on Christmas Island Australia, for the last 10 years, I really couldn't see any significant change in temperature or wind.  However, there did appear to be some variance in precipitation.  Based on the data, I can't really make any conclusions about cooling or warming trends in the world - even though I am well aware of this very apparent occurrence that is taking place as we speak.

I had a lot of fun working with Excel to do this activity.  I liked learning about making a spreadsheet and graph and feel a lot more comfortable doing so now.  Thanks!

Wikipedia Activity

I was not able to do this activity because I was never able to set up an account on Wikipedia.  However, I was able to watch some of my other classmates do parts of the activity.  I did notice that Wikipedia English had a lot more details about each topic than Simple English and Britannica did.  that was very interesting to me to see the variance in details given.

 I wish I would have been able to do this activity because even though I looked at someone else's, I am very confused at the whole process.  Perhaps I can try again tomorrow to see better how it would work to make some of the minor edits as required on the assignment.

Creating a Story Activity

I can see how using Storyboard or Littlebirdtales to create stories would be very fun and exciting for young children.  I tried to create a story which would teach the "doubles rap" for Saxon Math, but was not able to upload my drawings.  But it was easy to download saved images and add them to my story.  This would be a great tool to use on our Promethean Boards so that the kids can create and then share their own stories!

Twitter and Twibe Activity

This is yet another fun way to collaborate ideas, resources, and opinions from many sources at a time.  I really liked that you can see everyone's comments automatically and then comment on them immediately.  I think this would be great for students to share their thoughts with each other in a non-threatening way.  This is so much fun!

Wiki Colors Activity

What a great way to share ideas!  I think Wiki would be a great tool to utilize in any classroom.  Students/Teacher could use it as a tool to communicate ideas, resources, assignments, and use cooperative learning as a strategy of learning.

Wiki could be used as a learning tool very easily.  The teacher could post a topic and then the students could use Wiki to add information or ideas which support the given topic(s).  It could also be used as a voting/rating system, like we did with our colors activity today.  I truly think the possibilities are endless.  The best thing about using Wiki would be the involvement of all students.  I can see students feeling more comfortable commenting on various topics through Wiki that may otherwise seem threatening to them in a classroom setting where they are expected to answer aloud in front of their peers.

Wiki could be used as an assessment tool by giving students basic questions where they work together to add all of the pieces of information needed to come up with the correct answers.  They could also give input on answers and help one another find the proper solutions.  Afterall, more brains are better than one!

Copying YouTube Videos

Wow, what a neat experience! Although I am somewhat confused at doing this activity, I am very excited to have the information on how to download and copy a YouTube video!  I would like to have the opportunity to try this process again so I feel more comfortable doing it.

Google Docs Experience

I really enjoyed this activity.  It was fun to research Boston Corbett and use Google Docs to do so.  I can see students using this type of activity to do research papers and allow others to comment and add to them as needed. 

Shannon's Technology Experiences

     Well, here it goes...when I went to high school and graduated in the class of 1990 from small town USA, I had no computer experiences at all.  There were some old Apple II computers, but I never had the opportunity to learn on one of them.  So when I started college, I was required to have a computer class.  My first computer class was with an instructor from the Middle East and we were taught on the old Apple II computers.  It was painful.  My instructor was very unforgiving and even took .25, .5, and .75 points off of each question.  I decided that if I got a C or D (which was unheard of in my educational history) and passed the course, that was OK with me.  I just went into survival mode.  Well, I did manage to pass the course - with much blood sweat and tears - but I did it!
     As I progressed through college, I became more comfortable with computers as technology advanced.  I did not own my first computer until about 1998, I think.  It was a hand-me-down from my brother and his wife.  They were upgrading and I was delighted to have my own Compaq computer - ready, set, go!!
     Throughout the years I have become increasingly more comfortable and knowledgeable about computers and really enjoy using and learning from them.  I am not afraid of this quickly advancing machine that helps me do my job everyday. 
     This year I was asked to be a part of a Tech Team Trainer Committee at my school.  This assignment has been a wonderful opportunity.  Every week we meet and learn about new technology and skills and they we are required to teach it to other teachers in our school who were assigned to us by the district.  This experience has not only been rewarding to myself, but to others as well.  I am really looking forward to next year!