CLNR

Signing up to CLNR was easy and I can see that it will benefit all teachers. This is a wonderful site that brings all types of educational sites to ones fingertips. The links are immediate and it appears from the sites I did research on that they are very up to date. What an interesting site to combine so much in one place. There is so much on this vast site and I can see that teachers will use this tool often. I would recommend this site to all administrators and teachers.

Lesson Plan

Creating a technology enhanced lesson plan was a lot of fun. It did not take to much time. I think the students in any class will enjoy completing the lesson. There are so many sources available for the teacher to add in a technology component to any lesson. I took a lesson from my own classroom and was able to successfully create the lesson plan using information from a site I googled. It appears to me that the ease of doing this was seemingly easier than preparing a plan from the texts that are used in the district I work for.
If every teacher used the Internet or a stream of technologies in there approach, I feel at that point we can engage every student. If school systems had unlimited funds to use updated technology in every classroom than I would understand the NCLB act. Funding every district with enough money for computers in every classroom could only help to meet the desired results of No Child Left Behind.
Since I know can not change the way politicians allocate monies for education, I will just continue on in a limited capacity to try and enhance the learning of my students in the classroom I have. All in all I thought this was a fabulous assignment and I enjoyed creating the lesson!

Techno-Constructivism.

It occurs to me that thanks to Dr. Luongo we would all become Techno Constuctivists if given the choice. I know that this class has taught me so many new ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. If only we all had the modern classroom and resources to accomplish the many things we could do. I feel that using technology in the classroom empowers not only the students but all of us as teachers, since computers seem to be a skill that is mastered by students regardless of their learning ability. I think about what other classmates have written on this subject in their blogs and I agree entirely. This course has made me want to do more with technology for my students. I agree with all the articles that promote the use of not only technology but the teaching ability of the creative techno constuctivist for being able to go further with engaging their students.

Social Networking

Social networking is the new way of communicating with others. Years ago, we just called people, now we have Social Networking and use Facebook and My Space. Unfortunately students do not think they are vulnerable on these sites and they really should be encouraged to use the safeguards available to them. My feeling is that parents need to be educated about these sites and must do all they can to protect their children. Some parents however are too busy, (they should not have had children in the first place, if that is the case), or they do not care to educate themselves. I think the videos re-enforce the importance of students using all sites with extreme caution. At the risk of repeating myself, Videos showing precautions should be shown in schools more than once a year, so children can see the dangers. If these sites are used correctly they are excellent sources of socialization.
Potential employers do view Facebook and My Space pages and it is important for teenagers and college age users to be aware of what they post. I have a facebook page and as an older user don't post my day to day life on there. Believe it or not. NO ONE CARES about every little minutia of someones daily life. However, students are going to use these sites whether, teachers of parents like it or not, so it is imperative that safe guards are in place.

Don't Believe Everything You Hear Video

I was impressed with the "Don't Believe Everything You Hear Video" and think elementary students should see that video a few times during the year in computer class as well. I think students should also be reminded that bullying is now considered a cyber crime. As teachers and parents we must always remember to build up a child's self esteem. When you praise a child it adds up and it fills them with self confidence. I have recently learned for every negative comment made to them it erases SEVEN praises from their bank of self worth. I must credit Stephen Covey and his book the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People for that bit of knowledge. I would imagine negative comments from the Internet or an email would be even more detrimental as they can view it over and over again. The advise of "Stop, Block , and Tell " seems excellent. Parents must also be aware of cyber bullying and able to advise their children on what to do. I feel that as a parent it is paramount to being computer literate as not only being able to protect your child but to be someone who can take action and know what to do and say to help out a child who may feel depressed or angered. This was an excellent video for grades K-5,as well as for teachers administrators and parents.

Web Page Building

Upon completion of the web page I built on the scholastic site I wanted to comment that I feel web pages are very important to not only studetns but parents and teachers as well. I think it is imperative for schools to incorporate them into their districts. It has been brought to my attention that my administration has stated that it would be appropriate for us to use them if we wanted to. This district is leaving the option open to whoever wants to set a web page up and use it. I think they should be used universally throughout the school district and especially if we are to advance the technology which seems to be a goal of the district I work in.
It appears to me that all schools should have a site that parents, teachers and other teachers could access. I wonder how many districts do use web pages to post homework and announcements? Please respond to my blog to let me know. It will be interesting to see a count of users v. non users. I will post the results if enough of you respond. Thanks in advance!

Web Page

Using the Scholastic site to prepare a web page it seems almost to easy to be true. I had to prepare a web page using TeacherWeb a few years ago for a course I was taking . We needed to log on to our Professors log-in to do it at the time and I must say that it appeared a little more difficult. This web page equips you with the book lists, the site lists and maybe because technology has come so much further, this appears to be an easier site to use. Of course I have not visited the TeacherWeb site in some time so perhaps that site is also easier to use now.
The only drawback to this is that my school will most likely not allow me to use the web page. I think they are great . If parents can be involved , by viewing what is needed by students for your class, I know most of them would read the site and push their child to complete projects, and homework assignments.
Many of the parents of my students, are younger than I am and are very much into the use of technology themselves. They would relish this ability to check the work that their child needs to do for the class. I know I would have loved to be able to see what my child was responsible for.
The school I worked for previously used a site that encouraged teachers to post homework and when I worked there I enjoyed posting the homework daily. It was accessible to both students and parents.
I enjoy building the web page and I agree with my classmates in saying that beginning this assignment is not as daunting as beginning the Webquest!

Web-Based Educational Resources

Considering that most students are so technologically fluid in using the computers and the Internet, what a wonderful tool computers are in learning. I feel in this day and age, our roll is as facilitators and we should encourage our students and our administrators to really adapt more technology into every day teaching. I loved the "Education in Second Life". I only wish I had this resource and this type of technology when I was a student. The possibilities are endless. What a wonderful way to encourage originality, creativity, and critical thinking skills, which are really falling by the wayside as we have to tailor our teaching to standardized test. What child would not want to come to class each day to work on a SIM? I can't think of any.
Another site, though most of them really did impress me, was the Rocket readerkids software. What a fabulous way to teach young children to love to read. Excellent site if you teach younger students. There is nothing better to teach a child to read than to have the words pronounced so the student can hear it. This would really be an asset for ESL learners. It can aso help parents that can not read or speak the English language and I would think that if it we set up at home this site could help the adults learn to read english as well.
I have used puzzlemaker .com before and it was always a great tool. I am a big fan of brainpop, and now that I have been exposed to other sites. I can see where districts that use technology and allow it in there every day teaching, will be at an advantage. I hope I can encourage my students to be able to use certain sites at home since time and computer availability in my school are limited. I am so excited to think that the future of teaching this way has endless possibilites. Let's get kids engaged and excited about school! If this is the future of teaching, I am equally excited to be part of this.

Blogging

I like the idea of blogging and I enjoy reading and commenting on other students blogs as well as reading the comments left on my blog. It appears that this is a very contemporary concept that is accepted world wide. The articles and videos on blogging were very interesting and I must admit that by reading other blogs we can all benefit from resources and discussions that take place. Though I was unfamiliar with posting blogs before I took this course I was aware of what blogging was, I had not participated in the activity until this course. I do enjoy blogging and reading other teachers opinions of things and I find it a valuable tool. I must say that I really approve of Mike's idea of having his high school students blog to express their opinions and general knowledge of the subject matter. Great idea Mike!

Inspiration

After downloading Inspiration on my computer I had a little trouble accessing the help feature to demonstrate how to use it. I did, however watch the video segments that Dr. Luongo had suggested. I feel that the webs that can be created to help with writing skills will be beneficial and I was happy to see all the different kinds of outlines, etc that are available. As someone who encourages the use of webs when I teach writing skills, I was pleased to see how different techniques can be applied to other subjects as well. This can help tie into the cross curriculum core standards that many districts are now promoting.
I think this is a very good site for teachers to access. My first thought was that it would really benefit the students with learning disabilities to be able to structure their assignment. Looking further I feel all students can benefit from the organizational ability it affords them. I feel this is a useful site and I will try to implement it in my curriculum.

Make a Difference Movie

Having just watched this movie that Dr. Loungo has sent us, and after I wiped the tear from my eye, it occurs to me that this is very true. We don't always know the circumstances that our children go through. I am not given the student folders until the first day of school, however I have learned to make sure that even if I have to stay after school just to do this , I read each folder before the end of the first week. I have discovered some students who do not know where their Mom is, I have discovered that some students are "wards of the state." Students do have parents that are ill and some, like Teddy have lost a parent of other beloved member of the family.
I only wish I were given access to the folders before the school year begins, this would better prepare me for certain behaviors . Having the information ahead of time can as help me as a teacher. I am not going to do a take home gift project for Mother's day this year. Also, I sometimes have to dig for this information, I do not feel that the information folders given to us are as complete as I would like.
Getting back to the movie, I thought this was inspiring and I enjoyed it. Many students with a little understanding from a teacher , will rise to meet their potential. I hope I can inspire one of my students to remember me as a favorite teacher. However more than that I just want all of them to access me as a caring individual that they happened upon early in their life. My personal feeling is that every child has the potential for greatness, there are different levels of greatness depending upon the child. Teachers have such an impact on students and I really believe that we all forget that from time to time. We should all remember that we too have a favorite teacher and can remember the ones that truly cared. We must all strive to accomplish that very ideal.

You are not alone!

I have read many of my fellow classmates blogs regarding the WebQuest and I agree with the statements they make about actually making one as being a very overwhelming project. It seems that the hardest part is getting started, and after one does , having never done one before the process seems like a never ending task. I also, like many of you, began and then scrap my idea and will begin again tomorrow. I wanted to say Thank you to Dr. Luongo, for extending the due date. I'm sure I can speak for a lot of us , who will get it done and have already spent a great deal of time on it. I still believe it is an excellent way to teach and I only hope most districts will incorporate the amount of technology needed to use them in the future.
In closing I just want to wish my fellow classmates good luck with the assignment. Just know you are not alone in feeling the way you do. I am certain we will all get the job done!

Webquest

I have viewed the many webquest articles and video's in module 3. I must say that I like the idea of webquests. My only regret is that I know some schools do not have the technology available or the time allotted during the day for the students to work on them. As an at home project for students, though excellent, I fear that some inner city students may not have access to computers or the internet. They could however do the assignments at the library and should be encouraged to do that. I have not established the subject or the project I will be doing my webquest on. Though I would love to have my students do this, I am certain that because and only because of the financial situation of some, it will not be sanctioned by my district. I will make it an optional assignment perhaps.
I watch my students in the computer room when they have computers once a week, and I am just blown away by the speed and accuracy by which they can maneuver the websites they are allowed to go into. What a wonderful group to watch. They are never confused by the multimedia that surrounds them and I am sure they would love to have all subjects and assignments done by webquests! It does promote a higher order of thinking and I just wish we were given the opportunity to dispose of most of the ancient text books that we have and incorporate newer books with on line instruction. I just wish all school would step into the current time and realize what a disservice they are doing to some children.

Internet Safety

Internet safety is essential and I think these videos and others like them are very important. They must be shown to all children, and they must be shown the videos at a very early age. I thought the second one was a little dull and boring and since children today are so used to fast paced everything I especially liked the third one, with the character, Clickie. I feel children today can relate to the fast pace and the message would stick . The video for older children should be shown in schools every year and I feel that it is also the responsibility of parents to not only educate their children on the dangers but establish rules and controls on computer use.
There have been children that have committed suicide due to cyber bullying and of course we are all aware of children who have gone missing because of run aways who think they are meeting other children. We do live in a scary world but I feel as teachers, parents and good members of society, it is essential to teach our children about these dangers. If children , though naturally curious and some with a propensity to get into mischief truly understood the dangers from an early age, would realize that the internet for all it's multitude of good should be used correctly for their own protection.

NJCCCS & NETS

Along with viewing the NJCCCS and the NETS standard, I wanted to comment that in the district I work for, we not only use them but are encouraged to put not only the core curriculum content standards in our lesson plan books for each course of the day, but also to include cross curriculum content standards which will include the technology standards as needed. In the global world we live in , all children should be using as much of the technology as possible. I also feel that most schools are still not implementing all the the standards soon enough in the students education process. I do hope they will soon catch up!

Hello,
This is my first blog post. I am taking an online course and will be blogging often.