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!