Journal Blog 7

When I first began watching this video, I was thinking: "Why are we listening to all of this negativity?" Then, of course, I got my answer when it switched and started going backwards to read a whole new message with the same words. I really liked this video because of this creative aspect, because it seems to have a lot of symbolism in it. The fact that the same words read backwards told the opposite side of the story kind of represents the person in some ways. A lot of girls care more about books than they do trends, but they are pressured by peers to be cool so they take on a totally new way of thinking. I like to place myself in the version that goes backwards, because I love reading and dress in what I think is cute. I buy clothes from Wal-Mart and Target rather than Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch. I do admit that I am very self conscious and constantly worry about how others perceive me, but I like to think of that as a strength as well. My self consciousness keeps me from hurting other's feelings and throwing fits about small things. Well, that and inability to deal with guilt.

Journal Blog 6

This video was surprisingly short so it was kind of easy to pick on the teacher this week. I thought of a few things I might do differently than she did, starting with the classroom set up. I noticed one little boy had his back to the screen, so she should have made it easier for all of the kids to see the screen and be comfortable doing so. I would have liked to see this happening with more than one computer; a computer lab would be ideal. Kids work really well with hands on activities and it would have been nice for them to be doing more than listening and answering questions. It looked like the teacher had them all staring at the TV with her computer screen on it... why not a projector? It is very likely these students had a hard time seeing what she was doing. I also felt really bad for the girl that did not know the answer to her question. She looked like she froze on the spot so it would have been nice to see a bit of reassurance from the teacher, letting her know it was alright to forget sometimes. I did like how she switched the question to her partner, Christian, though.

Journal Blog 5

My ideal computer situation would to be have one laptop available for me to use, as well as a computer lab available for use when need be. This is the setting I experienced in high school and I often thought it was the best setup. Having a computer lab that classrooms share is cost efficient and gives children a place to go to do research after school hours or in between classes. Computers are not a necessary part of an English classroom, because we focus more on texts. Research is a vital part of the class, which involves the use of computers, but not on a daily basis. Having a computer in the classroom is handy, but in my opinion can become distracting. I believe in the 'out of sight, out of mind' philosophy. If the kids cannot see the computers, then they won't desire to work on them during all class hours.

Having multiple computers can be a problem for a teacher, because they have to watch all the kids at different stations. I think the situation can be handled very easily, however, by simply walking around the computers and keeping tabs on screen images. If there are students more likely to get distracted, place them in a highly visible spot. Another negative of computer labs is scheduling visits. The key is having a backup plan for when the computer lab is already booked. If you wait to late and cannot get the lab, then bring in materials that can be used in their research or go over research tips to help when they are at home.

Journal Blog 4

I thought this teacher did really well. She covered a lot of material throughout the video about the different types of birds and she was very good at volunteering bits of information that the students may not have known. I was most impressed over her stressing on the importance of citing things used for the assignments, like pictures. She told them why they needed to do so and they seemed to ask more questions about that topic because she made it a significant topic. I do not believe the girl would have asked about getting pictures on any site they wanted if she had not. I especially was impressed that the teacher brought up right after the question that a picture could not be used if the person said not to use it. I was thinking about being in that setting on film and I do not believe I would have remembered everything as she did. She thinks well on her feet.

My only negative comment is I felt her instructions could be a bit lacking and time consuming. When she was telling them what job went to what station at the beginning, I was really confused. I may have understood it better though if I had been informed they were assigned titles. When she was showing the kids how to use the handheld computers, I was amazed she used class time to explain them. I think she should have printed out instructions for each device that came with the instrument when you got it and then let the kids work in pairs to figure out how the device works for like ten minutes. If it was done like that then less time would be consumed, plus the kids would a chance to help each other. During this time the teacher should be walking around and seeing if she could be of assistance to anyone, as well as make sure they were treating the devices with proper care.

Journal Blog 3

The Standards Include:

1. Basic Operations and Concepts

-students understand the operation and nature of technology systems

-students use technology well

2. Social, Ethical and Human Issues

-students understand the different issues related to technology

-students use technology responsibly

-students have positive attitudes toward technology

3. Technology Productivity Tools

-students use technology to become more proficient, creative and knowledgeable

4. Technology Communication Tools

-students use technology to communicate and collaborate

5. Technology Research Tools

-students use technology to collect information from different sources

-students will be able to report results and other data

6. Technology Problem-solving and Decision Making Tools

-students use technology to make more informed decisions

-students use technology to problem solve

I liked that the teacher called on the students a lot and asked a bunch of questions. I noticed she did not have any boys come up to the computer, which seemed a bit unfair. A project I would have liked to see the class do is each group access a different weather site online and report the data they found for three different cities in very different locations. It would be a good experience for the children to compare data and discuss the information in class. I think they should also have a worksheet of some kind while they are working, but it should be on the computer instead of printed out.

And somebody needs to tell the group of three kids working on that slide that the city is spelled "Springfield" and not "Spring field."

Journal Blog 2

There was a lot of shocking information within the video. The two things that I found most shocking was that the grandma was sued for what her grandson downloaded and the story about the student whom was expelled for joining the facebook group about the police officer. I cannot imagine having something like that on my record, it is a really scary thought. The worst element of the video though, was the stories about the girl and guy whom were killed. Those pictures he showed while saying if we did not want them to see us in bikinis or stripping, then do not put them up there, were horrible. Those ugly pieces of the video were definitely the most impacting. The new things I learned were from the music and movie theft portion of the video. I could not believe they can still charge for the whole amount of the CD and even worse, how dishonest the RIAA has been about whom they are targeting. I understand the RIAA is trying to protect the rights of celebrities, but they do not have to be so dishonest about how they do it. The RIAA came of as villains in the video, which I would have never suspected. My favorite part of the video was the dolls they used to give visual credit to the video, as well as the pictures from actual college offenders. The video was so funny and the speaker had amazing speaking skills. I really wish I could have seen this in person, because it was hard to see everything on the screen. Maybe someday I will be able to catch it.

Journal Blog 1

The standards for students center around six different concepts:

1. Basic operations and concepts

-students understand and use technology proficiently

2. Social, ethical and human issues

-students hold positive attitudes toward technology and use it responsibility

3. Technology productivity tools

-students use technology to enhance creativity and proficiency

4. Technology communication tools

-students use technology to communicate with peers and other audiences

5. Technology research tools

-students use technology to report results and use different sources in research

6. Technology problem-solving and decision-making tools

-students use technology to solve problems and make informed decisions

While watching the video of the teacher in the classroom using graphing calculators in her classroom, I had a view ideas of things I might do differently. The whole class was involved in the same activity, as well as the same problem. The kids may have benefited more from the exercises if they were taught how to use the graphing calculator and then went through the problems alone. Perhaps, the kids could even work in groups, since their desks were arranged in clusters anyway. I think the children should be given the chance to guess whether or not they believe the equation will be true and why or why not. Then they should work the problem alone before the teacher goes over the problems together as a class.

The whole exercise seemed too easy for the kids, which is probably why they appeared so bored. Another way to involve the children more would be to give them turns using the calculator that was connected to the projector. The classroom should be challenging and center around involvement.