Janet,

 

When is our final project due?  I must admit that I have been a little slower than anticipated since going on maternity leave.  Was wondering what the due date is in case I need to work a little faster...

 

Thanks,

 

Beth

   
   
   
   
   Hey everybody!  I'm back...everyone is doing well.  Collin kept us up every hour the first night and every three hours last night...not too bad.  Glad to see that everyone has been working hard (I have too, believe it or not!)  Missed all our great discussions and the harassment too (yes,...

Hi Beth,

 

There you are again at the top of the class...You are still number 1!   So glad to hear everyone is doing well.  Please send us pictures and DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

 

Mary

Thanks Mary!  I actually think that you are #1!!!!  You've done all your homework on time and participated everyday in class!  I say you've earned an "A"!!!!

 

Will e-mail you pictures to your school account.

 

Beth

Glad all is well!!!  Can't wait to see your smiling face.  I got Boscov's to donate umbrellas for the safety program ...I'm so excited ...hope it rains...Kiss the baby good night for me.  I can teach again in the spring...are you interested?

Cool!!  Great work getting the umbrellas donated!!  It just happens to be raining today...yeah!!!

 

All is well...Collin's nose is stuffy and it's not from a cold.  Took him back to the doctor yesterday and she assured us that he's not sick with a bug (which is a relief)!  We're trying to work through it...looks like it's going to take some time...long nights and long days. ...

Welcome back, partner! Nice to see that you're finding time for schoolwork again. So you will be back in your classroom next week, right????

Using my own rubric for internet authenticity, I checked out the yahooligans as if I was a middle school student doing SS research.  This is what I found:

 

A:

 

Address: http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/Around_the_world/Regions/Arctic/Bering_Land_Bridge/

 

When I clicked on that I was sent to a site with the following address: http://whyflies.org/061polar/anthro.html/

 

Good Job Beth!   I really liked how you evaluated this site AND put your work at the top of the list!   You are #1!

 

Mary W.

Great job, Beth!!! You can go to the head of the class.  I love the site and how indepth your research was !!!  To the top!!!

Great job, Beth!!! You can go to the head of the class.  I love the site and how indepth your research was !!!  To the top!!!

Here is my rubric for checking the authenticity of a site...I believe this would be easy for students to use. 

 

Student Name _________________________

 

Remember to be an "ACE" when looking at sites:

 

A:

 

Address of site (URL): ____________________

 

Author of site:_______________________

 

C:

 

Can you contact the author/webmaster...

I liked how you set this up!!!!.  This would be great for your kids and a wonderful tool for parents too.  Great job!

Ladies,

Abuse, abuse, abuse. That's what I get for being a Yankee fan. I'm so glad you had so much fun. Really- the Yankee site outdated, expired... I have only two words to say - oh, well...

THe sites I liked the best included:

 

Yahooligans: very easy to use and kid friendly!

 

Hopkins: easy to use and I believe it is geared toward middle school/high schoolers

 

Members tripod:  very simple

 

Discovery: it was the best I thought for middle school/high school as it included not just keys to evaluating websites but vitual tours and blogs were...

Your first discussion question is located in the attached file.  After reading it and composing your answer, post your response here.  Don't forget to respond to at least two other responses from your cohorts. (there are now six of us)  Good Luck!

Mary,

Your response hit it right on the nose.  While money is always an issue, finding qualified teacher to teach teachers is always a problem.  That is why courses like this are valuable.  Technology changes so quickly it is hard to keep up with it......

Mary. I think it's scary that you thought the same thing about how advertisers are reaching our kids better than we are.  See, great minds think alike!!  Seriously, advertisers put a great deal of money, time, and research inot what appeals to people and what will grab their attention and hold it.  That is the first thing we learned in college .....motivation is the key to successful...

Jean,

I agree with you too!  It's very hard to notivate when the students are use to information changing every two to three minutes.  The students are so good at tuning out the information they don't want to hear.  They end up tuning us out.

Here it is

Beth,

Ultimately, the brunt of everything falls on the educator and sometimes,( just like you stated) it is not the parents fault.  How can we help them wihout feeling overwhelmed ourselves?

And if the only experience the student has with technology is in the classroom, shouldn't we supply as many opportunities as possible.

Here it is

this is a test

Hope you are impressed with my tech skills.

Ginny,

Your skills are great!  Hope the new address works....

 

I'm as impressed with your answer as with your tech skills.  You're right.  For many people, embracing technology is scary and empowering the students to do it becomes a nightmare especially if the students in your class are very "techy".  Everything needs to be slow and steady!

I have often wondered whether our educational techniques are really preparing the students for the world outside of school. As our students sometimes daze out of the windows during discussions, perhaps a system such as the one we are using now would be more appropriate. Then each student is responsible for understanding the material and giving feedback about it. However, it is extremely difficult...

Loreta, I like your idea about teaching the basic typing skills along with cursive writing.  As we know, the younger the child, the easier they pick up things, so if we start them off early learning the proper technique, it would be to their benefit.  I know Robby likes to type some of his homework, even when he does not have to type it, but it takes him a really long time and he has said...

Jean,

 Daniel is the same way.  He would rather type because his handwriting is so bad.  Typing takes a long time so starting at a younger age pronally would have been more benefical. Using it in the classroom is not as hard as you think.  Private lessons are always available.

janet

Loreta,

I agree with your statement about the daydreaming student.  Sometimes, this type of tool is especially benefical to students like that.  Sometimes the tool itself becomes the motivation.  I do think this could be used in middle/high school.  I do think most people if not all have a computer at home.  Perhaps a quick survey in the classroom could answer that. ...

Janet,
I include the question about home computers in my first of the year survey every year. Usually only one or two students answer that they do not have computers or internet. However, when it comes time to do an internet/computer assignment sooooooooooo many problems arise. Another question might be - what are the home computers capable of doing? How reliable are they?

What kind of problems do you usually get?  An alternative, I guess would be a hub to connect all the computers in your classroom and have they come afterschool or linch if they need it??  Would that work? 

Janet,
I try to take classes to the computer room as often as possible, but that often is a great loss of class time. By the time we get there, open computers, get our passwords straight, there is little time left to actually work on assignments. Then there is the problem of blocked websites - often those that are ok to use. Saving work to the server is difficult if it does not consistently work....

The defintion of "literacy" has changed over time, and one can only guess that it will continue to do so.

       We absolutely must consider the current literacy demands of the technological age if we are striving to empower students to communicate successfully in an increasingly technological society. It is clear that the term"literacy" is ever changing. That means that if we are to be or remain an educated society, we must continue to rise to the demands that...

Yes, I think we should consider and include technology when teaching literacy.  I liked the point that the article had when it said "Advertisers know how to reach our youngsters far better than educators."  This is sad but true.  If we had the resources to help us teach the technology it would be a great motivator for student learning.  I think we need training, though...

This question is a little more involved.  It will have you visiting other sites.  If any of the links don't work, please let me know.  Sites are constantly changing.

Mary,

They were just t some sites I had stored in my favorites.  I wanted you to see that there are so many things out there just waiting to be used in a classroom.

While reviewing the above sites, I found that I liked the teachersdesk.org best since it is geared more toward middle school students.  However, I found the www.graves.k12.ky.us site interesting—I like the idea of incorporating a Power point presentation into a lesson to help teach. I would like to start incorporating Power point presentations into my lessons…especially for drills…beats the old...

Mary,

 

I would also like to add that I really agree with your answer to question 1A...we do need government funding and in order to better prepare our students for the new tech age we need government funding. 

 

Janet,

 

In reply to your response, it is very difficult to help parents not feel overwhelmed by technology when they don't have access to it themselves (and as...

I agree.  Parents need help too. Soperhaps as we teach the child we need to provide the parents with opportunities too.  I'mnot saying we have to do it but perhaps direct them to where they can get the help they need.

Beth,

 

I agree that our students today need and expect us to use more technology in the classroom.  They really do not know anything else BUT technology.  I think with the use of powerpoint instead of overheads, we will see not only an improvement with attention from our students, but also with their progress.   I am going to check out the site you found and look for some...

Mary,

Sometimes I think they know more about technology than we do..I sent Beth some other powerpoint sites. They are spread out across all grade levels.  The problem I see with Powerpoint is projection in the classroom.  To get more people to use it we need more than one projector.

Thanks for sharing the site.  Powerpoint is  a great tool but sometimes time consuming.  Sometimes you can find powerpoints already created and ready to use ...

check out

just to give you an idea....

The last site on the list is probably the most useable in the middle school setting. It even has our traditional “What Catholic Schools Mean to Me” assignment and a rubric to match!!!! The other sites are not useful to 6th and 7th graders although some of the ideas for presentation might work. My questions are….How do you find time to make those Powerpoints for presentations? And… How do we make...

Loreta,

 

I'll have to give the webquest a try...I know that my social studies text is online, which is helpful to students for reveiws however, as mentioned, with limited access, how can it be enforced?

Beth,

How limited are we talking??? With myspace and facebook,it seems that the kids are always on the computer.  Is there really that many?????   I guess you couldn't enforce it if it is that many but I wonder could you give extra credit that way.  I'm sure many parents would jump at that and drive then to the library.