Internet Saftey Assignment

For this portion of the assignment, I talked with my 16 year old sister. Through my discussion with her I learned that she knew not to talk with strangers and not to share any personal information on the internet. I shared some of the resources we looked at for this assignment with her. For example, I discussed the article by Elder Ballard and some of the videos I watched like the Frontline PBS documentary. It was a positive experience and easy to do because she feels comfortable talking with me. It would have been harder if she and I were not used to talking about things and if she had any problems with it. Overall, this was a valuable experience because it allowed me to get practice in talking about this topic in a safe environment.

Integration Ideas

The presentations I listened to provided some great ideas about integrating technology into the classroom. First of all, Shaundra's lesson and presentation showed me that the technology does not have to be super fancy like a SmartBoard or I-Clickers. The website that she used was highly effective for teaching students about the water cycle. The website was creative, interactive and can allow each student to participate actively (as long as there are enough computers for all of the students). Another idea I learned was how we can use our own personal technological resources to prepare our technology enhanced lessons. Heather used the internet to search for a Jeopardy template to use for her math review. This also showed me how important reflecting can be. Through all of our reflections, we were all able to notice ways to change our lessons in the future. This opportunity to share with others was a great chance to get lots of ideas. Hopefully in the future, I will be able to continue sharing ideas and apply what I learned.

Technology Enhanced Lesson

Plant Review Technology Lesson

View more presentations from loralie.

Internet Safety Articles

The article that I chose to read as my fourth article was found under the Internet section. It is called "I have a Question" by William C. Porter and can also be found in the March 2001 Ensign. Some of the most important things that I learned from these readings were various guidelines that need to be set in place when using the Internet and viewing other types of media. It was interesting to learn that one of the first things Satan will try to attack is the family. He tries to attack the family through the Internet and other media sources. I also learned how important it is to stay on top of things technologically. As I become a parent and/or teacher of children and youth, I will be able to use what I have learned through the readings (and videos) this week to help protect and guide them so that they remain safe. In the future, I will also be able to continue educating myself on the use of various types of technology so that I am aware of what my children are doing on the computer and Internet. By staying on top of things, I will also be aware of what types of media they are viewing and if it is appropriate. Likewise, the information gained will allow me to have a positive influence on my friends and family. Now that I know signs to watch out for, I can teach them and also keep an eye out on their activities. Through the information I have learned I can make sure that my friends and family are safe through their travels through Cyberspace.

Module 6-8 Questions

1. Self-___________ is influenced by what characteristics and capabilities the culture around you values.

2. How many stages are in Erikson's theory?

3. In adolescence, we begin constructing an ______________ by answering the question: Who am I?

Answers: 1-esteem; 2-8; 3-identity

Reflection 3: Observational Reflection

For this reflection, I observed my mentor teacher, Melynda Stewart, teach her first grade class a lesson on writing a nonfiction book. As a class, the students are writing a nonfiction book about animals. Each group of three students created a page on one type of animal. The objective of this particular lesson was brainstorming ideas and introducing the entire project. Throughout this lesson, Mrs. Stewart used many of the principles we have discussed in the class.

First of all, she used Vygotsky’s principle of scaffolding in the lesson. First, Melynda demonstrated what they were going to be doing. In order to do this, she chose two students, Bracken and Kenia, to be part of her “group.” With this group, Melynda modeled how to select an animal for the group. She guided the group, thereby showing the rest of the class how to choose an animal they all agreed on by working together. Once they chose an animal, Sharks, they started out by writing facts down that they knew about it. Melynda demonstrated how they would use other nonfiction books on chosen animals to research additional facts. She then showed them how they would select the 3 favorite facts. Throughout the entire lesson, she emphasized working together for the students. After she had finished her demonstration, Melynda removed her scaffolding and influence and allowed the students to work individually in their small groups.

During this lesson, Melynda also used different principles of Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory. In her lesson, she did not focus on one type of intelligence. Rather, she allowed groups to use linguistic intelligence through writing and research, visual-spatial intelligence through drawing and designing the page, and interpersonal through group work.

The different concepts and principles that Melynda used in her teaching of this lesson are ones that I try to incorporate in my own lessons. After having watched this specific lesson of Melynda’s and many others throughout the practicum, I have seen how well the use of these ideas helps in teaching young students, particularly first graders.

During this lesson, the students were highly focused and excited to begin the project. They paid close attention to the modeling and later worked well in their groups. As I observed each group working on their own projects, I was able to see how much they had learned about brainstorming and researching. The various groups were all engrossed in various nonfiction books to learn as much about their animal as they could. It was a really neat experience to watch Melynda work with this group of students to teach them how to brainstorm and research in order to create a class book about animals!

My Technology-Enhanced Lesson

For my technology-enhanced lesson, I reviewed the parts of plants with my first grade class using I-Clickers. Prior to the lesson, I designed a review in the CPS program for clickers that Deerfield elementary uses. Some of the questions I entered only had 3 choices. Others had 4. Three of the fifteen questions were left without pictures, but the majority of the questions had a picture illustrating the concept I was quizzing at that moment. The formatting and set-up of each question was slightly different too maintain interest from all of my students. In order to do this, I placed the picture in a different spot when compared to the question base and the answer choices. For the actual lesson, each student was given an I-clicker. I used an LCD projector to project the questions onto the screen so that all students could see it. I read each question to the class with the options. After the question was read, the students were able to select which answer they thought was correct, then set down their controller on their desk to show they were ready and remove the tempation to continue pushing buttons. After all students had answered, I ended the question, showed the class the correct answer and the number who answered it correctly. This allowed each student to monitor their own progress and knowledge/understanding. If there were a large number who got the answer wrong, I explained the correct answer and why that was the right answer. At the end of the lesson, students brought their clicker back up to the front of the room to be put away.
Prior to this activity with the class, I tested out the system to make sure it worked. This turned out to be a great idea since my mentor teacher's computer (which I was using for the activity) was not recognizing the response system. After several attempts to get this to work, I ended up emailing the file to the facilitator's computer to use during the lesson. During my first attempt of the lesson with the students, the pictures would not work from the faciliators computer. For this reason, I only did the questions without pictures that day and downloaded the files onto that computer as well and then completed the rest of the questions the following day with the class. All in all it was a great success and the students really enjoyed it!