Week 14 PLE

I completed steps 1-3 in the PLE assignment.

Look below for my internet safety assignment reflection. Enjoy!

Week 10 Personal and Moral Development

I found these chapters very interesting to read. The chapter on moral development was very interesting to me. I truly agree with what it says in chapter 5 about perspective taking. Perspective taking is very important to moral development. I just think about my own moral development and how when I was younger, sometimes it was hard for me to understand why others were doing what they did and didn't agree with me. This was because I was having a hard time grasping their perspective. However, as I have gotten older, I have been able to think about how others would feel or react to situations. This allows you to have greater empathy. I also thought the section on aggression was very interesting. Personally, I agree that increased exposure to violence and aggressive behavior through media and family situations rubs off on the children and others in the household. I have seen this happen to children that I know who are exposed to very aggressive media. Overall, I think that there are many good ideas in these chapters to help me as a teacher help my students develop those personal and moral skills that are vital to success in society.

Internet Safety Reflection

1. Article of my choice:
The Message: Mushrooms, Music, Movies, and Magazines by Elder Spencer J. Condie
I chose this article because the title of the article just jumped out at me. It was a very interesting article comparing different forms of media to mushrooms. Some mushrooms are good and delicious and some are poisonous. Just as some media is uplifting and good and other is poisonous to the soul. He warned that we need to be selective and careful, especially about the poisonous media that has the appearance of "it's okay, but there's only one part that's not good." That one part that's not good causes the whole piece to be poisonous, and thus, destructive to our soul.

2. I watched the frontline videos, the faux paws video, Katie's story, and the UEN videos for internet safety. I was struck by how much information was in all of these and the different applications and strategies that could be found in them. The UEN videos were very informative. There was one that startled me. It was entitled "Tracking Teresa" and it showed how quickly someone could access information about her. Within 20 minutes, they had enough information to come in contact with her face-to-face and to easily stalk her. This reminded me of the importance of teaching kids to be safe even if they are already doing a good job of not posting too personal information on line.

3. There were a lot of good "take-aways" from these readings and videos. First of all, the importance of parents and teachers being involved in the children's lives. We need to be involved and teach them correct and guiding priniciples of internet safety. It seemed like the ones that got themselves into a scary situation didn't necessarily know or understand some of the dangers with on-line communication. Also, the ones that were targeted were generally going through a hard time or seeking attention. There is a need to pay attention to those who are at risk or emotionally struggling. We need to help protect them by educating them and monitoring their activity on the internet.

Below are some of the notes I took from some of the readings.

Elder Ballard reading:
The biggest challenge for us is to choose wisely what we listen to and watch because of the sheer size of information and activities in the media. What we watch and listen to may become the types of things we do. We need to watch out. We are asked to stand up for what is right and be concerned with the increasing sexual and violent lyrics and pictures. There are a lot of different things that we can do as parents and teachers. I really liked how Elder Ballard talked about limiting time on the Internet, talking about safety, and watching and talking about appropriate material.

Elder Bednar:
Our bodies are very important. How we use media impacts the value we place on our bodies. We do an injustice to our bodies by being caught up in the virtual world. We miss out on meaningful relationships and things that can only be done with a physical body.

Provident Living:
There are quite a few things that I was taught or that I've done. But there are many that I can improve. I like how they suggested that you talk about accidental exposures to inappropriate material so that way the shame is eliminated. It opens dialogue and allows you to have an opportunity to teach. This would be a great way to help teach how to be appropriate in our classroom when it comes to the Internet.

Graham article:
Parents need to set the example with appropriate media use. They need to value face-to-face interactions more than digital communication. As teachers, we need to also set this same example. Provide positive activities for your children and students to do with technology. There are a lot of preventative things we can do. Find a balance between providing and protecting.

4. I taught my grandmother about internet safety. She didn't know very much. She just knew that you needed to be careful not to put too much information on the internet. Computers, in general, are something she doesn't know a whole lot about. I shared with her information that I felt a parent should know. Katie's story and the resource of the video game "Missing" that her parents used was something that I shared with my grandma. She seemed to like it. Also, I shared information that anyone really should know, especially those unfamiliar with the internet. She was surprised with how easily people can get your information (from "Tracking Teresa") and the amount of bullying on the internet. Her reaction wasn't too surprising to me. She was surprised about many of the same things that I was. However, she did let me know what my aunt was doing to help support internet safety in her home. I think that my grandma will share with my grandpa, aunt, and uncle about the things that she learned. It gave her a greater desire to research and to know more about internet safety. Overall, it was a very interesting experience.

TPACK Report

PLE Week 12

My mentor teacher does a very good job at teaching content, but there are limited resources with technology. During Halloween, she used the television and VCR in her classroom to show a video about trick-or-treating safety. She also has a stereo with tapes that students use at a listening center. During reading centers, students can listen to a book on tape and illustrate what is read to them. This particular use of technology is fun and effective with her students. She uses a personal digital camera to take pictures of fun and momentous occasions in the classroom that really get the students excited. She also uses a computer for a lot of the tasks that she does. She makes a weekly newsletter to send home with the students to give to their parents. This has been a useful tool to foster communication between parents and the school. Also, she uses the computer to keep track of grades and do report cards. There are some times when more digital technology could be used in the classroom. For example, she could check out one of the four ELMOs in the school and use it to help teach a variety of subjects. She could have used this to help model what she wanted done with various activities (for example, the turkey assignment). The school has a computer projector that is available for check out. She could have used this to do a PowerPoint to make the segmenting activity a little different. However, there aren't too many of these available for use. Overall, I think that she does a great job at using the technology that is available to her to meet the needs of her students (and not try to make them focus longer than they can).

Week 9 Motivation

1. I think that most of the students in the classroom were intrinsically motivated. They seemed to love the subject and would ask a lot of questions to stimulate their own learning. The teacher would pose different unusual situations in which there really was no right answer and the kids loved talking about these problems and trying to solve them on their own. Some of the students were a more extrinsically motivated and desired attention and approval on their work from the teacher before they would complete or move on in the assignment.

2. Intrinsic movtivation can decrease when rewards and praise are used. If the praise is specific and seen as good feedback, intrinsic motivation is not negatively influenced. Extrinsic motivation tends to increase when the teacher uses rewards and praise. The students begin to strive for academic success solely to receive rewards and praise which can hinder real learning.

3. Expectancy involves a student's expectations for success. Value involves reasons for doing a task. If students don't expect a lot of success or see any valid reason for doing the activity, the student will have very little motivation to do the activity. However, if the student feels that they can have success and see that the activity is relevant, they will have greater motivation to complete the task.

4. To increase motivation at a student-level, the teacher really tried to create a safe environment in which mistakes were allowed. All students had an opportunity to be praised for their work and effort was praised (especially if the child increased their effort). To increase motivation at a classroom-level, she tried to avoid creating a competitive environment. To her, each student had the opportunity to receive specific postive feedback. There weren't many evaluative comments like, "You're smart." She also didn't expect perfection but praised for good effort and things done well. She also praised students for difficult tasks and didn't really praise with tasks that were very simple.

5. I don't know if I really agree with one theory absolutely over the rest. I see many good things in all of them. However, I tend to agree a bit more with the behavioral motivation theory. I think that I agree with it more, because I have seen first hand the principles that it talks about. It is very true that rewards and praise can help students be more motivated, but they must be administered in an appropriate manner, or they will be detrimental. The strategies that I used during practicum to teach seemed to be more in line with the behavioral approach. This theory seems to be a bit more natural to me.

TPACK PLANNING-Lesson Plans

Below are the links for the lessons for the TPACK planning assignment. I've tried to hyperlink the sites, but I've also have them written out just in case you run into some problems. I hope you enjoy them!

Link for my language arts lesson plan:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AY5M4mgVkY_vZGc1cHpyc3NfMmdnaGYyd2c3&hl=en

Link for my math lesson plan:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AY5M4mgVkY_vZGc1cHpyc3NfMTJuem1zY2Zy&hl=en

Link for my science lesson plan:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AY5M4mgVkY_vZGc1cHpyc3NfM2RqZzdxN2c1&hl=en

I watched Bookends of War at
http://etec.hawaii.edu/etecvideos/videos/bow/?page=ft_auto
and
Inside Kapunahala at
http://etec.hawaii.edu/etecvideos/videos/kap/?page=ft_auto

It was amazing to see how much the students were doing in the classroom with technology. It seemed like all of the students were involved and having a great time. In the “Bookends of War” video clip, one of the boys commented about how he liked making the class website. He liked it because it was something that him and his classmates made as opposed to just saw. Letting students make their own projects using technology is something that I really learned. As a teacher, it’s not enough for me to just show different projects that I have made using technology. I need to give my students the opportunity to try using the technology as well.
The students depicted in “Inside Kapunahala” were really excited to be involved with the project. I was amazed how involved everyone in the school was with this project, even the first graders were involved. I liked how the teacher pointed out that the technology activities they were doing helped meet other content standards. This really reminds me of TPACK and how we can teach using technology and content areas.
Overall, I think the greatest thing I noticed from the two videos was the attitudes of the teachers. Both of them had very positive attitudes and love towards technology. This love for technology definitely rubbed off on their students. I learned that I need to have a positive attitude towards technology so that my students will hopefully have a positive attitude towards technology, too.

Week 10

These videos were really interesting. I was amazed at the different technologies the teachers were having the students use. I think the most important thing that I learned from these videos is to not be afraid to use technology in the classroom. Sometimes I’m hesitant to use technology, because I’m afraid that students may not understand it. The second video really showed that even kindergartners can use computers to do meaningful projects that teach curriculum. I really liked how they used computers as a tool to help extend the lesson. For example, using a computer art program to draw illustrations for a storybook. The video about habitats was interesting, because it showed how you could have students use technology in the classroom. She was developmentally appropriate in the topic and way she approached technology instruction. I liked how she had them work in small groups. The students could help each other, leaving the teacher free to monitor and help other groups.
There were multiple clips where the teacher used technology as a way to get the parents and community involved. This generally comes through sharing the final project. I would never have thought of technology as a way to help get parents involved in the classroom and with the students work. I really liked that idea.

Week 9--Technology Observation

I was delighted to see that there was some technology in the classroom, but there wasn't quite as much as I was hoping. There is a TV with VCR/DVD combo. That is definitely something that was not in my own elementary classroom which I feel would have really enhanced the learning environment. There was a PC computer, but it is pretty much used solely by the teacher. I liked also that there was a boombox with headphones for a listening center. This area is a lot of fun for students as they can listen as a group to a book on tape. There is also an overhead. While completing the technology inventory, I was impressed with the schools pods which are in the hallways of the classrooms. Here, students can log in with an ID and use the computers for class projects and research. I only wish that there were more science instruments available to students.

The teacher really makes full use of the technology in her classroom and uses it in her teaching.

I completed parts 1 & 2 of the assignment.

Week 8

This chapter was very interesting to me. I really liked the comparison between Piaget and Vygotsky's theories. I think, for myself, I tend to blend both of them together. I think of the stages of development of Piaget and combine it with the zone of proximal development of Vygotsky. Both theories have good aspects, but I believe in a combination.

I wonder why the zone of proximal development (ZPD) has become so popular. The ZPD states that students will be able to do the activity with the help of an adult without getting frustrated or bored (because it was too easy). It makes sense to do instructional activities this way to yield great results. This reminds me of what Brother Osguthorpe said in his power of teaching lecture. He said that it is our responsibility to teach students to do somethings that they don't want to (for reasons of difficulty), because we know that it would be good for them.

Both Piaget and Vygotsky feel that pretend play is very important for child development. What kind of confused me for a minute was why Vygotsky said that individual pretend play is also a social interaction. How can doing an activity by yourself be a social interaction? Then, I though of imaginary friends. Children who have imaginary friends treat them as if they were real, breathing human beings. Thus, they are socially interacting with their imaginary friend and gaining social skills.

I really could see the valid application of these theories in some aspects. "[Linking] new concepts to students' prior knowledge" just seems like common sense to me. This reminds me of when we talked about transfer in class. According to the different theories, people will associate new experiences with what they already know. For example, a student may see a whale and call it a fish. They do this because they already know what a fish is (a sea creature with fins and swims) and apply the same characteristics or knowledge about a fish to a whale. Later on, they may reconstruct meaning. I feel that this is important for us to know to be able to teach so that students will understand and remember new material.

I viewed the following voice threads and commented on them using voicethread:
1. Janet
2. Beth Yates
3. Laila

To hear my comments just watch those voice threads. :)

I feel that there are many advantages and disadvantages to using the science activity we chose. One of the biggest advantages is that it is cost efficient. It also allows students to have time to draw the microorganisms using the pictures. I also like that it is interactive and that students can compare all of the organisms visually at the same time. A disadvantage is that they aren't learning skills about how to use a microscope. Also, you need to have a computer for every student to have this be a more personally meaningful activity. Some of the links have quite a bit of information that students may not know how to synthesize or identify what is truly important for them to know.

Virtual Pond Dip Voice Thread

I worked with Teressa on the assignment. It was a lot of fun!

Week 7

1. I have experienced P.E. activities in both elementary and college. Dance teams in college required a lot of cooperative learning. In elementary school and in college, I was asked to solve problems as a group. In college, writing a research paper as a group is another example of a collaborative activity.

2. I personally feel that cooperative learning promotes learning because it allows students to develop necessary skills for the workplace and home. It also enables students to recognize that there are various perspectives to look at things. For students who struggle a little, it allows them to develop confidence in the learning process and realize that they aren't the only one who is learning.

3. Both reciprocal questioning and instructional conversations involve asking questions. Some of them are very deep and require higher level thinking skills. Discussions are also a huge part of both of these strategies. Both try to build on previous experience. Reciprocal questioning relies on background knowledge, while instructional conversations rely on the conversation building on each other.

4. You would want to use ability grouping when working on reading. Guided reading groups are a great example of ability grouping. It enables the students to achieve and stay motivated. Mixed-grouping would be more appropriate with some skills tasks like P.E. You would want a mixed-grouping with say a softball game to keep the competition level down and to allow students struggling with certain skills (for example, swinging the bat) to learn from those who excel.

Science Challenge Plan

Teressa and I are working on the project together. We will be teaching the 6th grade standard around microorganisms focusing on microorganisms found in a pond (Standard 5, objective 1, a). To do this, we will use the virtual pond dip program to allow the students to explore the different microorganisms. The teacher will show the students a jar of pond water to help them recognize that the microorganisms are enlarged to help them see them. The teacher will explain about single and multicellular organisms and lead out a prediction discussion about the microorganisms' functions. The teacher will explain about virtual pond dip. Then, students will look at each microorganism (before clicking on them), predict if they are single or multicellular organisms, click on the microorganism, read the text about them, and take notes in their science journal. They will check if they predicted right or not. Students will draw a sketch of each microorganism next to the notes that they took about them. After they have done this, students will decide which microorganism they would like to be and explain why. This will allow the students an opportunity to be creative and apply what they have learned. The teacher will be observing and monitoring throughout the whole process.

1. Content: Microorganisms
Examine and illustrate size, shape, and structure of organisms found in an environment such as pond water.

2. Pedagogy
The pedagogy we will be using is observing, classifying, and predicting. These fit well with the content because those strategies really allow the students to "examine." Many of these pedagogical strategies we do naturally when we examine something. We will have students read text, view images, predict, discuss, classify, draw images, and write. These activities will give the students an opportunity to have many learning experiences in the content. Also, drawing images is specifically stated in the objective.

3.Technology
We will have the students use the virtual pond dip. This works great for the content because it allows students to see the organisms without having to worry about trying to keep them still under a microscope, so they can draw them. Also, it allows a great visual and information for the students.

4. Representation
The representation in this technology is definitely textual and visual. Since there is a combination of two representations one could say that it is multimodal. The representation really allows students to visualize the microorganisms and develop deeper understanding about them. It allows them to interact a little and focus on different organisms that they like, too (since they can easily revisit information about them by clicking on them). It helps students visually compare and contrast the different organisms. This type of interaction is more meaningful than looking up the information in a textbook.

Watching the virtual tours

I watched the virtual tours of Teressa, Nancy, and Krysta. I really enjoyed all of them. Two of them were about land formations and one was about art history.

There are many advantages and disadvantages for doing a virtual tour in the classroom. The ability to see the distance between locations is one of my favorite features of the tour. It gives the students the feeling of actually traveling to those various locations. I feel that this is a huge advantage to helping students visual various ideas. Another advantage is the ability to link so many different types of representations together to create a learning situation that would reach out to many different types of learners.

Some disadvantages of a virtual tour comes through the actual use of the technology. With some of the tours, it was unclear or difficult to be able to use the features of google earth to do the assignment (for example, using the ruler function to measure the 3D buildings). Also, the links to videos and other materials sometimes don't function properly. Another disadvantage is the amount of computers available. As with all of these technologically based resources, the availability of resources can be either an advantage or a disadvantage. Students may not have access to a computer at home or there may not be enough computers in class for each student to do the tour.

Week 6 Behaviorism

1. Contiguity learning is learning involving association. Outside of class, I learned to associate different jingles with different ideas or companies. Many jingles that stopped playing years ago are still in my head. In the school setting, I have come to associate apples with teachers, especially the apples on Mac Computers.
2. Some very effective reinforcements that I observed in elementary school involved rewards. In the upper grades, we had the opportunity to earn money for good behavior, completed assignments, etc. We could then take the money we earned and buy things like pop, candy, and small toys. It was a lot of fun. This is an example of a token economy. Another really good reinforcement was positive praise. This worked for me, because I tend to respond better with positivity as opposed to negativity or neglect.
3. There are several different kinds of reinforcement schedules. These include continuous and intermittent schedules. Under intermittent schedules there are ratio, interval, fixed, and variable schedules. All of these have different purposes, advantages, and disadvantages. I would want to start off with continuous reinforcement schedule, especially when students are learning a new behavior and new concepts. The reinforcement is needed to help them see what is appropriate and what is not. As students get used to the behavior and exhibit it properly, you can use intermittent schedules. I think that I would really use the variable schedule in my classroom. The variable schedules allow more flexibility and are really effective because students have no idea when the reinforcement is going to come. It's kind of like being in a stadium and waiting to catch a fly ball. You never know when one is going to come so you will always be paying attention to the game. The idea is that the students have no idea when the reinforcements will come and so they will tend to be on their best behavior more.
4.One thing that with behaviorism that I think kind of contradicts the gospel is that it is so dependent on the environment and how it acts upon us. So many of our learned and natural behaviors are explained by how our environment acts on us. In a sense, our agency is limited or taken away because of our environment and the different factors that act upon us. In 2 Nephi 2:26 it says, "And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given." This clearly states that we have the power to act and not let anything, including our environment, act upon us. We can choose how we will react and change those responses that seem so natural. There are many times when people continue to live the gospel even when it is hard and there aren't any immediate rewards. According to behaviorsim, these individuals would have given up living the gospel awhile ago, because there wasn't any positive reinforcement. We have the agency to choose how we will react.

Virtual Tour Challenge

My tour is about how ancient civilizations have influenced modern civilizations addressing the 6th grade social studies curriculum standard. We focus on architecture of Ancient Greece and Rome and the United States. Start with the Parthenon. Then, go to the Lincoln Memorial, the Colosseum, and Heinz Field in that order. Enjoy!

I love updating! I updated my lesson plan more and made it a little more specific. Enjoy!

I updated my virtual tour lesson plan. Check it out!