Internet Safety Reflection

The Internet offers so many resources, tools, activities, and information that are useful to all sorts of people. Students and teachers are no exception. Many students now a days already are using the Internet, so incorporating in the classroom should be done. The Internet offers many tools for teachers to use in their classroom, like lesson plans and activities. As a future history teacher I plan on using many primary sources in my class and the Internet helps with this. As long as saftey tips and rules are taught to students, I believe the Internet should be used in education.

Evaluating sites is very important for teachers and students. It ensures that the information that is received is correct and validates the author and their background. Some questions I will ask myself when evaluating a site include: Is the author a validated one? I will do this by using the resources available to me like Meta-web Information. This site will also help validation when looking at the URL link.I will also ask if their are more advertisements than actual information.

When my students use the Internet, I will do all can to keep them safe. I plan on giving them a checklist full of questions they should ask themselves while surfing. This will hopefully help them in making sure the sites they visit are validated. Also, I will give them "safety rules" on what is and is not safe while using the Internet.

Video Reflection:

I thought the rules on the video were great and ones that all teachers and parents need to teach to children. It was a quick way to show the rules. I would probably take time after the video and explain in further detail the importance of each of the rules. Also, I would give ways for the students to get out of bad situations on the Internet. Internet safety is something that is very important and prevalent in today's society. It is a great tool but only when used with pre-caution and that needs to be taught to children and teens.

Video Reflection

The video this week was enforcing the idea of how much technology is a part of our lives as students. It introduced the typical classroom and basically said that the old fashioned classroom experience is out dated and not getting through to students. I found many of the statistics astounding. The average books read a year versus the web pages and facebook profile pages was amazing. But, something that I can only imagine is true among many students. Also, the use of laptops are very prevalent in classrooms today, but many students do not use them for class, but instead, facebook and other internet sources. It is something that teachers need to realize in todays world. The students have grown and changed as the years have gone by, therefore, the teachers need to accommodate this. Technology is an amazing resource that students and teachers can use, and I believe that both need to take an advantage of this, like the video was trying to portray.

UEN Reflection

I found the UEN website to be very useful and helpful. There were many resources and tools I would use in my classroom and would have the students use. I really enjoyed being able to have my own public and personal website on UEN. I like being able to put the tools I find the most useful in a bookmark and referring back to it whenever necessary. Also, as an educator, the option to sign up for additional technology courses on UEN is something I will definitely take advantage of.
As a teacher, the lesson plan and links will be incredibly helpful. I have already used UEN to find lesson plan ideas and activities for other classes. Also, the core curriculum is available and very easy to access. The rubric tool is another one that I will often use and enjoy. The links available for primary sources is one I find extremely important. I am a history education major and I believe that the use of primary sources are not used enough. Therefore, with the help of this website, I hope to use as many primry sources as I can.
I also really had a fun time using the interactives that are available for teachers and students. Not only did I have fun playing them and using them , but I am sure my students would enjoy it as well. I would give the students the access they need to play around with these interactives and have a good time learning while playing. I also think it's important for students to know what is going on in the world. That is why I liked the Who's Who and What's What Weekly Quiz. It test students knowledge on current events and is fun to take too. The virutal tours was another interesting resource. It is something my students can do and enjoy and something I can use un my classroom.

The Pioneer library is a great resource. The amount of information and resources is amazing. The access to the different search engines is useful to both me as the teacher and to my students. It can ensure a safe a clean search as opposed to a search engine like Google. Also, the music that is available free of charge is another great thing for educators. There is so much on UEN that can be used, that in my opinion, there is no excuse to make class an enjoyable place for learning.

Reflection #4

I found the video very interesting. There were many statistics I was amazed with. For example, the one stating how many college graduates in India could speak English in 2006, which was 100%, was amazing. I had no idea the number was that many. Also, the amount of jobs many Americans have before they are 40. That number is also astounding. It is all important information that many people are not aware of. Technology has become such a huge part of our world today, and it has happened so quickly, and is only increasing as time goes by. I hope to be able to use the technological resources in my classroom to prepare my students to be successful in their future occupations. There are so many available and it is becoming easier to access the resources, that hopefully it will be easy for me to share the technological information with my students.

What: Today I was able to learn about UEN. I had heard about it in previous classes but have only used it once that I can remember. I learned about different resources available to me as a teacher and how to create a UEN website.

So What: This applies to me in many ways as a student and as a future teacher. I was able to make my own web page and add different resources to it that I found helpful. As a student it gives me an i dea of different idea availble to me for what I become a teacher. It has excellent search engines that are useful for teachers and students. It can, and already has, helped me in other classes. For my curriculum class, I was able to look at the curriculum and find ideas and activities for my unit plans.
This is a very helpful tool that I will use now and when I become a teacher. It is so easy to access and there should be no excuse for me or other teachers to complain about not having the tools available to have a great lesson plan planned for our class. It has the tools available, therefore me and my colleagues should take advantage of this.

Now What: The UEN website has given me many resources and tools to use in my future classroom. It has given me many ideas of lesson plans I can do. For example, for a lesson on World War II, I found a website that has letters written from soldiers during WWII. This would be a fun way to use primary sources in the classroom and get the students engaged.
The information that is availble on UEN is outstanding. There is so much and a variety of it. I hope to use it frequently when I become a teacher. It gets me very excited hinking about the day whren I have my own class and can use the different lesson plans and activities. It also will help me be a better colleague. I can share information I find with my fellow teachers. In my mind, there is no excuse for complaining that there is not enough resources to plan an effective and engaging class for students.

Reflection #3 continued...

I posted the reflection before reading the comment made on the previous blog. I will now add to the what, so what, and now what

WHAT: Along with what I have already said, it is a video describing technology in the world today. It talks about students and the amount of technology they use on a daily basis. It then goes on to discuss the importance for teachers to incorporate technology in the classroom so the students are engaged and learning.

SO WHAT: This is an important issue in the world today. Like I previously said, children nowadays are born into a world where technology is everywhere. They are used to the quickness and communication it allows. This then transfers to the way they want to learn.

The video also mentioned how little children are asked questions and how teachers are not doing enough to engage students and help them really learn. I believe because students are so used to technology and the amount of information is provides, they need this in the classroom as well.

NOW WHAT: Teachers need to do more to incorporate technology in the classroom. It is something that is not going away but will only improve with time. Therefore, we as teachers need to realize this and use this helpful information to benefit our students. It will help our students learn and helped us learn as well.

I feel lucky because I feel like I know technology pretty well. But, i know people older than me who struggle. But along the same lines, those younger than me will most likely know more than I do and leanr at a younger age. Because of this, I need to prepare myself to use it in my classroom to give my students the most out of their education.

Reflection #3

Class this last week was more challenging for me than the previous week. I have dealt with many things Google oriented, but never Google sites. Therefore, it was very interesting and at times difficult to learn about Google sites. It is easy to understand how useful it will be in my future classroom. It provides helpful tools for me as a teacher as well as for my students. The calendar is one of my favorite tools. I can change and add new events to my classroom by adding them to through my g-mail account. This is not only easy for me but also for my students and keeps them up to date on school and classroom activities. I am also excited to be able to post videos and other helpful sites that my students can access by going to the classroom site. I also like that the site is easy to access and I believe it will be a very helpful resource in my future classroom.
I found the video very interesting and eye-opening. The amount of hours that children spend on technology was astounding, and at the same time, not that surprising. Technology is everywhere, and kids nowadays start young learning how to use the different devices. I liked that the video said that kids nowadays expect to be able to use technology to share material with others. They also talk about what we as teachers are doing to address this issue. We need to engage our students and if using technology helps, we need to know how and be willing to incorporate into our classroom.

Reflection #2

In class we learned about Google and the many resources it provides. I thought I knew the majority of the things Google offered, but realized I was wrong. I know how ti use the e0mail, calendar, and Google docs. All of which i find extremely useful. I did not know about iGoogle and was able to explore it a little more outside of class, and it is something I plan on using from now on.
As a teacher, I plan on using Google docs for my personal use, but also with my students. I think it is a great way to do group work. The calendar is something else I will inform my students about. I use it and love it because it reminds me daily of the things I have going on. It will be helpful for me as a teacher, and for my students as well.

I found the video to be very uplifting. Rene has obviously had a rough life, but her attitude is one we can all learn from. She has a passion and it is something that she is pursuing. Though she knows she is not in the ideal situation with her mom, she knows that she can make the best of it. I could be better at this. I need to be more positive in approaching situations and make the outcome the best I can. This is also something I want to teach my students. It is an important lesson in life, and one that can make life more enjoyable as well.