Blogging Activity Thoughts

I thought that the blogging activity with the students was a really neat & great idea. It was impressive to see how well they were able to communicate with us & each other using technology, such as the internet & a blog. I have not been out of school that long, but it still surprises me how much technology has changed & become such a big part of the curriculum. I always had computer classes during school, but we mainly learned how to type & make little projects. We were never allowed to use the internet until we got to High School. But even then, it was very protected & only for research purposes. We were never given the opportunity to blog with another class of students our age or college students! I think if we had blogged, it would of been an enjoyable & good learning experience. My only slight concern would be to always make sure that comments & blog postings are read over by the teacher first, before they are allowed to be posted (like how our comments needed approval). I would probably use blogging with my future class. It is a way for the students to receive more input, opinions, & to learn even more.

Scratch

Scratch Content Standards:

21C.S.PK-2.1: The student will access, analyze, manage, integrate, evaluate, and create information in a variety of forms using appropriate technology skills and communicate that information in an appropriate oral, written, or multimedia format.

RLA.6.1.13: Students will spell commonly misspelled words, easily confused words and words with irregular endings across the curriculum.



Here is the Scratch that I choose to Remix:


http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/pinkguin121/714323



I decided to change the background color, font type, & size of the cat. This made the scratch look more visually appealing & easier to look at.



Here is the Scratch after I Remixed it:

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/mrsmalott/793450

Irish Dance Presentation

I am trying to upload my Power Point before class, like we are supposed to.. but I do not know how to. It will not let me from the Google Docs & I do not know where else it would get uploaded from or how to do it. I have been trying for awhile now, & I guess I will have to wait to class to do it. sorry!

Dr Jenkins - Convergence Culture

Dr Henry Jenkins explains in his video that convergence culture is a mixture of new media with the old. The new media doesn't completely take over, making the old media disappear. Rather, the old and new media blend together to make the new convergence culture.

Convergence culture can be seen by integration of technology into the classroom. Instead of teachers using traditional chalkboards and filmstrips, teachers are now integrating the use of SmartBoards into their classes. These SmartBoards can be used for everything, even for the child to use under the teacher's supervision. By incorporating technology into the classroom, the students are able to learn and understand how to use the different types of media that is out there. This allows them to be comfortable working with technology, which is important in our culture.

Schools restrict the use of technology by not allowing students to use their cell phones, social networking sites, YouTube, or iPods. Under proper supervision, they can be used as different ways to learn and answer questions. They can be a distraction or cause trouble if not used properly, but that is another reason they should be allowed. Students can learn how to properly use these technological tools for learning purposes, by guidance and monitoring done by the teachers. It is important to incorporate technology into the classroom, in all of the different aspects, because students need to learn how to properly use it. Technology is only going to get bigger in our culture, and proper understanding and use of it is essential.

Presentation

I am going to be doing my presentation on Irish Dancing. This is something I have personally been involved in since I was 10 years old, & can make for a fascinating lesson. I think it could be taught in a classroom during a lesson based around St Patricks Day, & teaching about Ireland & their culture. I have actually did a mini lesson on Irish Dancing with an After School Program (children ages 5-10) & they all loved it!! I hope to teach everyone something new!

Google Form & Graphs

My Google Form Survey:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGl3SkxONFcyalZPSWVmaENmLU1NTkE6MA


My Crappy Graph:







http://crappygraphs.com/user_graphs/?id=4320



My Kid Zone Graph:







http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/index.asp?ID=18782b2c476544df90c2f65fe3c85e04

Website Validation - Lake Erie Monster Bessie?

Having grown up right by the "home" of the "Lake Erie Monster, Bessie", I thought it would be interesting to see what kind of things the internet had to say about this alleged monster...

The best website I found was http://www.monstertracker.com/. This website talks about the Lake Erie Monster; as well as Bigfoot, Mothman, UFOs, and Mysterious Water Mammoths. The website states that "The purpose of this website is to capture evidence that lake monsters exist, and that Bessie and her cousins should be studied by professional zoologists and cryptozoologists." Basically, the website is a bunch of urban legends and tall tales put online for people to read about. Dirk Vander Ploeg is the editor and publisher of the website. He doesn't state to have any education or experience in a field to be able to truly determine the existence of these things, but that he simply enjoys learning and talking about them. I would have to say that this website is not credible, based on it all being about alleged sightings and rare species with no scientific evidence backing it up.