Week 15 Course Reflection

a. Coming into this course, what was your level of tech skill? (remember the first week, where we rated ourselves on a 1-10 scale?) Did you find it easy to adapt to the ways we used technology in this class? What was difficult for you? What was easy?

At the beginning of the semester I rated myself a two on tech skill. I had a harder time early on and my assignments took longer than they should have because I was learning more about the computer than just what our assignment entailed. The most difficult assignment for me was creating a google drawing with a classmate. Since this was new to me, I needed to work at a slower pace. My partner was really fast and we were only given a short time to complete it. I felt that most of the assignments given during the second half of the semester were pretty easy.

b. What have been your favorite activity/assignment in class so far and why?

After playing around with google drive on my own time, I really enjoyed that and think my students would as well. I also enjoyed making a power point and think this would be a great way to present information to students. I enjoyed creating a blog and learning to use other teachers' blogs to gain teaching ideas.

c. Do you think you can easily incorporate your tech knowledge and skills into your role as a teacher?
Yes, I can definitely use the knowledge and skills I learned from this class into my role as a teacher. I need to continue exploring new ideas and improving on the things that I have learned. I am looking forward to using what I have learned into my classroom.

d. Out of all the tools we've  learned about so far this semester, which ones do you see using the most frequently as a teacher?

I will use the websites that we learned about to make online quizzes, games, puzzles etc... I will use the snipping tool and google drawing to help create teaching lessons. I will use pinterest and blogs to gather ideas to use in my classroom.

e. As we approach finals week, what do you want to know MORE about in Ed Tech? What are you still curious about?

I would like to learn and explore more online learning activities we as teachers can use in the classroom. I also would be interested in learning about options for classroom management using technology. As a teacher of primary grades, I would like to learn more ways to use technology to to help improve the reading abilities of children.

f. Do you think your level of tech skill/knowledge has increased so far this semester? If so, how?

I definitely think my tech skills and knowledge have increased this semester. Prior to this class, I only used the basics of the computer such as, Facebook, email, google etc... If there was ever something I needed that I did not know how to do, I would just ask one of my children for help. This class forced me to take the time to explore, experiment and master skills that I never tried before. Therefore, I am really glad that I took this class.

Lesson Plan Supplemental Materials

The students will learn about insects.  They will learn about the different body parts, what they eat, where they live, the role they play in the environment, and other interesting facts.  The students will work with a partner to make a poster including specific information about their chosen insect.  They will use clay to make a model of their insect showing the different body parts. The partners will then use story-bird to write a story about their insect. Throughout the unit, the students will have opportunities to use microscopes with pre-made bug slides and observe the transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly.  
The students will develop abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry.  They will learn the characteristics and needs of living things. They will compare and contrast. They will write clear sentences and paragraphs that develop a central idea.  

1.https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/13w2D1QpWoU0N2pbtBSSkTT7ZgTGi84O1MriKbATl_yw/edit#slide=id.p

I would present this presentation to the students early in the lesson to teach them some of the basics about insects.  They also will be able to access it online on their own.

2. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aTy9gyw8uX0XMZMNbYl4svc4GHbbGMLFrLgyccm6swQ/edit

The students will complete this puzzle after they have seen the insect presentation.  These questions are similar to the ones they will have on their quiz which will help them prepare for it.

3. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1NxJtkpZepPtm4uTTf4hAhoAO9BCkOSnX7TIEk3-VQGg/viewform  

Since there are other assignments the students will be graded on during the lesson, this is just a quiz and not a test.  The quiz covers basic information they are expected to know by the end of the unit. The quiz will be taken online at the end of the lesson.   

Tech Tool Review

Pinterest in the Classroom

1.What did you learn from the PINTEREST activity? I learned that this is another way to find great ideas to use in my classroom.  

2.How do you believe you will utilize PINTEREST as a teacher? I will use pinterest as a resource to get ideas from other teachers of my grade level and share ideas with them. As I explore further, if I find that young students can use pinterest, I will have my students use it. 

3.What are the strengths of PINTEREST? Since users of pinterest pin their favorites to their board, it should be easy to find great ideas and ones that will be successful in the classroom. It seems fairly easy to use.

4.What are some of the challenges of PINTEREST? Some of the organization is a little challenging. I will have to continue playing around with it to get a greater understanding of it.

5.What comments, questions, thoughts, opinions, and/or feedback do you have about PINTEREST? I am glad that I finally have a pinterest account. I think this will be a great resource as a teacher. I will also use it for other ideas such as recipes. My only concern is that I will spend too much time playing around with it.

Growing Up Online

“Growing Up Online” is a documentary about the effects the internet is having on today’s young people and the concerns of their parents and teachers.  
1. A survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that in 2004, 67 percent of parents said the Internet has been a good thing for their children. However, this number decreased to 59 percent in 2006. Why do you think the number of parents who reported the Internet being a good thing for their children has decreased?
I think the number of positive responders in regards to internet usage by their children has decreased due to new websites geared to teenagers.  As Myspace and Facebook started to become more popular among young people, parents started seeing more questionable use of the computer by their children.  Due to these concerns, fewer parents are seeing the internet as a good thing for their children.   

2. More teachers are using tools to try to detect cheating or deter students’ inclination to cheat. In the program, we see the use of plagiarism-detection tools like Turnitin.com and writing assignments completed during class time to make sure students do their own work and generate their own ideas. In terms of student writing, what are some different types of "cheating"? What are the elements you would include in your definition of "cheating"?
Due to the fact that it is so readily available, students are tempted to cheat on their writing assignments.  Students will try to plagiarize in some way.  Prior to Turnitin.com, students could fairly easily get by with copying and pasting someone else’s words and using them as their own.  Students continue to try to use someone else’s words as their own by changing their sequence or inserting a few of their own words into the sentence.  Another way students cheat in writing without using plagiarism, is to use someone else’s ideas.  Instead of thinking for themselves, they get the ideas from someone else and then write it in their own words.  
I believe cheating is receiving or trying to receive credit for work that really is not yours.  I would go as far as to say, cheating is anything a student does that shortchanges their education, because in reality, they are cheating themselves.  

3. One student claims he "never reads books" but relies on summaries and annotated notes he finds on Web sites. He confesses that he feels guilty about this, stating, "I feel like I kind of cheated it." Should he feel guilty? Why or why not?
This student absolutely should feel guilty about his behavior because he is cheating.  He is turning in incomplete work with the intentions of receiving credit for the complete assignment.  When a student is given an assignment to read a book, there is a lot more involved in this experience than just learning what the story is about and being able to answer a few questions.  There is a lot of learning that happens when students read which is why teachers give reading assignments.  Unfortunately, a lot of students do not understand the value of a real education.  They try to get from point A to point B which as little effort and time as possible.  They do not understand and appreciate all of the learning that takes place between these two points.  

4. Before the Internet, in order to be seen by the world, you had to be portrayed in some form of mass media, and you had to be famous in some respect -- in the news, in politics or as a celebrity. Now anyone can be seen online by anyone else in the world. Some people have become famous for videos or photos they’ve posted (such as Autumn Edows). What are the positive and negative consequences of blurring the line between being a celebrity and a regular person?
The internet has given more people the opportunity to be recognized for a talent and to actually become famous for it. If a person is a talented singer, they might post a Youtube video of them singing and receive hundreds of positive, encouraging comments from strangers. This really helps them grow in their confidence.  They might never become a famous singer, but online they can.
As far as being one person in the real world and another online can have positive and negative effects.  Using Autumn as an example, the positive effect was that her confidence in herself really grew.  Young people struggle with how they feel about themselves based on what others say about them.  Online, she was able to express a side of herself that she could not in the real world.  A negative consequence is that she is living a double life.  This can add a lot of pressure to an already challenging time in her life.  She can become very confused as to who she really is and live a life that is a lie.  Although it might be fun for awhile, eventually it could lead to her not knowing who she really is and being able to accept herself.

5. Shows like "To Catch a Predator" on Dateline NBC contribute to parental anxiety about online media. What elements of this FRONTLINE program are likely to increase parents’ fears? What elements of the program might be reassuring?
One element of this Frontline program that could increase parents’ fears is the story about the girl who struggled with an eating disorder. This is fearful because it seems to communicate that there is no limit as to what children are able to access online.  There are so many negative issues that children may be exposed to as they grow up that it is scary to know there are websites that encourage them in destructive behaviors.  Another story that would cause parental fear, is about the boy who met a stranger online who encouraged him to commit suicide.  
Parents would be reassured by the comments that the students made about potential online predators.  Everyone who spoke about the issue seemed to be well aware of the problem and seemed to know how to respond if a stranger tried to communicate with them.  The students communicated that their online activity is with their friends.  

6. Teasing, lying, gossiping, threatening, spreading rumors or harassing online (and offline)can severely affect people’s self-concept and self-esteem and have an impact on their emotional state. In the program, we see one girl who describes flirting with boys and then revealing she was just kidding. She explains: "You wouldn’t do that to someone’s face, but online is completely different. ... No one can do anything. You’re at your house, they’re at their house." What are some of the short- and longer-term consequences of this behavior for life online and in the real world?
Young people are choosing to treat others online in ways they never would if face to face.  Everyone has times when they become upset with someone.  With the use of the internet, teens are much more likely to vent their frustration or anger in some way.  When it used to have to be done face to face or behind a person’s back, it was a lot more mild and often just forgotten.  Now, teens are becoming bolder and meaner because they feel there won’t be a consequence to their behavior since it is done in privacy. Another consequence of this behavior is that a lot more people get involved in the drama leading to escalation.  Teens are dealing with a lot more bullying than ever before and they are often dealing with it alone since a lot of parents are not a part of their child’s online life.  This has been shown to lead to great problems with the most horrific being suicide.  Since the teens who are bullying are being able to do it privately, they are doing it more frequently and being more extreme with their meanness.  
A long term consequence is how this all affects a person’s self esteem.  The damage done to how a person feels about him or herself can carry on into their adulthood. Another consequence of this behavior is that is can follow the perpetrator. As they grow older, they will have to deal with the fact that they were so mean to someone else.   Also, future employers have the ability to access their online activity from the past.

7. At the end of the program, Greg decides it’s time for him to "disconnect" by going to the Coast Guard Academy, where he will spend seven weeks without cell phones or the Internet. Have you ever thought about "disconnecting" from it all? Do you think it would be easy or difficult? What would you enjoy or dislike about disconnecting?
I have never thought about “disconnecting” from it all, because I do not feel that it is an obsession for me.  Although, I do think it would be difficult to do because it has become such a way of life.  I have become accustomed to being able to contact friends and family so easily that I do not plan ahead like I once did. I also think it would be difficult because people are so used to being able to reach me .  I use email for so much that if I disconnected, it would be similar to taking all of my mail that used to come via snail mail and leaving it to pile up in the mailbox outside.  There would definitely be negative consequences to the behavior. I would dislike having to readjust my way of life if I disconnected.  On the other hand, I would enjoy not being able to be reached by others all of the time and expected to respond.  I would also enjoy not being tempted to waste time on Facebook and Instagram.

ORC Lesson Plan

 This is a science lesson plan for first graders.  Using the internet, the students will explore insects.  I will have some live insects in the classroom for observation.  The students will then pick one to learn more about and make of model of it.  As they makes plans for their model, they will be learning about specific body parts and the uses of them.

LIFE SCIENCE - GRADE 1
Basic Needs of Living Things
Living things have basic needs, which are met by obtaining materials from the physical environment.
Living things survive only in environments that meet their needs.
NATIONAL SCIENCE EDUCATION STANDARDS
Science as Inquiry
Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry (Grades Kindergarten - 4)
Life Science
The characteristics of organisms (Grades Kindergarten - 4)
These Common Core standards will be met when the students observe, read about, and make a model of their chosen insect.  They will learn how the insect’s body allows it to survive in its environment.

I would use this lesson in the fall while we could go outside to observe insects in their natural environment.  I would have the students look through books and use the internet to expose them to numerous insects.  Trying to learn and understand the different parts and uses of an insect would be very challenging for first graders. It could also be very difficult for them to create a model of their chosen insect based on which they choose and what materials they decide to use.  Since this lesson also covers some of the Common Core standards for third graders, we would work with a third grade class to help with certain parts of the lesson. They would be responsible for answering the questions listed below.  















http://sciencenetlinks.com/lessons/insect-mo






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Assistive Technology for Students with Dyslexia

   Dyslexia is listed under Learning Disabilities in the categories of disabilities of IDEA. This problem often goes undetected in the early years, because children develop academically at different ages.  Dyslexia is caused by the brain's inability to take the images that are seen and heard and turn them into an understandable language.  The severity of dyslexia can range from mild to severe.  During testing of people with severe dyslexia, it was seen that the side of the brain that is mostly used for reading was very inactive, while the opposite side was working extremely hard.   Having dyslexia as a student, causes a lot of learning struggles.  These children struggle to learn to read because they do not see the written language as the average person does.  As they do begin to learn, their reading fluency is very slow because they have to read word by word instead of seeing several words at a time. They struggle with comprehension because they lose the meaning since they have to stop and decode so many words.  These children also struggle with spelling.  They cannot close their eyes and picture a word like other children.  Since math is a form of reading and processing to solve the problem, children with this disability often struggle in this subject as well.  Unfortunately, these students will struggle with more subjects as they get older and have to do more independent reading in subjects such as science and history.   

   One assistive technology for children with dyslexia is Bookshare which is the world's largest online library. https://www.bookshare.org/_/home/learnMore This online library is free and provides about 90,000 digital books, textbooks and books recommended by teachers for any student in the U.S. who qualifies.  The qualifying students are given the password that their school uses in order to access the books.  The students can complete reading assignments in a timely manner when using these books.  

   There are electronic pens that can help students with dyslexia. http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/tools/software-assistive-technology   One is called Livescribe SmartPen.  Often these students have a difficult time keeping up with taking notes during a class lecture.  This pen will record the lecture at the same time the student is using it to write notes.  If the students misses something, the pen can be tapped on the paper and they can hear what was missed.  The notes taken using this pen are transferred wirelessly to a device the student has set up to receive them such as a computer or Ipad.  There is also ReadingPen 2  that can help the struggling reader.  The pen can scan a text and then it can be enlarged to make it easier to read.  The pen can read the text aloud and break a word into syllables so the reader can sound it out.  It also comes with vocabulary games and a thesaurus.

   So much progress has been made to help students with dyslexia.  It was exciting to me to see all of the different devices that can help these children.  They will continue to develop  ATs that will eventually become more affordable and available in each school.  There will be more items like the SmartPen that will greatly benefit these students.  There will be apps that can be downloaded to a phone or Ipad that will help with decoding words and comprehension.   

References:

http://www.ncld.org/students-disabilities/assistive-technology-education/apps-students-ld-dyslexia-reading-difficulties

http://www.idaga.org/Downloads/AssistiveTechnologyForDyslexicStudents.pdf

http://www.medicinenet.com/dyslexia/page2.htm#what_causes_dyslexia_what_are_the_different_types_of_dyslexia

http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/tools/software-assistive-technology

My Xtranormal Video

1st Day of School
by: KNadolson

Interacting with student
In this video, I am greeting a little girl who comes into class early. We introduce ourselves and discuss what she did on her summer vacation. We talk about some of the things we will be doing in class and then she heads to her desk as the other students arrive.

Picmonkey

It was fun to play around with Picmonkey.  I am sure my students will really enjoy it.  I changed the coloring to give it an antique look and added the overlays.  I chose the hearts since it is close to Valentine's Day.  I wrote Happy Valentine's Day on the bottom, but it was a poor choice of font.  My own children will have fun using this to make silly pictures of themselves and their friends.

Ohio DL Schools

   After looking at the five Ohio DL schools, I would choose Ohio Connections Academy if I was going to have my child do an online school.  They were the only e School that was rated excellent in 2010 by the Ohio Department of Education.  ODE's report card has shown two successive years of adding more than a year of academic growth for each student.  When I am making decisions about an investment, I like to see what others have to say about it.  Looking at this website, I see that 90+% of the families involved with OCA agree that the curriculum is high quality, that their children are satisfied with the program, the parents are satisfied with the teacher helpfulness and they would recommend the school to others.  I also like that they have field trips, clubs and other activities so the children involved can interact. 

   The e School that would be the last choice for my child is Virtual Community School.  I know the website is not the important part in deciding on a school, but theirs was not appealing.  I did not like that they were advertising a free laptop to promote their school. When reading about the school, it seemed that it was geared to students who had some reason they could not attend the public school, such as a physical or learning handicap or behavioral issues.  It did not seem to sell the idea that students should participate in this school because they will get a better education than in their public school.    

The Online Disinhibition Effect

This was very challenging for me. I was not familiar with how this worked, therefore I was very slow, while Melissa is very strong with her computer skills and quick. I felt like I was a beginner on the piano playing Mary Had a Little Lamb while Melissa was playing a piece from Mozart. I was very pleased with the end result. I really liked this assignment, so in my own "slow" time, my husband and I made one using OSU as our theme. This was fun to learn.

My Pipl Search

I was surprised by some of the information that I found in my search.  Every place I have lived was listed.  I was surprised to see some very minor events that I have been involved in on there.  One listing was not accurate.  It had some of my information including my husband's name, but also had a place in which I have never lived along with names of people I do not know. The only things I did not like that were on there were the names of my children and my phone number.  It only had two of my children, so if that is because they are of adult age, I am okay with that.  I do not have more of an online presence than I expected. 

My Presentation

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Rd4ZSOSbxLRKotgQqXCsLclgcygIQXKc0AkjYLfWVFQ/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000

My intended audience is potential employers.  I created my presentation in a way that my students would also enjoy it.  The content is to show my background, my interests and my experience with working with and teaching young children.
I used Powerpoint, because I have never created a presentation before and thought I might have questions that my children could answer since they have used the program.  I regret using it, because it ended up being very difficult for me to add to my blog. Also, after moving it to Google Drive, I lost some of the creativity that I initially had.   

Typing Test Results

Words Per Minute Test Your Typing Speed is 26 Words Per Minute. You typed 6 incorrect words. Your gross typing speed is 32 words per minute. Your accuracy is 81%.

Three Great Teacher Blogs

http://mscassidysclass.edublogs.org
 This blog is done very well and enjoyable to view.  Ms. Cassidy has shared some great ways to use technology in the classroom which is relevant to the age of students I enjoy teaching. I like that she has posted videos of her students and I think the students will greatly enjoy seeing themselves on here.
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/teaching-ideas
This blog is great because there are several teachers who work together to create it.  There are so many wonderful ideas posted here, from science lessons to ideas for organizing the classroom.  I will definitely visit this blog often.     
http://readingyear.blogspot.com
I like this blog because it discusses the use of current books to use in the classroom and gives ideas of how to use them.  I enjoy using a lot of literature when teaching and this blog will help me to know which books are good to use and which ones are not.

Welcome to my Blog

    My name is Karen and I am currently taking classes to renew my teaching license.  I stopped  teaching in the classroom several years ago to stay home with my children.  Now I am ready to return.  I am beginning this blog for an assignment in my class, Technology in the Classroom.  This class will be greatly beneficial to me, because the use of technology in schools has rapidly grown since I have been there. 
    During these years of not being in the classroom, I have been able to continue using my love of teaching and working with children.  I home schooled my four daughters during their elementary school years.  I have had the opportunity to teach Writing for our home school group, teach Sunday School and Vacation Bible School at our church, and have been a soccer and softball coach for several years.  I am now ready to return full time to my passion of teaching children.