The Bestest.

Take a look here.

Final Reflection

• What do you feel is the most useful technology (or teaching approach) you have learned this semester?

  It is difficult to say that there is one "most" useful technology that I have learned this semester, simply because I have learned so much. I value what I've learned, including google reader, google sites, google calendar (I now use it), blogger, prezi, and wikis. Perhaps the most useful, however, was in my personal technology project, learning about online, self publishing. I am very excited to take that technology into the classroom! Perhaps it is because I am an English major, and I love books unabashedly, but learning how to use and publish a book on that website was particularly enthralling.

I also am really excited to use google sites in the classroom. I had no clue about that stuff, but now I can totally use it like it's nothing. It is a tool in my hand I intend to use.

• How do you plan to use this or other technologies in your future teaching?

  I plan on using the self-publishing site, wordclay, in the classroom to create student anthologies. I also may have students create their own, personal anthologies of what they've written in class, especially if the class has them write a lot. I love writing, and teaching writing, so I hope that will be a part of what I do in the future.

• How can you use technologies (the ones we learned or others) to engage your students in ACTIVE learning?

 Students are engaged when they feel like the work they do is valuable. Knowing that other people (besides myself, the teacher) will read what they've written makes it more important to them that what they create is quality stuff. Having a class website, blog, and using self publishing give that to students in a way that I would not be able to create on my own as their teacher.

When it comes to wikis, I was really excited by the possibilities I saw in it. Depending on the class being taught, and the students in it, I believe that wikis could make classes more interactive, valuable, and engaging for students. Personally, I am taking a teaching grammar class right now, and a particularly valuable resource is the class wiki. It is a lexicon of grammatical examples. I intend to use it in planning lesson plans like monks used feathers in writing Bibles. Wikis can be so valuable. Doing something like that, with the wiki examples, or creating a class study guide wiki for whatever class it is, could really enhance students' learning!

Wordclay

Here is a link to an anthology I assembled of poems and short stories that I have written. I published this book using wordclay.com, a self-publishing website.

It is, as Derrida would say, textually fabulous!

Personal Technology Project Proposal

One of my teaching teachers, Brenda Burr, loves to tell stories. She told us many stories about her experiences as an English Teacher, and she gave us good advice. Once she said, "Students love to feel like their work is important. Why not publish student works? It could be online, or through a writing contest, or you could compile your students' works in class. They love having their stuff be important -- not only to you, but to the outside world."

That is why I've decided to look into the self publishing websites for my personal technology project. I think it could be very useful to have a knowledge of how to use one of these websites in an English classroom.

I looked at both of the websites suggested, and I think I prefer wordclay. It looks more professional, and it seems easier to navigate.

There are a couple of things that I would use this technology for in the classroom. The first, is for ambitious student writers (especially in a writing class). For some classes, I will have big projects that students can self-publish here. They also can publish their portfolio here, compiling all their work from the class into one book. They also can compile their works into small group anthologies or class anthologies. I am most interested in students putting personal projects together and publishing it that way, and classroom anthologies for the entire class.

I will be putting together an example of a student's personal anthology. I will pretend that I have been taking a creative writing class, and this project will be the sum of all my work in that particular class. Students will be able to design it themselves, including the cover, layout, and illustrations or photographs.

It is a very exciting project! I have never used anything like this before, and I am excited to learn all about this technology. It is so cool.

Internet Safety, Part II

I talked to my Mom about internet safety. This is what she told me when I asked:

"Give out no personal info- like phone number or address
chatrooms aren't worth it - they're not safe
gmail chat with someone you already know is fine
computers should be in a main living area."

Then I asked her about online dating, and this is what she said:

"No online relationships!"

But then I asked her if she knew what any of the rules are, regardless of whether or now you SHOULD ever have one:

"risky, though some work out. Like Nathan (my cousin).
I mean, this is not someone you already know, but someone met on internet
it's not a good idea.
rules: reputable source, 3rd party source- not alone, backed up by someone reputable
public place, not alone, not at dark."

 I shared with her this website:

http://sites.google.com/site/technologyinahouseoflearning/learn-to-protect/learn-about-internet-safety

Because I felt that it has a lot of good links to information about internet safety. I felt that the conversation went really well. My Mom already knows a lot about internet safety, so she didn't feel like I was preaching at her or anything. We were just sharing what we knew. It was a really good conversation, actually!

Internet Safety, Part I

There are a lot of videos out there about internet safety. I found this video to be especially compelling. Its visual rhetoric is spot-on:



This one's just funny:



These are some of the articles that I read, and found especially insightful:

Just a Game? by Charles Knutson
Things as They Really Are by David Bednar
Parenting in the Internet Age by a panel of experts

1. What were the most important things I learned from the readings?

The most important thing I learned, in my opinion, is that parents must be vigilant and responsible when it comes to their children and the internet. It's about keeping them safe, healthy, and happy. Children need to be protected and guided.

2. How will what I have read influence my actions as a parent and/or teacher of children and youth?

I feel that being a teacher is similar to being a parent. The warning was going out to parents, and true, teachers have less control over and less responsibility for a child, but the influence and responsibility is still there. There is a lot of good that a teacher can do for a child in their classroom. I will take that responsibility seriously.

3. How can I use what I have learned from the reading to have a positive influence on family and friends?

Being safe is a positive thing. If I am not paranoid, nor overbearing, my influence to make everyone a little safer will be a good thing.

4. Am I aware of the benefits and dangers children face when online with cyber bullying and online predators? Do I know how to prevent cyberbullying?

There is a lot to be learned online. Children have resources available to them that I didn't even have just a few years ago. There also are dangers - more dangers, perhaps, than I even faced - which must be avoided. Using simple precautions, such as not putting pictures, addresses, phone numbers, or gender specific user names, are a good way to start being internet safe.

5. Where can I go for information and resources that can be used to teach internet safety?

There are tons of resources online! The FBI has guidlines, but there also are other great resources online, such as simply youtube videos, or Ensign articles. The church has published safety guidelines, even.

6. What internet safety issues am I likely to face as a teacher and how will I address them?

Using a class website or class blog presents some safety issues. Luckily, I can privatize these things so that only certain users can view them. I can also be sure to caution my students about the hazards of cyber citizenship.

7. How can I leverage the power of the Internet so students can learn, but in a safe way?

Students are smart. They want to be safe. By telling them specific guidelines for internet safety, I have already made them safer. I can show them good resources for using the internet - where to go, how to research, stuff like that.

Tumblr

A friend of mine mentioned Tumblr to me on Sunday, and I decided to check it out.

It's freaky awesome.

It's like a blog, but so much more: You can simply email things to the site and have it posted that way, as well as posting it from the tumblr site. You can reblog things easily, and it has its own tumblr reader.

My favorite thing, as a future teacher, is the moderator aspect. On a blogger blog, for example, you can have multiple authors, but there isn't a device for moderation, as far as I can tell. Tumblr, on the other hand, does. Isn't that lovely?

So, imagine me, an English teacher (yippee!) with a classroom blog. I use blogger. One of my kids is having trouble at home, so (s)he makes trouble on the blog: posting inappropriate things, be it pictures, words, or other. I don't check the blog that day, and half of my students, being in love with English (of course), get on and see it before I have a chance to take it down.

Parents get angry. Students get scared. The administration gets involved, including the school board, and possibly my Bishop, too. My blogging days are over.

Now refocus.

Instead, I use tumblr, and the same situation happens. Instead of everyone seeing the post, I have to approve it, so it doesn't go on until I see it, and I don't post it because I'm responsible, and I have the opportunity to take that student aside and address the deeper issue at hand without a mob of angry parents leaping down my throat, wondering why their child's class blog had swear words on it. Or whatever. It could get really out of hand, you know. Especially in middle school.

The likelihood is that a student wouldn't even be inclined to even submit such a post knowing that I moderate it.

I haven't done VERY much on tumblr, but I think it might be a very attractive option for a classroom blog.

Here's a link to my tumblr blog:

My Tumblr!