Great Presentations

1) There was a lot of stuff that I learned in class on Monday. I really feel like watching each other is one of the best ways to learn. I loved how Cassandra incorporated questioning into her presentation. I missed the boat on connecting my teaching style with a presentation, thinking it was more of a speech. How she included the students in the discussion was really thoughtful. I also really enjoyed Rogers presentation and kept thinking how that would be a great way to introduce yourself as a teacher to your class during the first week. I think I might steal the idea and use it for some of my international travels!

2) Unfortunately the tech didn't  work for a couple of people. By over loading the presentation with video clips either the server or program couldn't handle it and made two presentations less affective. I am not really tech savy but I thought maybe if you do it as a link instead of embedded it might take some of the strain off the system. I could very well be wrong about this one. But regardless, due to the missing examples in both presentations unfortunately some impact was lost. Also I felt that in Andy's presentation the equations were a little hard to read and understand but his hand-out rectified this problem. So I would suggest maybe just having the equations on the reference sheet and the concepts on the presentation. I feel as if the lack of mathematical applications might simply be a weak point of prezi.

3) I really would like to have included a few of the tactics utilized by others. I should have incorporated in some student interaction time. It could have been questions or personal stories or a variety of things but involvement by the students would have made it more affective. I also liked Andy's worksheet idea. This could be another way for me to involve students. The third thing  I would have changed was my interaction with the smartboard. I should have utilized the pens to draw attention to specific things and show movement. But now I know for next time!

4) I honestly don't know how I fell about powerpoint in the classroom yet. I think it is a great way for students to get their hands on technology and use as a presentation tool but it felt to much like a speech for me. If I really modified my style and made it more casual, more students involved and less technical I think I might use it in the classroom. I like the idea of visuals to back up the topics I am lecturing on I just feel tethered and less able to diverge if a particular area of interest arises. I would not change my decision on Friday because I think that prezi is to fast for me (makes me a little motion sick) and the Smartboard would not have allowed me practice time at home. I think that powerpoint is the most practical for me. The pros of visually striking evidence certainly exist and are numerous. Yet I think modification of my prepared lesson would make it more fit for a classroom setting.

5) Due to my concerns expressed in the previous question I do not believe I will lecture in class exactly as I did in this course on Monday. I love the way in which powerpoint presents images and I believe that I will utilize it for that purpose. No words will be found on my slides, but visual evidence to support the information I will be teaching and on the worksheet I hand out. The powerpoint will not be the focus of the lecture but simply an accompaniment to the casual conversation I will be having with my students. I really support free thought and creativity in my classroom and thus do not support a rigid daily lesson plan. Powerpoint makes me feel roped into a specific time frame and structure which might turn out to not be what works best for my students that day. Therefore, I want to utilize powerpoints visual powers in a more flexible manner in my classroom.

Social Networking in the classroom

1) I personally believe that it can potentially create more harm then benefit in the classroom. As Carter writes in her article Have You Googled Your Teacher Lately "Disastrous consequences can ensue, and the authors urge educators to consider the potential outcomes before they post." Proper planning indeed is helpful in protecting the teacher but a great deal of what is threatening about social networking is out of the teachers hands. In situations such as facebook, one cannot control who comments on pages. For instance in the article by Harriet L. Schwartz she runs into the problem of a "a long-lost high-school friend posted on my
wall something like: "Hey Harriet, I think I remember when we were at that party. . . ." Even if you delete the comment as soon as you see it it is more than likely that the damage has already been done. Therefore, I believe that students and teaches should only be social in reality and not in virtual reality.

                

2) While I think a great deal of issues can be avoided by simply thinking before acting, I do not feel as if teachers should have to censor themselves when few other professions require such discretion. For example, Carter talks about the gentlemen who had violent images on his myspace. Many people would argue that this is simply a form of artistic expression and I believe that he should be allowed to express that. By editing his settings he was able to prevent unwanted eyes examining this but the implication is the same. When we open up our own social network to our students we are forced to self censor. I personally believe that the two worlds should remain separate and that way the student is protected from anything undesirable and maintains the teachers privacy and autonomy.

3) Seeing as I do not agree with social networking in the classroom I am at a very low threat level for online bullying in my classroom but it is a very real thing for many other teacher choosing to utilize it. We have all heard of suicides and other scary situations that incessant online bullying has created. Due to the high risk and severity of the issue I believe that teachers should be aware and monitoring for such discrepancies. In Ramig's article she suggests that "Don't freak out and shut down access if you find kids doing activities that are disturbing. Use this as a time to talk with and listen to your students." I think that in the early stages this is the best way to handle the situation. Once it has been discussed in your classroom, a no tolerance policy should go into effect. If poor judgment continues, an administrator should be involved.

Marc Prensky - Digital Natives and Immigrants

I found this series of articles very interesting. Technology is certainly something that as teachers we will be dealing with on a daily bases and it is important to understand the many items that our students are using. I do believe that I am a digital native due to my use of  "Computer games, email, the Internet, cell phones and instant messaging" and how these have been an "integral parts of [my life]." Based off of Prensky's definition of a native, I feel as if on the surface level I am able to connect with my students about the different technologies in their lives. The purpose of this course, as I see it, is to find ways to use technology to meaningfully and positively affect the education process of our students. By doing this, we are giving our students an avenue to relate what they enjoy doing to their studies. I do feel that by being a digital native I do have a slight advantage in accomplishing this goal.

The variety of technologies that I have seen used in classrooms has been very minimal until my experiences at Concordia. Many of my former instructors would have fallen into the digital immigrant category and due to this used simplified technology. Overhead projectors and graphing calculators was about all I saw utilized at my high school and even at university saw similar techniques. My undergraduate experience was very similar to the one mentioned in the first of Prensky's articles. "I went to a highly ranked college where all the professors came from MIT," says a former student. "But all they did was read from their textbooks. I quit." While I did stick it out till the end, it certainly did feel like absorption of spoken information and regurgitation. This is hardly an affective teaching style.

While I might have been able to thrive and make it to today without a technological classroom, I cannot say that this will be the case with my students. I feel as if the lack of technology was more of a hindrance than helpful throughout my student career and hope to right that with my students. In my math classes if I had been given a computer program to help me learn graphing or an interactive game on the smart board for my times tables I know that I would have become a better mathematician. In this next generation I do not believe that these technologies will be only helpful but necessary. As Prensky puts it "Kids born into any new culture learn the new language easily, and forcefully resist using the old." If we do not speak the language of our students how can we impart any wisdom?

While I had previously understood the importance of technology in the classroom, these articles really clued me in on the why. I never thought of my generation as "digital natives" but the term and rational makes complete sense. We as a culture have been constantly assaulted with text messages, i-pods, video games and wireless Internet. With this over stimulation it is no wonder students are finding the old school way of teaching uninteresting. Prensky hit the nail on the head by stating "Every time I go to school I have to power down," complains a high-school student." I want to incorporate technology in my classroom in many different ways. The smartboard is a fantastic tool that I truly want to get my hands on. In social studies we could play a variety of games such as 'who wants to be a millionare' that would really keep students active and engaged. I also love the idea of documentaries. Students always say that these films are boring and slow. Well I say let them reinvent the wheel! Show me how YOU would make a documentary. Over all, I have found these articles to be enlightening and have truly set a positive tone for this course.

Introduction

Hi Y'all!!! My name is ErinWeninger and I am super excited to start my first blog. Yes, I am a bit behind the curve here but hey, better late than never. I am pursuing a Social Sciences and Speech endorsements and cannot wait to get deeper into our individual content areas. My all time favorite food is homemade stove-top popcorn. But being raised in a German household, as far as meals go, the best way to reach my soul is with good old fashioned hearty German grub. If anyone ever wants to make a trip to Gustav's with me I am always down for fondue. So that's a little bit about me!