Shane's IP&T 286 Blog

Blog resource: http://k12instructionaltechnology.wikispaces.com/ELABlogs

Lesson Plan: http://k12instructionaltechnology.wikispaces.com/Shane+Hill’s+AAVE+Lesson+Plan

I really liked the familiarity that I developed with new technologies, particularly the ability to create a class website as well as the time that I had with MindMeister as I created my lesson plan.  I look forward to implementing these technologies in my future classroom.  I see the website as being very useful for my students and myself.  It will allow me to focus on the students and the content in the classroom as opposed to a bunch of busy/clerical work.  I also feel like the parents will enjoy the opportunity to be more  involved in their child’s education.  I foresee MindMeister as being a great asset for the students.  It is very interactive and allows them to collaborate, something that I deem as very important in the educational process.  Because technology has and continues to become so central to everything we do in life, I think it is important to remain in sync with what is new and develop valid ways to institute it into my classroom.

1. What were the most important things I learned from the readings? – I think the most important thing to realize is the vulnerability that comes with the internet.  No one is immune, with children there’re predators, with adults identity theft, etc.
2. How will what I have read influence my actions as a parent and/or teacher of children and youth? – I have thought about this prior to having read/viewed the sources for this assignment.  It is difficult to say what I will do especially since we know that things will be ever changing.  I will obviously do my best to get effective virus software and then I will try to establish rules that will hopefully allow for positive (non-technological) communication. . .  Really it is hard to say until I am in the situation.
3. How can I use what I have learned from the reading to have a positive influence on family and friends? – It is important to educate others because a lot of people are ignorant to the risks that accompany Internet use.
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?  Yes, I am aware to an extent, which means I also know how to prevent cyber bullying to an extent.  I will need to do more research/hands on work with this.
5. What internet safety issues am I likely to face as a teacher and how will I address them? – Plagarism, pornography, inappropriate use of time (i.e. looking up videos/sports as opposed to doing what is required).  I will need to view district/school policies and develop my own philosophy that I am able to enforce.

The parents I worked with know/knew that internet safety is a problem.  They are older parents of 10 (around ages 55-60), the three youngest are still at home (18, 15, 10).   Cyber-bullying is a sort of foreign topic to them, but they are well aware of the ills of pornography.  They have an intense filter on their network that allows no access to potentially dangerous cites (facebook is allowed, but MySpace is blocked).  Their children are like my siblings, so I too am concerned for their safety, especially since the kids spend a lot of time on the computer.  I advised them a little further of other dangers that people face on the internet aside from pornography.  They were receptive and interested in learning more about cyber-bullying.

In all honesty the majority of the videos were painful to watch!   Mainly the Social Studies ones!  I would have to say that my favorite Lit video was the Diigo/Mindmeister video.  The ideas are ides that already exist so I do not feel like it would be to hard to try and use the technology while learning some crazy new strategy.  And I feel that the Diigo/Mindmeister combo will make essay creating easier and more effective.  The IPad idea is a good idea but seems very impractical to me.  They didn’t mention if every student will have access or not.  The cost seems a little out of hand, sure the IPad is fairly cheap, but there are no drives and it seems like the uses are limited.  I could be wrong.  My favorite was the Diigo/Mindmeister idea.

I am unsure why the quality is so poor on the youtube version of my video. In IMovie it looked great. I am assuming that it may be because I had to transfer it and download it several times that it was compressed and the quality was sacrificed. When I get a chance I may try and reload it to youtube and then see if the quality improves.

The above is a video that would emulate what I would expect from a student.  The assignment would be something along the lines of — find a poem that speaks to you. Why is this poem so strong to you personally? Create a presentation using audio and video that helps your audience see the poem as you see it.
The poem I chose to read is Langston Hughes’s “Let America Be America Again.”  I recorded my reading with Garageband and created the movie with IMovie. I chose images that I thought effectively communicated what the poem was saying.

Core:

1.3.a Analyze themes in literature and their connection to politics, history, culture, and economics

3.2.a Determine audience and purpose for oral presentations (e.g., to inform, to persuade, to entertain).

3.2.d Present orally using visual aids/technology for support.

Mind Map/Monster Lesson Plan This link will provide access to the lesson plan that will aid my students in investigating dialects through creating a MindMeister MindMap.  I am sorry that it took me so long to update/upload.  I sent an invitation to view the MindMap to Dr. West.  Thanks

The first video I looked at was Martin Luther King and Civil Rights Movement.  This video does a good job at following the copyright guidelines.  One possible problem is that the I Have a Dream video does not have any credits attributed to it, but the guidelines say that when used for educational purposes multimedia may be used without permission.  The problem arises however with the photos.  The guidelines say: Single (photo) works may be used in their entirety, but no more than five images by a single artist or photographer may be used.  Since no photographer was mentioned I do not know whether or not any off the images are from the same photographer.  I really like the video and do not see any immediate problems with it.

Video number two is Introduction to English Phonology.  I thought that I was going to have to bash on this video until I saw their credits at the end of the video.  This video uses a song by Coldplay but gives the band credit and attributes all of the information that was used in the video to the 3rd chapter of Essential Linguistics.   Just as the MLK video failed to do, this video made no mention of where the graphics came from.  A very good thing they did was regulate the amount of time that they used the Coldplay song.  Not only did they cite the fact that they used the song, but they managed to use less than 30 seconds of the song, as advised in the Technology and Learning: Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines for Teachers.

Upon completing my artifact for this project, I reviewed the criteria for the PTP and noticed that my artifact is supposed to be something that my students will be creating and not myself.  With that said I will present my artifact now but with intentions on rewriting my lesson plan so that my lesson educates the students on dialects and codes, but leaves the artifact that I was originally making in front of the class as a collaborative project for students to do.  So with no further ado i present the Behavior and AAVE MindMeister MindMaps.  The behavior MindMap comes first and then the link attached to the “AAVE” node on the behavior map connects to the AAVE mindmap.  Each of these maps contain media (photos or video).  I will now exert my energy into editing my lesson plan so as to reflect the instruction that would take place to produce an artifact like the one(s) attached in this post

After having looked around at the possibilities with the Interactive Whiteboard, I decided that it would be hard to gain access and provide a quality experiences or lesson for my students.  With that said, I switched my focus to Mindmeister Mind Mapping.  I have developed a lesson plan that teaches dialects, codes, and code switching, by focusing on “Standard English” and African American Vernacular English (AAVE).  I have created my lesson plan on Google Docs and it may be accessed at: https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ASxt09VEydyVZGZzMjN3NF8xNDJxeHd6dnBjcA&hl=en . Enjoy what I have thus far, as I have the actual Mind Maps to follow!