Excel CrossWord

With Microsoft Excel I made a crossword puzzle.  It can be a useful tool for a classroom assignment as a teacher.  NETS 1-5

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Internet Safety Gogle Site

NETS 1-5

A guide to Internet Safety.  As done with EDU 422.

PSA imovie

NETS 1-3 and 5

This is a public service announcement I created with iMovie for EDUC 422.  It is about California State University San Marcos.

Inspiration

NETS 1-5

A visual organizer. The inspiration to be a teacher is the subject and how one can be led to become a successful teacher.

Journal #6 NETS 3-5

Warlick, D. (2009, March/April). Grow your personal learning network. Learning & Leading with Technology, 36(6), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/digital-edition-march-april-2009.aspx

The article was a very interesting article about PLN’s and RSS feeds that can be used in the classroom to help teachers teach their students.  What I liked most about the article is that it shows, through pictures and words, that a teacher becomes a great teacher if they start to think as a student learner as well as a teacher. 

            When it comes to PLN’s the article suggests that Personal Learning Networks have always been around.  They have just been adjusting from face to face networking during generations past to the social networking sites that we know today on the Internet.  Sites like Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, etc, have changed the way children, and students, interact with each other and how the communicate.  Communicating through the Internet and social networking has become nearly the only way children today communicate.  For that reason teachers need to savvy themselves in the complex ideas of the Internet and how to communicate through the students, and their, feeds so the learning process can begin. 

            I think that the icing on the cake for the article is the in depth explanation it gives about how important RSS feeds are to actually fulfill the communication between teachers and students.  Furthermore, telling us how to actually use the RSS feed is important because without it most people would be lost on how to actually us it.  I enjoyed reading the article and thought it was very informative.

Question #1

What does PLN’s have to do with everyone?

            Well according to the article, everyone.  Everyone, in every generation, has had his or her own personal PLN.  It just has adjusted from localized PLN’s to world wide PLN’s that communicate their idea’s and knowledge through the Internet.  It is actually does effect everyone because the Internet is now the main source of our PLN’s; especially, our children’s way of learning. 

Question #2

Is a teacher’s ability actually teach helped by Social Networking online?

            That is actually a very good question I thought of throughout the entire semester in this class.  However, throughout the class I have seen that it has helped kids learn the material because I can see how easy this can be for them to learn and communicate their answers with the entire PLN.  RSS feeds are also important with teaching because it helps communicate the assignments that the teachers want their students to learn.  Therefore, allowing them to follow what you want them to do later on in the day when they are at home trying to do their assignment for your class.  So, it is very helpful for the student to learn through Technology that you bring to the classroom. 

Prezi asignments

NETS 1-5

An example of a successful presentation of a situational English Classroom. Done in succession with EDU 422.

Mr. Fares English Class on Prezi

Prezi Assessment

Journal #7 PLN

PLN is referring to 'Personal Learning Network'.  The website is designed to help educators keep in touch with the most up to date information, technologically and otherwise, that is out there.  It can help teachers learn the newest information about various subjects so that they will be able to teach in the classroom.  What I have learned in this assignment is how to combine several websites and blogs sites together and bookmark them. How they can be used in education is actually kind neat but unless you know how to use it then it is useless in the teaching world. Technology is very important to today's world because many students have grown up with the technology of everyday life. However, for those who don't completely have access to technology it may be a good idea to add a class for the student to know now to learn the technology is will be easier for all teachers.

In my twitter account I have 19 followers and am following another 27. I took part with Web20classroom, through his blogger.com site.  If I remember correctly, the time of the talk was at 6 pm on Tuesday March 29th.  The main discussion was about how he learned how to become a better professional by going around from place to place to listen about people's success stories in the classroom. It was interesting, mainly it was about his two presentations about his trip to ASCD this past year. Was a little lost on exactly what was the best way to do things in the classroom. Although, the important stat that was brought up was that a teacher also needs help in the classroom. Having support from the outside the classroom is very important to the success of a teacher.

With Diigo, I joined several English and high school level teaching and how to succeed in a multi educational school system. Various types of ideas and thoughts were brought up in the various ways and were all ways that could work in different environments. It is very important to teach the classroom, not just the individual student, as a "little country" because it is such a diverse class that there isn't just one 'right' way to teach students. Getting support through diiggo can always help with other idea's through teachers across the diigo universe.

The PLN site that I became a part of is Educators PLN. It is set up a lot like facebook, but for teachers and educators. Actually I like that site a lot better because it is easier to move around and find things that are needed to further yourself in your educational career. But for the article that I read for the assignment, which can be found at http://edupln.com/profiles/blogs/how-systems-support-practices,  talked about how a teacher can burn out because they do not have the outside help that they need to succeed in teaching whatever class level they are teaching. Having support from the outside the classroom is very important to the success of a teacher. According to the article the main reason why many teachers burn out within the first 5 years is that they don't know where exactly where to go.









Visit The Educator's PLN

Journal #4 NETS 1-5

# Schaffhauser, . (2010, December 01). It's time to trust teachers with the internet: a conversation with meg ormiston. Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/Articles/2010/12/01/Its-Time-To-Trust-Teachers-with-the-Internet-A-Conversation-with-Meg-Ormiston.aspx?sc_lang=en&Page=1


Journal #4 required me to read the web based article “It's Time To Trust Teachers with the Internet: A Conversation with Meg Ormiston”. In the article they talk about how many social networking and other educational websites are being blocked by the filters or by other means at the school. Therefore, teachers are not able to teach their students through technology. It can be maddening for some teachers to have to deal with such a problem on school campuses. If a teacher’s teaching style does include web based technology and then it is blocked the whole lesson plan is wasted because the filter blocks the certain sites from the classroom. Although, it is understandable that administrators have to do things, like putting filters on social networking sites, to “protect” the kids from potential harmful material. Why would they want to restrict a responsible adult from teaching their students. I do agree with the article that if there is a responsible adult in the classroom to help guide the students into the technology lead education then I do not see why there needs to be restrictions on what the students can and can not do to learn, technologically speaking.

Journal #2 NETS 2-5

Ferguson, H. (2010). Join the flock!. International Society for Technology in Education, 37(8), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Join_the_Flock.aspx


miller, s. (2010). Enhance your twitter experience. Learning and leading with technology,


The article from Hadley Ferguson is actually very informative piece. It lays out how to use twitter in a very concise and easy to understand way. Going through the article now and looking back to the class that we went over twitter made it seem a lot easier. Being able to read it as well as do it personally made it a lot less complicated to me. Before this class I didn’t realize you could put the # symbol before the link that you want to add could help actually improve your overall “hits”. The only major problem I have with twitter is that it only gives you 140 characters to actually post something. Which isn’t bad for putting up links but if you want to complete an idea it makes it very difficult to do so.
The second article by Shannon Miller was actually pretty interesting. However, it just reiterated what Hadley Ferguson said in the first article. Although, the main different that I thought was a nice add on was the portion that talked about PLN or Personal Learning Network. The idea behind it actually is intriguing because it allows individuals to learn through a social network instead of you learn by yourself. That is actually a great idea to have on the Internet.

Journal #1 NETS 1-5

Light, D. (2011). Do web 2.0 right. Learning & Leading with Technology, 38(5), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Feature_Article_Do_Web_2_0_Right.aspx


In reading through the Web 2.0 article what I found really interesting was that the teachers were able to better connect with their students through web-based technology. In the study, the author found that teachers were better able to teach their students through the posts, blogs, and one-on-one interaction through the Internet. Furthermore, what really stuck out to me was the teachers’ ability to teach social norms through technology. The teachers provided an atmosphere that allowed the students to learn through peer support, self-analysis, and creative communication in and out of the classroom. I enjoyed reading about the section because I connected with the portion of the reading. It gave me an understanding that technology was in fact a great way to introduce students to social norms to go along with learning the educational material.
Another aspect of the study that was intriguing was that if the technology was used correctly then the material that was given to the students was indeed helpful in their educational careers. What interested me about the first half of the article was that students were able to read the material through the technology they found “cool”. Although, it seems to be a little hard for me to grasp at times it does seem neat to be learning about the different aspects of technology that can be helpful to teach others with.

Tech

Journal #5

Mendicino, M, Razzaq, L, & Heffernan, N. T. (2009). A comparison of traditional. JRTE, 41(3),

In my 5^th reading I read an article that was based on the difference of math retention in homework.  The article went on to study the differences between web based feedback with homework compared to the traditional math homework in the 5^th grade.  In the findings the students showed a greater deal of success in the web based homework assignments.  However, I do think that since it was a very limited study, a grand total of 28 5^th graders, it is not a complete study.  28 students are not enough to base any type of change in teaching style.  Although, the study does she a fair amount of success with web based homework the failure of the study is the limited number of participants. We don’t get a sense of the different effect of students in different parts of the U.S. or even the world.  Furthermore, 5^th grade math is limited too because we only get an idea of how students react at the elementary level.  It may be a good idea to do several more tests at the Junior High school level as wells as the High school level.  On top of that including people from different socioeconomic levels, different parts of the Country, and different cultures could add a lot more legitimacy to the entire study. 

Q#1:  How can technology help in improving scores in a student’s homework?

A: Well, based on the journal article, it says that positive feedback on the computer with their homework can have a great effect on improving scores.  I do agree with that, with technology can be an important step for students understand what is going on in the classroom.  However, the only concern I would have would be with if technology takes over the entire class.  What would happen to the socialization of the student if they don’t have to interact with anyone?

Q#2:  Will technology take the classroom by storm for helping student’s with their in class and out of class work?

A: Yes, it will.  In my personal experience I have seen many different classrooms that work with computers for the in-class work.  It does seem to help the students overall with their work.  However, I have also noticed that many of the students flip through the actual work in the lesson to the final “test”.  That can have a negative long term effect on the children who are in the class. 

Journal #8

Larson, L, Miller, T, & Ribble, M. (2009). 5 considerations for digital age leaders. (International Society for Technology in Education,

The 8th journal entry is about 5 ways that a teacher could improve their teaching styles.  In the article they brought up that teachers should be able to become visionaries in the classroom, technologically sound, flexible enough to the point on taking the day to day a moment at a time, always have a long term plan and work towards it, and be a great citizen in and outside of the classroom. 

                The article was nice and was to the point when it came to its point.  It is important that a teacher does know how to use technology in today’s classrooms.  Technology is a great way for students to connect to the material that they need to learn, as long as the technology is done correctly.  Furthermore, I agree with the article when it comes to teachers needed to present themselves as role models to the students.  It is important that students do see leaders in the front of the classroom because a teacher has an effect on the students in their classroom.

                However, I do not think that technology is the end all be all of education in the classroom.  It will create too much of anti-social behavior in the students and they will grow up lacking in the social skills that are required to be an adult in today’s society.  In that sense the article got it right by saying that Leadership is the most important thing in the classroom for the teacher. 

Q#1:  What is the most important thing for a teacher to do for the student’s education?

A:  I think it is important that a teacher does give an example of how to act socially as an adult.  Being a Leader in the classroom is an important way to show that a student can become a successful person. Being a leader in the classroom does not mean you are the authoritarian ruler over the entire classroom world.  Yes, that can be effective and you, as a teacher, must show some authority in the classroom but to be a true Leader in the classroom you must also encourage them to learn. 

Q#2:  Are the 5 steps of being a good teacher the only way to become a good teacher?

A:  No I don’t think that the 5 steps are the only way for a teacher to become a good teacher.  I think that it has left out some things that will allow a person to become a good teacher in the classroom.  One of those ways that they forget was that a teacher needs to capture the student’s interest about the subject they are teaching. The 5 steps can be a great part of teaching within the norms of the day to day classroom but it may need to be adjusted because of the different socioeconomical, financial, and other aspects of classroom may have a huge effect on the 5 steps. 

Journal #3

Roblyer, M. D., Porter, M, Bielefeldt, T, & Donaldson, M. D. (2009). “teaching online made me a better. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 25(4),

In the 3^rd article there was a study that I read was about whether or not teaching in a virtual and traditional sense will make for better teachers.  Many thoughts and ideas were thrown around in the journal article.  Some about the social effects of online and traditional class room settings.  Another idea that was given in the article was about class room curriculum, online and offline.  A 3^rd idea that was given was Assessment strategies for teaching in the class room and online.  In the end, when it came to the study was very much on the small scale setting could not give any substance to the overall picture.  But it did show that the teachers, from K to 12^th grade, who participated, did, overall, become better teachers to the students in their class rooms. 

                In the study the teachers themselves improved their teaching through the advancement of their own knowledge of technology and its ability to cross generational gaps in the class room.  Therefore, improving the student’s ability to learn and retain the information that is given to them by that teacher in the traditional class room setting. 

Question #1:  How would technology help improve teacher’s performances in the classroom and online teaching?

A:  By reading the article I found that the teachers who do use technology improve their own teaching styles.  I think that the real improvement is with the teachers themselves because they had to adjust the way they taught in the class room. 

Question #2:  Will there be more studies and a wider scale study about this subject?

A: I hope so because it was an interesting article and it showed that teachers who adjust their learning styles are better able to connect with students today.