My Voice Thread

My voicethread is about how to shoot a soccer ball. My friend Katy was nice enough to pose for the pictures! I hope you enjoy!

Blog Comments

I commented on blogs at Huzzah! an educational blog website. The first one I commented on was about Haiti and the student wrote a poem. The next one I commented on was about DARE and activities that students can do besides drugs. Both of my comments are awaiting approval.

For my blog comments I made for my fellow classmates I commented on one post about the Luis video and then another one about Project based learning.

DigiTeen

This video is about the Digiteen program that was put on by Westwood schools. Through this program students learned about what it takes to be a proper Digital Citizen. What I took away from this video is really how dangerous driving while texting is. As one of their Digiteen projects the students compiled information and statistics about driving while texting. They then compared this information with driving while intoxicated. Their findings were shocking. I could not believe it because I do text while I'm driving. While I know that this act is dangerous I still do it never realizing how dangerous it actually is. This video really opened my eyes and I'm going to think twice before I text while driving again.

I can relate to this video not only because I have texted while driving before but also because I belong to a social networking site. I have a facebook and I put pictures up and write status updates and use everything facebook has to offer. In one of the student made videos they made it clear how dangerous those sites can be if the wrong information is put up. Some people have lost jobs over inappropriate things posted or not given the job. Also lying on the page can be dangerous too, like kids on myspace lying about their age. That kind of lying can attract sexual predators. Since seeing this video I am going to make sure all my bases are covered on my facebook page so I don't have anything on there that could potentially cost me a job.

Some of the implications of this video is how dangerous the internet can actually be. There are so many people out there trying to take advantage of people and sometimes we make it easy for them. As a future educator what I can take from this is the importance of informing my students of the consequences of the internet when it is not used properly. In one of the student videos it was addressed that parents expect the schools to teach this while the schools expect the parents to teach this. This made me think, why not turn this around? I feel it is my need to make sure that the kids I teach are responsible in their internet habits and that I inform them of the consequences.

Project Based Learning

In this edutopia video I really took away how much more a person can take away and learn from an expericence when it is something that they enjoy. With project based learning, these programs provide students an opportunity to learn about what interests them instead of being fed the same knowledge from textbooks over and over again. The kids become emotional invested in these projects and in the video you could really see them striving to learn more and more. That is not what you typically see in a classroom setting. These kids were excited about learning. I think the most important thing to take away is that when you are doing something that you love you automatically do a better job and are more passionate about it.

I connect with this video because I remember when I was in school and I always loved to write. However most of the topics we were given were boring or state test driven. Then my teacher assigned a research paper and told us we could pick any topic we wanted as long as she approved it. I was very interested in the Blood Diamond trade in Africa at the time an that became my topic. I researched so much information for that paper and I ended up exceeding the page limit by a lot. This was all because I was passionate about the project and it was something I was interested in just like the kids in the video.

As a future educator, this really opened my eyes to the importance of project based learning. This type of learning can really help kids and give them a direction in their life by seeing this is what I love and this is what I can do with it. I think most importantly of all is the future implications that project based learning has. When given a project that they can work on and they are passionate about in real world terms the kids can see that maybe they can make a career out of this or maybe this is the direction of study I want to take in college. This type of learning is very direction oriented and in the long run the kids learn more. I am a supporter of this type of learning and I hope in my classroom I can implement this as much as possible.

Learning How to Ski!

Student Posted Informative Video

Oceans on the Brink of Extinction on Prezi

Technology Club

In the story about Luis we see a young kid really coming of age and finding himself with technology. He seems as if he is a quiet guy and with his hard work and determination and interest in technology he is able to find success. What I take away from this video is the fact that both of his parents are immigrants and he is able to persevere and not only help them find a place in America but also help himself and be quite successful. He is also going to be the first one is his family to go to college. You just see with Luis's story what hard work and an interest in something can do for someone.

I connect with Luis's story because like him I took all AP classes in high school and worked hard. However unlike him I really never knew what I wanted to do. Eventually when I got to college I figured it out. I just wish that I had a program like the technology club Luis was apart of that could help me find my way. With the technology club Luis was able to discover something that he loved and how he could use that in the real world. It also is helping him get to college and I think that is wonderful.

This really goes to show that schools that put effort into their after school programs really help students in the long run. However its not only the schools but the teachers that encourage the students to join the clubs and pursue what they are interested in because you never know you could make a career out of something that you love. As a future teacher I can take away from this video the importance that after school programs can have on students and their future.

A Peek For a Week

In the Video "A Peek for a Week", you get a first hand look at technology being used in a classroom and very effectivly. What I took away from this video is that technology can be used in a classroom setting and it can be used naturally and in every aspect. Always my thoughts have been that technology in the classroom causes distractions and can only be used in certain areas and takes up way too much time. However after watching this video it is evident that what I thought before is false. They use technology in every aspect of the classroom, of course also using traditional methods, but the class flows and the kids end up learning more. They even use technology to help the kids with their fitness too which I thought was cool.

This really doesn't connect with me in my own life because I have never used so much technology in a classroom until this class. I think it is amazing that these kids are able to do this and that these teachers can provide them with this. I wish when I was in grade school my teachers paid so much attention to technology because maybe now I would know a little bit more. I'm not very technologically literate, but I try. I just think that maybe if I would have had more of a focus on technology in school, because it is such a big part of our society, I might be able to do more things.

I want to use this video as an example of how I want my future students to learn. The skills the students in the video have learned are so valuable to them in the future. I want to be able to provide my future students with that kind of knowledge and know how. I want to be able to give them all the tools necessary to be able to succeed in this technologically driven world.

Nafiza

The video Digital Youth Portrait about Nafiza shows how a teenager uses technology in her everyday life. My most signifigant takeaway from this video is that international issues can be reached by any number of people in many different ways. In Nafiza's way we see her taking views on international issues from a techonolgical standpoint with the Darfur game. These techonology aspects help people learn about different issues in a way that can make sense to them. I think that this is a marvelous invention because we are educating people on issues they would otherwise know nothing about or care nothing about.

This connects to my own life because honestly I do not keep up with current issues. With this Games for Change contest, I think that it puts world issues on a whole new stage. The news often seems boring and can be kind of painful to sit through and really get everything out of it that you need to. With this platform people can learn more about issues in a more interactive fun setting and then they can actually get out there and do something about the problem.

With this video it becomes evident the power of a student made video on other students. We see this with Nafiza and her judging the Games for Change contest. She learned more about world issues. I think in my classroom setting this can be taken where students could make videos for a lesson. It always seems that students are the best teachers themselves, that once explained by a classmate then the class can get it. I think that that would be very effective and ultimately help the learning of my future class.