How do we wash our hands?

Final PLE Posting

Creating a Personal Learning Environment (PLE) was a very valuable experience for me. I think that one of the reasons why it was so valuable was due to the fact that I could always access this, on any computer, I could go back and look at past lessons and ideas I had, I also posted websites that I really learned a lot from or want to use in the future in my teaching. I think that this was probably one of the most valuable aspects, which was that I could post links to sites and pages that will help me in the future when teaching and using technology.
I think that the thing that I liked least about my personal learning environment was that I was never fully taught how to use it, or manage it, and I would like to make it a little more personal. This includes things like changing my templates to really reflect my personality. I also would have liked to post more personal things to this, to really make it mine, instead of just for our course, but I suppose I will just have to keep using it after this class and make it more mine.
I definitely plan on using this blog again, not only for my personal use, but also within my classroom. I think that it is a great way to include parents and the community within the classroom by showing them what is going on through pictures, newsletters, videos, and other fun facts. I can't wait to use it again!

Watching Internet Safety

I watched the iSAFE videos, specifically number 8, 2 and 4. There are so many important things to look out for and protect against the bad and negative influences of the internet. I've learned that the best way to help these kids and prevent all this trouble and all of these problems is through education about these issues, especially where the parents and adults are concerned. So many of these kids are young and do not understand the consequences and impacts that they can have on others or themselves. Educating not only the students but their parents as well is crucial in helping others to be aware of these issues and how to look out for their children. I could easily use these videos within my classroom or at home. They are helpful and informative, but they also give you as an instructor or parent time to pause the movie and consider and discuss these issues through questions they pose. It is so important that these things be brought up within the classroom and understood by all students. Promoting and prompting these discussions within the classroom is a great way to get the word out and let people know that this is real and happening everyday.

PLE Reflection on Internet Safety Readings

For the fourth article I read a talk given in a priesthood conference session, by President Gordon B. Hinckley, titled "A Tragic Evil Among Us". Some of the most important things I learned from the readings involved the widespread reach of the internet and media to every household and place, where it can affect so many. If we do not become aware of the dangers out there, we will be more susceptible to the evils out there, as well as be innocent to the different kinds of protection that is available to us. We need to avoid the evil in the media, which includes not only the internet, but also to movies, games, music, and much more. We also need to talk about these influences in our homes and their affect in our lives. They can be a great influence for good or evil in our families, depending on how we use them. I plan on making sure my family is aware of these dangers, and in so doing, I hope to protect my family, friends and other loved ones from the evil influences of the media.

Internet Safety Video Advice

The following is facts and advice from the internet safety video that we watched in class this week:

• The internet is an integral part of life for the teenagers of today's cyberspace
• Almost 20% of students feel safer on the internet then in the real world
• 89% of students are familiar with chat rooms
• Today's tech savvy kids are involved with risk taking on the internet
• Pornographic web pages now top 62 million
• Kids and teens are gambling now more than ever due to the internet sites
• 90% of 8-16 year olds have viewed pornography online
• Typo-squatting: the purchase of domain names on the internet, used to lure children to pornography sites through misspelled key words
• Kids approach being online differently than adults do; kids are more likely to open up pop-up adds and look
• Internet hate sites are showing up at an even faster rate than pornography
• Many hate sites are specifically designed to attract kids
• Many of today's kids are involved in piracy; more than 50% of today's high schools admitted to piracy on the internet
• 31% of students use the internet most often for online communication
• 60% of 3rd and 4th grade students go on the internet alone
• Cyber bullying: 52% of students have been hurt due to cyber bullying
• Avoid SPAM and SPIM
• 59% of students have more than one screen name online
• Cell phones can easily spread rumors and gossip
• Cyber bullying can have deadly consequences -depression, death etc
• People online may not be who they say they are!
• All children who have internet access are at risk!
• children are often willing to meet with those they chat with online
• Cyber predator: Grooming process -internet trust, build a relationship, get their personal information, and meet with them....
• Offenders can listen to children, respond to what they say, and pick out the children who are more vulnerable, and who know more technology than their parents
• Online relationships create a false sense of intimacy
• Boys are victimized as often as girls with cyber predators
• Educational system responsible for enabling a tech savvy education for kids... we as educators are responsible for making parents and children aware of inappropriate material on the internet and internet safety issues
• i-SAFE America is dedicated to educating and empowering youth to safety control on the internet
• We as teachers need to discuss internet safety with our students -share what the consequences can be

Mathematics First Grade Lesson

For this lesson we took our content from Standard 2 in the Utah First Grade Mathematics Core Curriculum, Objective 1, with Indicators A and B. This deals with teaching children about patterns and how to classify objects in different ways. We then looked to the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives, which can be found at this website: http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/grade_g_1.html From this we chose a color pattern game where the children get to see a pattern displayed and then try to finish repeating the pattern, as seen below:

From here, we would just have the children work on these and pattern to see how they can use patterns in different ways. After this, we can show them how there are patterns within numbers as well.

Language Arts First Grade Lesson

We found this lesson through combining content, technology, and pedagogy for a first grade classroom. We took the content from the Utah First Grade Language Arts Core Curriculum, Standard 3, Objective 3, Indicator B, which deals with children learning onset and rime. Then we used Starfall as the technology resource. We found a teaching tool that used the rime "an" where they are asked to combine different onsets with that rime to create different words. There is a picture of this below to view. For teaching within the classroom, I would probably use this as a lesson for practice in using onsets and rimes. I would first demonstrate it in front of the class, and then have them practice on the class computers in groups during centers.

The link to Starfall is below:

http://www.starfall.com/ Another really great resource in teaching the language arts within the classroom using technology is found on this webstire resource:

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/kindergarten_links.htm