The Doing.

I talked to my sister about internet safety the other day. After watching a number of videos about the dangers of the internet (especially for children and young teenagers), I was anxious to share with her what I had learned and to warn her of what can happen through the internet. As we discussed the topic, I was shocked to hear what she has already experienced. Apparently, she has encountered some scary things already through facebook. When she told me this, I kind of freaked out. I explained to her the seriousness of it and had her promise me that she would never give anyone her personal information, and that she would report any instances to our parents as soon as they occurred.

I think that our discussion was very valuable. My purpose was not to scare her, but to bring to her attention the seriousness of the internet. I wanted her to be aware that some scary things can happen on the internet if we are not careful. She had been told this before, but I think it was a good reminder for her. I told her about some websites that she could check out, specifically ones that had movies about past occurrences. I'm glad I chose to talk to her!

What I learned...

I viewed Shaundra's PowerPoint Presentation about her water cycle lesson. I loved the website she found to use for her lesson--it makes the water cycle easy to understand for the students. Shaundra's lesson was another example to me of how many good options are available for using technology in the classroom. The technology she used was I'm sure, valuable for student learning because it showed the students what the water cycle is all about rather than just telling the students what it's all about.

SlideShare

Jenns Power Point

View more presentations from jennririe.

Response to Media Readings

For my fourth article, I chose to read "Sanctify Yourselves," by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. He talked about how we need to keep ourselves clean and pure so that we can be instruments in the Lord's hands at any moment and in any circumstance. The following quote was one of my favorites: "...the day may come—indeed, I am certain will come—when in an unexpected circumstance or a time of critical need, lightning will strike, so to speak, and the future will be in your hands. Be ready when that day comes. Be strong. Always be clean...I testify that the call in every age—and especially our age—is Joshua’s call: 'Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.'"

I learned a lot from the article by Charles and Dawn Graham. The ideas presented under the heading, "Learn to Provide," were very valuable, in my opinion. I've been taught a lot of ways to protect families from negative media. But I haven't heard about very many ways to use the media for good in our families. These were my two favorite ideas: 1) create a video movie of a family vacation or a family history documentary and 2) have a family blog. All in all, the readings reminded me of how dangerous the media can be and how important it is that I protect others from its deceitfulness and destructiveness.

When I am a teacher and/or parent, I will never let myself be carefree when dealing with the media. I don't think a parent or teacher can ever be too careful. I'm guessing that my students/children will resent me once in a while for being so protective, but I hate the idea of allowing Satan to have access to their innocent hearts. I will be sure to take appropriate precautions to prevent negative media to be viewed in my home/classroom.

Like Elder M. Russell Ballard urged, I want to let my voice be heard. When I see something inappropriate, I should let others know that it bothered me and that I do not agree with it. When in a group, I can walk away from whatever it is that is harmful or degrading. I can also use the media for wholesome activities such as those I mentioned above.

Just a thought

I'm not sure that we are required to write on our blogs this week, but I might as well, just in case. I thought I'd write about how glad I am that I've learned how to do so much in regards to technology this semester! I feel so much more caught up in the technological world (even though I'm still so far behind). As a teacher-in-training, I am glad to feel competent with blogs, google earth, imovies, RSS feeds, etc. I can see the power in using technology in the classroom; it can definitely enrich a lesson. Now I just need to keep myself informed as technology continues to progress.

Technology Lesson

Part of the 3rd grade core curriculum includes writing. In particular, it expects that students produce traditional and imaginative stories, narrative and formula poetry. After producing pieces of writing such as these, students should "share writing with others using illustrations, graphs, and/or charts to add meaning."

As the teacher, I would first demonstrate and model the writing process for my students. I would then show them how to create a final draft; this would involve explaining the importance of making your work look presentable and appealing. I would create my own story on PowerPoint, giving them an example of how to share one's personal writing.

After the students have gone through the process of drafting and editing their writing, I think it would be awesome for them to share their final drafts using PowerPoint. Each slide could have a sentence or two written on it along with pictures and illustrations. The final PowerPoint presentation would be like a published story. Then the students could share their story with the rest of the class without having to worry about making sure all the students could see their pictures.

Another benefit for including technology like this is that when all the stories had been created, it would be easy to post the stories on a class blog so that parents and others could read the stories. Also, a cd could easily be created which contained each of the students' finished stories. At the end of the year, each student could get a copy of the cd as a kind of momentum from their 3rd grade school year.

Lesson Idea

There is so much technology available at Spring Creek and so many ways to incorporate it into lesson plans. My mentor teacher showed me a cool way to create a game on the computer that can be projected using the Smart Board. For math review, she and I created a Jeopardy game. When the students chose a category and number, we would just touch the board on that number and the question would pop up. When we returned to the main screen, it would show that the question had already been asked. The game also kept score for the two teams so that the students always knew who was winning. At the end, when all of the questions had been asked, the game showed a funny cartoon dancing to celebrate the victory of the winning team. The students loved how interactive the technology was and it kept them very engaged!