Website evaluation

Who:   Site: Helpguide.org,  Authors: Jocelyn Block, M.A. and Melinda Smith, M.A.  There are also additional links for references, resources, related articles and further reading.  Most of the information comes from outside medical sites such as Harvard medical school and reputable mental health organizations.

What:  The information is easily organized and each subject has further links on the topic to outside resources(reputable) for additional study. It gives no right or wrong only suggests options and strategies for parents and teachers of ADHD children.  It discusses everything from medication and  behavior modification to over diagnosis and symptoms.  
When: Last updated January 2010 and links work.
Where:http://helpguide.org/mental/adhd_add_teaching_strategies.htm 
Why:  It would take much longer to find all these resources off line and the variety of links on this one page serve many of my specific needs and answer many of the usual questions one would encounter.

Double Journal Entry 7

The US Dept of Ed and National Geographic Society have gotten together and created the site titled Fin Fur and Feather Bureau of Investigation.  It is a site full of games and learning opprotunities about the world around us.  It is specially made for students with issues of concentration and memory such as ADD or ADHD but can be useful for any student.

FFFBI 

Double Journal Entry 6

Hobbs and Frost (2003) investigated a media literacy course that was integrated into a yearlong high school English curriculum. Seven 11th grade English language arts teachers, three of whom attended a weeklong institute on teaching media awareness, selected texts to use in common and developed assignments that included analysis of television shows, news, and political speeches along with classic and contemporary literature. Although based on offline rather than online media literacy, the study found that explicit media literacy instruction increased both traditional literacy skills, such as reading comprehension and writing, and more specific media-related skills, including identification of techniques various media use to influence audiences.

I see how this can be an issue.  Many adults see the internet's sources as unreliable.  Many professors will only accept .edu or .gov sitesas resources.  They feel sites like wikipedia and others are not trustworthy and therefore any information gained from them is useless.  In order for students to know what is reliable and what isnt we as educators must first be aware.  I can remember the old joke of "well if you found it on the internet it must be true".  Alot has changed in the years since the internet has made its way into our everyday lives.  The amount of information and its validity has improved by leaps and bounds.  Now publishers are being held accountable by the public so that even sites such as wikipedia can have quality and reliable information. 

(2011). Retrieved from http://knowledgeoman.com/en/konews/topic-of-the-week-books-vs-the-internet.html

David, J. L. (2012). Teaching media literacy. Educational Leadership, 66(06), 84-86. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/Teaching-Media-Literacy.aspx

magazine cover

Voki and revision

 Voki1

 Voki2

Origional:

We were asked to create a digital story describing what teaching meant to us.  We had to choose images and sounds that would help convey and enhance our point.  My story was designed to show the history of our world is not a series of dead facts but a relevant line if causes and effects.  I wanted to show every action we take in life creates a ripple through out the lives of others either on a small scale or on a large scale.  I truly believe in changing one life you can help change the world.  Using Digital story telling can be helpful in classrooms because it encourages students to think outside the box.  "Through creating electronic personal narratives, students become active creators, rather than passive consumers of multimedia." (Ohler,2006).  I think a good way to use digital story telling in a history class would be having students get into groups and  pick a decade.  Each group would be responsible for putting together a digital story about the advertising used during that era.  By using the advertising of the time period, the students would get a unique outlook on how things were marketed to the consumer and what "the ideal" was at that time.  This would include all media types : print, radio and possibly television.  By allowing the students to design something using digital resources involves their creativity and makes the information more relevant to them and easier to learn.


Revised:
We were asked to create a digital story describing what teaching meant to us.  We had to choose images and sounds that would help convey and enhance our point.  My story was designed to show the history of our world is not a chronological list of dead facts, but a relevant series  of causes and effects.  I wanted to show every action we take in life creates a ripple through out the lives of others, either on a small or large scale.  I truly believe by changing one life I can help change the world.  Digital storytelling is useful in the classroom because it encourages students to think outside the box.  "Through creating electronic personal narratives, students become active creators, rather than passive consumers of multimedia." (Ohler,2006). 
I would use digital storytelling in my history class by having students get into groups and  pick a decade.  Each group will  be responsible for putting together a digital story about the advertising used during that era.  By using the advertising of the time period, the students would get a unique outlook on how things were marketed to the consumer and what "the ideal" was at that time.  This would include all media types : print, radio and possibly television.  By allowing the students to design something using digital resources involves their creativity and makes the information more relevant to them and easier to learn.

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=5426109&height=267&width=200

The digital story we were asked to create was supposed to describe our outlook on teaching.  The images and sounds we chose were supposed to enhance and convey our point.   


I also found several instances where unnecessary that's could be taken out.


We were asked to create a digital story describing what teaching meant to us.  We had to choose images and sounds that would help convey and enhance our point.  My story was designed to show the history of our world is not a series of dead facts but a relevant line if causes and effects.  I wanted to show every action we take in life creates a ripple through out the lives of others either on a small scale or on a large scale.  I truly believe in changing one life you can help change the world.  Using Digital story telling can be helpful in classrooms because it encourages students to think outside the box.  "Through creating electronic personal narratives, students become active creators, rather than passive consumers of multimedia." (Ohler,2006).  I think a good way to use digital story telling in a history class would be having students get into groups and  pick a decade.  Each group would be responsible for putting together a digital story about the advertising used during that era.  By using the advertising of the time period, the students would get a unique outlook on how things were marketed to the consumer and what "the ideal" was at that time.  This would include all media types : print, radio and possibly television.  By allowing the students to design something using digital resources involves their creativity and makes the information more relevant to them and easier to learn.

Double journal entry 5

This still leaves much room for interpretation,
especially since the law is clear that these are not the only permissible considerations.
So how have judges interpreted fair use? In reviewing the history of fair use
litigation, we find that judges return again and again to two key questions:
• Did the unlicensed use “transform” the material taken from the copyrighted work
by using it for a different purpose than that of the original, or did it just repeat
the work for the same intent and value as the original?
• Was the material taken appropriate in kind and amount, considering the nature
of the copyrighted work and of the use?
If the answers to these two questions are “yes,” a court is likely to find a use fair.
Because that is true, such a use is unlikely to be challenged in the first place.

My story does fall with in these guidelines because it not only was changed from the original form but was not represented as my own pictures.  Simply the idea, work and layout were my own.  My digital story used images that are so recognizable and widely used that they could be found anywhere.  They were not taken from a particular person or source but can be found on many many sites and places.  You see this in classical music and many old books as well. They are so widely published that they can be found in many forms.

Video

Double Journal Entry #4

Teaching before technology is key.  I see what technology can do and it amazes and fascinates me with the possibilities, but lets face it, with out good teachers technology is just a lot of bells and whistles.  Being able to do all the latest things online dose not mean my students will learn anything.  Quality learning comes directly from quality teaching.  History is still history whether its being taught on a chalkboard or a smart board.  The key to it being relevant and therefore accepted is the teacher actually teaching it well.

Ohler, J. (2005/2006). The world of digital story telling. Educational Leadership, 63(04), 44-47.
Images of
Newton : famousworld.info

Einstein: knowledgera-theworld.blogspot.com

Hawking:  news.discovery.com

Research Based Instructional Strategy

The article discusses a AP History teacher using homework and practice strategy by implementing an Internet relay chat room for his students during his lesson on the French Revolution.  He also included on the class room web site a link specifically for parents so they could be kept up to date on what their children were doing in case they needed help.  The chat room was set up with limited access and only during specific times so that students could ask questions or clarify ideas.   I can see how this could be helpful to the student.  Once they got home and began wading through the dense material it might be necessary to ask additional questions to clear up a concept or expand on something they had read.  Also by having the chat room, a student could ask about assignments and tests so that there would be less excuses and more accountability.  Having the ability to speak directly to the instructor after classroom hours in a structured environment like this could be a wonderful way to help students and parents.

Double Journal Entry # 3

Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics at American University and author of “Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World,” shares Crystal’s view. She predicts that the number of “textisms” will stop growing as people continue to develop more proficiency in using handheld devices and as the devices continue to grow more sophisticated than simple telephone touch pads. She adds that part of the appeal of texting shorthands is their novelty, and that that will fade.

I couldn't agree more. Recently I upgraded to a smart phone (the iPhone 4) and have found that I use little to no "text talk" and when I do it almost feels forced.  I am a horrible speller and have always had to take extra care when I write anything. I now notice in texts and on facebook many of my contacts are becoming more aware of their own skills, and if they don't take notice some one always points out their mistake and corrects it.  Maybe I don't feel as dependent on technology as many but I do see this component as a positive for myself and others as well.  It makes us more aware of our writing skills both spelling and grammar and I think that is something that had been overlooked once we left our classrooms behind.

Learning Styles & Preferences

Do learning styles exist?

Are they useful for classroom instruction?

What is the best philosophy for using learning styles?

Learning styles exist in each individual but they are not the be all and end all of their ability to learn.  Just because a student is a visual learner doesn't mean they can only be taught visually.  Understanding what learning styles are can be useful in the classroom but should not be the first consideration when planning a lesson.  First one must consider the content and plan the lesson accordingly.  Then, taking into account learning styles, the lesson can be tweaked to make it easier to absorb.  The best way to look at a learning style is as a method of self improvement.  If you know you are a visual learner, you know that during an auditory lesson you need to pay attention, or that as a teacher you may have to use more visual ques for your auditory learners when presenting difficult material.  Learning styles aren't a black and white issue but the shades of grey can be a useful tool in teaching and learning in the modern classroom.