Practice

I'm posting this from my phone.

Happy memorial day! Started by going to the Chicago temple

Then went to Taylor's and played with Raphael. Then ate watermelon.

Fun day!

Beautiful Christmas Cards!!

I'm behind!!! How did the holidays come so quickly??! Christmas cards have been coming in the mail and it's a daily reminder that I need to make mine.
I've been searching online and have been totally impressed with Shutterfly.com. They have BEAUTIFUL cards - excellently priced too! I've always done flat cards, but they have an option to do a folded card and you can print a mini-Christmas letter inside. Love it! Right now they're doing a promotion to get 50 free Christmas cards. Score!!! Here are some samples:











Adorable, right? I'm in love. I don't know how I'm going to choose just one. Best of all, they'll ship it right to me. Easy peasy. They also have great photo calendars. I've seen friends make them as gifts for Grandparents and (ssshhh) I think I'll have to, too! What could be a better gift than to have my smiling babies look at you every month of the year? ;) I also looove the photo books. I've done a few over the years and it's so much easier (and less expensive) than scrapbooking. It's a great way to preserve all those digital photos that take up so much of my computer's memory!

Go here to score a great deal at Shutterfly! And watch for my super cute card in your mailbox ;)

Thanksgiving

I had a great visit home with my family for Thanksgiving! We saw the sights and enjoyed all that Chicago has to offer!

Internet Saftey Reflection

I chose to read an article on abuse for my article of choice. The videos I watched included:
- faux paw the techno cat
-katie's story
- a child predator fear
- a revolution in the classroom and social life
- cyberbullying
- private world outside parents reach


What I've taken away from this is that when I have children or a classroom, I need to set limits on technology use, especially on content viewed and time spent. I have realized how important it is to discuss the internet with children and tell them about the dangers of the internet and arm them with knowledge with which they can protect themselves. helping children learn how to avoid bad content and what to do when you come into contact with it, provides a way to prevent future problems. I have also learned that helping children realize that there are positive ways to interact with the internet is important as well. Showing them websites relevant to their interests, school work, or family, can create positive experiences in the future.



For my "doing" experience, I talked with a mother of a 6 year old girl. I chose to talk to her because I feel like this knowledge will be helpful because her daughter will soon begin using technology more and more at home and at school.

I asked this mother what she knows about internet predators and chatrooms. Her knowledge was pretty basic, and she said that she had heard that predators would find kids through myspace or disguise as kids in chat rooms to get information. I proceeded to tell her about "katie's story" and the video game that was available to help kids in those types of situations, and I told her about the chatrooms that are available for children to live out a "double life" and talk about self-destruction and things like that. I was surprised because she did not seem very shocked by this information, but rather expected to hear information like this. I think she was pleased to hear about the different resources available such as the computer game featured in "Katie's story" and the parental control programs for the internet. I think she will definitely buy a parental control program, will keep the family computer in a high-traffic area, and will talk to her daughter about internet safety when the time comes.


I did the online course evaluation.

week 12 lesson plans

Here is my language arts lesson plan, here is my mathematics lesson plan, and here is my science lesson plan. These are all for kindergarten classes.

What I learned from the technology videos:
The videos featured online about technology in the classroom were very informative and gave me a lot of ideas. I learned that teachers need to have knowledge of basic technology equipment operations and concepts, of technology resources and tools for information literacy, and technology resources and tools for content areas. I learned that using media is a positive way to present relevant and age appropriate information while arousing interest. I learned that using technology at school may be a child’s only opportunity to use technology and therefore will give them an opportunity to pick up vital skills. I also learned that it’s a good way to involve parents that otherwise might not be very involved. Using different software gives them skills in those specific areas, and helps them realize that there are a lot of computer resources available, such as the internet and cd roms. Being exposed to technology in the classroom helps them gain awareness of computers in society and helps them understand how computers are used in their community. I was very impressed with the students ability to use the computer independently, and I will definitely not doubt the learning value of technology in the future.

I watched 'bookends of war' and 'inside kapunahala'

technology interview

I completed the mid-course evaluation and the informed consent form.

For the technology inventory I interviewed the director of Dancing Moose Montessori School in West Valley City, Utah. Jennifer said that the technologies that are permanently located in every classroom include an iPod, an iPod player, a computer, and a telephone. There are also TV's with DVD players on wheels that are available for teachers to check out.

Although Jennifer is pleased with the technology in the classrooms, she wisher there were more resources permanently available. She hopes to include multiple listening centers, such as reading books on tape, permanent TV/DVD players, and a central iPod station “so all the classrooms could share all music at all times”. Technology is used to get ideas and prepare materials through the use of the website UEN.org and other websites as well. Powerpoint presentations are used to showcase different pieces of artwork and music when students are studying composers and artists.

An additional question I asked Jennifer was about technology use for different ages, and which ages tend to use it more. At DMMS computers are used extensively with children ranging from age three to second grade. Age-appropriate computer games are in classrooms and can be used during their free play time. Teachers in the toddler classrooms use computers to keep track of observations, and all of the teachers use email to communicate with parents.