Captain's Blog

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Thing 13

What applications appeal to you? Now that you know more about Twitter and Facebook, pay attention to where you hear references to them in the every day world. How do you think you might use these tools? Why do you think MySpace and other social networking sites are so popular with kids today? What safety tips would you share with your students who are talking about using social networks?

I really don't see or have ever heard of any applications on Facebook that appeal to me. Spending time with Farmville, Words with Friends, or Cityville, just doesn't make sense in my eyes. I guess there was a time in my life that I used video games to escape from reality. Yet that was in high school and early in my college days. When I get together with friends we usually don't play games, we visit and have meaningful conversation. So to play a game with someone over the internet just doesn't do it for me. I play board games with my child and enjoy that immensely. Just different with adults I guess for me.

I hear references to Twitter and Facebook all over the place. Magazines, TV shows, newspapers, websites, grocery stores...you name it. Social Networking is here. Let's look at Justin Bieber...found on YouTube in 2008, used Twitter to tell fans what radio station he was going to be interviewed on. Fans then would go to the radio station and demand they play his music. In three years time the Bieber Social Networking Machine skyrocketed him to stardom and last year alone he grossed 55 million dollars. This is the first real musical venture into social networking. He has paved the way for future artists to use social media also.

Reason for kids in today's age to be making social networking so popular? Instant gratification. They want it right now. That is what SN is all about.

Just as mentioned in Thing 5, elements of digital citizenship that I would discuss with the students would be Digital Security, Law and Etiquette.

Thing 12

Review the widget you selected. Are you getting comfortable with embedding code? Do you belong to other online communities? Are relationships formed online as meaningful as face-to-face relationships?

I thought I was figuring this stuff out and again posted to my blog all to find out it did not work again. So I was getting comfortable with it but I could not get it to work. I do belong to twitter more as an observer or silent stalker. I do not post much to it. I did have a blog that I started years ago and only posted to it twice. I do not feel relationships online are as meaningful as face to face, however I do feel they are way more convenient to due the instant nature of them. You can get a response very quickly from across the country or world. I really feel a face to face meeting or even a verbal phone call is still the best way communicate. I guess Sykpe is the way to go then.

For now please use the following link: http://www.voki.com/php/viewmessage/?chsm=86a0f7de7f0e93576ada1b8e53445d1c&mId=1257765

I will continue to work on my issues with the embedded code.

Thing 11

What do you like / dislike about leaving comments? How did you feel when you received your first comment? Why do you think commenting is so important in online communities? What might this mean for students who share their writing online?

Well mostly I read blogs as a silent participant unless I have a very strong opinion on something being said. I view it as a book... I read the information and respond in my head. So I would say I dislike leaving comments. I was a little nervous when I received my first comments. I think no one wants that typo to stick out or babble on in a blog. Brevity is the key. We in today's society want immediate feedback so commenting now is something most want. Also it is so much easier to stick to your guns via keyboard as opposed to via phone or face to face. For students I would fear they would not proof read prior to submitting. Thus the tone or context could be misconstrued.

Thing 10

On your blog, add comments to the video you embedded. Why did you select it? Were you also able to download a video?

FIRST THINGS FIRST
Warning: some profanity

I love this video, It is so motivational. I saw this commercial two years ago and it left me wanting to go for a run, ride or just exercise. Just gets me pumped up. I was able to download the video with YouTube. I tried with KeepVid and PWNYouTube first but my computer would not let me. I needed administration username and password. I am using a work computer to do my 23 things. I next tried to use ZamZar, I for some reason downloaded a wmv file. It opened up and started to play. So I went right to YouTube and used the embedded address. Much Much simpler. Of course after posting it to my blog I realized it did not work. I will continue to work on it.

Thing 9

What do you like or dislike about YouTube? Did you find videos that would be useful for teaching and learning? Is YouTube restricted in your building?

The only thing I do not like about YouTube is that searching for a video is very time consuming. If I put in Brian Bosworth an NFL football player in the 1980's, it shows 486 results. Then the process of searching through these multictude of videos becomes tedious.

There are numerous videos I have located that would be beneficial for my teachings. Yes, YouTube is restricted in our building. I as an individual have tried TeacherTube and SchoolTube, but we have to have the ok of administration to access the sites. I have located a video sharing site through Gaggle.net which is filtered YouTube videos.

Thing 8

In the same post in which you placed your creation, briefly describe your experience completing Thing 8. Which of these tools intrigues you and why? Was it easy, frustrating, time-consuming, fun? Share some of your ideas for using the images you can create.

I had a lot of fun with this "thing". I dabbled in quite a few different online generators. These things are neat and I could see myself getting hooked on them. I really like the Fake Magazine Covers, Photocards, and Scrapbook Creator sites. So many tools to make these tasks very easy indeed.

Thing 7

Think of ways you may be able to use Flickr in the classroom or in your work and share your ideas. What issues might you face?

I think there are a few ways I could use Flickr in my class. I could show pictures or videos of proper lifting technique, or proper form of a plyometric jump. Also I could post pictures or videos of projects that the students have completed. This would be something we could post so parents could see what we are doing in our classroom. Another idea that I have is to post Science fair projects to Flickr. This way, if parents are unable to come into the school they can just go to the school website and click on links to their child's classroom.
Obviously the issue one would have with Flickr would be safety in the classroom. A student should not be photographed in the class unless there is written consent from the legal guardian. I would feel this could be obtained from most parents if you had an informational meeting at the beginning of the year and told them your plans for the year.

Thing 6

Create a post on your blog about one of the photos you downloaded. Why did you choose a particular photo? What is it about the photo that you found interesting? Be sure to include the image in your post.

I chose this photo of a beach in the Bahamas. The picture was taken by IDEE_PER_VIAGGIARE. I selected this picture because my family and I enjoy spending time in the Bahamas. We last visited at Christmas 2011, and we would love to move there. The palm tree is symbolic because we started a kettle corn business called Koco...made with coconut oil and our logo is a palm tree.

Thing 5

Select and watch at least one of the videos linked below (flash player required). Create a new posting for Thing 5 in your blog and write a review of the video. How does the video relate to one (or more) of the Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship? How could you use the video in your classroom?

Part 1

I watched three of the videos. The first video I watched was Amy's Choice. It is a video about a girl who is lonely and feels she has no one to talk to and meets a "friend" on the Internet who ends up being a predator. In today's age this is a very sickening and scary video. This video exhibits elements of Digital Security. The second video I watched was You Can't Take it Back. This is a video about a student who ends up on a website created by his friend Pat and they "rate" the girls in the school. It was humorous to him until he goes to school the next day and sees the girls that were on the website upset about their "score". It really becomes personal to him when he realizes his sister is on this list. This video touches on Digital Law and Digital Etiquette. And Finally since my daughters initials are K.B., the third video I watched was the video about K.B's day. It is about a girl and her first day of school. At the dinner table her mother asks her about her first day at school. K.B. tells her mother that the day was fine. Then K.B. reflects on all the bullying that occurred throughout the day. Some mean girls posted a picture of KB sitting on ketchup packets online. This videos show the Digital Etiquette, Digital Communication and Digital Law of the nine citizenship's. It would be very simple to use these videos in my classroom. I teach K through 12th grade students. We discuss dangers of predators, strangers and the real threat of them out in the world. This is something that needs to be covered at every age group in school. "You can't take it back" would be very beneficial for the middle/high school crowd. Students need to realize that once you send a text or email, it is gone. All the information that you wrote about someone else is now going to be read. In health class we cover personal responsibility with emails and texts. This would fit in great here. KB's day is good for all grade levels. It shows how bullying can be on all different levels, cyber, phones, in person. Great lessons to be taught.

Part 2

Reynolds, Gretchen. "How Exercise Fuels the Brain." New York times 22 Feb. 2012: Web. 1 Jan. <http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/22/how-exercise-fuels-the-brain/>.

Part 3

Write a blog post that reflects your thoughts on Digital Citizenship. Who should be teaching this? What should students know and be able to do? What should teachers know and do? What should parents know and do?

My thoughts on digital citizenship are pretty simple. The technology is here in our world, so we need to inform the children how to act responsibly with this technology. To them it is every day life. My daughter will never know what it means to have to wait until she gets home to receive that call or call someone. For the older people like myself who have not embraced the technology fully, it now becomes a chore to keep up with it.
I believe that it is a joint responsibility of the parents at home and the teachers at school to teach digital citizenship. For most students they are using some sort of technology at some point of each day. So to have just the parents or just the teachers shoulder the burden of teaching this responsibility is foolish.
If you are a teacher that allows students to use technology as a resource, then I think it is your responsibility to teach them guidelines of etiquette regarding that technology. It is difficult for us as teachers to decide what parents should teach their children regarding digital citizenship. I feel it is our responsibility to "fill in the gaps" of what the parents miss. I mean if we said hey that is not my responsibility then who is going to educate the youth of today? They are our future and we have a vested interest in these students.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Thing 4

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of blogs out there - how do you handle information overload and how do you think RSS might help with that?

This picture is an awesome expression of my feelings on the information overload of the internet.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25031050@N06/3292307605/lightbox/
So having RSS would most definitively seem like it would simplify my ADD of internet surfing. Of course I feel that when I'm surfing the net I embrace my jumping around for one site to another. My fear with RSS is that I will subscribe to numerous irrelevant feeds and it will end up looking like my favorites or bookmarks.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Thing 3

How might a blog support the work you do? How might you use a blog with students? How might they respond to a blog assignment? What concerns do you have about educational blogging?

I would hope that by having a blog it would allow me to enhance my students' learning or parents understanding of what is going on in the classroom. I think it is an excellent way to communicate with my students, their parents, and other members of our school community. I also think it is a great tool for teachers in the field of physical education for sharing information regarding our content area.

How might I use a blog with students? How might they respond to the blog assignment? I could create a class newsletter which would include pictures about what is going on in the class. By doing this I would think the students would have more ownership of the coursework. They might be more apt to add input to topics that were discussed in class. I could post assignments and dates of which they are due. Then there would be no excuses for missed deadlines or assignments. I could post links to articles and then have the students respond on the blog. As stated above I feel the students would show more ownership of the coursework. I feel the students would like the change of pace using a blog for school work. They have completed paper and pencil work for so long it may be a welcome addition for them. One concern I could foresee is the content posted would have to be intriguing to keep the students interested.

What concerns do you have about educational blogging? Obviously the first concern I would have is that this might violate the electronic usage policy of the school. The second concern and even more worrisome would be privacy. There is always concerns when personal information is posted online. So to take care of that privacy settings would have to be set to give certain individuals the ability to post and or comment on each student's blog.

Thing 2

Why are you participating in 23 Things? What do you hope to learn? How does writing on the Internet, knowing anyone could read it, change how you write or feel about writing?

The first reason I am participating in 23 things is I am in need of Sb-Ceus to continue my certification. The second reason I am in 23 things is that there is so much more to the internet than I am aware. I know how to locate various tibits of information, I can use twitter, and I understand the therories behind Facebook. Yet there is much more floating around in cyberspace that could and can make me a more efficient teacher or more efficient in my day to day life.

Writing on the internet doesn't really bother me all that much. It is easier to write than to stand in front of a group of 300 to 400 people and give a lecture. However, I will need to proofread a little better prior to submitting.