Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Comments

We have a creative class! Good videos!!

Austin's Video 

Tanya's Video

Chris' Video

Shane's Video

Abbie's Video

Internet Safety Lesson

My sister spends a lot of time on the internet. She's an old freshmen in high school. First off, I wanted to know what she knew about being safe on the internet. I asked her the questions below and the discussion and discourse took place as follows:


What do you know about sexual predators?


My sister told me about a movie she watched in fifth or sixth grade about how a boy was chatting online with who he thought was a girl his own age; it turned out to be an older man. They arranged a meeting at which the man planned to kidnap the boy, but the boy luckily escaped. She said that it taught her that boys and girls are susceptible and "everyone's a target, and that predators are sly and patient." 


I learned in this discussion that sexual predators can be after others of their same gender - creepy. 


I told my sister about how sexual predators will try and call their victims on the phone after breaking their guard down with sexually explicit conversation and images. They will also send them gifts to win their affection and trust. Sexual predators work very hard to get the victim to withdraw from their family. My sister was unaware of these facts. 


What do you know about cyber bullying?


I was thankful that my sister knew it existed. She understood that the motivation behind it was usually self esteem issues. 


I asked her what she knew about the four types of cyber bullies found at www.stopcyberbullying.org.  We discussed each of the types (vengeful angel, revenge of the nerds, mean girls, and inadvertent bullies) and ran through examples: ""You're fat and ugly?" OR "I think you're funny?" (Number 1 being bullying). "You're screwup in English today was epic! How embarrassing!" OR "I would kill myself if I did stupid things like that." (Number 2 being the correct one). 


I also asked her what to do if she is ever cyber bullied and she answered:
1. Tell them to knock it off!
2. Tell an adult. 
I also told her that sometimes the authorities need to be involved. 




What do you know about internet safety? Do you know how to protect yourself on the internet?


My sister scared me a little on this one. When I asked her this question, she responded: "keep info private, like time limits, and stranger rules" to which she didn't elaborate. I instructed her about not using the same username for everything, staying off the computer late at night, only having a computer in a public place, and to Google yourself often. I Googled her earlier and it worried me; you can see her Google+ conversations on line regardless of having a Google account. I told her that and her attitude was one of, "Oh well. It's going away anyway."


The experience was good. We found no extra resources together. We both learned from it and I hope my sister will be cautious about her internet gallavantings. 

Monday, December 12, 2011

Internet Safety Questions

Here are some things I read and my thoughts about them:
  • The FBI has internet safety tips for children that are very clear and easy to understand. This site also has safety tips for avoiding abduction and gun safety. 
  • The FBI also has a guide for parents. It is a heavy read and has a very direct, "matter of fact" tone. I think it could act as a great wake up call to parents. 
  • Netsmartz.org has a video about teens talking about cyber bullying. It's not as instructional and informative, but it's neat to hear youth talking about the problem.
  • This is a good website for scaring people into the reality about cyber bullying,informing parents why kids do it, background on the to motives of cyber bullies, how to identify it, etc. It also suggests Googling yourself to see what others see. I got stuck on this site for quite sometime; it has a lot of good information. I recommend it. 
  • Online dating has always freaked me out, but I know it does work. Here is an article about being safe while using online dating services. 
  • Here is a clean, well done video. It wasn't that scary which could be good or bad teaching youth.


What were the most important things I learned from the readings?
Internet predators and cyber bullying are very real. The safety measures we need to take are very important. We also need to communicate the dangers of the internet and the expectations we have to keep the rules. 

How will what I have read influence my actions as a parent and/or teacher of children and youth?
My husband and I actually talked about this; thoughts we had were:
-not give our children their own personal computers
-have a time where technology is checked in at night
-let our children have email accounts with the understanding that we will randomly check them
-have a game/adventure night (different from FHE) once a week for  personal interactions
-limit time on the computer

How can I use what I have learned from the reading to have a positive influence on family and friends?
Encouraging my siblings to spend their time on the computer wisely. I also think we can help those we visit teach/home teach to understand the dangers. 

Am I aware of the benefits and dangers children face when online with cyber bullying and online predators? 
Yes. My father gives a talk about internet safety that I have seen a couple times. I have also seen enough TV shows (fictional and not) about sexual predators and those children who don't come home. 
Cyber bullying is something that I am now aware of; I had no idea. Now I know about cyber bullies and how to identify them. 


Do I know how to prevent cyberbullying?
Yes. Talking to my children and teaching them about the warning signs  and what cyberbullying looks like. I would also teach them to tell me immediately and we would take care of the problem together. 

Where can I go for information and resources that can be used to teach internet safety?
Loads of places! Ranging from www.fbi.gov to http://www.stopcyberbullying.org. I would recommend starting there.

What internet safety issues am I likely to face as a teacher and how will I address them?
Children could potentially use computers at school to contact predators or other dangerous cyber friends that they are not allowed to contact at home. Whenever computers are in use by my students for one of my projects in class, I will monitor what they are doing. 
Also, I will always check online material myself before having them access it. 

How can I leverage the power of the Internet so students can learn, but in a safe way?
I could ask my school to purchase filtering software school wide. I could also teach my students some internet safe-searching tips. 

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Instructional Video

My husband and I had so much fun making this, not to mention how tickled I was to see the finished project in Movie Maker! A few comments:
 
- I haven't used iMovie, but after wrestling with Movie Maker again, I'd really like to try it.
- I am grateful for Creative Commons such as freeplaymusic.com.
- This video addresses the Utah Core Curriculum for Physics, Standard 1, all of Objective 4.

Enjoy!




What specific lessons or activities would be enhanced by using these technologies and how would you implement them?

 For one, this kind of project would be useful for any lesson where you can't physically take your students somewhere, for example a power plant or a laboratory.

Also, I like the idea of asking the students to make a video of how they see Physics in the real world. This kind of project addresses ILO two and three: "Manifest science interests and attitudes" and "Understand important science concepts and principles."

Monday, November 21, 2011

Physics Movie Story Board

Here is my storyboard for my instructional video. As a physics teacher, I want my students to see Physics in the real world. As an extension project, they could make an instructional video explaining to a wider audience how they apply Physics around them. This video is my example of what I want from them.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Second PTP - Part B

I stated that I was going to learn LoggerPro, but I ran out of time and needed another 5 points, so I learned Stellarium instead.

I learned that Stellarium is a very easy download; it's free, downloads easily, and doesn't take up too much space on your computer.
It is also simple to use. For most people who are natural explorers and are used to exploring programs, this is very easy to figure out.

If I am teaching an astronomy class in a city that has too much light pollution, in a school where funding for field trips to near by wilderness for star gazing is limited, or on a cloudy day, Stellarium could come to the rescue!

Several activities include:
Constellation quiz: Stellarium can help students memorize constellations found in the area.
Introduction to star gazing and continued instruction on star gazing.
Most of these teaching activities would take place if I were to teach an astronomy class or do extensions of my normal physics class.

Below I've posted a screencast of a tour of Stellarium.

Unable to display content. Adobe Flash is required.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Second PTP - Part A

I decided to learn Prezi; I heard about it a year ago and wanted to learn how to use it.



I learned that Prezi is very simple and in my opinion, limited. I didn't feel like had very much control over what I wanted to do. It is a more dynamic way to present your material, but I think I'd probably stick to Power Point to do my presentations. I more familiar with it and its capabilities.

Prezi is more dynamic and has the potential to flow at a brisk pace. Often times, presentations go slowly which looses student focus and attention. This could help with student focus and engagement because it has a more active presenting style.

I could use this for lecturing which could teach any standard.
I could also use this for an exciting intro to an activity for any standard.