Verizon Math... You have to Listen to this it's Hilarious

To all my fellow teaching friends I thought I would share a smile. This was shown to me in my Math class to make a point that how we teach math is important, we don't want our students to turn into this guy.

"Doing"

For my doing portion of the Internet Safety assignment I went and talked to my high school friend.  She is a mother of two little boy, who are both very aware of how to use the computer.  They know how to get onto their favorite games on the Internet and one of the boys just learned how to take pictures and download onto the computer.  I told her what I had learned and she was shocked.  She also realized that her sons see her on the computer all the time and that she needs to set a good example for them and not chat online.  She also went and put in a netnanny and she talked to her sons about using the computer.  Her final step in protecting her sons was moving their computer from the office into the kitchen so that she can watch what they are doing.   I think that by informing her I made her more aware.  It also helped me realize that just because they are little boys doesn't mean they are protected from the bad things online.  I hope that when I am a mom I can take the same steps to help my children become technology smart and Internet safe.  

Technology Integration Ideas

After watching my groups presentations I learned quite a bit.  One of my peers gave a website that tells you what technology would be a good use for the different subjects.  I think that just having that list would help me; half of my problem is coming up with what technology to use.  Another idea I got was just to use powerpoints.  By using powerpoints you have your ideas put in the order you want them so that you do not forget what is coming next.  

Personal Learning Theory

As I tried to think about what my personal learning theory was I realized that while I was in the practicum I had many theories expressed to me that I have a strong belief are truly important for my future students. There were several different theories expressed but the first one I would like to cover is Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development. While I was in my practicum it became very clear to me that every student has their own personal zone. I quickly realized that in order to teach to each and every different zone I needed to use a great amount of scaffolding in my teaching. During one lesson I realized that I had a few students that were completely frustrated. I knew that the lesson was out of their zone and they were going to shut off if the lesson was not lowered into their zone. I asked a question and only had 2 students raise their hands. I waited a little longer and when I realized no one else was going to answer I started to use scaffolding in an attempt to get more hands up in the air. I gave little hints to the answer and the more hints I gave the more the hands started to shoot in the air. In this instance I was the more knowledgable other. I was the one trying to pass my knowledge onto the students. The next day I asked a similar question to see how many students remembered from the previous lesson and surprisingly almost every student raised their hand. That is why scaffolding and zone of proximal development are a major part of my learning theory. As I take my knowledge and try to pass it onto my students I will try to always use scaffolding.
The next thing that is a big part of my learning theory is self-efficacy in both the students and the teacher. We must first believe in ourselves before we can ask our students to believe in there selves. While in the practicum I witnessed a few always needed someone around them. There were a few who always thought that they could not do the task that was given to them. There were also those that thought that they were to stupid to learn whatever myself or their teacher was trying to teach. This learned helplessness is something that I believe can be decreased by an increase of the student’s self-efficacy. By giving students confidence they will soon learn that they can do it and that they do not always need someone else to do it for them.
Another important idea that was expressed while I was in the practicum was the idea of modeling what behavior I wanted the students to do. If my students were talking when I wanted them to be quiet I would fold my arms, smile, and sit quietly. The students soon realized what they were supposed to be doing and quickly followed. When the students have an example to follow it is always easier for them to do the task that is asked of them. I also tried shaping the students. Again, if I wanted the students to do something in particular I would give praise to someone that was doing the task correctly. The students soon caught on that they needed to follow direction and by the end of the practicum I did not have to remind the students as much because they had begun to self-regulate. They took control of their own behavior and they really started to improve. After I realized how important these three things were there was no way I was leaving them out of my learning theory.
Finally, during the practicum there were many things I needed to get into the students long-term memory. I decided that I would try one of the Mnemonic Devices that we discussed in class. I went to my mentor teacher and asked her if she had any songs that might help the students remember what a consonant blend is. She happened to have one and so I used Rote Memorization to help the get the definition of consonant blends into their long-term memories. We first went over “L” blend words and “R” blend words. By doing this I activated their schema. I then sang the song one time to the students before they started singing it in an attempt to get the song into their working memory. This also go their attention which is the reason it could go into their working memory. We then sang the song four more times that day and by the end of the day many of the children were singing it without the music. This experience is why I believe you cannot skip any step if you want the information to move into their long term memory. In the Information Processing System every step is important.
These many experience I had during the practicum helped me realize what my personal learning theory was. Before the practicum I really would not have been able to tell you. I am so glad that I had this knowledge before the practicum so that I could watch for it and gain a personal understanding of how important these theories and ideas really are.

Extension Project and Log

When we were first assigned to learn something new and spend 10 hours doing it I thought that it was a ridicules assignment. I honestly did not think that much of it until I went to my private voice lesson about 3 weeks later.
On that particular day we were picking new music for me to learn. I have sung in many different languages and in many different styles but for some reason Italian is one of the harder ones for me to do. My coach wanted me to learn a beautiful French song and an English song, they were both relatively easy and so we started looking for a Third song. We passed over the song Se Florindo e fedele many times before I realized that it was the perfect song to learn because I could use it as my extension project as well.
On the first day all we did was go over the words. We went over pronunciation and meaning of the words. She played to tune for me so that I could at least hear it and then my lesson ended. On the second day we practiced the melody and I tried to add the words to it. Day after day we practiced this song. I did not feel like I was making much progress on the words because I kept messing them up or slurring them together because of the speed of the song. Now almost 10 weeks later I have memorized the music and we are working on polishing the song. The words still give me trouble sometimes but I really think that committing myself to this song helped me improve my Italian singing.
In the beginning I thought this assignment was ridicules. Now I am glad that we had to do it because otherwise I might have given up on this song.

Date	Time Practiced	Total Time
January 27 2009	30 Minutes	30 Minutes
January 29 2009	30 Minutes	1 Hour
February 3 2009	30 Minutes	1 Hour 30 Minutes
February 5 2009	30 Minutes	2 Hours
February 10 2009	30 Minutes	2 Hours 30 Minutes
February 12 2009	30 Minutes	3 Hours
February 17 2009	30 Minutes	3 Hours 30 Minutes
February 19 2009	30 Minutes	4 Hours
February 24 2009	30 Minutes	4 Hours 30 Minutes
February 26 2009	30 Minutes	5 Hours
March 3 2009	30 Minutes	5 Hours 30 Minutes
March 5 2009	30 Minutes	6 Hours
March 10 2009	30 Minutes	6 Hours 30 Minutes
March 12 2009	30 Minutes	7 Hours
March 17 2009	30 Minutes	7 Hours 30 Minutes
March 19 2009	30 Minutes	8 Hours
March 24 2009	30 Minutes	8 Hours 30 Minutes
March 31 2009	30 Minutes	9 Hours
April 2 2009	30 Minutes	9 Hours 30 Minutes
April 7 2009	30 Minutes	10 Hours

What I Learned

It is amazing the many different ways technology can be used. I can't believe I was having such a hard time figuring out what to do. After watching the presentations I kind of felt silly for not having some of these ideas myself. I hadn't really thought that using a video recorder and showing the students after you are done really was technology. I mean I know it's technology but in my mind I guess I did not think about it that way. After watching the presentation it made so much sense and it looked like the students really enjoyed watching their plays.
They were all such cute and fun ideas.

Reading Reflection

1. What article did you choose to read for your fourth article?
For my fourth article I decided to read "Mixed Signals" from the June 2001 New Era.

2. What were the most important things you learned from the readings?
In my fourth article the most important thing I read was that there are guidelines for safe Internet use. The one that stuck out to me the most was that You are in control. Unless you misspell a word you have to be looking for the inappropriate sites to find them. This is also connected to the next thing. Keep the computer in a public place. If everyone is watching you, you re going to be less likely to go looking for those inappropriate sites. In the other reading I really thought that it was telling us that we need to be a positive role model to others and tell them what we believe and also stand up for what we believe. We have the power to change the outcome in an uncomfortable situation if we will make sure we know what our belief are when it comes to media.

3. How will what you have read influence your actions as a parent and/or teacher of children and youth?
As a parent I am going to make sure that all computers are only available to be used in wide open spaces. I am also going to make sure that my family has a set of rules for using the Internet. As a teacher I am going to be more aware of what my students go looking for. The school will probably have some type of a block but if I am alert and aware to what is going on fewer students will try to look for the inappropriate material.

4. How can you use what you have learned from the reading to have a positive influence on family and friends?
It is very important to inform family and friends about this information. In this day and age we are in the middle of two completely different generations. One generation did not grow up with computers and for the most part they are unsure how to really navigate on them. The other generation has grown up with computers their whole lives and has an almost know-it-all attitude. By sharing this information with both groups you will help the older generation understand what the risks are and how they can help prevent some of them from happening. By talking to the younger generation you are not only reminding them what they may already know you might be telling them new information that might come in handy one day.