Los Presentaciones

What were some of the best things you saw during the presentations?  Why did you like them?  What were the most effective teaching strategies you witnessed?
Well, I really liked all of the presentations so I will just highlight a few of the key pieces that made these presentations enjoyable.  First off, the variety of topics was awesome and each person did a great job of selecting an interesting topic from their field of study that they were passionate about.  For all of the presentations, (Marc's, Sara's, and Sarah's especially), their passion for their lesson really shone through and definitely got me excited in the presentation they were giving.  The large amount of pictures/videos displayed in all of the presentations definitely helped me to understand better what the presenter was trying to convey.  I also really liked how effectively Erin used powerpoint (as she was the only remaining member of Team Powerpoint; the rest of us switched over to Prezi for this assignment) and was able to give a very interesting and intriguing presentation through powerpoint.  Anyone who had technical difficulties (most notably Ryan, Sara, and Roger) were certainly able to work through them on the spot and I do not believe the loading video (or lack there of) detracted from their presentations at all.

What were the least engaging/helpful things you saw during the presentations? Why were they not effective?  What could any specific student do to improve?  [Please be honest here without being mean.  This is for critical feedback to help others improve.]
One thing that I noticed with a few of the Prezis was that they were overloaded with pictures and movies and due to the seemingly slower than usual internet speed (at no fault of the presenters) their large video clips did not load properly.  While the presenters all did wonderful jobs of thinking on their feet while this took place, I could see how antsy middle/high school students could be lost during that part of a presentation.  I also noticed a few times that due to the need to press the little button on the bottom of the SMART board to jump steps, the presenters often kept their back to at least half of the audience for the majority of their presentations which could have resulted in losing the interest of any students who were behind the teacher's back.  One specific piece of advice I have (the only one that I remember, at least) is to Jerry-  in his presentation, there were some longer lines of text on the slides and he read them word for word, which definitely will lose the interest of a student fairly quickly.

After viewing everyone else's presentations, how would you improve your own (both how you presented and the project you made) the next time you were to give this presentation?
I would definitely prepare better in terms of knowledge on my own subject.  I wrote a fairly decent paper on the AYPE back in my Junior year of college and tried to adapt it for the prezi, but it was definitely difficult as the paper was able to go much more in depth than the presentation was.  I also am not entirely sure I engaged the students in the presentation as much as I could have, which I would have liked to do better. I definitely enjoyed using prezi and hope to use it many times throughout my career as a teacher (unless some new, more advanced way of teaching technologically- such as through telepathy- is invented during my tenure :) ).

Do you like using PowerPoint/Prezi/SmartBoard as a lesson presenter?  What are the pros/cons of using it?  How might you use it with students?  Could you go back to Friday, would you have tried a different one than what you chose?
Yes, I loved the ability to create a unique presentation in Prezi and will use it fairly often in my history classes.  For pros, it definitely is easy to make a cool presentation with many pictures, videos, and stops that does not necessarily have to follow the linear or even logical pattern that powerpoint constrains users to doing.  For cons, though, as we witnessed in class, videos from youtube may not load and if a teacher does not have a backup plan, it could derail the whole presentation.  Also, the internet is needed to use Prezi, so if for any reason a school is without internet for a day or two, any prezi presentation a teacher would have created is effectively useless.  It would be sweet to make an interactive prezi type of thing for a history game, so that students could make a choice based on a question or situation presented to them, and each choice took them down a different path (I am not sure if this is even possibly, but if it is it will be awesome!!). 

After this project, what do you believe is the best way to deliver lecture material (no electronics is an option)?  How often do you think you will utilize an electronic presentation method to deliver your content and what might you use instead/in addition to?  Why do you think you will present material that way?
I believe that it can be super effective and helpful to deliver a lecture with the aide of powerpoint, prezi, or smartboard, as long as it is done in a manner that engages the students and does not simply have them copying down word for word line after line of text that is on each slide of a powerpoint or stop of prezi.  I think it is also necessary to take a step back from technology every so often while lecturing and do the old-fashioned writing notes and key terms on the white board.  I would say if a teacher is relying on technology for their presentations, it is imperative that they have a back up plan as well just in case the technology fails.  As for why I believe technology is useful for teaching, I believe it is what kids these days are used to and so they are the most engaged when the 'entertainment' portion of their brain is activated, and hopefully I will be able to create presentations that can effectively do this!   

That is all for now.  Blueberry #18 out.

The ability to use social networks in schools. Yes or no?

1. In your estimation, does Social Networking offer teachers greater advantages through possible connections with students, or does it present greater issues for teachers? 
I do believe that, if implemented properly, social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and myriad other sites at our immediate disposal via the internet can be used to the advantage of teachers in almost every level of schooling.  I say almost because I believe that up until fifth or sixth grade (in some cases 9th and 10th even) children have not matured enough to engage in proper internet etiquette which involves self censoring and the ability to not just say what is on the tip of one's tongue (fingertips).  It also calls for teachers to do the same amount of self-censoring as we are under a continuous microscope due to the fact that we are as Jerry McGuire so elegantly put it: "messing with people's lives".  Even if a teacher believes their past life is over with (it may include things such as rampant partying, drug use, no inhibition, and many other potentially fun {at the time} activities) they can quite easily come back to haunt us.  
I believe that parents want to believe the people teaching their kids have never made mistakes, and if any sign of a mistake (drunken photos, etc.) surface via a social networking site, it can irreparably harm a teacher's reputation.  As Renee Ramig lays out in her article "Social Media in the Classroom", there are plenty of steps that can be taken to ensure social networking sites are used effectively and efficiently to help students learn.  Despite what some teachers believe (that students are coming to school to unplug) we as teachers need to use whatever methods possible that we can to help our students learn to the best of their abilities, and if that means involving Facebook and Twitter, I do not see a problem with it as long as it is done in a responsible manner.


ii.            Were you to utilize Social Networking with students, what precautions to you think are necessary in today’s digital world in order to safeguard your professional standing?  Do you think it’s fair to teachers to hold them to a different standard than other professionals (do you even think that that is what is happening – you can reference your take on the Natalie Munroe scenario).  
 I believe that in order to use social networking effectively with students, a teacher must be willing to keep many things about their lives private from their students.  If this involves keeping two or three Facebook accounts (with different names and an inability for students to search for them) so as to keep what the students see 'safe', so be it.  As teachers, we have to look out for the best interest of our students and we must do everything in our power to keep the learning environment as clean for them as possible.  However, I do believe that we should be allowed to live our own lives separate from our students, and with the comes the ability and right to practice free speech via whatever means we choose, including social networking sites of our own.
In terms of teachers being held to a different standard, I believe it is acceptable to some extent.  There are certain careers (teachers, fire fighters, police officers, POTUS, military personnel) who should be held to higher standards due to the types of roles they play in the community.  For teachers, we are as Jerry McGuire said (once again :) ) "messing with people's lives", and as such we have the ability to either greatly help or greatly hurt the future of our students.  Because of this, it is fair to hold teachers to a higher standard (as long as what they are being judged on has a way to effect their students.  I do believe, however, that it can be taken to the extreme in some cases.  The first thing that comes to the top of my head is that there are double standards that I cannot make sense of.  If a person has a DUI on their record from multiple years ago and have completely resolved it, they are still allowed to teach (of course, why wouldn't they be?).  However, if a teacher has a Facebook or Myspace that they may have forgotten to completely make private that has some pictures of a party from college where they may have happened to imbibe one too many 'social beverages', they could potentially get fired or suspended from teacher for that.  I do not agree with that: as long as they are not drunk around their students or impacting their students due to their drinking, it should not matter.


iii.           How serious of a threat is cyber-bullying to what you intend to do in your classroom?  In your estimation, is it something that as a middle school/high school teacher, you will be on the lookout for?  Should you have to be on the lookout for it? 
I believe that due to the immaturity level of the majority of middle school students (in almost every case it is not their fault, though, as we have been talking about in Paul Pick's class about the late development of the pre-frontal cortex that control judgement) cyber-bullying is a fairly serious threat.  Because of this, I believe each teacher has the right to decide with each class they teach if they are capable of using Social Networking or if it would spiral out of control due to some students' proclivity to bully other students via these 'learning tools'.  If I do implement social networking in my classes, I will certainly be on the lookout for cyber-bullying in the facets in which I have implemented in my class.  I would not, however, peruse all of my students' personal facebook or other social networking accounts to look for cyber-bullying as it is not my job to watch what they do on all of their free time.  I mean, come on: parents need SOMETHING to do still.  As the New York Times article from the 27th of June, 2010 mentions, "According to the Anti-Defamation League, although 44 states have bullying statutes, fewer than half offer guidance about whether schools may intervene in bullying involving “electronic communication,” which almost always occurs outside of school and most severely on weekends, when children have more free time to socialize online."  What this tells me is that it is not my legal responsibility to be on the lookout for cyber-bullying with all of my time.  If one of my students brings to me a situation where they have been cyber-bullied, of course I am going to intervene on behalf of my student, but it is not really my legal responsibility to moderate all online communication my students have with each other (unless it is in the context of my class of course).

Here end my thoughts on these very thought-provoking questions.  I am most certainly open to any alternate perspectives on these questions :)  
P.S.  Here's a fish.  ><)))">
 

Sophie and Nyah

This is my fat cat Sophie.  She likes sleeping in awkward positions, laser pointers, eating my other cat's food, and peeing on my bed.  I like her. 

This is my skinny cat Nyah (pronounced like night without the t, and uh).  Sophie eats her food.  She enjoys playing with random strings, not sitting on people's laps, and getting scratched at the base of her tail.  I like her too.

Digital Natives and/or Digital Immigrants

1. Do you consider yourself a digital native, immigrant,  or even alien? Why?
I definitely consider myself a digital native, as I have grown up with technology being an integral part of my childhood.  I am moderately younger than the majority of my cohort (only a meager 22) so I had a variety of technologies in play as I went through my formal schooling years.

2. What experiences have you had with technology in the classroom either as a teacher or learner?  Compare high school technology to college technology.  Did it improve your learning experience?
If I remember correctly, I had computers in the classrooms I was in from probably the 2nd or 3rd grade, and we were using them for a variety of reasons, though mostly just educational games such as the Oregon Trail (2) at that point. In one particular high school history class that I remember, the class played a middle-ages based video game and it definitely enhanced my learning experiences.  In college, the professors generally did not implement the technology in their classrooms to  any real extent (they were mostly older digital aliens, so it makes sense I guess).  I do wish they had been more involved and up to date in the technological facet of teaching, but I definitely survived and thoroughly enjoyed my undergraduate experience, so I cannot complain too much.

3. Has this article changed your mind about the use of technology in your future classroom?  How might you incorporate it?  What reluctance may you still have?
This article has not changed my mind about using technology; if anything, it has only enforced my views that technology is an integral part of education.  I will, to the best of my ability, implement the latest technology in my classroom so as to give the students (who will have grown up using technology their entire lives) the best chance to learn and retain the information.  I do not have any reluctance to using technology, as long as I can make it applicable to the students and to the curriculum I am teaching.

Introduction to blogging...

My full name given at birth is Timothy William Allen (no, I was not named after the actor...according to my parents he was still just a crass, low-quality comedian in 1989) but I generally go by Tim or Timothy (or Timmy to some relatives and my brother's friends).  I hope to teach either middle school or high school social studies somewhere in the Pacific Northwest (Washington or Oregon).  I am qualified to teach social studies because I majored in History at Pacific Lutheran University, taking a wide range of classes on the subject throughout my four year career there.  When asked about my favorite food, I always have a hard time deciding on just one, but for the sake of simplicity, I will select a full rack of ribs smothered in barbecue sauce.