Final EDT Reflection

1) Has your perspective and/or feelings changed about technology in instruction as a result of being in this course? How?

The first two weeks of this class were very difficult. I am not technology-literate and am not familiar with Google Classroom, and this made working on projects and staying up to date on class material hard to do. Throughout the class, the frustration did not ease up much. I became more prepared for the assignments, but each one was quite frustrating. Using new platforms to create and do new things with no instruction makes the projects take significantly longer. Many of the websites we used I will most likely not use in my classroom because of the time it takes to use them and how difficult they were to figure out. 

I do believe that technology is growing in education and it is important for us to become familiar with it. Though it can also be used negatively and can create issues with classroom management and time management.

2) Which technologies or tools used in this course stand out to you? Why? AND 3) Which technology(-ies) are you most eager to use in the classroom? How will you use it? (This may or may not be the one(s) chosen for your final project.)


Webquest: In science, this can be used for various contents/classes. It is a great way to get students to do simple research and visit many sources of information. They are also good at surfing the internet, so they should enjoy this more than a traditional worksheet/powerpoint.

Paper slides: I think this could be used by students to show their understanding of content standards. They can create videos and share with the teacher and/or classmates. This could also be done as a gallery walk, where student groups each create videos of different content/standards. Then all students go through and view each video to learn about each video's content. This is a simple way to let students be creative and have some freedom, as well as collaborate and work together.

Blogging: This is a way for students to connect and/or journal about their experiences. Instead of having students write a journal, they can write a blog post. They could be used for answering questions, answering a prompt, commenting on others' posts, and self-tracking. Teachers could also use a blog for class updates, reminders, and assignments. It is also an easy way for parents to stay informed and up to date on what is going on in their students' classroom.

Interactive Powerpoints: I like being able to create this for students to use at their own pace. This replaces the traditional Powerpoint style of presenting to the entire class at a time, but allows students to work a their own pace. They can also be great for a flipped classroom where students review notes at home and do assignments in the classroom. 


4) Based on your answer to number 3, do you think you can implement the tech. tool in a planned upcoming lesson that you will be teaching? Or, suggest it to your CT to use in an upcoming lesson? Explain.

The lack of technology resources is the biggest challenge at my current placement. We have a class set of laptops that is not even enough for everyone, and they are so slow they are difficult to use. I have introduced other types of technology for formative assessments into the class such as Kahoot, and my CT really enjoyed it. We use goformative.com frequently also for assessments. I mentioned them using more technology, though my CT thinks the availability of technology for the students is too low, and doing it in class takes too much time. 

Next semester my students have one-to-one technology and use chromebooks in every class they take. This is going to be a huge adjustment for me. I would lke to find more websites/simulations/activities for them to do using their chromebooks that they have never used before. 

Technology Integrated Lesson Plan

My TILP was created for a 9th grade honors biology class at Union High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Students are learning about the structure, function, and composition of the four common macromolecules (lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids). I chose this because this is what I am currently teaching my students in my own placement, and even did some of these formative assessments with my students. 

Throughout the lesson plan, instead of following along with boring powerpoint notes, students can work alone or in groups to fill out their own notes at their own pace. They will use an interactive powerpoint on either laptops or Ipads provided for them. There are four macromolecules we will focus on, but we will not do the entire notes packet at once.  Students will work through the notes for one macromolecule then use those notes while fresh in their minds to complete a collage activity using a Google Doc. Instead of cutting pictures out of magazines the old fashioned way, students will create a collage on laptops/Ipads woking in groups. The collage must give examples of foods the macromolecule can be found in as well as a representation of the function. Once students have completed the notes and collages for each macromolecule, they will create a storyboard for each molecule on their own using PBS Learning Media's website. The storyboard must include the molecule name, function, structure, and composition and include explanations and images. 

At the end of the unit, students will be familiar with the macromolecules found in foods as well as their functions and properties. Using technology that they are familiar with keeps them engaged and more willing to participate. Many students at Union do not have computers and Ipads at home, so they are excited to work on them at school. Using them in school also helps students remain technology literate outside of just the social media they may be familiar with. 

Gifted Students - The Early Finishers

Gifted students are often overlooked. We cannot let these students get lost in the crowd of a class. I was surprised to hear from the videos that students are often thought of as having social disorders. Some students are told they have ADD, when in fact they are bored! It can be very hurtful to a student to be labeled as having some sort of disorder, when they are quite the opposite. These students are bored with what is going on and may not have the best social skills, but there is nothing wrong with them. 

I can't say that I am surprised to hear that it is common for gifted students to have only 1 or 2 close friends, but hearing it aloud in these videos really cemented the idea for me. I see this every day with one of my own gifted students. He struggles to have close relationships and is bored with our class. He chooses not to do group activities because he does not work well with other students. He is a very nice kid and he has good intentions, but he has gone through the school system being ahead of most students and having to work alone because of it for so long, he struggles to work with others not that he is in 11th grade. Other teachers say that he is just lazy, but I do not think that is the underlying reason why he chooses not to participate in certain class activities.

Using technology in our classroom has been great for the above mentioned student. We often use goformative.com for formative assessments in our classes. The students complete short assignments on their own, which is what has been best for our gifted students. Other technology tools that can be utilized in the classroom and effective for gifted students can be Google Docs. A teacher can create differentiated documents to share with certain students. Students at various levels can receive specific work/tasks/documents at their levels. Since you can share documents with select students, no one would really know who got what documents. This is beside the fact that it is high school and word travels fast :). 

Allowing students to use technology also allows them to work at their own pace, and in this case they may get ahead of schedule. Using PBS Learning Media's Website, students can create storyboards for a variety of reasons. In science, they can use them to explain processes, show relationships, and create graphical representations. This gives students a lot of freedom and allows those gifted students to use their full potential on different projects. If they happen to finish early, teachers can also create puzzles on this website. These can be done for extra credit, homework, or as a time filler for a student who finishes early. 

First attempt at a Vlog - UDL friendly websites

Catfishing - Don't Bite the Bait

Definition: 
Catfishing is trying to befriend or lure someone in with a fake persona online, usually through social media. A catfish is the person behind the fake profile. 

The Problem/Dangers: 
Catfishing is considered an online hazard to people of all ages and those that use all types of social media, including online dating and social sites (Facebook, Instagram...). It can also be a form of cyber-bullying among kids in schools (Scheff, 2013). A young girl committed suicide because of a catfishing incident where she thought she was in an online relationship with a boy who was actually her neighbor and a her friend's mother. The woman pretended to be a boy to find out what was being said online about her own daughter. The woman, posed as the boy, then "broke up" with the young girl and spread "slut" and "whore" rumors around her webpage, and the girl was so hurt, she hung herself in her own bedroom. The story can be found at this website. This is more common that we wish it was, and many teens are lured in by fake profiles. 

Famous Notre Dame football player Manti Te'o was also a catfish victim, which really brought attention to the problem. He had an online girlfriend that he later found out was non-existent in real life. It was said that his girlfriend and his grandmother had died on the same day. Though the grandmother part was true, the girlfriend did not die because she did not exist. This incident spread awareness about cyber-bullying, as Te'o speaks about himself as a victim. (Patchin, 2013)

Catfishing is a real problem that goes beyond just online dating and social media. Many sexual predators use catfishing as a way to lure in victims as well as for child pornography and sex trafficking. A 2013 Florida investigation found men posing as teenagers online trying to lure young girls in for sex. The investigation led to over 50 arrests as police used fake accounts to catch them and lead them to a decoy meeting location. Chris Duque, a former online predator detective states " It's easy to be duped online, very easy. The thing with the internet is your five senses are somewhat limited and what you see online may not be what you're really going to get.". 

Catfishing and other types of cyber-bullying are not going away any time soon with the popularity of technology today. We need to be alert about the people we correspond with on the internet. Though some people think catfishing can be playful and innocent, it can lead to serious dangers. 

Statistics:

• 54% of people believe someone they’ve met via online dating has used false information (Anderson, 2015)
• 1 out of every 10 online dating profiles is FAKE (Anderson, 2015)

59% of Internet users feel that online dating is a good way to meet people (compared with 44% in 2005) (D'Costa, 2014)

28% have been contacted in a way that left them feeling harassed or uncomfortable

• 41% of social network site users have used a social networking site to get more information about a potential partner (D'Costa, 2014) 
• 83 million Facebook accounts are faked or duplicate in nature (Lacapria, 2013)
• 97 percent of catfishing accounts claim to be female (Lacapria, 2013)

Teaching Resource:

Schools often worry about bullying within their schools, but may forget about the bullying that occurs outside of school. We can help our kids be aware of the dangers of catfishing and cyber-bullying by making them aware of what can happen as a result. Kids should not be talking to any strangers online, as they may not be who they think/say they are. Kim Lacapria put together a great infographic that is easy to follow and understand that would make a great teaching resource. It can be found here. Using an infographic makes the topic easy to understand and is a style many students may have seen before with how popular technology is now. Another great infographic can be found at this website, and can be used for teaching purposes. 

Below is a list of tips to help students stay safe from catfish online:

• Limit personal information displayed online. Address, phone number, full name, and financials should never be shared (Scheff, 2013)
• Consider using video chatting so you can see real-time and real people (Patchin, 2013)
• Never go by yourself to meet someone (Patchin, 2013)
• Look out for those who claim to have glamorous professions and lifestyles (Anderson, 2015)
• Be suspicious if someone has traumatic reasons for not being able to meet in person, or they consistently put off meeting face to face (Anderson, 2015)
• Be cautious if a random and attractive person starts contacting you online (McHugh)

McHugh also gives a great list of how we can tell if someone may be a catfish:

Catfishing has become so common that it has turned into its own reality television show. I hope this does not persuade kids that it is ok to do this online. Though the show was produced by a catfishing victim, so it may show the dangers and the downside to it all. MTV has produced the show and it is on it's 5th season. Some episodes of this show could be used for educational purposes to show real life examples and to show how prevalent it has become. 

References:

Anderson, Cass. "These Stats On How Common ‘Catfishing’ Is Just Might Blow Your Mind Apart." BroBible. N.p., 16 Nov. 2015. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.

D'Costa, Krystal. "Catfishing: The Truth About Deception Online." Scientific American. Springer Nature, 25 Apr. 2014. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.

Lacapria, Kim. "Catfishing is bigger than you might think, study reveals trick used by fraudsters." Social News Daily. N.p., 23 Mar. 2013. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.

McHugh, Molly. "It's Catfishing season! How to tell lovers from liars online, and more." Digital Trends. N.p., 23 Aug. 2013. Web. 16 Oct. 2016

Patchin, Justin. " Catfishing as a Form of Cyberbullying." Cyberbullying Research Center. N.p., 7 Feb. 2013. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.

Scheff, Sue. "Catfish: Why Parents Need To Discuss It With Their Teens." Huffington Post. N.p., 25 Jan. 2013. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.

Are my students engaged?

   As teachers, we often believe that if our students are scoring well on their assessments, then they are engaged in the work we are doing in class (Price, 2016). This may not always be the case. Kids are coming to school with the mindset that their days will be filled with non-engaging activities and topics. We need to change this. We often think that the majority of our students are willing to learn and have the capacity to do so. This is often not true. In an urban school setting especially. I see this with my own students currently. Many of them come to school to go through the motions, just to get a grade - not even a passing grade - because they know that is what they are supposed to be doing. many students do not find school relevant to them. I see this in both urban and rural schools, where the dynamics are very different but engagement is still low. 

   Students are coming to school with many creative and engaging things going on in their lives outside of school (Prenske 2005). This makes it hard for schools to compete against technology, extracurricular activities, sports, and other activities for student engagement. Many students live a life that is rich in technology. Technology gives students something to be very engaged in. We have all seen kids glued to their phones, tablets, Ipads, computers, Ipods, mp3 players and more, we can use this engagement in our classrooms in many different ways (Sadik 2008).  Sadik also states that the key to using educational technology is to utilize meaningful activities that engage students in using their knowledge in different ways. 

   Sometimes we need to take a step back and analyze our students at a more basic level. Students can be hard to read at the surface, but if we as teachers are supposed to connect with students and teach them a year's worth of important information, we need to be able to know some factors governing the students' learning barriers and capabilities. Jensen gives a good list of engagement factors that we can use to connect to engagement. Often these factors are linked to socioeconomic status as well (Jensen 2013). The seven factors are: health and nutrition, vocabulary, effort and energy, mind-set, cognitive capacity, relationships, and stress level (Jenson 2013). These may vary from student to student and will vary from one school to another. We can use these factors to determine if our students are able to be engaged in our classroom. I have seen in my own classroom that I am placed in, some students are struggling to stay engaged at school because their lives at home are not providing them with the necessary tools or necessities. They were unable to do their homework because they did not have their own ruler at home. We must also make sure basic needs are taken care of. If students are not getting fed well enough at home, they will not be able to focus on school. This factor is often overlooked ad forgotten, even though it is very important. We cannot expect students to perform well in school, let alone be engaged in school, if their basic needs are not being met. 

   As teachers, we are responsible for a large amount of kids in a short about of time. We must be able to adapt to new generations of children who enter our classrooms. Today, technology is surrounding us and taking over the majority of kids' time. We need to be able to use this in our favor to keep kids engaged in our classrooms. Kids are more likely to engage themselves into something they are already interested in. Teachers must also be able to decide if students are engaged or not. Many times we may think they are, but instead they are just going through the motions to get through school and onto the next step in life (Prenske 2005). When students fail to be engaged in school, we often blame it on the student or blame the student for not trying. There may be a large underlying factor as to why this is so. If the student being fed enough at home? Are they getting enough sleep? Are they interested in what we are doing? Is the student bored? Is the student willing? There are many factors to engagement that teachers must not forget about. We are surrounded by students with all different backgrounds and all different things that they enjoy. This is what makes teaching special and exciting, the variety and diversity of the students we encounter. Though, to be successful in the classroom, we must find a way to keep our students engaged and willing to engage themselves. 

References 

Jensen, E. (2013). Engaging students with poverty in mind: Practical strategies for raising achievement. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD.

Prensky, Marc. "Engage me or enrage me." Educase Review 40.5 (2005): 61-64.

Price, David. "Are Your Students Engaged? Don’t Be So Sure." MindShift. PBS, NPR, 21 Jan. 2014. Web. 2 Oct. 2016.

Sadik, Alaa. "Digital storytelling: A meaningful technology-integrated approach for engaged student learning." Educational technology research and development 56.4 (2008): 487-506.

Blogging in my Classroom

I am very new to this blogging experience, but have enjoyed it so far. I think using a blog in a science classroom can be great for data collection and analysis. Students can post their data and share it with the class. It is then easily accessible for most students and also allows me to monitor. The blog also creates a communal sense and creates a place where students can go online to safely post thoughts, assignments, and data. This forces them to interact under a monitored source. I believe that by using a blog and having students post and read each others' posts, it makes them feel important and makes them feel as if their input is needed and imperative. A blog is also an easy way to reach all students in one shot. It could be used to relay information to groups or all students for announcements, assignments, and/or data and information. 

I am excited to learn more about blogging and what else I can do with it. Tools like this can be implemented in classrooms if used well.