JOURNAL 9 "Global Challenge"

Global Challenge: Save the World on Your Way to College
By David Gibson and Susan Hull Grasso
Leading & Learning
November 2007 Vol. 35 No. 3

In the article, Save the World on Your Way to College By David Gibson and Susan Hull Grasso, there is a description of a group of teenagers participating in a global competition while potentiality earning money for their college education. A pair of high school students from Boston, Massachusetts have teamed up with a pair of students from Mumbai, India via world wide web in order to design a global business plan on a socially significant issue that applies science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. For example, the idea this team is working on can possibly begin solving our global warming issues as well as sustain a future without a dependence on oil. The Global Challenge Competition(www.globalchalllengaward.org) was introduced to one student by her Chemistry teacher while another found out online and both choose to register. Each participant chooses an adult mentor, commonly parents, teachers,or working scientists, for assistance and advice. The competition continues until April 30 and the winner(s)are announced in May. Scholarships are announced and awarded on June 1st. The average scholarship award is about $1,000.

The team prepares a Global Business Plan which is shaped by a rubric. Each team member is able to evaluate themselves using the rubric. They also are capable of communicating with other team members in other states or countries by submitting their narratives to be reviewed via eFolio, an electronic portfolio application, and teammates can comment on other teammates efforts. When the team is ready they submit their core concept in the Global Challenge "Patent Office", an online form that required the team to summarize their concept to protect their idea for the current years competition. Once it is determined that they have an original idea the full business plan is submitted to provide more details and evidence.

Through email exchanges and Skype conversations (a free voice and file sharing application for synchronous meetings) the two groups comprised are diverse in gender, nationality, racial an ethnic background, strengths, aspirations,interests, and live on separate sides of the globe. They were also able to collaborate together while learning and sharing ideas in cell biology, science writing, and physics.

Question: Who is eligible to participate in this competition?

Answer: Because of the issues that are being addressed and the necessary skills needed in research and technology to participate it seems to be targeted for older students, but a student anywhere in the world can participate in the challenge. There is a small amount of support needed by adults.

Question: How is this beneficial to my son/daughter who is not motivated to learn?

Answer: This project requires a lot of autonomy. The challenge takes place outside of school, therefore the participant can implement their own approach in conjunction with team members. It promotes self-direction, new challenges in an area they choose to study, and self-motivated decision making.

JOURNAL 8 "More Than Money Matters"

"More Than Money Matters:
Establishing Effective School-Corporate Partnerships"
By Nancy Flynn
Learning & Leading
November 2007 Vol. 5 No.3

As I browsed through my first issue of Learning & Leading I came across an interesting titled article that read, More Than Money Matters: Establishing Effective School-Corporation Partnerships" written by Nancy FLynn. Now, there is a bit of personal irony here. Though I am still at the beginning stages of my technological growth I am constantly thinking about how many different ways I can include technology in some of my classroom exercises such as direct instruction, guided practice, independent practice, and or assessment. The first problem that I am always reminded of is what if the school is not equip with the necessary tools. Are there going to be enough computers? One thought has crossed my mind several times and that is to try and acquire the materials personally. I thought about putting together a presentation, in conjunction with the future school that I would be employed at, and acquiring donated funds throughout the community via large companies, small business willing to contribute to local classrooms. Again, these are just thoughts. This article brought up some very valid points that go beyond getting the needed money or materials to improve my classroom or an entire school.

The article focuses on partnerships that are created between a company that specializes in technology and a school. The obvious benefits are as follows. The schools receive the latest hardware and software and corporations benefit from increased profits through advertising, marketing, and promotion. Nancy Flynn spoke with nine principals who agreed that corporate partnerships were needed because of financial constraints schools are under. What concerns or cautions would these principals communicate to administrators when entering such a commitment? Using their responses Nancy generated ten guidelines to help administrators weigh the pros and cons to such commitment and think critically about all that is included in a school-corporate partnership involving technology. The first is to have a vision. The development of a clear goal of what is to be accomplished through this partnership. Do not just jump into something because there are free resources. The second is to make sure the school has the tech support needed for staff development and training, as well as, support to sustain the hardware and software. Next, is to ensure that the curricular goals of the participating school is aligned with that is acquired. Fourth, be sure that there a leaders represented by both partners to ensure constant communication and collaboration. The sixth and seventh guidelines can be stated together as capacity and commitment. Internal capacity is a key to having during this partnership. Support that can be provided by the company involved and not an outside source can avoid long delays with difficulties that are occurring. This develops a strong commitment between the company and school. There are obligations to the partnership. Principals or administrators need to be aware of any expectations the company has of the school and have them in writing. Decide in advance issues regarding product promotion and how it will be appropriately conducted and at what level. The ninth guideline is assessment. Determine strengths, weaknesses, and a direction that will be taken in the future. Lastly, is longevity. Define how long the partnership should last that includes benefits and costs of both parties.

Wow, that is a lot of homework!!!

Question: Why are the guidelines important to success in such partnership?

Answer: The answer is simple, what good does technology serve if you do not have resources to use them effectively.

Question: Other than increased sale, marketing, and promotion what does the company stand to gain by such an expensive investment?

Answer: Being that the company is investing a tremendous amount of time, money, and resources added to the fact that the district may need this partnership more than the company it is possible for the company to have more influence in curricular and materials to which students are exposed.

Journal 7 Kidspiration Review

This has been my favorite assignment this semester by far. Teaching kids to write is hard enough, but convincing them to prewrite and create outlines and do prep before the final writing product can be just as tough because it is viewed by many students as extra work. After exploring Inspriation, Kidspiration, and Insiredata I had a lot of fun just watching the different ways that teahers and students can be creative within the prewriting process. Typically, when teaching a graphic organizer via webs, groups, or concept maps everyone is asked to draw and or write to express ideas. Through this program everyone is an artist and can create their own graphic organizer to meet their needs using favorite images, colors, shapes, and font styles. As a teacher uses the program on a regular basis and the students become more comfortable you have the opportunity expand the student options, such as uploading personal images into their library. Students must be comfortable when using the computer. Over the past two months I have learned that comfort level is very important when trying to work efficiently and effectivly on the computer. This enables students to become more familiar with funtions on the computer outside of the Inspiration/Kidspiration program and not be afraid of trying and adding new and innovating ideas. The walk throughs that are provided when visiting the program provide good visial instrution for understanding how to and teach the use of Kidspiration. I was very impressed by the program and I am excited about including it into a classroom setting with my future students.

Question: Are there templates that are provided for me to view or use when beginning?

Answer: Yes, there are templates provided for areas in Reading/Writing, History, Science, Math, and others that do not fit in a specific catogary. There are over 75 built in templates to help build standards based skills across the curriculm.

Question: Can Kidspiration work for my First graders and English Language Learners?

Answer: Absolutely. There are many examples for all grade levels. Kidspiration is designed for K-5 classrooms. Within the program there is a voice command as you apply your curser over each icon. It says the name of the icon for the student as their arrive on it. This works great for early readers and English Language Learners by allowing them to hear and recognize where they are to avoid mistakes.

JOURNAL 6 "GAMES"

After visiting Classroom 2.0 I visited several tools. The blogging site was a tool that caught my interest and is also one that I would like to research more because it seems to be a very effective tool to introduce to or enhance student keyboarding skills and technological tools. After reading some of the entries there are many mixed attitudes about whether blogging in elementary education is appropriate for kids because of security and privacey issues for the students, as well as, liability and legal issues for the school districts. After more searching, the tool that I chose was on "Gaming". This is the attempt by educators to inform and or ask questions regarding the use of board and computer games to improve their students interest and involvement in class. One teacher logged in requesting information on the use of video games such as Nintendo DS using the Brain Age 2. He was seeking feedback from those who have had successes or failures using this particular unit. An objective of his was to find evidence that games have been proven to increase test scores and increase consistant class attendance. In response, some entries directed teachers to websites, one being "Games in Education", for games that were geared towards specific subjects area. for example, some of the subjects that are more difficult to get student interest like History or Geography. As I concluded my search I came across an interesting comment. It encouraged the idea than when preparing a good lesson the platform should not matter, therefore the technolory chosen is not as important as the instuctional design. Very good advice to stick by!!!

JOURNAL 4

The article, Designing to Learn, by Diane McGrath focuses on increased Project Based Learning (PBL) in classrooms. I am very much in favor of this type of learning, but as stated in the article it is vary hard to balance it with the other duties of the day and week. I have organized and carried out projects that required designing a project, planning it out, presenting it to an audience and turning in a final draft or artifact. These types of projects are fun for the students, but can become nightmares for teachers if they are not managed well. We as educators know that different students work at different paces, some are more dedicated to personal achievement than others, and most importantly students have different ideas or concepts regarding organization. The key to developing a successful artifact via a PBL is stated early on in the article. It is the teacher’s responsibility to be sure that he or she have the following skills and abilities, as well as, arm the students with these same tools. They are research skills, organizational skills, develop understanding and useful meaning of the artifact, ability to present it to an audience, self evaluate, receive peer evaluations, and willingness to revise.

Questions:

1. What if I do not have the confidence to successfully prepare my students and complete a Project Based Learning assignment or artifact?
As a teacher nobody is asking you to reinvent the wheel. Use your coworkers as help. They may have a PBL assignment for beginners that can introduce students taking on such projects. Taking baby steps in order to reach mastery of a skill is not a crime.

2. How often can I use PBL in my classroom?
That depends on you. If you feel that you teach more effectively and your students absorb information better using PBL assignments than use it that best suits your classroom and teaching techniques. It is important to be aware that the students are not getting too carried away with the project itself and keep in mind that there is a goal of mastering a specific subject matter and learning standard.

JOURNAL 3

In Jim Paterson’s article, “A War of Words”, many valid points are voiced on how to control the problem of plagiarism or teach students what to recognize it in their own work before publishing a body of writing. In my own experiences I remember being taught what plagiarism was, but never taught how to recognize it in my own work. I really found it interesting how a librarian at an Elementary school was able to develop a program to create student awareness at multiple grade levels. In the article she was able to gain a second graders perspective on how to identify that the concept of plagiarism is wrong. Immediately, I linked it to how as young children we are taught at an early age that the concept of taking something that does not belong to us is stealing and that it is wrong, not to mention illegal. Why not incorporate those same principles and guidelines when teaching writing. What are the actions we as educators are taking to teach students about plagiarism as opposed to just policing written bodies of work?

Questions:

1. How early is too early to begin to teach students about plagiarism?
It is never too early to begin teaching students the definition of plagiarism, forms of plagiarism and how to properly site their sources. It is in the students best long term interest to be informed how plagiarism is unacceptable in any form and the severe repercussions that may follow. As soon as the students are exposed to the principles of summarizing and paraphrasing it is the time to begin teaching them how to cite resources properly if they are using ideas other than their own

2. Are the programs that are out there designed to patrol plagiarism doing more harm then good?
I think that those who are designing these programs are on the right track, but may be incorporating them in ineffective ways. For example, instead of using many of these programs to catch students after the fact, it may serve as a more effective tool to use it as a formal lesson to assist students in recognizing and avoiding plagiarism.

JOURNAL 2

In the article, “Infusion or Integration” by Kimberly Ketterer an interesting question is brought up. The question is, “What are schools today actually doing with instructional technology?” I do not know the answer to that question. I have had the experience of teaching in two different school districts and have had two totally different eperiences with the use of technological resources available. Both schools had computers available to students. The main difference I noticed was the computers were located in the library at one school where I never witnessed students using the computers, only teachers. The second school had their computers located in the media center, which also served as their library, and there were session times and dates for students to learn how to use the computers and the programs installed provided by the media center director, also known as the school librarian. As an elementary school educator, I feel that it is my responsibility to provide a foundation, at the least, in the use of technology for each of my students. Therefore, in the future they will have the tools to infuse or integrate technology to their educational career as deemed necessary.

Questions:

1. How can I be more efficient in integrating technological devices in my classroom?
If you do not feel completely comfortable with or you feel overwhelmed by the use of technological devices accessible to you then focus on one devise to master. When you can work with the device at a stable comfort level or have developed a sense of mastery and you feel you are ready to move on to a second technology device then proceed to the next device of your choice and add to your technological abilities at your own pace. Each time you can infuse and integrate your new skills to your classroom. Think of it in terms of adding to a personal portfolio of technological skills.

2. What devise should I begin with?
Begin with the devise that you feel you have the strongest understanding, or skill level. Also, choose one that you will be able to get the most support from your peers and immediate production from your students.