Internet Safety Activities Ch 6

This chapter focuses on cyber citizenship and "netiquette" sense. Netiquette is etiquette for the internet, for example: respecting others' privacy and not doing anything online that will annoy or frustrate other people. It is important to educate our students on this matter, because a large part of the interactions will be through the internet so proper behavior is key. A key for texting is also included, which I think most teachers would agree is something majorly needed. Another chat is included where students can find questionable things that have been stated and identify the problem as well. There is a research activity that is include that have the students look up their state's cyber bullying law. This would inform students of what is going on in there state, which can only further improve their cyber safety knowledge. I noticed in these student pages that not many are include and when they are they are almost all writing activities. I would guess this is for early high school students, which would be a great unit since the topic is so relevant to their lives. Our students must be taught the proper way to behave on the internet since so much of their professional lives will incorporate the internet.

Internet Safety Activities Ch 5

This chapter focused on an internet safety unit that strives to educate students about the dangers of online safety. Students can make up profiles and examine one another to find information that might not be safe. This will help to make the students more aware of what they project on the internet. A role playing activity is included that will help students to see how a predator might present themselves on the internet. I think this could be a real eye opening activity for students to recognize that a predator will present themselves as someone their own age and as a friend. It is quite crucial that our students learn to protect themselves in the cyber world. Another useful activity is creating a class list of cyber safety tips. I think this would be a great way to have the students take ownership of their safety. If they have a hand in creating the class rules they are for more likely to respect them that if they are just simply impressed upon them. The student pages at the end of this chapter are clearly for older students. They include many more discussion question and independent writing activities. All in all this is a useful unit to implement into the classroom.

Internet Safety Activities Ch 4

The next unit focuses on managing personal information online. This would be a good unit to use with older grades as in fourth or fifth grades. This unit includes quite a bit of vocabulary terminology. I think there is a good possibility for some fun vocab games to get students into the lessons. In this lesson students and teachers will talk about what is appropriate and what is inappropriate to include in screen names. I think it would be good for students to work in pairs to come up with a screen name to present to the class. The class could then critique each other's screen names. The have an example of a chat for the students to look at and pick out what is wrong with the information that is given. I think a good adaption of this would be to have all the students get in a chat together and chat. The teacher could point out any problem that occur in the chat. This would be much more interactive and engaging for the students. This unit would also be a great opportunity to open the floor for discussion about texting and the danger that can accompany it. I think the odds of having students participate in an engaging discussion are pretty good since it is a topic they are interested in. Once again, student pages are included at the end for the teachers to use as they need them.

Internet Safety Activities Ch 3

I really enjoyed this chapter. This chapter discussed cyber bullying. This is so key to teach in every classroom. I think it would be truly beneficial to incorporate this entire unit into the curriculum. This chapter seeks to educate students on the danger of cyber bullying as well as what to do if themselves or a friend is being bullied. The chapter gives the teacher several option for the way in which they would like to implement the unit. Options include: groups, small group, or self-guided. I think small group would be best for this topic, personally. One activity has the students define what a hero is. This allows the students to begin thinking how they can act like a "hero" in terms of online safety. This unit also does a really good job of integrating other areas such as reading and writing into the unit., which is always a plus for teachers. At the end students can write stories about a cyber bullying and how they would stop it. The class could combine all of the stories into a big book of internet safety. Again there are a variety of students pages included at the end to support the teacher, which also allows her to use the parts of the unit she wants and discard those she does not intend to use.

Internet Safety Activities Ch 2

This chapter focused on a safari themed unit. The purpose was to educate students on make responsible online choice and always having the help and permission of adults when going online. Online pre and post assessments are included for this unit. Students will go on a guided safari online. The continually stress that when you go on a safari you need help, which is also true in browsing the internet. It provides an internet rules sheet, which would be great for teachers to hang in the classroom. Inappropriate and appropriate websites will be discussed. I think this is absolutely crucial to define for students what is acceptable and what is not. At the end of the chapter students pages are included, which are great resources for the teacher. I think putting internet safety in the context of a safari would be highly engaging for the students, which would help them to retain the information being given to them much better.

Teaching with Digital Images (Ch 5)

This was another helpful chapter out this book. This chapter focused on why we should use digital images in education. First the author began by citing a study by National Standards for ArtEducation that found students not only need to learn to communicate verbally, but they should also learn how to process information visually. The author also reminds us how images are significantly important in memory and imagination, which of course are key in education. The author illustrates the importance of images by showing two pictures that convey the same story, but they use different artistic elements in order to get there. I like that this shows how you can express two different feeling about the same story simply by using pictures, I think this is an important concept for students to grasp through education. Byincorporatig the arts students give moreo of themselves than the normally would in the general subject areas. I liked the quote the author used byEric Jensen "Good learning does not avoid emotions, it embraces them." this was a pretty nice quote since he is who we are studying in our brain based learning class. I definitely agree with him. I think students will learn more easily if they are emotionally connected to the material they are learning. The author then discussed several reasons why teachers should do storytelling with digital images, which include: humanistic, cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural, multisensory multimodal, constructivist, and memory and narrative. There are too many positives to not include digital images into the educational environment. It can really only serve to enhance your classroom.

Teaching with Wikis, Blogs, Podcasts, and More (Ch 3)

This chapter focused on teachers can appropriately incorporate interactive whiteboards into their classrooms. This is rather valuable, because I think teachers often have the technology in their classrooms, but they are not quite sure how to use it. The book first suggests to simply acquaint your students with the interactive whiteboard. This can be done by having students give presentations using the whiteboard. I thought this was a good way to instruct students on the interactives use, while at the same time supporting other subject areas through the presentation. Next the chapter gave a list of uses for the classroom. They listed multimedia presentations, video, notes, critical thinking, and special needs students. The first three options I was fairly familiar with , but I don't believe i would have thought of the last two onmy own. The author suggest using an outline to organize a classroom brainstorming session. The teacher can then use concept mapping software and graphic organizers to better present the information. I thought this was a really great idea that will help to engage the students in the learning process. The author also discussed how the interactive board is capable of producing larger fonts and brighter colors, so it would accommodate some vision impaired students. I really like the fact that technology can help to better our special needs students. It truly is a great tool to use for ALL students in the classroom. The whiteboard can also be used for a number of classroom response systems, such as : taking attendance, student feedback, classroom voting, student surveys, etc. This chapter was full of helpful suggestions to help better employ the interactive whiteboard into the classroom!