Watching other's videos

I watched Kara and Lexi's videos and commented on them. Here are the links:

http://lexi-lexiii.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-to-make-french-bread.html?showComment=1324073255177#c513174171776978870

http://karaknowledgebuilder.blogspot.com/2011/12/instructional-videos-in-teaching.html#comment-form

Sharing about Internet Safety

I talked with my parents, who are in their upper 50s and lower 60s, about what I learned on internet safety. My mom is a seminary teacher for Juniors in high school and my dad is the Stake Young Men's President. They both work with youth and I thought that they would appreciate learning a little more about internet safety.

I told them about the documentary I watched on FRONTLINE. I also sent them the link in case they wanted to watch it too. I told them about the different stories that were told about people who encountered safety issues with the internet. They were intrigued by the stories and though they were very interesting. We also talked about identity safety on the internet and how you should change your passwords and not give out too much information. I told them that as they worked with the youth, it would be good for them to be aware of the hazards of the internet and they agreed that it was very important. We had a good discussion and I think it helped to be able to talk about it out loud with other people.

Internet Safety

I read a few articles from FRONTLINE and watched the "Growing Up Online" documentary that they offered.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/view/

I think one of the most important things from the documentary was that kids are living lives online, and doing a lot of things that parents have no idea about. Many parents were completely oblivious to the activities that their children were participating in online. It is very important for parents to be involved and to keep tabs on the children's internet usage. By doing this, they can have control over how much time is spent on the internet and what they are doing on the internet. 

When I am a parent i will definitely take action to be aware of what my children are doing when they use the computer. I will probably have the family computer in the kitchen or living room, where I can watch them, and I don't think I will let my kids have internet on their phones. As a teacher, I will try to be aware of what is going on in the lives of my students and be watchful for cyber-bullying or other bad things they may be involved it.

I will definitely let family and friends be aware of the internet safety issues. I am going to talk to my mom and dad about what I have learned. My mom is a seminary teacher in our stake, and my dad is the Stake Young Men's President. Because they are involved with youth, I think they will appreciate knowing the hazards that the youth encounter every day.

One of the sections in the documentary told the story of a young teenage boy who had problems with cyber-bullying and then committed suicide. It was a very sad and tragic story of what can happen when children are bullied on the internet. Because it is online, no one knows about it and it can be very damaging. To prevent it, I think steps can be taking to limit internet usage and to block those predators that are bullying.

To look for resources about internet safety, I know I can go to FRONTLINE. They have great articles and the wonderful documentary. I will also use the Diigo group to find other sources.

As a teacher I am likely to face cyberbullying issues. I think that will be a big problem. There was also a girl in the documentary who had problems with anorexia and she would find support groups online that encouraged each other in their efforts to starve themselves. I think these are also issues that a lot of teenagers deal with. It is important that kids are getting help and support from the right places and I want to be able to do that for them.

If I used the internet for teaching, I would possibly create a website for my students to visit and use to stay up-to-date on the tests and assignments. When writing papers and doing other assignments, I'm sure they may also use the internet to find sources. I want them to be able to learn using the internet, but I will teach them how to use it safely. Perhaps I will make my website available to only our class members, so privacy will be ensured.

My video - "How to Make a Chocolate Mousse Pie"

I made an instructional video for how to make one of my favorite recipes - a chocolate mousse pie!

I would use this video and ones like it to appropriately instruct my students on the recipes and techniques we learn in class. If done in class, they can only see it once. But if I make movies of the food learn to make, then students can do it easily at home. And if they were absent in class, then they can see what they missed. It can also be hard to show techniques so that an entire class can observe. If I can record it up close, then the students will be able to see how it is done.

Making the movie wasn't as hard as I imagined it to be so I am excited to be able to do this more in the future and make use of it!

Storyboard

Here is the link to my storyboard!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v3mpjvexs_x7__EQXQGydfcIVdR56hj47PdAM1CI67I/edit?hl=en_US

Google Sketchup

For the last part of my Personal Technology Project, I learned about Google Sketchup. It was really fun! And it is such a cool program.
It took me awhile to figure everything out, but after a lot of trial and error I created a design for a living room/kitchen/dining room! I downloaded models from Google 3D to use as furnishings.
I think this is a great tool for those interested in Interior Design. As a FACS major, I think it would be really great to use in the classroom when teaching my students. They can use Google Sketchup to design their own homes and use the concepts we talk about in class to make the houses fit the criteria that we discuss. For example, there are rules about traffic in the home. How wide should the hallway be? How much room should there be between the bed and the wall? These are things that students could easily incorporate into their designs.
I only have a basic understanding of Google Sketchup, but I'm sure my students would love to explore it more and create more exciting and complicated things!

Pinterest!

I LOVE Pinterest. It is so fun! And I have learned so much from it. I have been able to connect with my friends and others that share my interests. I love getting ideas for recipes and crafts that I can use for personal use, and use for teaching in the future.
I think this gives me a lot of instructional opportunities for teaching. I have so many new ideas that I can use in the classroom and that I can use to further increase my experience and knowledge.
One activity that I would use this for, is cooking. I love looking through the recipes and especially the fun holiday ideas. I can share these with my students and use them in the classroom to create fun projects for them.
I could also assign the students to make their own boards on pinterest so they can look for new recipes or clothing styles and patterns.
I could also use it for Interior Design. If I teach interior design, Pinterest would be a great tool for the students to look and see examples of styles and concepts we talk about in class.
I think this could be a great took used for teaching and helping me and the students learn more about our creative interests.

https://pinterest.com/ejmcdonald50/