Facebook Privacy

Reading through Facebook’s lengthy privacy policy a few items jumped out at me fight away the first is about GPS location. “When we get your GPS location, we put it together with other location information we have about you (like your current city).”I was shocked when I saw this. This was disturbing to me because Facebook knows right where you are even if you don’t type in your location. This could be done without the user knowing and could cause their safety to be put in jeopardy. If a child’s location was posted without he/she knowing this could allow this information to fall into the wrong persons hands. I believe Facebook should notify the user before they use GPS to find their location.

Educational Game

            The educational game I found is called Math Baseball. I chose this game because it has a wide range of math topics. From simple addition to algebra this game can be customized to the level of math that is right for each individual student. With every question the student gets right they hit the ball and in turn they score runs. This provides the students with some incentive to get the questions right and a teacher could even have competitions in his or her classroom to see which student could get the most runs in a period of time.

http://www.funbrain.com/cgi-bin/mb.cgi

  

            This game gives kids repetition with math concepts but is a much more fun and engaging way than giving students a worksheet with 50 questions to answer. This way kids want to do math rather than dreading doing those dog on worksheets. 

Lesson Plan Presentation

            I have to start this entry out by saying that the group that went today did a great job. I thoroughly enjoyed the lesson plan they came up with. The stations setup in the classroom really made the time go much more quickly and provided a number of different ways to learn about hurricanes. This variety was nice because I didn’t feel like I was stuck either reading or drawing for too long because the sessions were short but long enough to finish the work at each station without feeling rushed. My group is planning on using the format group one did because it worked so well and provides a learning experience that each student finds interesting.

            As a teacher I plan to use this style of teaching because the combination of constructivism and variety in material keeps kids engaged in what is in front of them. This is one of the most challenging things for a teacher and I feel this lesson plan did a fantastic job of keeping me engaged.     

Article Review

I read the article, Using Technology In The Classroom, by Stephanie Reeve Boles that Sarah Kroeger reviewed. I found this article particularly interesting because Boles brought up a very good idea that had not crossed my mind. She explained how she gathered up old computers that no one was using at her school and updated them with various things like new software, more RAM, and wireless cards. This interested me because I enjoy technology greatly and I feel that I could do something like this in my own classroom because it would be easy, cheap, and able to get technology in student’s hands. Boles also brought up a point that technology sparks interest in kids and therefore encourages them to learn. I believe this whole-heartedly because as a student I enjoy classes that utilize technology because I think it enhances my ability to understand the material. All in all, I enjoyed reading this article because Boles shared some tips that she has learned over the years that hopefully I can implement into my classroom. 

How Young Is Too Young?

Technology in the classroom is a great tool to help motivate kids and engage them into the subject they are learning.  Computers are much more versatile and can open up many tools that kids can use to get a greater understanding of what they are learning. The question is… Do these benefits outweigh then the risk of kids becoming socially awkward or becoming too dependent on technology? I believe that technology at a young age should be limited because a child’s mind is very vulnerable at this point in his or her life and too much technology could result in many unwanted things. With this being said, I think technology is a great tool for kids to use and learn with and, in moderation, at a young age this could provide a child with a much more interactive and enjoyable learning experience than old fashion coloring and reading. 

The iPad has been used in many early childhood classrooms recently and studies have shown that kids have been learning the material better with the use of iPads.

Communicating With My Peers

After reading my classmates’ blogs I felt much more comfortable with my experience with constructivism. When I was reflecting back on my High School experience with constructivism I was shocked at how little my teachers used this method and wondered if this was normal for most High Schools or if mine just failed to utilize this form of teaching. Seeing that most of my classmates had this same experience makes me feel like I am not the only one who hasn’t gotten many opportunities to learn this way.

Also I thought it was neat to hear what other students thought about blogging for the first time. I know I was excited but apprehensive because I had never done something like this before. This is what most of the other students’ blogs expressed and it was kind of funny because I think most of us felt the exact same way.  

Blogging is starting to feel much more comfortable to me and has been a wholesome experience so far. I think blogging has giving our class a better relationship because we can read each other’s blogs and learn more about everyone and give our feedback.

Constructivism

Constructivism to me means that a teacher guides the class through lessons but lets kids have time to figure things out for themselves. After the students have had the time to work on their own, the class comes back together and shares the findings. I think this is a very effective way for some kids to learn because it encourages the student to try new things, almost like a guess and check method, and find out what works for them. The problem with objectivism is students only get one point of view, the teacher’s, and if it doesn’t make sense to them then they either fall behind or have to go to someone else for extra help.

            As a student I have not had many learning experiences in a constructivist environment. In my elementary years I cannot remember any of my teachers using constructivism in their lesson plans but as I have gotten older I have seen more and more of this teaching style. As a high school student only a few teachers played with the idea of constructivism in my classes throughout the years. When I got to the University of Cincinnati my first quarter was all lecture halls and extremely bland objectivist teaching. Luckily my second quarter changed dramatically when I took my first teaching class. It was set up unlike any class I have ever taken before. The class was centered in a circle and class was an open discussion every day, with the teacher asking thought-provoking questions and everyone responding to them with his or her point of view. The things that I learned about teaching and myself are far greater then anything I obtained from those 400-student lecture halls.    

            As a teacher I hope to implement constructivism into my classes. I believe that constructivism is a very important part of keeping kids interested in learning and excited about coming to school. Also, I believe that constructivism is not the one stop shop for methods of teaching and that not all students learn the same way. Keeping this in mind, it is important to give your class a variety of opportunities to learn.    

My First Post

Hey! My name is Jason Crull and I’m a freshman at the University of Cincinnati majoring in Special Education. In my spare time I enjoy traveling and playing sports (including football, basketball, skiing, scuba diving and hiking). I love going to Reds games and hanging out with my family, dog and girlfriend of over five years. 

Blogging has always been something I have wanted to try but have never had the time or motivation to do. A “blog” was a new concept to me up until about sophomore year of high school, when a couple of my friends started creating their own and experimenting with the world of blogging. I have occasionally browsed through their blogs to see what is new in their life and how they are doing but it has never been something that interested me as much as other sites like Facebook or yes, even MySpace, back in those Junior High days. Last quarter in my Environmental Studies class, we had to look at a couple different blogs about global warming, both supporting and defending it, which was actually pretty interesting to see how people bash other blogs and even call one another out personally. Here's to hoping my blog never gets to that level!

So far, I have enjoyed my blogging experience even though I am only about 150 words in. It feels like a good, new way to express my ideas. It’s pretty cool to think that my writing will be available for people all over the world to see in just the click of a mouse. This blogging requirement is just one of the reasons I am extremely excited for this class. Secretly, I’m kind of a geek when it comes to technology (especially anything made by Apple) so learning how to incorporate these items into the classroom is right up my ally.