PLN 20 semester 2

I read an article called "Study: Young kids Online" on Webblogg-ed where the author talked about how even kids at the age of 2-8 are being manipulated online when they are playing games for learning experiences.

We discovered that the digital world offers a wealth of opportunity for young
children to play and learn. But even in this small sample of 10 families we
found–too easily, in several circumstances–repeated examples of attempts to
manipulate children for the sake of commerce.

This is how I responded.
Well this is very interesting to me. My little brother who is seven thoroughly enjoys Club Penguin. I had no idea that they asked for you to purchase a membership or have you access other things on the cite. It is nice for kids to be able to play and learn online but it shouldn't be right for the sites to attempt to manipulate children for the sake of commerce as you said. I find it really annoying in the first place when ads pop up continually when you are online trying to tempt you to buy something that you don't really need. Like KellyS had said, the sites not only manipulate the kids but also the parents who are the ones who pay for the products that the child asks for. It doesn't seem fair for the kids to have to pay or buy something just to have fun and learn.

PLN 19 semester 2

I read an article called "Is Multi-tasking Impairing Our Students' Learning? " on Cheryl's blog where she talked about how multitasking and technology might effect students' learning. This is how I responded to her blog.
This is a very interesting topic being someone who does multitask a lot in the classrooms here at school. I guess I would have to agree though that some of us would learn a lot better if we were focused on one thing at a time instead of adding things in our attention to focus on. Then again, some people would say that we students learn better when we have to focus on multiple things. I only have one class that has laptops in it, my English class, and I don't really see a major change in the way I learn. However,
I couldn't see the same results in a science or math class where I need all of my focus on the teacher and the things they are saying for me to understand. My English class though, I have an easy time multitasking as I type on my computer and listen to my teacher or classmates at the same time. I know that some adults feel that we are too easily distracted when we have technology around, though some of us do. But I think that we have the ability to really focus on all of the things we are supposed to and succeed just as well if we did not use computers, maybe better. I do think it would be interesting to think about your ideas on future schools and how they would be set up with quiet places and sound-proofed walls, where we can think better, and allow ourselves to let the information process all that we learned.

PLN 18

I read an article called "Reflections" by Ms. Moritz who talked about rubrics for her classes. This is how I responded.

Dear Ms. Moritz, I thought your blog was very interesting to hear about how some students don't care about having a rubric and go straight to the final grade. I do focus a lot on my final grade, but I also find it really helpful to have a teacher make a rubric for the assignment. Why? Well I find that when having a rubric while you are doing the project and after the project, you see in more detail what the teacher expects for the overall outcome of the project. To me this is really helpful especially while you are doing the project or assignment. The teacher lays it out for you to follow so you are almost guaranteed to at get an A or a high B. It is also really nice to have it after the project is graded to see where you missed the points. I also think feedback is important as well. Having this information from someone who knows what needs to be done, can help you improve so much. So, I agree with you on how some kids who don’t choose not to look at the rubric with the specific points and to read the feedback are missing a lot. Do they not want to improve? I think that even though some students don’t really care for this information, I still think it would be nice for teachers to continue doing so, so that the ones who do care will keep improving

PLN 17 semester 2

I read an article called "PLN's Again" by Jessie C. who talked about Personal Learning Networks.
This is how I responded...
Dear Jessie C.,
I enjoyed reading your blog mostly because it was on a topic I was familiar with, PLN's. I am in Ms. Smith's class and we do PLN's twice a week as well. I agree with you about how this is a great way to give us a chance to open ourselves up to the world around us. At the beginning of the semester, I had no idea what a blog was and did not know much about the new and great way of communications on the internet. Like you had said, blogging gives us a chance to communicate with the world through our own words and can influence other people’s thoughts, by showing WHAT MATTERS to us. It really is cool see the world in a new technical way as we explore the new opportunities we have with technology. This gives us a way to expand on our thoughts about what we read and see and also teaches us to elaborate on what we have to say.

You also spoke about PLN presentations. Though I am definitely not a very good speaker, I do enjoy listening to the ideas of my classmates about what they decided to read further on a certain subject and how they responded to the author’s opinions. It also sparks some really good conversations in our class (once someone finds the courage to speak up). At the end of their presentation they are to ask a question to the class on a topic that relates to one of their blogs that they discussed. Then we are allowed to go on and talk about what we think which leads to a couple other topics. I think this part is really nice and gets us to speak up and share your ideas. The only part I don’t always like is when we leave comments on their blog giving them feedback on how they did. I think this is helpful but some people don’t really give you much. They might say things like “Good Job” or “speak up a little” but I still think we could do more.
Overall, I think the whole experience of doing PLN’s has been really good and has really helped with not only my writing but also using the technology we are so fortunate to be able to use.

PLN 16 semester 2

I read a blog today called "Imagine" by Karl Fisch who talked about a very interesting article called Pangea Day.

Pangea Day is a global event bringing the world together through film.Why? In a
world where people are often divided by borders, difference, and conflict, it's
easy to lose sight of what we all have in common. Pangea Day seeks to overcome
that – to help people see themselves in others – through the power of film.. . .
24 short films have been selected from an international competition that
generated more than 2,500 submissions from 100+ countries. They were chosen
based on their ability to inspire, transform, and help us see the world through
another person's eyes.

I responded with this...
Dear Mr. Fisch,Like many of my fellow classmates have said, Wow! This really was a great blog to read about and was really interesting to see the videos. It is surprising to me that we can be so connected with the world at peace while in times of war and hate. Just imagine if we could do things together as a world that could settle out problems. It would make so many things so much easier! It can make us forget all the things we are angry about and bring all of our continents, countries, states into one whole peaceful continent, Pangea.
This also reminded me about how in Ms. Smith's class we had created our own Public Service Announcements to solve problems in our own state. It was a fun experience using video as well to get people to take notice of what was going on around them.

PLN presentation reactions 2

Today I presented my PLN 14 and 15. I think I did pretty well, but like a few people said, I needed to not look down at my paper so often which would help keep my voice loud enough for everyone to hear me. But, I think I did a lot better and made good eye contact. I also think I had a pretty good question and sparked a pretty good conversation.

PLN 15

I recently read an article called "Math in life" by James H., who asked some questions on how we will use all the math we learn in high school in life.

It makes me think, what should we be teaching? Are there subjects that should be
taught to students that would be more applicable to what they are going to see
in their future? Should we focus more math on applications like home mortgages,
credit card interest, taxes and other things that you might not learn in school?
I need to figure out how math is going to affect these kids in their future if
it does not include an engineering degree. I guess that my question becomes an
interpretation of the students question: Why do I teach this?

This made me think to, so I had a few words to say.
Dear James H,
This blog caught my eye as I was reading through some of your posts.
Your questions made me think about my future in math. I know it is important, but like you asked, where will we use it as an adult. I also thought it was interesting about what one of your commenter had said, from a. bradley…
"I loved math in high school because it was a challenge. But do I use it now? No."
I personally don't enjoy math, but now to think that all that I am learning won't be worth it, well that is something else. However, I most definitely agree with you about how schools should focus on teaching real world math in high school and college. I think this is a lot more important to learn than have to spend so much time learning theorems and equations. I guess it depends on what you will do in your future.

PLN 14 semseter 2

Today I read an article called "The need for Textbooks" by Karl Fisch who talked about how he had read this paragraph from a poster on tornado instructions. It said,

If there is not time to move rooms, students should assume the duck and cover
position under tables or desks in the room. If tables or desks are not
available, students should hold textbooks over their heads.

I thought it was very interesting and said this.
Dear Mr. Fisch,
I thought this was an interesting blog, not just because of the fact that it is important to have text books handy in case of a tornado. But I also started thinking about how many textbooks we will have in the near future. As we all know, technology is becoming more advanced and essential in our lives as we use more of it in our daily jobs and even at school. If we begin using all of this new technology, will text books slowly fade from our school curriculum? It is an interesting thing to think about.

Today in my English class we had talked about things similar to this and had discussed how we might change the school if we had wanted to. A couple of us had said that they wanted to use more technology in classes. I thought that this was would be a pretty good idea except, like someone else had said, we can’t let technology do all the work, or else what is the point? But like I have said, since we have so much to use, why not use it to expand on our learning?

PLN 13 semester 2

I found Darren Kuropatwa's ideas on how students learn from each other very interesting. This was on his blog called " Student Voices Episode 1: Jessie" I actually do agree that we students can learn a lot from the way we see each other learn. Though we all have our different ways, a lot of us will find many others who think and learn just like us. Since kids have such a big influence on each other, watching others can help us discover another way of learning. I also agree with Jessie about how sometimes teaching the things you know and sharing them out loud, can help you better understand what you have learned.

I remember in my English class about how we had talked about how we enjoy having seminars and talking and sharing ideas out loud. We agreed that being able to speak your thoughts and have others respond is a great way to learn. It is also nice to just listen to what everyone else has to say, you can learn so much by just listening to people who think like you and at the same level.

This is just like blogging to. In our class, we go and read a blog of someone else’s and then blog our reactions. Well I think that the idea of reading other people’s work is a good idea because you can learn a lot about how other people think and share how you feel about it with them. It is such a great way to communicate ideas.

PLN 12 semester 2

I read an article called "Phoning it in" on T Sale's blog where the author talked about how they had asked a question for the class and a student had used their iPhone to look up the answer. I had decided to blog about this because lately in my English class we have been discussing the new technology we have and how and when we could use it at school. I am fortunate to be in a class that uses laptops and have gotten used to the fact that we type up almost everything we turn in. We have also used new programs on the web for projects such as Voicethread, Moviemaker, Wiki, and others. Using computers is not only fun, but it is also a way to become involved with everybody else using computers. Just like these blogs, we are able to read other people's work and have them read ours. There are other hot spots for kids like us that can give us a chance to make friends on the Internet like Myspace and Facebook. But the question is, as the technology keeps developing, should we be able to use it in schools. Well I think we should. eventually as we get older, we will have to use the technology, won't we? But in our class, we also had discussed how we can sometimes be distracted by all of this new and fun technology. So their would have to be some rules to that. Using cell phones in class? Well why not have computers for every class?

PLN presentation reaction

After presenting my PLN 8 and 4 in class, I think I did pretty well overall. I think I spoke clearly and explained my ideas. I also read my classmates comments, they said things like how I needed to go over what I will say so I don't stumble over my words. It was interesting though, some people told me that I had good eye contact, and some said I needed more. I guess what I could do next time is try to look at the whole class instead of just a certain area. And if I prepare more for my presentation, then I can make more eye contact and not look down at my notes so often, and this will help me not stumble around in my talking.

PLN 11

I read an article called "Making Kids “Googlable” " on weblogg-ed where the author talked about how many employers have admitted to searching a future employee on google an or myspace to see if there is anything negative about them. He says,

In most cases, they say that the intent is primarily to find out if there
is anything negative that surfaces. Almost all of them admit, however, that
finding positive things about their applicants, as in portfolios or
collaborations or even social sites, does or could make a positive
difference in the process.

I have heard that they do this and I think it is sometimes a good idea. I guess I don't totally agree because google can't always be a reliable source. i know that some of the kids i know who do have a myspace might not like that to much either. The autor talked about how parents might be worried about what their child's portfolios will look like in the future and if they are going to do anything to help change or make it look better. Some said, not much. io don't think they should. it is more of the child's responsibility to do they best work they can.

PLN 10

I read an article called "Bridging Differences: Finding Purpose in School for Bored Kids" by Deborah Meier who talked about how violence in schools is due to boredom in schools.

But the essential reason kids are unruly, I would argue, is boredom, feeling
dumb, and feeling “dissed”. They respond with intolerable rudeness. They enrage
us by just not taking the work we prepare, and our concerns for their futures,
seriously.

I think this idea is very interesting, I had never thought about it this way. But as I think harder about it, I can see it could be a possible reason, but it is mainly and excuse for their choices. Like my dad has told me, we don't go to school to be entertained, we go to learn. So for those who are behaving violently because they are "bored", well they should know that the teachers are not there to entertain them.

PLN 9 semester 2

After reading a couple of my fellow students' blogs, I came across a blog by kellys who read an article called " Teenagers as "Teamagers"...What do you think?" on webblogg-ed that talked about how teenagers work so much in groups, they don't think much of it. I guess this is true most of the time. So many people enjoy working on projects in a group, but then it sometimes gives some people a chance to have the "smartest" ones do all of the work. So those who do do all of the work might not enjoy group work as much as some. So it can depend, but it also prepares us for the future when we will have to work with the other employees on certain projects for our jobs. I personally do like doing projects in groups because they are fun. Not only that, but they also let off a lot of the stress of doing the project because the assignment is divided between all of the members. But like kelly s had said, and I have the same problem, sometimes the people in the group will leave most of the work to you and end up receiving the same grade as you do for doing practically nothing. Then again, sometimes you get a pretty good group where everyone participates, so like I said, it depends. I guess a good question from all of this is, are group projects a good thing to keep in the future? I would have to say yes, they are a great way of interacting with your classmates and sharing all of your knowledge to complete one big project.

PLN 8 semester 2

I read an article called" How to find Happiness without buying It" by David Bohl which I had heard a fellow classmate talk about in class today. The author talked about he does not think money can buy happiness. We had a discussion about this in class. I personally think that money can't buy you happiness because the things that I find make me happy, are things that I can't buy with money. Things like my family and friends and sometimes even life itself. But someone also had said that those who have always had enough money don't even realize what they have and can't really appreciate the fact of how much they have. Just like Hollywood stars, having all that money doesn't mean they are happy all the time. However, I can't say I could live without it or say that it is not important. We use money all of the time, we are in constant need of money to buy the things we need for everyday uses, like food and clothes, etc. Then another thing is sometimes, those who don't have all the money they need, are usually so much happier than those who do have everything they could ever want because they have come to appreciate the more important things that can't be bought. Just try taking a trip to Africa and visiting the children who are so happy with so little because the are thankful for what they have. Which is a problem for some of us American kids who are not thankful for anything we get. I guess the main point I got from this blog was that we need to not only appreciate the material things we are blessed to have, but also the other things that can't be bought.

PLN 7

I read an article called "Linear Fun #2: Stacking Cups" by a math teacher at my school who talked about a assignment he did with his students and the different twists in it to keep them interested. He even included a hands on activity to go along with his "cup stacking" problem. He challenged his students to find out how many cups tall he is if they are stacked. Then they were allowed to actually measure him to see if any of their answers were close to the actual answer. Then he tried this same problem a couple different ways. I always enjoy when my teachers try to add in activities that get us moving and using our hands. To me, it always makes the lesson a lot more interesting and easier to remember. I also know that a lot of my fellow students feel the same way. In my math class one time, we used bubbles and zometools to see a new thing we were learning called the Steiner's point. Not only was it a fun time playing with bubbles and building solids out of toys, but it was also a good visual way to see our lesson. Some people are visual, some audio, and some need to get their hands on it. I think all teachers should incorporate all three sometime in their lessons.

PLN 6

I just read an article by Mrs. Syers called, "Biology In The Real World...The Colorado Pine Beetle Problem" where she talked about how she was trying to relate their studies to the real world. They had been learning about pine beetles at the end of their plant unit, and had made an arrangement for an entomologist from CSU to come and talk to all of her students about the pine beetle problem raging in the mountain. This reminded me about how in my English class and in these blogs, my teacher is always trying to find ways to relate our lessons to the real world and for us to try to see why what we learn is really important. I think this is important because it helps us see why we learn all of this. Most of us probably think that school can be pointless. I personally don't see how history is supposed to help me in my future. But when we relate our topics to examples in the real world, then we can better understand the reality of it all and how to use it in our futures.

PLN 5 semester 2

I read an article called "Students Pay a Price (Literally) for Cell Phone Ban" on Weblogg-ed where the author talked about how he talked to a group of students about how the students had technology present in their lives everyday and how they used their cell phones all the time.

We talked about the technologies they used, how they used it, and what they
might use it for, and the conversation was fairly predictable. Many of them had
a decent Internet connection at home, but many had none. Despite that, they
guessed almost 90% of the school had MySpace pages, that they went there every
day, that they used it to communicate and get information about homework, and
that, of course, it was blocked in school.

They alsotalked about their cell phone use and how they were able to use it since they were banned from the school. They said that they always needed it for communication but if it were brought in, they would be tooken away. So they now have to pay three dollars to bring their phone and haveit kept away till the end of the day. I think this is not nessesary, but then again tomany kids text.

PLN 4

I just read an article called "Quiet Students" on Kristen's Blog where she talked about how she wonders how to grade those students who don't want to speak up in class, but might actually deserve the grade if they just spoke out once in a while. Some students don't talk because they just don't care. But what about those who really have something good to say and are to shy to say anything? Should they get a low grade on participation, even though you know they tend to be the smarter ones and really do deserve a good grade? It tends to be that if they were given the choice to write down their thoughts, they have a whole lot to say, but when it comes to a class discussion, they don't say a word. I can see how this might bother teachers. However, because I am one of those people who talk and participate a lot in class, I'm definitely not the one to sit back and listen. Though I do understand why some people don't want to talk out of experience. I used to be really shy about sharing my ideas, afraid that they were not good enough to be spoken out loud. So, do I think those who do not participate should get a zero on for their grade? Well, that is a hard question. I guess one solution could be that for those who do not say anything, a short summary should be written to see if they were paying attention and if they understand what is being taught. After all, that is the point of a discussion; just a different way to show what you know instead of having to take a quiz or notes. I think discussions are a funner way to learn from your classmates and hope that we continue to have them.

PLN 3

Today I read an article called "Give Me An S-L-A-C-K-E-R, What Does That Spell? " on Mrs. Syars' blog where she talked about how she had taken a class for credits and now the importance of telling students what's expected and required up front and how sometimes just doing the minimum is all we want to do. She had to do a certain assignment for her class where she was to receive at least a B-. She had said that of course she had done as little as possible to make the B- while her instructor had tried to persuade them to do a little extra to bump their grades to an A. This reminds of some of us teens. We always want to do the least amount of work, sometimes regardless of their grade. Others, who we might like to call over-achievers, like to be the ones to go above and beyond what is expected. She also mentions that she now focuses on telling her students what is expected in projects and assignments. I think this is really helpful because it allows us to see the whole outline of the grading process and exactly what the teacher wants to see.

PLN 2 semester 2

I just finished reading Ms. Smith's article called, This is Your Brain on PSAs, where she talked about how her 9th grade English class had done PSA's (Public Service Announcements) after completing their position papers. Well being one of the students who was able to do this, I can say that it was very fun to create. At first, in my group, we had a hard time deciding on our topic. We had after all just written a position paper with many facts to support a new PSA of our own, but we all wanted to do our own. We finally came upon the topic of Animal Abuse. It was a great experience and I was introduced to a program called Movie Maker which is what we used to create ours. We used still, slow music, and our voices to try to create a feeling in which people would stop and think. The challenge of making this was trying to not make it so long and to get straight to the point. We had to condense what we were going to say to make it about a minute. I think other classes should try this to, it is a good way to learn how to be persuasive and to get to the point,not to just ramble. I am glad Ms. Smith had us do these, it was fun and creative.

I AM POEM

I am gifted, friendly, different
I wonder what my future holds
I hear the laughter of my friends
I want hate to disappear
I am gifted, friendly, different

I pretend to be real great
I feel the love of those close
I touch the world around me
I worry about my education
I am gifted, friendly, different

I understand there is no perfect
I say "hello" to those who pass
I dream to be the best I can
I try to always know what's right
I hope to have the strength I need
I am gifted, friendly, different

PLN 1 semester2

I just read an article called "Why the time in hallways is time well spent" by Jeff Utecht who talks about how much you can learn, just by having a few chats in the halls at school.  Well, maybe not so much for us teens, but he talks about how he was just doing his normal morning routine on his way to get a cup of coffee before his next class. In that time he had visited with two teachers and had talked about the things that they were teaching their students. One of them was the art teacher of one of his students who did digital art for him. He there learned about how they were studying Friedrich Hundertwasser and were doing their own works by using his style of art. He then talked to an AP English teacher where they talked about how she loved forums that help encourage students to think before they responded. Also, on some of the discussions they had, the students would bring up the same topic in their other discussions, relating one to another. This reminds me of my English teacher Ms. Smith who encourages us to relate our blogs to not only ourselves and the world around us, but also to our other blogs that are on other topics but still have some related points. So, what did I find important? Well, I thought that sometimes just taking the time to stop and talk with someone can give you something new to think about. I kind of see blogging that way to. When you stop to read someone else's blog, you not only get to read something on another person's view, but learn something new from them as well. Since there are so many different opinions, it can become very interesting and it is even better when you get to add your own thoughts in the picture and have other people learn from something you wrote.

Goals for Semester 2

My goals for this semester? Well this is an easy question; I want to achieve an A in this class. I had said this last semester, but I did not achieve it because I did not do the certain things that I wanted to actually complete my goal. For example, I wanted to complete every assignment, though I did not which hurt my grade especially by not doing some of the PLN entries which hurt my overall grade, so I ended with a B. I really enjoy this class and the assignments, so the only problem is that sometimes I slack off, which I will try not to do this semester. I also want to do better in CSAP's especially in the essay portion of the test. I want to improve in writing my topic paragraphs and conclusions. I also want to improve attention getters for my topics. I think last semester really helped in working on thesis' when we wrote them for quizzes during Peace like a River. It was nice to learn how to make them into one sentence and to learn to add the most important points that you are talking about because I tend to ramble on. I also thought it helped to be able to redo it and I was then able to get 20 on all of them on the first try. Now I know what the reader or grader expects. I really want to get advanced on the CSAP's or at least proficient and I can do this by doing all the assignments for practice so I will improve in my essay writings.