21 March- "Digital Stories 2"

This week in class we learned a lot about copyright and the creative commons licensing. I really enjoyed learning about all the copyright laws and how they first came about years and years ago and how they have drastically changed to meet the needs of our society today. I read the article on the website titled, "The Educators Guide to Copyright and Fair use." In this article the first sentence reads, When it comes to copyright law and the application of fair use exceptions, ignorance is definitely not bliss! Learn how to educate yourselves and your students and avoid making a costly mistake! I know that as an educator it is vital that I follow the copyright laws and especially as a student right now at UVU. I know that through the internet people can steal many things such as papers, ideas, projects, art etc. to get the grade that they want without putting forth any effort. I know that people do it because I have witnessed it for myself. But what good does it do anyone? If a student attending college cheats to get good grades they are simply cheating themselves. I don't understand how people pay $2,500/semester for an education and steal someone elses work so they don't have to put forth hard work. They surely aren't learning anything and they are stealing in the process. I want my students to know how strongly I feel about the copyright laws. I may even share an experience I've had so they know that it is real. Two semesters ago I was enrolled in an drawing I class. My dad is a professional illustrator and is pretty well known in the art world. Anyone I found out after a couple weeks into the semester that the professor hated my father. One day she accused me of tracing his work because I had made significant improvement since the beginning of the semester. Anyway it got pretty ugly and she told me I had broken copyright laws and such. I had to meet several times with an ombudsman, the professor, the chair of the department, and even the dean. I know that I didn't do anything wrong but it was very uncomfortable and I can't imagine if I really had cheated the guilty conscience that would have haunted me. I'm going to teach my students that copyright is very, very real and serious, especially in college. My professor ended up resigning because she knew she had seriously harassed me and that I was going to file harassment complaints with Human Resources. I'm very grateful that I have kept copyright laws and want my students to have the same clear conscience I do so if they are ever in the same situation they don't have any regrets.

13 March- Digital Stories 1

This week in class we learned about making digital stories. Before this week I had never heard of digital stories before. I really enjoyed looking at all of the different examples because I realized how much impact digital stories can have on the viewers. When reading Technology a key tool in Writing, I really liked the part that says, "the use of Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, podcasts, wikis, and comics-creating software can heighten students’ engagement and enhance their writing and thinking skills in all grade levels and across all subjects." As a teacher I want to ensure that students have good thinking skills. It is crucial for students to think on their own, when students have good thinking skills they are much more likely to succeed and I want successful students! I also really like the statement in the article, "We are preparing kids for a different world—a world where they need to know how to tell compelling stories. And the types of stories that are compelling these days are not just print stories...When kids make a video about something, they know it a lot better than if they were writing a research paper … When it is more real, they are more engaged; they are more motivated, but they also try harder.” I haven't totally thought of a way that I can create an assignment for students to make a digital stories with math but I am sure there are ways. I am going to explain multiplying fractions using recipes and doubling- I hope that these digital stories will help teach my students concepts in a fun and creative way.

7 March- Vidcast

Math Explorers! is a series of small math lessons that my 7^th grade class can watch at home if they need to review or need help on a homework assignment. Each podcast episode is designed to align with the 7^th grade core curriculum. This particular episode is designed to meet Standard 3: Students will develop fluency with the language and operations of algebra to analyze and represent relationships Objective 2: represent relationships using graphs, tables, and other models. This podcast reviews basic graphing knowledge that students need to know to represent real statistical data taught later in the course.

There are two reasons that I chose to make a podcast about graphing the first one is because when particular concepts are shown to me rather than simply lectured I remember them much better. Graphing is very visual and is a fundamental concept that is built upon with each math class in the future. If the students understand graphing inside and out they will have an easier time grasping particular concepts in the future. The second reason is because this semester in my curriculum class one of my classmates presented a lesson plan while teaching a lesson about graphing. To my surprise many of my peers were very confused about the basic concept of drawing a graph given an equation. Although they are not math majors graphing and analyzing relationships is useful in many real world situations.

One drawback of making a podcast series is that students will get used to relying on them for information to do the homework instead of learning the material in class. The ideal way I would want the podcast to be used is not as a replacement for taking notes and paying attention in class but rather a reminder or study aid before a test.

I plan on continuing to make Math Explorers! episodes. When I recognize that students are having a hard time grasping certain concepts I will make an episode about that topic. I believe that it would also be beneficial to record a study guide for the students for upcoming tests so they know the material that will be covered and how to prepare for it. These episodes are a great way to differentiate for visual and auditory learners because they can go home and watch or listen to it over and over again.