Photo Story: When I Become a Teacher

Digital storytelling supports learning in school's because it "strengthens students critical thinking, report writing, and media literacy skills." A digital story can help a student express themselves in combination of different ways which will allow them to explore new ideas and feelings they have. "Her (Kim) story incorporates authentic voice, problem-resolution, narrative tension and a transforming realization." Digital storytelling allows the full process of critical thinking and creative process' which encourage children to use their imaginations and academic skills. "Digital stories provide powerful media literacy opportunities because students are involved in the creation and analysis of the media in which they are immersed." This is a link to my favorite spoken word video which relates to education. As a social studies major I would use digital storytelling to preserve oral stories, learn about different cultures around the world. I would consider this over an oral presentation or power point slide show.

Revised WebQuest

Here is our WebQuest


"A real WebQuest is a scaffolded learning structure that uses links to essential resources on the World Wide Web and an authentic task to motivate students’ investigation of an open-ended question, development of individual expertise, and participation in a group process that transforms newly acquired information into a more sophisticated understanding." 



According to this article, the WebQuest we presented would not be considered a "real" WebQuest. Whoops! Although the budget and Power point may not be considered "real" to this author, it does provide the student with budget techniques and a sense of learning a new culture of people. French words are spoken throughout the videos which can offer the student some understanding of the French people and their language. Although the author of the article doesn't agree with me I think this WebQuest is 1. Real 2. Rich 3. Relevant 

WebQuest Rubric

	Beginning	Developing	Accomplished	Score
Overall Aesthetics (This refers to the WebQuest page itself, not the external resources linked to it.)
Overall Visual Appeal	0 points There are few or no graphic elements. No variation in layout or typography. OR Color is garish and/or typographic variations are overused and legibility suffers. Background interferes with the readability.	2 points Graphic elements sometimes, but not always, contribute to the understanding of concepts, ideas and relationships. There is some variation in type size, color, and layout.	4 points Appropriate and thematic graphic elements are used to make visual connections that contribute to the understanding of concepts, ideas and relationships. Differences in type size and/or color are used well and consistently. See Fine Points Checklist.
Navigation & Flow	0 points Getting through the lesson is confusing and unconventional. Pages can't be found easily and/or the way back isn't clear.	2 points There are a few places where the learner can get lost and not know where to go next.	4 points Navigation is seamless. It is always clear to the learner what all the pieces are and how to get to them.
Mechanical Aspects	0 points There are more than 5 broken links, misplaced or missing images, badly sized tables, misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	1 point There are some broken links, misplaced or missing images, badly sized tables, misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	2 points No mechanical problems noted. See Fine Points Checklist.
Introduction
Motivational Effectiveness of Introduction	0 points The introduction is purely factual, with no appeal to relevance or social importance OR The scenario posed is transparently bogus and doesn't respect the media literacy of today's learners.	1 point The introduction relates somewhat to the learner's interests and/or describes a compelling question or problem.	2 points The introduction draws the reader into the lesson by relating to the learner's interests or goals and/or engagingly describing a compelling question or problem.
Cognitive Effectiveness of the Introduction	0 points The introduction doesn't prepare the reader for what is to come, or build on what the learner already knows.	1 point The introduction makes some reference to learner's prior knowledge and previews to some extent what the lesson is about.	2 points The introduction builds on learner's prior knowledge and effectively prepares the learner by foreshadowing what the lesson is about.
Task (The task is the end result of student efforts... not the steps involved in getting there.)
Connection of Task to Standards	0 points The task is not related to standards.	2 point The task is referenced to standards but is not clearly connected to what students must know and be able to do to achieve proficiency of those standards.	4 points The task is referenced to standards and is clearly connected to what students must know and be able to do to achieve proficiency of those standards.
Cognitive Level of the Task	0 points Task requires simply comprehending or retelling of information found on web pages and answering factual questions.	3 points Task is doable but is limited in its significance to students' lives. The task requires analysis of information and/or putting together information from several sources.	6 points Task is doable and engaging, and elicits thinking that goes beyond rote comprehension. The task requires synthesis of multiple sources of information, and/or taking a position, and/or going beyond the data given and making a generalization or creative product. See WebQuest Taskonomy.
Process (The process is the step-by-step description of how students will accomplish the task.)
Clarity of Process	0 points Process is not clearly stated. Students would not know exactly what they were supposed to do just from reading this.	2 points Some directions are given, but there is missing information. Students might be confused.	4 points Every step is clearly stated. Most students would know exactly where they are at each step of the process and know what to do next.
Scaffolding of Process	0 points The process lacks strategies and organizational tools needed for students to gain the knowledge needed to complete the task. Activities are of little significance to one another and/or to the accomplishment of the task.	3 points Strategies and organizational tools embedded in the process are insufficient to ensure that all students will gain the knowledge needed to complete the task. Some of the activities do not relate specifically to the accomplishment of the task.	6 points The process provides students coming in at different entry levels with strategies and organizational tools to access and gain the knowledge needed to complete the task. Activities are clearly related and designed to take the students from basic knowledge to higher level thinking. Checks for understanding are built in to assess whether students are getting it. See: Process Guides A Taxonomy of Information Patterns Language Arts Standards and Technology WebQuest Enhancement Tools Reception, Transformation & Production Scaffolds
Richness of Process	0 points Few steps, no separate roles assigned.	1 points Some separate tasks or roles assigned. More complex activities required.	2 points Different roles are assigned to help students understand different perspectives and/or share responsibility in accomplishing the task.
Resources (Note: you should evaluate all resources linked to the page, even if they are in sections other than the Process block. Also note that books, video and other off-line resources can and should be used where appropriate.)
Relevance & Quantity of Resources	0 points Resources provided are not sufficient for students to accomplish the task. OR There are too many resources for learners to look at in a reasonable time.	2 point There is some connection between the resources and the information needed for students to accomplish the task. Some resources don't add anything new.	4 points There is a clear and meaningful connection between all the resources and the information needed for students to accomplish the task. Every resource carries its weight.
Quality of Resources	0 points Links are mundane. They lead to information that could be found in a classroom encyclopedia.	2 points Some links carry information not ordinarily found in a classroom.	4 points Links make excellent use of the Web's timeliness and colorfulness. Varied resources provide enough meaningful information for students to think deeply.
Evaluation
Clarity of Evaluation Criteria	0 points Criteria for success are not described.	3 points Criteria for success are at least partially described.	6 points Criteria for success are clearly stated in the form of a rubric. Criteria include qualitative as well as quantitative descriptors. The evaluation instrument clearly measures what students must know and be able to do to accomplish the task. See Creating a Rubric.
Total Score				/50

WebQuest part #2

Beginning	Developing	Accomplished	Score
Overall Aesthetics (This refers to the WebQuest page itself, not the external resources linked to it.)
Overall Visual Appeal	0 points There are few or no graphic elements. No variation in layout or typography. OR Color is garish and/or typographic variations are overused and legibility suffers. Background interferes with the readability.	2 points Graphic elements sometimes, but not always, contribute to the understanding of concepts, ideas and relationships. There is some variation in type size, color, and layout.	4 points Appropriate and thematic graphic elements are used to make visual connections that contribute to the understanding of concepts, ideas and relationships. Differences in type size and/or color are used well and consistently.  See Fine Points Checklist.
Navigation & Flow	0 points Getting through the lesson is confusing and unconventional. Pages can't be found easily and/or the way back isn't clear.	2 points There are a few places where the learner can get lost and not know where to go next.	4 points Navigation is seamless. It is always clear to the learner what all the pieces are and how to get to them.
Mechanical Aspects	0 points There are more than 5 broken links, misplaced or missing images, badly sized tables, misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	1 point There are some broken links, misplaced or missing images, badly sized tables, misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	2 points No mechanical problems noted.  See Fine Points Checklist.
Introduction
Motivational Effectiveness of Introduction	0 points The introduction is purely factual, with no appeal to relevance or social importance OR The scenario posed is transparently bogus and doesn't respect the media literacy of today's learners.	1 point The introduction relates somewhat to the learner's interests and/or describes a compelling question or problem.	2 points The introduction draws the reader into the lesson by relating to the learner's interests or goals and/or engagingly describing a compelling question or problem.
Cognitive Effectiveness of the Introduction	0 points The introduction doesn't prepare the reader for what is to come, or build on what the learner already knows.	1 point The introduction makes some reference to learner's prior knowledge and previews to some extent what the lesson is about.	2 points The introduction builds on learner's prior knowledge and effectively prepares the learner by foreshadowing what the lesson is about.
Task (The task is the end result of student efforts... not the steps involved in getting there.)
Connection of Task to Standards	0 points The task is not related to standards.	2 point The task is referenced to standards but is not clearly connected to what students must know and be able to do to achieve proficiency of those standards.	4 points The task is referenced to standards and is clearly connected to what students must know and be able to do to achieve proficiency of those standards.
Cognitive Level of the Task	0 points Task requires simply comprehending or retelling of information found on web pages and answering factual questions.	3 points Task is doable but is limited in its significance to students' lives. The task requires analysis of information and/or putting together information from several sources.	6 points Task is doable and engaging, and elicits thinking that goes beyond rote comprehension. The task requires synthesis of multiple sources of information, and/or taking a position, and/or going beyond the data given and making a generalization or creative product. See WebQuest Taskonomy.
Process (The process is the step-by-step description of how students will accomplish the task.)
Clarity of Process	0 points Process is not clearly stated. Students would not know exactly what they were supposed to do just from reading this.	2 points Some directions are given, but there is missing information. Students might be confused.	4 points Every step is clearly stated. Most students would know exactly where they are at each step of the process and know what to do next.
Scaffolding of Process	0 points The process lacks strategies and organizational tools needed for students to gain the knowledge needed to complete the task. Activities are of little significance to one another and/or to the accomplishment of the task.	3 points Strategies and organizational tools embedded in the process are insufficient to ensure that all students will gain the knowledge needed to complete the task. Some of the activities do not relate specifically to the accomplishment of the task.	6 points The process provides students coming in at different entry levels with strategies and organizational tools to access and gain the knowledge needed to complete the task. Activities are clearly related and designed to take the students from basic knowledge to higher level thinking. Checks for understanding are built in to assess whether students are getting it. See: Process Guides A Taxonomy of Information Patterns Language Arts Standards and Technology WebQuest Enhancement Tools Reception, Transformation & Production Scaffolds
Richness of Process	0 points Few steps, no separate roles assigned.	1 points Some separate tasks or roles assigned. More complex activities required.	2 points Different roles are assigned to help students understand different perspectives and/or share responsibility in accomplishing the task.
Resources (Note: you should evaluate all resources linked to the page, even if they are in sections other than the Process block. Also note that books, video and other off-line resources can and should be used where appropriate.)
Relevance & Quantity of Resources	0 points Resources provided are not sufficient for students to accomplish the task. OR There are too many resources for learners to look at in a reasonable time.	2 point There is some connection between the resources and the information needed for students to accomplish the task. Some resources don't add anything new.	4 points There is a clear and meaningful connection between all the resources and the information needed for students to accomplish the task. Every resource carries its weight.
Quality of Resources	0 points Links are mundane. They lead to information that could be found in a classroom encyclopedia.	2 points Some links carry information not ordinarily found in a classroom.	4 points Links make excellent use of the Web's timeliness and colorfulness. Varied resources provide enough meaningful information for students to think deeply.
Evaluation
Clarity of Evaluation Criteria	0 points Criteria for success are not described.	3 points Criteria for success are at least partially described.	6 points Criteria for success are clearly stated in the form of a rubric. Criteria include qualitative as well as quantitative descriptors. The evaluation instrument clearly measures what students must know and be able to do to accomplish the task. See Creating a Rubric.
Total Score				/50

WebQuest Strengths and Weaknesses

WebQuest	Strengths	Weaknesses
Gorillas	Offers a good opportunity for students to communicate and come to a conclusion about a specific problem happening in our world.	Although the WebQuest offers time with groups, most of the information they're looking for is a low level scavenger hunt type of work.
Shakespeare	Very thorough group work has to be done to accomplish this activity and offers a "consensus guide" to help guide students to organize their group work.	The Phase One Research is not guiding the student to what the important facts are within their interest. The links are just listed and it tells students to "explore" the website and share what they've found.
Earthquake	The project offers students a chance to build something together and see the results when the buildings are finished. Discussion would be key in figuring out how to assemble the building.	It's encouraged throughout the assignment to work closely with your group but on the Evaluation their is no grade for team work. This could cause students to do their portion and not be motivated to work together.
Foreign Country	At the end of the presentation students vote on which country they would like to visit and that student wins a prize.	There is no group work involved in the making of this presentation which offers no communication between the students.
Waves & Sound	It's a very thorough assignment and will encourage the student to ask questions	No group work is involved in this assignment and the "Teacher Page" lacks a lot of information.

Best: Earthquake and Shakespeare both assigments offer steady group work where conversation is key but an individual effort will go noticed.

Worst: Gorillas and Waves these two assignments offer minimal to no group work and the assignment itself is very juvenile with little heavy analysis going into the students' conclusions. 

Picasso Head Blog

I think learning styles do exist but they are not being represented properly. The idea of matching style with content makes the most sense to me. "Instead, teachers should worry about matching their instruction to the content they are teaching. Some concepts are best taught through hands-on work, some are best taught through lectures, and some are best taught through group discussions (Glenn, 2009)." I would take the idea's Pashler presented and use learning styles appropriately to convey different styles of information.




The second article offered a more simple way to describe learning styles and how they are used. I used to believe in the concept of learning styles but I think there is a more effective approach to help a classroom discover their full potential and what kind of learner he or she is. "learning styles are not really concerned with what learners learn, but rather how they prefer to learn (Clark, 2000)."





My MI came back to say "Naturalist." I found a geocaching activity that directly relates to Social Studies. Geocaching is a sort of treasure that happens all over the world. You get GPS coordinates to locate a box, which can be very small or very large. Inside the boxes people can put anything they want in them, in reason. For this specific geocache, students will answer questions about Constitution Day. Six caches represent six different facts about the Constitution and the people involved. This activity is not designed to be a test, its just to see what students do know about the Constitution. Click here to get connected to this activity.









References:







Clark, D. (2000, May 9). Big dog and little dog. Retrieved from http://nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/styles.html



Glenn, D. (2009, December 15). Chronicle of higher eduacation. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/Matching-Teaching-Style-to-/49497/



Sotherden, J., & Meredith, S. (n.d.). Constitution day geocaching . Retrieved from http://geocache.itrtblog.com/2010/09/constitution-day-geocaching/

Video Games #2

The videos helped me to discover that video games shouldnt be challenged with our children, they should be embraced. Im not anti video games because I used a lot of educational games growing up that helped me think better, type faster and keep up with the growing technology. As Im writing this blog, my boyfriend is playing Call of Duty while making a lasagna. Talk about multi tasking! :o) I enjoyed the different points of view but I especially liked the male speaker. He talks about gamification in places we would never expect, for example in smart cars when you have a pet plant that grows when you drive more eco friendly and dies when you dont. It just proves that technology is not going anywhere and adults need to learn how to embrace the changes and embrace the learning the 21st century kids enjoy and thrive on. In the first video the woman presents the statistics on the cube test as being improved on still after 5 months of the initial pre test and ten hour game play. This is remarkable to me because it proves that people are learning how to multi task better through these gaming sessions. I also liked her anology of chocolate and broccoli. It tied her entire point together that we need to find a way to challenge our children but let them play too. Katie Salen had some great points and ideas regarding gaming but I liked that she doesnt support a full time gamer status but recognizes the importance in these games and how they can really help enhance students' way of learning.


Artificial Wisdom claims to give educators and parents ratings on different video games to help identify the most beneficial to the students and child in regards to the educational aspects and the skills it teaches. They use a scale called GRADE which will give teachers and parents an idea of how the game specifically targets a certain educational area within the game.

Picasso/Video Games

The Naturalist Named Madison by Anonymous: Picassohead




In the video, Your Brain of Video Games the major arguement presented by the speaker was that action video games can prove to be helpful to the brain and multi media tasking.
1. Myth: Screen time makes vision worse.
    Fact: Action gamers have better vision than those who don't play the games. This can be helpful when reading small texts like pill bottle subscriptions. An action gamers vision could prove helpful to them when driving in bad weather conditions.
2. Myth: Games lead to attention problems and greater distractability.
    Fact: In the lab, the woman speaker describes a test where she will present a word and its colored font. People were tested and asked to perform this particular duty. Gamers did a better job identifying the words. The other test was the multiple object tracking. Gamers can track 6-7 objects at one time while a non gamer can track 3 or 4.
3. The lab test with the block cubes was an important test because it helped brain scientists know that after 5 months the gamer had still improved their skills from the pre test.

In the video, Are video games making your kids smarter?, The major idea was gamification and who really needs games help.
1.) The speaker mentioned World or Warcraft (WoW) and how it can help with multitasking. A few examples are chatvoice, chattext, operate character, manage interrupts and manage long term objectives as well as short term objectives.
2.) Green matter increases in the brain when it is learning, Andrea Kuszewski presented 5 themes that can help improve learning and the brain. 1.) Seek Novelty 2.) Challenge yourelf  3.) Think Creatively 4.) Do things the hard way 5.) Network....this resembles the very idea of video games which has been proven to increase green matter in the brain. Video games offers continuous learning.
3.) Ananth Pai was a third grade teacher who brought gamification into his classroom. The students reading and language levels increased dramatically after 18 weeks.


In the video Big Thinkers: katie Salen on Learning with Games, she conveyed the message that a game can activate something within a child that enhances their skills. She thought the most important part of designing and playing games was that the kids have to ask themselves the question, "Who is on the other end of me creating this?" Games are designed for the success of the player and that will offer a child a sense of empowerment that they succeed in the game.

Magazine Cover

Obama Photo Analysis

I notice the hands of President Obama seem inviting, like he is explaining a rational thought to people listening. The man to the left of the president has his arms folded together with his fingers intertwined. The gesture maks him look like he supports the Presidents information that hes presenting. The man to the left also has his eyes looking to the right of the picture and Obama's focus is the left of the picture. It conveys to me that the President wants eye contact to be made even if its just the support of the man on the left. The distance between the two seems comfortable and doesnt really tell me much about the picture. Both men are older, one being an older white male and the President, an African American older male. The fact that they are two different ethnicities does not prove or show anything about this picture. They may be around the same age and are obviously the same gender but again, I didnt judge the picture based on any of those factors. The clothing offers a glimpse into the rank of the gentleman on the left and may allow a reader to see the casual nature of the President as he is fixing the issue being discussed. The maps and illustrations illustrate that the President and U.S. Coast Guard are making an effort and a plan to clean up the oil spill from BP. The maps show that the President and Coast Guard have made a plan and are aware of where the oil spill has leaked. The pictures of people helping to get the oil out signifies that the President has led the U.S. Coast Guard to take action to clean up the spill.







LESSON PLAN FOR MEDIA LITERACY :
 I think the lesson plan covers number 5 of the ISTE Standards. "Exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others.

ThinkAloud

The ThinkAloud can help an educator meet ISTE standards by inspiring students to be creative while they research a topic. A student will use the ThinkAloud to clarify ideas while it reveals an understanding, thinking, planning, and creative process that will help students learn more efficiently and effectively. This particular ThinkAloud allows students to engage with other people involved in their communities, especially their school administration. Overall, the assignment proves to be a creative process for a student and allows a thorough investigation to be worked through while they engage in technology.

Wikipedia Worksheet

Here's a link to my Wikipedia worksheet

Website Analysis

           Muncie-area educators, police oppose arming teachers


1.) The article was written by Michelle Kinsey a writer for the Muncie Star Press 2.) The author of the article studied at Ball State University according to her Facebook page which was the only hit I had when I googled her name. 3.) N/A 4.) N/A 5.) N/A 6.) There are no links that take you to a new window or link.


Accuracy: 1.) The article seems to be error free. 2.)The article is on INDYSTAR.com which is a local newspaper. 3.) The article consists of conversation with local officials so it mainly informs the reader of their opinions.


Objectivity: 1.) N/A 2.) N/A 3.) There are ads on the articles website.



Currency: 1.) The date on the page is January 29, 2013 2.) The date on the page is when the article was written. There is no date published when the article was visited last. 3.) The only links on the webpage lead to other articles within the newspaper. The links do work, however, the newspaper prompts you to subscribe for full access and only allows 14 article views without a subscription.


Coverage: 1.) There is no indication that the webpage is under construction. 2.) The entire article is posted online. 3.) Deleware community officials were having a discussion on introducing legislation to allow teachers to carry handguns but police dont want educators to be armed.

Wikipedia Quiz

Comic

Wordle

Are Digital Media Changing Language?

1.) "Social networking sites offer additional forms of control. People exercise control in the way they design their pages: Staged photographs, exaggerated profiles, and padded friends lists enable online users to manipulate how others see them. In the words of one undergraduate, her Facebook page is "me on my best day.""




I completely agree with the above statement. Facebook allows people to exaggerate their lives most of the time to make them look better to his or her viewers. I hardly ever log in to find people beating themselves up for something. I do find that a lot of the time people are judging others ideas and beliefs on certain topics. Instead of judging what other people are doing, I think self reflection on an individuals own ideas and beliefs should be happening. "Me on my best day" is a very accurate statement on social networking.


2.) " Whatever the benefits of digital media, it is destroying the ability of young people to construct the basic unit of the English Language...the sentence."


The above opinion is understandable but I don't think its digital media that keeps young people unable to construct a sentence properly. Language is vital for any culture to survive and we need to be more concerned with adapting to how young people are thinking and responding to our language to make sure it does survive. A huge factor in survival is the ability to adapt.

Poll Everywhere Computer Response

Click here to take my poll about music!

Future of Work

While I was in eighth grade, students were given an option to become a part of the school's news program, TV. 271. Every morning the class would report on school news, weather and sometimes videos we made would be on air. There was a lot of work put into interviewing staff and students, shooting the scenes and editing the video. As a class we would take turns being behind the scenes, reporting weather and being one of the three news anchors. As we were live on the air there would be malfunctions in the equipment or video software so we were taught to think on our feet to avoid dead air time.  This experience helped me prepare for my future in business by showing me how to effectively communicate with my peers and improve my time management skills as I became more comfortable with the technology that was being introduced.

                                                           

Poll Everywhere

The West is the Best

My name is Megan Madsen, I'm a 24 year old college student born in California but I grew up in northern Idaho in a resort town called Coeur d' Alene. I've spent time in Washington state and Utah as well. After college, I would like to teach middle school Social Studies. I believe there are many ways children learn. There are visual learners, auditory learners, kinesthetic learners and tactile learners. I want to make my classroom a multi-sensory experience to cater to every type of learner. Activities that will engage my students as they are gaining knowledge would include (but not limited to), using poetry while making rhymes for memorization, geography bees, field trips, picture vocabulary, nature hikes, hands-on museum visits, drawing and using clay/Playdoh to create models. 

Video: INSPIRING TEACHER SARA FERGUSON

Link related to education: West Virginia Department of Education