Hello? Are Your Students Communicating Appropriately?

The article, “Hello? Are Your Students Communicating Appropriately?” by Thomas Clark is all about making sure that your student has the proper etiquette for phone and email. The article lists the do’s and do not’s when contacting a teacher and helpful tips. These tips include identifying yourself, planning your messages ahead of time, being concise, and to also show respect. The author even provides an example of a student sending an email and a voicemail to their teacher in a professional manner. The author also stresses the importance of helping students “learn the importance of leaving messages that are clear, concise, and respectful” (Clark, 2009). In a day and age where we are all about getting our message out quickly with as little typing as possible, we need to teach kids how to construct a complete thought. Professionalism is very important, especially if you are contacting an adult such as your teacher, future employer, or some other formal contact. By following these three items, you can ensure that your contact understands what you are trying to say because you explained  your ideas. Nowadays there are so many verbal shortcuts that we have learned over the years from instant messaging and texting. These abbreviations have even found their way into our everyday conversations and vocabulary.  This article relates to the digital citizenship category of the NETS-S standards. It also relates to the communication standard of the NETS-S. By teaching kids to prepare their thoughts, they are able to effectively communicate their ideas clearly. By teaching kids to be polite and respectful when they are communicating with others, we are teaching them digital citizenship. Is this something that a teacher should focus on? Or is this a topic that parents can teach their children effectively without influence from the teachers?

References

Clark, T. (2009). Hello? Are your students communicating appropriately?. Learning & Leading with Technology. 34.

Kidblog Offers Safe and Simple Interface

The article, Kidblog Offers Safe and Simple Interface by Scott Meech, talks about a website called Kidblog. The website is a way for young students to communicate their ideas in a safe, clean, and simple environment. This website allows for privacy among the students and most importantly, does not collect any personal information from the students or teachers. Not only is the interface easy for a kid to use, but it is also easy to train teachers how to use the website. According to the article, a class of third grade students was able to learn how to blog within two thirty minute class periods. This website is good for kids because it allows them to begin to use technology in a way that is simple to understand. By having a simple website like this, students will not be distracted by all the different tools on the website and can focus on expressing their thoughts like we are doing with our blogs in this class. The ideas in this article express the NETS-S of both creativity and innovation, and communication and collaboration. Through their blogs, children are applying existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes. They are also creating original works as a means of personal or group expression with their blogs through personal thoughts and use of pictures and videos. By using the blogs, students can interact, collaborate, publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media. By being able to add videos and pictures, students can also communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats. At what age is it appropriate to start letting children blog and should this method be encouraged in the classroom? Is our progression into technology at such an early age negatively impacting their penmanship?

Meech, S. (2010). Kidblog offers safe and simple interface. Learning & Leading with Technology, p. 38.

When Will We Ever Use Math in Real Life?

     The article, When Will We Ever Use Math in Real Life? by Jennifer Ware and Sarah Stein, shows students how mathematics can be applied to real life situations. By interviewing various professionals from STEM (Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) careers, students are able to see how what they are learning can help them get a career. At the beginning of a lesson, students see a three to four minute video from a professional that tells them how this applies to their job. It was found that students who had little interest in math were actually more interested in what they were learning and were showing interests in the careers as well. Examples of videos include how an architect uses solid geometric shape to form the structure of the house or how a technologist uses light and angles of light to create brighter cell phone displays.

      I think that showing students how what they are learning in the classroom is applicable in the real world is a great idea. By showing these types of videos we can help inspire students to have a career in STEM. Those are fields that are always in demand and are crucial in order for advancement of our society. The videos are also a nice idea because they can be accessed by multiple audiences and schools don't have to worry about working out a schedule for when the guest speaker can come in. From this we can see videos from a large variety of different jobs that a student might not get to learn about and inspire students to pursue higher math leveled careers. There are many students who have an aversion to math; is it possible that these videos can help change how students feel about math?  This article does not really address any of NETS-S.

Ware, Jennifer., & Stein, Sarah. (2012). When Will We Ever Use Math in Real Life?. Learning & Leading With Technology, 34-35. 

Immersing Students In History

The article, Immerse Your Students in History by Andrew Wheelock, is all about engaging today’s kids in History.  Andrew Wheelock describes his efforts to increase the appreciation of history by helping kids, teachers, and parents experience the events first hand. Through the use of a 3D simulator, Andrew and the creators of the application have developed a virtual reality that lets you experience what it was like to be in Amsterdam during the Holocaust. There are various interactive activities such as making a candle that would reveal a student’s reflective essay about the Holocaust if clicked.  They also align with Common Core State Standards so that teachers can use this in the classroom. It’s not just history that is applied in this program. Wheelock mentions students using math to measure and compare the rooms of the annex versus their own and even studying science by researching wildlife in Holland.  Although the intent of this app was to promote history, it can clearly be used for so much more than that. There has been so much success with this program that two more are being made. One is a medieval role paying game and the other focuses on the time period of the H.M.S Titanic.

    I think this is a really cool concept. Kids love playing video games and to be able to incorporate it into education is awesome. I know as a child I loved playing virtual reality games. To be able to customize an avatar and go out and see what it was like to live in another country during another time is amazing. Although the game obviously could not come close to explaining the emotions that people during that time were feeling, I think it is a good educational tool. I worry though that kids might just click through the various objects just to see what’s there without actually reading and thinking about it.

  The ideas in this article coincide with the creativity and innovation standard, the communication and collaboration standard, and the research and information fluency standard. Through students acting as curators of their own virtual Holocaust museum exhibit, the following standards are displayed: use models and simulations to explore complex issues, communicate information to multiple audiences, and finally to locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media.

   

    Wheelock, Andrew. (2012). Immerse Your Students in History. Learning & Leading with Technology, 26-27.