Fair Use is federal law that allows for people to use copyrighted material for purposes of criticism, teaching, news reporting, or parody without authorization of the copyright holder. In terms of the fair use law and the classroom, my interpretation of the law is that copyrighted material can be used without the permission of its holder as long as it is used for educational purpose. The article written by Elizabeth and Robert Lagran called "Copyright and Technology" states that, "to qualify for fair use, there are four factors that must be weighed in: 1)purpose of use, 2) nature of the work 3)amount of use and 4)effect on the market." In order for us teachers to be able to use copyrighted material without permission, these four factors must be put into practice. As future educators, we need to make sure that what we present to our students is allowed and its of fair use. Since students tend to model what one does, they might believe that they are allowed to do the same thing and might follow in our footsteps without realizing the legal complications that come along with the issue. We need to ensure that we teach students how to use the materials or resources that they find on the internet correctly by teaching them how to implement and consider the four factors of the fair use law prior to using the resources.
There are resources that one can use as teachers to find resources that we can use fairly in the classroom such as "Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians". That book allows for one to analyze how the law works and can be used by us to not only understand it but now how to use it properly as well. Although it is becoming a little tough and complicated around these times since both students and teachers are becoming more and more technology savvy, there are ways to be able to use these copyrighted materials. We just have to learn and teach our students how to do it correctly.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Flipped Classroom
This flipped lesson focus on the family. The student learn the family members that compose immediate families. I used the cartoon family of the Jetsons and used each character to represent the members of the family. I also showed the relationship between the member, for example Jane and George Jetson are the parents of Elroy and Judy Jetson. I think that this is a great lesson for them to learn at home since I speak at a very slow pace which they can understand, they have images to help with the understanding and towards the end, they get the definitions of the vocabulary learned. In the end, I think this is a very effective lesson.
What they would do following this lesson is create their own family tree and explain the members of their immediate family members. As mentioned in the video, they will be creating this tree focused on their immediate family members and the relationships between the members. The extended family is a part of the unit that they will be learning later on to then extend their family trees a little bit more.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Screencasts
I found that creating an audio to go with the powerpoint was a great idea to use in the classroom. The first thing that came to mind was that teachers can create Power Points and add the audio to be used by substitutes when the teachers are absent as a way to get the students to still learn their lesson for the day.
Another way in which this could be used is on blogs or teacher websites so that both students and parents can go over any lessons, homework, or materials that they need for the next school day whether they didnt understand anything or they weren't originally present when the information was presented. Its a great way to maintain communications with students.
Also, you can make small presentations with audio like this and place it on your teacher webpage as kind of an introduction to what you will be learning in the next lesson. This way, students can go to your page for homework and take the time to watch the video so they know what to expect and you may have them answer questions about the video to test their knowledge on what they learned.
I truly believe that there is so much that you can do with this tool to implement it in the classroom. It gives you different ways to present information as well as maintain communications with students as well as parents.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Back to school night Power Point
This presentation introduces the 21st Century Skills and how they can be implemented in the classroom. Although there are many ways that I can many of the 21st Century Skills being used, I chose to do an activity that focused on the strand of Learning and Innovation skills, which I think are very critical in the foreign language classroom. All of the skills which include critical thinking and collaboration with other students are skills that will be used constantly in the classroom. Students will be challenged daily to think critically about culture and various points of views as well as many other issues.
The activity focuses on students doing some brainstorming prior to watching a short film on what they feel the traits are of a perfect/ideal mother. They are to analyze what mothers are like and what it means to be a mother. They will then watch a short film in which they will synthesize connections between what they said and what is shown and interpret the information being seen. After the film, they are to decipher what they saw and solve the character's problem which is presented at the end of the film. They are to do this in a group work which will demonstrate their ability to work collaboratively. I think this a great activity that not only involves critical thinking and problem solving but has the integration of technology as well. Lesson plans like these involving these skills would be common in my Spanish classroom and the use of technology only enhances the lessons even more.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Podcast response
For my podcast I chose to do a vignette of the book The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. I chose this book to focus on for the podcast because its one that is crucial that high school students read, whether it is in Spanish or English class, since it teaches the typical stereotypes and racial profiling that Latinos deal with in the United States. Its also one that is filled with small vignettes, which made it easier to choose one and read it on the podcast.
The podcast is in Spanish and what I chose to do was read a Vignette entitled "A Rice Sandwich" and have students listen to me read it. Students are to then put themselves in the same situation as the main character in the book. They are to write their responses and record their own podcast as to what they would do the same or differently from the main character in her difficult situation in that chapter. I think that this is such a good activity for the students because it allows to see things from a different perspective. They can see what many latinos go through (their struggles, the stereotypes, etc) and learn that things are not always as they seem. It allows for them to integrate themselves more into the latino culture by allowing them to understand its citizens a bit more.
The podcast is in Spanish and what I chose to do was read a Vignette entitled "A Rice Sandwich" and have students listen to me read it. Students are to then put themselves in the same situation as the main character in the book. They are to write their responses and record their own podcast as to what they would do the same or differently from the main character in her difficult situation in that chapter. I think that this is such a good activity for the students because it allows to see things from a different perspective. They can see what many latinos go through (their struggles, the stereotypes, etc) and learn that things are not always as they seem. It allows for them to integrate themselves more into the latino culture by allowing them to understand its citizens a bit more.
Friday, February 22, 2013
21st Century Skill
As I read through the articles and saw the two videos provided for this week's assignment, I stay a little confused, or rather torn, as to what to believe or which movement to side with. I do know, however, that there were some key things said in some of the content given to analyze that struck me and which I feel I have the need to comment on.
1) In the articles that critic the movement, the very first article by Diane Ravitch she states how she feels as though having these 21st century skills implemented will "put other subjects at margin" and how what matters most is the ability to make generalizations with our brains.
I feel that everything that is being taught in today's schools can all be valuable to students in their futures. Learning a language amplifies their ability to communicate with others, learning math can help them be able to calculate their checking accounts and know how much their spending, and learning English can help them to read between the lines and think critically about things. Every subject is important. Granted, I also feel that some of the aspects stated in the article by Judy Salpeter, are also correct. The skills that the movement is calling "learning skills" and the 21st Century tools elements are ones that I think should be implemented in students acquirement of knowledge. They are both key elements that everyone is required to do now both inside and outside of the school environment, making them viable elements to teach our students.
2) In the 2nd critical article by Jay Mathews, he asked a question that left me questioning the whole movement, "How are millions of students still struggling to acquire 19th-century skills in reading, writing and math supposed to learn this stuff?"
After reading this question I honestly was left perplexed. There are lot of students that need extra help on subjects in reading, writing, and math that trying to add any other skill or subject will just confuse the students even more and leave them upset with their education. Just this one question had me wondering whether or not this movement was necessary.
3) In the video of Sir Ken Robinson, he says that creativity isn't taught anymore and they are pushed aside to be taught the essentials known as the "core subjects".
I disagree with Sir Robinson to some extent. I do agree that there are people that are scared to pursue their dreams because of the fact that they feel that they won't find a job, as Sir Robinson said. However, students are being pushed and encouraged on a daily basis by their teachers to follow their dreams and to not give up on them. The majority of the students that pick a career to study in college are studying subjects that they want to know more of, that they love, that they want to be a part of and I feel that their creativity is what got them there. I don't believe that creativity is being pushed aside at all.
In the end, I find myself in the middle of the movement, not really able to choose a side. I feel that it is absolutely necessary to teach the subjects that are being taught in schools currently. However, I also agree that students should acquire the "learning skills" and comprehend how to use the 21st century tools in order to enhance their skills in their core subjects even further. There are things that I feel could work with the 21st Century Skill and are necessary but other elements that I feel that we could do without.
1) In the articles that critic the movement, the very first article by Diane Ravitch she states how she feels as though having these 21st century skills implemented will "put other subjects at margin" and how what matters most is the ability to make generalizations with our brains.
I feel that everything that is being taught in today's schools can all be valuable to students in their futures. Learning a language amplifies their ability to communicate with others, learning math can help them be able to calculate their checking accounts and know how much their spending, and learning English can help them to read between the lines and think critically about things. Every subject is important. Granted, I also feel that some of the aspects stated in the article by Judy Salpeter, are also correct. The skills that the movement is calling "learning skills" and the 21st Century tools elements are ones that I think should be implemented in students acquirement of knowledge. They are both key elements that everyone is required to do now both inside and outside of the school environment, making them viable elements to teach our students.
2) In the 2nd critical article by Jay Mathews, he asked a question that left me questioning the whole movement, "How are millions of students still struggling to acquire 19th-century skills in reading, writing and math supposed to learn this stuff?"
After reading this question I honestly was left perplexed. There are lot of students that need extra help on subjects in reading, writing, and math that trying to add any other skill or subject will just confuse the students even more and leave them upset with their education. Just this one question had me wondering whether or not this movement was necessary.
3) In the video of Sir Ken Robinson, he says that creativity isn't taught anymore and they are pushed aside to be taught the essentials known as the "core subjects".
I disagree with Sir Robinson to some extent. I do agree that there are people that are scared to pursue their dreams because of the fact that they feel that they won't find a job, as Sir Robinson said. However, students are being pushed and encouraged on a daily basis by their teachers to follow their dreams and to not give up on them. The majority of the students that pick a career to study in college are studying subjects that they want to know more of, that they love, that they want to be a part of and I feel that their creativity is what got them there. I don't believe that creativity is being pushed aside at all.
In the end, I find myself in the middle of the movement, not really able to choose a side. I feel that it is absolutely necessary to teach the subjects that are being taught in schools currently. However, I also agree that students should acquire the "learning skills" and comprehend how to use the 21st century tools in order to enhance their skills in their core subjects even further. There are things that I feel could work with the 21st Century Skill and are necessary but other elements that I feel that we could do without.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Learning Experience: Blog
For the learning experience that integrates technology, I decided to focus on the tech tool of blogs. For the assignment, students will be using a blog to communicate with a student from a hispanic country such as Costa Rica and/or Brazil. The whole purpose of this communication with other peers in another country is to identify any issues in Education that are occurring in countries outside of the United States and find speak to their pen pals about possible solutions that can help those students in which they are becoming acquainted with. This will also be their way to keep in contact with each other, informing one another about what is going on in their lives. Under the technology standards, this assignment would fall under the standard 8.1, strand C: Communication and Collaboration. The grade level would be 12 and the CPI number is 8.1.12.C.1.
For this assignment, students should be able to create and use a blog. They will learn in class how to make one and their options of sites that they can choose that is easier for them to manage. They will also need to know how to go about and search within the blogs to find their student pen pals blog and comment on their posts. Besides having to know how to use the blog, students should be able to conduct research on the Internet about their pen pal's country to find current events as well as they possible solutions to the issues that they become aware of.
In my content area, students should be able to write their posts in Spanish in order to be able to communicate accurately with their student pen pals. They should be able to use the correct grammar and vocabulary that they are learning on a daily basis to write their posts in a way in which students in other countries will be able to understand them.
This blog would be a great way for students to get a perspective of how students in other countries live and the issues that they will face on a daily basis. It's also a great way to practice their Spanish and it gives them a context as to why its important to learn the language.
For this assignment, students should be able to create and use a blog. They will learn in class how to make one and their options of sites that they can choose that is easier for them to manage. They will also need to know how to go about and search within the blogs to find their student pen pals blog and comment on their posts. Besides having to know how to use the blog, students should be able to conduct research on the Internet about their pen pal's country to find current events as well as they possible solutions to the issues that they become aware of.
In my content area, students should be able to write their posts in Spanish in order to be able to communicate accurately with their student pen pals. They should be able to use the correct grammar and vocabulary that they are learning on a daily basis to write their posts in a way in which students in other countries will be able to understand them.
This blog would be a great way for students to get a perspective of how students in other countries live and the issues that they will face on a daily basis. It's also a great way to practice their Spanish and it gives them a context as to why its important to learn the language.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Opinions on WIki
Learning how to use Wikipages this week was great. Being able to learn how to use the Wikipages allowed me to see a resource that teachers can use during their careers to communicate with students, parents, or other people interested in knowing a little more about them. The wikipage I made was about a lesson on Spanish greetings. Although I feel that I could of added more to the page, I wasn't really sure what to put on it. The site was really easy to manage though, which I liked. In the end, I was happy with the end result of my Wikipage. The use of images, different color and languages, made the site more cheerful and engaging.
I can see how this site can be very useful to teachers. They can place all they need to communicate with other on their site. Whether it is homework, lesson plans, worksheets, videos, etc, they can put all their information on those sites to help their students to practice and get extra help on whatever their needs may be. In the end, its a great resource to have available to use.
I can see how this site can be very useful to teachers. They can place all they need to communicate with other on their site. Whether it is homework, lesson plans, worksheets, videos, etc, they can put all their information on those sites to help their students to practice and get extra help on whatever their needs may be. In the end, its a great resource to have available to use.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
This week in technology
I have been noticing more an more as I attend my courses and do some teaching assisting that use of visuals in a foreign language classroom are essential. It has come to my attention that the way in which the teachers integrate visuals is through the use of technology whether it is through power point, videos, images, or the projection of worksheets. I feel that although these are all unique ways to include visuals into a unit and or lesson plan, we should try not to use technology as the main tool to do so. While power points can be really helpful and beneficial, for example to teach vocabulary with images, the same thing can be done with props or tangible images. Lets say that one of the activities for the day is to learn the vocabulary on fruit. Instead of doing a power point, the teachers can bring in the actual fruit and it would be a way for the students to both see, feel, and smell what they are learning not just hearing the word and seeing a image projected. While I like the use of technology in the classroom, I don't think it should be over done.
I recently saw a Verizon commercial on tv in which there was a sick child who couldn't go to school. Instead of missing the lesson entirely, the student was able to attend school through the use of a robot, who traveled to the school and project the image of the child on its screen so it was as if the student was attending school through the comfort of his home. At one point of the commercial, the teacher even calls on the student to answer a question, which he answered correctly. It was shocking for me to see this commercial and realize that sooner or later, this was going to be an option for many students in the future. Are we going to have to be teaching students through this new use of technology which takes the place of the student when they are absent? It is going to be interesting to see what new waves of technology are going to bring in the future to our classrooms and how we as teachers are going to have to adjust to it.
I recently saw a Verizon commercial on tv in which there was a sick child who couldn't go to school. Instead of missing the lesson entirely, the student was able to attend school through the use of a robot, who traveled to the school and project the image of the child on its screen so it was as if the student was attending school through the comfort of his home. At one point of the commercial, the teacher even calls on the student to answer a question, which he answered correctly. It was shocking for me to see this commercial and realize that sooner or later, this was going to be an option for many students in the future. Are we going to have to be teaching students through this new use of technology which takes the place of the student when they are absent? It is going to be interesting to see what new waves of technology are going to bring in the future to our classrooms and how we as teachers are going to have to adjust to it.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Webpage effectiveness of the Bergenfield School District
For this week assignment, we were told to choose a school district and analyze the effectiveness of their website. I choose to analyze the town of Bergenfield and after visiting their school district website, I was very impressed with all the resources they had to offer. As a visitor to the page, you have many links to choose from to get to know more about the district. They have a drop down menu at the top right of the website where you are able to select a school from the town that you would like to know more about. They have two separate links for students and parents to access additional resources provided by the school. After clicking on the link for parents, I was amazed to see that there were three different links where parents can check the progress of their children in school: Infinite campus (where they can check for attendance and grades), homeworknow (where they can check what their children's homeworks are), and Renaissance place (where they can go with their children to practice subjects such as reading and math). Since I wanted to know more about these websites, I clicked on homeworknow where I was able to search as a guest and find a list of schools that were participating with this website. After choosing Bergenfield High school, I was given a list of teacher webpages from the school, each page containing their subject, grade level, class assignments, and homework assignments for the week.
After analyzing the full website along with the additional resources provided to parents and students, I realized that the Bergenfield school district provides a very successful and beneficial website to their community. It is obvious that they are aware of the importance of their page and use it to their advantage. I was even amazed to see that they had a link for Bergenfield in the news where you can see many articles in which they are mentioned, including the article that mentions how they placed in the top ten U.S. school districts honored for technology know-how. That's pretty remarkable, if you ask me.
After analyzing the full website along with the additional resources provided to parents and students, I realized that the Bergenfield school district provides a very successful and beneficial website to their community. It is obvious that they are aware of the importance of their page and use it to their advantage. I was even amazed to see that they had a link for Bergenfield in the news where you can see many articles in which they are mentioned, including the article that mentions how they placed in the top ten U.S. school districts honored for technology know-how. That's pretty remarkable, if you ask me.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Technology Integration in Education
My first experience with technology was when I was in the first grade and my class would be taken to the lab at least one hour a day to learn how to type on the program Mavis Beacon. I remember looking forward to going to the lab and spending that one hour trying to improve on my writing speed to compete with the other students in the class. It was always a fun experience for me to be in that class, learning how to type. As a reward for typing so well, we would be allowed to play on of the many games on Mavis Beacon which made the experience that much more enriching.
Since those days in the first grade, I have always loved technology. I think being able to integrate it into the classrooms makes learning that much more fun and fascinating for students. Using technology as a source for finding authentic materials to use in the classroom and as a tool for communication for students is essential in the modern world that we live in. As the video "Learning to change - Change to learn" states, "We have to accept, as educators, that technology is not really a choice. It has created a world. It's just not here to help you teach traditional subjects, it has invented, it has emerged a completely new environment." Students are so accustomed to using technology outside of the classroom for many aspects and have attained such insight and knowledge on the use of it that it would ignorant for us as teachers to not take those skills that they already own and incorporate them into our lessons.
As a future foreign language teacher, I feel that technology would be so beneficial for my future students to learn more about the cultures all around the world. Since I will be mainly teaching Spanish and Italian, I could use technology to have students communicate with Hispanic and Italian students around the world in order to get a first hand view of their culture, just as the Friends and Flags creator Karen Eini mentioned she did with her students in the ASCD Educational Leadership Article. Even something as simple as using the Google search engine to learn more about the countries and cultures they are studying can be more beneficial and intriguing to the students rather than them just hearing it from me. I believe that if students have the ability to look for information on their own and learn about it in a way that is captivating to them, they will be able to not only acquire more information but remember it as well due to the fact that it was something that they enjoyed doing by themselves.
Since those days in the first grade, I have always loved technology. I think being able to integrate it into the classrooms makes learning that much more fun and fascinating for students. Using technology as a source for finding authentic materials to use in the classroom and as a tool for communication for students is essential in the modern world that we live in. As the video "Learning to change - Change to learn" states, "We have to accept, as educators, that technology is not really a choice. It has created a world. It's just not here to help you teach traditional subjects, it has invented, it has emerged a completely new environment." Students are so accustomed to using technology outside of the classroom for many aspects and have attained such insight and knowledge on the use of it that it would ignorant for us as teachers to not take those skills that they already own and incorporate them into our lessons.
As a future foreign language teacher, I feel that technology would be so beneficial for my future students to learn more about the cultures all around the world. Since I will be mainly teaching Spanish and Italian, I could use technology to have students communicate with Hispanic and Italian students around the world in order to get a first hand view of their culture, just as the Friends and Flags creator Karen Eini mentioned she did with her students in the ASCD Educational Leadership Article. Even something as simple as using the Google search engine to learn more about the countries and cultures they are studying can be more beneficial and intriguing to the students rather than them just hearing it from me. I believe that if students have the ability to look for information on their own and learn about it in a way that is captivating to them, they will be able to not only acquire more information but remember it as well due to the fact that it was something that they enjoyed doing by themselves.
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