The Unusually Interesting Peanut Gallery of Molly

Wikipages: A Great Way To Do Group Projects

2004-12-13T10:00:00.000-08:00

I wanted to say how much I love wiki pages. When we were first given the assignment to created a group wiki pages, I'll be honest, I was no looking forward to it at all. But I believe it was because I did not understand how to use it. Thankfully, I did not give up completely on the wiki pages. I went online and started playing around in the Wiki Sandbox, and found that it was not incredibly difficult to use. In fact, I started having fun. I actually saw potential with this program in the classroom. Wiki pages are such a great way to do group projects.

I remember in high school, when teachers gave group project, it meant that I would be doing all of the work in the group. People at my high school were slackers. In my high school economic's class, I remember being assigned to create a new invention and write a report about it. Everyone in my group did not participate, so I ended up doing both the invention and the report. The frustrating about the whole assignment was how everyone in the group got the same grade, even though I did all the work.

This is why I like wiki pages. Teachers can keep an eye on who did what in a project. That way students do not feel like they have to do all the work. I am really glad that we worked with this program. I can definately see me using this program in the future for class group projects.

C.S. Lewis - An Inspiring Man

2004-12-13T09:27:00.000-08:00

Like all of my previous blogs, this one is also random. I was reading on Professor West's blog and read some of his posts other students have made about following Christ's teaching patterns. This reminded me of a book I am currently reading called Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. If any of you have not read his religiously focused books, I highly recommend them.

Here are some wonderful quotes that I just wanted share by C.S. Lewis:

"God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. These is no such thing." [C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1952), 50.]

I just love this quote. C.S. Lewis just puts thing so simply.

Finally, one last quote:

"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic...or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse." [Lewis, Mere Christianity, 52.]

I like this. Lewis describes how we can't accept Jesus Christ as just a great moral teacher. He was either a crazy man or indeed the Son of God.

I just wanted to say, read C.S. Lewis if you get a chance. He is just absolutely amazing and puts things into an understanding perspective.

The Best Teachers That I've Had

2004-12-13T09:13:00.000-08:00

I've had some really good history teachers, but then I have had some really good ones as well. The other day I was pondering over what makes a history teacher good. How is it that one teacher can keep her class on the edge of their seats, while others can't even keep them in their seats? I've decided that I wanted to write about three teachers that I have had that have been excellent at their profession and tell what exactly I believe made them really great:

1. Mrs. Stevens: Mrs. Stevens was one of the best teachers that I have ever had. She was probably the main reason I chose to go into history. I had Mrs. Stevens when I was in eighth grade, so my thoughts are a little vague on why she was so interesting. I think the reason I liked her so much was because she was honestly concerned about what her students learned in her class. She wanted so badly to make us love history as much as she did. I also remember how dramatic she was. When she talked about the Civil War, she made it seem as if it was happening at that exact moment. She made history alive. It was not something of the past; it was something that was ongoing. I also liked how she made the class fun. Somehow she taught history through games she made up. I don't know how she did it!

2. Mr. Bellis: Mr. Bellis was my 12th grade high school government teacher. At my high school there was a rumor about how he was the hardest teacher ever. People would constantly say how their was no way to pass that class. I was freaked. When 12th grade came around, I seriously thought I was never going to graduate because of this one class. But when I went to his class, I noticed how he was really interesting. Even though he tested hard, he taught well enough that we were able to retain the information. He loved the American government and was constantly informed on national and international issues. I have never seen a man with such a passion for history and government.

3. Mrs. Felt: Mrs. Felt was my university Western Civilization II teacher. I was a little nervous about taking her class, but the first day I got in their, I knew I was hooked. She was so interesting. She did not make the lecture boring, she made it interesting by telling it like a story. One thing I really loved about her was how she, like Mr. Bellis and Mrs. Stevens, had a passion for history. Her passion spread on to me. I believe her class was the only class I have ever taken in college that I've looked forward to going to.

I've concluded that why these teachers were so great is because each of these teachers have a passion for their subject. They loved it so much that they just want to tell everyone about it. I hope that one day, I too can have this passion. If I just had a drop of the passion they have for history, I believe that I can be a wonderful history teacher.

BYU is great

2004-12-09T20:58:00.000-08:00

I want to make a quick comment on how BYU is such a wonderful school. I know this is totally random to put on a blog, but I feel it must be said. After I graduated from high school, I applied to attend BYU. Unfortunately, my GPA and ACT score was not high enough to get in, so I decided to go to a community college in my home state of Alabama. I eventually grew to love this college: the classes were small and the teachers were nice. But, I always wanted to go to BYU, so I applied again to attend BYU as a transfer student. I got in and was extremely ecstatic and was all hyped up about going to BYU. When I got here, however, I was shocked at how many people though negatively of this school. I admit, there have been times when I have been frustrated and taken it out on this school, but there are many people that just do not want to be here, but are here anyway. That bugs me. I think it is incredibly awesome to find teachers who sincerely want to help you. They try to bring religion into their subject as much as they possibly can. The school offers devotionals every Tuesday; they offer firesides almost every month. The school provides so many activities for students to socialize. I never had that when I was a student at my community college. I love this college, and even though it may have faults, I will always know that it is one hundred times better than my old college. I think we should all reflect on what school we may have gotten in and realize how blessed we really are to have gotten in to this school.

Save Me From Another PowerPoint!

2004-12-08T16:34:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a somewhat random comment, but I wanted to discuss PowerPoint. Recently, I have been incredibly fascinated with the various things PowerPoint can do. Did you know with PowerPoint, you can add sound, video, movement, color, etc??? I never knew this. You want to know why? Because the PowerPoints teachers that I have had made have never used any of those. I don't understand why teachers always make the classic black-and-white PowerPoints with a dash of a picture here and there. Everytime a teacher pulls up one of these presentations, it is my key signal to zone out. I wish teachers who used PowerPoint would zest up their lessons.

Another note about PowerPoint: In IPT we have learned that technology is supposed to help enhance the lesson, not overpower it. But I have come across many instances where the PowerPoint was not working on the overhead projector and so the class was stalled until it was fixed. Many of my teachers rely so much on their black-and-white PowerPoints and because of this, I have become an avid hater of them. I just wish teachers would stop relying on them! The best classes I have had did not need a PowerPoint; the only thing the teachers of these classes used were their lecture notes and possibly a piece of chalk. I hope one day teachers can understand how to use PowerPoints to enchance and not overpower their lesson.

Lesson Plan Overview

2004-11-22T11:25:00.000-08:00

I plan to do my second technology project on Standard 4, Objective 3 of American Government and Law. This lesson plan is for high school students in grades 9 through 12. For this lesson plan, I would like to teach students about Britiain's system of government. I plan to make a PowerPoint presentation showing the branches of Britiain's government (Parliament [House of Commons, House of Lords, Prime Minister], the Monarchy, the Cabinet, possibly the judicial branch), Britian's Laws (both written and unwritten laws), and finally Britian's political parties. After I have explained this in the PowerPoint, I would like students (who already have a basic knowledge on America's government and laws) to compare Britian's government with America's. The technologies that I plan to use for this lesson are a computer (with the internet, PowerPoint, and Windows Media Realplayer) and a projector. The ethics issues that I will face in this project are being able to make copies of handouts for the students about Checks and Balances and also being able to use an internet video of the House of Commons and House of Representatives in the class. Those are some of the things I will face when I do this lesson.

Reflection on Ethics Lesson

2004-11-09T13:08:00.000-08:00

This weeks ethics lesson was more interesting than I thought it would be. These are a few things I learned from the group that I was in:

1. Copyright of software music and media - One interesting fact I learned about this topic was, as a teacher, I cannot play more than 10% of a song in the classroom. If I do, than I am breaking the law. I also learned that there are laws concerning videorecordings. When I become a teacher, if I record something, I can only keep the recording for 45 days. The first 10 days of that time period, however, are the only times that I can show the recording to my students.

2. Flexible copyrights for creative works - The group presenter showed us a video clip for his presentation. The clip was an advertisement for a company called Creative Commons.This company makes it free and easy for a person to copyright his or her artwork, music, poetry, etc.

3. Fair use of intellectual property - This topic was very similar to the copyrighting topic. I learned from this group presenter that, as a teacher, I can copy a chapter from a textbook for my students, but not an entire textbook. I can also copy and article from a newspaper for my students, but not an entire newspaper. But the group presenter made it clear to all of us in the group that if we were not sure about an material then we should write a letter to the owner of the copyright to get permission to use that material in the class.

4. Privacy and security issues - My group was in charge of this topic. One of the hooks I tried to use to teach this topic was a short video clip called "Tracking Teresa". This clip showed how easy it was for an online predator to find information about anyone. I also taught about how teachers can block inappropriate material on the Internet from the eyes of their students. There are 4 different types of computer programs peopel can install that will block this material: programs that block specific websites, programs that block websites with specific words, programs that block entire Internet categories, and also progams that only allow certain websites.

5. Technology-based cheating methods - The group presenter had a very interesting hook for us. She gave us 2 minutes to look up a book report on the novel To Kill A Mockingbird. To my surprise, it took me less than 30 seconds to find more than one. It was really shocking to see how easy it is for students to cheat. I also learned some of the new methods of cheating that are being used today. Some students have taken cellular phones with photograph capabilities and have taken pictures of tests and given them to their friends. Also, some cellular phones and iPaqs can connect to the internet. So during a test, some students have used the Internet on their phones and iPaqs to find information for a test. I never realized how easy it was for a student to cheat.

I learned so much in that short class period. Even thought technology is very beneficial, as a teacher, I need to make sure that I know that there are also disadvantages to it as well. When I become a teacher, I will definately try to get the school system to install programs that block inappropriate material on school computers. I will also follow the laws and use copyrighted material fairly in the classroom. Finally, I will try and learn all of the technology-based cheating methods so that I can find ways to prevent students from cheating.

Individual Project Outline

2004-10-18T13:58:00.000-07:00

For my project, I would like to use the Inspiration program to enhance a lesson about European colonies in America. Some of the colonies that I would like to discuss in this lesson are Roanoke, Jamestown, Plymouth (Pilgrims), Massachusetts Bay Colony (Puritans), and possibly one in New Mexico. This lesson plan can be found on www.uen.org under the following: 9-12, Social Sciences - U.S. History I. I will be using Standard 4 and will be focusing my lesson on objectives 1 and 2. The technologies that I plan to use are the Inspiration program, internet programs that have examples and pictures, and possibly a scanner to scan pictures that will help enhance the lesson. For examples, I will try to create graphs on population totals, lists of wars fought with the Natives, and treaties made with Indians and other European countries. That is what I hope to accomplish for my individual project.

Technology Videos

2004-10-08T09:59:00.000-07:00

Project Polution
Project pollution was a good example of technology use in a classroom. I believe that it was used properly in the classroom because it did not interfer with learning, but instead enhanced it. I noticed that the students and teachers were both using computers, however, the students were using them more to research the project. The students' project was they all created one website and involved different schools from all over the nation to participate in a pollution project. Each school tested the pollution level in their community and posted their reports on the internet. Then the main school that was head over this project compared each area to see where the pollution was the highest and where it was the lowest. I believed the teacher used some of the "rules of thumb" in this project. She did not replace the lesson with technology how-to's. Unfornately, many schools do not have the same amount of computers as this one teacher's class did. I believe that this project still could have been done on one computer. She could have assigned the class into different groups for a different part of the project, and each day, one of the groups would be able to use the computer for their section of the project. But overall, I feel this teacher did an excellent job of incorporating technology into the classroom.

Navigating By Landmarks
I really enjoyed this teacher's intergration of technology into a lesson. She started her lesson off by discussion how people use navigation in today's world. She also discussed what landmarks were used for. Many of the students answered in terms of physical things, like, "People use navigation to get to a different state," or "The church by my house are landmarks." Then she used this to explain the internet. She explained how internet browers, like yahoo and google, help use get to a destination. She then intergrated technology in the classroom by allowing students to use Mapquest.com and try to find their house. I believe that the teacher used the "rules of thumb" by not having the technology part of the lesson overpower what was supposed to be learned. She also incorporated the technology into reality. By allowing the students to look up their own addresses online, she made Mapquest.com seem more of a realistic need for people today. I believe that she could have done this same lesson with fewer computers. She could have gotten groups of students for each computer, and she could have had each student in a group look up their house. I feel, though, that she really help make the internet become a more valuable source for her students.

Modified Rules of Thumb

2004-09-13T14:43:00.000-07:00

These are my final rule of thumbs. Thanks Savanna. Your Rule of Thumbs were really helpful in coming up with the top 3.
Rule of Thumb #1- Technoloy should not replace learning, but instead make a lesson better understood. (Savanna Sue)
Rule of Thumb #2 – Teachers should be able to use technology that will apply in the real world and will help students in their future.
Rule of Thumb #3– Technology should help create higher thinking skills and critical analysis.(Savanna Sue)

Comments on Emily's and Savanna's education uses

2004-09-13T14:35:00.000-07:00

Emily and Savanna,

I agree with both of your writings on technology in your education. I feel that I have not had much experience with it in my earlier education. Students today know so much more about technology than I ever will. I believe the reason why we did not have much experience with technology was because it was just being created. The new inventions that were created were hard to come by because they were so expensive and schools could not afford them. But I also believe that we also did not get to use technology that much in the classroom because our teachers did not know how to use it. They had grown up in the 1950s and 1960s and they had never used it before. I guess they did not see a need for it.

Rules of Thumb

2004-09-13T14:31:00.000-07:00

Rule of Thumb #1 – Teachers should find a way to incorporate group participation and active feedback within groups when using technology in the classroom.

Rule of Thumb #2 – Teachers should be able to use technology that will apply in the real world and will help students in their future.

Assignment #1

2004-09-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

Technology can be an important part of teaching in a classroom. My experience, with technology, however, has been very limited. From kindergarten to twelfth grade, my teachers have not done a very good job of incorporating technology in the classroom. I have had experiences with computers, though. While in elementary school, my class would go to the computer lab weekly to work on typing programs. It was a very fun activity, but never really helped me learn how to type. In high school, technology was incorporated more into my education, though very little. In high school, I learned how to incorporate using the internet for research paper, as well as getting experience with word processors to type up papers.
I believe the lack of using technology in school has made me more hesitant to use it. Because I did not have such a good experience with it, I do not think I will incorporate it much into lessons when I become a teacher. If I could go back and give my previous teachers some advice on technology use, I would tell them to use the computer labs more. I would also tell them to incorporate internet researching into lessons. Most of my teachers would spend the entire class period teaching about a program and how to use it, instead of letting us explore it ourselves. I would tell my previous teachers that students are bright and can figure programs out on their own if they were given the chance. I know if that my teachers had done some of these things, I would be such a prejudice person against technology.

This is the beginning

2004-08-30T15:42:00.000-07:00

This is the beginning entry of my blogger stuff.