Trends and Issues 

TRENDS- Interactive Whiteboard

Interactive Whiteboards seem like a really great tool for educators. The articles provided discuss that there are a lot of teachers that are using them incorrectly, or not using them at all. Using an interactive whiteboard can be either a crutch for or a good tool. While not everyone agrees that a smartboard is important for good teaching, I think in some cases the board can be very helpful for students to stay engaged and interact. 

I don't think that for my future social studies classroom that they will be very helpful to the learning. I think that a whiteboard such as this might be more beneficial in an elementary or higher level math and science classroom. I think if I had a whiteboard in my classroom that was interactive, I would do reserach in order to use it to the most of its ability. I would want it to be a tool in the classroom and not be misused or unused. 

ISSUES- Idenity Theft

Idenity Theft is the idea that someone has stolen your idenity such as a social security number in order to make financial gains. This could be used to purchase a house, car, or used for a credit card. This makes it so that the person stolen is reliable for whatever damages done. In some of the articles for this issue it was discussing that attackers are stealing kids ID's as they have not yet needed their social security numbers and parents do not regularaly check thier kids idenities. According to the article, the 10% of kids are victims of idenity theft. 

In my future classroom I will make students and parents aware of idenity theft by providing them with the knowledge of this crime. Knowledge is power and teens and parents should be aware. This article does a really good job of adressign the issue and making people aware of the issues and prevention.

 http://www.ncpc.org/programs/teens-crime-and-the-community/publications-1/preventing-theft/adult_teen%20id%20theft.pdf

This article is not too long, and would not lose parents attention. It also provides quick definition and prevention methods as well as further information. 

Thoughts for Final Project

Week 3

For my final project I am thinking about doing a culture journal with my studetns. My "classroom" is sixth graders coming into a geography class. I want my students to have a good understanding of culture and what the definiton means for them and the people around them. I think it is important for students in sixth grade to begin using their computer, writing, and thinking skills. They will be discussing their own cultural experiences as well as learning about their classmates. My students will spend 20-30 min each day for the first 1-2 weeks of the course working with a blog on a computer. 

The first resource I will be using is Discovery Education. This resouces provides a good lesson that could pair with mine about the different ideas of Christopher Coloumbus. The idea is to give different accounts of what really happened helping students understand that culture, history, geogrphy  is up for intepretation based on your own experiences. Here is the link to that lesson. (http://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/free-lesson-plans/culture-clash-new-world-meets-old.cfm). I found this resouces from the helpful list that was provided in the instructions. This resource addresses standards that address the understanding of the beginning of our geography as well as global expansion. Overall this lesson has a good "historical thinking" undertone. 

The next resource I would use would be blogger. I would want my students to become familiar with differnt web resouces, such that we have in this class. I think blogger is very easy to use, and blogging is a great and relevant way to get students writing. I found this website from our class, but find it very relevant to the lesson I am hoping to accomplish and followed them on twitter in hopes of learning more gaining tips and tricks on how to improve my blogging.. I want my students to feel safe in their writing and open up. The URL for this blog is (https://www.blogger.com). While this aspect does not cover an geography standards, it will help students with their writing and technological skills, both skills that will aid them in their future educational careers. 

The final web-based resouce I found really captured exactly what I hope to accomplish with my students. I would also define culture and then use the media, photographs, video, etc. to help students recognize their own culture. This website uses national geographic and teach channel, but this could be a great resource for me as a teacher, as well as the resouces discussed in this video. The URL is (https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teaching-cultural-identity). I want my students to understand and accept that although a culture is different, that does not mean it is wrong/right. I found this resouces by using the google search to search "cultural identitiy for students." I then read through the bio to find the best and most relevant to my teaching practices. This one discussed teach channel which I remembered seeing throughout my education searches on the different media outlets and it also included ideas of helping students use different media to understand idenity. This part of the assignmetn would capture the human aspect of geography understanding the way that humans shape the geographical landscape. 

Myths in Education

After reading the articles provided and taking the education courses at Grand Valley I have learned about many of the myths in education. The overgeneralization of our students and the way people put them into small boxes. Overgeneralizing our students is the worse thing we can do for their learning. Reading Howard Gardner's definition of intelligence attempts to include more aspects than our traditional ideas of intelligence. With his definition Gardner attempts to add incorporates the social world and using everyday products to solve problems. While Gardner does claim there are eight intelligences, he also claims that most students will not simply fall into one of the spots but many.

As a teacher not only are these myths about intelligences harmful to students, but they make teaching very challenging. Most of the time in the education there seems to be a fad to which teachers must teach their lessons around, this makes it hard to plan creative lessons, or lessons that you know will reach to your students. It is also difficult, because often these myths are debunked within a few years. In order to improve the situation for ourselves and our students, we must do the research ourselves to see if the new or old myths are worth using in a classroom. When doing research it is up to us to find the sources and decide if they are credible and worth using in our classroom.

How to Use a Blog in a Classroom

Using a Blog

Using a blg in a classroom coud have a lot of benefits. Each student could have a blog as well as the teacher. The blog can provide a dialog that something like google docs could not. Each student could have their own blog where they can reflect on assignments and make it personal. Allowing students to have the freedom of a blog, while still having an assignmets allows them to have a sense of freedom, as it is their own blog to which they can discuss observations and findings in their own way. I would allow students to use videos, hyperlinks, photos, and text to answer questions and participate in discussions. Having an online medium to do so, allows students to get really creative. Using a blog can also have a lot of benefits for student's writings. Students are aware that their blog is public, therefore providing them with an audience. In our schooling we have learned that providing students with an audience can increase the writing style and engagment in their own writing. 

As a teacher, you can participate in discussions along with the students as well as provide them with announcments and pose questions. The blog would give students and parents an easy access place to see what is going on in your classroom; it can serve as a really wonderful form of communication. 

Learner Analysis

Rory Gilmore- Learner Analysis

I have chosen to do my learner analysis on Rory Gilmore. Rory Gilmore is raised by her single mother, Lorelai Gilmore. They are members of the middle class and live in a small town, America. Rory is a very driven and determined student and excels greatly in school. Although most of the show, the two women live comfortably in the middle class, it seems that Lorelai's rough start working as a maid in a hotel (which she eventually manages) influences Rory's dedication to higher education.

Rory dreas of Havard University and works hard to get there. During her high school career she meets her well off Grandparets, who then pay for her to attend a private school called Chilton, where she continues to succeed and work on the school paper. As a student Rory engages in school on her own as she genuinely enjoys reading and writing. Rory's entire high school career was in preparation of college, she is very college ready.

If Rory was a member of my class I would probably assign her further assignments. She seemst to be an overachiever and finishes assignments with ease. I as her teacher would provide her with assignment extensions that would further challenge her. Because of her love of journalism, I might provide her with assignments that would use the computer and internet to explore a topic, doing resarch to defend a stance.

This clip highlights the dedication and focus that Rory has for her school work.

To learn more about Rory click here!

About Me

Hi there,

My name is Ms. Jessica Miller and I am attending Grand Valley to get my bacherlor of science in group social studies for secondary education. When I am through with my degree I hope to teach social studies to students sixth grade through twelfth grade. I love the way teaching and learning increases creativity and encourages people to solve problems.

Technology can play a large role in the classroom and can help students understand material and explore the world in a greater way. In my last placement technology was often used in the wrong way, simply used for doing vocab flashcards or playing word games when they finished their paperwork. In my future classroom I hope to incorporate technology to help students understand and see the world more clearly. During my placement I planned an activity that used google earth to explore the slums and rich areas of Mexico City. The students were learning about urbanization and the socioeconomic gap between the two parts of the city. This activity allowed them to simply explore the streets in Mexico City. Along with the activity I simply asked them to express what they notice and make observations. Overall, the students really enjoyed the activity and their observations were congruent with the lesson and goals of the day.

When I am not teaching I love to explore Grand Rapids and the many things it offers. I love restuarants, museums, and the small towns along the west coast of Michigan. I also work a lot. I serve, bartend, and sometimes manage a country club in Grandville, and although it can be a lot of work, I really love it. When I am just enjoying a day off at home I love to read and watch movies. I love to spend time with my friends and family. In this video I was walking through Grand Rapids with one of my best friends and her puppy!

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