Internet Safety

As internet becomes more accessible in schools and homes internet safety becomes a huge issue. The internet is a great resource for students, teachers, and parents when used appropriately and safely. In schools, teachers need to take the necessary precautions to ensure that students are being responsible and are only accessing the proper information from the internet. Rules and guidelines need to be established by the school, teachers and students. I believe that the students should be involved in this process these so that all of the teachers and students are fully aware of these rules and the consequences they will face if these rules are not followed.
Instead of letting the students search the internet for the correct answers or the appropriate research, teachers should provide the students with websites that will be helpful for them to complete the assignment. Students should always be supervised when using the internet. If they are always being supervised it will make it difficult for the students to use inappropriate websites in school and at home.
Sadly, we live in a society where internet safety will always be a concern. We must always be aware of these concerns and address them, as they become an issue.

Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets

I have realized that spreadsheets are a great tool for both teachers and students. I think a great activity that would incorporate the use of a spreadsheet would be tracking stocks. Each students would be given $10 000 to buy into as many stocks as they would like. Every week, the students would tract and record their stocks progress on a spreadsheet. On the spreadsheet they would record the stocks they purchased, how much they spent on each stock, the progress of their stocks over a two month period, and finally calculate how much they made on each stock and their overall sum. The teacher could also ask the students to create a graph that shows the progress of their stocks using excel. This would be a great opportunity for students to learn about stocks and how they work.

Discussion Boards

I think there are many positive aspects to using discussion boards in classrooms and with students. Discussion boards force students to gather, research, and learn information on their own. Posting information on discussion boards allow students to gain knowledge from peers and share knowledge with other peers. Students can learn from each other outside of the classroom setting, bringing together students with common interests. Discussion boards also provide the opportunity for peer tutoring; students can teach and help one another with concepts and topics they are struggling with. This gives the students an opportunity to write more frequently which will then develop their writing skills even further. Research also shows that students put more effort into their writing if people other than the teacher will read it. Lastly, it provides flexibility for the students to think, and respond to other comments and discussions posted by other peers during their own time.

However, there is a down side to discussion boards. A facilitator, to ensure that all conversations are appropriate, must monitor the discussions between students. Students may use the discussion board as a social means instead of using it for educational purposes. Also, discussion boards make it difficult for teachers to monitor the resources being used by the students. They take away from personal interaction between each of the students and the students and teacher. Therefore, there is no verbal communication between either of them, and all comments and feedback would be by online communication. My last concern with discussion boards is that not all students have access to computers and this will make it difficult for the student to participate in online discussions.



Five ways to enhance classroom interactions using discussion boards

1. Students can communicate with each other if they need help with a particular concept (peer tutoring)

2. Students who do not usually voice there opinion during class time because they do not feel comfortable doing so, can voice their opinion using a discussion board

3. Ensure that there is a facilitator to monitor and guide discussions in the right direction

4. Teacher could provide examples of interesting and educational thread topics. The students could then go from there and continue with that thread

5. Teachers could communicate with colleagues to find out what is working in their classrooms; rules, lesson, discussions, etc.

Rocks - Grade 3 Science

This concept map allowed me to organize my ideas in a structured manner before I jumped into the activity. I find it easier to organize my ideas first, then research the material in an ordered fashion. I believe this will help students stay on task and organize their ideas in a structured format.
This activity is targeted for students in grade 3 science. The students will be allowed to work in pairs or individually. The students will be asked to research the three different kinds of rocks: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Each pair of students will work with inspiration to make a concept map much like the one I provided, including text and images. They will be asked to research how each rock type is formed and then describe and classify rocks based on properties such as, lustre, colour, and texture. I will provide rocks for them to classify and describe.
I believe that this would be a great activity, because it allows students to research information on their own, using technology while interacting with peers. This is a great hands-on activity that will engage students in the learning process.
General Outcomes:
C1 1.1 access and retrieve appropriate information from electronic sources for a specific inquiry
1.2 process information from more than one source to retell what has been discovered
P2 1.1 Read information from a prepared database
P3 1.1 Access images, such as clip art, to support communication