Search results matching tags 'technology' and 'facebook'

How many generations can your old media survive?

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 13:16:32 GMT

About a week or two ago, I picked up a cable to convert my old VHS tapes to digital format on my laptizzle. Most of my tapes that I’m converting are pretty old. I guess when I have time, I will also convert my cassette tapes via audacity and share them on sound cloud; and […]

Digital Footprints Prove Costly

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 16:57:00 GMT

Few of us give much thought to life before digital communication permeated every facet of our lives. Social networking is now so woven into our society it is difficult to remember life without it. But the existence of Al Gore's internet and Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook have changed things in many ways. Online has become the place we buy things, connect with our friends, research illness and read the news. Education is no different from the rest of the world and having an online presence is now an effective way to engage and reach out to your students.

I attended a seminar put on by our division at the start of the year for athletic coaches, many of which are not teachers. I think the goal was to have those less familiar with the dynamics in education reflect on the appropriate use and also the pitfalls of social networking and E-mail when working with kids. As both adults and youths increase their virtual presence we all struggle a bit to keep up with the impact on our professional and personal lives. The attorney presented myriad examples of staff who were dismissed for all sorts of things. Some were pretty dumb and were clearly warranted while others crossed into a much more nebulous area. One thing I took from the session was that in today's interconnected world, there is no separation between your personal and professional lives.

Which brings me to the curious case of Ashley Payne. She was the 24 year old Georgia teacher who 2 years ago was pressured to resign after an "anonymous" parent complaint about a photo she posted on Facebook. The photo in question was from her European vacation showed her drinking alcohol and was far from offensive or what most level headed people would consider questionable. She also had commented on her profile page using some objectionable language referencing a trivia contest. None of which was open to the public even though claims were made Payne had "friended" her students. Nor was Payne "friends" with any of her students. Nevertheless she was abruptly forced to choose between being suspended or resigning.

As usual there's more to the story. A l ocal reporter determined the "parent" E-mail complaint was likely sent by an anonymous individual and received less than 2 hours before Payne was confronted by her principal. The sender was never identified and the most plausible explanation is that an adult sent the E-mail to get rid of Payne for reasons unknown.

What this curious case reveals is that privacy as we once knew it no longer exists. We have virtual footprints that remain in place despite our efforts to the contrary. Harmless things now can return and cause trouble for us down the road.   No matter the specifics it brings into question issues my colleague covered to some degree in his earlier post "Free Speech and Ultimate Education Taboo".   Any good teacher recognizes they are role models to some degree and behave accordingly when in public. This world where lines get blurred between public and private makes all this more complicated.

Educators know all to well how kids can lose perspective and common sense when they plugged into the virtual world. It brings to mind how we need to educate our children about what is OK and what is not OK when online and how important it is to use good judgment.   Cases like this make such tutelage difficult as it seems to me Payne wasn't doing anything that would even raise an eyebrow in most instances. I had the opportunity to cover some of these issues with a group of students some time back and my message was simple..."don't be an idiot." That was actually the title of my talk. I stressed they need to stay safe, keep personal information private and finally remember when you put something online...it is no longer yours anymore and is likely public forever.

I find the lack of fairness and degree of haste used by the school division in dismissing Payne troubling. Maybe she was a bad teacher and a crumby employee. If so she could be let go for that. But in this case it appears she lost her job because she drank a beer on vacation and used objectionable language. Not in the presence of her students, not at work...but online. Could this same standard apply to a restaurant? Doubtful.

The legal case involving Payne has yet to be resolved 2 years later and as far as I could tell she is not currently teaching. A state standards board investigated the matter and said there was no cause for any sanctions against Payne. So we are left with the reality that what is acceptable is "muddy" at best and most districts likely are playing catch up when developing policies. They likely include broadly worded guidelines under legal advise. So we have to always watch even more what we do and say as no doubt others are.   The new Barrow County superintendent perhaps said it best:
“I always encourage our educators to recognize that the network is a public forum and that we need to always set our professional image and standard for how we are depicting ourselves for our students and community.” So in a sense the internet is the same as you classroom.

I think most teachers realize you are not just a teacher between 8 and 4. You are a teacher 24 hours a day. That's generally a good thing. The practicalities of being a teacher usually means you will have some sort of online presence. In doing so we must not forget to use good judgment. Even if those people who expect us to do so do not follow suit.

Using technology to build classroom community

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:30:26 GMT

I’m finding out that one of the most important things I can do as a teacher is to build classroom community. If students like being in my class, and if they like their peers, they’ll work harder and give up less easily. One of the ways I’m keeping things positive is through technology. Here are [...]

Using technology to build classroom community

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:30:26 GMT

My class blog is taking off!

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 20:10:40 GMT

I’ve had a class blog, iseroma.com, for several years. Up until now, it’s mostly been a place to post updates and information for students and their families. This year, however, iseroma.com is taking off. The reason: I’ve decided to share it with my students so they can post content themselves. It’s clear that this decision [...]

My class blog is taking off!

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 20:10:40 GMT

Facebook Linky Party!

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 17:30:00 GMT

Hey everyone! I know there are lots of you wonderful teachers out there that have Facebook pages. I "liked" all of the ones I know about but I know I am missing some! I follow FB pages of teachers of all grade levels! I'd love for you to join me on my Facebook page and I'll join you on yours! Here's a link to mine:

First Grade Brain's Facebook Page

Go join the Facebook Linky Party over at Lesson Plan Diva to find more great teacher Facebook pages!

Pay it Forward Friday

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 16:17:00 GMT

I managed to get 500 views on my blog in a week, which I find amazing. I'm celebrating today by Paying it Forward, and sharing some of my favorite teacher blogs. These people are my inspiration!

The Organized Classroom Blog Charity's blog is only the start if you're looking for teaching ideas. Be sure to "like" her facebook page, and you'll be treated to lots of teaching tips, teaching materials, and blogging tips as well. Charity has been a mentor for promoting my own blog. (Look for her information on Teacher Blog Training School!) Thanks, Charity!

Teaching Blog Addict One of the top visited teacher blogs online, and there's a reason for that! TBA manages to find all the really cool stuff that teachers are interested in, and promote them on her blog! Be sure to "like" her facebook page, too. She's got tons of ideas streaming through each day!

The Best of Teachers Pay Teachers If you haven't heard of Teachers Pay Teachers, you're in for a treat! Victoria's blog draws your attention to the best of the site. Did I mention that tons of the stuff there is completely free?

Classroom Desk Arrangement What can I say? Perfect for the beginning of the year or when you're ready for a change. Just plug in the number of desks you need to arrange, and they'll give you several options!

Kleinspiration I just found this one today, and I'm glad I did! She has lots of quick tips dealing with technology, and lots of other ideas and links about tech in the classroom. Thanks, Erin!

Teaching Resources Laura Candler knows her stuff! She has a gazillion resources between books, activities, even webinars to get you going. Her focus is grades 3 - 6, but most ideas are easily adaptable to lower grades as well.

Wow, I could go on forever! But that's enough for today. I know I could spend hours on each of these blogs. And by the way, I hope you will "like" my Facebook page, too!

Facebook Dialogues (#2): Just How Divided Are We?

Anonymous — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 05:51:00 GMT

Normal 0

Here's a classic song from the 1960's about the social changes of the time. The video is a slide show of images from the Vietnam War.

Writing only comes to life when it finds readers. The most fascinating aspect of this whole blogging experiment is seeing the different ways that people respond to what I write. Every posting is an adventure, and when I read new comments, it’s like opening a package on Christmas day. Positive comments, of course, are always encouraging, but the more critical responses are often the most useful. Sure, I sometimes get a little frustrated and defensive when people either misunderstand what I was trying to say or simply disagree with me. But if I allow myself to “listen” to their comments, I sometimes see ways that my writing could improve, and I am forced to further develop and clarify my thinking.

New blog posts, in fact, have often been generated through dialogues I have had on Facebook, Hubpages, or on this blog. Occasionally, I “borrow” ideas from others and see where they lead. More often, however, in the course of either arguing or trying to clarify my position, new concepts, topics, or techniques for expressing my thoughts emerge. I used to feel that online discussions about controversial subjects were generally a waste of time. But as time passes, I realize just how productive these sometimes frustrating conversations can be.

One of these recent dialogues started a few days ago when I put a link to my last blog post – titled “Individual Responsibility” – on Facebook. Five or six Facebook friends would eventually get involved, and it was not long before the discussion drifted away from the main topic of the original blog post. We eventually had two separate discussions going, with one focused on religion and the other the seemingly intense divisions between political factions in the United States. I decided to include snippets from the political discussion that I had with one of my Facebook friends here. Too often, after all, some thoughtful discussion just disappears into the Facebook void.

Michael Ferguson is someone that I (virtually) met earlier this year. He is a blogger and an ambitious visionary who is starting a new media outlet called “Polymathica” (in which I hope to play some role). Here are links to The Polymathica Institute blog, the Polymathica Facebook page, and the Polymathica website. They are all worth checking out.

Michael: Paul, you ask in your commentary, "So given this fact, why are there so many people who drift toward extreme views regarding individual responsibility?" Because, Paul, as I have told you before, America, and the West in general, is headed for a divorce. We are at the stage where the husband and wife have abandoned all pretext of reasonable discussion. They are simply flinging outrageously over stated invective at each other out of anger. They polarize beyond any point of reason. The other is no longer just wrong; they are stupid, moral reprobates and evil. Are the two sides overstating their case? You betcha. In both cases, they have a vision for their 'nation' and believe that the other side is trying to thwart them and take it down the path to ruination. In an effort to demonize the other side, they make themselves sound ridiculous. That is the current state of the marriage in America. As most of the world wise know, when it gets to this stage, there is no going back. The irretrievable breakdown in the marriage has already happened and the marriage is simply waiting for the two to get tired of the futile arguments.

Me: …..Fortunately, most people don't spend a lot of time thinking and talking about politics anyway. They have other, seemingly more important things to do. So maybe we should not make too much of the screaming and shouting between the small percentage of people who actually get riled up by political issues. Few Americans are likely to come to blows over this stuff.

Michael: Yeah, I'm sure that is how King George and Louis XVI the got themselves to sleep at night. I'm sure that people are far more complacent now than they were in the sixties. Riots, shootings, assassinations of major politicians and religious leaders….such things won't happen, couldn't happen. Nope, today we are too evolved to find ourselves in those situations again. Ahem....... Actually, Paul, as you may have guessed, I was there in the 60's. I saw it as it happened, more often than I would like, in person. Today is spookier.

Me: I'm not saying that people are more evolved. I'm saying that they are generally disengaged. We have two wars going on which few Americans can give any details about. We just had an economic disaster happen that few Americans have spent much time trying to understand. Most of the students that I see spend their time texting and tweeting, and it is not generally about politics. Times are tough, but the United States is still one of the wealthiest nations in history. (And as you have argued several times, we may soon be getting much wealthier.) Few Americans would even consider the possibility of taking up arms for some type of political cause. If anything, a situation like "Brave New World" seems more probable than violent conflict between different factions. Instead of "Soma," people have Iphones and Blackberries. And as long as enough people stay entertained and can get their hands on the latest materialistic necessities, they won't complain too much. If Americans have any real passion, it's shopping. Right now, a lot of people are just *** off because they can't buy as much stuff. The only question is which political party they blame for their problems. I am starting to wonder if social networking and the information age in general make the conflicts seem worse. Only hardcore people spend any time debating political matters online. Since these tend to be passionate people, it can make the divisions seem even worse. Personally, I'm still not sure if the partisan divisions of today are all that unusual. We just have more mediums available to vent and to find people who feed the frustrations (Beck, Limbaugh, Olbermann, Maher, etc.)

Michael: I remember the race riots, the civil rights marches, the anti-war riots. My parents never saw them coming. It flabbergasted them. They were stunned and shocked by the assassinations of JFK, Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King. It wasn't that they were saddened. It was surreal to them. They lived in a cocoon of middle class America that simply missed the whole dynamic of cultural upheaval until it blasted into their lives through vivid news images. 30% or so of Americans support the Tea Party. That number is growing and will continue to grow. 6 percent of voters say they have attended a Tea Party meeting, rally or march. That is a huge number. You miss a lot, Paul. You are like my parents. You will wake up one day and be shocked by what has transpired….

Me: Michael, you may be right. I may be missing something. Then again, the Tea Party may become another footnote of history, just like many other political movements of various times. I suspect that if Republicans gain complete control of Congress and the Presidency again in 2012, the Tea Party will fade a bit. It's a movement that thrives on being out of power. As I have said before, governing is much harder than complaining about government. If America's problems magically fade away once Republicans gain control, there won't be so much reason to be angry. If, as I suspect, problems do not magically go away, Tea Party people, like Obama supporters at the moment, will become disillusioned. There may also be some parallels between today and the sixties. Of course, in the sixties, there was a war going on in which any young person could be drafted to go fight it. No one is considering a draft today, which is part of the reason why most young people don't care about Iraq and Afghanistan. Decades of segregation and white superiority were also being challenged, which brought about a predictable effort to resist change. I don't see any challenges to the social system today that quite match that one; although the Obama election has clearly struck some nerves. Also, you had a tremendous generation gap between parents who grew up with the Depression and World War II and their children who were raised in the greatest period of economic prosperity in American History (up to that time). We still have plenty of adolescent rebellion, but not on that scale. Also, there were so many people hitting college age by the mid-1960's due to the Baby Boom. I wonder how many young people today believe that they can change the world? As I said before, they are too busy texting to try.

Should Kids use computers? Yes! But…

Anonymous — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 17:17:58 GMT

In this picture my students are in computer class. They were using a program called Mavis Beacon. It is a program that teaches typing and the way to place your fingers on the keyboard. Other times we use some links that are related to Science. They play games and look at some pictures.

Over the past few years children have become so involved around technology especially the usage of the computers and the internet. In my opinion, I think it is very important to teach children the way to use the computer at a very young age. Some schools start teaching computers from Nursery. I even tell my students to check my website and sometimes we chat online. It is a great way to communicate. I remember once when I was teaching in Kuwait I used to have a chat box in my website and one of students logged in and started chatting with me and asked to give her links to read online stories because she was bored. So I got her the link and sent it to her. She clicked on it and entered the website. Isn’t that great?

Parents should always supervise when their children are using the computer. Put a time limit. Let them finish their homework and if there is enough time before they go to bed have them use the computer like play educational games, read online stories, math worksheets, etc… In that way you are rewarding them with something beneficial instead of giving them sweets and chocolate as a reward. Believe me they will love it!!

Facebook:

In my opinion it is okay for kids to have a Facebook account but under one condition….they can have an account only if supervised by the parent and they have the password. I have a few students in my current class and my previous classes who add me on Facebook and I accept them I don’t mind at all only if they are under the supervision of their parents.

So to sum things up, parents it is a good thing to let your kids use computers because this is how our world works today! Everything revolves around computers and technology. Just remember put a time limit and supervise what they’re doing. Here are some links that i think your kids will like:

www.sciencewithme.com

www.funbrain.com

www.thekidzpage.com

http://www.cyh.com/SubDefault.aspx?p=255 ——-> (about kids health)

http://www.magickeys.com/books/ ——–> (online stories)