Portfolio

Click here to view my final portfolio. Enjoy!

Presentation- Healthy Eating

Think Aloud

Please click here to view my Think Aloud

Presentation Topic

I am going to choose to do my presentation on healthy eating. It is never too early to teach children the benefits of eating healthy on their mind and on their body. For some, learning about a healthy diet at school may be the only place they are able to learn about it at all.

Video Games-Learning/Literacy

I agree with Gee's fundamental argument. If a game is too easy the player is not going to be interested in it for long, on the other hand, if it is too difficult the player may give up. There has to be a "happy medium". The same goes for school work learning, if the material is too easy for the student, he or she is going to become bored with it, but if it is too hard they are not going to understand and learn the concept. I think with good teaching, you have to find the in-between that keeps the students interested in the material they are being taught but also not make it difficult enough that they are not understanding and giving up easily. A good teacher will find that middle ground for the students which will help them learn all the material and also allow them to have fun with the material.

A program like Scratch could be used in the classroom to let the students learn the material by interacting with the projects. After trying to work with Scratch, it is a little difficult and I would definately suggest the teacher preparing all the Scratch work and then allowing students to view it.

Blogging with 5th Graders

The blogging with the 5th graders was a fun experience. Of course it has been a while since I have been in 5th grade so it was a nice change to see what students at this age are stressing about, what they love about school, and what they don't like about it. Some of the students that were blogging already know about the "internet language", using smiley faces :) putting "idk" instead of writing out "I don't know". They are using the shortcuts that help them type faster but also may cause an issue if they use this "internet" language in the classroom when writing papers or doing homework.

I definately learned that this can help students with communicating feelings and having fun, while also helping with their language and technology skills. I would absolutely be more apt to use this in my classroom, if I had an older classroom of about 3rd-6th grade, now that I have experienced it myself and experienced the benefits.

Convergence Culture

Convergence culture means that every media is connected to another media through the flow of content, ideas, relationships, and technological integration. Schools may be limiting kids' access to digital tools by not allowing some technology such as cell phones, and IPODS in the classrooms. Also some classrooms do not use comuter resources as much as they maybe should to allow their students to get more information on topics from internet resources. Some teachers are now allowing their students to "blog" with other classrooms or schools, which can help students because it gives them another source of editing coming from peers and or students older than they are. I think this is a good idea and can really help students. More teachers need to involve technology in their classrooms to help children get used to working with it. Also, children should what they should and shouldn't use in the media to research information. This will be useful for them later in life when they have to research for information. If only some students learn about the convergence culture then those who are familiar are going to succeed with the technology and media but those who are not familiar are going to fall behind the rest. Although students should have access to the internet and to its resources, they should also be monitored to ensure students are not abusing this right and uploading inappropriate material for others to view. The change in the participatory gap is not necessarily to change the curriculum and add another class to the children's schedule but to embed the skills into the classroom and in after school activities.