Week+05+Reflection

Week 5

__Reading__: (Cyber-bullying)

As the article states, cyber bullying is impossible to monitor outside school. It is also very challenging to monitor on school property **without banning technology** entirely.

I find it unrealistic that they think parents can monitor their child's online activities. In most cases the child is probably more computer savvy then the parent. I remember when I first started using the Internet my parents had no clue what I was doing or even capable of. Responsible parents should teach their children about proper Internet usage and the consequences of cyber bullying, but this is often a topic on which parents are ill informed. I think the best thing that parents can do is to put the computer(s) in a **public area** of the house as opposed to in the child's bedroom. This way children are more cautious about their online activity for fear that someone may come into the room and catch them. Children feel safer in their bedrooms and are probably more likely to commit acts of cyber bullying there.

I feel that there is very little a teacher can do to prevent cyber bulling. There are however actions that can be taken if a student comes to a teacher with a case. Nevertheless, teachers can encourage students to share information, if they know someone who is being harassed or are being harassed themselves. Teachers must be seen as trustworthy and know the procedures to follow in such cases.

EXTRA: The University of Ottawa had a workshop on February 1st 2010 regarding cyber bullying. This is a topic I am very interested in but by the time I was aware of this workshop, registration was already full. http://www.education.uottawa.ca/en/events?e=27 This is an interesting [|link] I found on the weekend about new technology. With the introduction of the ipad last week, this new vending machine further shows that schools will become increasingly high tech. This technology will allow students to view nutritional information and make informative choices about what they eat. The website links jokes that this new technology should be called the isnack.

__In-Class Discussion__: - be on solid ground before you make an accusation regarding bullying. - parents will be concerned about the reports in the students' files. Yet, these will be reviewed when a child changes schools. - proactive discipline is required, although cyberbullying is hard to catch.

- centers the students - grabs their attention - allows the teacher only to show what they want - interactive way to show new information - save class work in order to send it to students that are absent - students LOVE to write on the SMART board. Teachers can easy manipulate the students' writing to correct the answer.
 * SMART board with SMART notebook software**media type="youtube" key="xWNCHG-xB9o" height="162" width="265" align="right"

- insert photos to make a presentation or movie - students can add text and manipulate/edit the photos - add sound recordings or music - better than powerpoint (different) - easy to use (easier than Windows Movie Maker) - looks good since images are attached to speech (length of image varies based on recording) - constructive - teacher could supply the images and make the students add their own comments (what can the students tell you about these images?) - works best with still images
 * Photostory**media type="youtube" key="5wLpeL4D4d8" height="216" width="265" align="right"

- issues that arise may force teachers to give students a grade that they do not deserve - assessment has changed significantly in the last few years. It will also continue to change - challenges of converting levels to percentages - most schools are way behind in terms of the expectations of the province - you are expected to reflect on the grades given to students and be able to justify the marks
 * Assessment and Evaluation**

MARKBOOK - provides information about the students - communicate often with the parents - be honest (Email function) - can change the seating plan (good for supply teacher) - plus add photos (helps to get to know the students - you must still create a hardcopy of the marks! (Print out option) - student report helps justify marks (categories, trends...) - you can see attendance records - you can insert comments and weight assignments differently - boards generally purchase the program for the entire board - easy to insert new entries

Good website for making a rubric: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/ I was already aware of this website when it was introduced and had already made rubrics with it. I find it very easy to use because the levels are already divided and the teacher just selects what he or she wants to evaluate.

I am looking forward to the __slates__ that we get to try next week!