Class Presentations!!!

            Working with Prezi was an exciting new challenge for me.  I used Prezi because I thought it’d be a good opportunity for me to learn about a new program to use when I’m a teacher.  Watching the other students was helpful to see some different ways of using Prezi.  It’s interesting and fun to see how many different ways that a person can create their Prezi.  It’s easy to spend countless hours on one presentation.  I thought my classmates who utilized Prezi in a way that it wasn’t the focus of the lesson instead of the teacher, were most effective and taught their lessons the best.  Everyone used movies well, and none of the movies were to long.  I think that the simplest Prezi presentations were the best.  A simple Prezi presentation along with good teaching seems to be most effective.  Also, a good Prezi doesn’t have to have many stops.  I like it when a big picture is made that is related to what the presentation is about, and then all other stops on the pathway are small and within the big picture.  I think everyone did a good job.

            I believe that me standing in one place for over ten minutes was the least engaging part of the presentations.  The teachers who roamed did were better.  Having too many stops on the pathway on Prezi can be distracting when teaching a lesson to students. Although, for a presentation like Roger’s, it’s important to have many stops as the whole message or story is not given otherwise.  For me, I had too many stops and all of the student’s eyes were focused on the screen and not on me.  Teachers that walked around and were able to teach before moving on to the next slide were most effective.  For Andy, it was unfortunate that the math equations didn’t work out.  Also, we learned from Ryan that we couldn’t have many videos.  Having too many slowed down his lesson.  But, he presented very well though, and had a lot of energy.

            I think there were a few negatives in my presentation that I could improve.  I would decide on a different topic for my next Prezi.  I think Roberto Clemente is an interesting person, but since I’m going to be licensed to teach PE, I should have chosen a topic like soccer, and taught about the rules and positions.  I could have also gone into more depth with what the different lines mean on the field, basic skills or drills.  This would have been better geared toward my future field in teaching.  I should have set up the SmartBoard to be aligned for proper use so I didn’t have to use the wireless mouse.  The mouse was difficult to control and to keep positioned on the next button.  This meant I couldn’t teach well. I was standing in one spot the whole time and felt my arms and hands were glued to the wireless mouse. If I were to walk around with the mouse in hand, I’d lose control of the mouse, which would slow down the flow of my presentation.

            Also, I would make my Prezi simpler.  I spent a lot of time playing with my different stops on my Prezi.  I think it ended well, but a simpler Prezi is best for the classroom.  A complicated Prezi can take away from the teaching, and teacher.  I think my Prezi presentation did that to me.  Overall, I would definitely improve my quality of teaching.  I would have more movement and have my students more focused on me. I would not use a wireless mouse, and I would make my Prezi simpler.

            PowerPoint, Prezi, and SmartBoard are all great tools to use to present a lesson.  They are all visually engaging and help develop more curiosity to the subject because the content of the lesson can be taught in a unique way.  With PowerPoint and Prezi, a presentation made could be used as notes for students, which could be beneficial for them to use as study guides.  I had a lot of fun playing around with Prezi, so I’d like to give my students an assignment in which they need to make a presentation with Prezi.  For me, PowerPoints are good because of the ability to use animation and sound clips.  In the future though, I’ll continue to use Prezi.  A SmartBoard can get all students involved and be given the opportunity to interact with it. It’s important that teachers spend time playing around with these tools so they’re used effectively.  If there not used correctly, they are almost useless.  For digital immigrants, it may be difficult to learn how to use these tools.  With the SmartBoard, I need to spend time with it and get to know how to use it.   Given the opportunity to go back in time, I’d choose Prezi again because I’m glad I know it.

            I believe that we have these great tools like PowerPoint, Prezi, and SmartBoard that, if used right, can make a good lesson even better for the students.  All teachers should be able to teach an effective lesson without these tools, but I think if done well, they can be a plus.  I don’t think that any of these tools should be overused. Its been known that some people use PowerPoint presentations too frequently, which gets boring.  I’d use all of these tools throughout the school year.  I wouldn’t use them with every lesson.  I’d ask my students to make a lesson with Prezi and present it to class.  A student can learn a lot from each other.   From my experience with Prezi I know it’s something I’ll ask my students to do, so it’s important that I’m proficient in it.  Also, it’s a great way to make the class fun and involve the students.

Social Networking

I believe that all teachers, or at least those that will be joining the workforce should establish some sort of social networking tool in their classes. Students today are obsessed with Facebook, blogging, instant messaging, and tweeting.  They can quickly maneuver around these different networks, interact and share interests with each other, and be more open about themselves.  Teachers should understand that these different networks could be used as an effective tool for connecting with students and a new way for students to learn.  According to Heather L. Carter in the article, “Have You Googled Your Teacher Lately?” high school teacher Alyssa Trzeskowski-Giese claims that, “Facebook has allowed her to establish deeper relationships with and understandings of her students because she can communicate with them beyond the four walls of the classroom.”  I have to agree with her and that having different forms of communication with students can help form closer relationships.  Many students may be shy to participate in class or communicate with the teacher.  A student like this may be more comfortable communicating through the use of the Internet.  Its time we work with social networking sites instead of shunning them.

           As a teacher, I think it’s important that I put a lot of thought into what precautions I use with the use of social networking sites.  It seems that it’s best to delete any personal Facebook or MySpace account and never worry about a student knowing things about my personal life that I’d rather keep private.  If I were to keep an account, it would be best to keep it private and delete any photos or comments that are inappropriate. I would never be “friends” with a student until they were much older. 

In the classroom, the use of a social networking site should be used for school only.  

Teachers should be put to a different standard than other professionals because of how close in contact we are with so many different children on a daily basis.  We witness so many interactions between students that we must be able to identify problems or help them when needed.  Also, teachers can have major impacts on the development of a student’s life and in some ways; students depend on teachers to help them become good citizens.  If teachers are not acting morally, children could follow in their footsteps and become immoral themselves. 

As for the Times article, “How One Teacher’s Angry Blog Sparked a Viral Classroom Debate,” written by Kayla Webley, Natalie Munroe made the mistake of commenting negatively about her students, although not specifically.  It’s ironic that Professor Daly’s friend got into the same situation, but less publicly.  I think Natalie made a huge mistake by commenting about her students.  With a teaching career comes the responsibility of emulating good morals.  We must adhere to this and have common sense to what could possibly be seen as immoral. 

 Cyber-bullying is a serious threat.  Brian Allen wrote for KSFY.com that in November of 2010, in Carrington ND, a student named Cassidy had committed suicide after excessive Facebook bullying.  This is one of several cases in America that an adolescent had committed suicide after being bullied on a social networking site.  Recently, it seems that schools and communities now understand how different social networking sites can be used harmfully among youth and are developing ways to educate students of the risks of using these sites inappropriately. 

In the New York Times article, “Online Bullies Pull Schools into the Fray,” by Jan Hoffman, there seem to be some discrepancies between how schools should handle cyber-bullying.  One principal stated that, “From a school perspective this is outside the scope of our authority and not something we can monitor or issue consequences for,” after responding to a student’s mother about her son being cyber-bullied.  This seems disturbing to me.  I think teachers should be on the lookout for any act of cyber-bullying.  Teachers have a lot of interaction with students and should have an eye open for anything that may be threatening to another student.  Teachers should have the responsibility of acting on anything that they may find offensive or hurtful to a student. 

If I were to use Facebook, or any other social networking site, I would make sure to educate my students about the risks and repercussions of using these sites inappropriately.  Classroom, and/or technology expectations would be addressed and shared with my students.  The students would understand that the network would be used for class and that all discussions and comments made on the site would be appropriate for the class.  A punishment would have to be set that would disallow participation of a class network if a student inappropriately used it.  Most importantly, I feel that the youth need to be educated on what is appropriate with the use of social networking sites.  

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

It is clear to me that I am a digital native.  I grew up playing Number Munchers and the Oregon Trail, how could I not be a digital native?  I’ve always enjoyed using computers, playing on different and updated gaming systems and listening to the next best music player.  Also, I enjoy the fast pace life of the Internet.  I can’t wait to find out about the next big news event.  Unfortunately, newspapers don’t have a refresh button.   But, I like the idea of living in the time when computers, telephones, television and radio weren’t around.  A time when, the only way to contact people, would be via the postal service.  I think life would be much simpler and slower.  I’ll except that I am a digital native and will embrace new technology as it comes.  To this day, my mother doesn’t have a debit card.  How could I be a digital immigrant?

As a teacher, my experience with use of technology in the classroom is limited.   I never used an elmo or overhead projector.  I used a smart board once, but only to mess around with it.  I never implemented blogs or social networking sites into my classes.  And, I rarely created interesting PowerPoint’s.   These facts are something I want to change.  I look forward to using technology with my classes.  We’re at a time that in order to be successful teachers, we must use technology.  If we do so, and we do it correctly, we’ll do great.

As a student, the use of technology in high school and college is about equal.  I can’t think of a time when technology was used more effectively in college.  I do remember making a sweet PowerPoint about the Plymouth Prowler.  This was my first time that I realized I could create something really cool with the use of computers. 

As a learner at Concordia, I’ve realized the importance of how important it is to implement technology into a lesson, but also know how to use it.  It’s clear that when a professor has a well-developed PowerPoint or well-timed movie, I’m much more engaged to the class.  As a new teacher in the 21^st century, using technology in the classroom should be mandatory. Marc Prensky (2001) states that, “Digital Immigrant teachers assume that learners are the same as they have always been, and that the same methods that worked for the teachers when they were students will work for their students now” (p. 3).  I think if we don’t continue to be innovative with are teachings, we can easily fall into the trap of a digital immigrant teacher. 

Children today, use iPad’s, have cell-phones, and connect with their friends online.  Once in the classroom, there is no way that they’re brains are going to slow down for the digital immigrant educators that don’t use technology. Prensky (2001) says, “it is highly unlikely the digital natives will go backwards” (p. 4).  This is true, and if we don’t keep thinking forward, we may soon be going backwards.

Introduction

Woohoo!  My first blog and I'm excited about it.  Well, I'm Jerry Nathan and I am new to the NW and Portland!  It has been awesome meeting people, eating at new restaurants, and exploring what the city has to offer.  I moved to Portland after teaching English for 5 years in Seoul, South Korea.  The experience was fantastic.  I met a ton of new friends, visited cities and beaches, and had a fun time.  Now, I'm ready to take the next step in my teaching career and study to become a certified teacher in America!  Physical Education is definitely the right subject for me.  I love playing all sports, whether its an individual or team sport.  I like to stay active!  If you want to go surfing, snowboarding, frisbee golfing, hiking, or anything, ask me!  I love all food especially sushi and steak.  But, my favorite restaurant and meal is in Seoul, its 소갈비.  Ask me what it is!  If I could, I'd have a couple of dogs and cats.  If you have any questions about me, don't be afraid to ask!  I'd have to say that right now my favorite animal is the blue whale.  I think its amazing because its soooooo big.  They can get to 30m in length!  Whoa.