Thing 6

Differentiated Learning Assignment Definition: Through recognition of a students background cognitively, readiness, language, and preferences in learning a teacher can teach to these aspects of differing abilities in the same class. There are 3 ways in which a lesson and classroom can be differentiated. Content: Differentiation in content can be achieved through elements and materials like acts, concepts, generalizations, principles, attitudes, and skills. Content: One needs to align tasks and objectives with learning goals in order for it to be easier to find the next step for learners starting at different levels. Content: Teachers need to focus on broad-based content that require knowing concepts, principles and skills the student must learn. Process: During lessons, students must have flexible groups. For instance, they must not remain in the same group, teachers must have whole group discussions, and groups must be student lead and teacher lead. Process: Having classroom management will allow a teacher to affectively operate his or her classroom. Products: In order for teachers to use quality differentiation they must have initial and ongoing assessment of students for a better menu of approaches, choices, and scaffolds for needs. Products: Teachers need to respect that students are actively curious explorers and need to feel challenged while understanding and using skills. Products: Teachers should vary their expectations and responses because students will respond differently to content.

Diverse Learning Assignment Using Technology to Support Diverse Learners

Math is a subject where students commonly have issues understanding and comprehending what they are learning. The Count Us In activity is an excellent game for a struggling 1st grader in math. It is visually stimulating and well as fun to listen to.

Universal Design for Learning Assignment (UDL) http://udlstrategies.wikispaces.com/Multiple+Means+of+Representation

Many students need visual representations of what they are learning and this resource helps to provide these ways of presenting to students. Especially at a young age when they are creating images in their heads, this source supports visual representations and makes it fun. This would be

very effective in the classroom for all content areas and subjects especially when a lot of the resources provide the ability to create your own. Therefore, it can represent exactly what you are talking about in the classroom.

VozMe

This can be a great tool in the classroom with a student who has attention or they missed a day of class. I can type up a description for a worksheet and they can listen before doing the worksheet. It will be used as a time saver and for differentiating the classroom.

Thing 7
Elementary Website Evaluation:

Website to be analyzed: http://vmyths.com/

Evaluation: Content: The content on this website, vmyths, is not accurate. I analyzed an article about cyber terrorism and how a cyber-terrorist export has been killed. It is a very difficult article to understand because nothing is explained clearly. These cyber terrorists seem to have no connections with each other and the author does not provide understandable descriptions. It is written to my understanding, but it fails to tell the relevancy of his rant. There seems to be

nothing else another website can offer except their own twitter archive. This is not a website I would use for research or a bibliography. Authority/Credibility: Rob Rosenberg is responsible for this site and the site ensures to say that they are not sponsored by computer security firms. Other authors are able to publish on this website with permission. Robs only credential is that he is an editor and a columnist that critiques computer security and this can prove to be an issue with bias writing. It does not look like they site any sources within their article. The suffix of this website is dot com and it is a clue to the credibility of the website. This site does not seem credible enough for me to include in any type of bibliography. Bias/Purpose: I have gathered from about the editor and an article that this website is to inform and persuade the audience to think a certain way about computer security. Many of the articles consist of an anger undertone that is reveals it is biased towards the subject. There are very sarcastic tones as well that show bias. Also, many of the authors and editors are computer security critiques which prove that the audience will only receive one perception of a story. It is very hard to tell facts from opinion and if any of the facts are reliable because there are no foot notes or links. Usability/design: This website is easy to navigate because on the side column there are sections labeled for certain categories of the website. There are no graphics or designs that enhance their message or meaning of the website. From the few articles I read there are not any spelling or grammar issues and the pages are clear from clutter. Almost every link is for a twitter account and they are legitimate pages.

Website to be analyzed: www.snopes.com

Evaluation: Content: It is not validated that the content is comprehensible or accurate. The content is very easy to understand because they are short statements with a red or green dot indicating if it is a true or false statement. Something that is unique about the site is that it covers many different topics and interesting statements, whether reliable or not. There is no way for the reader to know when this information was put on the website or when it occurred. Better information would be found in a book or on more reliable websites. Authority/Credibility: On this website, the reader is able to trace who is responsible for the site and find out they it is a self-sufficient website. The creators are researchers and writers but there are no specific credentials for them. None of the information is cited or documented properly. The domain is dot com which provides insight to the lack of legitimacy of the cite. There are no other sites that link to this website in order to add to its credibility. In the about section it claims that it is a reliable site by other authors. Bias/Purpose: This was created as an online touchstone of rumor research. It is a personal website that the creators made about rumors. There does not seem to be certain bias towards any opinion or point of view. The website just lists rumors or facts about different topics. Interestingly, the website distinguishes fact from rumor or opinion for the reader, but there is no way to validate these. Usability/Design: It is a very usable website that one can navigate through without any problems. The home page lists the topics for rumors while the top tabs provide the message boards and information about the websites. There are well labeled content areas that are easy to navigate and understand what they are. The pictures next to the topic add to the content and make it seem more interesting for the reader. I noticed some grammatical errors but spelling was fine and the language was very understandable. The pages are clean and uncluttered and the links on the site work. Reflection of the websites These websites are good examples of places where one should not look for valuable information. The aspects of evaluation and the questions that go along with these need to be used for every website. Going online can be essential in the classroom if one is looking for more in depth descriptions about a topic to teach to students. If the teacher has the wrong information and relays that to the students, they will build misconceptions. Therefore, these evaluations need to be made for every website a teacher uses. Cyber Bullying: 1. First, I will set up anti-bullying posters in order for people to become aware of bullying and what it really means. These will help people identify what cyber bullying is and then they can make a decision about what they can do. Then, on the posters there are ways to get help. Also, these posters help show that the school cares as well which opens the door for students to get opportunities for help. http://www.aft.org/yourwork/tools4teachers/bullying/materials.cfm 2. Another activity is teaching your kids to apologize and work things out face to face as well as teach students to tell an adult when something bad is happening or it happened.

Videos can be shown and fun activities in the classroom. Also, having guest speakers at school to define cyber bullying and show how they can get help. https://memspa.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=226:the-bulliedbrain&catid=6:recent-news&Itemid=144 Reflection: This is such an important issue in schools now that technology is skyrocketing. Having these resources and activities will strengthen the staffs information about cyber bullying in order for them to relate to the students. Then, students will get more help and before anything escalates too badly.

Thing 8
1. Bubbl.us

2. Wordle

These tools will be very effective and fun in the classroom. As a teacher, using this graphic organizer will help me organize my thoughts for unit plans and lessons. As a student, this can be used to organize their thoughts for projects or homework. The Wordle tool can be used as posters in the classroom for subjects and for certain units. Also, they can be used as motivational and positive attitude posters.