Week 8 Essential Question

Why are there more issues with cheating, plagiarism, and related incidents now than before the web? Or are there?

Some subjects may have more issues with cheating and plagiarism now because the web is so easy to access for students. However, it's also easy for teachers to access the web and check up on the students. I've heard of a few problems with plagiarism in English and Social Studies papers and projects from other teachers. Fortunately, I haven't had really any problems with cheating or plagiarism from the web. There are no online translators that are actually accurate in Latin. I tried to find accurate sites for Latin in college and there really aren't any that are helpful besides a college database. So that fact makes me feel better about students cheating on Latin translation, because I know they honestly can't. For projects or papers I have to be a little more cafeul but I still haven't had any problems.

I know that there are websites where students can pay for papers, but students have always been doing that if they are desperate enough. I honestly don't think any students with common sense will plagiarize or cheat off the internet, it's too accessible, even parents can check on them. Subjects like math and technical subjects probably don't have to worry as much either. And English teacher probably has a different opinion than I do. Information is so easy to access off the web that I think it would almost be more difficult to cheat or plagiarize on purpose than to just look up the correct information.

Technology Integration

Can technology integration benefit everyone?

I think technology integration can benefit everyone IF it is done properly. Of course there are many things that can go wrong or not work out, hence the big if. First you have to have the ability to integrate technology. You need to have the resources necessary and available to teachers for technology. Sometimes the internet can go out or be incredibly slow which doesn't benefit anyone. In Nashua we now have the integration specialists which really helps teachers who normally wouldn't integrate teachers. If you have the support to do it, then more people will do it. Teachers need the support and education to effectively implement technology. We also have so many workshops on technology that really help, but not everyone is going to take advantage of that.

The tools for new technology can be a problem as well. I think it has helped learning about DonorsChoose and other grant opportunities available to us. I really wouldn't have done anything before about gettin a projector but it has helped to see that other teachers have gotten technological equipment this way. In a perfect system we would all have our own laptops or iPads as well as students but that isn't going to happen anytime soon, and that would just bring up other problems too. I think its almost more benficial at this point to give more tools to the elementary schools to start their education earlier. Teenagers in high school already have a lot of devices of their own to use and know how to use them.

Students will benefit from meaningful and well planned technological tools. If a tool is just used as a filler or not seriously, then they won't take it seriously. Teachers need to think about what they actually can integrate realistically into their classrooms before they attempt to. And they should speak to other teachers and/or a specialist before doing so.

Week 7 Essential Question

How can technology enhance learning when students aren’t the ones accessing it? How can we create effective assessments using technology? Also respond to the video that we watched about standardized testing-where is the balance and what should we strive for?

Technology can enhance student learning through their teachers knowledge of technological tools. If a teacher is more knowledgeable with technology then the teacher can constantly update their lesson plans, teaching techniques, and assessments given to the students. Teachers in my opinion should also stay current with new information in the subject area and be able to relay that knowledge to their students. Parents can also enhance learning for their students by being aware of and accessing parent portals, teacher web pages, and district websites that pertain to their child.

We can create effective assessents using technology by using digital tools to creat new assessments or adapt old assessments to the digital age. Students appreciate being able to get out of the classroom at times and are often excited to try out new forms of assessments i've discovered. I know it is hard to sometimes change up what seems like a good assessment, but I really feel like teachers need to be constantly trying out new things in their classroom.

I think we've tipped the scales in Nashua with the balance of testing. I actually believe we're overtesting at this point. I do know that testing will stick around throughout our whole professional lives and that we need to be prepared for it. Even after SAT's there are still GRE's and I also had two rounds of Praxis tests. Standardized tests are not going away anytime soon so we need to stay current with how standardized tests are evolving. We should strive for making tests not have such bad connections and really make them tools for students for their futures.

Week 6 Essential Question

How does teacher experience change how they view technology integration?

I think that a teacher's experience will even dictate whether or not they want to try to integrate technology into their classroom. The truth is that if you feel comfortable with something then you will want to use it more. I think it all goes back to the first week when we said that most teachers are digital immigrants and our students are digital natives. I am more of a digital native so I think I am much more open to trying out technology integration then some older teachers. I say some, but not all, because there are some teachers that do amazing things with technology that make me want to try out new things as well. But there are teachers who don't see anything wrong with their way of teaching and don't feel like they need to add "bells and whistles" to make students learn any better.

I think it all comes down to making educational opportunities available to all teachers on how to integrate technology and what kinds actually might work in their classroom. It's very hard to up and try to integrate technology on your own. I feel like we do have great opportunities in this district that we just have to take the initiative to get educated and then get the technology we want. I finally did a DonorsChoose and it was so straight forward and easy that I am kicking myself that I haven't done it sooner. You're always critical of what you don't know I guess. I think our cohort itself is helping us all integrate technology but we have the amazing opportunity to do so. I find myself helping out other teachers more now because I feel mo0re comfortable with technology. We all have to adapt to the changing world of education and especially here in Nashua with X2.

Week 5 Essential Question

How can digital tools be used to increase understanding? Why can digital storytelling be an authentic assessment? Could digital storytelling be used in your classroom as an assessment? Should students publish their work?

There's the old quote that "a picture says a thousand words" and I believe that could be true with students and their understanding when provided with a digital tool. Students could understand a topic or concept better if they had a digital tool that showed them a story or process with pictures for visual learning. Digital tools are also more interactive which increases student learning as well and students can add music or videos that actually interest them. Digital storytelling can be an authentic assessment because the students are creating their own product and are using a tool to create that product. Teachers still will have a product to assess with a rubric that they have set.

I actually do a couple projects where digital storytelling could be used. In Latin 1 the students do a project on a god/goddess of their choosing and give all their biographical facts. I've had students do powerpoints in the past but most students usually do plain old posters. I know I need to make that project more modern. In Latin 2 students create a children's book in Latin, illustrate it, and share it with the class. That would be a perfect outlet for digital storytelling. I've found over the last five years students are really having less interest in creating posters or projects with their actual hands and would rather go completely digital. It's hard for me because I have to reserve the projector for class but luckily I just did a DonorsChoose project for a projector.

In some situations student should publish their work but not in all. I think it depends on the class and nature of the project that they are doing. If the project had personal information on the student then I don't think they should publish it being underage. If the project was not completely personal then I think students should be able to publish their work if they choose, but I don't think it should be required.

Week 4 Essential Question

How can you engage all students? What is your ideal technology "set up" in your classroom? How would technology impact student achievement and engagement in your classroom?


I don't know if it's possible to engage all students 100% of the time. Odds are that a student will always have an off day when they haven't gotten enough sleep or they have some issue to deal with, they're teenagers after all. I think it's an impossible task for an educator to engage every student. But we should all strive to engage as many students as possible as often as possible. I think if you get a student for over 80% of a 90 minute block then you aren't doing so bad. 


I actually just got made fun of by students for using an old projector and writing on the blank white sheets. Ideally I'd like to have an overhead projector with a remote, speakers, and a document camera. I still like to use "old technology" though and I don't think I'd ever really get rid of anything. Latin isn't exactly a brand new subject either. There are interactive websites websites that I do like to explore with students and if I had iPads or laptops in the classroom then I could use those websites and the book website to help the kids study. I know they could use computers for vocabulary study.


I think having technological tools as study aids or translation aids would be very beneficial in my classroom. My research project in our last grad class was to have a Latin 2 class have access to a computer lab to study vocabulary online before their quizzes and see if scores improved compared to a class without access to computers in school. Considering engagement in the classroom I think being 'up with the times' with current Latin articles and games would help with students. I already have students using iPads or iPhones to do work in the classroom.

Digital Learners

How can you provide equal access to the digital world to all learners? Are mobile devices a way to accomplish this? Should schools try to acquire more of these vs. computers? Would an iPad work in your classroom?

I believe the only way to provide equal access to all students is by providing them each with time at a school computer lab. As a teacher you can't assume that every student will go home to a computer with internet access or have a smart phone. Still to this day not every student even has access to a word processor to type up papers never mind being able to post homework electronically. For all big projects I make sure that I take the students to a lab or the media center to have an opportunity to work in school.

Mobile devices might be a way to accomplish equal access if you had a small class where you knew that all the students had a smart phone. I think you would need to know your students well to be able to do this to. Last semester I had a Latin 4 Honors class with 12 students who would all have been able to access the internet via a smart phone or home internet and I would have liked to have tried Twitter with that class. But in large classes of 31 students I don't think it would be fair to ask all students to use their mobile devices as all students might not have access to one.

I think a lot of schools are acquiring more mobile devices to test out with their students. You are always going to run into funding problems when trying to acquire them. Also who will actually get the mobile devices can be an issue as well. When administrators first got iPads here, I'll admit I was a little jealous of them. My friend at Souhegan is provided a personal laptop for school purposes to take home and I think that is a great idea. I don't know about providing every student with them though, that would be a huge responsibility on their part.

An iPad would work in my classroom for students to keep a digital binder of all the translations that they do. I know that some people don't like typing on an iPad, but I do already have a student who uses her iPad for all homework. I also allow students to listen to music while they are translating and we could explore interactive websites together. I think an iPad would be a great addition to my classroom.

Is there more to social networks than meets the eye?

In education social networks can be a touchy subject. As a teacher you hear horror stories about students misusing social networks for bullying and also teachers getting in legal trouble for inappropriately using networks to communicate with students. Last summer we even discussed social networks in our legal issues in education class. The professor told us even more stories about social networks that he has dealt with as a school superintendant. I have always been very cautious about combining school and any social network. When I first got my job I actually went on my Facebook account and changed all the privacy settings and deleted a lot of information that could be at all viewed negatively. My father to this day cautions me against posting anything dealing with school. I have only accepted friend requests from two former students in five years of teaching, and only after they have graduated.
After class last week I felt a little more optimistic about social networks and perhaps using them for education. I would actually feel better having a Twitter account for educational purposes than ever using my personal Facebook account. Twitter would be great for posting homework or club information for a class. I would be much more open to trying Twitter with students, especially in the upper levels. I will continue to separate my personal life from my work life with Facebook though. I don't think I'd ever want to create a class page on Facebook. Facebook is still a little to uncomfortable for me.
So I do believe that there is more than meets the eye with social networks, but an educator needs to fully understand the network before they even attempt to open up using one with the students. In most cases the students know more than teachers about the networks. Blogging could be used as with students but I don't think you should assess a blog except for participation. I never imagined that I would have a blog and/or a Twitter account, but I am warming up to them.

Digital Footprint

I did my search on Rodney Eugene Coffin III. His name is pretty unique so he was not hard to find. At all. There were no images on google that were correct though. New info showed up for Rod when I put in Nashua, NH and any newspapers articles related to Nashua North High School then came up. For images, there was a photo of a student of the month that Rod nominated.
On pipl.com I found Rod very easily and his address, family members, and wife's name. People reigstered to this site might be credit card/debt collectors or any profession that needs to access personal information quickly.
I've actually used pipl.com before to find a family member for my mother and it was helpful if you have enough information for a lead. It did make me wonder about my digital footprint but fortunately my name is pretty common - there is even a girl in my hometown with the exact same name and age range as myself.
I think it is primarily the parents' job to teach their children about online privacy and protecting your reputation. Unfortunately, most parents don't know enough about social medias and online privacy yet. In that case I think it is a good idea for teachers to be good models for online use. I will comment on facebook use and other medias in the classroom, especially when students are using their cell phones for it.

Why should we integrate technology into the classroom?

Becoming more familair with and integrating technology into my classroom was originally my professional goal when I started teaching. I have attended many wokshops with Sarah in the summer on technology to support that goal. However, it has been hard for me to use technology regularly because I have to sign out equipment from the media center to use anything in the classroom. I have found some interactive games and a a pronunciation lab that I have used with classes. I have not yet tried to coordinate with students using social media, sharepoint, or online resources other than email but I would like to.

I feel that it is important to integrate technology because technology is the future of education. I feel fortunate that I have developed with technology and used it in school myself. Everything is turning digital and as educators we need to stay current with different medias to be able to teach our students. I believe that it is essential for a teacher to be current to understand a student and to be an effective teacher. There can't be a huge gap in knowledge between students and teachers.

I would like to try using the online posters for my mythology project in Latin 1 and interactive websites relating to Latin. I want students to be able to access the textbook website from school and take advantage of the vocabulary testers on the website and use quizlet. I know that students won't be able to have their own laptops or iPads anytime soon but I would like to have a projector for my own classroom use.

Reasons to Blog

http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2011/05/12-reasons-to-blog-with-your-students.html

Blogging teaches digital citizenship would be the relevant heading to my class. Students need to know how to be professional and proper in their online etiquette and a classroom blog would be a proper forum for that.

I think that blogging can be a valid form of assessment in terms of student participation. I would count a student actively blogging towards their participation grade. I don't know if you could have a rubric on blogging that you could assess. You could have students post an assessment in their blog that you could assess or a project but I don't think blogging in general is able to be assessed.