THING 11

This photo is by Uploaded on October 25, 2008
by Jürgen Kreileder Here is the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jkreileder/2973224980/

I loved this activity because there is so many wonderful photos that you can use for classroom projects/ideas/presentations. My idea for this photo was to use it when we start talking about Quadrilaterals to show them what parallel lines look like, especially a real world example which they all need. Another way I plan on using Flickr is when we start studying triangles, as well as three dimensional shapes so they can connect their learning with real world examples. I would not normally put so much effort into searching for photos for a lesson, but now that I have done it I can see how useful Flickr can be for educators.

THING 7(A)

I found this on one of my readers, School Matters blog. The title alone will ignite a fire under many teachers, "Memphis city schools line up merit pay..." The blog is at http://schoolsmatter.blogspot.com/2009/10/headline-memphis-city-schools-line-up.html. So Memphis is teaming up with the Gates family hoping to revamp the educational system. They want to make the education system resemble those of corporate based systems that follow market guidelines and such. This will be a great "bait" for many future educators, who do not know what they are getting themselves into. Anyone that would push merit based pay has not been teaching recently when the tests are getting harder and our students seem to be left behind. If they want to offer merit based pay on top of a salary, then I am all for that, but just going solely to merit based pay is unreasonable and I feel will hurt the education system in the long run. I'll be watching this blog for further information on this topic.

THING 10

Okay, so we all get that speech every year about copyright laws. It is usually during staff development and it is usually long and boring. However, this particular "thing 10" got me thinking. I might actually need to pay attention to the cc logo more often. Everyone thinks that copyright is something they don't do, but really it involves very touchy things. If you use even a small part of someone's work, even if it be images, you have to put their name on it. If you copy multiple things out of a book and make mass copies, you have to put their names on the parts that you used. Copyright can be very tricky! We need to teach our kids about it, just like we are taught. However, it might be helpful to teach it in a more interesting way rather than a typical boring power point!

I do use digital photos and videos in my teaching, but always make sure that the cc logo is somewhere on them. I make sure to give credit to those who made these photos/videos in order for me to use them. When you ask students to make projects which include photos/videos, it is important to tell them that they must include the author's name and publication in order to avoid copyright infiringement.

THING 8

At the beginning of the school year, we were introduced to Wiki, but I just kind of brushed it off thinking ok I have way too much to do to worry about another thing on my plate! However, I got involved in this class, and it has really opened my mind up to the endless realm of possibilities of technology. I would love to create, and WILL create a Wiki for my students. I want them to be able to share information with one another, and all of their different ideas! It is so great when I am teaching, and one of my students will give me a different way to solve it then I had ever thought! I want them to be able to teach each other like they have been able to teach me!

THING 7

Commenting...I'm not a woman of many words. I do not always voice my opinion when I read things that either inspire me or ignite a fire in me. Instead of responding with words, I tend to reflect inward! It is hard for me to give my comments because I generally want to fly under the radar so to speak. I am definately not one to rock the boat! However, after reading and posting comments for this class, I have come to realize how helpful people's comments can really be. It can provide great constructive criticism, and help you create ideas from other people's ideas. It really is a great way to communicate. I have really had to come out of my comfort zone for this class, and it has been an amazing experience!

THING 6

I subscribed to a feed called I want to teach forever. This is a blog full of extremely helpful information for specifically math teachers, which I am. I scrolled through all of the blogs and found some extremely helpful information on things such as how to make tutoring more exciting, and new creative ways to teach certain topics. Not only was this blog extremely helpful, but I really enjoyed searching for blogs that interested me and subscribing to them. It is amazing how many wonderful ideas one can get from other people just by reading the feeds. I feel that the Reader is an extremely helpful tool for me to stay current on my issues that I am interested in. I will definately continue to subscribe to feeds that I am interested in.

THING 5

I found this on the Infinite Thinking Machine Feed. It is about this little girl in Oklahoma that posted this YouTube video about President Obama's Speech. Her mom is writing about having to go through all of the comments and decided which ones to allow to post. In this feed she states that she is glad that her child was open-minded enough to see the speech and that the little boy in her class needs to open his mind up. The little boy said he wasn't allowed to watch Obama's speech because he was a Republican. Now, I did not agree with Sarah's mothers comment. I think that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. Whether it be Republican or Democrat, it is important for you to decide for yourself what ideas you want to believe in and be associated with. That is what makes America great is that we get to decide. So what if the little boy's parents said he couldnt see it. That is their belief, and that is how they best see fit to care for their family, just as Sarah's parents felt she needed to see the video. I feel that we should always reserve the right to choose what we want to believe in and what's best for our families.

Criteria for moderating comments on a viral video

by infinitethinking@gmail.com (Infinite Thinking Machine)

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