Creative Commons & Open Educational Resources

I was intrigued by the idea of Creative Commons so although I enjoyed many of the other sites, I believe this one would be most useful for me getting started as an educator. Having done the research on copyright law, using a site like this for both my own work and for student work is ideal. There is no worry about copyright infringement and there is so much available all on one site. No matter what the project your students are working on: digital essay, Power Point, Blogs, Websites, papers, scrapbooks, collages, etc. there is something available for students to work with. This Wiki space also talked about Open Educational Records. As someone new to the educational field, this type of resource is invaluable and could have saved me a few sleepless nights last semester as I struggled to develop my first thematic plan. Both of these sites are going to be bookmarked for future use. I don't forsee any problems with these two sites, only possibilities.

Universal Design For Learning

Using Inspiration, I created this diagram of the concept of Universal Design For Learning. The basic concept begins with Digital Media and its flexible nature. The idea of UDL is to manipulate information so that it is accessible to all learners and supports their diversity.

The Miracle of Photoshop

I was a fashion editor for over 20 years. When I began, digital photography wasn't an option. We used old-fashioned film and Polaroid for shoots. More than once we had to do a photo over because the photographer forgot to load the camera. One time the entire shoot had to be recreated because the film was damaged. Because of my work with professional photographers, I was very aware of the advances of digital photography from the beginning and experienced the wizardry a talented photographer can perform with Photoshop. I now have even more respect for the technology since I had the chance to play around with Photoshop in class. I took two photos from a 2005 Memorial Day parade that Shannon's cheer squad took part in along with some soldiers recently back from Iraq. Since Memorial Day honors all of our soldiers I decided to add in some veterans of the Civil War.

Inquiry-Based Learning & Historical Thinking

Part of the challenge of being a middle-aged graduate education student is that I was taught in a typical American classroom style for my entire educational career. The teacher was the fountain of all knowledge who stood in front of the classroom and dispensed wisdom and knowledge to the students. I learned what I was told and properly regurgitated it back to the teacher in the form of quizzes, tests, papers and projects. The concepts of Inquiry-Based Learning and Historical Thinking were probably in their infancy (if even that) when I graduated from my first masters program at Fairfield in 1985. In 2007, I am experiencing an entirely new classroom setting, and from what I hear from my fellow students who are already educators, the classroom and how teachers and students interact has changed dramatically. Teachers are no longer all-knowing and value is placed on the students contributing to the classroom discussion and creation and transfer of knowledge. Memorization and mastery of facts, figures and dates is no longer the ultimate goal for most teachers. Their new goal is to provide the student with the tools he/she needs to research and find their own answers, generate their own understanding, and view the world not through the narrow view of specific bits of information but to interrelate that information to create new knowledge. This new type of classroom has been an eye-opening experience for me and there are times I wish I could go back to high school and college and do it all again with this new generation of educators. I hope to be one of them.

Copyright Law & the Classroom

Copyright law is a fluid and mercurial area of the law. As I researched the use of copyrighted materials in the classroom, I kept coming back to the image of a child with his nose pressed up against the window of the candy store. So much sugary sweetness to be experienced, but the threat of parental repercussions outweigh the momentary pleasure. The plethora of new technology and the unlimited access to images and information that the Internet provides are a teacher's candy store. But breaking dense and often contradictory copyright laws gives the informed educator pause. A teacher can not claim ignorance of the law. He/she must be informed and follow the school's guidelines on the use of copyrighted material and should set a responsible standard for the use of copyrighted material in the classroom. A good rule of thumb is to apply the four-factor test of fair use to any use of copyrighted material and when in doubt, check with school administration. Click on this link for a pdf chart on Fair Use.
http://www.techlearning.com/techlearning/pdf/events/techforum/tx05/TeacherCopyright_chart.pdf

Cheerleaders: Real Athletes?

The question everyone asks: Is cheerleading a sport? Yes, it is. Cheerleaders train as hard if not harder than any other ahtletes and they compete nationally against other squads. Our favorite saying: Athletes lift weights; Cheerleaders lift athletes.

Digital Imagery & Teaching Standards

As the deck to my blog details, words can paint pictures and evoke emotions. But as the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. As a writer, I tend to be partial to words, but you can't deny the emotional impact of a strong visual image. With the new technology available, students can apply visual images to their projects to work hand-in-hand with their written work. The teaching standard for English demands that students be able to express their comprehension of the content and to draw conclusions, nowhere does it say this has to be done in written form. They could absolutely do this using digital imagery to create a photo collage, a digital essay, a scrapbook, etc.