Final Reflection

I have learned a lot about integrating technology through this course. Here are my final reflections based on the following standards:

• Standard 1: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
• Standard 2: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
• Standard 3: Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
• Standard 4: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility

How did my understanding of the standards change based on my experiences teaching and designing lessons and assessing student artifacts?

- Designing lessons using Taskstream made me realize how important each and every step is in a lesson. I have to be careful to incorporate different styles of learning, even those I am not personally familiar with. I need to teach in a way that sparks student interest.For this class I was also very aware of how to give students new technological experiences that were appropriate to the lesson. In my planets lesson I modeled how to use a glog, a new educational tool, to my students. In my earthquakes lesson students learned the concept first and then transferred it to an online game. Unfortunately, my lessons did not incorporate a section on digital citizenship. This was for two reasons - one, the activities involved did not include interaction with others and two, I was teaching college students who already had a good idea of responsible digital interactions. I should, however, take a moment anytime in my future classroom to discuss responsible use of technology before it is used.

- In teaching lessons I discovered that the teacher's enthusiasm is super important in sparking a student's interest and creativity within a subject. I discovered that I need to be deliberate with my use of technology and that I need to spend adequate amount of time modeling its use. I should never assume foreknowledge associated with technology. Thankfully, my students/peers had no problem using technology in a responsible way without instruction.

- From assessing my student's artifacts I discovered multiple things. I discovered that glogs are a great way for students to creatively present information. I should have, however, given them more time to do this so that they would have had sufficient time to complete the project. Assessing these projects also hinted at my need to spend more time demonstrating the use of unfamiliar technology.

Source

What did I learn about preparation and teaching from my peers through lessons and feedback?

My strengths are: Addressing individual needs, creating interactive, engaging lessons and using technology purposefully with in a lesson.

Things I need to work on: Explaining how to use new technology, planning more time for explanation and modeling, allowing more time for activities, especially those involving technology.

What this means: I feel that I learned a lot about being flexible through feedback and through teaching these lessons. My lessons were engaging and exciting and incorporated technology, but they weren't properly paced for the best success of my students. When writing lessons in the future I should over-estimate time needed and then just have backup activities if needed.

Source

How my experiences might impact my future teaching experiences?

I now have a better idea of how to spark student interest in a subject. Engaging, hands-on activity, purposeful technology and a great attitude are all important ways to achieve this. Through these lessons, as well as research done at the beginning of the semester, I discovered that it is important to use technology purposefully in a classroom. There are many great ways to discover new technologies available to teachers and students. Talk to peers, mentors, other teachers, your students or simply search the internet for different technologies that may be useful in your classroom. It is important to model technology before it is used - even if it seems to take too much time, it will be worth it in the long run! Students cannot succeed by using technology they don't understand. Lastly, I need to take time during my modeling to promote digital citizenship and responsibility. It is my teaching today that can affect the environment of the internet tomorrow.

Source

Assessment of Learning, Lesson 2

My student's success

According to the one-on-one assessments I conducted, my students were successful in learning the new vocabulary words associated with circles.

My teaching success
This lesson allowed me to practice the ever-important skill of flexibility. While I did not reach all of the objectives set forth in my lesson plan, I was still able to teach a successful lesson with the tools provided to me.

According to my feedback form (which I created through Google Drive), I succeeded in meeting individual student needs by assessing students one-on-one. My students also thought that using earthquakes as a way to teach circles was a great way to engage the class. The game was also supposedly a good way to reinforce the concepts of the lesson.

I need to spend more time working on vocabulary as students will most likely not have prior knowledge.

Source

Instructional Decisions/Teaching, Lesson 2

What I learned from this teaching process

• You always have to be willing to adapt. We tried to use rulers and pencils for our lesson since compasses were unavailable.
• Because of our tools, not everything lined up perfectly - this allowed us to analyze where the intersection should have been, even if it wasn't there.
• In the future it may be useful to expose students to the online game before the lesson in order to introduce the topic.

How alignment to goals and objectives was maintained

One objective was that students would be able to use a compass to draw a circle. I did my best to teach this with rulers and fingers, but unfortunately, the lesson did not align with this particular objective. Due to circumstances beyond my control, compasses were not available. The second objective was that students would be able to explain the words "circumference," "diameter," "radius," and "pi," in relation to a circle and its measurements. The lesson did maintain alignment to this objective. I went around individually and asked each student to define or explain these words while they were working individually. The lesson was centered around introducing and using these words in a true-to-life scenario.

Modifications made for individual needs

The one-on-one assessment allowed me to address individual needs as they arose. If students did not understand something, I was able to explain it to them at that moment and at their level. I tried to use checks for understanding to move the lesson at a pace that worked well for my class. Since I was teaching college students, I did not need to spend a lot of time on these concepts and we moved on quickly. However, there was enough flexibility in the lesson that if I needed to I could have slowed the lesson down to meet the needs of the class.

Source

Planning Assessment, Lesson 2

Planning Assessment: Embed or link to your assessment tools and describe how you will demonstrate

• the performance of linked goals and/or objectives
• student engagement in higher order thinking
• meeting individual student needs

This lesson only uses informal assessment that will not be taken for a grade. The teacher will assess while the class is working on finishing their worksheet/drawing the final two circles. He/she should check to see if each student is able to draw a circle with a compass. He/she should also ask each student to explain the following vocabulary in relation to the activity:

• Circumference
• Diameter
• Radius
• Pi

The teacher will also use quick checks for understanding throughout the lesson.

Goals and Objectives

The objectives are:

• Students will be able to use a compass to draw a circle.
• Students will be able to explain the words "circumference," "diameter," "radius," and "pi", in relation to a circle and its measurements.

The assessment directly addresses these objectives.

Higher Order Thinking Skills

This lesson only addresses medium-order thinking skills. This activity addresses "apply" on Bloom's taxonomy. 

Meeting Individual Needs

This lesson attempts to target visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners to allow each student to learn in a way comfortable to them. The informal one-on-one assessment also allows the teacher to address individual needs at that time. 

Source

Designing Instruction, Lesson 2

Here is the link to my lesson plan.

How is my instructional design contextually and logically organized?
I used the Madeline-Hunter set up to create this lesson plan. We begin by introducing/refreshing basic properties of a circle. As a class, we walk the different parts of a circle (circumference, radius, etc.) The teacher then explains how to use a compass for the whole class. As a class we use a worksheet to use these skills as a class. Students are then able to finish the worksheet on their own and use the Internet to further their knowledge.

How does my lesson plan use varied instructional methods that meet individual needs and target higher order thinking skills?

• Visual Learners- There will be photos for the introduction, visual instruction on the board on how to use a compass and a worksheet that allows them to practice creating circles on their own.
• Kinesthetic Learners- They will be able to hands-on create a circle using a compass and a ruler. We will also introduce the math terms by walking them as a class.
• Auditory Learners- All information will be presented aurally as well as visually. We will also repeat important terms a couple of times so students will be able to internalize them.
• "Low" learners- The teacher will address any gaps in knowledge during the guided practice and independent practice times. If necessary, different scenarios or analogies may have to be used to help the child.
• "High" learners- High learners could expand on this by creating their own worksheet to find an earthquake. This requires them to work backwards and measure their circles after they have been created.

The Madeline–Hunter style lesson plan (intro, model, guided practice, independent practice, closure) allows students to slowly become comfortable with the new material. They are also given the opportunity to practice on their own.

Does this lesson align with research based understanding of technology integration?
Yes. Although the technology is not the main focus of the lesson, it provides material which directly compliments the lesson. The game presented may allows students who are still unfamiliar with the material to reach a greater understanding. In my research, technology is useful as long as it is used purposefully, which it is in this case.

Does my lesson address:
-Safe, legal and ethical use of technology?
This is not directly mentioned in the lesson plan, but the activity is completely ethical and legal. If students stay only on the website provided then it is completely safe as well. The teacher should monitor computer/Internet use.
- Digital etiquette and responsible social interactions?
No. The activity involved does not involve online social interactions and therefore does not address these issues.
-Meeting diverse needs of learners through learner-centered strategies and equitable access?
This lesson does meet the diverse needs of learners. There is built-in flexibility to allow the teacher to move at the pace of the class, and allow the teacher to provide one-on-one help when needed. The lesson has equitable access as far as technology goes, but some students may struggle with the use of a protractor. This lesson also tries to address visual, auditory and bodily-kinesthetic learners.
-Global awareness and digital-age communication
This activity provides students the ability to solve a real-world problem, that is, how to find the epicenter or origin of an earthquake. Surface knowledge of earthquakes and their effects provides global awareness. The practical application also increases awareness of different jobs including scientist and geologist. The students do not communicate digitally during this lesson.

Source

Planning Instruction, Lesson 2

This post is designed to discuss my goals, objectives and outcomes for this lesson.

The objectives
Each student will be able to use a compass to draw a circle.

Students will be able to explain the words "cicumference," "diameter," "radius," and "pi", in relation to a circle and its measurements.

How is this clearly stated?
The objective will be read aloud to the students before we begin the lesson. The objective is written in clear language and directly targets what I hope to achieve for this lesson. It is also measurable.

How is this appropriate for students?
This is written using vocabulary at about a fifth grade level. The lesson and objective is developmentally appropriate for the fifth grade.

How is this aligned to state standards?
The standards for this lesson are taken from Arizona Common Core State Standards for Math in Grade 5.

• Domain: Measurement and Data
• Area: Convert like measurement units within a given measurement system.
• Standard: 5.MD.1. Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems.

Source

Assessing Prior Knowledge, Lesson 2

I will be teaching a math lesson incorporating the properties of a circle, the use of a compass and using circles to find the epicenter of an earthquake.

How will prior experience be assessed?

As a class, we will address all math vocabulary ahead of time and participate in a class activity in order to refresh (or teach) the information. Prior experience is assessed informally through these activities and the lesson will be expanded upon or simplified as needed based on these assessments.

What will I learn from the prior knowledge?

I will learn what I need to focus upon with this lesson. If I need to spend more time teaching the properties of a circle, I will. If students seem to have a good background knowledge of the circle, than we can focus on the use of a compass and finding the epicenter.

How will this information be useful?

It is important to know where my students come from and where their understanding is in order to shape my lesson. The lesson is flexible and can be stretched where needed to address gaps in knowledge. Individual difficulties can be addressed during guided practice and independent practice.

Source

Assessment Examples

Here are two of the glogs created by my students. You can see that they are unfinished due to time constraints, but you can also see the amount of information they were able to include in a short amount of time. Glogs are incredibly cool and with the right amount of instruction they have a wide variety of uses in the classroom.

Assessment of Learning

My student's success

I had each of the students e-mail me their glog, whether finished or not, so that I may assess what they are able to share about each planet. Unfortunately, I did not give them enough time to finish, so their glogs are incomplete. Nevertheless, I have two glogs that have a wide variety of information on their respective planets, including mass, relation to the rest of the solar system, matter, color and special information (such as moons and rings). It appears that many of my students did achieve the lesson goal of learning about one of our eight planets. In "tomorrow's" lesson they will finish this project and share it with their class so that every student can learn about every planet, which moves toward the state standard.

My teaching success
While reflecting upon my lesson, I feel that it went really well. I had fun, my students had fun and we all learned something. Since I had never done the play-dough activity before, I was not sure how long it would take. Unfortunately, this threw my lesson plan a little out of whack, time-wise. Thankfully, I know how important it is to be flexible as a teacher, and I feel like the lesson was still a success, even if it did not go how I had originally planned.

I took a feedback survey from my classmates that were my "students" for this lesson. Overall, they feel that this lesson was very engaging and that an actual fifth grade student would enjoy it. The shortfalls they mention refer to two things. One is time - I did not give them enough time to complete their glogs. In a "real" classroom, I would give students a second day to do this, as mentioned above. The other shortfall was with the technology. The technology was so new that I should have spent more time teaching how to use it, how to enter pictures and text on the glog, etc. Other than these, the feedback was quite positive. On a scale of one to ten, the lesson was 9.33 engaging. The technology was deemed useful by 100% of those surveyed. The play-dough part was a very effective introduction to the subject and those surveyed really enjoyed it. This is definitely a project I would do in an actual classroom.

Source

Instructional Designs/Teaching

What I learned from this teaching process

• Using play-dough took longer than I anticipated.
• Although my students were familiar with technology, they do need a decent amount of time to complete the presentation.
• I should probably spend more time introducing the new technology, especially since edu.glogster.com is very new.

How alignment to goals and objectives was maintained

The objective for this lesson was to learn about one of the planets, and later to learn about all of the planets in our solar system, which aligns with a state science objective. The solar system with clay activity was super beneficial and sparked a lot of discussion about the planets. We got to see how they compared to each other, talked about what materials they can be made of, discussed the qualifications needed to be a planet and much more. If I had given sufficient time to complete the blog presentations, this would have been another great way to move towards our goal. Unfortunately, I ran out of time, so the glogs are half-made and only contain some of the information needed in quest to meet our objective.

Modifications made for individual needs

Since I was teaching college students a fifth-grade lesson, I had to include extra discussion to keep them engaged. I also walked around as the students were working on their glogs and helped them with any problems that arose. I also allowed them to choose the planet they wanted to research, which sparked a personal interest in the investigation.

Source

Planning Assessment

As well as using basic checks for understanding throughout the lesson, a checklist with the following questions will be used to assess the students:

Is this information present on the glog presentation?
- Mass of the planet
- Material of the planet
- Color of the planet
- Size of the planet in relation to the earth and the rest of the solar system
- Moons
- Location in the solar system
- Distinguishing characteristics (rings, storms, etc.)
- One video
- One (or more) picture(s)

Goals and Objectives
If you remember from my earlier post, the objective for this lesson is "students will be able to describe the characteristics of one of the eight planets". This is assessed by the presence of lack of this information on their glog presentation.

Higher Order Thinking Skills
While it only addresses lower order thinking skills at this point, hopefully it will catapult students into future learning and thinking.

Meeting Individual Needs
Each student can create the presentation in a way that is easy and preferable to them. They may use all sorts of multimedia (or create their own) as a part of this presentation. The checklist assessment allows for some structure to the assignment, but leaves the specifics to the students.

Source

Designing Instruction

Here's the link to my lesson plan.

How is my instructional design contextually and logically organized?
I used the Madeline-Hunter set up to create this lesson plan. The lesson begins with a class project that helps spark interest in the topic and helps the teacher assess prior knowledge. After we participate as a group, we split into individuals (or small groups, depending on class size) and learn how to use edu.glogster.com. While we are learning as a class still, students are able to explore and discover on their own. After my explanation, students are then able to work individually to create their presentation. In this way, we progress from working as a class to working individually. The lesson also includes an introduction, guided practice, independent practice and a conclusion.

How does my lesson plan use varied instructional methods that meet individual needs and target higher order thinking skills?
The group to individual progression allows students to learn at their own pace. The individual presentation also allows for the teacher to help students meet their individual needs. My lesson also incorporates different styles of learning to help reach all learners. Here are some variations that are used within the lesson. Adaptations and other variations are listed in my lesson plan.

Bodily-kinesthetic learners will be able to work with their hands to create a clay model of the solar system before we begin with our presentations.
Visual learners will be able to see our solar system model, the presentation model (available here), the closing video and the class glog presentation.
Auditory learners will benefit from the presentations, both of initial information and the class presentations at the end.

Since this lesson is an introductory lesson, it does not reach higher order thinking skills, but provides students with the information necessary to use higher order thinking skills later on in the unit. For example, later on in the unit we will write persuasive essays about why or why not Pluto should be a planet.

Does my lesson align with research based understanding of technology integration?
Yes. In the research I've done, technology is beneficial in the classroom as long as it is used consciously and for a specific purpose. I've chosen to use glogs for this assignment for multiple reasons. For one, it allows students the chance to practice using a new technology tool. It also allows students to create very unique visual presentations filled with photos and multimedia. Creating a glog in this way will help students refine their Internet research skills and work on their written communication skills for the presentation.

Does my lesson address:
- Safe legal and ethical use of technology?
While not included in the lesson plan, it would be a good idea to briefly discuss the proper use of technology.
- Digital etiquette and responsible social interactions
This lesson does not address this specific technological topic since students will most likely not be interacting with other humans across the world via the Internet. The only written work will be published on the glog and shared with the whole class.
- Meeting diverse needs of learners through learner-centered strategies and equitable access
This lesson absolutely meets the diverse needs of my learners. Each student is able to work at his or her pace to study a planet that they find interesting. They can gather information in different ways, whichever works best for them. They may use text, pictures, video or other multimedia to create their presentation. They could also create their own video to insert in the presentation. In this case, each student also has equal access to the same computer and software.
- Global awareness and digital-age communication
Ironically, this lesson lends more to a universal or galactic awareness. We learn how big or small earth is in relation to all the other planets.

Source

Planning Instruction

This post is designed to discuss my goals, objectives and outcomes for this lesson.

The objective
Each student will be able to describe the characteristics of one of the eight planets

(We are working to create presentations of individual planets - later on in the unit we will be teaching each other about each planet.)

How is this clearly stated?
The objective will be read aloud to the students before we begin the lesson. The objective is written in clear language and directly targets what I hope to achieve for this lesson. It is also measurable.

How is this appropriate for students?
This is written using vocabulary at about a fifth grade level. The objective could also be written or stated "Students will be able to describe one of the eight planets." The lesson and objective is developmentally appropriate for the fifth grade.

How is this aligned to state standards?
The standards for this lesson are taken from Arizona Academics Standards for Grade 5 science.

Strand 6: Earth and Space Science

• Concept 3: Earth in the Solar System; Understand the relationships of Earth and other                                             objects in the solar system.
• Performance Objective 1: Identify the known planets of the solar system
• Performance Objective 2: Describe the distinguishing characteristics of the known planets in the solar system.

Source

Assessing Prior Knowledge

I will be teaching a fifth grade level lesson to my college peers next week. The lesson (which will be posted later) centers around the solar system. Here is how I plan on assessing prior knowledge.

Prior Knowledge

Prior knowledge for this lesson includes basic knowledge of the solar system: that there are eight planets, that their names are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, that they orbit around the sun.

Students should understand the vocabulary word "mass".

Students should have some basic knowledge on how to use a computer, including how to log on to a computer, how to access the internet, how to find webpages and images and how to click and drag and add elements to a presentation.

How to assess prior knowledge

The lesson begins with the class creation of a to-scale model of the solar system. During this time, I will discuss the basics of the planets and informally check for understanding. If students do not have this prior knowledge set, I will fill in missing information at this time. After the to-scale model is created, we can discuss the concept of mass and again, informally check for understanding. As students use the computers, I will be available to help those without the prior knowledge available for the project. This will be visually measurable by what is present on the student's computer screen.

What do I expect to learn from assessing this prior knowledge?

I expect to learn any deficiencies my students may have in this knowledge set. I will also be able to learn whether or not any of the students have a great wealth of knowledge in this area, and/or if they have an interest in the planets.

How can this help me plan?

If my students are missing "required" prior knowledge, I can spend extra time on the missing information. My lesson should include some wiggle room to spend more or less time on certain elements, based on prior knowledge. I can also spend more time on items that spark interest in my students. If students are lacking a lot of knowledge in the technology area, I may have to set aside time for another lesson to teach the technologies to the students before using them.

Source

Meeting Diverse Needs of Learners

Meeting diverse needs of learners through learner-centered strategies and equitable access

What does this mean?
This is the ability of technology to reach many different learners. "Learner-centered strategies" refers to activities that are mainly focused on the learner. For example, a traditional math lecture is likely not learner-centered because it is addressed to thirty or so students at one time. But, a math game on the computer would be learner centered because it is directed to and interactive with only one student. "Equitable access" is the idea that every student across the school, state, nation or world has the same access to technology.

What does this mean for teachers?
This means that teachers can create more meaningful lessons through the use of learner-centered strategies. Many technologies now allow teachers to create custom lessons for students. Technologies, especially blogs, also allow for students to write about themselves or other topics that especially interest them. Being connected to learning allows students to make more connections and learn more.

Source

Global awareness and digital-age communication

What is global awareness?
Global awareness is awareness of communities other than our own. Thanks to the internet and other technologies, it is now easier to understand other communities, cities, states and countries.

What does this mean for teachers?
Thanks to technology, teachers can now guide their students in discovering and learning about different communities. Thanks to technologies such as Google Earth and Google Maps, you can now discover places around the world as if you were actually there. We now have access to photos and videos of different cultures around the world. I also love the idea of an elementary school classroom skyping weekly with a college student who is studying abroad, or receiving weekly videos from them.

Source

Digital Etiquette and Responsible Social Actions

What is digital etiquette?
Digital etiquette is the proper and polite use of technology. Just as we have etiquette rules for dining at a restaurant or greeting a new person, there are also some etiquette rules for the internet.

What does this mean for teachers?
Teachers need to be especially careful when teaching their students to use technology. They just need to be mindful of their students' use of technology.

Here are a couple of simple digital etiquette rules:

1. DON'T TYPE IN ALL CAPS. IT LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE SHOUTING.

2. Don't steal other people's work. And yes, taking someone else's work and changing a couple of words here and there still counts as plagiarism. Cite your sources.

3. Full wrds apprci8ted

4. If you wouldn't say it in person, don't say it on the internet. It is a lot easier to vent your feelings, gossip, etc. on the internet, but it's not the place. Keep in mind how much your words can hurt another person - again, if you wouldn't say it to them in person, try not to say it on the internet. Or even better - if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

5. Cite your actual source, not a source collector like Google or Pinterest.

6. Be considerate when using your cell phone. And no, your voice doesn't need to be any louder than normal when you talk on the phone. If possible, step outside and away from large groups when answering a phone call.

7. The person with you is the most important person at that time - not someone miles (or just classrooms) away. Don't text when you should be interacting with someone else. In many cases, it's not appropriate to text at work as well.

Source

Safe, Legal and Ethical Use of Technology

Today’s blog post (my first!) is a post on the safe, legal and ethical use of digital information and technology. Most of this information is directly from my brain or things I’ve read in the past, so take it all with a grain of salt.

First things first – how to use technology safely.

On your computer:

• Be safe with your passwords! Create passwords that are easy for you to remember but hard for other people to guess. “password” and “1234” are terrible, commonly used passwords. Try picking a proper noun (a pet, a friend, a place, or even just capitalize a hobby) and adding a number after it. You can add a special year to the end, or even just “01”. As long as it’s easy for you to remember. And never, never, give your password away, unless you trust this person with pretty much everything. Never give away your password over the internet or to someone you’ve never met face to face.

Source

• Be careful with your personal information, especially your bank account, your credit card number and your social security card. As we evolve into this technological age, we are using our computers more and more for common actions (like filing for taxes) you will have to use your personal information on the internet more often. So far, I haven’t had a problem with popular websites such as Amazon, eBay and Etsy. Two general rules of thumb is – a real website will be (for example) www.amazon.com/whatever a fake one is more likely to be www.whatever.com/amazon. If the name brand is displaced from the URL, then the website is most likely a copy. Another rule of thumb is to look for the “secure” symbol on your web browser. This is a padlock that will appear on trusted sites. It depends on your browser where (or if) this is located. For some versions of Internet Explorer, it is in the bottom bar. For Google Chrome, it’s in the top next to the web address. As far as giving your social security number away, it is required for government items such as taxes and the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Most websites will provide an onscreen keypad so you don’t have to type in your social security number. (One of the most common ways people obtain personal information is by recording/saving keystrokes.)
• Webcams, while usually safe, can be hacked. The best idea I’ve seen for this is put a little tab of tape over your webcam – that way, if you are hacked, the intruder will only see blurry images, if anything. And you can easily remove this tab of tape (folded under on one end for easy removal) when you actually want to use your webcam.

       [For one example of webcam misuse, check out this article. Keep in mind it
       is news and is not likely appropriate for children.]

• Generally, I don’t store any information on my computer that I wouldn’t want discovered if my computer were stolen.
• Be very careful on public computers! If possible, do online banking and other important transactions at home or on a personal computer. After using a public computer, make sure to log out of every website you visited and signed into. It is also a pretty good idea to delete your browser history. This is pretty easy to do, but different for every browser, so I’ll let you Google how to do that.
• Be smart with social networking. As a general rule, I don’t do anything I wouldn’t want to find on the internet. But I understand other people live differently – just be careful. What ends up on the internet is very, very hard to remove and could affect your job one day. As a future teacher, I already have my social networking profile set to very private settings, but people can still see me. Google yourself every once in a while to see what’s out; there type in “Firstname Lastname”. This is fun, because you can see what the world sees of you, and possibly discover someone else with the same name.
• If you are a teacher/camp counselor/coach, etc., be very careful about friending your students/campers/players. Generally, it’s okay once either you or they are disassociated from the institution (they graduated, you are no longer working at that camp, etc.) and they are over eighteen. Exceptions apply to every rule and this one is huge is not considered carefully.
• E-mail (and other internet) scams change all the time, but here are some general guidelines:

o   Never wire money to people, especially people you don’t know. It isn’t uncommon for people to pose as your friends and ask for money – if in doubt, call them or their family. More often than not, it was a scam.

o   Don’t give away personal information online

o   Most reputable websites and banks will never ask for personal information over e-mail. Again, this is most likely a scam. When in doubt, call the company. Better safe than sorry.

On your phone:

• Some things are better left in person – inappropriate texts, photos, e-mails, etc. almost never work out well for both parties involved. If you wouldn’t want your mother to see it, it’s probably not a good idea.
• If a friend is texting you asking for money, be wary. Recently a family friend almost wired money to his grandson, thinking he was in trouble. Turns out, someone had just hijacked his phone. Again, always call your friend or family member before sending money. A huge clue in these scams is that they almost always ask you not to tell others – afraid their parents/spouse/family will find out they need money.
• Also, your voicemail password is likely to be stored in your phone forever – for example, if you password is “1234” it will be stored as “call to 1-1234-77 (or whatever it happens to be, for me I press “1” for speed dial, enter my password, and the “7”s are me deleting messages.) So pick something other than your bank pin.

In general:

• Don’t use your electronic devices near water. This may sound silly but at the very least you could damage your expensive device and at the most, could electrocute yourself. Be smart. It can wait.
• Also, don’t text and drive. (Think – is my life more important that this text?)

My favorite new anti-texting-and-driving commercial

• And watch where you’re going when you text and walk. Check out this story:

How to use your technology legally:

• In general, I don’t condone committing crimes. But if you do, especially don’t videotape it and post it to YouTube. Or post on Facebook during the event. Over and over again, police have used the internet to solve crimes and find their victims. Don’t be stupid.
• Don’t use your technology at work. Some places will allow it, but be sure to check with your company’s social media policy before you do. It might be funny to video your friend/coworker doing something stupid, but it will most likely blow up in at least one of your faces once discovered.
• Don’t plagiarize! As soon as something is written, it is copyrighted whether or not a copyright has officially been applied for. The same rules apply online as they did in school – cite your sources and don’t take credit for things you didn’t do. Yes, it’s great to use other’s ideas, and you can see from this blog that I’m not against sharing them. But don’t take credit for what’s not yours. Generally, don’t copy/paste an entire article or tutorial, and don’t use more than two photos from any one website. And always link back to the original source – it is so easy to do!

Using technology ethically

• Don’t steal other people’s stuff. It’s just rude.
• Cite the correct source – “Google” and “Pinterest” are not sources, rather, just places that allow for a collaboration of ideas. It is okay to link to a Pinterest pin (because it sources back to the original source), but not okay to just say “I found this idea on Pinterest”, because it doesn’t take you back to the original source.
• Cite your sources!!!! It’s easy to hyperlink in almost every blogging and social media software. The hyperlink button usually looks like two links of a chain being placed together. Just highlight your link and press the button and voila! a link is created. Facebook and Etsy allow you to copy/paste a link and it will automatically become a hyperlink. If you want to do this old-school, type your URL into a word processor (Microsoft Word, Works, etc.) and press space. This will usually cause it to turn blue and become underlined. Now you can copy/paste this to your media as a hyperlink. And if you’re using html, use <a href= “yourwebsitehere.com”>Linked text here</a> to create a link. Now you have no excuses! (Also, be careful, because many html editors won’t take smart quotes.)

Well, that’s all I’ve got. Did I miss anything? Do you have questions or comments or stories or ideas to share? Feel free to leave a comment and I’ll try to get back to you!