Social Bookmarking/NETS 3 & 5

1. I chose the "American Women" exhibit because I thought I needed to learn more about women's progress and the strides they made over the centuries in the United States. This exhibit talked about great American women in history and their struggles. It even talked about infamous American women who committed crimes and were considered an embarrassment to the rest of the American women. The exhibit talked about women over six eras starting with the colonies up to today. It also talked about the long way women have come: from being treated inferior to men to today's women who are running as candidates for president.

The value of using primary sources in the classroom gives teachers and students documented facts that would not be available else where. These sources also enrich students knowledge and offers them an insight into libraries and archives that they couldn't have possibly traveled to in the physical sense.

2. The student groups that experience achievement gaps are: American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian American and Pacific Islanders, Black, Hispanics and Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender People.
The three areas that I feel might fit my teaching style in becoming a culturally competent educator are: a) Networking with parents, grand parents and other members in the community who are culturally diverse and inviting them to get involved with the school activities and curriculum. That will enhance the school spirit, instill cultural pride in students that come from ethnic groups and teach students that belong to the dominant culture, the importance of diversity and it's contribution to society. I can see myself doing that because I'm originally from the Middle East and I feel that I can reach out to other groups and families members that come from other cultures. b) Gather and organize resource materials related to culturally diverse groups to use at school. I can encourage parents and other community members to volunteer their time and resources and donate them to the school. They will see how that will directly benefit their children. I can see myself doing that because I'm fascinated with learning more about other cultures and sharing that knowledge with my students. Encouraging students to share their experience and culture with others will foster closeness and respect to diversity in the classrooms and schools. c) Networking with other schools that have a diversity and multicultural system working for them. I can get in touch with those schools and see what they are doing that is promoting cultural diversity and sensitivity. I could take that information and tweak it to make it work for our school. Each school will be unique in it's cultural diversity and finding a customized system to fit each school is a key success for developing and fostering cultural diversity. No two schools are alike just like no two students are alike.

3. I picked the age range of children between 7-10 years because I feel that this is the age range I might be teaching. I took the quiz on cyberbullying and my score was 0. I'm thinking there is one of two explanations to this low score. I'm either a Cyber Saint, or I'm so technologically challenged that I don't even know how to do most of the stuff described in the questionnaire. The truth probably lies in between. I can't imagine myself bullying and terrorizing others but I also know that I have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to the ways of technology and utilizing Internet for my benefit and the benefit of my students. Taking EDU 422 has opened my eyes to the wonders of the Internet and the vast technological resources that is out there waiting to be harnessed by teachers who want to do the best for their students. So standing here before you "I do solemnly declare that I will try harder to incorporate technology into my life and use it for the benefit of my future students and their advancement". There... that wasn't so bad.

After reading more about cyberbullying, two main subjects spoke to me: Preventing cyberbullying and Taking a stand against cyberbullying. This is a topic I don't know much about and I thought reading about these two areas provided me with information that I needed to know in facing and tackling such a problem that seems to be spreading wider among students and schools. Educating students about the consequences of cyberbullying and the privileges they will lose if they attempted cyberbullying is a good place to start. Also talking to students about the harmful ramifications that they cause targeted students will teach them empathy and make them kinder to others. The article also talks about the difference between cyberbullies and the traditional schoolyard bullies. It also talks about the limitations that schools have on disciplining students that commit cyberbullying off-campus and outside school hours and the important roles that parents play in encouraging their children to come to them when things go wrong online.

Teaching kids to stand against cybebullying is another important thing that teachers need to be involved in. For example asking the children to cool off and walk away from the computer instead of reacting to a cyberbully. Students must also learn to stand up and defend their friends that are being targeted instead of participating in the cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying is a very serious crime that is affecting many kids. Providing children with tools to deal with it will make a big difference in the way they grow up as adults.
Practicing what I've learned about cyberbullying will make me a more effective teacher and more trustworthy. Hopefully it will encourage my students to come to me when faced with a bad situation online.

4. From "Subject Access" I picked "Entertainment & Travel". I found this site to be very helpful. It brings so many resources under one site. There are different tabs under each area and then each tab has different options that you could explore. For example under "Entertainment and Travel", I found seven tabs and each tab had a list of subjects that kids could explore. I could have a project where my students need to explore their hobbies. They could get on the website that will lead them to learn more about a hobby that they want to start. Or if they want to explore a place that they want to travel to, I could ask them to look at the "Travel" tab and plan their imaginary trip from buying the tickets all the way to making hotel reservations and visiting touristic sites. The possibilities are endless and children can learn skills that they can apply in real life.

From "Teacher Helpers" I picked "Kathy's Books". I found that very helpful because of the different books that I could buy to read up on certain subjects that I need to learn more about. A lot of these books talk about technology and how to use it in the classrooms. There are also educator's guide to projects for students and teachers. For a future teacher like myself, I'm going to need all the resources and help I can get my hands on in order to add to my knowledge and experience.

5. My three top intelligences:

a) Verbal-Linguistic 92%

b) Intrapersonal 56%

c) Interpersonal 44%

I watched the video"Big Thinkers:Howard Gardner on Multiple Intelligences".

I absolutely loved watching the video. It spoke to me in so many ways. I come from a schooling system that relied only on text books to teach the subjects and it was hard for me to learn that way. I often found myself having to memorize information just to pass a test.

Mr. Gardner talked about a new and revolutionary way of approaching teaching:

• kids have different ways of learning and that there should be more one way to teach students. Different students have different strengths and that schools need to asses these strengths and tailor each teaching way to a student.
• The idea of teaching students by reading text books is a myth because that method of teaching only reaches a limited number of students.
• Rote memorization. The knowledge that is brought through this method doesn't last in the students mind for too long because the students didn't get the chance to test that knowledge.
• Experimenting with the information, analyzing the data and deducing results is what teaches children critical thinking. Students can retain that knowledge and use it in their daily lives.
• Schools cover too many subjects that have no depth. Mr. Gardner thinks our system should change and teaches less subjects but go deeper into each subject so that students can gain a wider knowledge and cement the information into their minds.
• Most important thing we could teach students before they get to college is how to think scientifically. Carry out experiments on hypothesis, analyze and deduce results.

6. I picked 1-2 grade. and the subject "Reading and Language Arts" and for topic I chose " An Exercise in Kindness".

Teaching children to show kindness and tolerance to other children is a task that every teacher should practice in the classroom. This particular exercise benefits all students but particularly students that are ostracized by the rest of the class. The story that I read on "An Exercise in Kindness" was meant to teach students tolerance and kindness to a new boy who was recently transferred to the school. The teacher read a book to the students about a story of an unpopular man who wasn't liked by his neighbors and coworkers. The story goes on to tell how things changed for the lonely man who became popular among his friends, neighbors and coworkers. The teacher made up games that kids could participate in which paid off at the end because it taught them empathy towards other students that were rejected in the classroom. I can certainly rely on such books to help me facilitate exercises. Children need to learn about empathy by putting themselves in the shoes of other children that are less popular.

7. The two questions I found very interesting on the quiz:

a) In a 2007 study, UNICEF rated the treatment of children in the 23 wealthiest countries in the world based on 40 indicators of child well-being. Which two countries received the lowest ratings? The correct answer was The United States and UK. That totally shocked me. I thought that these two countries would be the leading nations in treating children right. I picked India and China and I suspect that a lot of people would pick that answer too. I think it is very shameful for the U.S. and the U.K. to have such low rating in the treatment of children considering the amount of wealth and resources that we have at our hands. This also indicates how much improvement and progress these two so called progressive nations have to make in the field of child care and treatment.

b) The U.S. military budget is by far the highest of any country in the world. How much higher is the U.S. military budget than that of China, the world’s second biggest military spender? I picked 4 times higher and the correct answer was 7 times higher. When I picked my answer, I thought I was being too conservative but I realized I wasn't even close. It is sad that the U.S. spends so much money on military budget when most of that money should be going to the welfare of the Americans and their children. Education and social programs should be a priority in America.

8. I scored 80% on "The Netiquette Quiz".

It is very important to teach students about Netiquette because that will make them responsible and respectful online users d:-o. It will make it easier for everyone to get along and not offend others online :->. Reminding students that being on line is the same as meeting people in person is very important and that they should act and conduct themselves in such manner as if they were talking to people face to face -). It is easy to forget that you're communicating with another human being when you go on line because you don't get to see them in person. Adhering to the netiquettes is a good reminder that people should be treated with respect and dignity regardless of whether you can see them or not.