Assignment 5.9 Reflection

I currently teach my classes online and this video project was perfect for what I do. I would and have used video projects like this for kids to create newscasts, short films, music videos, etc. The kids love using video technology to learn. For now on I would also use video technology like this to teach my kids more. I want them to be able to have more free reign in their learning. In “How To Use Digital Story Telling In Your Classroom”, Jennifer New talks about how kids should be able to have more freedom to create their work, but to supervise them closely because some might not know how to work with freedom. (New, 2005) I feel that using power point and such are out of date. It is time to up it more and start implementing this type of stuff into the classroom. Another great thing that I learned was about cyber bullying. I absolutely hate bullying and was excited to learn about this topic more and to create a project on it. One of the things that stunned me was that more than 1 in 3 kids have experienced some sort of cyber bullying. (Cyber Bullying Statistics, 2010) Another startling statistic is that the victims of cyber bullying or just bullying are more than likely to get a low self-esteem and their chances of suicide increase. (Cyber Bullying Statistics, 2010) There are also about 160,000 kids who miss school everyday because they are afraid to be bullied, even cyber bullied. (Facts and Statistics, 2009) It was all very startling to me because I did not know the statistics when it came to cyber bullying. Knowing about all of this new information and being a teacher who teaching their kids online, I feel that I have more knowledge and a duty to teach my kids about proper etiquite when it comes to being online, as well as any other media device. This is my opportunity to be able to reach out to the kids more and tell them what I have learned about cyber bullying, its effects, and prevention. When we were originally given the tasks to pick a topic, we all immediately agreed that cyber bullying was the way to go. We all love the internet and other media devices. We all have wittnessed and experienced cyber bullying. We felt that this would be a great way to use our passion, previous knowledge, and creativity to learn new information so that we could create an amazing project. This is the first time that I had to work with a group in an internet setting. This made it very challenging for me because I was not face to face with my members. I am used to be in person and discussing everything. But we did a great job utilizing other resources to communicate with each other. We created a facebook page, wiki, texted eachother, and emailed eachother frequently. I also had a problem with control. I am used to taking on most of the workload and getting it done. I had a hard time letting others have control and completing certain tasks. I had to learn to work with my team members as an actual collaborate team. In the end we all worked very well together and did very well. This experience has taught be to be patient, trust others, and to work more as a team. I feel that I will be able to handle group projects a lot better in the future because of this past project. After working on this project I am curious about some things. How are we to actually assess that every person is putting in the right amount of effort as compared to everyone else? I know that we give eachother certain tasks, but when it comes down to it, some are having to do more than others. I know in my case I felt that I was being lazy because my task was at a later time. Another question I am curious about is if we should copyright all our information that we put on the web? I never thought about it before this project. I feel that it is a good idea but I am not sure if it is something we should do with all work. This is my first time being in this major. I was originally in educational leadership, but decided to switch majors. While being in educational leadership, I have obtained 86 hours of internship hours. These hours were shadowing 3 principals from 3 different schools. I have one principal that I am using as my main mentor and I have been getting most of the hours with her. I feel that I have learned how to talk to kids, as well as how to read kids more, just by talking to them. As a principal intern I was able to sit in on a lot of discipline conferences and also was able to conduct some on my own. It was a great learning experience. Not only have I shadowed principals, but I was also given the opportunity to implement some of my action research that is required for my degree. I have been successful with my implementation and have been commended many times by not only my principal, but my staff as well. This action research that I am referring to dealt with overhauling our in-school-suspension program. Our program was way too lenient and the kids had no problem getting in trouble and having ISS. They actually would rather be in ISS as opposed to the classroom. This is why I felt I should redo our program as an action research project. Since I have changed majors, I need to come up with a new action research project that will reflect my major. I am not sure at this point what I should do but I will come up with one soon. As for my previous one, it has been a success for the most part. The things that I like about it are that most kids no longer want to go to ISS and the kids are being held more accountable now. The thing that I would change is the person who runs it. We need someone who is tough, not a softy, which is the person we have. Bibliography Facts and Statistics. (2009). Retrieved from Make Beats, Not Beat Downs: http://www.makebeatsnotbeatdowns.org/facts_new.html Cyber Bullying Statistics. (2010). Retrieved from Bullying Statistics: http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying-statistics.html New, J. (2005, December 2). How To Use Digital Story Telling In Your Classroom. Iowa City, Iowa, United States.