Chapter 3: Classroom Behavior

Improper behavior is always a problem area in the classroom. Cushman and the student co-authors discuss in this chapter the different aspects of punishment and behavioral issues that need to be addressed in the classroom.

I was shocked that the students said that they wanted something to do at the beginning of the class. The students said that if a teacher is not prepared that they should have something to give the students to keep them occupied while they wait for the teacher. I am really surprised with this since most students don’t want work.

How to help someone use a computer

"If it's not obvious to them, it's not obvious." I did not relate to this because I've had to deal with someone who didn't get, but I related to it because people do this to me all the time when they are trying to teach some new form of technology. "Don't take the keyboard. Let them do all the typing, even if it's slower that way, and even if you have to point them to every key they need to type. That's the only way they're going to learn from the interaction." I am guilty of doing this to people because I am really impatient, I guess that's not the best idea.

I think the best advice I can use from this article is the part about letting people try the process on their own. Since our presentation is about interactive whiteboards, I think the best way for my peers to experience the technology is just to play with it.

Copyright and Fair Use LR

It is completely ridiculous that the PTA cannot show a movie to a group of little kids. They seem to only be using it for educational purposes. I would also think that since the PTA bought the movie that they could show it to whom ever they want. I mean, I show my friends and family the movies I bought and it is perfectly legal. What makes this any different? It is the PTA’s movie and they should be able to show it to whom ever they want, even if it’s a group of little kids.

Copyright and Fair Use SR

· It is really interesting that a teacher can pull resources off the web and let her students use them, as long as the projects do not go back online. I am slightly confused on why this can happen.

· I would have never guessed that teachers can put student’s work up on a website without the student’s consent. Even in middle school my parents had to sign paperwork saying that the school could do this to my projects.

· I didn’t know that teachers could use materials from online without permission and it is acceptable. As long as the teacher does not post her project with the materials in it on the web then it is perfectly fine.

· Disney movies are not allowed to be used in class without consent, but a frontier movie can be. This is bizarre. I just don’t understand why this is the case.

· Teachers are allowed to digitize movies as long as it’s for educational purposes. Why is this not the same for Disney movies?

· It’s interesting that teachers can buy machines to break through the protection code on movies and DVDs. This does not seem fair to the companies that put the protection on the media in the first place.

· I thought the only way you could use music and songs is if it was the length of the free version on ITunes or something. Why can the teacher provide this whole song for the student?

· It makes sense that people cannot sell something that they made with fair use policies. It’s not fair to make money off something you did not fully make yourself.

Web 2.0 Educator

Cool Cat Teacher Vicki Davis is definitely a different type of teacher. I read many of her unique blogs and realized she is always going. She finds information about all the latest technology and posts it online for people to use. The IPhone applications were very interesting. Not many teachers would ever think to look at cell phone technologies to use in a classroom, but not Davis. She finds anything and everything to use in her classroom that would be beneficial to her students as well as her self. The break for beauty was inventive and makes logical sense. I do not think that I would use as much technology as her but it is nice to see all the different options I have.

Chapter 2: Respect, Liking, Trust, and Fairness

Being fair to all students is important as a teacher and after reading some of the statements of the students I realize what they see. I could never have guessed that students see a teacher pushing some students more to succeed than others. It is awful to think that teachers do that.
I guess I have never seen teachers push the “good” students more because I was one. I can’t believe that teachers would favor one student over another and push them more. I would hope that I am fair to everyone and that I would push students equally and expect the best out of everyone.

Chapter 1: Knowing Students Well

Chapter one of Fires in the Bathroom discusses the fact that teachers should get to know their students and the many ways for teachers to accomplish this. This most interesting fact that I read was that students actually liked receiving questionnaires from their teachers.
As a student myself I did not like the questionnaires that my teachers gave me. The questions were ridiculous and seemed irrelevant to school and myself. I was not thinking about giving a survey or anything like that, but after reading the students’ thoughts I realize that as a teacher a questionnaire will be helpful, as long as the questions are relevant.