Monday, October 24, 2016
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Privacy Laws: CIPA/COPPA
When it comes to the
internet, it can be a great resource but also a great threat, especially to our
young people. Consequently, there are laws enacted to help protect youth from
online harm. Two of these privacy laws include COPPA
and CIPA. Enacted in 1998, COPPA is the Children’s Online Privacy
Protection Act that has web sites require permission from parents for
individuals 13 and under to share personal information (Cobb County School
District). For example, to open an account on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest,
Tumblr, Kik, and Snapchat an individual must be 13 (Nominet: The
Social Age Study). This law is in place because the personal information of
those 13 and under needs to be protected so they are not naively giving out
their information on strange websites or social media without parent consent;
however, many kids can lie about their age to still create an account.
Statistics estimate that approximately 59%
of children have already used a social network by the time they are 10, and
that Facebook has the most users under the age of 13 (Nominet: The
Social Age Study). In fact, “52 per cent of 8 to
16-year-olds admit they ignore Facebook’s age restriction” (Nominet: The
Social Age Study). Lastly, COPPA tries to make sure that websites requiring
information from children can be viewed by the parent and informs them who else
can view the information.
CIPA is the Children’s Internet
Protection Act which was put into effect in 2001 (Cobb County School District).
This law is in place to put restrictions on public and school
libraries to ensure they have a policy of Internet safety for minors. Moreover, CIPA calls for blocks and filters
on any web sites that may be inappropriate or harmful to students. If a public school
or library does not follow the CIPA regulations, their funding will not be
provided (Cobb County School District). The rationale for this law resides in the fact that students and minors should not have access to potentially explicit internet content in a public place such as a library or school where they should be safe from threats, including online threats. Researchers have suggested that the average age at which children have first viewed some sort of pornography is eight years old, largely due to the widely available internet access (Focus on the Family).
Consequently, as teachers we need to
be aware of these privacy policies and the discussed rationale providing explanations for their enactment. As educators in the digital age, we need to do our research
to make sure that the online resources we are going to use in our classroom are age appropriate and abides these laws and parent consent. For example, a
potential teaching resource I could use in my future classroom would be Quizlet. Quizlet
allows users under 13 to sign up but they have special restrictions for that
student such as requiring a parent email address. However, as the teacher I can
create an account and set up classrooms and play Quizlet Live with students, which is
a great study resource. This is great for schools with one to one technology.
Also, Discovery Education is
a great free online resource for science teachers like myself to use because they
can find STEM based lesson plans to use in the classroom. I also would want to take it upon myself as a teacher to educate my students about the potential threats of the online world and how to also be a responsible internet user. There are a lot of resources online of informational videos I can use to talk to my students about CIPA and COPPA such as tes teach that has a whole slide share set up with presentations and videos for both students and teachers describing the laws.
References:
Cobb
County School District: http://www.cobbk12.org/centraloffice/instructionaltechnology/IL/Web2_0/cipa_coppa_overview.pdf
Nominet:
The Social Age Study
Focus
on the Family: When Children View
Pornography http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/sexuality/when-children-use-pornography/when-children-view-pornography
Monday, September 26, 2016
Is grade retention actually of benefit to students?
A common educational belief is the act of holding children back also referred to as grade retention. Grade retention is keeping a student back for another year in the same grade because the student is not keeping up with or accomplishing the curriculum requirements for that grade. The idea is that holding them back will give them more time to master the material before moving on instead of just automatically granting them social promotion. However, this brings me to the question of is grade retention actually of benefit to the student, long term or short term? I question this because it is of such large cost in time and money for both the student and the school. Consequently, there ought to be empirical evidence supporting schools’ decisions to consider grade retention over social promotion.
My initial opinion was
that it would be more of a long term negative effect on the student over a
positive one if he or she experienced grade retention. According to Martin (2011),
both early and recent research has concluded that grade retention has largely
negative outcomes. There have been a lot of studies that have shown that grade
retention is highly correlated with poorer academic achievement and low
involvement in post-high school education (Martin, 2011). Furthermore, studies
have shown that a higher dropout rate is seen among students that are held back
because it appears students actually learn more if promoted (Deschenes, 2001). In
fact, the dropout rates among students that are held back
are usually higher than those that were promoted even though they exhibited low academic achievement as well. A study was conducted including data from 3,261
high school students and they found that even after considering the various
demographic factors among the participants, there were statistically
significant effects of grade retention on the students (Martin, 2011). Areas
studied were self-concept, homework completion, motivation and amount of school
absences (Martin, 2011). Martin’s (2011) study showed that these factors were negatively
affected by grade retention, along with decreased self-esteem among students
that were held back; however, peer relationships did not appear to be statistically
affected.
Other studies have also found negative effects on student academic performance, post-grade retention. For example, Vandecandelaere et. al. (2016), found that when retained in first grade, students' math scores were affected even more negatively than in if retained after kindergarten. This suggests to me that maybe the older the students get, the worse the effects of grade retention. Lastly, some research has supported that short term students that are held back may illustrate positive effects because at first they feel advantaged in a sense because they are older than the other students and may have some prior experience with the material. Nevertheless, these “advantages” only appear short term and then disappear (Klapproth et. al., 2016). When talking to my Cooperating Teacher about the topic of grade retention, he said they generally don't hold students back in their middle school; however, he can think of a few students that were held back and when they got to high school a majority of them actually dropped out and did not come back. We also discussed the influence of parents on grade retention and he said from his experience it seems the parents usually push more for the student to be held back then the school does. He said that he can maybe see the short term effects of grade retention being seen as positive but overall he said "I am not a strong proponent of grade retention as I am not sure that it is actually of benefit to the student long term, especially once they are in middle school or older. I could see holding a student back in kindergarten or first grade potentially being helpful for the student, but after that I would say social promotion is ultimately a better way to go."
Other studies have also found negative effects on student academic performance, post-grade retention. For example, Vandecandelaere et. al. (2016), found that when retained in first grade, students' math scores were affected even more negatively than in if retained after kindergarten. This suggests to me that maybe the older the students get, the worse the effects of grade retention. Lastly, some research has supported that short term students that are held back may illustrate positive effects because at first they feel advantaged in a sense because they are older than the other students and may have some prior experience with the material. Nevertheless, these “advantages” only appear short term and then disappear (Klapproth et. al., 2016). When talking to my Cooperating Teacher about the topic of grade retention, he said they generally don't hold students back in their middle school; however, he can think of a few students that were held back and when they got to high school a majority of them actually dropped out and did not come back. We also discussed the influence of parents on grade retention and he said from his experience it seems the parents usually push more for the student to be held back then the school does. He said that he can maybe see the short term effects of grade retention being seen as positive but overall he said "I am not a strong proponent of grade retention as I am not sure that it is actually of benefit to the student long term, especially once they are in middle school or older. I could see holding a student back in kindergarten or first grade potentially being helpful for the student, but after that I would say social promotion is ultimately a better way to go."
Overall, I have determined that personally and
based on evidence, grade retention is a common educational belief and practice
that is not founded in evidence. It appears that grade retention long term does
not benefit the student, and the net effects of being held back are highly
negative. In discussion with peers I have heard many differing views on grade
retention, and majorities were in favor of grade retention. From personal
experience, one of my friends was held back in middle school and she end up
dropping out of high school and then later getting her GED. Consequently, if I was
having a conversation with someone with an opposing, non-evidence based opinion
to mine regarding grade retention, I would politely refute them and point them
to the studies that I have read about. I would also outline factors such as
dropout rates, self-concept, school absences and homework completion and how they
are negatively influenced by grade retention.
References:
Deschenes S., Tyack D., & Cuban L. (2001).
Mistmatch: Historical Perspective on Schools and Students Who Don’t Fit Them.Teachers
College Record, V. 103, N. 4p. 525-547.
Martin,
A. J. (2011). Holding back and holding behind: Grade retention and students'
non-academic and academic outcomes. British
Educational Research Journal, 37(5), 739-763
Vandecandelaere,
M., Vansteelandt, S., De Fraine, B., & Van Damme, J. (2016). The effects of
early grade retention: Effect modification by prior achievement and age. Journal of School Psychology, 54, 77-93.
Klapproth, F., Schaltz, P., Brunner, M.,
Keller, U., Fischbach, A., Ugen, S., & Martin, R. (2016). Short-term and
medium-term effects of grade retention in secondary school on academic
achievement and psychosocial outcome variables. Learning and Individual Differences, 50, 182-194.
Friday, September 9, 2016
Post #3: Blogs in the Classroom
As a future educator, I would definitely try to take advantage of the online community that the blogging technology helps create. I could see myself using it how blackboard is used at Grand Valley. I can post and discuss each weeks agenda and assignments, along with reminders for both the students and the parents. I like how the blog resembles a Facebook or Twitter because this would hopefully mean that students would be comfortable and confident with using this technology. As the teacher, using this to post information directly can help me better communicate to the parents about what is going on in class more often than just conferences or emails. Furthermore, students could use it as a place to be reminded of or see each days events in case they forget or were absent. They could also use it to spark class discussion or post questions they may have about assignments.
As a science teacher, I can see myself using this a lot instead of having students do written work. I would use it for students to write discussions or reflections after labs and experiments so all the students can benefit from reading others' work. The publicity of information would allow a sense of collaboration in my class that is a key component of a scientific community that would not necessarily be accomplished through written assignments, Word, or Google Docs. Also, a blog keeps a more personalized record or timeline of a person's work throughout the year than Word or Google Docs does, and also allows other students' to read and comment on posts. Consequently, some features that would be useful in my future teaching would be the ease at which information can be shared to a large group including both students and parents, the network or sense of community it would create in my classroom and the pride and ownership students' would take in their work since a blog is a public and creative record of their thoughts. Another advantage of blogging over Google Docs or Word, is the fact students' can embed videos and pictures that enhance the information and depth of their post. Some constraints I may experience could be technology issues, slower responses to questions than if it were in person or lack of face to face discussion and interaction. The use of technology is important; however, it is also important that students are able to communicate professionally in-person and not just online. Therefore, I would need to make sure that I still facilitate discussion in my classroom and not just rely on the online discussions.
As a science teacher, I can see myself using this a lot instead of having students do written work. I would use it for students to write discussions or reflections after labs and experiments so all the students can benefit from reading others' work. The publicity of information would allow a sense of collaboration in my class that is a key component of a scientific community that would not necessarily be accomplished through written assignments, Word, or Google Docs. Also, a blog keeps a more personalized record or timeline of a person's work throughout the year than Word or Google Docs does, and also allows other students' to read and comment on posts. Consequently, some features that would be useful in my future teaching would be the ease at which information can be shared to a large group including both students and parents, the network or sense of community it would create in my classroom and the pride and ownership students' would take in their work since a blog is a public and creative record of their thoughts. Another advantage of blogging over Google Docs or Word, is the fact students' can embed videos and pictures that enhance the information and depth of their post. Some constraints I may experience could be technology issues, slower responses to questions than if it were in person or lack of face to face discussion and interaction. The use of technology is important; however, it is also important that students are able to communicate professionally in-person and not just online. Therefore, I would need to make sure that I still facilitate discussion in my classroom and not just rely on the online discussions.
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Post #2: Learner Analysis
One of my favorite TV shows growing up was Full House which aired from 1987 to 1995 (Full House). It is about a San Francisco family whose mom passes away, and then the three daughters are raised by the dad and his two buddies. The oldest of the daughters is Donna Jo Margaret or D.J. Tanner, and D.J. is the character whom I will be conducting a learner analysis on.
The socioeconomic status of a student may be important to know because it can play a large part in the type of student the child is, and whether or not the parents are involved. In the case of D.J. Tanner, she is part of the white, middle class. Her and her family live in a suburban to urban part of San Francisco, and she is raised in a clean, positive and family-oriented environment. One unique part of her story though is that after her mom passed away, she and her sisters are being raised by three men instead of the typical mom and dad family dynamic that she used to have. Nevertheless, D.J. Tanner really excels in school overall, and she has many qualities typical of a first born. In fact, D.J is an honor student who only once received an "F"in science (The Full House Wiki). Consequently, she would be considered an engaged, college-bound student who did and wanted to do well in school without distracting others or misbehaving an abnormal amount. Many times throughout the show she even attempts to encourage friends and family members about school related things such as doing well on homework or exams. In the fifteenth episode of season seven, D.J. actually had a nightmare about being late to and doing poorly on her S.A.T. exam. This episode reminds me of myself because stressing out over college entry exams and having nightmares about them would definitely be something that would happen to me. Nevertheless, in the show D.J. graduated from Bayview High School, and then went on to attended U.C. Berkeley (The Full House Wiki).
In light of this technology class, for this student I could probably use some sort of google classroom or blackboard. D.J seems like a very organized girl with involved parents, and having an online classroom would probably be of benefit to her and her interested father. I also think that D.J. would benefit from one on one technology, blogging and or voice to text technology. My strategy with her would be to use technology and her creative side and love for music, to enhance her classroom performance by getting her interested in technology that she could also use for her music hobby such as having her own blog. Beyond school, D.J. also enjoys music, family and friends and horses (The Full House Wiki).
Season 3, Episode 2: D.J. goes back to School
References:
The Full House Wiki: http://fullhouse.wikia.com/wiki/D.J._Tanner
Full House (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_House
The socioeconomic status of a student may be important to know because it can play a large part in the type of student the child is, and whether or not the parents are involved. In the case of D.J. Tanner, she is part of the white, middle class. Her and her family live in a suburban to urban part of San Francisco, and she is raised in a clean, positive and family-oriented environment. One unique part of her story though is that after her mom passed away, she and her sisters are being raised by three men instead of the typical mom and dad family dynamic that she used to have. Nevertheless, D.J. Tanner really excels in school overall, and she has many qualities typical of a first born. In fact, D.J is an honor student who only once received an "F"in science (The Full House Wiki). Consequently, she would be considered an engaged, college-bound student who did and wanted to do well in school without distracting others or misbehaving an abnormal amount. Many times throughout the show she even attempts to encourage friends and family members about school related things such as doing well on homework or exams. In the fifteenth episode of season seven, D.J. actually had a nightmare about being late to and doing poorly on her S.A.T. exam. This episode reminds me of myself because stressing out over college entry exams and having nightmares about them would definitely be something that would happen to me. Nevertheless, in the show D.J. graduated from Bayview High School, and then went on to attended U.C. Berkeley (The Full House Wiki).
In light of this technology class, for this student I could probably use some sort of google classroom or blackboard. D.J seems like a very organized girl with involved parents, and having an online classroom would probably be of benefit to her and her interested father. I also think that D.J. would benefit from one on one technology, blogging and or voice to text technology. My strategy with her would be to use technology and her creative side and love for music, to enhance her classroom performance by getting her interested in technology that she could also use for her music hobby such as having her own blog. Beyond school, D.J. also enjoys music, family and friends and horses (The Full House Wiki).
Season 3, Episode 2: D.J. goes back to School
References:
The Full House Wiki: http://fullhouse.wikia.com/wiki/D.J._Tanner
Full House (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_House
Thursday, September 1, 2016
About Me
My name is Courtney Paige Shear. I have a wonderful mom, dad and brother whom I live with in Fowlerville, Michigan when not I'm not going to school at Grand Valley. Fowlerville is a small, farm-dominated community, and I have loved being raised there and spending my summers there when home from school. At home, I also have a dog named Bullet. He is a Schnoodle, which is a mix between a Schnauzer and a Poodle and he is the first and only pet I've ever had!
This upcoming year is my fifth and final year here at Grand Valley. I have gone to Grand Valley for the entire duration of my college career and have loved it. I have met a ton of great people here, and also have been able to pursue my dream of being a High School Science teacher. I love all the sciences; therefore, I am pursing an extra endorsement for the integrated sciences so I can hopefully teach chemistry, physics, biology and Earth science at the secondary level. My actual major and minor are Biology and Earth Science for secondary Education. I tutor for Grand Valley and also tutor for families privately. In the future I see myself teaching at a smaller school maybe somewhere around the Grand Rapids area.
In my minimal free time, I love to paint, play volleyball (both indoor and beach), hangout with friends and eat good food! I also love exploring and being outdoors. Hence, the photo of myself to the right of me posing next to some bamboo on a family vacation to Maui, one of the Hawaiian Islands! Some fun facts about me is that I have visited over half of the 50 states, and I have been collecting rocks since I could walk.
I am really looking forward to this class because my experience with planning and using technology in the classroom is very minimal. I have grown up using mainly pencil and paper in the classroom, and at this point all of the technology available to me as a future teacher is both exciting and intimidating. I have done some teaching in various forms, such as subbing and being a Structured Learning Assistant at Grand Valley, and I have used ELMO technology, PowerPoint and some class wide quizzing/testing technology. I have also used Blackboard to post documents and assignments for students when I was a biology facilitator.
I am really looking forward to this class because my experience with planning and using technology in the classroom is very minimal. I have grown up using mainly pencil and paper in the classroom, and at this point all of the technology available to me as a future teacher is both exciting and intimidating. I have done some teaching in various forms, such as subbing and being a Structured Learning Assistant at Grand Valley, and I have used ELMO technology, PowerPoint and some class wide quizzing/testing technology. I have also used Blackboard to post documents and assignments for students when I was a biology facilitator.
Yours truly,
Courtney Shear
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