Thoughts on Citations

Last semester I completed a term paper on plagiarism, copyright, and fair use. Many of my journal resources  claimed that teachers don't know the variations of these three laws. One of the articles I came across discussed how teachers neglect to cite resources on PowerPoint presentations mainly because MLA and APA have no standard for citing sources on this type of presentation. As educators we have to practice what we preach. I believe we have to prepare our students to be responsible digital citizens. We need to teach students to give credit were credit is do and cite your sources.
Here are some of the helpful resources I came across during my research. I also posted my paper on my blog.

U.S. Copyright Office (2012, June). U.S. Copyright Office. Retrieved August 12, 2012, from http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

United States Patent and Trademark Office (2006, August 21). What is Intellectual Property.United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved August 12, 2012, from http://http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ahrpa/opa/museum/1intell.htm

Huffman, S. (2010). The Missing Link: The lack of citations and copyright notices in multimedia presentations. TechTrends, 54(3), 38-44.

Veltsos, J. R., & Veltsos, C. (2010). Teaching Responsibly with Technology-Mediated Communication. Business Communication Quarterly:Focus on Teaching, 463. doi:10.1177/1080569910385397

Zmuda, A., & Harada, V. (2008). Looking to the Future: Providing Resources to Support 21st century learning. In Librarians as learning specialist:meeting the learning imperative for the 21st century. (1st ed.). (p. 107). West Port, CT/USA: Libraries Unlimited.

Digital Storytelling Process

The first thing I love about this project is the deadlines. It is helpful for a procrastinator (aka a busy mom) to have concrete deadlines for this process. Second thing I am really excited to create something I've never tried before. I have been discussing my project plans with my coworkers. I work with some really creative people so it has been fun sharing story ideas. I have also contemplated what this process would be like for an elementary class. How would I make it work? A digital storytelling project pulls all the writing elements together. Brainstorming ideas, creating an organizer, drafting, then producing final product. If a teacher made this a group or pair project I can really see the potential for great teaching opportunities, especially for reluctant writers. You are using the writing process without realizing it because it is so much fun to produce. I am sure students being able to share the final product would be very rewarding. Plus it is an opportunity for students to build their own digital portfolio. The only trouble teaching the digital process is having the time and resources available to students to work on this project.

Week 4 Experience using Technology

The sad thing about my two years teaching experience was the complete lack of technology resources available. I have learned more about using technology in the classroom over the last three years taking my course requirements for Library Media Specialist. Through those courses I have designed lessons that incorporate technology like blogs, wikis, and podcasts. I did a collaboration project for a class two years ago where the group incorporated all three into a research project. It is safe to say for three years I have been learning how to incorporate technology. One of my true passions for the past two years is finding ways to incorporate my company's Electronic Reader into schools.  I wrote a research proposal two years ago and have a local school preparing to conduct a study in the winter. The goal of the project is using Electronic Readers to help struggling students with reading comprehension goals. Also to use the tools of the E-Reader for guided reading projects. I am truly excited for this upcoming project.

Week 3 Incorporating Literacy

Two of my favorite content areas to incorporate literacy are science and social studies. I think these are two areas you can be very creative and expose students to different types of literature. When I taught 2nd grade I used picture books, both non-fiction and fiction, to give students a background of Native American Indians. Literature is a great way for students to gain perspective of cultures and lives during different time periods. Both biographies and historical fiction novels can help students understand the living environment in a certain time period. For example, when I taught fourth grade and we studied Missouri History or more specifically the Lewis and Clark expedition we read a variety of different journal articles as well as biographies. As part of my assessment for both units students created a fictional character and documented his or her experiences in a journal. I haven't taught in three years but I can picture using technology tools like creating a blog or wiki page for students to create journal accounts. I also thought a group project using digital storytelling to describe history, culture, and events of both these time periods.
During my student teaching for a fourth grade class I taught a unit on phases of the moon. I revisited this unit last semester and incorporated both literature and technology to make it more creative and fun. Moon by Gail  Gibbons was a great starter to my unit. I added a video from BrainPop, a Webquest, and a collaborative research project with the Library Media Specialist. I modified the lessons by giving more time for students to complete tasks and the option of working with a partner. I think working collaboratively with the LMS would could both help students with goals. I think we have to remember the resources we have in the school environment collaborating with colleagues can give us great ideas to add literacy into different content areas.