Presentation

I plan to do my presentation on metamorphosis. I would like to demonstrate the process and the different types of animals that do so. I think this topic has a lot of potential for a good presentation and many images that could go well with it.

Scratch Modification

The scratch idea that I am modifying has the potential to meet the following content standards.

SC.O.2.1.4
demonstrate curiosity, initiative and creativity by observing, classifying, comparing and analyzing natural objects in the environment

SC.O.2.2.2
identify the structures of living things including their systems, and explain their functions (e.g., wings for flying, fins for swimming, or roots for support and obtaining water).

SC.O.2.3.1
identify parts of systems and identify how they interact with one another.

Students are asked to observe a real aquarium, taking note of the way each creature interacts with the environment and other creatures. They then are asked to use scratch to recreate a sea creature or fish from the aquarium and demonstrate its movement. Here is an example of this project created by a second grader.

I modified this scratch project by slowing down the motion of the seaweed and a couple of the fish, and by adding to and changing the direction of the bubbles and the turtle. I also changed the ocotpus so that he didn't swim upside down. Here is the scratch project after I made these changes.

Blogging with 5th graders

I enjoyed blogging with the students from 5th grade. I was a little suprised by their writing, spelling and grammar abilities but I may have had too high of expectations. I am not really sure of what level they should be on, but it seemed as if many of the students were typing in the way they would also text or IM. I am sure this is to be expected from a blogging assignment, but think proper techniques should be taught and assigned. This can be addressed through contructive criticism, left in a comment on the students posts. In these comments mispelled words should be corrected through proper use and offering of synonyms. This shows the students how to fix the mistakes they have made in a positive way. I would love to use blogging in my future classroom and feel it has many benefits for all participants.

Scratch idea

I would like to do this idea for a scratch presentation. I like this one because the students get to first learn about fish and study an aquarium, then recreate one. I feel it has a good amount of learning and that the scratch project would be an appropriate way to reinforce the knowledge.

Henry Jenkins and Convergence Culture

Covergence culture is the expressing and collaborating of ideas, entertainment, and information through different forms of media and across many different platforms. One of the primary examples of this given by the speaker was Youtube. Things like the matrix, which has products available for computers, game systems, the internet, movies and more, are evidence to the way media is starting to change. Through these collective pools of information culture is becoming more advanced in that it has the intelligence of the group rather than the individual. Technology available online has enabled people to participate in the creating of media in a way that is being recognized as very powerful.
The implications of convergence culture on education are simple. It must become more inclusive to these changes culture and communication or it will be ignoring a huge part of the world today. It is very important that our educational system strives to remain as up to date as possible and I think the idea of not preparing children and teens how to ethically utilize available resources is a scary thought.
Many schools ban social networking or blogging sites from their computers and do not allow students to use them at school. I definetly do not agree with this policy and feel that it is the obligation of the school to model responsible use of these sites rather than banning them. As talked about in the vidoe, there is a great amount of potential power in these sites and tools and the things students create with them have the possibility of reaching a global audience. Also, as the world changes to become more technological and more of a convergence culture, we have new skills that must be learned in able to understand and be a part of it. We must teach these skills in the classroom as we would any other skill.