Math and Calculators in the classroom.

 After having discussed the use of calculators in class on Wednesday, I decided to take a deeper look at the affect of calculators on students' maths kills

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/06/math_learning_software_and_other_technology_are_hurting_education_.html

This article talks about how calculators are ruining math. It also talks about how the common core is doing nothing to promote areas such as math and science.

A quote from the article says:

Computer technology, while great for many things, is just not much good for teaching, yet. Paradoxically, using technology can inhibit understanding how it works. If you learn how to multiply 37 by 41 using a calculator, you only understand the black box. You’ll never learn how to build a better calculator that way

It's a pretty long article, but it makes some good points, including: new text books make terrible analogies and make math confusing. Old text books are superior. It also appears that technology is being forced into the classroom, which doesn't help anyone.

cyberbullying

After our discussion on Monday about cyberbullying, I went online and found an article that gives step by step how to respond to cyberbullying. http://www.growingwireless.com/be-aware/cyberbullying?gclid=CLiGzrPWirsCFYl9OgodK2gAdg. One of the big things the article focused on how to respond to cyberbullying, was educating the parents. They suggest the parents get more knowledge about social networks. Before giving your child permission to join a social network, the suggest that you figure out how to block and protect your child from bully's. As I think this was a good idea, with good intentions, I however think a bully may not be who a parent would suspect. Often times parents are unaware that bully's can actually be one of your child's friends or someone you thought was your child's friend. Cyberbullying is seen more with technology becoming bigger. I think cyberbullying is something that needs to be taken seriously and if your child says someone is bullying them on the internet, take care of the problem immediately.

Technology Taking Over

             In class Monday we discussed whether or not technology is benefitting students. I do believe technology has provided students with useful tools for education such as search engines and the Internet. I think these tools allow students to be self-sufficient researchers. I also think educational video games and digital presentations with flexible teaching styles are good because they allow students to become engaged in learning on their own terms. However, I found a New York Times article written by Matt Richtel (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/education/technology-is-changing-how-students-learn-teachers-say.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1) that discusses teacher’s complaints about new technology.

            I think a teacher’s opinion is very important because they spend so much time with children every day and experience first-hand changes in learning over the years. The complaints are the same no matter what grade level; attention spans are dwindling due to the constant use of digital technology. Teachers have to work harder at keeping their student’s interested and engaged. According to the Richtel, “media use among children and teenagers ages 8 to 18 has grown so fast that they on average spend twice as much time with screens each year as they spend in school… there is mounting indirect evidence that constant use of technology can affect behavior, particularly in developing brains, because of heavy stimulation and rapid shifts in attention.” Technology is causing a shift in how students learn. Instead of fixing the problem teachers are adding to it by changing their lessons to accommodate the easily distracted generation.

             I think there are serious consequences such as the decline of analysis and depth in handwritten work, decline in the ability to persevere in the face of challenging tasks, poor face to face communication skills and poor critical thinking. Students have a “Wikipedia problem” because they are conditioned to have any information they want in a few clicks of a button. According to Richtel, “students’ ability to focus and fight through academic challenges is suffering an exponential decline… the decline most sharply in students whose parents allowed unfettered access to television, phones, iPads and video games.” I know I personally am very distracted by my phone and laptop in and out of class. Using these devices can sometimes make reality uninteresting.

             I think people need more skills than working devices, typing and researching. Students need to know how to figure things out for themselves and problem solve without relying on technology. We do not know for sure what will happen in the future, systems could fail, the economy could suffer, and we might not always have access to this technology. If we can just  learn everything through a screen, why would we hire teachers? And go to class? We need that social aspect at school as well. We need cannot rely fully on objects. It supports the idea that we as humans are inadequate.

The Negative Effects of Using Technology in the Classroom

In class on Monday we discussed how the Internet has impacted education. Most of us growing up had dial up internet, MSN messenger, and AOL instant messenger. Now it seems that a new smartphone is coming out every few months not to mention tablets and apps. There are so many new technologies now than ever before. We debated in class over whether or not students should use a calculator to enter 5x5 or whether they should learn the basics of multiplication. Most of us agreed in contrast to what Dr. Glassman believes and that is that students still need to be taught the basics. Like someone mentioned in class if a student just enters 5x5 into a calculator or on a laptop they won't understand the concept of multiplication. I think technology is a great thing when it is used in a way that will enhance students' knowledge. Using technology in classrooms can have some downfalls though. I found an article that highlights several of the negative effects technology can have on the classroom. It mentions how technology is being used more than ever before, but that it can do a disservice to students such as that it can take away valuable learning time, it can be overused, and it can also turn educational experiences into games for students. "If the teacher and students are not experienced with technology in the classroom, valuable time is often wasted on technical troubles." I remember when I was in high school we would have to just sit and wait while she tried to mess with the smartboard. That time was just wasted and no learning occurred. Overusing technology in the classroom can lead to a variety of problems. "Many students learn best by physically and mentally interacting with what they are studying. If most of the teaching is done using a computer, these students' needs are not being met." What many students in class were trying to say is that "technology should be used to supplement the classroom curriculum, but should not be used as the sole source of learning" as the article points out. The article also states that often times students associate computers and technology with game playing and that if teachers don't address that then students will easily get distracted and off task. The link for the article is http://classroom.synonym.com/negative-effects-using-technology-todays-classroom-4130.html if you are interested in reading more. Technology is a great thing when used appropriately and the most important and should only be used as a supplement to the classroom curriculum.

Ways to Prevent Cyberbullying

             As we have been discussing in class, bullying has become a serious issue. Cyberbullying is one of the bigger bullying issues going on right now especially with the continuing advances in technology. I believe it’s hard for many of us at our age to really connect with those youth that are being cyberbullied because we grew up in a time where there weren’t as many opportunities for this to happen. The hardest part about someone being cyberbullied is the fact that it happens behind a screen, and no one may even know that it is occurring. The bully may feel more confident in bullying because they are not directly saying it to someone’s face, and the person who is getting bullied may feel ashamed of themselves and feel that they are able to hide what is going on behind the screen. This can create difficult issues because then no one may know that bullying is going on and it cannot be stopped. Just as there are ways that people and schools are trying to prevent bullying in schools through prevention programs, there are ways to try and prevent and recognize signs of cyberbullying. This article I found at http://www.reputation.com/reputationwatch/articles/how-recognize-and-prevent-cyberbullying lists ways in which parents can try to prevent cyberbullying. Some ways in which it lists are to keep a computer in a central location in the house, joining the social network themselves, monitor the children’s use of the internet, and teaching them to keep their personal information private. One idea that I thought was interesting was working with the teachers and other parents. This would allow parents and teachers to have a relationship and if they are able to find another student who is cyberbullying, they can work to put an end to it together. With the dramatic increase of cyberbullying and the fact that technology will only keep advancing, I think it is important to keep parents and teachers aware of ways that they can prevent any kind of bullying from going on. 

Who is to Blame

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/11/27/mother-of-bulliedgirlpushesforantibullyinglaw.html


In class we have talked a ton about bullying. Why is there bullying: is it part of the human condition or is it due to individuals' need to exert power? Also, there was an issue about if bullying is just people being mean or if being mean was a separate issue. I am glad we are talking about bullying because as future educators, we will definitely have this as a problem in our classrooms.

As a future educator and hopefully future parent, I think that it is important to teacher a child that bullying is bad and it is good to stand up to a bully. This article is about a mom suing over her twelve year old daughter's feather and the mother is blaming two girls who supposedly bullied her daughter. I do not mean to be rude or disrespectful to the mom or her daughter, but blaming her daughter's suicide on just the two bullies is wrong.

We know that there will be bullying and we can't change that fact, but we can equip our children with tools to combat bullying. If the mom had talked to her daughter and tried to see if anything was bad at school and if the mom had built up her daughter's confidence or if the mom had talked to her daughter about bullying, then maybe this tragedy wouldn't have happened. We know that there are many victims out there, so we should talk to children openly and tell them to have the inner confidence to stand up for themselves. The blame can't always be put on the bullies, we should equip our children to battle the bullies and stand up for themselves.

5 Ways to Prevent Bullying

5 ways to prevent bullying according to this website:

We’ve been talking a lot about how to prevent bullying.  So I decided to search around on the web and see what others people are doing to prevent bullying.  I came across the website edutopia which provides a lot of resources to school related topics such as bullying.  One of the articles I found gives five practical ways to prevent bullying…..

#1. Recognize and Respond

                It’s important to indicated what is considered bullying and to inform others to be aware of it when/if they encounter bullying.  The site suggests making an action plan to follow if you are ever bullied.   This will help you to have an idea of what to do if you are ever in the situation.

#2. Create Dialogue

                I think that most issues can be resolved when there is dialogue.  I think this is especially helpful if there is a 3^rd party, such as a mediator, who can facilitate dialogue.

#3. Encourage Bystanders to Become “Upstanders”

The more people who stand up for those being bullied, and do not bully back, the easier it will be to end the bullying.

#4. Foster Safety and Inclusion

                Environments that are welcoming and non-judgmental will encourage acceptance rather than fighting/bullying.

#5. Educate Your Community

If we all work together, then chances of ending bullying will be greater.

I think my favorite suggestion is #3 to encourage bystanders to become “upstanders”.  If we see bullying and we don’t stand up for the victim are we not at fault for the bullying as well?

Aziz Ansari Against Bullying!

Yesterday I was bored, you know hanging out with the home dogs and decided to watch Aziz Ansari's new stand up comedy on Netflix.  It was really funny.. I mean, he's always funny. During the show, he mentioned how he watched the documentary, Bully.  He said he was really touched from this movie, which I can definitely relate (I feel like we all can). He talks about how these mean bully kids need to be stopped and that the school staff seemed to have done nothing about this issue.  I could not find a clip of him talking about this issue from his stand up comedy show, but I did find this clip of him talking about this issue on Conan,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pClqS1gJT8E. The two are very similar. Start it at 1:35 to hear the two talk about the issue of bullying. It is really funny but it has some seriousness to it!

I think it's awesome that he is speaking out about this ongoing issue that many students (people) face.  I hope that this will eventually help reduce the amount of occurrences! 

Technology in Elementary School.

Here is an article that gives suggestions on how teachers can incorporate technology into their elementary school classrooms. After reading this article, there were definitely some good suggestions. Most schools try to focus on incorporating technology into their high school and maybe middle school. This shows that technology can be used even with elementary students. I liked how they warned teachers to use technology to enhance the material they want to teach. They further explained that technology should not be used just to say they used technology. They also mentioned how you can give students clickers so that the teacher can see what they are learning. I have never really thought about doing this for younger students. But it really does make sense. You are increasing the active student responding that will keep the kids engaged... and they will probably have fun doing it too! It was also nice that they mentioned that at Forest Lake Elementary (the school the article is written about), none of the technology equipment had been broken beyond repair! I think this is something that a lot of teachers may be worried about. Even the younger kids value technology and want to take good care of the equipment.

Cyber bully stats

I found an article online reporting some statistics about cyber bullying. Cyber bullying is a lot more prevalent than I think a lot of people realize. The article mentions that over half of all adolescents are cyber bullied and 1 in 3 have been threatened online. These stats are a little alarming to me just because of how high they are. It is sad to know that things like this go on in the technology world, but I think the biggest problem with it is that no one knows what exactly to do about it. That worries me because I don't think it is going to ever stop any time soon.
http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying-statistics.html

Bullying Prevention Grades 6-12

We all know that bullying is a major issue for people of all ages, from the day we are born until the day we die, we will all discover bullying. Even when we are out of school and don't think that we would be bullied by adult peers, it happens, it is a way of life for people. We have discussed in class how anti bullying is included in early education, but there is little to no discussion of it in upper level grades and especially in adulthood. Especially in high school bullying becomes mainly cyberbullying and it is when parents aren't able to see it along with teachers. Teachers and parents are not as open to being on the social media sites that students use and therefore may not even notice that the bullying is occurring. The link that I'm providing is to a curriculum for teachers to use for grades 6-12 nd it mainly focuses on cyberbullying.

Cyber Bullying - A Prevention Curriculum for grades 6-12 - Hazelden

This program strives toward achieving the following results:

• Raise students’ and parents’ awareness of what cyber bullying is and why it is so
  harmful.
  
• Equip students with the skills and resources to treat each other respectfully when
  they use cyber technologies; and help students know how to get help if they, or
  others they know, are being cyber bullied.
  
• Equip students with the skills to use cyber technologies in positive ways.
  

Cyberbullying vs. Traditional Bullying

In class we discussed the differences between cyber-bullying and traditional bullying. This website (https://sites.google.com/site/cyberbullyingawareness/traditional-bullying-vs-cyberbullying) talked about the differences and similarities. I found the most interesting part to be that cyber-bullying has longer lasting negative effects than traditional bullying. Traditional bullying is done face to face which is much harder to do than behind an online profile. Because of the anonymity of the internet it's easier for bullies to being meaner, more aggressive, and have a bigger impact. The website mentions that while traditional bullying can only happen during the school day, but cyber-bullying can be all day everyday. It doesn't have to stop. That's terrifying, I can't imagine logging on regardless of what time it is and potentially having a nasty message waiting for me every time. I think with more and more technology the worst cyber-bullying will become.

I wonder that if a cyber-bully gets caught cyber-bullying if they will learn their lesson or just resort to the traditional at school bullying?

Cyber Bully or Cyber Meany?

When trying to define the word "bully", I had a hard time distinguishing it from just being mean. I think bullying might be a severe case of meanness. A good point was brought up in class, that for it to be bullying it means it has been going on for an extended time rather than just one incident. I definitely consider cyber bullying to be bullying rather than just being mean. If the victim is feeling emotionally abused, tormented or attacked, it is up to the victim to decide if it is just another kid being mean or if they are bullying. 

Here are some definitions I found from a Psychology Today article that I thought had some pretty good distinctions between being rude, mean, or bullying.

Rude = Inadvertently saying or doing something that hurts someone else.
From kids, rudeness might look more like burping in someone’s face, jumping ahead in line, bragging about achieving the highest grade, or even throwing a crushed up pile of leaves in someone’s face. On their own, any of these behaviors could appear as elements of bullying, but when looked at in context, incidents of rudeness are usually spontaneous, unplanned inconsideration, based on thoughtlessness, poor manners, or narcissism, but not meant to actually hurt someone.

Mean = Purposefully saying or doing something to hurt someone once (or maybe twice.)
The main distinction between “rude” and “mean” behavior has to do with intention; while rudeness is often unintentional, mean behavior very much aims to hurt or depreciate someone. Kids are mean to each other when they criticize clothing, appearance, intelligence, coolness, or just about anything else they can find to denigrate. Meanness also sounds like words spoken in anger—impulsive cruelty that is often regretted in short order. Very often, mean behavior in kids is motivated by angry feelings and/or the mis-guided goal of propping themselves up in comparison to the person they are putting down. Commonly, meanness in kids sounds an awful lot like:
• “Are you seriously wearing that sweater again? Didn’t you just wear it, like, last week? Get a life.”
• “You are so fat/ugly/stupid/gay.”
• “I hate you!”
Make no mistake; mean behaviors can wound deeply and adults can make a huge difference in the lives of young people when they hold kids accountable for being mean. Yet, meanness is different from bullying in important ways that should be understood and differentiated when it comes to intervention.

Bullying = Intentionally aggressive behavior, repeated over time, that involves an imbalance of power.
Experts agree that bullying entails three key elements: an intent to harm, a power imbalance, and repeated acts or threats of aggressive behavior. Kids who bully say or do something intentionally hurtful to others and they keep doing it, with no sense of regret or remorse—even when targets of bullying show or express their hurt or tell the aggressors to stop.
Bullying may be physical, verbal, relational, or carried out via technology:
• Physical aggression was once the gold standard of bullying—the “sticks and stones” that made adults in charge stand up and take notice. This kind of bullying includes hitting, punching, kicking, spitting, tripping, hair-pulling, slamming a child into a locker, and a range of other behaviors that involve physical aggression.
• Verbal aggression is what our parents used to advise us to “just ignore.” We now know that despite the old adage, words and threats can, indeed, hurt and can even cause profound, lasting harm.
• Relational aggression is a form of bullying in which kids use their friendship—or the threat of taking their friendship away—to hurt someone. Social exclusion, shunning, hazing, and rumor spreading are all forms of this pervasive type of bullying that can be especially beguiling and crushing to kids.
• Cyberbullying is a specific form of bullying that involves technology. According to Hinduja and Patchin of the Cyberbullying Research Center, it is the “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices.” Notably, the likelihood of repeated harm is especially high with cyberbullying because electronic messages can be accessed by multiple parties, resulting in repeated exposure and repeated harm.

Bullying verus Being Mean..

We started out our discussion today in Dr. Glassman's class and he asked if there is a difference between being mean and being a bully and like some other people stated I think there is. I don't have an exact number but bullying is repetitive aggression towards someone while being mean is taking your frustration out on someone once. I found an article that sets up two scenarios one showing a girl (Sophie) being mean and another showing a girl (Isabella) putting another girl down and singling her out on purpose.
The article then goes onto talk about how scenario one isn't bullying because this girl gets mad at another girl for trying to sit with her. The girl was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sophie was mad about a lot of things that had gone wrong that day and she took her anger out on this girl. She was trying to single her out this girl just happened to come up and wanted to sit with her while Sophie just wanted to be left alone. Later Sophie apologizes for being mean and explains it was wrong of her to take her anger out on this girl. The second scenario is about a girl Isabella who purposely puts this girl (Chloe) down because Chloe "stole" Isabella's lead role in a play and is becoming more popular than her. Isabella decided that she would start spreading rumors about Chloe and make sure that no one wanted to be her friend. Isabella took pride out of Chloe being sad. I think this article does a great job of showing the difference between someone who is being mean because they are angry about something and someone being mean and deliberately becoming a bully.
The article then goes on to talk about how bullying is portrayed differently than someone who is just being mean and a bully usually bully's someone because they want to feel better about themselves. Someone is mean usually because they are having a rough day and our taking their frustration out on someone but not on purpose and they usually feel bad about it at some point. Bullies don't usually feel bad about their actions.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/teen-angst/201211/mean-vs-bullying

Why Integrate Technology Into The Curriculum?

In class today, Professor Glassman asked us what place does technology have in school. I agree with a lot of what you all were saying, that there should be a curriculum that incorporates technology into the classroom but it should not be used without a foundation of learning the concepts of whatever lesson is being taught.As far as the calculator debate today, students should definitely not rely on a calculator, the basics need to be learned first and simple math should be able to be done in our heads or on paper.
Technology should not always be used as shortcuts in life and I think it's important to apply that when teaching with technology. We should want to use our brains still and not completely rely on machines and technology. (Has anyone seen WALL-E?) I thought of all the technology they had and how it made them lazy and dependent on it.

Anywho, I wanted to look into why it is important to integrate technology in the classroom and came across this article. I liked this article because it gives an obvious reason that is a great argument on its own. The fact that our world is advancing in technology, requires us to get involved. Learning how to use technology is beneficial in keeping current with the world and our studies. The article states that when properly used, technology will help students acquire the skills they need to survive in a complex, highly technological knowledge-based economy. The article also says that technology changes the way teachers teach, offering educators effective ways to reach different types of learners and assess student understanding through multiple means.

Do you agree? Or can technology in the classroom pose as a distraction? Should teachers be required to teach with technology and be familiar with how to use it?

Bullying Turns to Tragedy

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/16/us/felony-charges-for-2-girls-in-suicide-of-bullied-12-year-old-rebecca-sedwick.html?_r=4&

When I read this article I was heartbroken at the tragedy of a 12 year old girl taking her own life. The thing that disgusted me was when I realized after seeing Bully that this is a widespread problem and not just an isolated incident. The truly despicable thing is that the attacker showed no remorse after stalking, harassing, and mentally torturing the victim. The thing is that as future teachers, it's hard to say what is appropriate and what's inappropriate as far as intervention in the situation. Everyone jumps at the chance to blame the school, but nobody knows what to do. When Mr. Glassman asked us in class what, as teachers, we would do about bullying, I suddenly realized how difficult of a situation it is.

Thanks to the internet, cyber-bullying like the case in this article, is impossible to remain anonymous. The part that sucks is that putting something on the internet is nearly permanent, and can be a constant reminder of the hurt even after the insult is first thrown. Luckily, the police were able to apprehend this young girl, and charges will be pressed against her. But, I think that the responsibility for cyber-bullying lies with the parents, despite the fact that it's usually a conflict between students. Schools don't have access to what goes on at home on computers or even cell phones.

However, the bigger problem of bullying in general, and at school in particular, is a big issue. I think it's important that schools have qualified counselors who are invested in the children's lives, and are able to freely talk to children and parents and find out what's going on, and help settle disputes between students. Also, it's important that teachers and administrators monitor the students during common free time, like lunch periods or recesses. Cooperation between the faculty and parents is crucial, and having a strong, well functioning PTA is a way to create the sort of community that can change situations, so if a PTA is lacking, it's important that the faculty cultivate better relationships.  These aren't revolutionary ideas, they've been done, but schools that lack in any of these areas, are doomed to suffer at the hands of bullies.

How to Deal With a Bully

In class, Dr. Glassman faced us with a very tough question that arises in the seemingly endless bullying cycle. In the midst of all the campaigns to stop bullying, we have children who are being hurt, so how do we actually deal with a bully? This includes being the victim and being the parents of the victim.
We all know how tough this situation is, especially since it can be so hard to deal with a loved one who is being bullied. Like we discussed in class, the first thing we want to do is to beat the snot out of the bully, which is very irrational. And as we have heard before so many times, although it is a natural reaction, it is not the reaction that will give us the most beneficial results. It will only "fuel the fire" so to speak, leaving both parties guilty of hurtful actions and where both the victim and the bully are seen as equal, which is not why you would have acted in the first place.
From personal experience and from observing others, I can attest to the fact that bullying comes from some kind of personal problem or self esteem issue. Most "bullies" or even plain mean people do what they do because they have some kind of issue. Even if they are doing it just for kicks, that definitely hints at something wrong with their behavior/attitudes. They need some kind of release for their personal issue, and as we know from modern psychology, projection (taking inner conflict and taking it out on someone else) is a common issue that is used when dealing with problems within ourselves.
Therefore, the best thing to do with a child/family who has to deal with bullying is just to stick it out. As parents, be supportive. Although we did talk about how this is not always possible, it is important. It is important to make home feel like a place where the child can talk about what is going on, vent their feelings and emotions, and receive love and support and positive encouragement. Home or being with family is an important safety net for a child who feels as though they are being bullied. As a child, the most important thing to do is what we have been told from the beginning: ignore it. Bullying is a problem with self-esteem for the bully; they are trying to project their inner feelings onto others. The best way to stop it? Don't let that happen. The best thing for a victim to do is to keep confident and make it seem as though the bullies efforts are a waste of time and they are not making you feel any different about yourself. From what I have noticed, this usually ends the bully's ways and can in truth reveal their behavior to others.
Here are some further tips on ways to keep your self image positive and how to ignore bullies:
http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/emotion/bullies.html#

My Love of Technology

This is the topic I waited to discuss throughout this year; it’s too bad that we don’t get to spend a lot of time on it. Unlike with testing and teacher evaluation, we as future teachers can actually enact changes in how we use technology in our classrooms. Technology in classrooms is such a widely growing idea with so many fantastic variations in different school districts. I work in educational IT and have seen firsthand the many uses teachers can find for technology. I’ve seen teachers jump for joy when they are told they are getting a cart of computers because they know that it opens so many doors for their students. I’ve seen portals and wikis become places of real education and communication between teachers and parents. I’ve seen students create their own textbooks instead of using a prescribed book. I’ve seen blended learning classes give students a chance to learn in more comfortable environments to them instead of the traditional learning setting. I am such a fan of getting technology into classrooms so that students can experience the excitement of learning in ways that really connect with them.

I also know exactly what it takes to get technology into the classroom. I understand the amount of money and time that go into creating an environment technology friendly. I spend my entire summer working to make sure that my school district is ready for the next school year. But I think it is worth the investment in our students’ futures. Our job as educators is to prepare them for what lies ahead of them. And what lies ahead of them and what is currently surrounding them is a culture where being technologically literate is a must. We owe it to our students to teach them the skills they will need to function in the 21^st century.

This website from the Department of Education [ http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010/teaching-prepare-and-connect ] has the most encompassing look at why technology in the classroom is something that should be in every school. It provides the benefits and goals for our nation when it comes to educational technology. While this is a very technical description, there are hundreds of websites available with apps, programs, ideas, and lesson plans all about incorporating technology into the classroom from teachers themselves. The amount of information about technology is staggering and it is just waiting for each of us to take a look.

Education vs. Technology?

Although it was a brief discussion in class today, technology is something that is impacting everything in society today. Particularly, the way students are learning and being taught. The problem we may be facing, is the possible "war" that is clashing between our technology and our education. After listening to some comments about integrating the two or picking one over the other there can still be some foggy territory. I think the basic structures and foundations of learning concepts still needs to be put into place. Our math class example showed knowing basic multiplication before using a calculator, which most of us agreed is necessary. Otherwise, I think we all start becoming mindless robots who rely way too much on devices. Personally, we are already well on our way to the robot state of mind and if we throw  very basic education techniques like this away we can forget any type of individual learning and creativity. However, technology is a very popular and useful aspect all over today's society. Therefore, I'm not against incorporating it into schooling. An example being, in my high school there was a biology class that had each student being lent an I-pad from the school that they used for class. Along with the I-pad the class was taught by one teacher, in two locations. Meaning, half of the classes the students watched on a projector screen and half of the time the teacher was there. This is just one way that technology is becoming more of a factor in learning. I found a link with a page full of articles and pictures talking about the different ways education and technology are merging together and how it seems to be working. http://www.usnews.com/education/technology-in-the-classroom

All and all, technology is nothing to be ignored by our education system. However, we can't ignore the basic foundation tools to learning that have brought all of us to where we are today.

Bullying: it's not just physical

In the movie about bullying, it was mentioned that bullying isn't typically physical occurrences.  Bullying has a lot to do with hurting someone mentally and emotionally, especially between girls.  The American Psychological Association wrote an article discussing cyberbullying....which is a form of bullying that is done via the internet.  Kids are making facebook pages dedicated to making fun of people, or they are making fake accounts and posting mean things on other peoples facebook accounts. 

The article, which can be found here: http://www.apa.org/topics/bullying/online.aspx , mentions that cyberbullying doesn't often hurt those involved unless they are also enduring the bullying in offline contact as well.  This makes sense to me because there would seem to be no escape from the bullies.  I think the kids that get past bullying are kids that are able to have some sort of break from the stress and who have a strong family/friend support system.  It's definitely important to be aware that not all bullying is going to result in stolen milk money or a black eye; mental scares can take just as long to heal (if not longer) than physical scares. 

Ways to Cheat in School

When we we talking about cheating in school, I started looking into different ways that kids cheat.  I found a website that shows 27 different ways that students cheat on tests.  Needless to say, there were some pretty creative ideas that go waaay beyond the typical "write it on your hand" method.

The website is: http://www.wikihow.com/Cheat-on-a-Test-Using-School-Supplies
Some of the suggested ways to cheat include: writing answers on a small piece of paper and hiding the paper under your watch; taping answers on the back of your student I.D.; writing answers on tissue paper (an individual pack) and putting it back in the pack for use during the test.

creative ideas. sneaky sneaky kids. 

I'm not sure which I find the most sad though....how easy it is to google information on how to cheat, or that these students feel the need to cheat in order to be successful.

Bully - the Movie

In class this past week, we watched the movie, Bully. This movie really shows the impact of bullying and its consequences. If bullying is not stopped throughout schools immediately, more children will experience this awful abuse. This article, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/movies/bully-a-documentary-by-lee-hirsch.html?_r=0, talks about the movie and also expands on what the movie focused on. One of the excuses school administrators and parents have when a kid is bothered by another is "well, kids will be kids". This article talks about how this excuse is just that - an excuse. It's not a credible reason at all for what goes on in schools.

The movie Bully

In class this week, we watched the movie Bully. I think everyone should watch this movie at least one time in their life because it will change them. This movie really does show the harsh reality of how the effects of bullying can really impact someone's life and the others around you. I have found an article that talks about the movie and how the administration handles the situations terribly wrong. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/movies/bully-a-documentary-by-lee-hirsch.html?_r=0 . Watching the families whose child had committed suicide deal with losing a child was just heart breaking. No family should have to deal with their child being bullied. In the movie, the discussion of how to deal with a bully came up many times. We also discussed in class in our own opinions how we think we should deal with bullying. I believe each situation in different. If my child were to come home beat up and bleeding, I would be making an immediate phone call to the school and request to sit down and talk about it. I would also want to talk to the kids mother who beat up my son. On the other hand, if my son came home and said someone was calling him names, I would say sticks and stones and explain ignoring the bully and not showing that he is not upsetting you will make him go away. Everyone has a different opinion on how bullying should be handled.

System-wide Bullying Prevention

In class last Wednesday, Dr. Glassman posed the question asking why focus so much on preventing bullying in elementary school and why these programs don't continue to high school. In this article this particular school system has began a system-wide anti-bullying program for students of all ages (http://www.stategazette.com/story/2018406.html). It goes to discuss the specific program they have decided to use which is OLWEUS, a program being used in The United States, Canada, and Norway.

At the beginning of this article it mentions that until the age of technology bullying mainly occurred on the playground and was something that kids "grew out of." This made me start thinking about Dr. Glassman's question on why we focus so much on elementary school children. I think the answer is quite simple, educators are trying to teach them at a young age that bullying is not okay. I agree with starting bullying awareness and prevention in elementary school but I think many schools forget that anti-bullying steps need to be taken regardless of the age of the students. If the elementary programs are vigorous and informative, then middle school and high school students can just be given refresher courses and reminders. Bullying prevention needs to occur throughout the duration of a students education.

How bullies get away with it.

After class and watching the clips from this week, it made me realize all the effort it takes into being a bully.  From the clips we saw that the one bully only had to shake the other kids hand and never saying sorry.  The principle went upon herself to assume that's what it was representing, even though if she wasn't there they never would have shook hands.
From the article on http://www.gapraconnect.com/why-bullying-still-exists-in-zero-tolerance-schools-how-to-explain-it-to-parents/, it gives many things that bullies do in order to succeed and to be able to continue.  If we know this about what they are doing.  Why don't we look for that to be happening then?  I feel if we looked for those things to be happening we could cut down on the amount of bullying that is happening in schools.
As for the discussion in class about imagining a society without bullying, it does seem very hard to do.  Reason being is because like stated in class, we live in a world where we all have experienced this behavior and without it just doesn't seem possible with all the differences in the world.

Bullying in the News

We have been talking so much about bullying in class that I decided to search the headlines throughout the United States for cases of bullying in schools currently. I can across one account I found really heartbreaking, a teen, Levi with Autism is being bullied in his hometown highschool. Another student decided to film him having an allergic reaction to his medication and posted it online. Soon it went viral and the whole school had witnessed this. Instead of protecting Levi when his parents spoke up, the school said that Levi was bringing this bullying onto himself in due part to his disorder. His parents are still fighting for him, but as far as the school is concerned, the video does not qualify as bullying.

Dr. Glassman's question about what we would say to our own children if they were bullied is still on my mind. I have no answer to the question. It's one that enrages and saddens you. As a teacher, these situations may be even more complex and close to your livelihood. If we all agree that this is wrong, how can we change it?

Bullying Of Teen With Autism Provokes Controversy In Small Town -
http://huff.to/1ekJnph

What Advice Should Parents Give?

When Dr. Glassman asked the class what they would do if their child was being bullied, my mind just drew a blank. I never thought about the parents' point of view when it came to bullying or even think about the possibility of it happening to one of my kids. I guess it's because most of the time, I would imagine that the victim wouldn't want to get their parents involved and would feel too ashamed to tell them about it.

After thinking long and hard about the topic and reading some of the actions in this article (http://www.education.com/reference/article/actions-take-child-involved-bullying/), I think the only way for a bully to stop bullying is if they themselves decide to do so. Getting parents or teachers involved could just make the situation worse and can't really provide much help. It might be hard, but the victim of bullying has to stand up for him or herself and let the bully know that they're not afraid of them. Fear and any sign of weakness is what drives the bully, and unless the victim himself puts a stop to it, the bullying will just gradually grow.

I do think that telling a very close friend could help though because if the victim is not able to stick up for himself, then at least their friend could. So if my children were being bullied, I would try to give them the confidence and support they need to stick up for themselves. If they have many good friends, I would advice them to stay close to them and walk along side them because a bully would not be able to handle a big group.

When The Victim Gets the Punishment for Fighting Back

An article about a teen expelled as risk to other students: http://q13fox.com/2013/05/15/bullied-to-the-brim-olympia-teen-files-complaint-with-u-s-dept-of-ed/#idc-container

The teachers and administration always have a significant impact on the culture of their schools. If the school has a bullying problem, that kind of culture is also likely to be reflected on all levels of the school hierarchy. The bullying problem starts with having an extremely shallow understanding of interpersonal violence, how it starts, and how to manage it.

Lots of bullies are skilled in the art of escalation, most bullying starts with verbal or mental abuse. These kids often come from pretty fucked up family structures and have lots of 'knowledge' on social manipulation and how to push people to act out. Bullies in modern America aren't primarily bruisers looking to fight, they're expert manipulators instead.

They depend on the fact that most people won't resort immediately to physical violence in response to their tormenting and they also benefit from their understanding that all authorities are basically there to hand out random punishment like any drunken alcoholic father. The whole bullying game depends on the victim actually being the first to lash out. That way they get the added pleasure of seeing their victims get the hammer from whatever authority figure resides above them as well.

Bullies can do all of this because we, as a culture, simply do not want to acknowledge verbal forms of violence. This is most likely because authoritarian hierarchies are themselves built on the inherent threat of violence. If we acknowledged that hard truth on a mass scale, that authority is often nothing more than the threat of violence, all authority figures everywhere would suddenly become de-legitimized.

In an authoritarian system, it's also only the authority who has the right to perpetrate actual physical violence, so, you see, a victim of bullying who finally escalates to physical violence as a form of self defense is actually the rightful recipient of punishment, in a messed up sort of way. The bully is just fine, the bully gets that he was meant to bully, the victim never gets that he was meant to be dumped on because he's different, or small, or smart, or stupid, or disabled, or a racial minority, or whatever.
So until we decide that we're going to have a hard look at the structures that we believe are right in our society, we'll continue to have schools that are nothing but cesspools of mediocrity and barely suppressed disorder, and we'll have to deal with the occasional retaliation from our victims as well.

How Parents Feel When Their Child is Bullied...

I found an interesting article about how parents feel when their children are bullied. Dr. Glassman touched on it a little in class about how his child was bullied and how upset it made him feel. I think it is important to discuss how parents feel when their children are bullied. Some parents feel helpless in some ways because all parents want is to protect their children and do what ever they can to make them happy.  The article goes on to discussion how parent's relationship with other adults can diminish relationships especially the relationships with the bully's parents.
 A counselor discusses how it is important for a parent to remain calm and reasonable when helping their child with a bully and while it is hard try to not let your anger influence your actions. Some parents have to go as far as sending their child to a different school to stop the bullying and this just doesn't seem right. No child should have to switch schools because someone is being mean to them but that is how hurt some children get from bullying. Another suggestion the article talks about is how parents who go up to the school ranting and raving about what is going on with their child accomplish nothing and you have to be level headed when you talk to administrators at the school. This can be hard I am sure because as a parent you are so angry with how another child is treating your child.  One final suggestion the article talks about that I found interesting is that parents can try to possible prevent bullying by teaching their child to stand up for themselves. This doesn't mean to go around hitting other children if they say something mean but it does mean that if someone says something to them they don't like they should ask them to stop. Or say they don't think that is nice, sometimes when children are bullied it is because they don't stand up for themselves so the bully continues to beat them down.
http://www.livescience.com/13854-bullying-problem-hits-parents-hard.html

Do Schools Cause Bullying?

There was a lot of discussion on Wednesday as to whether or not schools actually cause bullying. Several members in the class proposed that bullying is actually caused from low self esteem or confidence in individuals and I completely agree. I think Dr. Glassman does make a good point though in that the school environment has a huge impact on bullying, but I disagree with him that schools actually cause bullying.

If we think about it, many times bullies do it because they have deeper psychological and emotional issues and it is easier to bully someone else than to deal with their own problems. Nothing has to be worked out because the bully always gets his or her way.

I found this fantastic article that brings up many fascinating insights into why children and teens bully. The link for the article is http://www.empoweringparents.com/Why-Do-Kids-Children-Teens-Bully-and-How-to-Stop-Bullies.php#ixzz2lEvuwQjo. This article asks readers to think about how many passive bullies they have ever seen. It points out that bullies usually control others through verbal abuse and insults and by making people feel small. Bullies are very negative, critical people who begin bullying usually when they are 5 and 6 years old. People become bullies maybe because they were bullied by their older brothers and sisters, they have a parent or other adult family member who uses aggression or intimidation on others or because they have a diagnosed or undiagnosed learning disability that inhibits their problem solving and social skills.Whatever the reason may be, by age 10 after they have been using bullying to solve their problems for several years, bullying becomes engrained in these children.

An example of a bully given by the article is "He doesn't know how to get along with other kids, so he's usually not trying to play with them. When you look out on the playground at recess, he's probably alone. He's not playing soccer or kickball with the other children; he’s roaming around the perimeter of all the interactions that take place at school on a daily basis. And whenever he's confronted with a problem or feels insecure, he takes that out on somebody else. He does this by putting somebody else down verbally or physically. A child who bullies might also throw or break things in order to feel better and more powerful about himself. When the bully feels powerless and afraid, he's much more likely to be aggressive, because that makes him feel powerful and in control. That’s a very seductive kind of thing for kids; it’s very hard for them to let go of that power."

The article also addressed the adolescent and gang mentality of bullying in high school. It indicates that there are peer groups that attack other kids verbally and emotionally just like gang mentality Many times the children who become targets are those that are shy and passive...those who don't socialize very well like Tyler and Alex in the movie Bullies that we watched on Monday. As we saw in the film bullying is traumatizing for kids who are the targets. The author of the article believes that children should be taught about bullying throughout grade school. He says they need to learn what it means, how to resolve it, and how to deal with a bully. If this is not taught, kids who are targets will think there's something wrong with them, and this vicious cycle—because that is truly what this is—perpetuates itself. Ways to combat bullying given by the article are to
1. Teach Your Children about Bullying from an Early Age
2. Create a Culture of Accountability in Your Home

3. Teach the Skills Your Child Needs to Learn

4. Hold Children Accountable if Your Child is Bullying Others in School Through Giving Consequences

 

This article is full of great ways in thinking about bullying. I highly recommend reading it. It doesn't portray that schools do not affect bullying, but I think it makes the point that schools do not cause bullying. One is a bully because of deep individual experiences and how they develop psychologically and emotionally. Schools themselves do not make children bully, but they can discourage and make a stand against bullying. It is not schools alone though that will completely get rid of bullying. Parents often times have the biggest impact on their children's lives and so they need to be on the same page as the schools if bullying will ever be stopped.

 

 

Do bully prevention programs work?

                  Over the course of the past two weeks, we have been talking in class about bullying. Bullying is an extremely serious issue in today’s world, significantly in the school systems. How do we put an end to this epidemic of bullying? Should we talk to the principals and parents? Do we hold classroom discussions on issues of bullying? Many schools, especially in Ohio, have implemented anti-bullying or bully prevention programs to try and educate the students and staff on bullying and how to end it. However, there have been many studies showing that these prevention programs are not helping to alleviate bullying, but informing students on how to be a bully thus increasing bullying. The article I found at http://www.preventionaction.org/reviews/bullying-prevention-works-you-have-keep-doing-it/5929, says that bullying prevention can work, but in order to make it work it you have to keep educating about it. The article explains that since bullying has become such a prevalent issue, many schools have taken it upon themselves to create programs that help to create better relationships between peers, and also promote secure support systems among friends. It also offers a study and analysis that was performed on some programs, showing the best ones were ones that, “adopt a multidisciplinary perspective and focus on improving social and interpersonal skills and modifying attitudes and beliefs.” The analysis also found that they could identify little things that could be tweaked in certain programs to create outcomes that schools desire in terms of ending bullying. Conclusions include that in order for these programs to actually work, the presentation and enforcement of these programs need to be maintained. So even though people argue that these programs are not working, it is possible to have programs that work if they are maintained and enforced. To me, there should be no reason that these programs are not maintained in schools. There should be some kind of reminder every day in the classroom about how bullying is not okay, and that we should always treat others how we want to be treated. With how much bullying has become an issue, I think it is pure laziness if these programs are not being maintained in the schools to achieve desired results of putting a stop to bullying. 

Advice to Give to A Victim of Bullying

Our conversation yesterday about advice you would give to your child if they were being bullied, sparked my interest. There were many different opinions, and some of us agreed rather strongly against some of the ideas of our peers. In this article (http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/if-a-child-is-bullied-parents-offer-advice-on-when-and-how-to-intervene/) there countless examples of what advice parents should give to children when they are being bullied. The main thing I learned from this article is that every case of bullying varies, no two kids are the same. I don't think we can generalize the advice we would give to our children. Every bully is bullying for a different reason and every victim is a victim for a different reason. I think to give our child good advice we must know our child, school, and in some ways the bully.  The key to success is to be informed and involved. In the article there are many instances that parents went right to administration, or the site in which the bullying was occurring. There was not a single instance where the parents of the victim went to the parents of the bully, a strategy I believe to be ineffective. In the end I think my advice to my child would be to not retaliate and I would go to the administration and see what could be done.

While I was searching the web today for recent accounts of bullying I found an article that is about a girl who was in court after her best friend killed herself due to bullying. The girl who killed herself was 12 and she jumped off a tower at an abandoned concrete plant because her supposed best friend bullied her in school and then continued to bully her on the internet. This entire article is heart breaking but the one of the worst parts is that Katelyn Roman denied that she did anything wrong. She told her best friend Rebecca Sedwick to " drink bleach and die"! The judge said the bullying began because Rebecca started dating Katelyn's boyfriend.  Katelyn threatened to fight Rebecca in school and then continued to bully her online.  

Although the charges against  Katelyn Roman were dropped, I still think she is guilty. I think that it is hard for us to talk to kids about situations like this but, if she ended up being guilty maybe it would put out a better message to kids who have been bullied about people who do the bullying. With this young girl to basically just get a slap on the wrist I feel like it reiterates the fact that we were talking about in class and that is that people seem to blame the victim. 

Bullying And Laws

Watching the film Bully made me upset for several reasons. One of the reasons is that it seemed like there was a pattern in every case we saw. The schools were not responding to the bullying that was going on. As a result many of the victims committed suicide and there was a girl who brought a gun to school, endangering many students. 

I begin searching for laws that pertained to bullying. In this article, it states, "Although no federal law directly addresses bullying, in some cases, bullying overlaps with discriminatory harassment when it is based on race, national origin, color, sex, age, disability, or religion."This article defines bullying  and also highlights the school's responsibilities to addressing each type of bully cases.  

I begin to think, so what happens to the students that tormented another student to the point of taking their own life? Ultimately the decision to take your own life is solely that of the person who is attempting suicide but what factors influenced that decision should be considered in every case. What about those who repeatedly tells another student to kill themselves? Should they be held accountable if proven that there partook in the bullying? What do you guys think and to what extent should punishment be? Maybe if there were harsher consequences people will begin to see just how much influence words and bullying can impact someone else, maybe not.

I think cyber bullying laws are having greater consequences because with texts, social media, and emails, there is hard evidence. I remember hearing about a woman who posed as a young  boy online and bullied her daughters ex-bestfriend to the point of her suicide. Here is the article to that story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/26/AR2008112600629.html

The Only Way Out is Through....

Bully the movie was heart-wrenching. I fought tears as I watched the children try to fight off the bullies. I couldn't handle the stories of the youth who committed suicide; that is not how people should die, and my heart breaks for those who undergo so much pain and torment that suicide becomes an option.

I, too, was bullied through  my years in school. Not to the extent that I wanted to die, but the bullying left me feeling very alone and very value-less. Most of the bullying stemmed from my appearance. A girl even told me once that she would shove me down a storm drain...if I could fit. That was in elementary school. This transformed into more emotional abuse when I made my way into a group a friends that would later hurt me deeply. By my senior year, I was eating lunch in a classroom with three other students to avoid the pain the lunchroom caused. 

It was difficult. At the time, this pain was the worst thing ever. I thought high school was supposed to be the best time of my life. 

I was wrong. Making it into college has transformed me for the better. Words fail when I try to explain how my experiences now exceed anything I experienced in secondary school.  

What I learned in bullying? There are good people and bad people. Sometimes, it feels like there's more bad people. But like Robert Frost says, the only way out is through. As a teacher...as a parent, the best thing I can do is bring awareness to the issues in the classroom and bring hope that there's something better waiting. I believe that if we wait long enough, better will come. 

I also had to learn my value. Some students discussed confidence. That is essential in overcoming bullying. We as people, at any age, need to be confident so the words hurt less. "You're fat" is met with "But I'm beautiful" "You're a nerd" is met with "Thanks for noticing that I study so much." 

A Young Adult writer reflects on his past abuse...

http://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers?feature=g-high-rec

What I Would Say to a Bullied Child

                In class today we were asked what we would say to our children if they came to us and told us they were being bullied at school. I wasn’t really sure at the time what to say, but I found an article written by Janet Leham (http://www.empoweringparents.com/Is-Your-Child-Being-Bullied.php) that suggests nine steps for parents of bullied children and it gave me some ideas. First, I would let my child tell me everything they want to say about it before I start asking questions. Some children might not want say much, and if that happens I would ask my child what they would want me to do to help first. Then I would make sure they knew I was on their side, and that I am there to listen, support, and love them. I would ask my child what happened and how it made them feel. If they are being bullied verbally, I would ask them what the bully said to them word for word. Most kids get picked on because of something that sets them apart from other children. If this is the case, I would remind my child that people need to be different, or else the world would be a very boring place. I would tell them that they should be proud of what makes them special, and whoever is bullying them is insecure about their own characteristics or jealous of my child’s. I would remind them that I love and accept everything about them, and so do the rest of their family and the real friends they have. I would point out what my child excels in that not every child does, and ask him how it makes him feel when he accomplishes those things. Chances are, they will have a more confidence and be proud of themselves. I would tell them to think about all these things next time they are being bullied and feel for the bully because they are struggling with personal issues as well. I would have them ask themselves, “is what this kid is saying to me even going to matter years from now when I have the potential to move on to bigger and better things?” If they were being physically bullied, I wouldn’t tell them to be physical back unless they felt like they were in serious danger. Other than that, I would tell them fighting back would only bring them down to the same level of the bully and they are better than that. You should always be the bigger person. I would tell them that bullies love to get an emotional reaction, so if my child stays out of their way and stays calm in the situation, they might give up on it.  If my child accepts what I have told them while acting like it does not affect them but the bullying still continues, I would ask my child if they felt comfortable telling the bully how they felt and kindly asking them to stop. If they didn’t feel comfortable or the bullying continued again, I would probably contact someone who works at the school who can watch out for the fighting and give proper forms of punishment. If it still continued, I would contact the child’s parent. As the article says, I think one of the best things to do is to not make your child feel like it is their fault for being bullied. I would avoid asking any questions like “what did you do that made you get bullied” or “what are they picking on you for.” I think this makes it sound like the child is bringing the bullying upon themselves when it is actually the bully who has the problems and the child who is the victim.