Evaluating Information

Evaluating information on the web is something that every frequent internet user should know how to do. Some things to pay attention to when searching are, who published the site? If a credible publisher published a site it is more likely to be legitimate. Another question to ask yourself is, is the author biased? If a scientist in support of cancer research writes an article supporting it, it is safe to say that he is biased because he is so involved in the issue. Something else to think about is, can the information on the site be verified? It is good to check up on information you find on the web on other sites. If the information seems true across the board then it has been verified. If contradicting information is found then the site is probably not legitimate. A last thing to check on a site would be when was the site was last updated. If it was recent then whom ever runs it keeps up on what is current. If it hasn't been updated for years then the site probably doesn't have the best information. 

Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers are great classroom tools. They come in many different types like charts, storyboards, writing webs, and venn diagrams. KWL charts are a great tools when starting a new lesson. Children discuss what the Know, what they Want to know, and what they have Learned in the end. Story boards help children to plan out writing or better understand a book they are reading in class. Writing webs also help with planning out reports and papers. Venn diagrams are great in discussing similarities and differences of about almost anything. In conclusion graphic organizers are great to spice up a lesson. They help kids get a deeper understanding and can be created on a lot of Microsoft software. 

Useful Websites For Educators & Students

Useful websites for educators and students are a great resource in the classroom. Sites that support teachers and what they do are excellent for running a classroom with a little, necessary, help. Some great site for teachers in specific content areas are:

www.ncte.org (National Council of Teachers of English)

www.nctm.org (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics)

www.nsts.org (National Science Teachers Association)

www.ncss.org (National Council for the Social Studies)

www.cec.sped.org (Council for Exceptional Children) 

Children too can benefit from great websites. They can find help for things they are struggling with or find neat educational games to play for practice. They can find sites to help them do projects or great ones to use as search engines for research projects. 

Some great sights are:

 

www.trisystemsinc.com/kids (Great search engine for kids) 

www.busyteacherscafe.com/kidsite.htm#General%20Websites (Lists tons of  kids websites)

CopyRight In The Classroom

CopyRight in the classroom is an important point of discussion. CopyRights protect work that people have created from being taken and used by other people, for a magnitude of reasons. Above all taking someone's work and claiming it as your own is plagiarism and is punishable by expulsions and lawsuits. Fair use depends on how you use someone's work. Simply speaking, you cannot gain from using someone's work. Ideas can be put in a paper you wright but the ideas themselves must be referenced. Sharing material with your classroom for educational purposes is sheltered under fair use, with references to who's work it is. 

Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office is a great tool for classrooms and for the average individual. Personally I have Microsoft Office for Mac, which is a little different then your average Microsoft Office. It took some getting used to, as I'm sure, Microsoft 2007 took getting used to for those of you that have brand new software. Microsoft Office, for Mac, includes Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Entourage, and as a bonus MSN Messenger. Microsoft Word is great for writing papers and taking notes. It's an excellent program that I, personally, use everyday. Children in the classroom can also use this program to help them with their spelling when the write papers, and to keep track of how many words used. Microsoft Excel involves spreadsheets and is great for math class. It can help with computations of almost any sort and organizes data very well. It is also great for graphing of all kinds. This could be useful in a science classroom to view data from an experiment. Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation based program. It is excellent in place of a poster board project. Children can take an assignment and turn it into a great learning tool for the rest of the class as well as themselves. 

Teaching With Digital Images/Videos

Teaching with digital images and videos really pull children into a lesson. Visual learners benefit greatly from the images and videos that are shown. When related to lesson plans videos can help create a deeper understanding of what it is that children are actually learning about. Also they are fun. Kids like to watch videos even if they are short clips or songs about science, they help and they are fun. A catchy song about the path that blood takes through our arteries can really help students to remember for a test. A video that displays mitosis can also help kids to visualize the process instead of a teachers dipiction with chalk.

Internet Safety

It is important for children to be safe onine. Monitoring their online use creates a safer internet situation. Using firewalls to block sites that you do not wish children or students to view is a great idea. Warn children about online predators and chat rooms. Perhaps prohibit or monitor chat room usage. Find child friendly sites and introduce them to the children so they are aware of what "good" sites are. Be clear about what activity is okay and what activiy is not online. Be careful about giving information out over the web because it can put you at risk for identity theft.