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Journal 9: Teaching Green by John K. Waters (NETS I, II, III & V)

Jonh Waters introduces the concept of “Teaching Green.” In his article we see a number of sites dedicated to education urban dwellers about environmental education. It is fascinating to see how technology can help students understand about nature without leaving the classroom. I had the opportunity to live in a very rural community so I know much about the various topics discussed in this article. Yet it is surprising to see how much students miss out on if it was not for these sites. Sadly, these sites cannot replace the real thing; I believe students need to engage in outdoor activities in order to appreciate nature. I was a bit disappointed with “A Walk in The Woods”, It digital picture quality is not the best and zooming into the images makes it worse. On the upside, it does provide some interesting information about the woods.

Q1: Why is it important to teach green?
A1: Students should be aware of the environment that surrounds them. About the importance of a stable environment and how an imbalance affects the overall ecosystem.

Q2: How can I teach green in my classroom?
A2: I am very lucky to be residing in an area that has various trails and parks to visit. San Diego County provides great hands on experience in green.

Waters, John. "Teaching Green." Journal (2011): n. pag. Web. 11 Apr 2011.

Journal 8: Point/Counterpoint: Should Schools Be Held Responsible for Cyberbullying? (NETS IV)

Bogacz and Rodillo tackle on a difficult subject in this article. Cyberbullying has increased due to the advent of technology in homes. Now, the question is should schools be held responsible for cyberbullying? Bogacz and Rodillo give the reader both sides of the coin, on one side we say yes they should. It is the responsibility of the teachers and administration to know what is affecting their students. On the other hand, parents are our first educators and should educate about bullying to their children. Most of the cyberbullying occurs off the school campus so why should the schools take any responsibility?

Q1: What are some of the signs about cyberbullying?

A1: Some of these signs include disconnection from class. No physical harm is evident its emotional.

Q2: Who is more likely to be a cyberbully?

A2: Female students are more likely to cyberbully while males are more likely to engage in traditional bullying.


Bogacz, R, & Gordillo, M. (2011, March/April). Point/counterpoint: Should Schools be Held Responsible for Cyberbullying?. Learning & Leading , 38(6), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Point_Counterpoint_Should_Schools_Be_Held_Responsible_for_Cyberbullying.aspx

Journal 7: My Personal Learning Network.

My PLN consists of Diigo, Twitter, Classroom 2.0 and Educators PLN. All of these tools have connected we with a vast wealth of community knowledge. By following or searching various keywords as “education” and “classroom” I have been able to see what people in my network have discovered and shared. To me this means that may learn from my peers and contribute as my career continues.

Twitter- I have found Twitter to be interesting yet the most frustrating of my tools. It has a large wealth of knowledge cascading down, but some of these topics I am not interested in. I have to browse through looking for things that interest me. The speed at which these tweets happen made it complicated for me to follow overall I would say it was a bit annoying.

I looked into #teachertuesday on Tuesday, April 26 at 3:15pm. My contribution to this chat: nothing, overall frustration level: high.

Diigo has been the tool that I have the most fun with. I have bookmarked many sites that pertain to education and have found many more looking through my network. The sites that I have marked as PLN are those that relate to either education or education as a career. I constantly find myself bookmarking as I surf the net.


I joined the Educator’s PLN. I found it is a very popular PLN with a vast array of information and videos. My one concern is that I received an email and comment from a woman in Africa who said she would like me to be her guardian. She lost her family and has inherited a fortune. Sounds a bit fishy, it was surprising to see that comment since it was required that I submit some info for review before I gained access to the PLN.


Find more videos like this on The Educator's PLN

Journal 6: Grow Your Personal Learning Network (NETS III & V)

David Warlick gives great examples of the various ways to enhance your PLN experience. Most of the times we tend to limit our understanding to what we can immediately search on search engines, but there are too many webpage out there with valuable information that may go unnoticed. By cultivating our PLN we can explore beyond our own reach and learn from each other. David Warlick hits the nail on the head when he says, “Preparing children for an unpredictable future means helping them learn to teach themselves.”

Q1: How can I use PLN in my classroom?

A1: There are many ways to encourage students to create their own PLN with material that is educational and fulfills their interests, one of these is twitter. Learning how to use Twitter in an educational setting is important.

Q2: What if my students are distracted by instead of using the PLN properly?

A2: This all comes down to teaching your students proper ways of using the internet.

Warlick, D. (2009). Grow your personal learning network. Learning & Leading With Technology (36)6, Retrieved from http://istelearning.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Grow-Your-PLN.pdf

Journal 4: Time to Trust Teachers (NETS I, III & V)

In this article, Meg Ormiston brings out a great point about the use of technology in the classroom. Most importantly Ormiston states that we need to teach students the proper ways of using the internet. Many school environments are blocking off much of the internet access in schools, this on one hand prevents students from accessing inappropriate content. Yet it has bigger implications than that.
By blocking off internet access, Ormiston argues, we begin to limit the resources teachers can use in their classroom. Further, we may be able to restrict what students can access on school computers, but once they go home it may be a less restrictive environment. The solution? Well it would be best for students to learn proper use of the internet instead of restricting their use of it.

Q1: How can internet access affect school negatively?

A1: It would seem that the use of the internet would lead students to become distracted and encouraged to wander into the net.

Q2: Is there a way to control what the students do online?

A2: There are certainly ways to monitor what students are doing on their computers. In one of my computer courses, the professor had total access and control of our computers; He could take control of every computer in the class.

Schaffhauser, D. (2010, December 1). It's time to trust teachers with the internet: a discussion with meg ormiston. Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/Articles/2010/12/01/Its-Time-To-Trust-Teachers-with-the-Internet-A-Conversation-with-Meg-Ormiston.aspx?sc_lang=en&Page=1

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