About Amanda

Hello. Welcome to my blog. I am a junior at National-Louis University studying education. I hope to one day teach science. I have a son named Landen. I enjoy outdoor activities and spending time with my family. I hope you enjoy reading my blog. Feel free to leave any feedback. Thank you.

My Son Landen

Friday, March 5, 2010

Reflective Blog # 3

Technology is a very good tool in helping children reach their full potential in school. There are also some risks while using technology such as what the students are researching exactly and what information they are coming across. There are so many inappropriate websites out there that children accidentally or intentionally come upon. Such websites that include hate crime groups and bullying can pose problems and interfere with the child's learning. Some ways these problems can be reduced is by limiting the amount of time the children are on the computer. The teacher and the parent can set specific sites only and block sites that they feel are not appropriate. The parent should be responsible in talking to there children about hate crime websites and discuss with them how they are bad and talk to them about online bullying. Some websites give further knowledge and resourceful tools about online bullying and hate crime websites. He are some websites that would be useful in learning more about cyber-stalking, bullying, and cyber-harassment.



1. Judge Acquits Lori Drew in Cyber-bullying Case, Overrules Jury http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/07/drew court/

  • This site discusses cyber-bullying and such cases that are affiliated with the problems that arise from cyber-bullies.

2. Cyber-bullying Organization http://www.cyberbullying.org/

  • Cyber-bullying Organization is an organization designed to inform and people about cyber-bullying. It is helpful and resourceful to students and parents as well as teachers in learning more and understanding what cyber-bulling is all about.

3. Help Put an End to Cyber-bullying http://www.online-bully.com/index.html

  • This website discusses cyber-bullying and ways we can avoid the issue and problems that come along with cyber-bullying. I believe this website is helpful and very resourceful to parents and teachers because it gives them ways and tips to end cyber-bullying in homes and in the classroom.

4. Schoolyard Bullies Get Nastier Online http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-03-06-cover-cyberbullies

  • This website discuses bullying in the school and how students are accessing the websites and how they are acting in the classroom. This website would be helpful for teachers to review and understand how the students are reacting and find ways to make it stop.

5. A Thin Line http://www.athinline.org/

  • A Thin Line discusses cyber-bullying and how it is accessible on the Internet to students, and how many parents and teachers are not even aware of this. Texting or sexting is also very popular with young students and it discusses how it brings problems and dangers to children. You can take a quiz and get online facts of what is really happening online and how everyday it is haunting so many children.

6. Cyber-bullying Research Center http://www.cyberbullying.us/

  • This website is resourceful for parents and teachers especially. It gives the facts or what exactly cyber-bullying is and how it is present and where it is present. It helps parents and teachers understand ways to help students deal with it and make it stop.

7. Wired Safety http://wiredsafety.org/

  • Wired Safety is a website that gives safety tools to children to help prevent cyber-bullying and cyber-stalking. It tells them what information they should hold private and what information they should make public. It gives them helpful tools and teaches them to be cautious while they are online.

8. Cyber-bullying Info http://cyberbullying.info/

  • This website is an audio website where someone talks to you about cyber-bullying. You can click around and explore and office and someone talks to you about the facts and gives you helpful tools to deal with cyber-bullying online.

9. Connect Safety http://connectsafety.org/

  • Connect Safety is a website that allows students, parents and teachers to learn more about cyber-bullying and helps them understand what it is and what tools they can use to stop it. The website gives safety tips and advice and also gives advice about safe blogging and web networking.

10. Stop Crime, Invest in Kids http://fightcrime.org/

  • Stop Crime, Invest in Kids gives parents and children ten tips for families to stop cyber-bullying. These tips can be useful with the school district and local community as well as the police department.







Monday, February 15, 2010

Reflective Blog # 2

Ajero,A. (2009). Technology in the group piano lab and beyond.
Clavier companion, (4)5,59-61. Retrieved February 15, 2010
from EBSCO Host Acedemic Search Complete.

Technology is used in the class by allowing students to interact and participate with the music and projector notes on the front screen. Notes and keys are put onto a big screen to allow the students to see everything. Students can often get out of sync with one aother playing, but when everyone is watching a screen and playing together the music sounds better and everyone is on key. A majority of the students showed significant amount of improvements when not being under the pressure of getting right the first time. When technology is intergrated into the classroom and the students can use the technology to play an instrument, the class is more sucessful as a whole.


Schachter, R. (2009). Mobile devices in the classroom.
District administration, (3)23, 31- 35. Retrieved February
15, 2010 from EBSCO Host Acedemic Search Complete.



Instead of disciplining students for having their phones on them, students use their phones to learn in the classroom. A program denoted from a cell phone manufacturer from GoKnow software allows the students to access this program via their phones. Students can draw the solar system orbits on their devices. Technology and use of the phones were integrated into everything they did. For lessons traditionally done with pens and paper, now were done with color, animation, depth and complexity. The students were interested in lessons using their phones and enjoyed working on them to learn new things in the classroom.


Sawmiller, A. (2010). Classroom Blogging: What is the role in science
learning. The Clearning house, (83)4,44- 48. Retrieved February
15, 2010 from EBSCO Host Acedemic Search Complete.


There has been a shift in the minds of curriculum develops toward the idea that students do, in fact, need to practice their writing skills in the science classroom to learn writing skills in the science classroom to learn science. Writing encourages critical thinking, cognition, and metacognition by requiring students to actively think and process concepts taught in school. Classroom blogging is used to help students express their ideas and learn new techiniques and topics in science.

Nadler, D. (2008). Exergaming: Cardiovasular fitness
in immersive virtual enviorments Learning connections,
(36) 28-30. Retrieved February 15, 2010 from EBSCO Host
Acedemic Search Complete.

Exergames are spreading to public schools physical education classes and private youth targeted gyms, at a rate unseen since the introduction to the hula hoop. Exergames allow students to participate in a physically active way and still learn at the same time. Exergames improve youth health and fitness. Cardio exercise bikes and games such as dance dance revolution are becoming very popular. Schools are looking to such games and activites to use to help students improve their health and be more active in school.


Kumar, Mutha. (1999). New Horizons for Learning: Learing with the
internet, (6)4-6. Retrieved February 15, 2010 from Ebsco Host
Acedemic Search Complete

Schools need to be ensured that they are using computers for their students effectively and efficienctly. It is important to monitor the students and make sure they are using the technology appropriatly. The internet is a rapid tool for communication. Such communication is important for students and other faculty in distant places. Integrating technology into a classroom is very benificial to the students if it is being used affectively and properly.



Friday, February 12, 2010

Reflective Blog # 1

***After researching some blogs in my educational technology class, I found some educational, classroom, and teaching blogs I would like to share.

Classroom Blogs:


  • Reflective Creations- Reflective Creations is a blog site where students can share their reflective writings with their teacher. It also allows people to leave comments about the students writings. I really enjoy the use of colors and organization on this blog site. It is really easy to navigate through. The tabs on the top make it easy to switch between different parts of the blog. I would recommend this blog to other students especially those who like to write and read and share their information with others to read their work.
  • Mrs. Frandsen's Class- Mrs. Frandsen's Class is a blog site where students can visit and participate in activities. There are such things like Mystery Reader, 3-D shapes, and Lift Up the Sky Readers Theatre. Their are many videos posted one particular from Mrs. Frandsen's Holiday party. I really enjoyed this blogger. It is colorful and fun. I would recommend this site for students and parents interested in viewing their child's progress and involvement in Mrs. Frandsen's Class.
Educational Blogs:


  • Megan's Blog Desk- Megan's Blog Desk is designed specifically as a resource for educators interested in blogging to enhance learning environments. The site has tips and ideas to start a blog in your classroom. It is really easy to navigate through. The website explains what a blog is and how to go about starting one in your classroom. This site is extreamely helpful. The layout is very nice as well as the design. I recommend this to teachers thinking about starting a blog in their classroom.
  • From Toy to Tool: Cell Phones in Learning- This blog site helps teachers and parents understand the benefits to texting. There are statistics that show how many teens text in the U.S. There is also information and studies that show how texting helps children learn to spell. The website is divided into sections based on the topic. The site also allows a space for comments. The website is designed well. I believe this site would be helpful for parents seeking more information about texting and how it relates to their child's education.
Teaching Blogs:


  • Math Video Blog- Math Video Blog is a site where students can log on and answer math questions. This blog allows students to be challenged in their math skills. The website is colorful and easy to navigate through. I would recommend this site to students who enjoy math and like to be challenged with many different math topics.
  • iLearn Technology- iLearn Technology is a site students can visit and watch videos. Their are videos and images collected from National Geographic. Students can watch videos related to the Olympics and watch videos related to education. The website has many videos and clips the students can watch and interact with. I like this website because it is colorful and interesting to students who like videos and enjoy using videos for learning. I would recommend this website to students who enjoy videos and to teachers who like using videos to teach.