Educational Game: Math Lines

Math Lines

The game of Math Lines would be a good tool to use to help lower level math students (mainly elementary school) how to add simple math. In this game there are lines of balls with numbers on them. You can shoot the ball that's in the center and add it to the line; when the number beside it adds up to 10, the balls will be destroyed. You can also use the center ball to destroy a group of same numbered balls. The balls are moving around a track, and if the balls fall in a hole before you get them all destroyed, then that level was failed. Using technology and the computer would be more fun than using paper and pencil. I believe that this game can get kids engaged into what their doing without it seeming like they're doing math. The quote, "Media Literacy is a 21st century approach to education. It provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate, create and participate with messages in a variety of forms — from print to video to the Internet. Media literacy builds an understanding of the role of media in society as well as essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy" describes that the media is the newest approach to teaching/learning and comes in many forms. 

Math Lines goes with Content Standard One in the ISTE Standards for Teachers because this game is a fun and creative way to get the children thinking, and is a 21st Century problem solver. Described below is Standard One that I feel is most appropriate.
1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity.
       a. Promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness.
       b. Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.
       c. Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative process.
       d. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.

The link below will take you to a website that offers all kinds of projects for math students of all ages. Click on the "projects by age group" over on the left hand side and select a grade level. Then a list of all the projects for that grade level will come up.

Link --> Math Projects 

RA 3: Seven-Power Lens

Quote:

"He wears blue, a color that photographs well and is often worn by television anchors (Harris, n.d.), and red, an attention-getting color associated in Western culture with power (Lester, 2000). Together, these colors suggest patriotism to American readers, an association that is reinforced by the U.S. flag at his right hand and on his lapel."

Reaction:

I thought of this quote as being very interest. I never thought about how much time and effort is spent in picking out what the president is going to wear, however, it does make sense for him to wear these colors. Not only does blue photograph well, but it is also a color of patriotism to the American citizens, and same with the red. Red draws your attention to the person, but according to the text it is also a color that represents power. After reading about this, my eyes have been opened to why the presidents wear the same colors all the time. I thought this was very interesting. 

Magazine Cover

Think Aloud

ISTE- Nets Standard

Standard 2: Design and Develop Digital Age Learning 

"Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS-S.
a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.
b.Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.
c. Customize and personalize learning activities to address student's diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources.
d. Provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching."

I believe that being able to use iPads in schools most closely relates to Standard 2 (as described above). With using iPads in schools, the children and the teachers can be more creative in learning and teaching. With all the apps out there, teachers could find fun and interesting ways to teach that would draw the students in. The Think Aloud project will definitely help me integrate technology into my classroom later on down the road because this project helped me in many ways. It helped show the relationship between websites, and by looking at mine, it draws your attention to the most important aspects of the website. The Think Aloud project can be used for all ages and with all kinds of subject matters. Doing a project like this in class can help students, as stated above, in helping them with learning experience as well as to promote student creativity by incorporating digital tools into the mix. 

Website Analysis

Although the website that I used on School Shooting's came from Wikipedia, I believe that this article was very credible. There is no author that I could find, because just anybody can go into Wikipedia and change things, however, there were outside links that led me to believe that the things being said were true. Wikipedia isn't always a good and credible source for every subject matter, but I feel that it was okay to use for this subject. Basically, it was opinions about why teachers should not be armed along with quotes from actual teachers.

Should Teachers Be Armed?

Teachers should NOT be armed.

Teachers should not be armed in classrooms due to many reasons. As stated in the article, some teachers feel that if they were armed, that it could cause more danger. One teacher stated that although she is pro-gun, she felt that she wouldn't be able to maintain gun safety in school. People also have concerns about teachers leaving the guns around in reach of students. Bigger and stronger students could also over power a teacher to take over the gun. A research report published by the Center for Homicide Research stated that having armed classrooms can have "weapons affect' - the phenomenon of being in the presence of a fire arm can cause feelings of aggression. There are many reasons why teachers should NOT be armed, and I personally feel that arming teachers could potentially cause more harm than good. 

Code of Best Practice

Answers: 

1. Media Literacy Education is used to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate messages in different forms. It may occur in separate programs, but is often embedded in other subject areas, including literature, history, sociology, etc . “Media Literacy Education helps people of all ages to be critical thinkers, effective communicators, and active citizens.” Media in Education is always being used. Teachers are including audiovisual and digital material to convey facts and information. Schools often times show films as a way to reward students for their hard work and high achievements. These activities are examples of using Media in Education (mediaeducationlab.com).

2. That bargain is explained as: Society gives limited property rights to creators to inspire them to produce culture; we also give other creators the chance to use the same copyrighted material, without permission, in some circumstances. If there wasn't the second half of the bargain, we could lose all important new cultural work (mediaeducationlab.com).

3. Fair use keeps copyright from violating the First Amendment. Also, since licenses to incorporate copyrighted material are harder to obtain, Fair Use is that much more important today as a result (mediaeducationlab.com).

4. The two questions judges use to determine Fair Use are: “Did the unlicensed use ‘transform’ the material taken from the copyrighted work by using it for a different purpose that that of the original, or did it just repeat the work for the same intent and values as the original?” and “Was the material appropriate in kind and amount, considering the nature of the copyrighted work, and of the use (mediaeducationlab.com).

5. The use of The Lion King to reflect on stereotypes would be considered Fair Use due to the fact that it is being used for educational purposes and the original version isn’t being changed in any way.

6. Principal four is most closely related to My Photo Story that I created because it is the use of copyright material in the academic and creative work of the student.

7. There really isn't a set number of photos or a set length of music and videos that can be used in a multimedia project as long as the content is relevant to what is being taught as well as there not being too much media being used to get the point across.

8. Requesting permission from the original creator is not necessary, as long as the copyrighted material meets the criteria of Fair Use.

9. Of course educations should try to change the policies in their school if they are not in line with the Fair Use doctrine because the only way to get full advantage is to spread the word along.

10. The myth about Fair Use that surprised me the most was “Fair Use can get me sued.”

Retrieved from:
<http://mediaeducationlab.com/sites/mediaeducationlab.com/files/CodeofBestPracticesinFairUse_0.pdf