Blog Journal #3

·      Copyright and fair use:

o   As a teacher, I imagine dealing with copyright is tricky because you want to use others’ work but also have to give them the credit and not copy too much. I think something I would strive to do is have a lesson plan written out for every week including the curriculum I am required to teach, and then I will go on the internet and research a certain number of activities for that topic of the day/week. Although I might be lazy and want to copy some of the worksheets word for word and print those out, I will alter each of them to be different but with a similar concept to still get the point across. If I am teaching a grade where they have to use other author’s work, I will make sure to teach them how to cite/source properly when needed, but hopefully the children will be at an age where they have more creativity and use their brains to come up with any activities/answers to assignments that are given to them. I have learned more about the creative commons license which is good because if I am ever to send any pictures or links in newsletters, I know what to include!

·       Technology implementation issues:

o   Cyberbullying- If there is one thing I think I saw as a student in my classes when technology was being used, it was cyberbullying. When students have access to online platforms, especially in the classroom when they are sitting in clicky groups and are influenced by other people, it becomes easy to pick on others around you by seeing their profile on Canvas, their online/social media presence, etc.. In my future classroom, something I will do to prevent this when technology is in use is continuously walk around monitoring the students’ screens as well as make sure they are sitting and working individually. Normally I feel that cyberbullying is brought on when a combination of kids are working together to team up on another, but if they are all sitting alone and have no one to talk to or collaborate with, they have a lesser chance of affecting others. If I ever found that they are cyberbullying other classmates from home, I would have a talk with both the parents and the principal to ensure that it is put to a stop immediately. 

 

·       Implementing generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT):

o   If I was to use AI in my classroom or allow my students to use it, it would be strictly for them to brainstorm ideas. For example, if they were writing a paper or having to come up with a project of a specific subject, I would allow them to use it to ask for ideas/help. What I would not allow is for them to use it to write papers or do assignments for them, and I probably wouldn’t use it in any way either unless it was to help me brainstorm ideas. I don’t necessarily think AI is hurting student learning, but it is not something I have jumped on board with since it has been around and I have done perfectly fine in my school work, so I would like to continue with that mindset and try to avoid introducing it in my classroom for as long as possible. 

·       New skills you acquired from working on the Newsletter Design assignment

o   Something I learned from working on my newsletter was how to split it up into two columns in order to get it in that newspaper looking style. Something I could improve in the future is adding more pictures/clip art or adding more “fun stuff” to make it look more festive. The skills I learned from making this newsletter will definitely be used in the future. Knowing how to send something out like this in my classroom whether it’s for the month or the semester is something I look forward to and I’m glad I got some practice with it through this assignment.