Internet Safety

The article I chose to talk about is "Let Our Voices Be Heard" by Elder M. Russell Ballard. In this talk he mentions how the family is at the heart of Heavenly Father's plan because we are all part of His family and because mortality is our opportunity to form our own families and to assume the role of parents. He also says that it is within these families that values are taught and character is built. I feel like he was saying that it is our responsibility to take care of His children here on Earth. He warns us of many different types of media that can have a negative effect on our lives if we do not choose it wisely. He says also that if we do not make good choices the media can devastate our families and even worse pull our children away from the Gospel path. Ballard warns us of cyberporn and its dangers. He says that there is a rapid increase in the act, involving sexual addiction over the internet. There are some people who become so addicted to viewing internet pornography and participating in dangerous online chat rooms that they ingore the covenants they made to their spouses and often neglect family obligations and such. Others take huge risks to maintain their perverted addiction which causes marraiges and relationships to fail and the individual loses every of true value. Before he concluded with his remarks, he mentioned a list of seven things every parent can do to minimize the negative effect media can have on our families.

1. We need to hold family councils and decide what our media standards are going to be.

2. We need to spend enough quality time with our children that we are consistently the main influence in their lives, not the media or any peer group.

3. We need to make good media choices ourselves and set good examples for our children.

4. We need to limit the amount of time our children watch TV or play video games or use the Internet each day. Virtual reality must not become their reality.

5. We need to use Internet filters and TV programming locks to prevent our children from "chancing upon" things they should not see.

6. We need to have TVs and computers in a much-used common room in the home, not in a bedroom or a private place.

7. We need to take time to watch appropriate media with our children and discuss with them how to make choices that will uplift and build rather than degrade and destroy.


I also watched several videos about internet safety before I taught me dear mother about Internet safety. I watched several videos about cyberbullying as well as predators that are online targeting really young teenage girls and it pretty much scared me. It is very important that we teach young people about the dangers that are out there. The videos I watched where the girls actually lived from this because a lot of times they don't live from getting involved with strangers online. One of the videos I watched involved a 15 year old girl who met a 22 year old online and wanted to have this guy come and meet with her, but her parents were very concerned, so her dad talked to a police friend and she gave him a video game called Missing that they could play together with their daughter. Because of this the girl recognized some similarities happening in the video game that were happening to her, so her parents were able to help her see the dangers of meeting this guy and she decided not to meet him all on her own. They finding out that this guy was wanted by the FBI and this girl helped put him behind bars. She was one of the lucky ones. These videos really opened my eyes a lot and scared me to the point of choosing carefully who I chat with online. I have been dating online and now I will take the necessary precautions to protect myself from predators as well.

I ended up teaching my mom about Internet safety. I asked her what came to her mind when I mention Internet safety and all she could think of was computer viruses and things like that, so I had lots to share with her. Once I mentioned what I had learned about, we had a really good discussion about what we should watche out for on the Internet and how to protect ourselves as well as the young people we know and love. I am pretty sure that she will do her part on educating young people about the dangers that are out there and I will definitely do the same.


I also completed steps 1-3 on the PLE for the week.

TPACK project

Bookends of War

Inside Kapunahala

The videos I was able to watch made me realize just how engaging technoloy can be when used in the classroom. I haven't been able to use technolog these teachers have used in the classroom, but I have used technology a lot in the lessons I have prepared for the students I have been working with during the practicum. It is awesome to see just how much fun the students have when technology is used and I could see that happening in the videos I watched. The students seemed to really be loving the projects they were involved in and they were learning so much about themselves and technology. Technology has always been something that seems difficult to inplement, but the more I get used to it the more I see a need for it to allow students to get involved in the learning process. I think that using technology is a great way for students to learn about what is available to learn in the world today. It was fun to see how engaged they were and how excited they were about participating in the projects given to them. They seemed to know how to use technology effectively which is what I still need work on as I prepare to be a teacher as well. I still have so much to learn and I can see that it is definitely worth it having it available to our students.

My lesson plans

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfst25kd_1dcctswhg

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfst25kd_2ct2r8mcm

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfst25kd_47s4xjbg6

Technology videos response

I thought the videos were very helpful because they helped me see just how technology can be implemented in the classroom. Technology was planned into the lesson plans the teachers were teaching which made the lessons more meaningful as well as exciting for the students. I noticed that all the students were participating and learing so much from the projects their teachers had prepared for them. I also thought it was great how the students were helping each other in a pleasant manner, which help them to stay engaged in the process as well learn something they didn't know before. Technology use in the classroom also helps to prepare the students for life later when technology will probably be used in everyday life, even more so than it is now. I wish I would have had the opportunities to use technology back when I was their age, because I think it is very important and extremely useful in our society. Technology also allows the students to show and use what they put together as well as share it with others. This can help students more effectively apply what they are learning so the information learned stays with them longer. It is also a good way to get the parents more involved in the child's learning by allowing them to also view what their children are putting together as well as learning. I do think also that technology can be overused, so teachers need to be careful about this as to not bore the students by using it for everything they do. Otherwise I think technology is a great way to get the students involved in the learning process.

School Invetntory assingment

I am currently doing my cohort in the Provo District. The school that I am working in is Spring Creek Elementary. The teacher that I am working with is Mrs. Hansen and her classroom has technology pretty much everywhere. She has three mac computers in the back of her classroom that have several programs loaded onto them. She also has a TV, a VCR player, and a DVD player. Her classroom has access to the internet and can be access with a wireless computer. The coolest technology equipment she has in her class is a promethean board, which I have already been able to use and it is pretty cool. Another thing that they have access to at Spring Creek is computer labs. These labs, however, are traveling labs which contain mac laptop computers. These computers are used by the children to take their weekly tests. As you can see this particular school has many opportunities to use technology as part of the curriculum.

I also did complete the other two parts of the PLE assignment and those I completed last night before midnight.

Science Challenge PLE

I was able to view Melissa's, Kindy's, and Whitney's voice thread video. I thought it was very well done and it was enjoyable to watch and very engaging.

I thought this assignment was quite fun and I enjoyed doing it as well. I also felt like this assignment was not as complicated as ones in the past. I think this is a great way to add to learning in a classroom setting. One of the upsides of an activity like this would be the engaging aspect of being able to experiment with the program being used. It would definitely help kids want to be part of the learning process and they get to use the equipment themselves. A downside of an activity like this might be a loss of control in the classroom. I think it would be slightly difficult to manage students using equipment like this if they are not properly instructed on how to use it. Another upside might be to let older students make their own voicethread presentation on a topic to show to the class, because it was fairly easy to use and I think this would also gets students excited about learning. I thought that using Stellarium was a fun way of viewing the night sky and kids would have a great time experimenting with a program like that.