Item of interest chapter 8:Teachers Helping Parents

As educators, we can help parents; they look up for advice on whether their child is ready for technology. A child's education can be greatly enhanced by their parents' involvement in the classroom and at home. We can communicate with parents about their child's progress. We’ll find great advice on how parents can support their child's development. Tapping in to the support of parents will enable you to teach more effectively. A good idea is parent-teacher conferences, at an open house, and throughout the school year. When you and parents make things together can help children gain confidence in their technology skills, also talking and listening are a very important part of the learning process; Understanding the right way to teach technology is only a small piece of the puzzle.

Item of interest chapter 7:Video Games - Good or Bad?

Whenever someone mentions the words video games people think of violence shooting and bad influence on children. But that is not true at all people need to embrace upon the idea of video games teach many things. Video games are indeed good for our teens. They are not just acceptable; they are not simply to be tolerated, they are good. Typically, if you do it right, video games will keep your teen off the streets, hopefully further away from drugs, and in your house at night. Is that all bad? If your teen has the right video games he or she is less likely to wander around the house mumbling "There's nothing to do."
I believe video games are good for teens but always pay attention to what your teen is playing and buy games will help your kids. Don't get so uptight about adult themes either. This is cartoons folks, drawings, graphics, animation; not life. Put a little bit of trust in your own child's ability to handle fantasy. They'll be just fine.
Why do we think they will become violent if they watch violence? Why do we, force the connection between video violence and out of control teens but not acknowledge any of the other clearly present potential relationships? I will tell you why, because none of the popular talk show hosts have made that connection yet. We need to trust and also overseeing their video games.

Item of interest chapter 6: Bilingual Education

I feel pretty close to this subject; on the other hand bilingual education continues to receive criticism in the national media. The criticism effects on the public opinion, which often is based on misconceptions about bilingual education's goals and practice. It is a big controversy, but when schools provide children quality education in their primary language, they give them two things: knowledge and literacy. The knowledge that children get through their first language helps make the English they heard and read more comprehensible. Literacy developed in the primary language transfers to the second language. The reason is simple: Because we learn to read by reading, by making sense of what is on the page -it is, easier to learn to read in a language we understand. Once we can read in one language, we can read in general. I believe that being bilingual will help children with this transition to understand a new language.

Item of Interest Chapter 5: Virtual Field trip

I personally love the idea to take a classroom to places like The White House, The Grand Canyon, The San Diego Zoo, Death Valley, Colonial Williamsburg, The Tower of London, Tower Eiffel and The Ruins of Pompeii. Virtual fieldtrips are enriching and exciting internet trips that allow students to visit destinations they might otherwise be unable to tour. Specifically, virtual fieldtrips are changing the way elementary school students explore our world. When I used to be in school my major field trip was to the zoo, now teachers are currently incorporating these virtual fieldtrips into their classrooms to supplement a live upcoming fieldtrip.
So far virtual field trips sound just wonderful, don’t they? These virtual excursions are educational, exciting, and easily accessible! Computers with internet access are the only form of technology needed to take a virtual fieldtrip in the elementary school classroom. How convenient! Some virtual fieldtrips do require additional internet capabilities, such as Java, but are easily downloaded free of charge. For a teacher who has always wanted to take his or her students on a variety of fieldtrips during the school year, the virtual fieldtrip is perfect! The educational possibilities are almost endless when using virtual fieldtrips in the classroom environment! . Some advantages are accessibility, Inexpensive and also safety. The most disadvantage for me is just the lack of sensory experience.

Item of Interest Chapter 4: Computers for All Students

Computers for all Students, before we criticize this idea cause the cost; thinking on the future will help you to understand that is needful. Our goal should be for all students, regardless of income or family background, to have access to a laptop computer for use at both school and home. I believe that individual ownership will help promote concepts of self‐motivation and enthusiastic participation by providing all with access to a powerful technological tool to enhance learning, I also believe school district is able to financially supply each child with their own personal computer during school that it would help the kids to learn the computer and how to work with it. According to some research, in 2007, the school district of the Kansas City High Schools decided to supply all of their 5,550 students with laptop computers which cost the school district about $6.4 million for 4 years. The decision was made to “bridge the technology gap” (2007).

Although there are both pros and cons to almost every situation I believe with preparation and proper training of the schools having every child supplied with a lap top could be an excellent move to prepare that child for the future technology that is to come.
The program One Laptop per Child (OLPC), shouldn’t be limited to only children in developing countries, but it’s a good start .This organization whose mission is to help provide every child in the world with access to a modern education, I think this is the greatest and most human empowerment initiative of this century–to give every single child a laptop. We need to help our children for a better future.

Item of interest chapter 3: Presentation graphics software

I think so is great that we can introduce this technology on our lessons plans. The presentations which you can incorporate images, graphics, sound, and movement, have emerged that can be useful to teach any subject. There some Software has been developed that can make it easier for teachers to find, access and present such information to students. Now this is very important part of the daily lessons plans to provide stimulus material for students to critically analyze or evaluate during class time.
The article shows us there are numbers of presentations software packages available. PowerPoint is perhaps the most common and one of my favorites to show with graphics and pictures you can also animate words and graphics, add sound effects, include a QuickTime movie -- it's just awesome! PowerPoint captures the students' attention and helps keep them interested!” Power point can be incorporated to encourage a teacher to plan in terms of visualizing information, or illustrating ideas or concepts, which can lead to better clarity for students.

Item of interest chapter 2 : Net Censoring

I do some research on this topic and I find interesting different point of view. Internet censorship isn't just a parental or governmental tool, concerns also many schools and we as educators. There are several software products on the consumer market that can limit or block access to specific Web sites. Most people know these programs as Web filters.
First of all, in many public and private schools and in many homes, children are being connected to the Internet. A thought must be paid to the safety of children on the Internet. Children are gaining more access to the Internet and there are some problems that need to be considered, such as the "risk that a child may be exposed to inappropriate material of a sexual or violent nature." Schools needs to try to prevent those exposed.
The Internet should not be a place where children can have easy access to sexually explicate material. After all, movies have ratings and now a television chip is being developed to censor what can be viewed on television by children. Therefore, the Internet should also have a way for censoring the pornography, this is my biggest concern to give students free and unlimited access to internet, I think schools should limit or ban the internet usage.

Chapter 2: Virtual High Schools

The Internet is coming part of our lives every day, especially for young people. Have virtual high schools is a great opportunity which opens new horizons, particularly for students in rural communities where choices are limited, or for those with special needs due to illness or serious involvement with athletics, or for those can’t attend it or never finished ,those advantages I will talk later.

Have virtual high schools are a great opportunity. Online Classes also gave student different points of view on any subject, they can take classes from a teacher on Paris, Chicago or other cities all around the world.
Students who take cyber courses proceed at their own pace. If they need to listen to a lecture a second time, or think about a question for awhile, they may do so without fearing that they will hold back the rest of the class. Through virtual high schools, students can complete a degree more quickly, or repeat failed courses without the indignity of being in a class with younger students. Students have access to an incredible variety of enrichment courses, or can participate in internships or work and still graduate with their classes.

Virtual high Schools education has many other advantages:

• It permits students in small, rural, or low-wealth school districts to take specialized courses that would ordinarily not be available to them.
• It provides home schooled students with instruction in subjects their parents might not be able to teach, such as foreign languages or computer skills or other topics.
• It meets the needs of school phobics, those in hospitals or recovering at home, dropouts who would like to get back in, expelled students, single parents, and students in other states or even other countries looking for nontraditional educational solutions.
• And, in an age when many of our schools are overcrowded or crumbling, cyber learning makes financial sense, too, because schools using distance learning do not need to modernize or build new buildings in order to provide quality cyber instruction.
• It permits students to interact with people all around the world.

My only concern on virtual high schools is the lack of face –to-face interaction. Particularly with all-day virtual schools, is the difficulty of providing good oversight especially for that young age but that doesn’t mean and disagree with this concept, I think that we as educators shouldn’t close that door , and being skeptical to new ideas.

Chapter one: Possible Child Abuse

Possible Child Abuse is a basic issue which needs to be discussed in great depth with right dimension. One of my goals for my career in Education is to prevent or help to prevent. Child abuse cannot be distinguished on the basis of age, sex, race or religion. Any children for any reason can be victimized at any time. Emotional child abuse includes mental torture or verbal abuse by using words that may hurt their self respect. The physical abuses include the beating, burning, hitting, and kicking the child Today parents and children are facing this problem. The fear is someone intentionally or unintentionally is hurting the child by some or other way. He/she may be from the family, friends, neighbors, or anyone else.

I learned reading this article that we as educators have the responsibility to protect children from any kind of child abuse and not to ignore those situations, we should prevent it. Before being an Elementary Teacher, I am Educator who protects those who can’t talk on their own.
I'm glad the book personally asked whether you have a duty to report Juan's situation. The answer is a simple one: Yes, I do — because it's the law. What's more, reporting is probably the only way to protect Juan from further abuse.

Something that I found online to inform Educators is: Many people don't know that teachers in all 50 states are now legally obligated to report even reasonable suspicions of child abuse to the police or local child protective services. I urge all teachers to learn about their state's child-abuse laws, including recommendations about how to report. All this information is available from each state's department of social services and local law-enforcement agencies.
Today Educators need research paper on child abuse so that they could protect their children from child abuse. There is no better way to expose the child abuse but write a research paper on child abuse. Parents and educators are willing to know more and they take interest in reading research papers on child abuse.
Research paper on child abuse or do campaigns on our schools will tell the people what is the intensity of child abuse, what are the types of child abuse and how do these exhibit different behaviors. Campaigns on child abuse will uncover some common abuses as emotional, sexual and physical.

Cristina Mona