Wiki Page

WIKI Final Project Link

https://mrsmunozlanguagearts.wikispaces.com/Unit+Plan+Putting+it+All+Together

Please don't call me CUPCAKE.

"Mrs. Munoz, Kevin is calling me cupcake and I really don't like it."
"I will talk to him about it"
(After class is over)
"Kevin will you please see me for a second?"
"Yes Mrs. Munoz."
"Kevin, have you been calling Madison "cupcake", lately?"
"I was hungry."
"OK, well she doesn't appreciate that name, please refer to her as Madison from now on."

As I stifled the laughter that threatened to erupt from my chest, I shook my head in dismay as the little 6th grade boy rushed out of my class and headed to his next period. Later on while mentioning this anecdote to my peer teacher, she mentioned that he seems to call her lots of names, all terms of endearment that seem to make her uncomfortable. I was unaware of the "name-calling", yet in intrigued to know if this was something that I should explore deeper and go to my Dean of Conduct with. What seemingly is innocent can sometimes be bothersome to another.

You might ask how this correlates to our class, but it definitely connects to social norms in real life and the social norms in the digital world. How are we as educators supposed to know what is acceptable for out students to share online and how are supposed to filter them in appropriateness?  More importantly, how do the kids know?

Since we do not know what their parents are teaching them, I propose that all students take an online module or complete a lesson similar to the one that UCF makes its students complete when taking online classes.
I am using this idea an opportunity to create a learning objectives for the students that will help them learn what is right and what is potentially wrong in a digital social environment. Here are some of my ideas for the learning objectives for middle schoolers:

1.Cyber Bullying - What is it ? How to prevent it. What to do if you are a victim?
2. Social Media- What is it? Review of popular apps and what they are used for.
3. Online Blogging- What are posts of substance? What is response of substance?

Giving students the basic overview  on social media and how to be digitally appropriate will definitely be beneficial.

Please comment on your ideas or perhaps suggestions. This is a simple outline but I think a whole lesson could be applied and assessed. What do you think ?

Journal Entry 6- Digital Story Telling Will you Survive?

Whew.. That was awesome yet completely time consuming. I  created  the below  digital story example for my students and it honestly took me a lot more time than I thought it would. I'm glad I started it early this week and didn't wait till last minute. Here are some facts you should know about it:

I teach 6th Grade Language Arts
The students objective will be to create a Digital Story using three different lesson plans.
Lesson Plan 1: Survival Tactics
Lesson Plan 2: Elements of a Story
Lesson Plan 3: How to create a Digital Story and post it online

I took me a while to sync the video with the narrative. Please be advised, there are some errors. .

Like I mentioned, I teach 6th grade language arts at a STEM school for advanced students. While language arts may not be their forte, many of my students enjoy my class and especially the creative writing portion. This digital story provides an example for the upcoming Unit Lesson Plan. The Unit Plan will incorporate a novel study, elements of a short story and implementing media into their creative writing. I left empty slides to illustrate to the students that they must complete 10 slides, but I did not feel it necessary to potentially bore you with my short story. Please critique my example!! I welcome all advice. When you comment please address the following questions:

• What did you like about the digital story?
• Identify any problems or errors. (Politely!).
• Is this example appropriate for the grade level/subject area it is intended?

Thanks, 

Mrs. Munoz

Digital Story Example

Please use the below link in order to access the Digital Story Example.

Digital Story Example WikiPage