Class 9 Reading Responses

Copyrights and Permissions: Giving Online Credit Where Credit is Due

As students begin middle school, their research assignments become more in-depth. They begin to actively troll for information on the web, a medium with which they are very comfortable. However, they don’t always know when to give credit where it is due. This how-to article offers valuable tips about teaching writing students about appropriate use of collected information. It provides clear explanations of what is copyright and fair use. The Cyberbee quiz is a great, interactive link that allows students to learn more about how and when they can use what they find on the web.

Using Technology to Motivate Middle School Students

Studies show that student motivation undergoes a great change during the transition from fifth to sixth grade. This decrease in motivation has been linked to the transition to a middle school environment of more teacher control and less student autonomy. With hands-on, inquiry-based learning, students are more actively engaged, and thus more motivated to learn. This how-to article gives specific suggestions on using technology to raise student motivation. What is interesting is that the three ideas suggested: WebQuests, digital portfolios, and e-pals, are all about reaching beyond the classroom. Students reach globally to complete WebQuests, post their creations in digital portfolios to present to the world, and communicate with people outside their classroom. Can it be that stretching outside the normal boundaries gives the students a sense of control they usually don’t have?

Podcasting Basics

With the proliferation of iPods among students, it seems only natural that someone would find a way to use them as an educational tool. This how-to article is ideal for those teachers who aren’t sure what an iPod is, let alone what to do with it for instruction. The examples used in the website are clearly applicable in my writing classroom. Instead of a traditional poster for a group book project, students can work together to create a podcast for a character, or research and synthesize a response to a debate question. The usefulness of this article for me was in the examples and the steps for getting started. This allowed me to visualize what a podcast project would look like from start to finish.