mblauser

[mblauser]

This is the link to the classroom website. 

[mblauser]

Creative Project

http://www.dvolver.com/live/movies-913526

I used Dvolver which was a fun product to use. It is super easy to navigate and add visual stimuli to your lesson. I think it would be best used to set up an intro to a concept or lesson plan in a comical way. I think I willbe able to use this in the future.

[mblauser]

Cyberbullying

The first article tells about a girl who had recently moved because of a family tragedy. Tiffany was being emotionally threatened through Facebook receiving messages and wall posts that were harmful to her self-esteem. They asked questions like, “Why do you think you’re better than everyone else?” She tells a story of one of her freshman friends who had decided to send pictures to her boyfriend who then sent them out to the school. She received so much ridicule that she had suicidal thoughts and transferred schools. Tiffany and a small group of students put together a video and 53 page report on cyberbullying and its effects. She said the goal of this video, report, and workshops are to understand “how to use technology and social media in ways that are positive, fun, and constructive.”

The second article is a recent situation that was a little harder for me to read. I know some kids from Plano West which is the school where this cyberbullying occured. Basically, a student named Shea who has the mental capacity of an 8 year old, although she is 18. She is a member is the cheerleading team. She has received text messages from various number telling her to kill herself, wishing that she would have another seizure and die, and that no one likes her or wants to be her friend. Since she has the mental capacity of an 8 year old, she is still able to fully understand all of the text messages and knows what they mean. She has changed her number and blocked phone numbers, but she still receives certain text messages. The police have become involved. Despite all of this, she keeps a positive attitude on life.

According to Shae's mother and Tiffany, both of these girls are Seniors in high school. I had always thought Cyberbullying stopped in Middle School or 9th grade. The fact that these girls are getting bullied by other people that are the same age as them, about to be adults and learning how to live on their own, astounds me. You think that by the time you are 17 or 18, if you met a girl with mental disabilities or a girl that was new at your school, you would at least have the courtesy to just not talk to them or about them. High School Seniors seriously need to grow up. I honestly don’t understand what the point is to go out of your way to make sure someone’s day is ruined. That takes way too much effort for something that is kind of sadistic.

Collins, C. (2013, October 11). Plano student with special needs bullied by mean texts. Fox News. Retrieved from http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/23664255/plano-west-hs-teen-bullied-by-harmful-text-messages

Trice, D. (2011, September 26). Students warn peers about cyberbullying. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-09-26/news/ct-met-trice-cyberbullying-0926-20110926_1_cyberbullying-facebook-account-social-media