Blog Journal 2

Microsoft Word is single handedly the foundation of my entire English education. I have spent more time looking at this blank electronic piece of paper then I have with any other educational tool. Every essay, study guide, and project I have completed would not have been possible without the help of Microsoft Word. As a teacher although Microsoft Word is still instrumental in lesson plan making and of course communicating information to students and their support systems. However, as a teacher I believe PowerPoint is a more beneficial tool. PowerPoint helps teacher creates lesson plans that students are able to learn best from because the information is clearly and effectively distributed. As I sit here writing this blog in my Environmental Science class I am looking at a PowerPoint in which my Professor is lecturing from which proves my point of just how useful PowerPoint is.

In my experience, teachers frequently use information and lesson plans they find online to incorporate into their own personal lesson plans. I believe Copyright should not be an issue as long as teachers explain where they got the information from and never claim to have come up with it on their own. I believe when it comes to learning, every website, video, book, or article should be fair game because it is for the benefit of human knowledge. As far as students go though, they are being graded off of their own personal work, not someone else’s. In the case of students, although they can look to others for inspiration, they should not be using anyone else’s information without giving credit where credit is due.

In the issue of Copyrighting, I believe I could help my students avoid this by drilling into them how to cite information correctly. This will help make it easier for students to not want to plagiarize. I would avoid cyberbullying in my classrooms by explaining to students the effects this can have on a young person and also by giving them positive outlets to express themselves such as artwork, or physical activity. I also think it is important to make sure students know that if something is going on they can always come to me and I will always be in their corner. Another way to help stop bullying would be an anonymous tip off where students can report bullying that they are noticing in the classroom or that they are personally experiencing. Lastly, the issue of Academic honesty. I think in this issue the more work the teacher does, the harder it can become for students to cheat. As teachers we can avoid cheating by creating multiple test forms, assigning homework assignments that are written responses or require written out work, not assigning take home tests, and by actively walking around the class during examination times to ensure no one is cheating.