Nancy's+Journal

Internet Safety Blog Main Page Table of Contents 2/15/09 - 2/22/09** - This week has been very productive in gathering resources and websites. I have contacted Salem-Keizer School District about resources they have for cyber-bullying, education for both students and parents about resources, and other suggestions for resources. In addition, I am in the process of hopefully, getting permission to post a powerpoint that is presented to the community on internet safety.
 * [[image:journal.jpg link="Nancy Link"]]


 * 2/23/09 - 3/2/09 -** This week has been another really tough week. I have attempted to upload a youtube video and some videos from CNN. I have asked for help from our IT person but they didn't know how to do it for a Wiki page. The communication expert at Salem-Keizer has been wonderful. She sent me three books that address safety on the internet. I am currently reading them to be able to put together an annotated bibiliography for the site.


 * 3/3/09 - 3/10/09** - We have continued to have issues at school and I seemed to have fallen to the curse of the virus. Scot has graciously offered to tutor me in the art of uploading but I haven't been able to avail myself of his expertise. I am hoping to have the material uploaded for peoples viewing this week. Monday, I stayed home ill and possibly Tuesday. I am doing a powerpoint presentation on Boundaries and safety for the staff on Tuesday morning. I am planning to present even if I am sick. I then plan to upload it onto my Wiki page (when I have figured it out).


 * 3/11/09** **- 3/17/09** I missed a lot of work the last few weeks and have spent the time trying to get on top of my workload. I read the book __MySapce: Unraveled__ by Magid and Collier. It is a very good book that has lots of soid advice for parents of teens. It also gives parents step by step instructions on how to get into myspace and how to deal with cyberbullies. I tried again to upload a you-tube video off a cd I have but still can't seem to be successful. I am going to ask my nephew to help me. This wikipage has me hoodwinked. I don't know if it is the stresses in my life or I really need to dig and update myself technologically.


 * 3/18/09 - 3/24/09** The 18th began our spring conference schedule. I was slammed due to the increased gang and threat activity that we have been having. Interestly, the other members of our admin. team were having a wonderful conversation about the technology and the internet. In the group are w of us that are in our 50's, one in their 30's and one in their 20's. The level of committment to technology appeared surprising to be tied to age or generational. It was a great conversation and I pointed out this kind of conversation couldn't occur on line even via video conferencing due to the delays and no ability for the listener to participate in the setting. We discussed the moral compass of schools and how do we support and instill appropriate community values. I am hoping we can continue this conversation at a later date. It was discovered that several teachers have their names and profiles on facebook. In addition they are disclosing information that could be risky for them professionally. I will do a short presentation when we get back from spring break.


 * 3/25/09 - 3/31/09** Spring break, yeah!!!!!!!!!!! I was hoping to get caught up on school work and finish refinishing the cabinets and moldings in my house. This is so the general contractor can hopefully get my house back after the extensive water damage that happened on Christmas day. My sister went to Arizona for break and came home early due to being very ill. She had lots of tests and the doctors think she has viral mennigitis. The little I got done was to some legal issues schools are having with cyberbullying and staff understanding boundaries. These boundary issues are not simple anymore due to the complexity of technology, the internet, and the way we relate to each other has changed. My grandmother and mother must have felt this with the increased use of the telephone versus visiting each in their homes or on walks in the evening.


 * 4/1/09 - 4/7/09** Things seemed to have somewhat calmed down at school. We had to be aware of the issues in the Cascade School district because they are in close to use geographically and it is not uncommon for our children to transfer to that district. Once again, the internet technology comes to the forefront and thank God. The adolescent that showed their parent the email very possibly saved a lot of lives. This course seems to touch many aspects of my world. At first I couldn't figure out how this was a faith and learning issue but it is becoming very clear to me its relevancy. I intend to upload a pdf file of the front page of the Statesman-Journal which discussed politics and twittering. I now must get all the different pieces I have gathered for my wikispace and get it into the pages but begin developing the powerpoint for our presentation.


 * 4/8/09 - 4/14/**09 This week worked one of my teachers to try to upload the YouTube video I wanted to put on the website. I discovered after all these attempts that my problem is uploading the video and not just adding the link. This project has been a very humbling experience and difficult. I really have tried to figure out why I keep running into road blocks with the technology portion of this project. I suspect it has to be with my learning style and the online learning environment. Once again, I fortunately have the opportunity to experience learning from a students perspective. I have been given another insight into my students struggles and learning blocks.


 * 4/15/09 - 4/19/09** Scot tutored me this week on how touse Ivocalize. I have been noticing that the last several months I have seen several articles in the Statesman-Journal on internet usage and ways to protect yourself. The twitter and internet addiction article was fascinating. The diagnosis of an internet addtiction had me looking to see if it was a recognized diagnosis in the mental health field. I haven't been able to find a firm confirmation but I suspect it is only a matter of time before it has it's own ICD-9 code and therapists will be able to bill insurance companies.


 * 4/20/09 - 4/22/09** I have been working very hard to implement my design plans for my wikipages project. As usual I have created a much bigger project than I anticipated. My research and design experience I suspect has been somewhat of a hindrance because I want all the pages to flow easily and to have a similar appearance. I have been gathering information and now am posting it. A light bulb went off after Scot over Ivocalize showed me how to upload something. I am really a visual learner and in the last few days the feeling of competency has been very nice. I really hope someone picks this up after me and it is useful to others.


 * 4/23/09 - 4/24/09** I was very nervous about presenting my project online. I find the online environment more anxiety producing than presenting to a group of people. I suspect it is because I am so use to reading body language, facial expressions, and the general feel of the audience that the online forum is like presenting to a one dimensional object that I can't interact with. It is good to stretch myself and have these type of experiences. This is my last posting for the semester. I have enjoyed this class and have worked harder at it than my other 3 hour class. And that class is quite intense and time consuming.