Bryan Van Pelt's bportfolio

For our final assignment I created a poster regarding the basics of copyright and piracy.  As ISTE4 relates to moral and ethical actions on the internet, I immediately think of copyright and sharing music between peers.  As the internet is such a prominent part of student's lives, most do not fully grasp the rules and regulations regarding the content that they find online.  This poster's goal is to provide a basic overview of the main ideas regarding copyright, piracy and the sharing of media.  This poster is aimed at students in middle school and parents of those children.  Parents could gain useful information from both embedded videos, particularly the one that shares websites that stream music legally.  https://edu.glogster.com/glog/copyright-and-downloads/2hfdhq8cdhp

Question: Which local and global Kodaly communities can I participate in, with the hopes of sharing ideas and engaging in meaningful discourse? The Kodaly method is my primary pedagogical method when instructing K-5 music education.  After much research I found that there is not a strong internet presence in this community.  Finding ways to stay connected via technological communities are limited.  One of the best resources is Facebook. One aspect ISTE5 focuses on teachers staying connected through technology and other online resources.  As mentioned in this week's hangout, a connected teacher is utilizing a large handful of resources, all that aid in the connecting the teacher to the broader world of their field or curriculum.  As mentioned in the article "Teaching: Prepare and Connect", the author states teachers "are connected to their students and to professional content, resources and systems that empower them to create, manage, and assess engaging a...

Final Reflection               At the beginning of this course my thoughts on accomplished teaching were shallow and vague.   Are students engaged? Does the teacher know what they are talking about?   Is the classroom managed?   These were the big picture ideas that came to mind prior to this course. After many readings, discussion board posts, and face-to-face interactions my definition has changed in many ways.   Some thoughts remain intact but many ideas and principles have changed into something deeper, pointed and more meaningful.   Many experiences this quarter redefined my ideas on what it means to be not only an accomplished teacher but also a mentor and teacher leader.             The focus of the first face-to-face meeting was centered on equity.   This word has come into discussions at school and previously in college, however i...

            This week I explored the question of, “ How can I instruct students to become moral, ethical, and responsible digital citizens?”   Through exploring various websites and articles I found a couple of practical and useful ways in which students can interact with how to become an ethical an responsible digital citizen.             As Mike Ribble and Teresa Northern Miller (2013) stated in their article, there are three main components when it comes to respecting yourself and others on the Internet.   These three ideas are digital access, digital etiquette, and digital law.   My focus this week is on etiquette and law.   Specifically I focused on practical ways in which students can have a hands-on experience with digital citizenship.   In the article “3 Ways to Weave Digital Citizenship Into Your Curriculum” by Nicole Kreuger (2014), she ment...

Resolution: Question :   How can I use technology to effectively and efficiently communicate classroom information to parents?             ISTE 3 is focused on demonstrating competency and fluency with digital age tools.   Likewise the standard is concerned with using these tools to collaborate with students and parents alike.    Connecting with parents is a highly valuable and underutilized tool in propelling student growth.   ISTE 3 places a focus on the importance of this task and how we as teachers can utilize technology to accomplish this goal.   One issue related to this standard is how can we communicate with parents without overwhelming them with information. Parents receive plenty of information throughout their day and in order for our information to be effective, the delivery and weight of information needs to be just right.   This week I focused on methods of collaborating...

Question: How can I design and evaluate creative learning experiences and assessments or 4th grade's composition unit?                        Composition in the music classroom is a wonderful opportunity to incorporate technology.   However,  a s elementary music classrooms focus on student centered music making, technology can slow things down, sometimes to a halt.   Issues arise, apps fail, and quite frankly most technology doesn’t allow for students to engage in authentic compositional experiences.                  When looking for resources and articles I stumbled across a music educator's blog listing many different apps for the music classroom, most focusing on composition.   I then thought about how I want my students to interact with these applications.   Most do not require much musical thought and are mere games ...