Copyright

After learning about copyright laws in class, I found that a lot of the laws and outcomes from different cases surprised me. The cases that probably surprised me the most were the cases that focused on music. For example, there was one particular case where the Beatles were sued for a song that they sang because another group found it to be too similar to a song that they previously produced. The Beatles were found guilty because of having four notes in their song that were the same as the group that was suing them. This case's outcome almost shocked me because I thought that the two songs seemed nothing alike. There is only so many notes that can be placed together to sound good, so I think it is almost an expectation that artists should have that their music may sound like other artists songs. I was also surprised to see how many gray areas there are within the copyright laws. For instance, if one case goes to trial and wins, and an almost identical case goes to court at at later time, it is not guaranteed that that case will also win; they could be found guilty.

Looking back I can see that a lot of my teachers have violated the copyright laws, especially my music teacher. Almost all of the music that I played for band was a photocopy of the original. I also was given warm up pieces to practice that was also photocopied. Also, my English teacher in 9th grade would give up copies of chapters of novels that we were asked to read over the weekend, and then compare and contrast the different pieces of writing.

I am thankful for learning about the copyright laws before becoming a teacher. I think that there are probably a lot of teachers out there who do not realize that they are "stealing" other people's work and violating copyright laws. Now, when I become a teacher, I know what I can and can not do. You never know who your student's parents are, and you never know if they will see work that you send home and turn you in. This is why it is so important to know about the copyright laws. It is also important for me as a teacher to teach my students how to respect other peoples work, and to respect copyright laws. I will make sure that when I teach I follow the copyright laws, and if I am ever confused about something, I will ask around and see if it falls under the copyright laws and is found under the guidelines of fair use.

Interactive Whiteboards

Interactive whiteboards are becoming more common in the classroom and are very beneficial to teachers and students. Interactive whiteboards are beginning to replace the old "traditional" chalkboards and whiteboards and help to increase student engagement. By using interactive whiteboards, teachers are able to create an environment where students can enjoy learning in a new way. Teachers can use the interactive board to teach a lesson or review old concepts. They can do this by creating interactive games or using it to play videos from the web. They also allow teachers to record their instruction. Visual learners will especially benefit from using this technology. Students are able to actively move materials, write, and play games. The pictures are very colorful and extremely interactive since students can do things such as roll dice, spin a spinner, practice writing, and move pictures.

I found the software to be very easy to use. I loved how simple it was to take lessons that I have previously created in worksheet forms, and turn them into interactive, fun lessons. Some of the tools used for the whiteboard technology was a little tricky to use, such as remembering to switch back to the pointer each time you needed to move things, but for the most part it was pretty easy. Some of the tools the technology incorporated I thought were really good tools to have, such as the cloning tool. This tool allowed you to clone certain materials that you incorporated into your slides, such as pictures. Another thing I liked was how you are able to lock parts of each slide in place so students can not accidentally move them.

When I created my interactive project, I tried to recreate worksheets that I used in my unit on water resources. I found that by using the smart-board, students would be much more engaged in the learning process and more willing to focus attention. I also found that students would have a lot more fun doing the worksheets on the whiteboard because they were interactive, rather than just sitting at their desk and completing a boring worksheet. I think that smart-boards would also be a good thing that teachers could use as a center in their classroom. By using it as a center, students could review concepts in all content areas, including math and language arts. The placement of the smart-board is very important to teachers since students must be able to reach the board to actively use it.

There are many pros and a few cons to having an interactive whiteboard in your classroom. They engage students, as I already mentioned, and they allow for many more rich learning opportunities for students by having hands on activities. Teachers can also use them to easily access websites to play interactive videos and games. When students have fun learning, they remember the information better, and I feel interactive boards help them do this. One con of having a whiteboard is the trouble of placement. Students must be able to reach it, which is often difficult. Teachers also have to keep in mind that the lighting and color on the board is often different then what it looks like on the computer when creating the website. These problems can ultimately be fixed by placing it low to the ground, using step stools, and knowing the lighting of your room. Another con is the possibility of using markers on the board. Dry erase markers can create marks on the board, and permanent or regular markers should not be used.

After learning about the interactive whiteboard technology, I really hope that my classroom has a whiteboard. I can look back at many previous lessons that I have written, and see how I can recreate them using the smart-board to increase learning and engagement, which I think is something that all teachers need to strive for. Interactive whiteboards are good tools for teachers to use, and good tools to teach content to students.