I interviewed my sister. She already knew that it is important to make sure that you don't give out your address, number, and other details about yourself online. She knew that it is important to search only wholesome things and to exit quickly out of inappropriate sites.
I explained to her how real child predators are and she was surprised how easily they can manipulate. She thought that if she just avoided giving out personal details, she would be okay. But I gave her some websites to look at that gave personal accounts of people who had internet relationships with child predators. These child predators began their manipulation by casually reaching out to the children then slowly and gently building up to more. When I told her to make sure that she was only looking at things online around other people, she was a bit defensive saying that she could handle herself. But I explained that many people start out small or accidentally happen upon an inappropriate website. Being around others would just help prevent her from getting accustomed to these sites popping up and beginning to feel okay with them.
It surprised me that she was defensive because I was only trying to help. I suppose though that she wanted people to trust her and believe that she is a person that would never do something like that.
I think that she will be very careful now to only talk with people who she knows in person on the internet now. I don't think she was talking to people she didn't know before but I think she will be more careful now. I think she will also make sure to keep her internet usage more open.

video resources

I watched faux paw. This video would be great to show kids because it is a cartoon that helps kids understand rules about the internet. Rules discussed were: don't give out your name, number, or address online, don't meet someone you met online, and tell a parent if you find something bad on the internet.
I watched cyberbullying. This video on Frontline really showed how brutal some children can be to others. But this bullying is much more serious than other types because it often is in secret. It can be avoided if parents regulate what happens on their children's computers.
I watched the child predator fear video. This video showed how parents need to really be involved. The scary part about the internet is that parents can't always control what happens there. The predators can find anything on the internet.
I watched a revolution in classrooms and social life. This video showed me that teaching has become so much more involved in technology. It shows how technology advanced children are. Also children are so overexposed to several things quickly all the time on the internet that it makes it harder for kids to focus in school. The internet lets people get away with doing things quicker and with less focus.
I watched webwisekids: Katie's story. This showed me how real child predators are. They make the kids feel like they are wanted and that they need this person and isolate kids from other people. They slowly and gently bring sexual content into the conversations. The predators use crafty schemes to reel these children in.
I watched Netsmartz: Julie's Journey. This video showed me how scary internet relationships can be. She became very close friends with a 56 year old murderer. She thought that she knew him but she didn't really know who he was. Its scary how people can pretend to be someone else and manipulate others on the internet.

Internet Article

I read "Tangled in the Web". This article taught me that spending too much time on the internet can really interfere with the rest of your life. It messes up the balance because your focus is centered on only one thing.

reflection on readings and video

I think the most important thing I learned from the readings was that we need to be sure that there is high fidelity for a good purpose in the things we look at on the internet. High fidelity means that there is a good amount of similarity between reality and the simulation of reality. But we don't just want high fidelity in our internet usage because the reality of our world is often immoral or wrong. We want high fidelity with a good purpose. We want to see good things as they really are on the internet.
I also learned that it is important to watch and read things that go along with our standards. Despite the fact that we think immoral things on the internet don't affect us, they usually begin to seem normal to us and so we don't see any harm in following suit.
Another thing I learned is that keeping the computer you use out in the open can help you avoid temptations. You won't want to open anything immoral on the internet where someone else can see you doing it. Also make sure that your family understands the internet and what to do when something immoral comes up.
Another important thing I learned is that the computer will only do what you tell it to do. If you place a filter on your internet and only search wholesome things, then you should have nothing to worry about.

google earth

this is my google earth presentation: http://sites.google.com/site/bluthie/googlemaps

final report

lesson plans

This is my math lesson plan: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcfpm6nq_3chhkfxhq
This is my science lesson plan: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcfpm6nq_2fjw5kkgf
This is my language arts lesson plan: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcfpm6nq_1gsw5vjfk