Lesson Plan using Pinterest

 

Pinterest is fun way to keep up with ideas and there are many free lesson plans available to the public. This is a good way to come up with new and creative ideas for lesson plans and activities for your class. I also found different classroom decorating ideas. Pinterest can also be used in the classroom for students to create projects with.

Being that I want to be a Family Consumer Science teacher, I thought it was only fitting to create a lesson for a nutrition class using My Pyramid and identifying basic nutrition needs. I found all of my inspiration on Pinterest. Here is a link to my lesson plan: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_vqDcO0Yq5hZWl3dW5oSTd1c1U/view?usp=sharing

In my lesson, I asked the students to create a presentation in Google Slides. Here is a copy of my presentation. I did follow my own step by step instructions outlined in the lesson plan:  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MObfELGzjUsjiZrw6pZlrCmqbMAH3qqUO_tBgKvc_hs/edit?usp=sharing

This was a relatively basic project. Being that I don't have a specific text book, I used my own personal knowledge and some help from Google to get my information. The rest is really self explanatory.

Thanks for reading!

Useful Web 2.0 Tools

For all of you who don't know, I am studying to become a Family Consumer Science teacher. I will need to know how to use different tools that are easily accessible through the internet. Here are the tools that I found to be the most helpful:

1. Prezi (http://prezi.com/)- This tool allows you to create a very interesting presentation instead of the plain Jane power points. Students need interesting things to keep their attention, especially during lectures. It is very easy to use and pretty much self explanatory. You use it just like power point but you can add videos, graphics, and different aspects to make it fun. It is also a good tool for the students to use. 
2. Haiku Learning (http://www.haikulearning.com/)- Haiku Learning provides a media based class room. All of the assignments, notes, and important information that is discussed in class can be posted and accessed by the students, parents, and teacher. There is even a mobile app to make it easier to access. Teachers can use this for group discussions and projects. The teacher can see everything that has been posted by the students, and this will allow for easier grading. 
3. Pics 4 Learning (http://pics.tech4learning.com/)- Copyright is a very important thing that all teachers and students should be aware of. That being said, it can be difficult to find free pictures that can legally be used in a class room setting. That's where Pics 4 Learning comes in. This website contains numerous pictures that can be used in presentations by both teachers and students. This makes teaching a little easier. 
4. Flipbook (http://www.benettonplay.com/toys/flipbookdeluxe/player.php?id=489036)- This tool allows you to make and post videos. You start with a blank slate and add colors, drawings, and pretty much anything else that you want. It is made frame to frame. This can be used by the teacher to demonstrate step by step instructions. Students can also use this as a presentation tool for a class assignment. 
5. Tick a Tock (http://www.tikatok.com/)- This tool helps create an interactive learning environment. You can make books to demonstrate anything that you want. It is really easy to use and can be easily taught. A class can use this to create a book about almost any lesson taught in class. This can also be used to teach students certain lessons. 
6. Music Theory (musictheory.net)- This is a fun way to learn the basics of music. It breaks each step down and demonstrates each step. It is very easy to understand. This can be used to help students in music class. This can also be used by teachers as an aid to teaching students. 
7. If It Were My Home (http://www.ifitweremyhome.com/index/NZ)- This tool would be very helpful in many classes. It allows you to better understand different areas of the world and different cultures. It can be used in multiple classes. Students can use this to research natural disasters. It contains a lot of information about different countries. 
8. Questionaut (http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/games/questionaut/)- This was a very fun tool to use. You travel from world to world solving problems that people ask you. It covers different subjects including, math, English, and writing. This would be interesting to use in the class just for something different to do. It can also be used to help get the students brains working in a fun way. 
9. Big Huge Labs (http://bighugelabs.com/)- Big Huge Labs allows you to create really interesting things out of pictures. You get to pick which pictures you want to use and what you want to make. It is really easy to use and almost self explanatory. This could be used as a project in any class. It can also be used to allow student to create photo montages of current events or anything that is being taught. 
10. Zunal Webquest Maker (http://zunal.com/)- We all know about webquests and sometimes they can be a little tricky to get started. That's where Zunal comes in. This helps you lay out the perfect webquest. This can be used to create a webquest for students. Students can also use it to create webquests as an assignment.

Animal Cruelty and Social Media

Social media plays a big part of our day to day lives. Some times it can determine the day to day life of an animal. Social media is used to spread horrifying information on the intentional abuse and neglect of poor defenseless animals. We have all see the terrible videos going around on Facebook of people tormenting animals for no reason, and there is no reason to treat any animal like that. If you have a pest problem, allow the proper authorities to handle it. However, social media also allows us to post information about these horrible people and raise awareness of these situations. It allows us to take a stand and speak out against any type of abuse or neglect, animal and humane. Just recently, there was a scare of what is know as "Kill a Pitbull Night." This was supposed to take place on Halloween night. I'm not sure if all of you are aware but, cats (primarily black cats) are not sold or adopted out near Halloween because of certain practices. "Kill a Pitbull Night" not only condoned the behavior of beating and killing these animals but also supplied a list of things to use to torture these dogs. As this pitbull article made it's way around social media, the animal lovers of the world became skeptical and horrified. So much so that this article was "investigated" by Snopes.com and made an appearance on a local newscast in Dayton. Snopes.com concluded that this article was just a hoax but one can't help but wonder why someone would even think about doing something like this.

Social media isn't all bad though. There are many articles, support groups, rescue groups, and nonprofit organizations that are dedicated to helping animals and people. The article "Social Media and the Story of 'Buck Needs Bucks'" is a perfect example of how social media is used to raise awareness for our four legged friends. According to this article Buck was shot and made his way to a local animal shelter. His injuries were so bad that he would be blind for the rest of his life. One day Buck was adopted. Buck also required a lot of medical attention that required a lot of bucks. A fundraiser was setup on a social media site to raise awareness of animal cruelty and to help raise money for his treatments. Buck is now thriving and ever so grateful to everyone who helped him.

Social media can be used for good and bad. It is our job to decide and promote what is good. I believe we need to raise awareness through all types of media to help the abused and neglected. We need to stop the horrible people who post videos and articles of abuse and neglect. It is our responsibility to take a stand for those who can't. We need to use social media to demonstrate the love that is left in humanity.  



http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/lifestyles/pets/social-media-post-encourage-attacks-on-pit-bulls-o/nhp9R/

http://www.snopes.com/critters/cruelty/pitbull.asp

http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2013/04/online-activism-against-animal-cruelty/

Me and My Furry Family

 "Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." 

                                                                                                            - Anatole France

My name is Cameron Dill. I live in Benton Arkansas. I currently attend Henderson State University. My major is Family Consumer Science Education. I am married and have three wonderful fur-babies! They were all rescues and that was evident upon adoption. Piper is the oldest. She is a 4 year old Schipperke. Piper came into our lives on September 28th, 2013. She is full of energy and can sometimes go a little overboard with her excitement! She was found by the Humane Society of Saline County on a dirt road. She is very timid toward men and will cower if you approach her too fast. We believe she was abused in her past home. Jackson is our middle child. He is a two year old lab, chow, bloodhound (?) mix. We adopted him as a companion for Piper on March 1st, 2014. He is very loving and calm. When he first came to the shelter, he was very aggressive and would not let anyone touch him. After a while he finally warmed up and has formed a bond with me that I have never felt by any other pet that I have had. Piper and Jackson level each other out. Then there's Missy. Missy is our baby. She is a 1year old tortoiseshell cat. We went to donate a kennel to the local animal shelter and came home with a cat! Her birthday is July 20, 2014. We don't really know where she came from other than she spent the majority of her first year of life in the shelter. She has the biggest personality of all of them. She is very loving and sweet when she is tired and very playful when she is awake. She loves to grab onto the bottoms of doors and either open or close them. She also loves to sit on the side of the tub and play in the bath water.

My husband and I love to take our dogs to the Benton Dog Park. They have so much fun meeting new people and doggies. Piper isn't much for the agility course, but Jackson loves to do the ramp! Our babies get so excited when we tell them that we are going to the dog park. Missy has her own room and has the privilege of roaming around our neighborhood. She tends to get cranky if she doesn't play enough and we trust her enough to come back home when she's done. I am proud to call myself a rescue mom!

Family is a major part of my career choice. Aside from the desire to influence the lives of children, I also want to teach my students about different types of families. I don't have a typical family, but I feel as though my fur-babies are my own family. I wish to bring attention to the ever growing "dog parent" community. Some people are unable to (or chose not to) have children and they adopt animals that are in need instead.These animals will be the closest things to children these people will ever have and most fur-parents give their fur-baby extraordinary care and treat them just like a true child.
 Here is a helpful link to demonstrate the meaning of pet parenthood:
 http://www.petparents.com/community.aspx/index