I have updated my blog to include pages of the different assignments I have completed this semester as well as a page of a few resources I learned about in this class!!! I thought it would be a good way for me to organize everything onto one space, so I will be able to easily reference it later when I need to!
Thanks everyone for a great semester!!!
Interactive whiteboards, or SmartBoards, are a really cool and useful addition to the classroom! I have seen them in many classrooms that I substitute in, but the students told me they rarely use them or if they do it is just to watch movies. It’s disappointing to know that teachers have such useful tools at their fingertips but never go out of their way to use them. At first I thought the SmartBoards were nothing more than a projector, much like what we have at our school. I didn’t know there is actual software to go along with it. I thought the way the social studies used them in the video would be really helpful in an English class. I remember the old way when teachers would write notes on a dry erase board and have to erase them constantly to fit new notes on the board. If you didn’t get the notes down and understand them the first time around, it was really hard for the teacher to go back. Being able to save the pages of notes as well as projecting images to go along with them makes it really easy to explain things more clearly and go back if needed. I can see it being a really successful tool especially for an inclusion classroom and is complementary to all learning styles. I really do not see a major con in using the SmartBoard unless, of course, the teacher relies entirely on it and does not implement other student-centered activities. Then again, the Smartboard can promote more student involvement by giving them a chance to contribute to the activity on the board. I hope I have the opportunity to use SmartBoards in my classroom to learn more about them and all of their possibilities.
It is common knowledge that the media extrapolates everything negative in society and, of course, education is no exception. I recently came across an article from the Associated Press about sexual misconduct in schools. The article says the number of teacher-related sexual abuse cases with students has increased and is more or less ignored by all levels of the educational system. Teachers who are accused of sexual misconduct are either dismissed of charges because of lack of evidence or quietly “fired” by their school system while still maintaining their teacher license, and therefore, still eligible to get another teaching job in an other school systems. While the article does cite viable cases of “mobile molesters” proving this is a real problem in our schools, I am honestly just tired of hearing about it. I don’t mean to sound like a heartless “B”. I am not trying to side with the teacher child molesters, and in no way do I think its right that these acts are able to slide by unnoticed only to ensure more innocent victims. The article, in all its facts and points, is the most likely the awful truth and inarguably discomforting; however, my problem lies in the fact that this is the type of information we are hearing over and over again in the media. These “teachers” make up such a small percentage compared to the overwhelming number of REAL teachers who do have a positive impact on students, yet media stories such as these seem to group teachers together in one huge category, which cast shadows on the teaching profession as a whole. I remember, not too long ago, when I told people I was going to be a teacher and they would tell me how honorable they thought it was. Now when I tell people I plan to teach high school, their demeanor suddenly changes to a disconcerting look followed by “ohhhhh….well you need to watch out for those boys, you know how that is nowadays”. No more, I’m so proud of you…now its negative warning, as if I just told them I was going to be a pole-dancer. I know some of their concerns are legit. I know I’m young. I know how teenage boys can be. But seriously, it’s not that bad. All teachers aren’t vultures waiting for fresh meat and all teenagers aren’t looking to score with their teachers. The media has stretched this to the point that I feel the respect for all teachers is slowly and unfairly dwindling. I want to reiterate the fact that I am not saying sexual misconduct by teachers is not a problem in schools (I even know of some teachers from my high school)….I guess I’m just tried of the way the media portrays the issue…
I think this class is going pretty smoothly so far, especially since we are all the guinea pigs. I will have to say that I think adding this course was a major plus for the English Ed. program! I love when learning is relevant (wish I could say the same for some of my other courses)! As requested though, here are a few suggestions for improvement for the future:
That is all I can think of right now. Hope it helps!
KL
So, it’s almost midterm, and I can definitely tell. I am so overwhelmed with classes right now…midterms, papers, projects…all pretty much due in the same week! Such is life. I’ll stop complaining…sort of. For this class, the problem is that as the semester goes on, I am finding it harder and harder to remember to write in this blog unless it is a “required” post. I usually find inspiration in just surfing the Internet and finding interesting articles, but where’s the time now. Seriously.
ANYWAY- there is one thing that I do want to share. This past weekend I met some business majors from KSU, nothing against business majors at all , but these particular ones were a little too harsh when I told them I was an English Education major. I really wish I could be like Taylor Mali and go off on them, but it really caught me off guard. They gave me the “you’ll be making crap” and when I said, “well that’s not what it’s about” they just came back with “oh yeah, it’s about making a difference but that’s what they all say to make themselves feel better. We will be rolling in the big bucks while you have meager life with a teacher salary even though we both will have a degree from KSU”. They claimed to be just kidding with me, but I got really defensive. I hate how ignorant people can be towards the power of education and the potential impact on childrens’ lives. I hate when people think the best part of being a teacher is the summer off (when in actuality “summer off” is “summer planning”). I guess all occupations are scrutinized in one way or another, but call me crazy, I just never realized how much some adults really do not appreciate teachers. To me becoming a teacher will be so much more than a “job” and despite what they think I know my life will be far from “meager” (at the least I will not be stuck in a cubicle). 
. I really want to thank all my professors and fellow education majors for creating such a positive and motiviating environment in all of my education classes…it really gives me reason and encouragment to stay strong and be PROUD to be a future teacher!
On that note: This is a forward I got and thought some of them were true & kinda funny:
HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TEACHER?
by Jeff Foxworthy
1. You can hear 25 voices behind you and know exactly which one belongs to the child out of line.
2. You get a secret thrill out of laminating something.
3. You walk into a store and hear the words ‘It’s Ms/Mr. _________’ and know you have been spotted.
4. You have 25 people that accidentally call you Mom/Dad at one time or another.
5. You can eat a multi-course meal in under twenty-five minutes.
6. You’ve trained yourself to go to the bathroom at two distinct times of the day: lunch and prep period.
7. You start saving other people’s trash, because most likely, you can use that toilet paper tube or plastic butter tub for something in the classroom.
8. You believe the teachers’ lounge should be equipped with a margarita machine.
9. You want to slap the next person who says ‘Must be nice to work 7 to 3 and have summers off.
10. You believe chocolate is a food group.
11. You can tell if it’s a full moon without ever looking outside.
12. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says ‘Boy, the kids sure are mellow today.’
13. You feel the urge to talk to strange children and correct their behavior when you are out in public.
14. You believe in aerial spraying of Ritalin.
15. You think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.
16. You spend more money on school stuff than you do on your own children.
17. You can’t pass the school supply aisle without getting at least five items!
18. You ask your friends if the left hand turn he just made was a ‘good choice or a bad choice.’
19. You find true beauty in a can full of perfectly sharpened pencils.
20. You are secretly addicted to hand sanitizer.
AND LASTLY:
21. You understand instantaneously why a child behaves a certain way after meeting his or her parents.
Dr. Tyson’s keynote address was so inspiring. I will admit that I have had my doubts about the effectiveness of using some of this technology in the classroom, but he definitely motivated me to understand and explore the possibilities. I was really touched by the student’s testimonies. To hear a principal talking about “school 2.0″ is one thing, but to hear the students tell how much it impacted them really opened my eyes. I was amazed by their enthusiasm in dealing with universal “grown up” problems and making a contribution to the world. Many adults would never take a 12 year old seriously and the majority of 12 year olds would not be serious about matters beyond their own life. Dr. Tyson’s students are going above and redefining one’s expectations of a “normal” adolescent and literally showing the world that they are worthy and capable. Dr. Tyson stressed the idea of meaningfulness in learning. Not only are his student’s creating meaningful projects for the world, but also meaningful projects for themselves that they will carry with them forever. Using technology with such a purpose creates a learning experience that is unfortunately beyond anything many students will experience unless they are guided by educators. There is no doubt students yearn for such an opportunity, but they are limited by the restrictions and awareness of their schools. When I become a teacher I will do everything in my power to implement such projects, but I feel that I will only be able go so far without the support of the school system and administrators. Mabry Middle School was fortunate to have Dr. Tyson as a principal, but not all principals have the same ideology. I think that every administrator should watch Dr. Tyson’s address because there is no way they can disagree with “school 2.0″ after watching it!
So far I have been familiar with the web tools we have learned in this class, but I can’t say the same with podcast. I have heard of them and listened to a friend’s podcast he was playing around with about his band’s (Zerochance) new album, but that is the extent of my podcast experience. I did not know that podcast not only include audio, but many have videos and other visual elements!
I began searching through podcast on iTunes, and I was surprised to find that they are wildly popular and you can basically find any topic conceivable on podcast. It seems the most popular podcast for an English classroom is Grammar Girl. It could be useful to use Grammar Girl in the classroom if students are having difficulty with a specific grammatical rule. Hearing the rule through a different voice from a podcast would most likely enable students to better understand the information. Also, since it is proven ineffective to teach grammar in isolation, but many schools demand teachers to do so, Grammar Girl could be a more effective and fun alternative.
Another useful podcast I came across is Podcast for Teachers. It gives interesting ideas for using technology in the classroom. The only problem with this podcast and many others is that they are used for more informative purposes so they may not be the most entertaining to listen to.
OK, I think I have subscribing to podcast down, but I have no clue how to create my own. I’m sure it won’t be that way for long though…
KL
I recently came across the article Fast-Food Ads vs. Reality on the AOL Finance & Money site and thought I would share since it provides great examples of what we learned in class about advertisements and visual literacy (by the way- this wiki on Wikipedia could use some sprucing up too). I find it amusing that even though we know fast-food companies are sucking us in with these “false” ads of inedible food, most of us are willing to consume the “real” version without a second thought. No one ever usually says, “Hey, this is not what the picture looks like. I want a refund.” We eat it anyway, forget about it until we see that mouth watering commercial again, and go right back knowing what we see isn’t what we’ll get yet again. Now that I am “visually literate”, it frustrates me that the look of the food in contrast to the advertisement doesn’t bother me. I can’t really explain why except, simply put, they got me. I’m hungry now…
KL
I have experience using both Movie Maker and Photo Story. I used Movie Maker in a video production class in high school and have played around with it with home videos ever since. Although the process can get frustrating and time consuming (especially if you’re picky like me) , the product is always worth it. It’s funny how much you can impress people by using these programs, and the thing is, it’s not that hard to do (and it’s fun)!
In my ENGL 3391 class, we learned how to create digital stories by using the program Photo Story. At first, when I learned the program only allowed pictures, transitions, and music, I thought it would be just a glorified Power Point, but after playing around with it I realized it is much more. Instead of a choppy slide show set to music, the finish product actually looks like a movie. For 3391, I worked with Meghan Searcy and Charles Wood to create a digital interpretation of the YA novel Godless by Pete Hautman. We only had one problem while making the digital story. While working in a group, we could not find a way to combine parts of the project from each of our computers into one, so we basically had to do it all over again on one computer. Other than that, it was a lot of fun and something I will definitely use in my classroom.
KL
ps) I tried to post our digital story, but it is saved in a format that YouTube does not recognize, and I don’t know how to convert it, but I promise it is my favorite project so far!
I have to admit, before this class my idea of blogging consisted of personal online “journals” of people venting and gossiping (aka causing drama) and maybe people writing about their travels and giving music/movie reviews here and there. Sadly, the only “famous” blog I knew existed was perezhilton.com (yes, I just revealed a guilty pleasure). If you were to ask me a month ago if I felt blogging made a huge impact on our society, my answer would have been, “Is Britney Spears sane?”From all I knew, in the whole scheme of things, who the heck cares what Chatty Cathy has to say about her boyfriend dumping her or what she thinks about the new Fergie CD. I was never aware that the blogging world offers so MUCH more than celebrity gossip and trivial information. I now accept my ignorance and thankfully see the true power of blogging!
While the blogs I initially thought to be the sole definition will forever exist, there is a whole side of blogging that is often ignored: a side of blogging that welcomes intellectual conversation, thought-provoking opinions, and informed and helpful resources. Upon reading the first chapter of Will Richardson’s Blogs, Wikis, Podcast, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, I was intrigued by the statement, “We are no longer limited to being independent readers or consumers of information; as we’ll see, we can be collaborators in the creation of large storehouses of information.” The key word is COLLABORATORS. Through blogging, essentially everyone can contribute their knowledge and have a huge influence on higher levels that once were thought to be impossible. Not convinced? I recently stumbled across an article about a blogger who fixed a mistake made by NASA, which influenced a further look into global warming: Quarter-Degree Fix Fuels Climate Fight. The fact that an “ordinary” person questioned the leading scientist of NASA and influenced a major change would have sounded ludicrous in the past. As the article states this crucial information “would most likely have passed unremarkably if Mr. McIntyre had not blogged…” Such instances as these prove that blogging shows new voices are being heard and are positively impacting our world. Fortunately, an increasing number of people are taking advantage of such an opportunity. The Rodes Fishburne’s article, Blog Power, states that, “bloggers…have made an indelible imprint by focusing less on the meta-conversation, and more on specifics: fact checking, comparing old transcripts to new material and making phone calls”. Because of the power blogging has on or society, I completely agree with Richardson’s notion that teachers should implement the use of blogging into their classrooms. Sure students may know what a “blog” is, and they may actually “blog” themselves, but do they realize the potential power blogging can have? Through blogging, teachers can motivate students by showing them how they can be heard and how they can make a difference.
As Fishburne’s article concludes, “that’s true power, the power of revealing powerful things. And blogs are one of the mediums responsible.”
KL
