Hello Everyone! I hope this blog find you well! Did you have some Peach Cobbler in celebration of national Peach Cobber Day today yet?
Anyway, getting started, the readings really made me think about multi medias in the classrooms. I know I talked some about how we as teachers must change classroom pedagogy along with the changes in technology, but it is a crucial point to talk about.
The fact is, kids are getting more and more complex technology at an ever decreasing age. Several friends of mine have told me stories how their niece, nephews, or neighbors who are like 5 and 6 already have a cell phone. Growing up, my Dad had a strict rule about no cell phone until you have a job and your license. He kept that rule with me but caved in with my little brother who got one at 14. Of course, all my siblings and I were peeved he did that, but it seems to go with the changing time.
(Boy: "Dude, that time where Big Bird found Bernie in his nest was CRAAAAZY" Girl: "Girl, I said 'Swiper No swiping three times" but he still stole Dora's hat. Next time I will yell it!" Boy 2: "I don't know man, Blue hid those clues pretty well. I don't think we'll solve this one")
My point is this: If kids are getting technology sooner, then we must adapt the pedagogy. Even if parents wait to get their kids started with tech, by the time kids reach the high school, they will no doubt be technology capable and will want to use technology in the classroom.
So, we as teachers have to prepare and get ready. I do not think it will be too big of a challenge for us, seeing as we ourselves are pretty technology dependent and knowledgeable but it still would not hurt to really research and see what we can do.
If you guys have any ideas, i would love to hear them! Leave a comment or two below with you thoughts!
Thanks for reading and I'll see you next week!
Until then, take care and remember...
~Add a little Streiff to your life~
Fun fact: April 13th is National Peach Cobbler Day, April 14th is National Pecan Day, and April 15th is National Glazed Ham Day. I hope your stomachs are ready for the next few days! I wonder what is it about April that makes people want to eat?!
(Mmmm! That Peach Cobbler looks good! :P )
Anyway, let's start on the readings shall we?
Chapter 8, Miller and McVee:
The story of Nicole and Paige making a video about the Jim Crow Laws is a neat one because I have done those kinds of projects before but I never really realized how much media goes into it. Miller and McVee then go on to explain how digital video is really filled with multi media but we read about that last week. What I really focused in on was the digital aspect of the classroom. Miller and McVee expressed desire to reshape pedagogy in the classroom to not only include digital literacies and technology, but to also cater to the students to make school an interactive environment shaped around the students so they may feel like school is an extension of themselves and a way to express who they are.
I highly agree with Miller and McVee. As technology changes, so must the world around it do the same. No longer can classrooms rely solely on print media. The world needs technology. Its a simple fact. The society in the U.S. is one that is always on the border waiting for new technology to come over the horizon. For example, every time the iPhone gets a new release, people will stand for hours, literally hours in the cold, rain, and snow just to get the new phone simply because it is new. In fact, some have even took advantage of this technology craze by selling their spot in lines from $200-$500 dollars! http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/national_world&id=8818083
So, it seems our society is really passionate (and sometimes insane) about technology. Which means the kids we teach will be born with technology in their hands. In fact, my niece Emily knew how to work an iPad to get to Netflix to watch Dora when she was 2. Growing up, she will be used to Technology and will need the digital stimulation in school in order to peak her interest.
We as future teachers need to be ready for these kids and prepare thusly. For example, Miller and McVee talked about classroom set-up and how it is crucial in facilitating learning, I already thought about how I want to set up my future classroom and each time, I can never finalize a design because I strive for it to be the best.
Overall, Miller and McVee talked about how crucial it is to remold pedagogy to include technology and cater to the student's wants and needs.
Dali, Broz, Edmondson, and Ostenson:
Reading all four articles, I found the ideas in each of them really neat and practical for the classroom I would teach. as i mentioned before in the Miller and McVee section, teachers have to incorporate technology and bring the students interest into the classroom. I like how Dali used current examples from popular Young Adult books because those are the ones that really grasp a student's interest. I know I absolutely loved the Hunger Games trilogy so if I had to do a voicethread about them, I would be excited!
If anyone has not read the 4 articles, I highly recommend it. They provided me with lots of cool ideas and I have thought of ways of how to tweak them to fit other lessons and I am sure you will do the same!
So that about sums it up for this week. I hope you have enjoyed reading and I will see you next week!
Thank you! Have fun, be safe and remember...
~Add a little Streiff to your life~
Hello Everyone!! I hope your day is going well! Have you started reading comic book/strips since the readings?
I know for sure my roommates have! Two of my roommates are huge, huge, HUGE, comic book fans. Our room is filled with Superman symbols, countless batman comics, and I don't even know how many superhero merchandise is lying around here. In fact, if you are to watch my group's video "The Necklace", you will notice Janet is reading one of my roommate's Batman graphic novels when she sits in the "park".
For them comic books are amazing and they make a story come alive. They say the art, characterization, and pure kick-assery makes comic books and graphic novels really fun to read.If we could take that and translate it to what we are teaching, imagine how interested kids would be.
As for me, I actually started looking into how graphic novels and comic books can be useful in an English classroom. Carter brought up some good points but I wanted to do some more researching. And I did.
My first instinct to tracking down something useful for English in the graphic novel section was to look for something related to Shakespeare. The biggest opponent to Shakespeare is the language. Most kids I talk to, and even some of my classmates, detest Shakespeare because the language is too difficult and they don;t get it. Well luck was on my side and I stumbled upon this little beauty here: http://www.grammarmancomic.com/scripts/download/romeostory.pdf
It is the famous balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet done in a comic book style. I like this for a few reasons. 1. It is pleasing to the eye. 2. It uses the style of comic books to its advantage. Notice how the speech bubbles changed when emotion is added. Even the words are bolded when they are needed to be stressed or carried with emotion. 3 (And my favorite) It keeps the Shakespearean language in its exact form but it reads like normal language.
My second instinct lead to find something related to Young Adult Novels, as well as, the books we read in high school. Examples include Brave New World, The Great Gatsby, Tom Sawyer, Of Mice and Men, and all the other books.
Below is a link for a compilation of comic strips for The Great Gatsby. They're funny, witty, and bring up some good points about the book.
Of course avoided the language and some of its crudeness, comic strips such as these could be useful in the classroom. Having students illustrate something about the book that they deem worthy of discussion or just something they felt passionate about the book can be a great way to really get students invested in a book.
All together, graphic novels can be a great asset in the classroom and the examples I provided show that they can actually be useful and interesting. What do you all think?
Until next time, take care and have fun and remember....
Hello Everyone!! I hope you are all enjoying this wonderful weather! I know I am!
So this week, we had to read about Graphic Novels and their use, function, and purpose in the classroom. The two authors I really connected with were McTaggert and Carter.
McTaggert:
What i really liked about McTaggert's article is that it had a question for almost every question I had. She really went into detail and thoroughly explained what a graphic novel was, the different types, and why they are valid in a classroom. To be honest, I never thought of graphic novels in my classroom because whenever I think of them or comic books, I think they are for children and not meant for high school. But after listening to McTaggert explain why, it really made sense to me.
The one line she said that really was a wow moment for me was when she said "They have grown up with TV, electronic games, video games, and graphic software, and they need graphics to help them understand the message. The graphic novel satisfies their need." It never really hit me at just how many graphics I come across in my daily life. In fact, one of my favorites websites is just a website filled with nothing but funny pictures. McTaggert made a great point that in our classrooms, we need to look into graphics because of not only our generation, but of those who come after us.
Carter:
Carter focused more attention to graphics novels in the classroom and included a little section on how graphic literacy can help in the English classrooms. He brought up the example of storyboarding in the classrooms (a thing we are very familiar with) and how the graphics can help students bring the story to "life." As an English major, I have a love for books and the written word, but there are times where I would not mind having a picture or two. After all, I always say, and even Carter said it that "A picture is worth a thousand words" I have always believed in that statement and as much as I love reading, there are just some words that cannot be described about a picture.
Overall, I now see the use and validity of graphic novels and such in a classroom. I think they will be a great help, especially to those who are still struggling to read and comprehend, and that we as future teachers need to start looking into ways we might think are a little "childish"
Until next time, take care and have fun and remember....
Hello Everyone! I hope you day is going swell! I hope that packing for Spring Break is almost done too!
So in class we have talked about Blogs and Videos but what about when you combine the two?
Well you get a Vlog. For those of you who don;t know, a vlog is a blog, just instead of typing it out, you record yourself doing it on a video camera or webcam. There are many famous Youtubers who Vlog about their life constantly and even make a living out of it. Below is an example of such a Youtuber:
This is a video of Youtuber DailyGrace who makes daily vlog videos and makes a living off of it. I'm not subscribed but with over 824,000 subscribers, she has to be doing something right. From what I gather, each day is a type of video. For example, Thursdays are "How to" videos where she teaches you how to do something.
Vlogs are a great way to express your thoughts just how you want them expressed. With a blog, words can be misinterpreted or you just don't know how to write it down correctly. With vlogs, its simple and easy to do.
In an educational setting, a teacher could make his/her students do a weekly vlog where they are uploaded to a wiki or something like that. I think if a student does not like typing, or feels more effective doing a video, then a vlog is a possible option to do.
So what do you guys think of Vlogs? Are they a possible classroom tool? leave your comment and thoughts below.
As always, thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day! Take care, have a GREAT Spring Break, and remember...
Hello Everyone! I hope you are enjoying this sunny day and you are getting ready for a nice, relaxing Spring Break!
As excited as I am for the upcoming video project, I started thinking about other kinds of videos students could do if they a.) wanted to do something different or b.) didn't have the means to make a music video
For example, a simple easy video is a stop-motion video. Examples of this includes early South Park and the examples down below:
1.) Here is a music video for Owl City's song "Honey and the Bee." The person behind this drew the characters and then set them up to make a story. The way to make this video is simple because it involves making fun drawings and taking simple pictures. Simple, easy, and all you need is a camera.
2.) Here is the famous Youtube Pes with his video 'Western Spaghetti" This is probably one of my most favorite videos of Youtube because of its creativity and uniqueness. This is more difficult for a High School but not impossible. However, the hours involved in stop-motion are many so a student would need a good month to complete it.
3.) Lastly, here is an up and coming Youtube series called "The Most Popular Girls in School." It is a series that follow these Barbie dolls in high school. Its for a Mature audience so don't show this in class. This is a little more difficult than the Owl City music video but easier than the Pes video so its a good medium to challenge students to.
All the videos here only require a camera and time-lots and lots of time. So, if you're a teacher and want to offer your students an option like this instead of a live-action movie, go on right ahead. Just make sure to give them lots of time!
Overall, videos are a great tool to teach students lessons and can be a refreshing experience. So as future teachers, or even those of you who aren't, would you like to use videos in the classroom or see your kids do video projects in High School? Let me know! And feel free to comment about anything else too!
Thanks for reading and I hope you had fun! Enjoy your day, take care, and remember...
Hello Everyone! I hope your day is going well and you got a weekend full of fun!
For this weeks Education Response, I want to talk about Video and making videos in the classroom.
As I stated in my last post, I love the idea of video//digital literacy in a classroom. There are so many elements that go into a video, students are bound to find something they like along the way, plus learn something.
Now as I was thinking about videos in classrooms, I never had an experience of having to make a video for class. However, in High School, I did star in a few of my friends videos that she had to make for her video class and I learned how much work went into making a short video. My friend was tasked with the job to make a modern take of a play or book and being s Shakespeare fan, she went with the murder of Julius Caesar.
The video took about an entire day to shoot and that did not include clean up or set-up. She put in several days into a short 5-minute video. She drew storyboards, researched how to use a green screen made fake blood, design costumes, drove to Pittsburgh for some of the shots, and edited it all together.
I am more than positive that during all of her work for this video, she encountered several literacies and after talking with her, she said she learned a lot about the film industry and the experience of commanding people to work together and make a movie.
This is the kind of learning I strive to have my students learn when they do projects like these. In education, we often struggle with finding an interesting way to present information so the students will learn and half the time, it fails. With a hand-on interaction project like this, students learn much more than what we as teachers plan on them to learn. This is why I love digital literacies!
Overall, what do you all think? Will you plan on bringing digital literacies to your classroom? Feel free to comment below!
Thank you for reading and have a great day! And remember...
Hello Everyone!! I hope you are enjoying the sunny weather we have been having! I know I have been! As I'm sure you all know, this week's readings really focused on Digital Videos and the literacies that surround them.
Miller and McVee in both Chapter 3 and 6 talked about Digital literacy and its integration Mostly about Digital literacy in Ch. 3 and its integration in Ch. 6, but in either case, I found each chapter to be extremely useful.
I enjoyed reading Ch. 3 because of the digital video aspect of it and its use in a classroom. I absolutely love watching movies and my collection of DVDs is going everyday. I was really happy to read about McVee and Miller saw the usefulness of digital videos in a classroom. Although the talk about grammar was a little confusing, I was able to grasp the main idea they were talking about. I think they were trying to tell us that there is so much literacy that goes into a digital video. Not only is the movie itself a work of many different literacies, but the work that goes behind the video also contains many literacies. Take a look at the short Vimeo clip link I posted below. This Vimeo is a storyboard by one of Disney's animators, Heidi Gilbert, about doing Wicked the Musical as an animated feature.
You will find that the animated storyboard contains many literacies, such as design, perspective, color, and spacing.
And in case you were too lazy to follow the link (I just kid :P) , here is another example of a student doing another storyboard for Wicked in which she had to adapt it into a favorite T.V. show or movie.
In both cases, a lot of work and literacy went into each storyboard.
Digital literacies contain many different elements which I believe are essential for any student to go out and try. As a future teacher, I know I will strive to do something like this in my classroom because it is fun, yet useful at the same time.
What do you guys think? Do you feel digital literacies are valid? What would you have liked to see in your classrooms growing up?
Thanks for reading and have a great day! And remember....
Hello Once Again Everyone!! I hope your spirits are high and you have a very exciting weekend planned ahead.
For this weeks Education Response, I want to talk about Podcasts because some interesting things popped up this week about Podcast and I want to share them with you.
Last week I blogged about podcast and how neat I thought they were. I also provided a few links to some interesting Pods so if you wanna check them out, head over to my last few posts.
What I like about Podcasts is you can listen to them whenever and wherever one wants to. Running at the gym, working on the computer, driving, or trying to keep yourself entertained at a relative's house, Podcasts are entertaining and educational.
Now take a look at the video I posted below. It is called Wizard People, Dear Reader . This is originally an audio file of a man narrating the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and someone took the audio file and put the movie with it. Originally, one was to play the audio file and watch the movie on mute. But it seems someone took the audio file and mashed it with the video on Youtube.
Now while this is an Audio story, it is similar to a Podcast and gave me some ideas of how to do something similar like this in a class room. For example, I could take a movie adaptation of a Shakespeare play and have groups of students do that same thing for a short portion of the movie adapting the language into a more modern speak to try and make the story easier to pick up.
Most of all, I am excited to do the Podcast assignment in class so I can finally try doing one myself and see what it is like. I think students would cling to Podcasts because it is something new and not often done.
Overall, I really like the idea of Podcasts and I can see so many uses for them in a classroom. What do you all think? Do you think something like Wizard People, Dear Reader (minus the fowl language) could be a cool idea for an English class?
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy your weekend! Feel free to leave a comment or anything! I love receiving feedback :)
Until next time, take care and remember....
~Add a little Streiff to your life~
-Joey S.
PS: Come and see Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson which premiers tonight March 1st at the Old Union at 7:30! I'll be in it and I encourage all of you to come see this hilarious musical!! For more info, check out our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/events/481699785210204/
For this week's reading, we had to read Wilber's Chapter 3 and 4 which focuses on Blogs, Podcasts and Digital Stories. As a high internet user, I have come across all three for some time now and each of the three have their own special, unique features that make people love to use them!
Lets start with Blogs since you're reading this on one right now:
As I am sure you are all aware, blogs are basically like an online journal where a person can document his or her thoughts and include pictures, videos, links, and pretty much anything else they feel connects to what they are talking about.
Wilber goes into depth in Chapter three about blogs probably because there is so much you can do with them. Wilber evene goes to the length of listing several links to blogs that range from tech, to English to science, and to education. I took the liberty of searching a few of those blogs
1. kathyschrock.net/blog I went to this one to find out the page had been moved to http://blog.kathyschrock.net/ What drew me to Kathy's blog was her blend of literacy and technology. At first, I was reminded of this course as well as Prod and Util of Instruc Tech and how both courses blend literacy with technology. Kathy;s blogs really focuses on technology and she connects it to teaching. It is a neat blog to check out and reading her post are fun.
2. http://weblogg-ed.com/ I went to this one to read up on technology only to find out that this one has also moved to http://willrichardson.com/ What I liked about this blog is that Will is an actual person who gives his thoughts based on his own experience with his children and his 22 years as a public educator. If you want to read a blog about neat Education stats and thoughts from an experienced teacher, check it out.
Now let's move onto Wikis:
Simply put, wikis are like a main hub where people can meet, collaborate, and discuss. Mostly, wikis focus around a community aspect which is why it makes great use for classrooms because its basically like a classroom online. T.O.'s wiki for this class in a great way to check out websites people are talking about, letting us know who is presenting what and when, and a way to form a little community of our own.
The uses for wikis are pretty much endless because as a teacher, we can link our students to whatever we want to show them and have them discuss it online. Some of the example wikis Wilber provides show how teachers really utilize the wikis and I highly recommend checking some out.
Finally, let's talk about Digital Stories:
Digital stories (DS) is just as the name implies-stories done digitally. These can be done with photos, videos, and other multi media modes in order to convey a story. The idea of DS in a classroom is one that fascinates me and I would like to do a little bit more research on it. I'm sure I could use in some how in the aid of explaining a story for English class or something.
Anyway, that is all for now. Thanks for reding this long blog but I hope you enjoyed it! Keep a watch for my ER (Ed Response) next where i will talk about Podcasts and some neat things about those. If you guys have any thoughts, comments, or opinions, I would love to hear them!
Hello Once Again Everyone!! I do hope your day is going well! Fun fact: This Friday (Feb. 22) is George Washington's Birthday!
Happy 231st Birthday George!
Throughout the week, I kept think about what Kajdar said about "print-trained" kids and how soon the generation will change to "digital-trained" kids. The more I thought about, the more I realized how that generation is already here.
For example, online classes. Universities and Institutions now offer classes online where students can stay home and earn credits for a class on the computer. Personally, I have taken my Intro to Computers course online (which seems a bit redundant) but it was a completely new experience for me. I did not have a textbook, have to go to a classroom, or meet the instructor. It was really weird and a little bit uncomfortable for me because I'm so used to the traditional way of teaching. Luckily, I was able to get a hang of it but it was a new experience for me.
And Universities are not the only ones doing online classes. Students now have the option to go to school virtually online. K12 is a company that offers classes Kindergarten through twelve grade online. They also have the option of attending a private or public school online as well as individual courses. Link here What a complete change this is in the field of education! Students never have to actually have to go to a classroom setting and meet their teacher. If a parent really wanted to, he or she could just have his or her son or daughter go to school or 13 years online and never go to a school. Its a little bit scary isnt it?
I know some of my friends actually went to school online for a year or two in high school and we thought it was so strange that they could do that. I'm not quite sure how to feel about online schools but I know that there are many advantages to them such as kids who constantly move, are bullied really bad, and other examples like that.
Overall, technology already is a huge part of education and I feel like the "digital-trained" generation is already here. What do you all think?
Kajdar, Chapter 5:
Throughout most of the chapter, Kajdar focused on a teacher by the name of Kristen who said something that really spoke to me: "...that was a big conceptual leap for students whom Kristen referred to as 'print-trained'" (Kajdar 73). In the passage I got this quote from, Kristen was talking about how some technology can come as a big event in the lives of kids who are normally taught to read and learn from a book, ie: "Print-trained" and a thought occurred to me.
When we enter the teaching field, we will be teaching students who are "print-trained" and will face the same kind of difficulties Kristen dealt with. However, as the years progress, I believe we will deal less and less with "Print-trained" kids and move to more "digital-trained" kids who deal with technology much earlier and have a better grasp with it. If this happens, who knows how it will affect our teaching and the future of education. Those "digital-trained" kids will grow up and become teachers themselves and soon the whole face of education will change. So, how will we deal with it and what can we do? Any ideas?
Robert Rozema: The Book Report.... Rozema's article centered around Podcasts and their uses. I never really knew much, or anything, about Podcasts and basically pushed them aside. After reading the article, I found out that Podcasts are pretty neat and I took to the internet to find some. I found this really interesting Podcast called The Fireside Book Chat . It is a Podcast that reviews books by teens for teens and I thought this would be really helpful for those going into Secondary English Education like myself. You should visit the page and listen to a review. They are pretty fair and gives you some pretty good insight. You can visit it by clicking here: The Fireside Book Chat Smyte & Neufield "Podcast Time" Like Rozema's article, these two also talked about Podcasts and their use in a classroom. I like hearing how some 6th and 7th graders were recording stories for 3rd graders to listen to as they read the same book. It was a really neat idea and I'd like to do something like that myself and maybe for my future students. Being an Secondary English Education major, I am more than positive that I will definitely find a use for Podcasts in my classroom. Kist, Chapter 3:
Chapter 3 was all about social networking and being connected via the web. Two topics in the book were hyperlink response paper and keeping blogs-two things which we do in this class. In the chapter, it talked about how students were almost addicted to hyperlink writing and I must admit after writing these blogs, I enjoy including hyperlinks in my responses because it expands your thoughts and back them up. Also, writing blogs that can be share-able over the internet is much more fun because it gives student;s the opportunity to have their thoughts seen by a much bigger audience than the teacher and classmates.
Anyway, that is all for this week. Take care and until then remember....
~Add a little Streiff to your life~
Hello Everyone! I hope your Valentine's Day was filled with fun and laughter! For my Education Response this week, I wanted to discuss the possibilities of allowing students to choose how they would like to complete an assignment.
In class, we drew pictures of how students could choose their own way of completing an assignment given a rubric. I for one, think that is an absolute brilliant idea! I really enjoyed talking about it in class and seeing everyone nod in agreements because I know if I had the choice in high school, I probably would've gotten some better grades.
Yet, it seems more and more teachers are thinking this way. For example, in my Production and Utilization of Instruction Technology class on Thursday, our teacher taught the class about assessing students using different literacies and having the students choose which one they would like to do. It seems as we are becoming more and more technological advanced and using more technology, teachers are allowing students to be more free in school.
As a teacher, I believe I will also allow my students to choose how he/she would like to complete an assignment. Of course I would have to make rubrics and make sure that grading is fair across every project, but I know that if I spend a little more time doing work, then the students will enjoy their time in high school and maybe find their strengths. Many students do not know what field of study they want to pursue after high school so if a students writes a story or makes a video, he or she will discover their talent is being a writer or movie director. The possibilities are certainly there.
(Take this video for example. If I wanted to assign a student to sum up a play, he or she could take vocals from the movie of the play and do a mash-up song that goes with the feel and flow of the play. I'm not quite sure of how to grade this or if it teaches anything, but I think it would be neat to see)
Overall, I feel like our generation of teachers will be more technological and offer more choices to students. I believe that will help students find their strengths and weaknesses and may help them decide what to do with their life.
So, how do you guys feel? Do you believe you will offer students choices?
Thanks for reading! I hope you have a great day and feel free to comment below and remember...
Hello Everyone! I hope you all are enjoying the nicer weather we've been having!
As the sun is coming out, we are reading more about how to integrate technology into the classroom. As I read Chapter 2 in Mulitmodel Composing in Classrooms, a few points stuck out to me. The first came on page 23 when the authors wrote "The end product is not technology integration or even teachers using technology in their classroom pedagogy to deliver content..." (Miller 23). I feel this is the same objective for our Writing for Non-Print Media class.
While incorporating technology and infusing it into our classroom pedagogy is important for a number of reasons (ease, new experiences, connections, etc...), the whole idea of multimodel literacies is a completely new and individual principle and learning theology.
I think the goal of the course it to teach us about a new subject to think about and learn how to apply it in our thoughts for teaching. Just like math and science, multimodel literacies is a different train of thought that we need to become aware to. I mean, I had no idea what literacy even was before this class and now that I know about it, I feel it is crucial to use it in the classroom.
Although I did say incorporating technology or even using technology in the classroom was not the goal, it is still important to learn how to along the way. For example, in the same book by Miller, I learned that a teacher's role in a fast-paced, on the spot technology infused lesson is not one as the "dispenser of knowledge", but instead a teacher who uses collaboration and shared ideas to help come up with solutions.
In fact, we as students do that already. Remember last week in class when we had to create our Blogger account? Well, many students were lost and we all had to work together so that everyone had one made and knew how to follow people by the end of class. That is the kind of collaboration Miller is talking about.
So what do you all think? Do you think Mutlimodel literacies is a subject on its own? Also, do you think we should teach it in our High Schools?
Thanks for reading Everyone! Have a great day and remember...
Hello Again Everyone! Hope your day is going swell! Today, I will be talking about technolgy-and the lack there of-in a classroom.
I first want to talk about Rewired by Larry Rosen. Larry states that we are the iGeneration, the generation born with earbuds in our ears. Well, its true. Our generation is smothered with technolgy and we love-at least, I know I do.
("Gotta Share"-by Improv Everywhere)
Could you imagine life today without a cellphone? A computer? Most importantly, the internet? I know I can't. I've become dependent on technolgy. I'll admit. It is hard for me to go a steady period without technolgy. The most I can do is probabaly a week-thanks to those week long scout trips where there was to be no technology at all. And i found it relaxing! I could just sit down, read a book, and relax. No worries, no refreshing my internet to check for new notification, no emails-no responsibility.
With technology, we are avaliable at a moment's notice. We can check for an email, text, anything in a few flicks of the hand and people expect that. We are expected to get back to people immediately because they know we have access 24/7. Its a little bit scary and it raises our responsibilty.
However, while technology can be a stress-giver, it can also alleviate stress and make our life more easier. For example, I absolutely love having my email on my phone. It is so helpful and I can check for emails from the post office if I have a package and Im already near the post office. Or, if a teacher needs to see me, I can meet them while I am already out. It helps me by taking time off my hands that I would normally spending having to walk back to my apartment, log on, check my email, then venture out again.
Thanks to technology, we focus more on ourselves. Have I got a new messege? Do I have new followers? It is no wonder we find school boring sometimes. As Rosen brought up, schools are grossly behind in the modern times, relying on readings and the standard barf-back teaching methods.
(This is where I really talk about Education)
As teachers, we must-must-MUST keep up to date with technology. In such a fast-pace developing world we live in (Look at Apple, they have a new version every six weeks!) teachers must constantly search and find new medias in order to connect and help their students. Like when Mitchell tells Rosen about how his son Danny is bored in school, Mitchell says he tries to help by finding interesting websites but he believes it isn't his job.
Rant Ahead:
(Excuse me Mitchell? Did you really just say that? Parents are not suppose to help their kids find school work interesting? Really? Pardon me, but I will only see your kid for 50 minutes for 5 days a week while you see him for several hours 7 days a week. I apologize if you have to take a little time out of your day to help your son ,which you birthed into the world, learn. I forgot, teachers are the only ones who know how to raise kids. I realize teachers are there to help the students learn but the truth is, we don't see your kids as much as you do. We do our best with the time we are given but it is up to you-the parents- to help fill in the gaps. Teachers already put in countless hours outside of school grading papers, making lesson plans, and assisting students who need help, so sorry we don't put Danny on the top of our list.)
Ignoring my passionate rant, teachers really do need to make sure we do keep up with technology. I know we have busy workloads, but it really is our duty as educators to help teach kids (whose parents might have the same ignorant thought process as Mitchell) and find ways that effectively teach the kids. I realize we need to make our work interesting but sometimes there are times where teachers simply cannot and we rely on the parents for helping. End of Rant
Anyway, back on topic- Gone are the days where textbooks and a pen and paper were all you needed. Kids don't learn that way anymore. With the internet at our hands, we search for our own information and find it our way. As teachers, we have to "live" like a student and be compatable with technology.
Will it be hard? I don't think so. Luckily, we as the iGeneration have grown up with technology. Our generation has started the internet trends and I doubt we will use less technolgy as we get older. In fact, I think I will still be checking Facebook in my old, old days.
However, as Kist brings up, we don't need technolgy in the classroom. His entire chapter was filled with lesson plans (alot of them I want to do in my classes cause they look like a lot of fun) that did not require digital medias or when they do, did not need many of them. For example, the idea about wathcing a movie for the particular screen shots was a brilliant idea! It would be easy enough obtaining a movie for the kids to watch and show it in class. Even if a school isnt very digital, at least they will have a T.V. on a cart with a DVD player. Heck, the school where I volunteer at is very, very, very old fashioned and does not have any tech. However, they still have those T.V.s on carts.
My overall point is this: We may not need to use many digital medias in our classroom but we must be the forerunners with technology and continiously discover and try new digital medias so we can connect and offer new medias to our students.
Thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment below. Here are some questions if you'd like to answer:
1. Do you think Mitchell is just in his opinions that it isn't his job to make school interesting for his son? I realize teachers must do the most they can't, but shouldn't teachers be a part of their child's learning career?
2. How much technolgy do you feel you will use in a classroom?
3. Does Kist speak to you? What was your favorite activity of his?
Thanks again for reading! I hope you have a great day and rememeber...
~Add a little Streiff to your life~
Good Day Everyone! I hope this blog will find you well!
The readings for this week (while many and daunting) were filled with a plethora of information-mostly technolgy.
I started reading Kajder who showed several examples of real students who give a fair representation of the "digital youth." The one youth I was most impressed with was Molly from Richland High. She took it upon herself to do the assignments in a variety of multimodel ways (some that I didn't even know about!) and consistetly showed her teacher all these new medias. It made me realize that as a person, most importantly a teacher, that I will have to continually keep up to date on all the latest media trends and helpful websites.
Speaking of multimodel, the d2l handout, I just need to draw... talked about transmediation- aka the transition of one sign system into another. While sign system doesnt actually mean sign...
oh look...a sign
...it does mean the ways one "communicates" in a a given media. However, speaking of sign, I am secretary for the American Sign Language (ASL) Club here at SRU and I can relate to the idea of transmediation when signing english words in ASL. While that is called translating, the idea is the same and I realize the importance and most importantly the equality in transcribing from one thing to another. Transmediation does not lost quality if it is transcribed from one media to another, which I feel some old-time teachers may think. Some people may think an essay is superior to a picture show, but isnt a picture worth a thousand words? The quality is the same
Overall, the readings showed me how crucial technolgy is in the modern world. Now that we have it, we are not going to stop using it so we better become the forerunners on the topic so we dont drowned in the sea of digital literacy~~~
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed the blog, let me know in the comments section! If you'd like me to add anything to make the text more fun or easier to read, let me know. Some questions for the comment section:
Do you believe transmediation is effective and produced the same level of quality?
If you had a student like Molly in your class, how would you react? Would you let her be free to do the assignment in a different way?
My name is Joey Streiff! I am a Secondary English Education Major with a minor in Exceptionalities.
I am from Pittsburgh, PA and I grew up with 4 brothers and 1 sister. Currently, I live with 3 roommates and a pet fish named Shimmer who is a red betta fish.
Some of my favorite activities are:
Reading
Writing
Acting
Singing
Baking
Bike Riding
Hiking
Star Gazing
Watching Theatrical Productions
Tumblr-ing
At college, I am Secretary for American Sign Language Club and I have been studying ASL for 3 years now. If you are interested in learning ASL, talk to me and I would gladely help you out!
Feel free to comment or anything with my blog. They may be a lil random in thought but I will do my best to make them funny and entertaining!
If you'd like to talk to me or learn anything about me, feel free to leave a messege or talk to me in class! I'd love to talk and discuss things with you!
Have a good day and remember.....
~Add a little Streiff to your life~
