Digital Intimacy Response February 27, 2009

            Is it necessary to know your friends, ex’s, aunts, sisters and significant other’s every move via the Internet?  This usually is not the question in my mind as I view the mood and status updates of mere acquaintances and those I have close relationships with.  Yet this is the question posed as I read “Brave New World of Digital Intimacy.”  I created a Facebook last week after attending this class for a month and realizing what a widespread phenomenon this social networking site truly is.  I chose to make a Facebook because, as stated in the article, “It can be extremely hard to understand the phenomenon unless you’ve experienced it.” (5)  I find it incredible that a person I met at a bar once can find me on Facebook and can learn intimate details of my life and visa versa.  I believe these social pages open up a whole new world that redefines relationships.   

I have had a MySpace for a few years, and recently MySpace added a News Feed that presents multiple updates.  However, Facebook’s status system is far more intricate than MySpace’s system, and monitors a much wider scale of information. 

Although I was used to daily updates on MySpace, Facebook takes these to another level, and I found Facebook rather overwhelming.  While I agree these features make it much easier to keep track of friends, I feel that knowing an individuals every move is rather unnecessary, yet addicting.  I too log onto these social networks, skimming through a sea of “I don’t want to go to work,” and “I hate school” updates.  Yet these updates when pieced together can say a lot about someone, and I began to notice I was reading information about close friends that I would not know was occurring in their daily lives. I find myself relieved when I go onto my page and see updates for a cousin’s upcoming birthday that I would have otherwise forgotten. 

“Facebook pushes the envelope and…gets [people] to be comfortable with things that they aren’t yet comfortable with.” (3) I believe that already since this article was written in 2006, that people are basically settled with the idea of knowing every detail about those they know, whether it be friends, family or acquaintances; this digital intimacy everyone shares has somehow become a normal way of life.        

Slang in the classroom February 19, 2009

I read an interesting article about slang in the classroom.  Since I am currently a student and a future teacher I have to look at this article from two angles.  First one me as a student wanting to talk how I talk to my friends the same as in the classroom, being stubborn and not wanting to change for my teacher.  But, on the other hand I have to look at this article as a teachers perspective as well.  Do I really want my students calling saying “you be trippin” or “whats poppin”  I wouldn’t think it would bother me but actually it just might.  Slang words are something that is prominent in every culture, every generation, and there will be new slang words when I become a teacher as well.

In the article it talked about two different approaches, a teachers and a principals.  I don’t know if this is completely accurate however because a teacher and a principal have two different roles and they should have stuck with the same variable to get the articles point across.  However, this principal states shes okay with students calling her “my dawg” because it means that they like her and she responds with “don’t be clowning me” or “chill.”  I think this might make the students laugh and be like wow our Principal knows these words, they might be shocked as well.  Another teacher said that she doesn’t approve of any slang in her classroom, she tells students this is an English class and you will speak English.   So, these are two different perspectives on this issue and this is how both deal with the slang epidemic.

For me, I think that I will accept some slang in my classroom, its how they speak, they’re used to it.  As far as using ‘dont’ instead of ‘doesnt’ no I will not allow that because that is improper.  But I don’t think a slang word here and there is that wrong.  Also, I will need to keep up with the slang so I will know what they are saying.  When I first start out teaching it wont be bad, ill be young and probably know, but as I get older I know it will be harder.  A good example of this is my mom, she teaches high school and asked me the other day what “tight” meant, it made me laugh but she told me she heard it in her class and was highly confused when they were referencing “tight” to mean cool, instead of the real definition of tight.  I just think sometimes, let some things go, there are more important issues in a school then worrying about a student using the term “swagger.”

observing in an urban school February 19, 2009

In my education class we have to observe for seven weeks in a school of their choosing. This semester we are observing in an urban school district and experiencing how much different it is then what we are used to. When I walked into my first day of observing last week I didn’t bring with me any preconceived notions because I didn’t want to be judgmental. We pulled up to this school that must had been built in the late 1800’s, with big castle iron gates and bars on the windows. It for sure didn’t look like my elementary school! This school is so big that they can fit about 900, grades pre-k through 5. That’s a lot of kids but walking around this school it was pretty organized. The teacher assigned myself and a partner to be in a second grade class, this teacher handles 24 kids daily. They’re very talkative and rambunctious but she handles them accordingly.

When I think of an “urban” school I think of mostly minorities, free lunch, and kids that have bad family life. Not the case for all these students at the school I am observing at but for most of them that is the reality. When I looked up online how much a general double income family in this neighborhood makes it was $23,00. With both parents working, that’s hardly anything. Kids are kids anywhere, but situations are the difference. At the school I substitute at the families are mostly upper middle class so I see a big difference between these two schools. Things like parental involvement, school providing uniforms and breakfast is not something every school has to worry about.

However, these teachers are wonderful and the students are great. I feel like I fit in more at this school opposed to other schools Ive been to. I think it’s because the problems are real, the neighborhoods they go home to are bad, and they deal with the problems rather than be ignorant to them. Being in the classroom is my element however, I love everything about it, and I can’t wait to be a teacher. This experience of an urban school has really opened my eyes and now I am thinking i may some day want to work in a school district like the one I am observing in now.

Classroom Webpages February 18, 2009

An article I found called “Parent Involvement in the Classroom” shares suggestions with different ways to involve parents in the classroom. Most of the time when people think about parents not knowing what is going on with their children in school, they automatically blame the parents. However, there are other reasons that could be the cause of this. One, for example, is the student himself/herself. Some students are reluctant to bring home any piece of paper such as test scores or progress reports in fear that they will get in trouble. Sometimes the parents have no clue how out of the loop they really are; they see the report cards because they are sent through the mail, and that’s the end of it.

One suggestion the article makes is to create a classroom website. It is a way to communicate with parents through blogging and e-mailing. My cooperating teacher for TLC 1 used this idea for her fourth grade class and found it very useful. On the main page she had the general activities she was conducting in the class and a place to ask questions or make comments. There was a section for a calendar which provided dates for parent/teacher meetings, test dates, due dates for big assignments, and field trips. There was a section for public blogging between the teacher and parents (this was for general questions that all of the parents might have or might benefit from seeing the answers). A private e-mail section was also set up in case the parents wanted to ask questions specific to their child; this was also a place for the teacher to write to certain parents to keep them up on certain issues. She found all of these sections to be helpful for both her and the students. However, I think the most valuable part was the homework log. Everyday, the teacher would post what homework was given that day for each subject, what she expected to be done, and the due dates.

I’m sure you’ve heard this conversation before:
Parent: Do you have any homework?
Child: No.

You may have even said this yourself as a student. The homework log gives the parent access to this information daily. Also, if a student forgot to write down what math problems were due the next day, for example, they could look it up on the homework log. As a result, the teacher found that there were a lot less students coming to school unprepared compared to the classes she taught without the website. There were no more excuses of, “I forgot to write down the page number,” or, “I didn’t think that was due today.”

I think online websites and classroom homepages are a great idea for many reasons. Almost everybody has a computer or has access to one. Do you think this is a good idea for teachers to use even though it might take some time to keep up-to-date?

Teaching Technique While Teaching Content February 18, 2009

In my Differentiated Instruction class our professor teaches us using techniques she used in her previous elementary classes. Although this may seem weird it is actually a good way of teaching teachers to teach (if you can follow that). The content we are learning is still at our grade level, and the information is the essential aspects we need to learn for teaching. She, however, decided to base the whole curriculum around elementary activities. She realized that by doing so she is not only teaching us what we need to know for Differentiated Instruction, but we are also figuring out what activities are the most effective for certain information, what techniques we like the best, and which would fall short for the students’ learning.

Two weeks ago, for example, our assignment was to read eight chapters (obviously more than you would give to grade school students) and to take notes however we wished. Then, two weeks later we were to have created some kind of summary of the eight chapters. While the professor was explaining the assignment, she was showing us examples from previous students. She showed regular outlines and bulleted lists for those who prefer to write papers. There were posters with concept webs and games for those who prefer to make visuals. There were also dioramas and videos for those who like to be a little more creative. Anyway, we all were to choose a way to depict what we read.

Once the two weeks was up, everyone brought his/her project to class and shared it in small groups. The groups were carefully chosen by the professor by using a questionnaire we had done the first day of class. One of the questions was, “If you had to summarize research would you rather present a poster, write a paper, make a power point, make a video, or make a presentation?” The groups she made each had four people that had different answers (meaning each group had a person who prefers posters, a person who likes presenting, a person who likes power points, and a person who likes to present). We then had to combine all of our information and make a huge poster with a theme and the information we all agreed to be the most important. The last step was presenting it.

With just one assignment we read and took notes individually, summarized the information in our preferred way, presented it to a small group, decided what information was most important with our group, decided on a theme, created a poster together, and presented the information. This is just one example of how my professor uses elementary strategies to show us different ways to teach as well as the amount of planning it takes to do them in a class. I think this is a great way for our professor to teach us the information we need to know to be a teacher while showing us how to teach others.

Lyrics that Stick February 18, 2009

I think music is a very important creative and affective way to teach because it makes the students retain the information for a longer time. I can still remember certain math equations, grammar rules, and world events because of catchy songs that I would’ve otherwise forgotten.

A great example is School House Rock. These videos were made years and years ago yet they are still used in classrooms because they are such a good teaching tool. I am a junior in college, and my professor used the grammar School House Rock videos. That says something that they are even being used as reinforcements at the college level. Here is an example of the School House Rock videos in case you have not seen any of them before:

These videos and songs make a kind of bookmark in your head to look back to in the future. I know I think back to the different songs when I forget what I learned in the past. If I had never been taught these songs, I probably would have forgotten learning the information completely. For example, on the first day of my class we were talking about conjunctions. There is a School House Rock song that’s called “Conjunction Junction”, and I thought back to that to remember what a conjunction was. It had been so long before I used those terms (probably around fifth grade), so I needed that reminder.

Another example of music used as a teaching tool. It is a character from the Amimaniacs (a cartoon about ten years ago) singing a songs to the 50 states and capitals.

That is a lot of information to remember all at once, but if a teacher used this at some point of the process of memorizing these, it could help. It also just gives a little bit of entertainment of the tedious process of memorizing all of these states and capitals.

Meet Metacognition! February 17, 2009

Metacognition: Thinking about your Thinking

               

                 Nemo dat qudd non-habet: no one gives that which he or she does not have. As a student hoping to enter the teaching profession, I cannot come into a classroom expecting students to reflect upon what they know and how they learned such thing s if I have not myself obtained metacognitive skills. Such an interesting concept in that many teachers have a wealth of knowledge that they could be sharing but they lack the metacognitive skills to be a model of reflection for students.

                Let’s start by defining metacognition as thinking about your thinking. Does seem like a complicated task, yet several people struggle with the ability to take time to simply process the way that their mind works and the way that they actively engage their learning experiences. Why is this so hard? I believe that as a society we are so concerned with the end product that we strip its connection to the process it took to create the product. We would much rather analyze content rather than concepts.

                To expose you to metacognition’s role in the teaching profession, let me show you exactly what metacognition entails. For starters, in thinking about ones thinking, a person would discover the limits of their memory, the amount of knowledge with which one can absorb and retain. Furthermore, metacognition is not merely about what one is capable of doing but the length of time that must be provided to complete a given task.  More importantly, an individual needs to learn the answer to how they go about learning. In essence, what strategies and techniques are effective and which ones are not.  The latter part of that sentence is critical in that a person who has truly mastered the art of reflection not only is aware of what they understand, but also what confuses them.  Then, the extent to which that person puts forth effort to obtain the knowledge held within the area that they do not comprehend is imperative.

                Essentially, metacognition is an awareness found through reflecting on one’s own thoughts. These skills are critical to the teaching profession in that teachers need to model how to correctly construct knowledge and utilize what they have retained.

                Can you think of any skills that can boost the art of reflection?

Welcome! You’ve Got Motivation! February 17, 2009

Mail centers can motivate students to write more and express themselves with different forms of writing.

               Who doesn’t like receiving mail from friends? Certainly, everyone can relate to that excited feeling of opening the mailbox and seeing that a letter is addressed to them. I have found many ways in which this excitement of mail can be incorporated into the classroom to enhance the idea of a learning community while increasing interests in writing and creativity.

                First, students, as well as the teacher should decorate and personalize a piece of cardstock with their name and any details that bring out their personality to place on their assigned mailbox. Next, each student’s name should be written on a popsicle stick and placed in a cup in the mail center. Now that the mailboxes are all set up, it is time to explore the way in which letters can be constructed.  In the Elementary grades, teachers could have students respond to a writing prompt, illustrate a letter of the alphabet, share a journal entry, or complete any other form of writing. They would then walk over to the mail center, select a popsicle stick, and place their “mail” into that classmate’s mailbox.

                This concept may seem simplistic; however, you would be surprised how quickly students become interested in sharing in the writing process. I tend to provide different stationary and a list of ideas of what children can send their classmates on a weekly basis. Not only does the mail center bring students closer together by sharing their thoughts and assignments, but also influences pupils to be motivated to write more often, and in express themselves through different ways of writing. This mail concept resembles a pen pal, except for the fact that these students would have the benefit of seeing who they are writing to on a daily basis. If a teacher chooses to be consistent with this method of having students share their writing, by Friday, when the students check their mailboxes, they could have received a journal entry from Liam, a picture from Ryli, a poem from Antonio, a writing prompt from Stephon, and a personal letter from Alexi.

                This is not just a space for the students; however, as teachers can use this center as a way to communicate with students. Undoubtedly, it would be a fast way to return papers and have students turn things in, yet it can also lead to surprising ways to share learning experiences. In the younger grades, there could be five selected books for students to read during the week and write or draw pictures of what they saw happening in the text. Then, if let’s say for every book there would be four students assigned to read a copy of it during the week, those four students could be paired off to share what they are reading through writing. In this way, writing no longer becomes a dreadful task but a delightful treat!

                At the same time, there are many other ways in which to spice up the mail center. When holidays arrive, students can share traditions in their cultures and families by writing about them and sending them to their classmates. Furthermore, the teacher could place daily jobs or awards into students’ mailboxes so that when students arrive they have anticipation over who will read the announcements, be the line leader, win the student of the week, and such.

                I challenge teachers to try adding the mail center to their classroom and see what happens to their students’ interests in writing, because I guarantee you you’re response will be something like, Welcome! You’ve got motivation!

                What other ideas can you think of that can be incorporated into my mail center?

What Makes a High School Sucessful? February 17, 2009

Even though this blog has to do with elementary education, I decided to do a post about high school, I figured were all education majors first right? So I found this interesting article about what makes a high school successful. It wasn’t long ago at all that I was in high school so I could totally relate to this. There was 10 listed but I got more out of the first five so they’re the ones that I used. The article began with saying how American schools cannot keep up with schools in Singapore and Japan, but then the beginning segment ended with you can’t fix something unless you know what you’re looking for right? This little bit of humor made me interested in this article and I began to read on for the five tips.

The first tip is challenging classes, it said even though students are broken up into different groups by their abilities every student still needs to learn advanced skills to get prepared for college or work. Also, every child should be able to earn college credits that they can carry on with them in the future; this is true in AP classes however. The next tip was extra help for those who need it. It said that every high school should have a system that identifies students when they just began to struggle in something and receive support, this article also said that each student should have a detailed plan of after graduation responsibilities or dreams by ninth grade. Okay seriously? Ninth grade, I didn’t even know if I was coming or going when I was in ninth grade I liked this article but they need to rationalize and think a little bit before writing some crazy stuff like that.

The forth tip was brining the real world to the classroom. It said that students need to develop good work skills, responsibility, and character in school to connect to the rest of the world. The last tip was family and community involvement. It said here that there should be plenty of opportunities for family members of the students to come and visit the school to see what they’re child is doing. Also, an important feature I thought was getting the students involved in the community, through volunteer work and what not let them get out in the community. Overall, I enjoyed the article, the only concern I have however is how teachers balance all this stuff? It’s so many things to remember and I believe the teachers modify it to their liking and have a successful school. So, what do you think? Are these good tips or too overwhelming for the teachers and administrators?

classroom jobs February 17, 2009

Since I have been in the classroom more than ever these past couple weeks, between substituting and observing for TLC 1, I have observed more within the classroom itself. I found this article on about.com that talked about how important it is to assign jobs in the classroom. It’s so funny now because now I realize everything my teachers did when I was little was for a reason, not because they couldn’t think of anything else to do. There was reason and lessons to be learned through every activity they gave. Classroom jobs teach responsibility in a way that’s fun and makes the children feel good about themselves.

Usually when one walks into an elementary school classroom they notice a laminated sheet that’s usually colorfully laminated with the jobs posted and the children’s names under it whose job it is. “Classroom jobs are an effective way to enlist students in the duties of running a classroom” said Beth Lewis the author of the article. She said the first step is to pitch your idea, tell the students what will be going on so you can build anticipation and importance of classroom jobs. Then Ms. Lewis said to decide on a couple jobs that they can choose from, and then design an application and give them out at a class meeting. The last thing is to make sure to monitor their performance and find a replacement if their performance isn’t up to par as planned.

The article ended by saying that classroom jobs are a great way to teach responsibility and have classroom community or a more tight knit learning community; also if you use job applications then they are getting the experience with that as well. In classrooms that I’ve observed I have seen many different ways teachers use the idea of classroom jobs. Either they pick a name out of a hat for each job or assign the jobs themselves; it still holds the basic principal. This idea is fun for children and they don’t see it as learning experience which when in fact it is very much so.