Jsansing's Blog

As I read along in the Richardson textbook,to be honest, I was not quite sure about the concepts that were being introduced.  I have never heard of “social bookmarking sites,” but the more I read the more intrigued I became.  I am naturally an orginizational “freak.”  I cannot stand for things to be out of order, and I have to make lists to make it through the day.  That is why I really like the idea of being able to sort information found on the web into neat little lists.

After reading the assigned text, I decided it might be a good idea to check out the Diigo site (mainly because I was not real sure I understood everything that I was reading).    I opened the free account, and began playing around on the site.  I thought it would be a good idea to start organizing my web resources for the digital project in this class.  I really liked the fact that I could highlight the important ideas in each webpage-it’s almost as good as a physical piece of paper! Also, it is really cool that you can access the information from any computer anywhere. Overall, I think that this will be a great resource for me as I start to find more and more information.

After visiting the Diigo site, I went on to del.icio.us.  I have to admit that I didn’t spend as much time at this site-probably because the book didn’t either!  I figured that the concept was still the same, and one day I may find it useful to explore more in depth.

The text made a lot of points for using these sites in the classroom, but I have to be honest and say that I am a bit intimidated!  At this point, I do feel like it would be a very good idea to introduce students to these sites as a resource for their research. It would be great for them to be able to access their stored information that they worked on from home in the school library.  For all those disorganized students, this leaves no room for excuses about leaving their work at home,etc.  I also like that I could access their bookmarks as well through an RSS feed.  This way I could check-up on their progress of finding resources without really interfering at all.  Then again, if I felt that a particular student (or more) is having trouble, I can post relevant links for them to explore-given that they are added to my network.

Most of all, I believe that students could use this as a tool for organizing and prioritizing information that they retrieve during the composing process.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED:

I AM ABOUT TO SAY SOMETHING SHOCKING…

I have never had a Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter account.  I have never even been on facebook or read a tweet (is that what you call them?)…or really had any experience on any other social networking site outside of the classroom.

Although that may be a horrible thing to admit to, it is true, and I am okay with it…

Having said that, I would like to become more tech savvy than I currently am, and there are a few social networking sites that I believe could have a profound impact on me in the future career as a teacher.

The EnglishCompanion Ning is great. I have been on this site before, and it’s like I go into a trance while looking through all the information.  There is just so many great resources to dive into.  For example:

* The New Teachers discussion board.

* The Teaching Texts discussion board.

* The Free Tools for English Teachers discussion board.

There is a lot of good information, that I on my own would never be able to come up with, but sometimes when I am trying to find help I feel like there is TOO much information.  My mind starts to wander to other things, and I cannot stay focused on my main goals.

In addition to personal uses, social networking can have a very integral role in the classroom as well.

Sites such as twitter can be used in a variety of interesting ways.  Once students have set up accounts (and committed to following one another) they can use Twitter as a way to communicate with one another, as well as to retrieve important information from outside sources.

Twitter can be used:

As a way to continue class conversations outside the classroom.

As a way to keep up with current events.

As a way to get instant feedback on questions (possibly problems with homework,etc)

After teaching the class a certain concept, have all students post one fact at a time-without repeating ideas.

I like the idea of using Twitter, because students are already competent at using their cellphones, and would jump at any chance to use them in the classroom.  Twitter also allows for easy access of information (even easier than a computer!)

I loved The Hunger Games.

The hunger games was such a great book that I went ahead and read the second book (which I didn’t really have the time to do!).  I also lent the books to one of my friends, and we sat around and discussed our predictions for the third book.  Yeah, I liked it that much.

The point is that this is the first book I’ve read in a long time that I wasn’t required to read (the 2nd one), and that made me want to read more.   It made me think more about what I will be having my students read in class.  I want my students to want to read, and not feel like it is a duty that they must perform.  I know that not all of my students will want to read, and I can accept that.  I also know that there is something that interests everyone. This book got me thinking about the ways that I could get my students to enjoy reading.

Things I DON’T want to do:

*Rely on quizzes to make certain that my students are reading.  Don’t get me wrong- quizzes are a good way to analyze your students’ knowledge, and whether they are “getting it” or not- but it gets so redundant, and boring! I found an approach that I do like though, which involves posting quizzes on-line (like in a blog) before class.  The questions are designed to get students thinking about what they have read.  They may also include questions like, “What did you have a hard time understanding?”.

Things I DO want to try:

*Giving students as many choices as I can.  This could be choices in the reading material, choices about the way that they are assessed, choices in the activities that will accompany the material.  Obviously, this would take a bit more planning, and I would have to give students the choices ahead of time. I would also have to take into account how I would decide whose choices I choose.

*Letting the students read material that is not required by me.  I would designate a particular time-probably at the beginning or end of class-for students to do this.

*I think that I might also let the students choose ONE book off of a list of required readings for the semester.  These books would probably be current books YA books that can be discussed and analyzed in the classroom.

So, I didn’t forget that this post was supposed to be a reaction to Hunger Games. I’ll admit I got a little off topic.  However, this was my reaction to reading the book (in a roundabout way).

Anyways, here are few things on the web that deal with the book explicitly.

*Take a look at the Hunger Games Fansite.

* Being that the book cover does not include pictures of the characters, what was your mental image of the characters? Look at others’ below:

Katniss

       Kabul, Afghanistan-the setting of the award-winning novels The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns- will be the focus of my individual digital project.  I will use Windows Moviemaker to present straightforward, factual information through video, pictures, and dialogue.  My project will focus on the complex culture, customs, and history of the controversial geographic location.  Due to the fact that I believe students may have little (or maybe inaccurate) knowledge and perceptions of this region, I believe that it would be very useful for giving them a better understanding of the novels’ setting and the elements within.

In thinking further upon the project, I am going to primarily use Splendid Suns, which is set up in a four part structure… because there is so much unfamiliar information, and I was to focus in as much as I can… I think that I will do my project on part one of the book.. I’m not really sure yet…I am making a list of unfamiliar words right now, and am going to incorporate those as specific examples while talking generally about the customs, culture,etc.

When I try to imagine how Americans envisioned the future of their country a hundred years ago, I imagine a very different picture than the reality that is the 21^st century today.  If I go even further to think of their reaction to our current technological advancements, I can only imagine that it is the same reaction we have to futuristic movies- Unconceivable (although I must admit that I tend to believe almost everything I see!).

The point is that technology is our country’s newest experiment out of many. Technology has advanced our country in unimaginable ways since its founding many years ago.  The author of the article argues that it is imperative that students learn about our great experiments- in addition to the factual information they are already required to learn.  I agree with Neil Postman on this point.  Students should be made aware of these views, because they are so relevant to their lives, and also offer implications of their future as well.  They are living in a time when experimentation with technology is still new, and everyone has an opinion-they should too!

Furthermore, I believe that experimentation from a historical viewpoint only strengthens the importance of students’ personal experimentation with learning.  As a future educator, the ultimate goal I should have for my students is development and progression.  Experimentation plays a very important role in obtaining that goal.

I think that Postman was making the point that  a correlation can be made between our students’ success and our country’s success, and students’ should be made aware that experimentation is at the heart of both.

I have to say that Cory Doctorow’s young adult novel Little Brother was sure an eye opener for me… The book made me think more critically about the issues of technology in the classroom.

For me, the novel makes it very clear the path that technology is taking, and the effects that it will have on us and our children in the future (for sure, we will all be untrustable by then!!)

The book makes an issue of the amount of privacy that students should be allowed.  In the book, the adults believe that it is practically none.  I personally have a different opinion on that point. I believe that students should be allowed as much privacy as we would expect.  Although I think that it is a good idea to let students know that there are ways to monitor their actions, I also believe that it is important to let them know that they hold the power to control whether or not you excercise that ability.

Marcus says in the novel, “It’s not about doing something shameful.  It’s about doing something private.  It’s about your life belonging to you.” I believe this quote rings true with everyone.  We all like our privacy-it makes us who we are- there are certain aspects of our life that should not be shared with everyone.  Students should feel like they have privacy too.  The older that students get, the more they expect to be treated like adults. I think that you can elicit more desired responses from students if you treat them more like adults than children. Respecting their privacy (realistically and to a certain extent) is one way to go about doing that.

In the novel, Marcus relates his frustrations dealing with his educational experiences at the high school.  It seems that the teachers and administrators are more concerned with catching students doing something wrong than actually teaching them, and the cameras actually serve as a distraction to the students. Sometimes I think that we forget that students are people too.

On a positive note, the book proves that media can be a good thing, because in the end the investigative journalist is the one who saves Marcus’ life by bringing to light all the wrongs done by the DHS.  Even though the DHS looks at technology as a weapon waiting to be used by the enemy, the book points out that technology brings people together-just look at all the people connected by the XNET.

The book was a great portrayal of what classrooms (and life in general) will look like in the future.  It brings up many questions about how educators should treat technology, and the ways in which it could go bad.

Just look at these “new age” classrooms:

Where on Earth can you learn to build an Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie?  On the Internet of course!

By following seven simple steps, you too can protect your mind from potential prying by a world of total strangers.  Unfortunately, for all you ready to go use up all the Reynolds in your kitchen cabinet, the Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie is nothing but a hoax!  I bet you didn’t see that coming… and who could blame you?  The site is full of positive testimonials, contact information, extensive history on the product, external links, and even a special note to potential website evaluators!

Although hoax websites are extremely fun to look at, they also call into question the credibility of the information that is made available to our students on the web.

Giving students these types of examples of bad online information addresses the issue head on, and I believe that it would at least make students think about being more discriminatory with information that they accept as true.

I believe that it would also be beneficial for students to view websites, such as Snopes.  This website is dedicated on outing the “rumors” of the web. By debunking false information circulated on the internet, Snopes demonstrates that ALL information cannot be believed. It is imperative that we also teach students to have this type of mindset.

You could even take it a step further (if you feel that your students may still not be grasping the concept or maybe in the beginning), and actually give them a checklist to evaluate the information they find.

Wikipedia: Good or Bad?

In response to Crovitz and Smoot’s article on Wikipedia, I  tend to agree with their argument.  I have always heard in classes that information from Wikipedia is not reliable, but I personally don’t believe that, and with more studies on the topic, I believe that more and more educators will become more open to it too.

I mean, who says that two (or millions more!) heads aren’t better than one?  As future educators, we all believe in the power of collaboration with our own students in our own classrooms- with Wikipedia isn’t the idea still the same?  Although it is on a much larger scale, the goal is still to collaborate with many different minds  and report on the information truthfully.  I believe the misconceptions of Wikipedia and other Wikis stand in the way of  benefits that students can reap, such as their work reaching a much larger audience, and actually having relevancy in the real world. In addition, the information on Wikipedia is always current-this sets it apart from many print sources that students could be used as resources. Although it should not be used in research as the sole source (which is true for any type of resource), it can be a starting point to get students thinking.

Overall, I like the idea of all Wikis, and plan to use some sort of aspect of them in my future classroom.

Examples of Other Wikis

1. Greetings from the World
2. Soar 2 New Heights
3. UNSW Wikispaces

The main idea of the image is that cigarettes are equally dangerous as a gun bullet.

This image is personally striking to me.  I personally do not smoke, but if I did I believe that the image would impact me.  By putting the message into visual means, the creator is sending a much more intense message, and will yield a much higher reaction.  Visualizing a cigarette being associated with a gun speaks to me much more than just saying “Don’t Smoke Cigarettes, they are bad for you.”

Now, compare that image with this one:

* The colors in this image are much brighter, which conveys a much happier mood.

* The content is very different. It portrays cigarettes as having an integral place in festive activities.  Christmas is a happy time, and recalls happy memories (for most).  By associating  cigarettes with Santa Claus, it sends the message (especially to kids/”future customers”) that cigarettes are happy things too.

Recent Anti-smoking ads that take a different approach: