Last Post...?

Okay, so last thoughts on technology.

I have learned a lot. I actually sound like I know what I'm talking about with Excel and some other really important programs that I will actually need to use.

I guess what I've really disliked the most is blogging. Blogging, to me, has been like forcing me to use a mode of communication I really didn't like to begin with. I spent much of college telling my friends to take photos of me off the internet. I am practically un-google-able. (Word coined 4:47pm, Jeremiah Romm). And I like it that way. It's nice as an available communication for people, but it's personally not my cup o' tea.

Peace out Tech.

Videotaping the class

This week I videotaped my class for the PACT video sample. Here are a few notes on what happened.

Firstly, my students were on their best behavior. We got so much work done the past several days and I think the camera played a big part. The behavior carried over afterward, too; the class has been really responsive the past few days after videotaping.

Secondly, I really hate iMovie and iDVD so far. Making my tape digital took too long, and I can't figure out how to burn to CD. It also takes up a huge amount of disc space. I could just as easily take the two clips I want and put them on another videotape. This is ridiculous. I'm not trying to do anything fancy.

Anyways, class is going well. I'm digging it.

Hi Tech Burrito

Stephanie has set forth a challenge: whoever keeps our school web page updated most regularly will be treated to a burrito by the other. This was Stephanie's prize suggestion. She had no idea that my life is measured in time spent between burritos. I am winning.

In other news, I haven't been using much beyond a photocopier and the overhead in my class the past several days. When we get back from vacation, though, I'll likely be using the digital projector a lot. My next unit is heavy on images and video.In the meantime, things are running fairly smoothly.

Video Goals

Aspects of my teaching that I would like to capture on my video for PACT:

• Attention to participation issues. Which students are participating? Which students are participating negatively? Which students are disengaged? How am I encouraging participation? Is it enforced, or is the lesson engaging? How is participation structured (hand raising, shout outs, etc). How do I switch between different types of participation?
  
• What kind of questions am I asking? Am I switching between asking for facts, interpretations, etc? How am I receiving answers?
  
• How clear is my instruction? Are students able to work independently or in groups afterward? How often do I repeat instructions?
  
• Where am I in the class? How am I resolving behavioral and logistical concerns? What behavior am I rewarding, and how?

Online Community Reflection

Our assignment was to join an online community, so I'm going to talk about Facebook. I will admit that I was already a member of Facebook prior to this assignment; I've been desperately trying to keep my life simple and have thus ceased outward expansion. My horizons are wide enough (yes, I'm also gaining weight).

A friend just emailed me, saying: "The whole world is telling me to get back on Facebook. Should I resist?"

I replied to her: "You should get back on. Facebook has stopped being an 'internet community' and started becoming 'the internet.' It's like Wal-Mart." What I mean, of course, is that Facebook has expanded so much -- from its humble origins of trying to connect college students to students they might not know from classes they shared -- that it has started to duplicate the aims of several other sites. Music, games, classified ads, whatever the hell.

I continued: "It's also like internet dating (which you could probably also do on Facebook): the stigma's gone. Ha ha ha." (Please forgive me, this was hastily written and sent.)

Now, let's step back from my judgmental attitude and examine the not-so-hidden truth I not-so-revealed. Online communities like this are stigmatized. I always defend my participation in them with some less geeky sounding aim ("It's how I hear new music!").

It's late. I've not taken a break today. I won't bother trying to write a conclusion. GO A's!

My Big Fat Tech Disaster

There I was, the class at full attention, my instruction surprisingly clearer than usual. I was on a roll, students knew exactly what I was saying, no one was acting out. Time to transition: let's look at persuasive strategies in commercials. We were looking at streaming video online. Everything was thought out beforehand: each different website on different tabs, tested to see if they would work on the district server, run once to get them loaded on the computer.

BUT they didn't run during class. Of course they didn't. Think Haaaahder, doofus. And plan contingencies. We got nothing done in the second half of class.

My life, my love and my lady is Wikipedia

I've begun to study for the CSET in Social Sciences, and apparently I don't know anything about US history. I was busy outlining broad themes -- movements/eras, political thought and development, wars, religion and philosophy, etc. -- when I thought, "Since several of my classmates are also preparing for the test, why not post this outline as a wiki?"

As I was listing wars, I thought, "Hmm...maybe I should check Wikipedia to make sure I'm not skipping anything." When I looked at the US history page, I found that it was organized in exactly the way I wanted. Not only was the information divided chronologically, but thematically.

Wikipedia is the first place I go for quick or general answers. Why is it, then, that I've only heard negative comments about it for use by students? Sure, it's possible that the information is unreliable, and citations are a bitch. But, in general, I think it's a great tool for studying, quick answers, finding relationships between topics, etc.

Wikipedia is also saving me like 75 bucks on review books.

Computer Lab Visits

About half the time I've spent with my class so far this semester has been spent either in the computer lab or projecting streaming video in the classroom. We've been practicing media literacy by looking at the election coverage. We've compared 2004 red/blue state divisions to post-Super Tuesday headlines from different states' newspapers to look at audience and angles. We've used the internet to research candidates' positions on issues. We've looked at major candidates' political ads to discuss persuasive strategies.

Stephanie, my cooperating teacher, says that visits recently have been more frequent than is typical. We've seen increased familiarity with operating the computers, and more time devoted to the tasks at hand. Students have been engaged in the activities and we've been able to tweak them a little for each class. We've been posting links from the school's website, rather than allowing free browsing of the internet. Mainly, this is a time issue, but we also have not discussed reliability of internet sources yet.

Nevertheless, it's been a great experience to cull material from a number of sources so quickly. I've seen that my most effective lesson plans from both of my placements utilize computer-based presentations. The main reason for this is that I can present EXACTLY what I want to present, with little fuss.

Necessary tie between resource and subject

One of the things we're doing in my class is podcasting book reviews. One group of students is in charge of background music. In order to help them, I have to familiarize myself with GarageBand enough to help them with troubleshooting. The group is being given a total time of 1.5 hours of classtime to do this.

I'm busy getting to know GarageBand. It is fun. But this exploration is not intrinsically tied to learning more about reading skills. Its accessorizing the presentation.

Look, on the other hand, at this example. In a college phonetics and phonology class, we were given the opportunity to mess about with Praat sound recording and manipulation software. We saw the waveforms and spectral images of sounds, changed the pitch so that a declarative utterance became a question, spoke backward and reversed it, cut off phonemes from words, tried to determine the word by looking at the waveforms, etc. It was all very fun in a dorky, explorative way, but it directly led to learning the subject at hand.

Good Media Resource

We found this during a meeting this morning:

http://www.4president.us

This site archives television political ads (presidential ads) from 1952 on. A great resource for anyone doing election coverage, media literacy, propaganda, etc. I'd be interested in other archives that might be useful.

Tech Manifesto

Hmm...probably not the best title to use. Rest assured, I'm not a survivalist headed for the hills.

So...opening thoughts for this mandatory blog:

I'm interested primarily in the ways teachers, rather than students, can use technology in order to create more efficient, engaging, and clearer classes. Technology as a means of facilitating the exchange of ideas.

I am wary of technology becoming the subject rather than the means of exploring the subject. Technological literacy is without question a necessary skill, but every time I think about how to use it in the clssroom I stop thinking about the subject I'm supposed to be teaching. My interest in technology ends when its use impedes rather than assists.