C4K Summary

Since we’re only required to comment about last weeks C4K assignment, that’s the only one I’m going to include. Last week I was assigned to Class 12’s Blog by Louie and Klaudia. Their class was writing a story and each group had to feed off of the previous post to make the story and challenged to hit 100 words. They were blogging about the titanic spider. The spider was a butler and overheard a little girl saying they were going to sink. I complimented them on their imagination and how well the story flowed. I also congratulated them on achieving the 100-word goal. I enjoyed reading the different stories and how well they flowed together.

C4T Summary

I was assigned to Joe Bower for my C4T this month. He is a teacher from Alberta, Canada. He prefers the “old school” teaching, with a hint of the new, technological stuff. His first post was Test the Students, Punish the Teachers. He was writing about an article that fired teachers whose students failed standardized tests. It doesn’t matter how well the teachers do on all the other aspects of teaching. They are considered ineffective overall if they do not raise their students test scores. I responded to his post by saying the pressure is already too much for a new, young teacher, but the possibility of be fired because the students test scores aren’t have enough is unbearable. I also mentioned that it’s a good thing a teacher’s ability to teach isn’t based solely on test results.

Joe’s second post was Death by Wikipedia. This post was about the extinction of encyclopedias, and the up rise of Wikipedia. It was a very short post, but I responded with the pros and cons of Wikipedia. One of the pros being that Wikipedia is free, but a con was it not being 100% accurate, since anyone can post on it.

Blog Assignment 9

My first selection of Mr. McClung’s was the one written after his first year of teaching entitled What I’ve Learned This Year (2008-09). In this post Mr. McClung discusses the great difference in his expectations and the real world. I believe this exists in all professions but most especially in teaching where I expect the expected to change every year and still be wrong. The clear message in this post was the disconnect between what is learned during school and internships and actual teaching. As we go through school we look to meet the grading systems of those evaluating us and as educators our evaluations change quite a lot. There is no more set presentation that we must get through and show our use of certain teaching skills, it is simply to educate however that may be best achieved. Mr. McClung also discusses the necessity of communication with other teachers and the students themselves to truly grow from the experiences. He also discusses the valuable role of technology in the classroom and the fears that many have of approaching this unknown land. Through all of this he continues to reiterate on the failure of your expectations and how little they must affect you. As a teacher each and every student will be different in what they bring to the table and how best they learn. This presentation of experiences from someone who just experienced their first year as a teacher shed a lot of light on what I can expect. Experiences of others help us not to think we are the freak in the crown and I hope that I can recount this blog during my early failures I am sure to face.

The second reading of Mr. McClung’s blog I selected was his second year What I Learned This Year (2009-10) which I selected because I was anxious to see his transition from first year teacher to second year teacher. Mr. McClung was unable to remain in his comfort of experiences in the first year and transitioned to older students and teaching multiple subjects. He reiterates the need for flexibility as his students entire set of mind had changed as the group was more mature. The flexibility was also needed on his part due the complete change of scene. Not only changing schools and grades Mr. McClung was forced to change subjects from the hands on science to the classical memorization and note taking classes of history and social studies. His attitude towards flexibility was needed as he tried to make the subject more involved only to discover that few of the students had actually been thought to think independently as current events were discussed. With some coaxing some results were found but he also found a wall in having to leave his personal opinions behind and direct discussion instead of lead it. Through all of the new experiences Mr. McClung gives a valuable tip in befriending a teacher with experience in the school to help guide you through the early days. Another point made is that during his change Mr. McClung entered the world of “too cool to care” attitudes found in young adults. Leaving the ego at the door and showing passion about the subject are valuable skills he found in making the students show interest as well. Many of daily duties of teachers like handing out papers waste time and lose attention of the class that must be regained. Simple things like letting students get their own papers and other small tasks save time and effort as Mr. McClung pointed out in his blog. Another point of view addressed is that of the management of the job itself. Mr. McClung mentions bad administration hurting the quality of his teaching and the priority that must be made for the students not to allow this to affect the quality they receive. They in fact are the customers and only ones hurt by teachers who allow other issues into the classroom.

All of these experiences continue to awaken me to the world outside of learning to be a teacher. I guess we all have this grand idea of walking into a classroom of students ready to hear what we have to say and learn from the way we mean them to. We don’t think about the attitudes we are going to face and the challenges that are going to arise when we fail or are challenged in ways we did not expect. Mr. McClung has given me great insight into this and a heads up for what is to come. Who thinks about a bad boss as a teacher? I know that I surely never thought about having to deal with the rest of the faculty in a negative way. In the end I can clearly see that I will have to be flexible and very self assessing to be a successful teacher. For the students to learn I must in fact learn myself.

Project 12-- Book Trailer

Project 15-- SMARTboard Presentation Part II

Blog Assignment 8

This is How We Dream: Part 1 & 2:

Richard E. Miller discusses the past conventions, current practices and possible futures of using multimedia and the web to enhance the possibilities of the writing culture in his lecture This is How We Dream. As our technology advances the abilities of sharing information has become nearly instantaneous and available everywhere to anyone.

With the tools currently available the former need for purchasing or loaning a book out has disappeared and writing tools have grown from words in print to digital displays full of text, images, sound and video. The diversity of these documents allows for the stimulation of thought through multiple senses as well as the ability to enhance an emotional response with a separate form of media that may not have been evoked through the use of solely words or images.
The lecture also discusses the benefits of the instantaneous publishing of an idea through the use of the web. Be these ideas an article, blog post or video posted it is available to be seen by everyone at the moment of its publication. There is no longer the delay of up to years of the writing, copyright and publishing process. These ideas also come free of charge as information and ideas can be shared as they are meant to be to stimulate further discussion and in turn lead to advancements in whatever facet the given idea approaches.

The author presents valid points about the use of multimedia to share ideas and stimulate thought through the use of multiple stimulations. However, while these forms of presenting writing do allow an author to convey their idea more clearly it also takes away some of the freedom of thought that a reader experiences. We must be careful not to over direct thought and allow for independent interpretation. If we are not careful we will approach the thought process of: “Why write a fiction novel when I could just make a movie?”

Personally, I am prepared to write in this manner and have done so regularly through my education process. Using tools like slide shows to give a presentation are a form of such writing and with more and more As for the ability of the future students of our education system being able to utilize these methods of writing it is fairly clear that they will be more than adept. While a great writer does not lie within each person, everyone can in fact write once taught the general tools. The tools of the multimedia writing are already integrated into our society as children are exposed to more and more advanced technology at younger and younger ages. It must just be conveyed to the student the proper way to utilize the tools just like grammar teaches us to properly use words.

Blog Post #12:

Carly Pugh has designed an assignment in her Blog Post #12 that gives teaching an in depth exercise into the ideas of Dr. Miller in the use of multimedia to write. Dr. Miller urges that these practices allow for a much more in depth expression of the author’s ideas and this is clearly seen through Carly’s post. While reading the post there are links throughout that allow the reader to take a look into her meaning behind the words that she is using. This could be done through length descriptions and stories and the same effect may or may not be reached. However, with the use of the videos that are linked throughout the post, the reader is able to understand and be stimulated in the way that the author desired. While this less classical form of writing may lack on the literary elements, it does achieve similar effects. As Dr. Miller expressed in his lectures this is a much better use of the tools at the hands of a teacher. Today’s world is a digital world, especially those currently in and entering into the education system, whose attention is grabbed by colors, video and sound and writings, such as this blog post, directly address this new and technologically advanced audience.
EDM 310 is Different

After watching the videos The Chipper Series and EDM310 for Dummies I was inspired in the direction of instructional videos. One of the primary tools that we utilize in EDM310 is Blogger. I’ve come across blogs while in this class, both student and non-student, that lack in creativity in term of visual stimulation. Personally, I have enjoyed putting a personal touch into the way my blog looks with backgrounds, fonts and the embedding of text and video. I think it would be a useful tool to produce an instructional video using screen and voice recording to walk users through this program. While the tools are simple to use some may not have the desire or knowledge to find these tools, nor how to use them to their full potential.

The Chipper Series is an interesting parody on the many misconceptions that students carry and the consequences that can come from life lived under these misconceptions. Chipper begins with the simple mistakes of not applying herself in school and taking as many shortcuts as she possibly can. After leaving school she continues these bad habits of taking the easy way out and a sense of entitlement. Many of these misconceptions come from society thinking that things should be handed to us just for showing up or paying our tuition. However, when extended into the real world these lead to failure. Through the course of the series, Chipper just slides downhill from student to garbage collector and in the end realizes the error of her ways and returns to school with a newfound desire to apply herself. Overall we see the message that education and application of one’s self to the task at hand is what is required for success.

While masked behind a promotional ad for a book, EDM310 for Dummies carried a different message to me. I have yet to think about the many programs and tools that I have learned through this class and the benefits that these will provide to me as tools in my future teaching. During this class I have found a use beyond shopping and social networking on the internet. I previously had little knowledge of the scholarly uses of such programs and the niche that they are gaining in today’s education system. I cannot wait to apply these programs beyond this class and extend my student’s future learning experiences through their use.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn:

In Learn to Change, Change to Learn there are interesting and valid arguments made for movement away from the classical education system. These ideas push towards a more internet based and thus worldwide education system that involves many of the tools students currently use for themselves. These tools may simply be interfacing with technology to using social media for sharing of ideas. In the schools of the past students learn from books and teachers how to read, write and do math. There exists some technological education through computer classes and word processing but these are limited. However, from the arguments presented in the video one speaker mentions the “death of education and the birth of learning”. I feel that this idea is one we should in fact fear. Just because the world is one of technology doesn’t mean that all else may be abandoned. Students need to be able to learn, think and communicate in ways unaided by the use of computers. While technology gives us capabilities beyond what could be imagined before, the basis of social networking and business is people. There must be a point of balance that we find between educating students in the way that we have always been educated and the use of the tools currently available to do so. To leave the classical classroom behind altogether is a mistake.

Scavenger Hunt 2.0:

On the scavenger hunt created by Justin Cometti I selected to look for the source of the presentation given in the post, a new video tool that I had never used and the poll creating software. The presentation, Teaching in the 21st Century, provided in the assignment was most likely created by Prezi, which utilizes zooming to text and pictures instead of the classical slideshow. On the pricing page there is a section for students and teachers (those with educational based email accounts) to gain access to the program for a reduced rate. The base model is free to all but the more advanced versions come at a cost. However, for students and teachers this is greatly reduced as the middle version of the program is now free and the pro version is down to $59 dollars per year. These versions offer some additional tools to make the program more useful and at the noted small budgets of students and teachers come of great relief.

For the second part of the scavenger hunt I used one of the video tools featured on the Web2.0 Tools called Animoto. This video tool allows the user to create video from photos, video clips, text and sounds. All of these can be selected from personal internet sites like Facebook and Instagram or uploaded from a personal computer. All of this is simply done and the software itself uses features based on the skills of real film directors to place images and video together into the theme that you select for a well designed production. Once complete the program is designed to share your creation through many popular outlets.

For the final part of the scavenger hunt I created a poll using Polleverywhere which allows for the creation of polls that can be voted on using the internet or mobile devices with texting. My poll creation was about the selection of a favorite desert and can be found through the embedded link.

Project 11-- My Short Movie