Tech and Topics

The best part of this class was learning all of the new presentation techniques.  These new presentation styles are not only helping me form new lessons for in my class, but they are also helping me in my other classes.

The worst part of this class is that it is over.  :(

Does Technology Change the Way We Teach

Does technology change the way we teach?

HECK YES IT DOES!

Even in my short education I have seen a huge change in technology.  Classrooms have gone from chalkboards to white boards.  There have been overhead projectors, screen projectors, and now smart boards and 3M machines.  There did not used to be Internet and computers in schools were for typing stories to print out only.  Now a student can not get by without a computer.  Technology is changing more than just the way we teach, technology is changing the way we live.  And because our lifestyles are changing, the way we (as teachers) prepare our students for the future is by using technology.  Technology allows us to better connect and interact with our students because it allows us to enter into their realm of learning and into the world that interests and captivates them.  Technology is going to allow students to succeed and exceed the learning expectations.

Technology Presentation Overview

Even though I do not have to present a Web 2.0 project I have looked a little into Wiki's from one of my previous observations in Loveland Middle School.  The teacher that I was working with used a Wiki for her poetry unit.  She had her classes divided into single sex groups and each person posted some of their poetry and the people in their group could read and give comments regarding the editing of the poetry. 

I loved this project because it gave the students the ability to self-reflect on their own work and to read and reflect on the work of their peers.  It broadened their view of poetry and expanded their experience with editing.  Without wiki the project would have been paper and red pen based.  I don't know about you, but red pens scare me!

Technology gives teachers the ability to interact with the class and to have the class engaged and interacting themselves.  Without technology there would only be giant lecture halls and education would be in even more of a decline.  The days of lecture and paper are over, Web 2.0 is the present and the future.

Value in Fiction

I think, as an English major, that there is a great value to learning from fiction.  Fiction is a mirror of life, even though it is not a biography or completely true.  There are many aspects of fiction which a student can relate to and that can be used as a teaching tool.  Students learn from Shakespeare all the time.  They can relate to Romeo and Juliet, the learn story lines from the historical plays.  Learning fiction is important, not for the information within the piece of fiction, but for the information and lessons that a person can get out of the fiction.  Being an English major, my opinion of fiction may be slightly biased, but you can not easily find a class that does not involve some type of fiction. 

Value of Portfolio Assessment

The values of portfolio assessment are often shoved under the rug.  People are more interested in the negatives all they can think about is their precious time wasting away, but there are many positives to portfolio assessment and some of these values may be even more important when the new teaching salary is based on merit and student improvement.
Portfolio assessment is a compilation of a students or collectors best works.  The portfolio can be used in English, music, art and really all across the curriculum.  A portfolio is good for assessing a students improvement.  It shows the progress that a student has made in a specific area and that can help teachers with merit pay.  More importantly are the impacts that a portfolio has on a student.  The student is able to see their progress.  More importantly they are able to self-reflect on and self-evaluate their work.  Also the students will learn strong editing skills, which will help them in their education and their career.  A portfolio is good for all walks of life and in many different positions.  Having portfolios in schools can only better prepare students for their future. 

Critique Document

Jessica Miller

3/24/11

Presentation Critique

            My presentation of similes using technology went smoothly.  My information was accurate and I was comfortable with my knowledge and the method that I was presenting the information.  I think that my interaction with students is done well and that I do a good job in getting students to understand material to the point where they can give their own examples and participate in the learning experience.  Also the Glog that I used was creative and eye catching.  It would be able to catch and hold the attention of students while still being informative and a proper teaching tool.   

There are also some things that I think I need to improve upon.  I feel that in my teaching experience I need to find a larger vocabulary when it comes to praising my students.  The way I praise students is often repetitive.  I also need to better acquaint myself with the Smartboard and other technologies to make a more flawless presentation.    

Some other things that I need to work on are my movement around the classroom and the proximity that I have with the students.  Also my body posture and my hand movements need some work.  A final thing to work on is my voice projection.  I need to speak up so that even students in the back of the classroom can hear me. 

Overall my presentation went well and I am satisfied with the outcome.  I know that as my teaching experience grows I will become an even better teacher.   

Critiquing Myself

It was strange to critique myself, but not entirely foreign to me.  In my speech class we had to record all of our speeches and critique them and I have also been notorious to critique myself while watching old videos of my dance recitals.  I tend to be pretty harsh on myself, but I figured that this video was more of a learning and teaching tool for myself and something that would help me improve, so I didn't have to be quite so tough on myself.  I can't say that I really enjoy watching myself, it makes me think what in the world am I doing, because to myself I look and sound like I'm twelve.  And really what high school student would listen to someone that looks and sounds like they are twelve.  I guess the image of myself is the hardest thing for me to deal with.  I created my topic and my lesson, so I obviously think that they are good.  My critique is based on me and my performance. 

Video Editing

What does video editing mean to me?  Well I've never edited a video before so, I would assume that choosing scenes to use and make a congruent video would be editing.  Piecing together a collage of clips to make comprehensible video is editing.  Basically it's choosing what makes a person look the best and putting all of that together into one giant "the best of me" video. 

Technology in My Lesson

In my lesson on similes I used technology by incorporating a Glog on the subject.  I also am going to have the students use the Smartboard to write their example of a simile on my Glog.

The Problems with HTML

One major problem with html is that the code is hard to teach.  There are different number and letter combinations to mean any number of things for designing a web page.  Most people do not have the time or resources to learn this complicated "web language" or the money to spend on a professional web page designer.  Html has cut itself off from the ever-growing technology age by limiting itself to only those that rigorously study the program and learn to use it proficiently.  Most people would rather use a shortcut program, such as WYSIWYG, to design their web page.  Html is too complicated for the world of people that simply want to be put on the web without having to make the web their life.  The shortcut programs has made website design more accessible and fun for those interested in technology and for those that have trouble with technology. 

Copyright Laws

This picture was found on creativecommons.org.  It was taken by N1NJ4 who wishes to remain anonymous, but also wanted the credit for the photo.  The photo was taken December 21, 2006 using a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT.  The picture is of the photographers puppy (Bichon Frise).  I choose this picture because it looks much like my puppy.
Copyright laws is something that educators have to be well informed about.  I remember in junior high reading an article out of the readers digest that my teacher had printed out for us.  She informed us that she needed the copies back to shred them after they were read because she didn't have the right to use them or distribute them.  This is an example of copyright that I have experienced. 
I think that copyright laws are important for teachers to follow and to teach their students because we are setting the example and preparing students for their future.  They can not go into a presentation using copyrighted material.  If students don't follow copyright laws they are getting away with plagiarism.  If we expect students not to plagiarize then we should also expect them to follow the copyright laws.  It is for their own good and will help them greatly in the future.

Legal Brief Presentation

http://wanderseej.edu.glogster.com/pickering-vs-boe/

Here is the project, my Glog wouldn't connect to my blog...so you're on your own to see it!

Biggest Legal Concern

My biggest legal concern being a teacher is problems with the union.  I wouldn't know what to do in the case of a teacher strike.  I wouldn't want to have to not teach my students, but risking losing good relationships with other teachers is not smart either.  There would be a big conflict in my mind and in the face of a decision I'm not sure what I would do. 

Legal Brief

Citation: Pickering VS. Board of Education

Topic: Teacher’s First Amendment Rights

Issue: Marvin L. Pickering was a teacher in the Will County, Illinois Township High School.  The district was trying to pass several bonds and tax increases to build schools and fund education.  One of the bonds passed, but neither of the tax increases passed.  When trying to pass the tax increases the school published letters and articles saying how much the district needed the money and how the money would be used.  After the tax increases failed Pickering wrote and published a letter saying that the teachers had not been allowed to speak out against the bonds or tax increases and that the district had gone about proposing them in the wrong way.  The board of education saw the letter has a type of harassment and had Pickering dismissed. 

Facts:

• Before the vote to increase taxes articles were published to push the passage of the increase by saying that a failure would produce a lowering of educational quality.

• After the increase failed Pickering published a letter saying that the teachers had not been allowed to speak out against the bonds or increases and that the school had used some of the bond money for athletics instead of education.

• The Board of Education dismissed Pickering for his letter saying it put the district and administrators in a bad light and that many of the allegations were false.

• Pickering said that his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated and that there were no grounds for dismissal.

Findings:

• Circuit Court of Will County affirmed the dismissal

• Supreme Court of Illinois affirmed the dismissal

• Supreme Court of the United States agreed that Pickering’s First Amendment rights were violated and reversed the previous decisions

Rationale: The court found that many of the allegations in the letter were false, but that the letter never harmed anyone that would make work or other teacher relationships uncomfortable.  The letter was seen to not impede the function of Pickering as a teacher or the operation of the schools. Pickering’s First Amendment rights to make statements about public concerns even about their superiors were protected under Garrison vs. Louisiana and Wood vs. Georgia.

Implications: For educators this meant that they had the right to speak out against their district, schools, and superiors.  This was reversed in Garcetti vs. Ceballos in 2006 that ruled that public employees have no first amendment protection when making comments about their employment. 

http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/pickering.html

Good Presentation Techniques

Here is a short list of good presentation techniques.  These techniques were discovered through observation and an oral presentation class. 

~ Good eye contact, using the triangle method helps (focusing on each wall for a few seconds

~ Loud, clear voice with well articulated words

~ Hand gestures that fit in with the presentation

~ Good posture, standing straight, legs a should length apart, knees bent

~ Knowledge of audience (know what they know, what they don't know, what their interests are, what their objections are, what their interests are)

~ Knowledge of material (be interested in the material and be well researched in the material)

~ Knowledge of technology (know how to use any technology required and make sure that any technology is relevant and helpful in the presentation)

~ Relevant Props (props need to be used in the presentation, not an after thought and should not take away from the presentation)

Article on Using Technology for Writing Instruction

Jessica Miller

EDMS 350

Mr. Becksfort

            “Writing for the Instant Messaging and Text Messaging Generation: Using New Literacies to Support Writing Instruction” is written by Sheelah M. Sweeny.  Sweeny is a professor at Northeastern University in Boston and has done extensive research on technology and how it is enhancing writing in the classroom.  The article focuses on reviewing how technology has evolved and how the present generations are more comfortable and learn more by using technology.  Sweeny uses the comparison of “students being digital natives and teachers as digital immigrants” to show the gap in the generations and to show that difference in learning techniques (124).  The article even includes some typical technology content standards.  The journal focuses on four uses for technology in the classroom.  The first is using authors as mentors.  There are many videos online of professional authors talking about their writing processes or how they get ideas for their stories.  The second is using technology for editing and revising.  There are many sites that have editing suggestions as well as checklists to use when editing.  A third is using text messaging, email, IM, or Twitter. One example that was given was a teacher that would text a short assignment, like a one sentence summary, to the class and they would text back their answer.  The final use mentioned is online forums.  The focus is on blogs and Wiki, where students are able to share and comment on each others work while the teacher can monitor what is being said. 

            This article was well written and had a lot of information about new technologies, how to use them, and where to go to find them.  It is very current and can be used in most present day classrooms.  I found the article to be very useful and have been able to explore a number of items that I would like to use in my future classroom.  I have even been able to develop some assignments and lessons that I would like to use in the future.

            I think that by making writing and research more web and technology based students will become more interested in what they are learning, but they will also enjoy the work more and perhaps even be able to put forth a higher effort, since they are so well acquainted with technology already.  Not only this, but students will be better prepared for their future and higher learning at the university level.  Many jobs are being technology centered and many more use tech every day through presentations, emails, conference calls, etc.  By including technology in the classroom, teachers are better preparing their students for the new workforce. 

            In my future classroom I definitely want to use some of the newer technologies for projects and assignments.  I would like for students to research two authors, from authors that have posted their writing processes online, and compare the two processes.  Then present the two methods to the class telling which they like better and why.  Then as a final application they have to do a paper comparing the two processes, but using the process that they preferred.  Another tool that I would like to use is Wiki.  I want students to post their work that is in the process of completion and then to have their classmates edit and make constructive comments to help each other.  This not only makes the editing process a collaborative effort, but it is more of a learning experience.  It would replace the teacher having conferences and “fixing” a students paper without really allowing the student to learn from their mistakes.  I believe that there are major changes coming to the classroom and to teaching and I think that technology is going to make a big difference in the life of teachers and students. 

Journal Article:

Sweeny, Sheelah M. “Writing for the Instant Messaging and Text Messaging Generation: Using New Literacies to Support Writing Instruction.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 54.2 (2010): 121-130. ERIC. Web. 17 January 2010.  

My First Blog

Hi Bloggers,
I am so excited to get started, but I may be more excited about designing my blog rather than typing in it. Enjoy the Pride and Prejudice reference. It will be the first of many!