Podcasting!

I chose to listen to an NPR podcast about youth violence. This particular podcast describes the shooting of a 15 year old in Chicago just a few months ago. It also reminded me of the honor student who was beaten to death outside his school that occurred earlier this year; these events are horrific and heartbreaking.

School can be a scary place. Growing up can a be a scary experience. But no young person should ever feel unsafe yet it happens all the time. This podcast includes recordings of student and youth reaction. Some say that violence is just a part of life and that they have to accept it. Others are standing up and demanding that society itself not take these tragic events lightly. There are plenty that don’t hit the news and the topic needs attention.

What I like about this podcast is that it is short and concise, yet offers multiple perspectives. I think that this could be used as a jumping off point if played in a classroom. Students could write down initial reactions and then debate about whether or not youth, gang, neighborhood or school violence really can be prevented, stopped or at the very least reduced. This podcast gives enough information to spark a discussion, yet leaves the solution unanswered and unclear. In reality, there is no solution at this time, but I know that students and young people are the key to building one.

In my other graduate courses, podcasts and radio documentaries have been included often. As an English major I appreciate and love the printed word, however I have come to appreciate and honor the power of the spoken word and really hearing people’s voices. I have made my own and have observed students create podcasts and documentaries about themselves and their own lives. It is amazing how powerful these kinds of projects can be. It’s something a formal essay or research paper just can’t do.

While the technology aspect can be tricky, I hope to incorporate podcast type projects in my future teaching. It is such a worthwhile and memorable project. Students can bring to light important topics and they will walk away with a truly meaningful project that amounts to much more than a grade!

ePals

What a great site. ePals seems to be a very comprehensive hub that span a wide range of participants and projects. I was first immediately drawn to the map that represents the project to garner signatures to be presented in Copenhagen to address climate change and environmental issues. I think that this is a perfect example of how the internet can unite people all around the world for a universal cause. Global change takes time and the participation of millions, so harnessing the passion of the youth that will be ruling tomorrow is so vital.

While I think this is a great project, the two other features that stick out to me for practical use are the digital storytelling features and the focus on human rights. Storytelling is such an important aspect of English education in my opinion. This semester I am taking a course on creative writing, and I have rekindled my passion for writing and telling my own personal stories. Since all of our experiences are unique to ourselves, there is such a great deal to learn from writing stories. Students can develop their voice and learn from themselves, but more importantly students can learn from one another. School needs to be an environment that honors students’ histories, their lives and experiences. Storytelling can be a way to channel that power.

My interest in storytelling also sparked my interest into the focus area of human rights displayed on the site. Storytelling can lead to the improvement, equality and fight for human rights for all. It can be very hard, even for myself, to truly grasp the fact that many people around the globe do not share the same rights I enjoy and often take for granted. Schools need to be agents of change, but it is hard to progress change if there is no awareness of what needs to be changed in the first place. ePals can be the catalyst for students to learn about human rights and fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. Speaking with students from around the world, hearing their stories and understanding their lives is just one way young people can promote equal human rights for others.

I think one practical use of this site could be to partner a class here in the US with another class somewhere else in the world. Students could even pair up to individuals so that a closer relationship can be built. I think exchanging journals about day-to-day activities, local news articles or biographies of family and social life can spark important conversations about what its like to live in someone else’s shoes. Once these relationships are cultivated, minds can be opened and change can take place. ePals can provide the insight into other worlds that textbooks and lectures just can’t offer.

Another specific internet tool that might be used in conjunction with ePals is Talkshoe.com. This site allows for multiple participants in a “community” call. Once relationships have been established with a partnered classroom, it would be so great to actually engage in live conversation between both classrooms. Hearing spoken language can be that much more effective when sharing stories and explaining what issues are affecting each classroom of youth. Talkshoe.com might even help create an audio or video project that might spread information about a cause or issue chosen by both classrooms.

I hope to use this site in my future classroom. It looks like there are tons of ways to tie in global friendships with English curriculum. Students can learn about other cultures, share their stories, and enact social change all while reading, writing, and creating.

Video!

I love using video clips to support lessons. I think that there are so many great videos out there, although sometimes hard to find, and students can really benefit from the visual imagery, motion and audio.

The How-To video I chose is on how to create a Podcast, or audio track. I just recently learned to use the program discussed in the tutorial, and the end product was really cool. I made a documentary type project for another class that allowed me to narrate, use interviews and insert sound effects and music to create a piece that reaches multiple senses. I think that students would be very interested in creating this type of project. Students can create audio projects to express their own stories, analyze other works, act out literature and even write their own creative pieces. Students often connect with music, and this program can help relate sound with the spoken word.

I also picked a video that looks like a student project. Currently I am observing in a classroom where they create videos all the time. This particular project shows a student exploring literary elements in Shakespeare's Macbeth. I think that a video project can be a great way to make traditional texts more relevant for students. They can gain ownership of the material if they are able to create something of their own design and production.

The last video is informational about the serious topic of bullying. I used this video when I student taught to try and show the seriousness of bullying in schools when it came up while reading The Catcher in the Rye. This video is extremely serious and sad, but I think it was important to share with the students. Many were shocked at the information. Video clips can help bring outside information and the stories of others into our classrooms to help students understand and relate to experiences, causes and topics with which they might not be familiar.

So much potential, so little time! The only tricky part with using videos in classes is that major video hosting sites such as GoogleVideo and YouTube are often blocked in schools. While I understand the reasoning, this can also block many important and educational tools. But there is hope! There are sights such as zamzar.com that allow free video capturing and converting. I used this site when I wanted to bring online videos into classrooms where the internet or access to video sites was lacking. Hopefully there will be easier workarounds in the future, but for now this works!

BigHugeLabs.com/flickr

Here is the magazine cover I created with one of the images I found...enjoy!

This site offers *tons* of great projects. Students could create magazine covers for portfolios and projects. They can use Flickr to create picture quilts to create digital collages. Currently I am working on a research project in another class that involves investigation into visual elements in the English classroom. Flickr.com and sites like Bighugelabs.com offer such great and meaningful ways to use images to create messages, networks, and expressions of self. Sometimes students who struggle with the printed word can use their creative and visual skills to develop learning.

I really enjoyed this week and hope to use Flickr both in my personal and professional lives!

Flickr

The following is one image I picked from the Flickr Creative Commons search. What an easy site to use! I typed the word "classroom" and tons of great photos appeared. Many were of great old fashioned rooms with small wooden desks, but I especially like this one with its colorful ceiling decorations. Great finds!

Teachers on Twitter!

I think that one of the most important ways Twitter can be used for professional development is to help solve problems. As I have come to realize, as hard as it is, teachers don’t know everything! And teachers will never knowing everything! It’s a simple concept, but sometimes the reality of such a situation can create challenges. I might find that I am teaching a curriculum full of titles I have never read. What if a student asks me a grammar question that I am unsure about? What if I am stuck on how to relate Shakespeare in 2009? I could post my frustration or my struggle or my question in a quick note to Twitter, and quite possibly have dozens of quick replies within minutes. Time is of the essence in the teaching profession, so even a saved hour here and there will add up. As a community of educators, teachers can and SHOULD build off one another’s experiences. Although teaching provides uniquely different experiences for everyone, I am sure that almost any question I have might be relatable to someone else. I plan on tailoring my practice based off of my own experiences, but I also want to build off of the knowledge of those who have already grappled with my same struggles. Twitter can offer a virtually light speed channel for communications concerning questions, struggles, ideas, advice or feedback. Sometimes I just want to hear to communicate with another human being, not a book or an article or plan book.

While I still am working on refining ways to fine-tune my new Twitter practices, I look forward to using this site for intra-teacher communication. I have learned so much from just my peers in my graduate courses; I can only imagine the possibilities of conversing with possibly infinite numbers of contacts within the profession of education.

One of the posts I found to be interesting was about using technology to connect students with other students globally. The post is titled "How to Connect Your Students Globally" and it is on the blog "Always Learning". This blog is written by a teacher who teaches in Thailand, and I think that her perspective from another country can also help teachers here in the U.S.

This post stood out to me because I think that one huge advantage of taking part in all of these new tech tools is that we can use them to connect to students and teachers all around the world. Over the past year or two I have been learning the importance of incorporating multicultural perspectives and multicultural texts into my English classroom. I think that actually allowing students to really connect to students of other cultures around the world could really enhance the meaning of understanding and celebrating other cultures. This post talks about the importance bringing students together to solve a common problem, and that is definitely a skill I will want my students to leave my classroom with.

With the variety of today's tools, it seems that bringing students together across the globe is actually possible. Whether it be through RSS feeds, collaborative blogs or common education websites, I think that global communication among teachers and learners is more than possible, if not vital for today's classrooms. The author of the particular post from above offers many techniques and ways of implementing global connections such as ePals and iEarn. I look forward to hearing more from this blogger through my new feed.

Useful NINGS

I am using Ning.com in another course, so I have been becoming familiar with its functions. I think that is great because there is a lot of control over who can join and collaborate. There is now a "Ning" for students in the English Education program which I just joined. This is a new place for old, current and new graduate students to catch up with one another, stay in touch with professors, share ideas, questions, issues and even job postings.

http://ubenglisheducation.ning.com/

I also found the following Ning site which seems to serve a similiar purpose. This one is for English teachers from anywhere and everywhere who can collaborate and share ideas.

http://englishcompanion.ning.com/

This Ning site seems incredibly useful, especially for a new teacher. There are groups within the Ning that seemed to be organize by sub-topics in English. For example, there is a group for teaching middle school and one for teaching mythology. These might be great places to start if one is teaching a new genre or topic of English. I will definitely use this site as a resource for me in the future.

The Learner Bee

After reading Siemens' article and viewing the video "The Conflict of Learning Theories with Human Nature", I can liken the "learner" to that of a honey bee. The learner, or worker bee, travels through nature looking for flowers from which to gather pollen. Pollen cannot be taken from just any plant, so the bee must decipher and recognize which flowers or plants will supply the correct pollen for the hive. Then the bee extracts what he needs and takes it to the hive. There, hundreds of other individual bees are also bringing what they each found to be useful from the outside world into the hive. Then, all of the individual bees add their contributions. The hive survives only upon the connection and synthesis of each bee's bit of pollen. Once added together, this creates the honey that comes from the hive. Each bee will then individually benefit from the honey that is produced. As the hive grows, old bees pass and new bees are born. The honey created will fuel the new bees, who in turn, will add back to the hive.

I best understand Siemens' theory through the quote, "The starting point of connectivism is the individual." It is then the individual who contributes to a "network, which feeds into organizations and institutions, which in turn feeds back into the network, and then continues to provide learning to the individual." I like this idea because it allows for individuals to have an impact on a large body of knowledge. Honey can be seen as a loose analogy for knowledge and information because it is not permanent nor guaranteed to last forever. The taste, texture and quantity of the honey depends on what the bees bring to the hive, therefore the honey created today might be different from what was created 5 years ago or 5 years from now. It all depends on what was available and what the bee deemed sufficient for the production of honey.

I am not an expert on bees, hives or honey, so there might be flaws in this analogy. However, I feel it is somewhat useful because the production of the hive depends on its individuals. One of the quotes that caught my attention from the video was "our desire to externalize our thoughts" and the "power of connecting in an external fashion". The hive might represent the connections being made by each bee's contribution for the greater good.

While the article outlining connectivism proved to be somewhat thick to understand, I am refreshed by the new approach to education. I think that the more we model instruction off of how people actually learn, the more effective we will be for our students. I agree that externalizing thoughts and making connections is such a vital part to our learning process, and I hope to keep those desires in mind when I plan lessons. I do not have many memories of K-12 education that involved making my own connections, so I hope to bring that into my classroom. If students cannot connect my lessons to any part of their lives, then I need to work at how I present my material.

Staying Afloat!

The video that stuck out to me was the updated version of the video: Did You Know? I remember my first day of LAI 414. It was class necessary for my ungraduate minor in Education. My teacher pulled up Youtube.com, and we watched a similar video. I was blown away by the information presented. And yet, just 3 years later, I am watching an updated version of the video and I am just as surprised at the information.

I am on my third laptop. I text more than I make phone calls. I have had an instant messaging screen name for 11 years. I consider myself fairly up-to-date with technology when compared to most, however the information in the video shows me that I am far from the most expert! I am 23 years old, and I probably send about 200-300 text messages a month. But a teenager, under 10 years younger than than I, sends nearly 1000? I am truly amazed! Have

I turned into my parents already?? Am I so distant from the students I will soon be teaching!

In many ways, no, but in other ways, yes! I have slowly been coming to terms with the explosive progress of technologies. I would be lying if I said I wasn't intimidated by the fact that younger generations will be at the forefront of new technologies. I consider myself young, but I already I have already realized that my students will probably always know much more than I when it comes to new technologies.

While I am still unsure the exact steps I will take, I want to take advantage of my students knowledge. I want them to keep my updated on what is new or interesting to them. I remember teachers who seems so resistant to new technologies. My grandparents never used the VCR we bought them. I had an English professor, just three years ago, who refused to use email. I never want to be that closed off! I am taking this class for exactly that reason. I know that there is something to be said for traditional practices and there are dangers associated with jumping into new technologies blindly, but that video showed me quickly progress is being

made. I must make conscious efforts to stay abroad of trends and shifts in technological progress. Teachers can becomes somewhat isolated in their classrooms, so it is important to step outside of the classroom and interact with technology in the same ways students do.

Blog Safety

I feel that I, myself, have learned a lot about internet safety over the last few years. I myself have had myspace accounts, facebook accounts and photo albums that I usually never thought twice about in terms of security. But as the internet keeps growing, I myself have been maturing. I have learned to edit, revise, monitor and secure the information that I post, so I appreciate the similar need for classroom use. Teachers themselves need to be so careful about what they post about themselves, that I feel more comfortable about helping students do the same. The following are some important guidelines for using the internet in classrooms.

1. Avoid using any major identifying information such as home address, last name, phone number, photos, or any personal information one might not want a stranger to access.

2. Maintain open channels of communication between parents, students, and faculty. There should be no surprises and no secrets about what is being blogged for classroom use.

3. All comments and posts should be approved by the teacher. Students should be taught what this kind of material looks like, but the teacher should ultimately be able to control what gets posted, for the safety of the student.

4. Care should be taken to secure the blog from outside or unwanted viewers. In some cases, a blog might be intended to address a wide audience, in other's it might be necessary to restrict the posts to the class itself.

5. Students be taught and exposed to tips for navigating the internet safely when using the blog. Often, information and websites that are not conducive education can leak through even the most effective filters, but teaching the students how to handle those situations is far more important that placing simply placing huge blocks or denying large amounts of information to students.

I hope to learn more about this, especially because each school is different about the kind of access they allow to teachers and students. I hope to add to this list before implementing blogs in my teaching.

Blogs in the Classroom

I have really been interested in the use of blogs in the classroom over the past year. I took a graduate course from a professor who used them often in the high school English class she teaches, and I was able to see it first hand when I student taught for her. While I am able to easily understand how useful they are to the classroom, I am still eager to learn more on how to practically implement them into my teaching.

The example that I saw in her classroom was a blog that acted as forum for posting film reviews. In addition to her English class, she also taught a film course. Students were required to write about one post per week about any film they had seen recently. It sounds like a simple enough assignment, but the results were of a wide variety of and complex content. Students reviewed all sorts of films: recent box office hits, unknown indie flicks, classic favorites or internet-only movies. Students would also comment on one another's posts, and it was great to see students discussing and analyzing in a forum in which they might find more comfortable than a live classroom. I feel that students will excel when given more options, and blogs provide a useful alternative for student expression.

Thinking back on my student teaching, I think I will try and use blogs for the following ideas in the future:

-Discussion about texts we use in the classroom

-Discussion about future topics that are student-centered or student-initiated

-Free-writes and creative writing

-Student-composed articles and reports

-Question forums ( not unlike our Peer Help thread on UbLearns)

-Feedback forums (not unlike our How Did it Go? thread on UbLearns)

Blogging opens up another form of communication which can enhance our channels with students. Technology is growing at such a fast pace that we, educators, would be foolish not to tap into its potential!