Here we go!

http://www.mygradebook.com/video.cfm

Online courses taking over Community College

http://www.syracuse.com/poststandard/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-8/117489954457790.xml&coll=1

Article: "Music fans reaching the end of the album"

http://www.syracuse.com/poststandard/pageone/pdf/mon-a.pdf

Overwhelmed?...Totally

If no one is feeling overwhelmed after reading chapters 5 and 6 in Friedman's text..you clearly didn't read it! I personally had a better time understanding chapter 6 but I will admit that I should read chapter 5 again to really get the grasp of it.

I have not begun my observing yet so I cannot say first hand if I have witnessed whether or not teachers are doing what is necessary to support "the new middlers". However, my cousin is a first year English teacher and when I asked her if her students were blogging, she responded with: "what the hell is that?"
So based on that answer, I am guessing that no, teachers are not preparing what is needed for their students to become prepared in this world, where the jobs they will have don't even exist yet.

The job market is becoming extremly competitive as the world becomes flatter. Since the world has become so globally connected, people all over the world are becoming more educated and prepared for any job that comes their way. This puts more pressure on us because we have to prepare our students to be above and beyond. We have to teach them all the skills that will make them "untouchable" so that they will survive in this competitive world and maintain their jobs.

We need to be teaching our students more than just what a "Sonnet" is or what "allegory" means. We truly need to enforce having students speaking publicly, communicating inside and outside of the classroom, keep them on their toes with all of the technology that is being invented, how to use all the technology resources that are currently on the market and available.

Friedman mentioned that most of the jobs that people had 30 years ago won't exist in the flat world. Hello?! Look at us! The description of what an English teacher does and is, is changing right before our eyes! I never knew I would be blogging as an English major when I first entered the program! The way the world and jobs are changing is rapid. Along with the world and the jobs changing, we have to basically reprogram our students brains and teach them all that is needed to live in this flat world.

I don't think Friedman could have been more on target if he tried!

National reading scores...

http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nrc/reading_math_2005/s0002.asp?printver=

Will Richardon's Blog

I found it interesting that the students only discussed technology in one of their grad classes.

The reason for this: Besides 307, the topic of technology has never been brought up in any of my classes and I am taking 16 credits. I am in the process of reading chapter six in Friedman and there was so much detail about how the world is working with technology in chapter five, that I was really shocked when I realized that no other professors or students have brought up technology in class.

I am still trying to adjust to what technology tools can be used in a classroom and how to incorporate it into a lesson, so for example, when I think of an American Lit. class I took last semester, I now realize how many different activities could have been done with the help of technology. Granted I loved the class, there were times it was very boring because while we all sat there, the professor read and we chimed in every once in awhile, needless to say it was the same students talking every time.

At this point of my 307 education, I know that the class could have done what is called Discourse Mapping that I learned about at the DATE conference, we could have had a class blog where we discussed characters, writing styles, etc about the readings, we could have made pod-casts, a web site, a class wiki, etc. I really think the class would have enjoyed the literature more and would have appreciated it if the class were organized in a different manner.

Like I said before, I am not suprised that the source of technology was only metioned in one class. The question now is, why only in one class? Why aren't teachers integrating or at least communicating about technology to their students? I think Will is right when he said it may have to do with the older generations not wanting to be bothered with it. In a sense I don't want to be bothered with it either, but I will be using it because this is a new way of learning and I am growing up with it.

Speaking up about technology

I have many mixed feelings about the opinions and statements that were made throughout this survey

• Students feel that they should be allowed to have cell phones in the classroom in case of an emergency.

I don't see anything wrong with this as long as the teachers enforce the students that they are to keep their phone on vibrate at all times and there will be consequences if they are caught text messaging through lessons. However, I think it is ridiculous for 5 year olds to even have a cell phone. Is it really becoming that tidious for parents to call the school in the event something happened?

• The fact that definitions seem to be changing because of online communication and technology just seems rather foolish to me. For example, the word "Friend".

I cannot personally say that I communicate with people online that I don't communicate with in person, but if I did, I would not walk around saying I have "online friends" and "face to face friends". I understand the article is just trying to state that students are communicating with people all over the world who they may never meet, but to change the meaning of what a friend is, is ridiculous.

• "[Students] tell us overwhelmingly that they feel they could do so much more if they could present [information they have collected] in a multimedia or PowerPoint presentation."

If anyone watches Grey's Anatomy, something "McSteamy" said should have caught your ears last week. "He is doing a powerpoint presentation in the board meeting? What are we, back in 1998?"

According to him, power point presentations aren't the big thing that they used to be, however, I can relate to the students enjoying power point presenations because I myself have gotten much use out of them.

• "More than two-thirds of parents said they are unsatisfied with the amount of time their children are spending using technology in school and how well this technology is being integrated into core academic subjects."

There is only one way parents can truly understand if technology is being integrated into their child's academics. Sit in on a lesson. I am not sure if schools still do this, but in my elementary school and in my middle school, parents were asked and allowed to come into their child's classroom and observe the work they are doing and how their child is in a classroom. Parents cannot assume that teachers are doing their jobs correctly just because their child comes home with homework assignments. I think it should be an anual event when parents come to sit in on their child's school day.

• "In addition, 41 percent of parents said they wanted information about their children's grades sent directly to them via eMail, as opposed to having to go to the school's web site for this information."

Are parents truly this lazy that they need the information put right in front of their faces instead of doing a few steps to get to the school website? Why are they making the teachers go out of their way when grades would already be posted on the school website?

Eventually, parents will not have to worry about technology being used mainly in their child's core classes because it will be used in every class for every subject one day.

Chaotic Middle Schools ~ part 3

• "There are some people who are born to do it and some who learn to do it, and there are some people who really shouldn't do it."

Unfortunatly I have experienced one too many teachers that really should not have been teachers. I am sure we all have.

I was a speech pathologist major for three years and really thought for years before college that I would not make a good teacher. I go to my mothers classroom often and see how much stress, pressure, and anxiety she goes through every day and I did not think I could handle that. It was not until I realized how passionate I was about English that I realized I have several qualities to make a good teacher.

• One teacher had a theory that "the key is to get the kids to like you."

I cannot agree with this theory 100% simply because you are a teacher to your students, not their friend. I had a teacher in 8th grade that I absolutly hated. There was not one quality that I liked about her personality, but I learned more from her than I did from any other English teacher. So of course you want your students to like you but that should not be your main priority. Your main priority is to teach them something, to show them how to apply the skills and knowledge you share with them. If you walk into a classroom thinking you are going to be a friend to every student you have, good luck!

Chaotic Middle Schools part 2

• "The schools share the premise that the way to reserve years of abysmal middle school performance is to get rid of middle schools entirely."

This is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard of. I went to elementary school (k-6), middle school (7-8) and then high school. I absolutley loved every school I went to and although I had some adjustment problems, that's a fact of life that my mother was not going to shelter me from. Keeping students in the same building from k-12 may be good for some students, but I think that overall teenagers need to be exposed as to many people, cultures, learning styles, and enviornments as possible. I truly think that if I did not have the chance to experience different teachers, different schools, different schedules, and have the chance to make new friends, there is no way I would be who I am today.

• "Should the nurturing cocoon of elementary school be extended for another three years, shielding 11 year old from the abrupt transition to a new school..?"

NO!! They said it all right here themselves : Cocooning and Shielding. That is exactly what they are doing to these students and it is not going to help them when they need to go out into the real world. I cannot emphasize enough how horrible of an idea this is. Everyone goes through rough times in there life. It is something we all have to deal with and cope with. Trying to hide teenagers from this fact of life is a horrible idea.

• There is mention of students being able to turn to teachers they had years back for advice by staying in the same school from k-12. Well I have news for you, I have been to 6 different schools in my life already and I still keep in touch with my 1st, 2nd, 5th and 8th grade teachers who were all from different schools and different neighborhoods. It does not take much to form a relationship with a teacher and then maintain that relationship throughout the years. Why is this article making this idea of students turning to their former teachers sound like rocket science?

• "There is a lot of drama in the 6th grade" says a 12 year old girl. Drama in the 6th grade? I didn't even know what drama meant in the 6th grade. Perhaps all of the hours these young teenagers spend on their cell phones and on the internet gossiping to one another is a main cause of the drama. There is no reason for 6th graders so have so much drama and so many distractions in their life. They are still children at that point as far as I am concerned.

• "The uniform was easy to digest as a sixth grader because your mom is still dressing you at that time..by ninth grade, it was just a part of life", says an 18 year old girl. I'm sorry, but I was not only dressing myself in the 6th grade, I was extremly exposed to so many different culters, ethnicity, different teachers, and changing classrooms thoughtout the day. Why are parents hovering, sheltering and failing to allow their children to explore? I went to an all girl high school simply because the crime and theft in the Brooklyn public schools at the time were hurrendous. I did not weep or stomp my feet when I had to wear a uniform, it was what it was. Trying to adjust is a way of life and we are putting students at a disadvantage my limiting their ability to do so.

Chaotic Middle Schools ~ Part 1

Not to offend anyone who thought that the opinions in this article were useful, but I thought it was the most outrageous and ludicrous information I have read in quite some time.

• ..."all five middle schools have begun offering some form of single sex classes, on the theory that they promote self esteem and reduce distractions."

What good is forming single sex classes? The world is not a single sex place and jobs are not single sex. How is making single sex classrooms going to help students socially and career wise in the future? If anything, it will frighten them more when they go out into the world because they are going to be exposed to so many new aspects that they had never experienced before.

• A friend of mine graduated from the Brooklyn Secondary School for Collaborative Studies in Carroll Gardens and completley hated the fact that her school days did not begin until 9am. She only went there because it was her grandmothers wishes, but she was an early bird and felt like she sat around in the morning waiting for her education to begin. Though some may think that many adolescents are not morning people, the results may turn out even worse by keeping them later in the afternoon!

• "Students of all grades are grouped into academies with themes like buisness and cultural arts based on their interests rather than their age." This idea will only take students so far. Is an 8th grader who is more advanced in the same topic as a fourth grader really suppossed to just sit there while the fourth grader asks introductory questions? I like the idea of classrooms being formed based on themes of interest, but they should be formed with students of the same age.

• "But scores are not exactly his priority." They should not be anyone's priority! What good is getting an A in a class if all a student did was memorize their class notes? The state is so distracted with standardized tests which are suppossed to prove something about the students intelligence and the performance of teachers, that they are failing to realize that tons of students blank out on tests or have test anxiety. Whoever really believes that a number or a letter on a test grade proves how intelligent a person is has got it all wrong.

Couldn't help but wonder....

We have often mentioned in class and on our blogs if classes will one day all be held online.

Let's say classes are done online, is there a chance that we could have school literally 24/7? Will we still be given Saturday and Sunday off?

We will be able to access the internet at anytime and at any hour. So what is stopping us from having to blog, take a quiz or do an assignment that is due or presented on a weekend?

NAEP exams going digital

"100 million blogs—online journals—now exist worldwide, and 171 billion e-mail messages are sent daily." These numbers are almost hard to comprehend but they are the reality of what technology has come to be in 2007.

Although tests will most likely be done on a computer by the year 2011, what happens to those that need to write on paper before they type on the computer? I am one of those students and I would fail terribly if I had to type an essay or an article on the spot before drafting it on paper. Just because technology is increasing in schools and because almost every teenager our there uses numerous forms of technology, that doesn't mean that every single student would be successful at it on an exam.

When I attended St. Joseph's college, I had a professor that made those who didn't usually write drafts write one before they types, and those who did write drafts, to not write one. I got as far as two pages when I re-read what I typed and could not believe how incomplete and unorganized my thoughts and writing was. So what will happen in 2011? Will those students that need to write before they type receive bad grades or get held back?

This is the problem with tests and standardized tests. They make students feel unintelligent and it puts them at the bottom of the list if they do not do well even though they are smart and sophisticated students.

Also, why won't this new performance of test taking happen until 2011? I am suprised it will take that long to happen.

Google keeps going and going...

It really amazes me how people come up with inventions such as Goggle Lit. Trips. This would be such a great tool for students to use especially when they are reading difficult literature such as Shakespeare. I took the tutorial guide on MacBeth and was amazed at the three dimensional figures that were made, arrows to show us where the characters originated from and where they were going, and well as being able to hear someone explain where the characters traveled.

This resource will really help students imagine what is going on in the novel and it will give them a better understanding when they try to discuss it.

The best part about this is that it can be used anywhere with the help of wireless networks. This is a tool I can already see myself using when I am on a 5 hour bus ride to go home while I am reading a book.

For students that are visual learners, this tool will help them to read a milestone in their learning lives. We as teachers have to accomadate our students as best we can and this resource should immediatly be added to one of the tools we could use in a classroom.

Teen Book Video Awards

I want to thank Doctor Stearns for showing us the youtube video of The Book Thief simply because now I realize how powerful the tool of technology can be.

Throughout this semester I have been battling on weather or not I am for or against technology in the classroom. As I've stated before, I understand all of its benefits but I do not want my classroom to go paperless or have students lose face to face communication. Although I still feel this way, watching this youtube video made a very powerful impact on me. I did not read The Book Thief in 374 but after seeing the video, I am extremly eager to read it.

During the semester I have gained a liking to the Warlick text simply because I like the short personal stories of teachers and what they are experiencing in their classroom. I found it interesting that the technology always seemed to work out for them and in their favor. I couldn't help but wonder if using technology in a classroom would be just this easy for me. Somehow, watching this video made an impact on my positive feelings about technology. I wish I could explain it better but I can't!

This would be a great exercise for students to use in the classroom. Students can form book clubs based on the same novel and then make a video clip of a preview of the book and post it on the class blog. This will not only engage students in working and communicating together, but it will spread tons of authors, titles, genres, and give students more exposure to books they may decide to read.

An activity just like this was shown at the session I attended at the conference. The teacher had her students perform a skit of any section of the book they were reading and post it on youtube. She has she received tons of positive feedback about it from her students and she made one just as well.

After-thoughts about the Conference

The more I think about the D.A.T.E conference, the more I realize how aprehensive I am about technology. As great as the conference was, it was a huge eye opener for me which has made me pretty vulnerable. The session that I enjoyed and learned the most from was Dealing in the Digital because everything that we have been reading in our texts and discussing in class finally all came together.

Here we are in a technology class where we are learning, using, and teaching each other the many sources that teachers are using in classrooms today. Has it really hit us that we will be those teachers one day? That we will be demonstrating to a room of 30 students just how to use these tools and how to incorporate our lessons into these tools? Throughout the session I kept thinking about Will Richardson's text and realizing the importance of practicing on how to use RSS Feeds, why and how blogging is useful and important in a classroom, why we as teachers need to be totally alert while our students are surfing on the web, the significance of Wikis and so much more.

All of the reading in our texts totally corresponded with what I learned during that session, plus I was given more websites to check out and use in a classroom.

It is true now more than ever, we are all publishers, artists, writers, and proudly, teachers.

Which one is hurting your brain?

http://www.gamedaily.com/top-10-lists/brain-freeze-games

Barb's Post

I think it is pretty clear to all of us at this point that the definition of "texts" are changing rapidly. I thought the article that Barb posted was very useful and something that I will need to keep in mind constantly when I enter a classroom.

I especially liked the quick writing activity because it will bring awareness to the students of what texts are, how many different types of texts are available, and that they are most likely using valuable texts already.

I am still trying to get used to the fact that the definition of literacy is changing and that there are so many different texts that can be used in the classroom now.

Awhile ago we had a class discussion that the job of what an English teacher is, is changing and we might be a little disappointed at this point. Well, this article is proof that the curriculum and resources in the classroom are changing more and more as the days pass.

You won't believe this

There was also a breaking story on the News about a situation that occured in a sixth grade technology classroom.

The classroom had computers for every student which were set up in a way that looked like each student had their own cubicle to complete their work.

While the teacher was in front of the classroom demonstrating an example on the overhead, she was unaware of what was occuring in the back of her classroom. Two sixth grade students were having sex while in their "cubicle".

The Superintendent and Principal are furious and humiliated about this situation and parents are saying that technology classrooms need to be set up in a different way so that teachers can see everything that is going on in the classroom.

Even movies are changing

While I was home over the break, the News had a breaking story that technology is even changing the way movies are being made and presented.

The movie "300" is the primary example of technology changing what we will see from now on in the movies.

There were several scenes throughout the movie where the actors were not even on the set while the movie was being filmed, but technology gave the actors the ability to film anyway. One of the actors was in another country but still had the ability to film his scene by performing it on a set where he was and sending it via email to the directors back here in the states. The directors then simply added it into the rest of the film where the scene was meant to be.

It is amazing that this was able to happen, but frightening to me all at the same time. Technology is doing so much and I don't want it to take over everything. Especially movies.

D.A.T.E ~ part 2

The session that I enjoyed the most throughout the conference was presented by Patrice K. VanSlyke and Kjersti VanSlyke-Briggs. The title of this session was "Dealing in the Digital".

Six things stood out the most to me:

• Increased Demand: This included Multimedial literacy, digital communication, a competitive job market, and literacy as social practice.

• Digital: Is the definition of literacy keeping up? Everything is becoming digitalized: libraries, music, films, movies, etc.

• Cross Curricular: Create natural bridges as communication, such as: "fear free" explorations, student teacher blogs, wikis, youtube, and discourse mapping. (http://laurie.sl3dge.net/speak.htm)

• Text Analysis: Technology is reshaping society, critical literacy, and can we live without technology anymore?

• Technology in the classroom: Danger!! Use Wisely!

Teachers need to be prepared for their students finding misinformation on the internet, their students misusing the internet resources, performitivity, and critical literacy. (www.easywhois.com)

• Risk to Students:

Non-Authentic experiences, Limited use and vocabulary, and teacher knowledge.

D.A.T.E ~ part 1.

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to see Jennifer Donelly at the conference last week. She is such an inspirational woman, writer, and speaker. She discussed the four main categories that she feels are necessary when planning to write a book:

1. Inspiration
2. Imagination
3. Research
4. Emotion

Of course I would have assumed that these things would have been necessary in order to write a book, but the impact of hearing an author say it, while we were under the same roof, seemed to have more of an impact on me. I do have intentions of writing a book one day and when that day comes, I will look back and remember the encouraging words that Jennifer said.

I also found it interesting that she said: "Nintendo, television and DVD's are ruining the imagination of children." Of course I agree with this because now a days there aren't many educational lessons within these resources. However, I also agree with her when she said: "Technology is gradually increasing children's imaginations." There is proof of this right in our 307 classroom. We have learned so many tools already that are helping us connect, share, and progress as readers, writers and teachers.

I am very grateful for having the chance to see an author speak publicly, especially an author whose books I love!

LibraryThing

I was updating my LibraryThing tonight and my father was interested in what I was doing. I showed him how to sign up, how to add books, how to rate them, what the point of tool is, etc. He was so impressed that this resource is free and how easy it is to use.

Right now, my father has his own account on librarything and is addicted to it. He loves to read and has already read hundreds of books which are now all organized online.

So I wanted to thank Jami's group for showing me how to use this social bookmarking tool because I was finally able to teach my father something for once!!

My mother's classroom

At the beginning of the semester I mentioned that my mother would be using podcasts in her classroom of special ed. students. At the time my mother and I did not think this would actually happen because her students struggle to even write their names on paper every day. Well, it turns out that we were wrong.

As of Friday, March 9th, my mother was trained how to use a podcast in her classroom. The training will continue for the rest of this week as well. Although my mom was excited to learn how to use some form of technology in her classroom (and in general!) she unfortunatly does not see herself pressing her students to use this tool. The reason for this is that my mother has eleven students in her class and the room is extremly small. "It would be a ligistic nightmare."

Although my mom does not see her students being able to use this tool now, hopefully in the future her students will be able to use it.

Also, from the blessing of grant money, all eleven students in my mothers classroom will have their own laptops. They are scheduled to arrive this week and the students will spend 2 periods a day learning how to use their laptops. All students from grades 3-5 will also have their own laptop.

It's amazing that I thought not every school would be able to afford having laptops for each student. Turns out that my doubts are occuring up the block from my house!!

uh - oh

http://money.aol.com/bankrate/credit/canvas3/_a/top-internet-scams-to-watch-for-in-2007/20070227144209990002

NAEP Scores

In 2005, the reading score on a scale from 0-500 was an embarrassing 286? I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!

I am shocked by this score and I cannot fathom how this is happening. However, there are many reasons why the score has declined so drastically:

1. Parents are not encouraging their children to do their homework/complete it. They may also not be encouraging them to read for pleasure. Instead, children are glued to the T.V, video games, and computer.
2. Are teachers really enforcing reading and/or reading exercises in the classroom? How many books are teachers having their students read throughout the school year?
3. The students themselves. So many children dred school and do not take it seriously.

Something obviously needs to be done about this. I do not mean to bash parents because there are tons of parents out there that do the best they can to enhance their childrens reading ability, but with the way society is today, I cannot help but say that parents are slacking. They are the ones who really need to enforce extra-curricular reading at home.

When I first learned how to read, my mother and I read a book or two a week together. Once I was able to read totally on my own, she bought tons of books for us to read at the same time and then we talked about it once we were done. I never hated doing this because my mom was involved. She made it fun and I loved that she was reading with me. The after school hobbies in homes need to change.

Going Wireless

The percent of people using wireless in anyway possible did not suprise me throughout the article.

I personally have never used my phone to access the internet or to check my e-mail, but over the Christmas break I used wireless in my house every day. Here at Cortland I use broadband simply because I kept getting kicked offline when I was using wireless.

I find it humorous that people are accessing their e-mail so much at work. Makes a person wonder how much of the day they are spending playing on the internet as oppossed to actually doing their job.

I was a little suprised to see that more men used the computer/cell phone/other devices more than woman simply because I mainly talk to my female friends when I am online.

I think there will come a time when you can only access the internet through wireless and dial-up will be completely eliminated. But then again, who knows what "they" are going to come up with next.