Small personal up-date.

Over the break, I bought an ipod and am enjoying it tremendously. The idea of being able to have access to my entire musical library where and when ever I want is opening up avenues of the emotional spectrum that I never thought possible. Listening to Miles Davis while walking to my car after class made everything seem more vibrant and alive. Somewhat cheesy, but I felt like I was privy to a secret that no one else was in on.

However, I do plan on using it scholastically as well. The problems that I have with Spanish, will be confronted this summer as I record vocabulary and concepts listen to them while driving, on the golf course, and the water. It is something that I never would have considered if I did not take this course. As I have noted before the benefits of ENG 307 are not only helping me learn how to be a better teacher, but a better student as well.

The benefits of Story Telling

Stream lining the story telling process through Kajder’s elements of digital story telling was brilliant. Not only can I see how it would help me as a teacher but as a writer as well.

Viewing the technology as only a method of delivery relieves some the stress of production allowing a greater focus on content. I did, however, think that Economy should have appeared in both the “during writing” and “during construction” phases. This is probably because I am an accordion writer; my drafts fluctuate in length throughout the writing process. Her focus on limiting bells and whistles however reminds students to stay focused on the heart of the story that they are telling.

I can see this exercise also being beneficial for developing group skills among students. Having someone with you during a creative problem solving session not only builds friendships but has the opportunity to have the members the group constantly look at the piece in a new light.

I REALLY look forward to doing this with my future students

"Did you Know" video? or only digital

I do not think that there could be a more concise way of driving Friedman’s points home. Not only did express urgency but at the same time I found myself mentally referencing the career route of Monica Loughry as the quintessential adaptor. Burrowing deep and moving horizontally to gain specialized skills that would make her more and more desirable.

The idea of teaching that skill that would make future students "untouchable," initially seemed like quite a task. Knowing that "25% of the population in China with the highest IQ's is greater that the total population of North America," it is definatly needed.

After thinking about it for a while. I realized that had fallen victim to time dependant thinking, assessing the future with a current mind set that can not envision change. If the ELA skills that are being integrated into classrooms are increasing multiple forms of literacy then, a teachers depiction of the job world to students would cause also cause students to view acquiring necessary skills in a light we can not imagine. Friedman spells these skills for us "non-natives" in his “want ad” headlines, but there is strong potential that these skills will already be understood by our future students. (is that circular reasoning"?)

Blog Quiz- Kajder and Friedmen

When Friedman describes the new middle, he addresses the impact that the flattened world will have in classrooms. Students will “have to fundamentally reorient what they are learning and educators how they are teaching” (278). While I was in high school, the employable traits necessary for the flat world middle class were not even touched upon, but then again, the 16-bit Super Nintendo was considered high tech.

What I have picked up from people who have student taught and have observed is that the blending of literacies is not common practice in the typical high school.

This leads me to believe that the ELA work being done in classrooms like Sara Kajder’s is starting to retrain the minds of students. Melding what they know and enjoy with the critical skills of language arts is laying the foundation for the untouchable “new middlers.” The transition, however, may take more time than we have.

The first four essential skills/traits that Freidman describes, collaboration, orchestration, synthesis, and explanation, benefits that students can acquire in ELA class rooms such as Kajder's. Collaboration and orchestration would result from critiquing one another's work. Synthesis is attained by blending an understanding of the text and rendering that knowledge onto the screen, which would also improve the students ability to explain things more coherently.

Though not directly addressed in class rooms i fell that adaptation would come in time, by seeing what skills are needed in a given enviroment, be it class room or job market. This leaves passion and a green outlook, which seems more like personality traits which could be fostered through active class precipitation.

The poorly linked link

The title of the article in the previous post is "All the World's a Story."
And the ULR for the site is:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/19/business/media/19carr.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin

For those who prefer the more timely cut and paste option.

The Next Step in New Journalism

Here is an interesting article that combines citizen journalism with the concept of a wiki. It seems that there is now a shift into stronger citizen based news coverage, check it out.

The Book Thief Video

It is a cliché that the book is always better than the movie, because it they usually are. Here we are presented with a way to coax those who traditionally do not read away from the screen and into the magical printed world.

Book trailers such as this could be created by students as final unit projects, as hinted at by Shade Gomez. It would help students link their deep understanding of a text with technologies that they know or perhaps have mastered. This would be exciting for students to present a text to their teacher in a light they may never have considered. While also giving students that opportunity to show what they would important in a text and why.

I could feel the buzz of the production crew while reading this article and there desire to read the book. With the ever-expanding digital world, I find it comforting to see that traditional printed works are not being abandoned but …referenced/directed(if those are the write words) eluded to via the internet.

Task 2: A Very important point

Though I am new to the EDU program at Cortland, the one thing that Prof. Stearns has instilled in me, is to get children to read more you have to find out what interests them and what they are reading outside of the classroom. This makes it education fun for students. This is KEY to getting information across regardless of the circumstances. While it is not something that was heard exclusively in the MAC lab, it is also stressed and re-stressed by Will Richards and the reinforcement of this idea is also the focus of the Mrs. Lowery’s success in her Seth Low Science Classes.

The article and accompanying video brought something to the foray that I have never considered before, and that is nurturing the emotional lives of middle school children. Mr. Fien, the Seth Low Principal places the social growth of these students over the academics of the curriculum. This I feel is something that should be blended together with all age groups, but is a necessity with middle school children. At that age having a friend who just happens to be your teacher would form a strong bond that would place students on the right track for academic advancement, while also providing positive adult role models which may be lacking at home. Above all it would show students that they are cared for more so than test scores and grades that they receive.

This emotional connection with middle schools students is something that is not directly addressed in the class readings. As we have read, when incorporating technology into classrooms students bring their world into the classroom by them selecting course content. What was offered in these articles is another way to create the bonds that form a successful, yet redefined and untraditional, student/teacher relationship.

The First Task

The largest challenge I see presented to future ELA teachers is overcoming the mindset of the “implied teacher” as the sole barer of knowledge. It seems to me that after receiving a four-year degree, becoming certified and completing Master level work is not only a rite of passage into adulthood, for some, but also a huge ego boost. I feel that this over-inflation is the underlying problem behind Lewis and Finders’ societal generation gap that helps form the implied teacher and implied student.

This is seen with Ray (page111), who has only begun this rigorous academic endeavor. As the student, he was more than willing to share insights regarding the decoding of CD jackets, a new media literacy. However, he started to close off and wished to monitor the content that his future students would bring in, if he chose to replicate this exercise in his classroom.

His actions seem to go against King and O’Brien’s push towards the new “non-authoritative role of the teacher who must become a facilitator to blend meaning from multiple sources.” Perhaps his ego was getting in the way and feared a student generated and lead discussion. These are, of course, conjectures but show us the difference of knowing the path and walking on it: reminding us not to go against the training of open mindedness that we are acquiring here.

Having students bring in content from which critical thinking skills can be applied to REALLY excites me, because it will give me the opportunity to see what is holding my students’ interests. This also presents a great way to see what cultural trends stick and which ones are cast aside.

A Question

As you can tell, I have published and erased a few posts that either had links that did not work or had titles missing. Is there anyway to erase the timing footnotes that appear where the previous post were?

Dealing in the Digital session

Dr. VanSlyke-Briggs and her mother presentation on integrating technologies into the classroom covered some of the issues that I have previously blogged about. Her website into this foray covers her presentation as well as offers other links that would be helpful to teachers who are being to bring technology into their classrooms.

What I found the most interesting about her presentation was how was telling a room full of teachers that the definition of the literacy is changing in ways that incorporate digital media. These new critical thinking skills that teachers must possess can be blended with what students already know to create in and learn from a domain that they have previously used for recreational time. Isn’t this the core of what 307 is all about?

Dr. Vanslyke-Briggs spent a lot of time with verifying the validity of websites, via the Way Back Machine, which shows when and how sites have been updated. Also at http://easywhois.com anyone can check to see who owns a particular web site.

My First Date session

Shade Gomez's session on project based learning, highlighted the benefits of students using technologies they have a working knowledge of and interweaving it with course work. This is one of the primary goals in Eng 307.

I thought that the two most interesting ideas in Shade’s presentation were getting to know your librarians and the ten rules for a Power Point Presentation.

Not being fully acclimated into the mindset of a teacher, I found it helpful to be reminded that librarians are one of a teacher’s most useful resources. Not only can they help you make the distinctions that would make a good presentation standout from a bad one, but they are also ideal for any hardware and software problems that we may encounter.

The Ten Rules for an Effective Power Point Presentation stressed the information that is presented on the screen as a compliment to lecture that is being given. This is key to having the presenter and not the screen, be the focus of information. This was helpful for students and teachers alike who do not have much experience with the program.

I believe what impressed everyone in the room was the extent of creativity that Shade’s students displayed. He brought in samples of music, posters, movies, fabric art (which included printmaking and quilts that tied into his curriculum) even a few woodcarvings and an airbrushed piece of aluminum. These were perfect examples of that how his students blended their interest with course content.

The Nation's Report Card

Like all, I am shocked to see these stats, but I could not stop thinking about two things.

1) Are media literacies taken into account? Knowing full well that there is a degree of reading involved in one's interaction with a computer, i think that there is an aspect of comprehension that may not be taken into consideration.... How's that for denial dispite the fact that my Grandfather could only read box scores in the newspaper and atleast once a month, i have to read ingredient lists for people at work, who susposedly forgotten their glasses (which are often infront of their eyeballs)

2) (looking under the surface)Is there no better way to see the gulf between classes widening? I feel with more and more families are having trouble making the ends meet, this a reflection of the type of schooling that most people can afford. Considering this is public education, the under-funded school seems to make up the majority of schools whereas the numbers in economically affluent neighborhoods are hold no effect of the medium.

Reading and my two favorite authors

My affinity for reading stemmed from my love of stories, which began with my grandmother reading Golden Books to me. As I aged, the “fullness” of printed stories were more appealing than television, though I did succumb to the electron beam during my teenage years. It was shallow form of escapism that ultimately lead me to literature.

We read “of Mice and Men” for tenth grade English and my passion for reading was rekindled. Steinbeck’s piece was the only book we read during sophomore year that did not pertain to the holocaust. I finished it in a night and wanting to dwell in similar emotional landscapes, I reread it. Again, I was re-connected with stories.

I have a fondness for Beat writers, in particular, William S Burroughs. His dark and subtle sarcasm unveils a word rooted in ancient mysticism where no one is safe. A much more playful writer, who I also adore, is Tom Robbins. Light hearted yet unpretentiously profound, his novels also draw from the ancient beliefs, but he uses then to fill the void that is inherent in the human condition. He makes his readers see that this moment is but a stepping stone towards the future while always reminding us of the cosmic goof, which at times can cause us to loose our smile.

If you never read Tom I IMPLORE you to do so. If you already have, I’ld like to know what you think about Seattle’s newest painter… Erleichda!!!!