Buffalo Students

In the article titled "City Voices, City Visions," the Buffalo area school districts are highlighted as using a new program to increase innovative use of technology in the classroom. The students are literally making their own creations: "cting out skits, discussing issues, planning and storyboarding, researching in books and on the Internet, writing scripts and narratives, and clustering around computers in cooperative work groups, creating meaning out of the curriculum and their experiences."


Really, what can be better than students making their own creations? They devise their own plan then act on it. Students take initiative, which is a lost skill now-a-days. I really enjoy seeing that the students are excited and motivated!

Hobbs Reading

In chapter 3 titled "Storytelling Structures, Close Reading, and Point of View," Hobbs tells about various ways in which media literacy can be applied into the classroom curriculum. Here are the points I would like to present that interested me:

Using the library to research free topics
gets to the student's level and allows them to make choices
gives students researching experience and helps built researching skills
students use analysis, synthesis, and reflection skills in order to design their assignment based on their topic
inspires students to become active agents in topics around them and in their own work

Show how the media constructs information to a certain ideology using television shows/news series
makes the students question their role as an observer: do they fall victim to the media or can they judge for themselves why/how the media portrays something in a certain way?

Reading an image to show authorial motivations
showsstudents implicit and explicit purposes for creating an image a certain way
literally "READING THE MEDIA"
shows how tone is used

Making a movie to relate to As I Lay Dying
takes student's prior knowledge and brings in new knowledge
students use bloom's taxonomic higher level thinking (analysis, synthesis, reflection)
gives students an opportunity to experience a technical aspect of text
students improve technical skills (ie movie making)

Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun!

In Friedman's discussion of the "Dirty Little Secret # 2: The Education Gap at the Top," he outlined how immigrants in the U.S. as well as citizens of other countries (especially Asian countries) have skyrocketed past American citizens in intellectual capabilities and rigor. For so many years, the U.S. led the world in most innovations, from technology to education. However, now it is American students who are on the bottom of the totem pole.
Stern, the student mentioned in the book, believes that "American culture is still producing some of the most creative scientists and engineers, though other societies are closing the gap due to their dedication to teaching fundamentals and their newfound interest in instilling more creative approaches to education in their systems" (338).
I agree that the U.S. churns out many prized people, but I also feel that with this "flattening world" comes other prized people from other countries. American education standards have dwindled because for so many years we did not need to play "catch-up" to anyone else. We ruled education, so we did what humans sometimes do -- we relaxed. And now we are truly paying the price, according to Friedman.
Friedman cites that American students are not performing well in all areas, whether math, science, reading, or writing. As Grover J. Whitehurst says, "'We're seeing substantial declines in reading for pleasure, and it's showing up in our literacy levels'" (340).

In terms of the "Dirty Little Secret # 4: The Education Gap at the Bottom," the continually distancing gap between the wealthy and the poor has, over the years, deteriorated the education system in the U.S. The National Center on Education and the Economy allowed education to be delegated according to "local school boards," which in consequence led to delegation by wealth (346). The wealthier residents organized into self-taxing districts, and they taxed each other at relatively low rates. However, for the poor side of the American economy, they had to pay high taxes yet deal with low expenditures and deteriorating school districts.
Friedman makes a good point that the idea of social mobility does exist in many areas in education anymore. If you are stuck in a poor district, you have to deal with what you have. Often, though, this results in a perpetuating cycle of poverty and inept educational leaders: social mobility is "no longer the reality in too many parts of the country today, because of the disparities in funding" (346).
However, we know that federal legislation (AHEM No Child LeftBehind) perpetuates this terrible cycle with their "failing school" system.

To Podcast or Not to Podcast...

Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing is now available on a government website for students to download. The podcast allows students to hear the performance from the Globe Theatre in London, as well as the discussion about the characters and play's meaning from the director and actors.
The podcast will allow the "ipod generation" to download the words so they can listen to it at home, or even as a school-based project.

Check out the article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6560579.stm

Are We Re-evolutionzing or De-evolutionizing?

So I have had a conversation with a few of my "colleagues" about how we are changing as a species. As the current news states, thumb surgery is very popular. Video games, texting, etc. are causing major pain as well as disabilities to form in humans.

Look, we are different from our primate friends becase we have opposable thumbs. How long will this difference last? Remember in science class that we learned evolution occurs because we adapt to new surroundings and conditions. Well, if the world of using your thumbs because so much more common, yet our thumbs deteriorate, maybe our body structure will change. Here are my predictions:
- we will become hunchback slowly, as we battle with scoliosis and terrible sitting and standing posture (ie kids in the classroom)
- then we will continue to shrink in size because we take more vitamins for things can food now-a-days (ie diet crazes)
- we will have thumbs twice the size as they are now
- we will develop a 6th finger!

Let's wait and see...

Did You Ever Know That You're My Hero!

Yes, taken from a song. But in terms of who I have enjoyed learning from this semester, Bridget comes to mind. When I log onto bloglines.com, Bridget's site is usually the first one that I see has new content. When I go to her site, I am not surprised to see a wide variety of new posts with descriptive, sufficient, and interesting detail. Her hard work motivates me to perform similarly, and having that "nudge" helps sometimes...not to mention that Bridget is a consistent commenter for my blog, which of course makes you feel valued. Thanks Bridget!

:)

Response to Will

Will's post on his daughter's conversation about "Pokinitis" was very cute during my first read through. It seems like she is the type of child who is motivated and can actually enjoy talking to her parents...rare these days. In the larger scheme of things, the fact that Will recommended to make a book, then to make it available to people on bookshelves, then to make it as a movie to podcast and show all around the world illustrates the mediums by which students are capable of communicating. Heck, if a young child can do this at home, it can certainly be done in school.
For ELA teachers, this means that we have to give our students the opportunity to do these types of things: mass communication through technology applications. If we do, we are opening them up to an aspect of ELA that I think it particularly important: publication.
For the next generation, seeing the product (end result) of your work is going to be the motivator to keep doing things.

I also found Will's other post on his life very interesting. It was called "Playing With My Kids," and I was so happy to read this post. I had, for a while, thought that Will Richardson was just a bit too obsessed with the blogging thing. Well, it seems like maybe he was. Now he sees other things in his life prioritizing.

Will said something that I have believed to be so true, but people have resisted me: "I really marvel at the people who can continuously carve out the necessary hours every day to write and comment and continue the discussion. And it is great discussion and thinking that’s moving at such a fast pace that it’s getting really hard to keep up with. I have learned a lot. But let’s face it, there are, many more important things out there than Web logs. And I think I need to take back some of that perspective."

In response to this post, I have always thought about people who are not directly involved with blogging everyday. Actually, there are a lot more people out there than some think. And they are not obsessed with globalization, and they go on and perform their daily rituals and do things that are meaningful to them...none of which involve a blog. Will has realized that there are other things more important than telling everyone what you are doing every second of the day...like playing with your kids, making a cup of coffee yourself, washing your own car, talking to someone face to face, and the list goes on. I loved hearing this from the blog-guru. Yes, he is human! So, although Friedman may focus on the whole globalization of the U.S., sometimes it is important to take a step back and say, "what is really important here?"

My Shape-Shifting Portfolio

Over the semester, I have gone through a myriad of feelings from anger, resentment, confusion, pity, guilt, and (thank goodness, or else I would be in a mad house by now) happiness. The different articles and discussions we have had made me go through these changes. At first, I was completely unresponsive to the new age of technology in the classroom. I then transcended to a level of enlightenment, where I decided that, "okay, some of these things I can deal with." Now, I have graduated to a more openness about change. Some of this openness to change has been a direct result of other things going on in my life that have made me come face to face with changes, and others were direct results of this class. Either way, I have changed my perspective. No, I certainly have not done a 360...maybe a 180...or a 175.8. Still, I have develop a tolerance toward the subject of technology in the classroom. Who knows where I will be in the future.

When I read the article by William Kist, I enjoyed seeing how he traveled through changes, as well. In the beginning of the chapter, he talks about how he was, at first, only faced with communication involving mostly film, and he found it extraordinary. Now, though, he has seen more technology and is using it to his advantage.

In terms of my shape-shifting portfolio, people like Kist say it well: "A few writers have tried to imagine what the new literacies classroom might look like[...] with students becoming apprentices to the teachers who model for their students their own symbol uses" (8). I think part of this goes back to how teachers need to know the technology their kids are going to use. Ultimately, we are the professionals in the classroom, but we are also the leaders. We are authoritative, but friendly. We are facilitators, but project-makers ourselves.

I have seen that my views on such an idea as Kist says has changed. I used to think of myself as, yes, the teacher. But not as much as the learner. This class, as well as others, has taught me that teaching is lifelong learning.

Kist also says that "Proponents of the arts in education have always advocated for more media -- such as music, theater, and visual arts -- in schools. These forms allow for "multiple ways of knowing" (9).

I used to believe that media was not as important in schools as the theater and visual arts. And some inkling in the back of my mind, always itching at me, says I am still right. But there is another part of me, influenced by the many writers I have encountered, that says media is another form of these other stated areas.

In summation, the entire semester has been a whirlwind of emotions. I am still pretty emotional about it all, but I have more of a focus now.

Media Literacy Project Update

Jami and I met today to continue our media literacy project. We decided that we would have students critically analyze different web sites (google.com, myspace.com, sparknotes.com, wikipedia.com, youtube.com, and imbd.com). They would look through these sites to find out what each site considers to be "credible" information. The students will decide what the "truth" is on each site. How does each site show the truth? Are there multiple truths shown? Is there even any truths shown? Then the students would do a presentation with their group using some sort of technology (podcast, publisher, imovie, iweb, wiki, powerpoint). And then they would have a reflection piece post-presentation by blogging on their individual sites about another group's presentation (they have guidelines). Overall, we think this assignment would be fun for the students, and we have a beginning part where we explain what exactly credibility and the truth is with a comparison between 1965 and 2007 themes.

:)

Reaction to YouTube

Jami recently posted a YouTube site about the tazering of a UCLA student. I could not believe the way things went on in that school library. I understand trying to get the student out, but tazering him 4 times!!! That is certainly abusive, especially when they could have dragged him out. After two tazerings, he was so hurt he could not get up...let alone voluntarily walk out handcuffed.
I was amazed at how the college students reacted. They stood up for the student and tried to reason with the police in an orderly way...I thought it was rather mature of them, instead of them getting all angry and starting a physical fight.

Jami is correct...the cell phone coverage was good to have for documentation, and I thought the clarity was pretty good for a cell phone. Just goes to show you how technology could be used, in this case, for something good.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g7zlJx9u2E

My Block III Project

Jami and I are working on Media Literacy. We wanted to work with the idea of satire, and we are thinking about using technology to get students to authentically create their own projects. We will give students the resources needed to make the project, then send them on their way to make their own satires using technology...we are not sure yet which tech. element we will utilize, but we are meeting later this week to go over it...we will update you all as soon as we figure it out ourselves! :)

A New Grading System

An article titled "‘Standards-based growth report’ may replace grades" speaks about Buffalo New York's new grading system. Instead of receiving a traditional report card including grades like A, B, or C, the students are evaluated on 54 "academic areas." It gives students and parents an in-depth, factual look at the skills students are strong and weak in. For English, students are measured on 19 points, including:

• “Identifies meaning by analyzing word structure.”
• “Decodes unfamiliar words.”
• “Uses details from text to make predictions, draw conclusions and support interpretations.”

Some people feel that parents are going to want a grade because Americans are so used to looking at a grade to evaluate themselves. Others believe that “This new model brings us from the minor leagues to the major leagues,” said Michael J. O’Brien, principal of Pfc. Williams J. Grabiarz School of Excellence and a member of the report card committee."

I believe that this model is much better than the traditional report card. After all, grades like A, B, or C are subjective and only reflect the teacher's interpretation of the student's learning. If a student does not receive that many grades and one of the grades is poor, then the student is going to get a lower grade than he or she may expect. However, with the new system, students are evaluated matter-of-factly. “It doesn’t say: ‘Very good job,’ ” Battaglia said. “It’s all about the skills. It’s neutral. It doesn’t praise or blame. It says: ‘This is what is.’ ”

One of the best parts of it is that the skills students are evalated on are the same skills by which we create the educational standards on the Regents Examination. So, if students see what skills they are strong or weak in, they can improve so that they can do better on the Regents exam.

I believe this idea focuses on Renee Hobb's definition of a critical education. If students are learning about media literacy, it is very difficult to grade a student with an A, B, or C because interpretations are all going to be different. Rather, if students are evaluated based on if they can or cannot interpret and analyze information, then they can better work on these extremely important skills. Hobbs believes media literacy is an important tool to make students better thinkers and users of the resources around them. If students are shown that they may be weak in the analyzing skill or reflection skill, then they can become even better by working on those skills.

source: http://www.buffalonews.com/258/story/49829.html

Richardson's Blog

On Will's blog, concerning the University of Michigan degree in Social Computing, I was actually surprised Will was not excited about it. Personally, it is not a degree I would want or find interesting, but I thought Will would be thrilled about it. Needless to say, the comments following his post were helpful in defining what Will was trying to say.

I did not think about the situation like Will did. I thought that if they are offering a degree with all of those classes, which sounded like they complemented each other, then why was Will complaining? Isn't this what he wanted?

Then I saw what he meant: literacy does not have to come straight from the classroom. I see his point, and I understand it.

However, for those people who need help in that area, isn't the classroom a good way to get to know media literacy? I mean, ENG307 is in a classroom, but it is not the traditional classroom, and I have never had a class like it before. So, technically speaking, I think the definition of "classroom" Will is referring to is a traditional one.

Redefining Literacy

Based on the Ed Week commentary and the ESchool News article, a new wave has approached the educational system. Obviously our communication mediums are changing as more technology replaces older sources.

I found the Ed Week commentary very interesting about abolishing high school. I had not thought about this topic for some time, although I have had it lingering in my mind when I was a student. Many students are not the "school type." They thrive under different social conditions, and many of these students end up dropping out of regular public school and entering a vocational school of some sort. However, I do see the intrinsic advantages of school itself. It is a community, built upon relationships between teachers, administrators, and students. I do not think that school needs to be abolished. But I do believe that school needs to change, and the change starts from the top -- the government -- and trickles down to administrators, teachers, then to the students.

I think the goals of education need to be reworked. In many of my educational classes this semester and last semester, lesson plans were made by first stating the objective and then working the lesson into that objective. OR We did backwards planning, and stated the goal we want for the lesson, and worked backwards to ensure every step related back to the goal.

Shouldn't education be like this?

Administrators and government officials should have priorities set for education as well as goals. Then, they should implement a system that caters to all of those goals and makes those priorities stand out.

Our education system today is based on making new programs but never ensuring they cater to the needs and goals of students and faculty at this time in society.

Movement to Make School Days Longer

In response to No Child Left Behind, failing or almost failing schools are looking to lengthen the school day by as little as 30 minutes and as much as 2 hours. "Sen Edward M Kennedy is proposing $50 million-a-year increase in funding of No Child Left Behind to train corps of 40,000 teachers to help schools redesign academic content for extra hours." However, many people are not a fan of this legislation. Parents feel that their children are already in school long enough, teachers need to worry about getting paid adequately, and communities who do not get extra time feel that their students will be behind the other students who stay longer and receive more attention.

Personally, the time extension is a sad and poor response to the failing state of many schools after No Child Left Behind mandated a label for these "at risk" schools. In order to be effective in helping the failing schools, the federal goverment needs to get at the source of the problem, which is NOT that the 7 hours is not enough for students. Instead, the federal government should provide monetary aid to at risk schools who do not have the resources (textbooks, computers, blackboards, etc.) to give their students a chance at success. Other schools that do not have a resource issue most likely have adequate test scores. If teachers, though, cannot get through to their students because they do not have the resources to do it, then extending the time at school will not help! Longer hours will not give teachers more computers, better books, bigger budgets, etc. Only funding will do that.

My proposal for more government spending stems from the fact that failing schools, under NCLB, lose their government funding. Is this not unfair? How can failing schools pick up their test scores if they lose their funding? No offense, but the word "DUH..." comes to mind!

Let's see...longer hours + angry students + frustrated parents = higher test scores?
I am NOT a math major...but this equation is all wrong!

source: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10813FA39540C758EDDAA0894DF404482

Learned Helplessness

In the article titled "'Struggling' Adolecents' Engagement in Multimediating: Countering the Institutional Construction of Incompetence," O'Brien lays out a definition of learned helplessness. He described this trait as occurring when students feel that success and failure are outside their means of control. They feel as though they cannot succeed because certain social factors (class, race, gender, etc) hold them back. In addition, they feel that success is permanent and given only to those people who are privileged.
O'Brien tried to help the students by giving them media projects that would allow them to construct their own work. By succeeding at something on their own, the students felt in control of their education. Likewise, they were successful not because of their intrinsic "privileges," but because they worked hard.

O'Brien's study seems like one of many that I have read about before in many classes. Key words and phrases such as Zone of Proximal Development, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, critical thinking, and scaffolding come to mind. They all fall under a category of ways in which students can become more effective contributors to their daily lives and worlds outside the classroom. I have heard the speeches by other teachers in class and read the essays/articles by other authors including Bomer, Atwell, and Bobrowski. Although I may sound like I am tired of hearing these things, I am not. Don't get me wrong...in fact, I think that when a topic has a following such as the one I speak of, it is an indication of a new wave...the new wave of constructivism.
I did my Honors thesis on the idea of constructivism, and let me tell you, it is a loaded topic. I focused mostly on the critical thinking aspect of constructivism, and that subject alone can yield hundreds of google and database searches.
I think O'Brien has hit the nail on the head. If we give students tangible, possible, and interesting work, then they are more likely to become lifelong readers and critical thinkers.

Tech-age

In response to the article, as well as the student voice section, I feel that some english teachers make all other english teacher's lives a mess when they completely restrict technology in the classroom. Who says we cannot use some technology for projects and research? I believe technology will be an important part of my classroom, but not entirely the whole curriculum. Some english teachers that do not follow any Constructivist methods ruin it for all other english teachers who try to bring in the best of both the literary and technology worlds. I do not plan on using technology for everything in my classroom, nor do I believe that I wil rely solely on just books and such. I will try to get a good dynamic of both worlds so that my students are immersed in what they believe is fun and interesting and what I also believe will help them with their futures.

Some teachers rely solely on worksheets taken from textbooks, reading aloud entire books, boring projects, etc. These methods are not good for anyone, whether in the tech-age or not.

Response to Technology Counts article

In response to the article, as well as the student voice section, I feel that some english teachers make all other english teacher's lives a mess when they completely restrict technology in the classroom. Who says we cannot use some technology for projects and research? I believe technology will be an important part of my classroom, but not entirely the whole curriculum. Some english teachers that do not follow any Constructivist methods ruin it for all other english teachers who try to bring in the best of both the literary and technology worlds. I do not plan on using technology for everything in my classroom, nor do I believe that I wil rely solely on just books and such. I will try to get a good dynamic of both worlds so that my students are immersed in what they believe is fun and interesting and what I also believe will help them with their futures.

Some teachers rely solely on worksheets taken from textbooks, reading aloud entire books, boring projects, etc. These methods are not good for anyone, whether in the tech-age or not.