Today we live in a world where it is almost impossible to get by without some sort of technology. While I don't personally own a smart phone, have a Facebook account, watch TV at home very often, or follow celebrity Tweets, a vast majority of my day is still spent glued to a computer or a phone. This is especially true because of a) my job, and b) college.
Realistically, you cannot successfully go through college without using a computer. Research, writing papers, communicating with instructors, setting up groups with peers-these are all mostly done online. Likewise, I work in an office setting, converting textbooks into alternate formats for people with disabilities at the Disability Resource Center. Since everything we do for that component of my job is done using technology, I am on a computer 90% of the time that I am there.
Besides work and school, I also use email as my main communication device. I really hate it when people call me on my phone. I vastly prefer that they email me, unless it's my mom, dad, or husband-I do make exceptions for close family! I am constantly emailing friends and people for my agility club. I don't have a lot of free time to play around online, but I do like to look at Yahoo to see the highlights of what is going on in the world and get also read random, useless trivia. I do a blog for my Zoomdog agility club as well, so I'm often updating that. I price shop, find apartments listings, extend my knowledge about dogs, and look up business information, all online. In fact, I had to have a root canal last week and needed a dentist to go to. So, I looked online and my first judgement of the dentist office was their website-I figured if they didn't have a good website, how progressive was their dentistry practice? This isn't always a good indicator, but I was desperate and needed to start narrowing down my options since there are a ton of dentists in Cache Valley. What it comes down to, is that I rely on the internet and computers for everything.
The crazy thing is, is that I know there are kids out there who are 100 times more technology savvy than I am. They sleep, eat, and breathe technology to a level that is even incomprehensible to me. So, it is vital that technology plays an integral part in the classroom. There are so many ways to use technology while teaching and learning. I love enriching a lesson with a YouTube video or sound clip to meet multiple modalities. I mentioned in a previous post the site LibraryThing, where students can have their own pages of information about books they've read and interact with others through reviews and other functions on the site. Blogs, wikis, podcasts...these are all things that I can also incorporate into the classroom. Additionally, using databases like EBSCO gives them quick access to critical articlees that they can use in persuasive and/or research papers. If the students don't know how to use a certain technology, I can create an Instructional Architect page for them, do a video, or simply walk them through it face to face.
Teaching without technology is like baking bread without the yeast. Sure, it will work, but it won't help the end product (the students) rise to their full potential.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
LibraryThing
This isn't an official post, but I was excited because I was able to put a LibraryThing widget on the sidebar of this blog. I've had a LibraryThing account for a year or two (I created it for my minor, School Library Media) and have been trying to keep it current. I include books I've read for school and other projects, and books I've read for recreation. Honestly, I love looking at all the covers and remembering what I've read. I think LibraryThing, or something comparable like Shelfari, would be a great site for students to use. Besides looking at all the pretty covers-they can also write reviews of the books, check out other people's comments, get recommendations, create tags, and so much more.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Home: Where It All Begins
I love a good story-wondering what's about to happen, contemplating characters, exploring possibilities that wouldn't normally exists for me. From the very beginning, my parents cultivated this interest in me. My mom is a kindergarten teacher and knew the importance of reading while we were growing up, so we had a ton of picture books to choose from. Being the youngest in my family, I had a large group of people who would read to me if I asked them. But more than any of them, my dad was the best. He would read to me whenever I asked, even if he would struggle after a long day to stay awake while doing it! One of my favorite things that my dad did though, was to make up stories for me. My dad and I both love Chip and Dale. So, before big days, my dad would tell me a story about Chip and Dale doing exactly what I would be doing the next day, whether is was going to an amusement park or attending my first day of school.
They weren't the most literary stories-but they were unique, and created especially for me. There are still nights where I am restless, either from nerves or excitement, and when I almost begin telling myself my own Chip and Dale story.
This positive experience with reading and stories has carried with me. My desire to read, at times, is insatiable. I just have to know what happens next and I can read for hours on end. My husband knows not to bother me while reading and has even gotten into the habit of making dinner for us if I my nose is stuck in a book (I guess he finally realized that was the only way he'd be eating before 11 pm).
In high school, I had some great teachers who made reading even better by giving me the tools to think about it in different ways and/or understand it on a deeper level. Although writing for me can be stressful, I have never regretted my choice to do English Education. I think this base love for literature is what will keep me motivated through the years that I am teaching. Although I realize that I will not be teaching a literature-based curriculum, instead focusing on skills, I can still use great literature to teach those skills and hopefully connect to students.
I think thoughtfully selected literature can connect to students with a variety of backgrounds. While they may not understand a community that's been molded into a false sense of perfection, as in The Giver, they can relate to questioning the norms of society or finding out that parents aren't always what they appeared to be while growing up. Looking at main ideas or themes in a book and relating them to everyday life or a current event can be a great way to activate students' background knowledge about that particular topic. Beyond reading, learning to write and speak articulately, analyzing, and looking at something from different viewpoints are also helpful skills learned in English, many of which can be tied to a good story or text.
While I realize that not ever student likes to read and didn't have the positive experiences I did with this area while growing up, I hope that I can take my love for literature and pass it along to my students, even if it's just a sliver.
They weren't the most literary stories-but they were unique, and created especially for me. There are still nights where I am restless, either from nerves or excitement, and when I almost begin telling myself my own Chip and Dale story.
This positive experience with reading and stories has carried with me. My desire to read, at times, is insatiable. I just have to know what happens next and I can read for hours on end. My husband knows not to bother me while reading and has even gotten into the habit of making dinner for us if I my nose is stuck in a book (I guess he finally realized that was the only way he'd be eating before 11 pm).
In high school, I had some great teachers who made reading even better by giving me the tools to think about it in different ways and/or understand it on a deeper level. Although writing for me can be stressful, I have never regretted my choice to do English Education. I think this base love for literature is what will keep me motivated through the years that I am teaching. Although I realize that I will not be teaching a literature-based curriculum, instead focusing on skills, I can still use great literature to teach those skills and hopefully connect to students.
I think thoughtfully selected literature can connect to students with a variety of backgrounds. While they may not understand a community that's been molded into a false sense of perfection, as in The Giver, they can relate to questioning the norms of society or finding out that parents aren't always what they appeared to be while growing up. Looking at main ideas or themes in a book and relating them to everyday life or a current event can be a great way to activate students' background knowledge about that particular topic. Beyond reading, learning to write and speak articulately, analyzing, and looking at something from different viewpoints are also helpful skills learned in English, many of which can be tied to a good story or text.
While I realize that not ever student likes to read and didn't have the positive experiences I did with this area while growing up, I hope that I can take my love for literature and pass it along to my students, even if it's just a sliver.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Responding to Student's Writing
Admittedly, in grade school I was a very good student. I caused very little trouble and always did well on my assignments. I have always loved reading-it's been one of my passions ever since I can remember. I love stories and over the years, I have come to appreciate the craft and skill behind a well-written piece. With this love and my student skills you would naturally think that English was one of my favorite subjects, but I never considered it so because of the writing aspect that Language Arts obviously involves. I wasn't a terrible writer and never had a horror story like Ali's where the teacher ripped off a page and threw it in the trash (or even worse, like our teacher's story-even thinking about that makes me shudder). The worst feedback I experienced was no feedback at all. I would get minimal comments on the top of my page, nothing for me to correct and revise throughout, and was simply awarded an A. I always wondered what my teacher really thought-did they read my work, decide it was relatively good, and just give me an A? Did they think it could have been reworked, but it wasn't worth their time to really grade it since I was in the top 10 percent of the class? Or worse, did they read it at all, or did they just think, "Becca is a great student, does quality work, I'm going to skim this and give her an A"? None of these scenarios makes me feel really valued as a student.
In fact, when deciding on a major in college, I was very interested in doing English, but was scared of writing. I never knew what kind of writing skills I possessed. I was never encouraged in high school to improve my writing in any way, never given any pointers, never told what was good. It wasn't until I was unhappily pursuing a major in Nursing (after a career counselor told me I didn't have the 'personnality' to be a teacher, which is what I wanted to do in the first place, and that I had better do something that better matched my aptitude personality test) that I decided I needed to change to something I actually enjoyed. Having toyed with the idea in the past, I thought of teaching, and if there was one thing I loved, it was literature. But that pesky aspect of writing just seemed to ruin all my plans. Needless to say, I decided to just go for it and have been (mostly) happily trudging along since.
The thing that I have loved about college is the feedback I receive. I actually had teachers who would comment on my writing! My first 'real' English class was taught by an instructor who was in her first semester of teaching. She took each one of our papers and wrote a full, single-spaced page in response. While this was sometimes intimidating, she actually took the time to comment on our writing, letting us know what went well and what didn't. I realized that though criticism can be tough to receive, it's better than getting no feedback at all. From this experience, I feel like when teachers didn't take the time to help me improve my writing, they didn't care about my progression as a student. When they did take time to make applicable comments, it made me feel much more validated.
As a future English teacher, my goal is always to help students improve, no matter what level they are on. While core standards, state and national testing, and other outside factors will always be breathing down my neck, I hope to be able to reach students on an individual basis. One way I can do this is through honestly responding to their writing. I don't need to be mean, hypercritical, or even write a one page response to everything they compose, but I can give them positive feedback and suggestions on ways they can improve and let them know the areas where they excel.
In fact, when deciding on a major in college, I was very interested in doing English, but was scared of writing. I never knew what kind of writing skills I possessed. I was never encouraged in high school to improve my writing in any way, never given any pointers, never told what was good. It wasn't until I was unhappily pursuing a major in Nursing (after a career counselor told me I didn't have the 'personnality' to be a teacher, which is what I wanted to do in the first place, and that I had better do something that better matched my aptitude personality test) that I decided I needed to change to something I actually enjoyed. Having toyed with the idea in the past, I thought of teaching, and if there was one thing I loved, it was literature. But that pesky aspect of writing just seemed to ruin all my plans. Needless to say, I decided to just go for it and have been (mostly) happily trudging along since.
The thing that I have loved about college is the feedback I receive. I actually had teachers who would comment on my writing! My first 'real' English class was taught by an instructor who was in her first semester of teaching. She took each one of our papers and wrote a full, single-spaced page in response. While this was sometimes intimidating, she actually took the time to comment on our writing, letting us know what went well and what didn't. I realized that though criticism can be tough to receive, it's better than getting no feedback at all. From this experience, I feel like when teachers didn't take the time to help me improve my writing, they didn't care about my progression as a student. When they did take time to make applicable comments, it made me feel much more validated.
As a future English teacher, my goal is always to help students improve, no matter what level they are on. While core standards, state and national testing, and other outside factors will always be breathing down my neck, I hope to be able to reach students on an individual basis. One way I can do this is through honestly responding to their writing. I don't need to be mean, hypercritical, or even write a one page response to everything they compose, but I can give them positive feedback and suggestions on ways they can improve and let them know the areas where they excel.
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