Technologies I thought about how to incorporate:
Using Facebook as a way for parents and Students to reach out to you:
I found that the book did NOT recommend using Facebook as a learning management system, but it did advocate the use of Facebook to communicate more effectively with parents as well as students. Wes Fryer thinks that parents are more likely to visit the teacher's Facebook then navigate the school website, and students are more likely to ask what the homework is on your Facebook page then they are to email you. I found this teacher's Facebook page that is very active and the students seem to enjoy the availability that it gives them to ask questions. I may think about making one, honestly (and I am usually very against Facebook in the classroom)!
Tumblr:
If Tumblr is not blocked at the school, it can be used as a blog just as blogger can. Students may be more familiar with Tumblr because they may have personal blogs of their own. Tumblr is also unique because it allows you to post things on your blog made by other content creators with one click of a button. This reblogging feature is also valuable so others can share the content you have created. This is a link to the tumblr blog I made for last year's UMF symposium day.
Glogster:
Glogster is a online poster making site where students can make digital multimedia poster presentations. Glogsters can include links, videos, audio, images, graphics, gifs, text, pretty much anything you want to include. There are plenty of glogsters on almost every topic you can think of, made by students, for students. Here is an example of one that is similar to what I would have my students create. I experienced glogster first hand this semester when I made a student sample for my unit using glogster.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Final Fires Reflection
Fires in the Bathroom by Kathleen Cushman was the most interesting book I have read about education. This book just shows that a lot can be learned from student opinion. The students are the ones who are supposed to be benefiting from what you are teaching them, so hearing the opinions of students on everything from when to give to tests to what to do on the first day is an invaluable resource. I was planning on selling most of my textbooks at the end of the semester, but I might not with this book because I really enjoyed the way it was written and I can reread it and use it if I have questions in the future.
After rereading my blog entries for this book, I realized that for the first half of my blog entries, I wasn't thinking like a teacher, I was still thinking like a student and thinking about how my teachers used to treat me and how they used to teach me. I was saying things like "I felt like my teachers didn't understand or didn't care that I was very busy," or "there were times when I felt very brain fried or my brain felt overloaded, or I physically or mentally didn't feel okay, so I would rather have put my work down and came back to it later when I was at home in my own space." While it might have felt nice to vent to this blog and focus on what it was like when I was in highschool, I know now that I need to be focused on how I am going to be treating my students, what I am going to do for them, and how I am going to teach them. In my later blog posts I said things like "This part of the chapter stood out to me because it encouraged me because I love to play games in class and with my students. I feel that students will learn better when they are having fun because they are involved and motivated to participate, " and I would try to have some kind of peer or adult translator to sit in with the student during class and work one on one with them, or I would ask the student what kind of test they would like to take because maybe saying the answers orally would be easier for them." It is valuable to relate to your students by remembering your high school experience, but you are in a different position now, and you need to think about making the experience your students have better than your former one. After reading Fires in the Bathroom, I am more confident in the area of classroom management because I know how my students will react to what I do, and how to respond in a way that is best for them.
After rereading my blog entries for this book, I realized that for the first half of my blog entries, I wasn't thinking like a teacher, I was still thinking like a student and thinking about how my teachers used to treat me and how they used to teach me. I was saying things like "I felt like my teachers didn't understand or didn't care that I was very busy," or "there were times when I felt very brain fried or my brain felt overloaded, or I physically or mentally didn't feel okay, so I would rather have put my work down and came back to it later when I was at home in my own space." While it might have felt nice to vent to this blog and focus on what it was like when I was in highschool, I know now that I need to be focused on how I am going to be treating my students, what I am going to do for them, and how I am going to teach them. In my later blog posts I said things like "This part of the chapter stood out to me because it encouraged me because I love to play games in class and with my students. I feel that students will learn better when they are having fun because they are involved and motivated to participate, " and I would try to have some kind of peer or adult translator to sit in with the student during class and work one on one with them, or I would ask the student what kind of test they would like to take because maybe saying the answers orally would be easier for them." It is valuable to relate to your students by remembering your high school experience, but you are in a different position now, and you need to think about making the experience your students have better than your former one. After reading Fires in the Bathroom, I am more confident in the area of classroom management because I know how my students will react to what I do, and how to respond in a way that is best for them.
Images
Both of the links I explored for this chapter are from flickr.com. I have never used Flickr before so I was very surprised and happy with the features I found. I learned that you can browse Flickr photos without an account, you only need to make an account to if you want to upload photos. I also learned that Flickr allows you to store 1 terabyte of images on their site! That is so much! Lastly, I learned that you can search images for what they are tagged by. This is the tag that I found for pictures about Biology.
The second link I looked at was also on Flickr, but it was exploring their creative commons sections. Their creative commons section has over 258 Million images! They also have them under different licenses: Attribution, Noncommerical, No Derivative Works, and Share Alike Licenses, as well as combinations of each. It is also really useful that Flickr has the definitions of these licenses on the side of the page, so every user can use the licenses consistently without getting confused on the technicalities.
Digital Text
The blogging process for Practicum could be improved if we only had one blog for all of practicum. It became very confusing with multiple blogs, and it would be much easier if we had to post everything to the same place. We could just have separate tags for Technology Integration, CIA, and in the schools (if we posted anything for that). Additionally, I believe it would be better to post our TK20 things to the blogs instead of using TK20, since we asked each of you and none of the teachers for practicum seem to like TK20. Lastly, I would use the blogs and the wikis for more assignments so we wouldn't have to be wasting so much paper.
The first website I visited was the New York Times Website. I looked at the archive like it talked about in the chapter, and I was underwhelmed. Most of the articles were behind a paywall, so that was inconvenient. However, I was surprised and i did like that the article archive did go back over 150 years ago to 1851. The second site I went to was Wes Fryers wiki. It was interesting to see his actual wiki. I however did not find it very easy to navigate and I didn't really understand what materials were supposed to be available, but I think that with more time I would like it as a supplement to his ebook. The last site I looked at was Moodle. Moodle is a Learning Management system that can be used as a collaborative class blog, but I believe that a wiki would be easier for both the teacher and the students to use and understand, but I like that I know know of an alternative to wikis in case the site goes down or something goes wrong.
Ch. 10: Going Beyond the Classroom
" Steer us toward summer and enrichment programs. Anything a teacher can do to keep us learning outside the school calendar pays off. What would you want your own kids to be doing when they weren't in school? Suggest it to us, too, and help us find ways to make it happen.
'It helps to go away to camps, and school is a place where you can hook up with that kind of program, like leadership camp. You learn communication skills and you can be on your own.' - Mahogany"
This section stood out to me because when I was in high school my teachers nominated me to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Award conference which is a leadership summer camp that is sponsored by the local town Rotary. My teachers only nominated students who they feel had strong leadership skills and potential, so it was a really big honor to be noticed by my teachers. I attended the camp, and it was such a valuable experience from which I learned many skills I still use today. I also am grateful for that opportunity because it helped me win a large scholarship my senior year of high school. I have obviously seen firsthand the value of summer enrichment opportunities and will suggest them to my students in the future.
'It helps to go away to camps, and school is a place where you can hook up with that kind of program, like leadership camp. You learn communication skills and you can be on your own.' - Mahogany"
This section stood out to me because when I was in high school my teachers nominated me to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Award conference which is a leadership summer camp that is sponsored by the local town Rotary. My teachers only nominated students who they feel had strong leadership skills and potential, so it was a really big honor to be noticed by my teachers. I attended the camp, and it was such a valuable experience from which I learned many skills I still use today. I also am grateful for that opportunity because it helped me win a large scholarship my senior year of high school. I have obviously seen firsthand the value of summer enrichment opportunities and will suggest them to my students in the future.
Ch. 9: When Things Go Wrong
"'My first-year teacher, the whole first semester we busted his chops, but then by second semester we let up on him, because we saw he was doing things right. Another teacher, we kept going on her because she was still scared. And kids go to the bathroom at times they're not supposed to, and then they set fires in the bathroom, while she was trying to be so friendly.' - Lauraliz"
This is the quote that spawned the title of the book. I have mixed feelings about this passage because I want to be the male teacher in the beginning who earned his footing and they no longer gave him trouble, but I am worried I may act like the other teacher. She is being so nice, which is important, and I want to be nice, but I don't want them to take that as a license to misbehave. I think I have to be nice, but firm, and focus on teaching the students, and maybe that will the students ease up? Maybe I am just nervous.
This is the quote that spawned the title of the book. I have mixed feelings about this passage because I want to be the male teacher in the beginning who earned his footing and they no longer gave him trouble, but I am worried I may act like the other teacher. She is being so nice, which is important, and I want to be nice, but I don't want them to take that as a license to misbehave. I think I have to be nice, but firm, and focus on teaching the students, and maybe that will the students ease up? Maybe I am just nervous.
Ch 8: Teaching Teenagers Who Are Still Learning English
" My first year in science class, the teacher gave me a test and he said, 'I think you can't do this test because you don't speak English, but anyway I will give you a B if you come every day.' I started to cry- he assume that I couldn't do it, and I felt really bad. Because I feel comfortable when I study and take a good grade and say. 'I did this.' -Elaine"
This part of the chapter made me very sad for this student. I can't even imagine what it would be like to have a teacher give up on me so easily, and to just say he would give me a B. I would be very upset because I wouldn't have learned anything. This is the reason that this teacher disgusts me. I would try to have some kind of peer or adult translator to sit in with the student during class and work one on one with them, or I would ask the student what kind of test they would like to take because maybe saying the answers orally would be easier for them.
This part of the chapter made me very sad for this student. I can't even imagine what it would be like to have a teacher give up on me so easily, and to just say he would give me a B. I would be very upset because I wouldn't have learned anything. This is the reason that this teacher disgusts me. I would try to have some kind of peer or adult translator to sit in with the student during class and work one on one with them, or I would ask the student what kind of test they would like to take because maybe saying the answers orally would be easier for them.
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