Foot: 2 articles

For this blog, I decided to combine "I'm So Totally, Digitally Close to You" and "You're Leaving a Digital Trail." For the first article, I most want to respond to a comment Boyd said, after talking about how strangers Tweet her like they actually know her. She said “They can observe you, but it’s not the same as knowing you” (pg. 5) This is so true and is my issue with social networking. I have a personal Facebook and I do have friends there that I don't talk to. Some of them I simply don't want to talk to at all, but it's easier to accept their request and just ignore their posts than to keep declining their requests. I don't use Twitter because I simply don't care what my friends are doing every moment of the day. While I can understand why some people like this, I don't and I also don't want all of my friends to know what I'm doing. I update my status typically once a month, and it's usually something about homework or a show I'm watching. I don't want a lot of people who I don't really care about knowing that my grandfather died before I am ready to even tell my actual friends. And yet, my sisters don't have the same mindset, so then I have to deal with it and I'm sorry, but it irritates me.

"You're Leaving a Digital Trail" just made my skin crawl. No, I'm obviously not doing anything illegal (at least as far as I know), but I don't want people knowing what I do on the computer, what I write in e-mails or in messages to friends on Facebook. I don't want random people know what music I'm listening to. I like my privacy and I want it to stay that way: private. I know tracking people can really help protect everyone (i.e., watching potential terrorists or the SARS scare the article talked about) and that is really good that they can prevent stuff like that. And yet, maybe it's because I've read so many stories and seen so many movies, the idea of trusting so much to machines and people we don't know freaks me out. We saw this in Little Brother; an attack happened and the government over-responded. This is just me, of course. Some people may have absolutely no problem with being watched. Harrison Brown obviously doesn't, but it bugs me.

While reading these articles, Brad Paisley's song "Online" kept playing in my head, so I decided to put in the music video. It's about a guy who goes online and becomes someone else. Seems fitting. It's not that great of a video but I love the song. If you watch it, try to let it load all the way first because it's really slow.

How to use these in the classroom though? Personally, I don't think society will ever truly become comfortable for school children to be online for classes, at least not for a long time still. There are just too many issues still, such as privacy, content, and of course computer access. Would I love to do online literature circles? Yes, because I think there is a freedom there for students to voice their opinions that may not occur during face-to-face discussions. It is doable, but there is so much to watch out for and there can be such a big backlash that, at least until I get established, I feel like I might be too leery about doing it. I can't really think of any situations where I would want to use Twitter, but I could see using Facebook to do online literature circles like we're doing in class. But, if there was an online discussion board available (like Vista) that is powered through the school website, I would prefer to use that instead of Facebook.

Foot: Learning by Playing: Video Games in the Classroom

I really found this quote from the article interesting: "And while students at the school are put through the usual rigors of studying pre-algebra, basic physics, ancient civilizations and writing, they do it inside interdisciplinary classes with names like Codeworlds — a hybrid of math and English class — where the quests blend skills from different subject areas (pg. 2)" We all know that certain subjects are quite easy to mix together (History and English, Math and Science), but I never really considered how math and English may go together. However, the article didn't fully explain this, but from what I draw from the quote, students may have to solve math or English problems in order to progress in the quest. Whether I'm right or not, I think making learning seem like a quest (whether it's a quest in game like in this article or something else) is a great idea. It implies that learning is worth doing because there's some prize at the end.

I loved Akahr's quote at the end: "I am imagining the future." I thought this was really striking of him because it shows what we all hope. We want our classrooms to be technologically friendly, of course, and we have to learn how to do this. Of course our education classes help with this and can give us some idea of what to do, but I don't think we will really learn until we are actually out there doing it ourselves.

Foot: Pleasure Reading

So, I finally went out and bought the last two books in the Hunger Games and finished them in two days. I pretty much stayed up all night and didn't do any homework simply so I could finish them. I love this series and it is one I will definitely re-read, at least as soon as I get the first book back from my friend. I thought the plot was great and the characters were definitely engaging. The whole concept of the series just really worked for me, as I know it did for a lot of people.

If at all possible, this is a book that I would like to teach in class. I can easily see putting this in a unit with other books that present dystopias. I think it starting off with The Hunger Games and then moving onto harder books (I'm thinking novels like The Road, Brave New World, maybe even books like 1984 or Lord of the Files), could be a really interesting unit and may be really engaging to students.We could explore common themes in these books and try to pinpoint what makes them so interesting. Even if it's not something I could teach in class, I'm pretty sure that The Hunger Games will make it in my classroom library and on choice books lists. They definitely will keep a spot on one of my bookcases.

Foot: Great Films and How to Teach Them

Was anyone else sort of bored while reading the first four chapters? I'm not really interested in the process of making movies, although I do see how that can appeal to some people, so the first four chapters were basically information over-load. However, I did like the quotes on page three because I thought it showed the wide range of opinions on movies. The one I want to talk about is the one about Julius Caesar and how the student was able to get more out of the movie then reading the book. As a future teacher, I feel like if we show a movie in our classroom, that movie should serve some other purpose than entertainment. While that is an important factor because we don't want to waste time on something the students aren't interested in, I feel like the movies we show should also heighten student comprehension. That's why I agree with this quote about Shakespeare. Many times students struggle with Shakespeare plays, but if they can see a movie adaptation, they can better understand what is going on. I know it helped me watching Romeo and Juliet while reading the play. This was my first experience with Shakespeare. Setting besides the fact that this is one of the hardest plays to introduce Shakespeare with (I would chose Macbeth or a comedy personally), learning to understand Shakespearian English is tough until one gets the hang of it, so seeing it acted out helped me understand it. That's why I like the idea of showing a movie at the same time as reading a play. Or, if the class is exploring a theme in the classroom, watching movies that include that theme would be a great way to cover more material. It takes longer to read a book than it does watching a movie, so the combination of the two would be a great way to make the most of our time.

The next point I would like to talk about is the debate the book touches upon: adaptation. This is sort of weird for me because I fall on both sides. Some adaptations I love while others I hate. I don't think every piece of literature should be made into a film, while others should be. Case in point, I personally think Nicholas Sparks' books aren't all that great, but the movies are. I loved the film adaption of A Walk to Remember, but I was bored with the book. I enjoy the Dark Is Rising Sequence, but the movie version of the book that gives the series its name isn't all that good. As a movie itself, it's not bad, but as an adaptation, it's pretty much horrible.  For me, the film has to be able to capture what the book is. Yes, there will be some variations, due to constraints. I don't really want to keep going back to Twilight, but there are so many good examples. Sparkling vampires in the book is interesting. I don't entirely like it because I grew up with Buffy and that's how I think vampires should die, but I can appreciate the creative license. However, in the movie, it doesn't work at all. Also, minor plot points can be taken out for the sake of time constraints, like in the Harry Potter movies. While I don't really like that Neville basically replaced Dobby in the 4th and 5th movies and I would hate it if it had happened in the books, in the movies it works. It would be cheaper to have an actor take over that role than it would be to CGI Dobby in.

Foot: Twilight

Let's get something straight. Look at Twilight as a piece of literature and not as an author who got lucky and the series is not good. I'll admit I was obsessed with it for awhile. But this is also when it first came out and I quickly grew up,especially after so many people became obsessed with it. I can realize the attraction-after all, most teenagers become obsessed with the supernatural at some point and vampires are like the poster creature for the supernatural world. But there are so many better vampire stories than Twilight and the movies are even worse than the books. There are two good things about Twilight that I can see right now. One is that because it is so popular, maybe it'll help out the economy. Although that would make them even worse because it would be like they saved the country. The second good thing is that it might convince some readers to read Dracula and at least then they are reading literature.

I can admit as well that I am a little jealous of Meyers. I mean, how lucky can you get? I would love what I write to become a phenomen like Twilight. I just hope what I write is a little more substantial. Good for her that she was in the right place at the right time with something that started out with potential. But, for me anyway, Twilight is basically a waste of time and it's only because I can't stand to give away books that the series still has a spot on my bookcase. Twilight would not be something I would teach in my classroom, not unless it was like a Modern Novel class. I just don't think there is enough depth to it and would be hard to have discussions that go beyond "I liked it." But, if that is what my students were interested in, I would put aside my opinion and try to incorporate it somehow in my class, whether is is as a choice read or just letting students to read it during SSR. Because at least this way they are reading, which is what I hope for as a teacher.

Also, Harry Potter is way better.

Oh, and Renesmee? Fail, Stephanie Meyers. Fail. As for the pictures, I couldn't resist.I couldn't find any good Buffy pictures, otherwise I would have put that in too.

Foot: Using technology in the classroom

I think I would love to teach the book "Little Brother" in my classroom, although I do recognize that it may be hard to integrate it in the classroom, simply because there are so many required texts that we have to teach. Because of this, "Little Brother" would be a really good choice book or to recommend to younger students. While this might change, as of right now, I think I would start students off with some type of anticipation guide. I would be curious to see how students think they would react if they went through similar events to what Marcus went through. I think that could spark a really good class discussion, which is something all teachers want. I think something like the 4 corners activity we did in class would be a good way to set students up in smaller discussion groups. While I might not have ten questions on the list like we did in class, I could come up with smaller amount of questions that relate directly to the book. It could be questions like "Was Marcus right to go against the government?" While this is sort of a lame question, it would be easy to mix students up and create groups. Some students may feel very strongly that Marcus was wrong, while others feel that he was in the right. Based on these groups that would be formed, we could do a project where students write a persuasive speech, including outside research, based on their belief of whether he is right or wrong.

As mentioned, 4 corners is a great way to create groups based on interests and could be done with a variety of questions. I could have questions like we did in class where they weren't really related to each other. Or, like I said with Little Brother, I could relate the questions to what we are doing or will be doing in class.

Snowball is another activity I would do in the classroom, although I would change it from what we did in class. I believe Snowball would be a really good way to create a round-robin type story, if the unit we are working on happened to be creative writing. Since one person would start the story and then past it along, seeing the direction the story took would be interesting. It would also be a good way to help students learn about plot flow because the story wouldn't be based entirely on what they did. However, like with most things, it would need to be carefully watched. Some students may write something inappropriate or not take the activity seriously and just goof off. My aunt is a third grade teacher and she did something similar in her classroom. The students came up with their own prompts, could write as long as they wanted, and then passed it off to another student. Ideally, the point was for each student to write on each story, but this didn't work out to well, but I think it's a really good, fun activity to do. Snowball could also be used to create discussion points in a classroom. What I mean by this is that students could each write down a thought or question they had about the text and then pass it along to other students to get their opinions. Then, we could come back as a class and discuss what was put on each of these points and see where that discussion took us.

I feel like another activity I might do would be the snapshot/tableaux dramas. In this activity, students pick a scene or are assigned a scene and they must decide how to "act" it out in front of their classmates. They don't really act it out, but they chose a pose and stay there for a minute or so. This requires that students first read the text, because they do have to know their scene well. Also, it would require them to interpret the scene. For example, if students want to re-create the scene of the rally in "Little Brother," they would have to decide how exactly they wanted to pose. Do they want to feature the band or Marcus and his girlfriend? Or, would they rather show the scene where the military comes in? It would require them to think about what is most important in this scene and how to "act it out." It also wouldn't be just based on the literature, but include some theatre elements. Students can think about costumes and props, which they would also interpret and analyze how it add to their understanding of the text. Again, the scene would need to be carefully picked in order to avoid problems such as being school appropriate. Also, the group dynamic would need to considered. Do I let my students pick their own groups or do I chose for them. Should I create random groups or place them in groups based on how I think they will work together? I think this would mostly depend on how much trust I have in my class. Some classes may be able to handle having a higher level of responsibility while other classes may not.

On  the other hand, we can also use a higher level of technology, such as an online literature circle. In lit. circles, each person has a role, whether it is something like Connector or Passage Master. While I think there is still an obvious value to face-to-face discussions, online lit. circles are also beneficial. Students may feel less pressured to give an "educated" answer and will put simply what they think. I know I have seen some people who have been so concerned with sounding smart that they completely messed up what they were trying to say. Also, since students are assigned or chose their roles before starting the text, at least is most cases, they know what to focus on while reading. I know some students, myself included, can get so overwhelmed with trying to pick up everything that is going on in the text that they miss something crucial. Also, if we happen to not have a lot of discussion time in class, doing online discussions would make up for this. While I don't think I would change the form of this activity to much from what we did in Pytash's class, I may decide to use the lit. circle for the whole class, instead of groups of three or more. While online lit. circles are beneficial for other reasons than what I mentioned, we do have to consider that not all of our students may have computers or internet access. If we have a strict schedule, then we should give the chance for students to post during class by going to a library or computer lab. Also, we do need to keep an eye on what is being posted and we also have to consider that some parents may not want their students involved in an online activity.

Like with any activity, there are upsides and downsides to what may happen when trying to implement one. One has to carefully consider the chosen activity and make sure that it's not being used as busywork or to fill a slow day, but has some purpose. The texts we use also have to be carefully considered. Are they too controversial? Or just enough? Are we teaching to the text or are we finding ways to teach about the test while not teaching it? These are just a few of the questions teachers need to constantly think about and they are important questions. Of course we all want to be great teachers and not mediocre or even worse. I believe technology, whether it is something like using Snowball or 4 corners or using Wikis, blogs, or online literature circles, is what can take a teacher from mediocre to great, so long as the technology is used effectively.

Foot: Kist chapter

I read through the first couple of chapters in Kist's book and was really enjoying it. And then I got distracted by Glee because I love that show and they were doing one of my favorite country songs, Lady A's "Need You Now." Totally awesome.

Anyway, back to the book. Chapter 1 serves as a sort of general introduction to what the book is going to cover and I have to say, I really liked the comparison of the chapters to Starbuck's drinks. However, chapter 2 is what really starts the point of the book, by introducing "low" technologies to change up the classroom. Chapter 2 covers a lot of the activities we have done in class, such as the number game, 4 corners, and Snowball. There are also a few other techniques that are introduced that are pretty interesting, such as snapshot/tableaux dramas, classifying genres, and analyzing films.

There are so many different ways to use technology in our classrooms and I think it is important to shake things up. While there is a reason class face-to-face discussions are used because they do work, online discussions using Wiki or a Facebook or some other social network platform also has its advantages. While I don't think we will ever get to the point where we are entirely online and not reading actual books, I can acknowledge that we do have to learn how to teach kids using different methods.

Foot: Multi-genre autobiography

Haha, I kept meaning to post on this because I started the project last week, but then life got in the way and I, very unfortunately and wishing it hadn't have happened, had to deal with another death in the family. Wow, that's a really convoluted sentence. However, I know have the slideshow done, excluding putting in music. I need some time to play around with the music. First I have to decide if I want it in my whole show or not, but that won't take me too long once I find the time.

This project was pretty easy to do, but I did find it hard sometimes to remember all of the things I wanted to put in. I kept going to my sister and would ask her questions, like "What else did we watch as kids?" to come up with more to put in. And then, when I got to literature, music, and movies, I had to keep deleting stuff because I had way too much. As it is, a lot of the slides are crowded, probably too crowded, but whatever. I like the project the way it is and besides figuring out music, I'm not going to mess around with it too much.