WhoTube to YouTube
I would have never in a bazillion years have thought I would have a YouTube video. I had never even been on YouTube prior to this class. I am so happy and proud that I was able to make something that I am excited about people seeing. It is kind of cheesy, but hey, what can you do? I hope you like it.
Clip This!
This was not the easiest assignment for me to complete because although I have gained a new found appreciation for online videos, I have found that not very many of them were appropriate or had value in a high school classroom. I was however able to find this video clip that I thought was engaging, informative, and a good springboard for further discussion. Here it is, enjoy!
I have also included the assignment. Please give as much feedback, good or bad, once you have reviewed my assignment.
T-Pain my MEME
I actually found this meme as part of another meme called Greg Rutters Second Definitive List of the 99 Things You Should Have Already Experienced on the Internet Unless You’re a Loser or Old or Something that was Stumbled to me. This video was originally April 20, 2009 (longevity) and has 4, 207,988 views and counting. It has also spawned 10 official videos made by the same person, as well as parodies of this video created by others (fidelity), with #3 arriving just a month after this one (fecundity). Although not everyone is familiar with the hip-hop artist T-Pain, for those of us that are, it is apparent that this video is a spoof on the idea that “T-Paining” something, even the news, can make it better. These things, in addition that I am even blogging about it now make this meme stand up to the four point described for data collection in the Postman article.
cogs THAT blog
“School teachers are just cogs in a machine”
WOW! What a powerful statement. There was a time when I would not have necessarily agreed with this, but in today’s society of NCLB, this seems to be the definition of a teacher. When I think about cogs or any component designed/built to run a machine, my mind immediately thinks of all the training teachers go through, new ways of teaching we are taught, and new ideas we are encouraged to implement. The only problem is the machine we are put into does not support our format. The Machine as it were only wants us to stick to the basics, teach the canon, PREPARE FOR THE TEST. How are we expected to enrich young minds and expand their thought processes, if all we do is teach the same works and then drill standardized test information into their heads? I would like to “rage against the machine” (lol), as I am sure other educators would as well, but in doing so we risk losing our jobs and jeopardizing our livelihood. So, until Washington catches up with real life I guess I will be the best clog I can be in this well-oiled machine!
In chapter 9 of Postman, he says that the belief that all things have, do, or are, does not necessarily reflect the structure of reality. This couldn’t be more true as it relates to teachers. As I said before, I believe that there are many teachers who would love to incorporate new and inventive teaching methods in their classrooms, but are unable to because of pressures from outside political forces. In 3391, we often talk about what we would do in our ideal classroom, and I think ideally we would all have invested students and parents who were open to new ways of thinking and teaching. But in reality, we have disinterested students and either hover parents or ghost parents, and the added pressure of NCLB.
Another thing Postman addresses that I think would be great in an ideal classroom setting is how each teacher would spend an immense amount of time teaching a single subject, focusing heavily forming questions, working through definitions, as well as the metaphors associated with the subject. These things as well as some of his other ideas are just impossible in today’s classroom.
from OUTCAST to PODCAST
I thoroughly enjoyed Chapter 8 on podcasting and screencasting. I think that a school radio station would be an excellent was to have students share ideas. When I first read the chapter the first thought that came to mind was how students could possibly use both methods to do an ABR. How cool would students think it is to be “published”, but it might also take some of the nervousness away from having to stand up in front of a classroom of their peers. I think the thing I like most is how user-friendly they are, especially to adolescents. After looking through some of the podcasts listed on our agenda, the one like best, and found the most useful was Grammar Girl. Not only did I think this was a useful tool for students who may need clarification on something while doing a writing assignments, but it also helped me think of ideas for my final project in this class.
Social Networking for the Wallflower
I really enjoyed Chapter 6. Richardson covered a lot of things that peeked my interest. I am however, still VERY apprehensive about integrating these sites into the classroom. I suppose I will have to get over it though, because even my local news broadcaster has Twitter. The problem with these sites I think is monitoring. It has to be done, but at what point (Little Brother) does it go too far. Another issue is when things get too familiar or comfortable. As a younger, future teacher, I am extremely concerned with those lines being blurred. I think there are site such as delicious and stumbleupon, that when used correctly can be an excellent tool for teachers to use to communicate with students, and for students to share ideas with their classmates. I think delicious is even more helpful because you do not have to be on your personal computer for it to work.
I am in 3391, and am interested to get started on Good Reads when I return from Spring Break! Maybe if I am not too busy relaxing I will start on my book reviews, maybe.
“That’s so…asinine, naive, etc. (but not gay)”
I definitely think that there is a place for social networking in a classroom setting. I do however feel that it needs to be closely monitored with specific rules put in place. I personally don’t think I would “befriend” any of my students on Facebook, or have them follow me on Twitter, unless I set up separate accounts solely for that purpose. Of course I feel that I would handle myself professionally at all times, but with today’s children and parents, I would rather err on the side of caution. I might however set up a Skype account so that I could have “virtual office hours” if my students needed a little extra help after class, but even that would require some research and rules.
One thing that I worry about with technology in the school setting, is taking it too far as seen with the student from Pennsylvania. I thought this was fitting seeing as we just read Little Brother
One of the first things I noticed and was drawn to about Ning is that there is a place to ask questions and advice of other teachers. The post that caught my attention was “That’s so gay” . I did a project on GLBT in the high school classroom last week, and it would have been great to have some teacher responses to add to my project. There was also a lot of questions among my peers about what we can and should say and do when confronted with situations regarding sexuality and gender, that no one knew the answers to. I found it helpful to see all the different mandates different schools have in place to help with this. I also found it neat that there were resources to help teachers teach some popular and not so popular books.
the FINAL frontier (da da da daa…)
For my final project I want to explore how language, dialect, and identity effect the way a message is perceived and/or received. I, like everyone else, think I am going to use MovieMaker, although once I get clarification on how much outside help we can get, I may choose to do a video or some other cool device.
I think that I am going to change my topic to “Naughty Words” 3/2/2010
game OVER!
So, I guess I will go against the grain and say that I did not like Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I guess I should also mention that I am not into futuristic, post-apocalyptic novels (not even the ones by Stephen King, who is my FAVORITE author), so I went into the reading with a preconceived notion of dislike. There were some things that I did find interesting, but for the most part, the entire premise was something that does not interest me. I am only mildly interested in reality shows, but the ones that disinterest me the most are Survivor and Big Brother, which is exactly what this book reminded me of. Interestingly enough, with the country’s fascination with shock value and everyone wanting their 15 minutes of fame, Hunger Games is exactly where I see reality TV going.
I think the other thing that I found disturbing was how it read like the chick flick of the week. We’ve all seen it before: guy and/or girl don’t like each other in the beginning, over some time they fall in love, only to have some secret revealed in the end to have them questioning if the love was really “real”.
I do however think/believe that the government does all sorts of things, like release diseases into the environment, just to see how we will react. It isn’t right, but such is life.
Although this was not a book that I particularly enjoyed, I do think that it has value for teaching in the classroom. I also think it is a good YA novel because it contains elements that both girls and boys will like and relate to.
AND, if you did like it, you might be interested to know that the next book in the trilogy is COMING SOON!
