Wired.... on coffee.

Lately I've been discouraged because I feel like much of the MAC program is geared towards math and science- what about world languages?! :) However, I've been checking out a previous MACer's blog, Making Curriculum Pop, and it really is an amazing resource for all content areas.

I am starting to find lots of great resources for the Spanish classroom! Below is an awesome lesson plan that I found... it is fun, allows students to be creative, incorporates technology, and also requires the use of a variety of cognitive dimensions and knowledge. BOOM- high leverage practice, anyone? :) Fellow world language peeps, check out this lesson plan, because it's flexible for any language!

http://mcpopmb.ning.com/group/modernlanguagesell/forum/topics/lesson-plan-mi-viaje-a-travel

As for the reading... at first I was shocked the statistic that Klapperstuck and Kearns provide: 81% of young people spend their time using more than one [technological] medium at once. Then I thought about my brother, who is a pro at watching TV, texting, and checking his e-mail/surfing the net on his laptop, all at the same time--and was no longer surprised. I myself am guilty of this, since I tend to toggle back and forth between my Facebook, gmail, and whatever paper I am writing at the moment.

K & K also point out that blogs are the new diaries, and this becomes problematic when people "over-share". Indeed, the line that separates public and private seems to be blurred. This is what initially turned me away from blogs, Twitter, etc., but I'm finding that if I just tune into the sites that are educational and useful (ex. Making Curriculum Pop), blogs really can be a useful tool. I'm still not sold on Twitter....

pensamientos

Wow, here I am, blogging on a Saturday night. Sad. Just trying to keep my head above water because this coming week is going to be tough.

Basically, Friday's class was a lot of fun! I was dreading the podcast assignment, because I seem to be plagued by technological incompetency. But Mindy and I actually put together a decent commercial, with good music, and uploaded and embedded it with no problems. I think podcasting will be a really useful tool in the Spanish classroom-- a great way for students to hear themselves speaking, so they can improve pronunciation, fluency, etc.

I really liked the "pleasantly frustrating" translation exercise that Jeff gave us. I think this would be a great activity to give Spanish students. It's an exercise that teaches them not to be overwhelmed by chunks of text that they don't understand, but rather to break it down piece by piece, using what they already know to essentially solve, or translate, the material.

Reflection on James Paul Gee

First of all, I'm disappointed to see that my blog is really dull and boring compared those of many of my colleagues. Some people's posts are really entertaining- sorry Jeff and Kristin! You probably fall asleep reading mine. I'm still getting used to this whole "everyone can see what I'm writing" idea...

Anyway :) I really enjoyed the video interview with James Paul Gee. It wasn't the first time I've heard an argument for the benefits of video games, but his was certainly the most convincing. One of the things that he said that struck me the most was that video games are giving constant feedback on your progress. You constantly are being assessed on every move you make, and if you fail, you try again... and again and again until you succeed. Then, on to the next task. This differs from many curricula in which students learn lots of skills and/or facts, but aren't tested on them until much later. There is a problem with this gap that so often occurs. This is similar to what we discussed with Rachel in ED 606- reinforcement is much more effective if done immediately following the behavior. The larger the gap, the less likely the behavior will continue.

If we can find a way to incorporate non-violent video games into our lesson plans, I think I might be on board.

Post-Class Reflection

Friday's class proved to me that maybe Twitter is not what is distracting, but laptops themselves. Due to the technical difficulties we experienced in class, it was difficult to focus on the Webinar, and I found myself thinking, "thank goodness I can play around on my laptop and zone out". Then I was a bit ashamed because I found myself guilty of taking a wonderful technology tool and turning it into something to distract myself with so I wouldn't have to pay attention to the task at hand in the classroom. Shame on me. So, I shut my computer, and did the best I could to focus. How can we, as teachers, allow our students to use these great tech tools (Twitter, cell phones, laptops, MySpace, Facebook) and ensure that they aren't abusing their privileges? The "honors system" is great, but really? With high school students? Hmmm. The easiest answer, I guess, is to do without them entirely. However, wouldn't that be a gross injustice to the students? There are so many learning opportunities that we can take advantage of with technology, and I hope I am able to find that "happy medium" as a preservice teacher.

my tweet about twitter

I don't "do" Twitter, though from what I hear from previous MACers, I can expect to have an a account up and running shortly. :) Though I don't really feel like other people are interested in hearing what I'm doing at every minute of every day, I do think that a good use for Twitter is to use it as a means to share information and get feedback from peers. As Ferguson pointed out, its a great way to have on-going conversations amongst your personal learning network. What better way to challenge your own thoughts than to put them out there for your peers to read and provide their own feedback? I feel like that something about the impersonal nature Twitter/Facebook/blogging etc. makes people more likely to state what they really think, as opposed to a classroom setting in which you have to confront others face to face. We need to be careful, though, to not let students rely on their "tweets" as the only way to express themselves, but build their confidence and encourage them to share their ideas with their peers in person.

post-class reflection, july 9th

Friday's class opened up a whole new world for me, technology-wise. Kristin showed us all sorts of different tools that I definitely plan to use for both teaching/personal purposes. Also, the lesson-planning activity we did at the end of class was refreshing! It was so nice to move away from the theoretical aspects of education and move into something a bit more concrete. Of course, I find great value in studying Dewey, the taxonomy, our emerging philosophies of education, etc., but because we (most of us) have no experience to relate these things to, they seem a little foreign and abstract. Lesson planning, though, is something that we we haven't touched upon yet, and I was amazed at how difficult it was to construct a meaningful, creative lesson. My group found ourselves throwing in extraneous steps that would have taken meaning away from the ultimate goal. I look forward to learning not only how to create effective lesson plans, but how to deliver them to a classroom.

I'm happy to say that I'm feeling less intimidated by this class, as I'm realizing that I might not be so bad at grasping technological concepts. :)

Dewey & Google/Wikipedia

John Dewey was such a brilliant thinker! I learned a lot about his philosophies throughout the course of my psych major. But, I never thought to use his work as an advocate for teaching with technology. It certainly makes sense! Rich et. al. drew some excellent connections, bringing Dewey's work up to modern day speed. I especially appreciated that Rich et. al. asserted that we cannot simply give students these cool technology tools and let them run wild and do whatever they want with them. He emphasizes that experience is central to learning... "learning by doing". I also love what Dewey has to say in his pedagogical creed about "What the school is". I whole heartedly agree with his belief that education is a social and psychological process. One without the other renders the educative process "haphazard and arbitrary".

The Google/Wikipedia article was so interesting! First of all, I didn't realize that I am part of Generation M?? Secondly, I never really thought about how we as students sometimes are willing to sacrifice credibility and reliability for a speedy and current answer. I admit that there have been many times when I have turned to Wikipedia when I needed a quick answer. I also thought the results of Farhad Manjoo's experiment was very interesting. "...the ability to discuss, negotiate, and share was more persuasive than being lectured by an expert." This is often so true... this article inspired me to be a bit more selective in what/whom I choose to believe. However, I still hold the ideas of my peers in high regard, and think Google and Wikipedia are pretty awesome :)