Monday, February 27, 2012
Service Learning Project
Initially, I really liked going to the YWCA. I love the passion in the workers there and the kids were great. I am concerned about getting the hours in because I have a 25 hour practicum for Diverse Pop, and since the lady who does the assignments is new and has gotten to our assignments really late, and now I haven't heard from my teacher yet, so that is a huge mess. Since I'm so involved in my school work, I have a full class schedule during the day, so that leaves my Fridays and some Thursdays open for practicum. Additionally, I'm working on my senior thesis for my history major, which is a really big project, and I present on my paper at the end of March. Maybe I'm just venting, and everything will work out fine, but I'm just completely overwhelmed right now. I can use class times on Wednesdays, from 10:30 to 2 until the end of March, which is 3.5 hours, so if I went 3 times, I'd be okay. That should work out, and I do appreciate the closeness of the YWCA.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Beers-Chapter 5
I really have a hard time understanding why it is so difficult for teachers to get their kids to discuss things. I guess I must have had great high school experiences, but in every class, we never had a problem with kids talking about the way the literature made them feel. My teachers knew how to get the kids' attention with stories and journal writing and the whole bit. I don't have much to say here because this makes sense to me. I've never really even had to think about how to get kids to participate. After so long of being in these great classes, it comes naturally, I guess. Not a long post, but that's how I feel.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Beers-Chapter 14
Technology is a daunting idea for me. Not that I'm technologically challenged, or anything, but I was so unsure about how to approach it in regards to teaching. I have taken the education class about technology, (EDUC 295), where they taught us how to use internet games in the students' downtime or smartboard for the average third grader. (I do feel that every single education class here is geared towards el ed students...I have yet to learn anything about dealing with high school juniors.) This chapter really allowed me to understand some of the finer points of using more advanced technology in the classroom, and there might not even need to be a smart board (GASP!) available in the classroom for me to utilize technology.
I guess why I struggled with this idea of technology in the classroom was because as a high-school student, we didn't really use technology. The technologies we did use, like PowerPoint, and Twitter in my senior AP English class to discuss Tale of Two Cities was generally hated by everyone that used it. But my teachers were not allowing us creative solutions to discussing literature. As the textbook points out, my teachers boxed us in with these technologies, and nothing extraordinary was being accomplished, other than the fact that we could more effectively cyber-stalk each other. The textbook gives some really great examples and inspiration for teaching with technology in an actually effective way.
I have a personal blog on Tumblr,where I can post things that I love with very few restrictions. This blog is a site that allows me to be creative in the way that I find comfortable, while at the same time, I am able to connect with other people that live in Singapore, England, France, and Australia. I love the universality of this site, and would love to use it as a teaching tool at some point. Perhaps I could have students create an account and they could post their thoughts on class, or connect their own interests with the literature in class.
Similarly, one of my favorite ideas in the text was the making of the book trailer. Kids know how to use these technologies, and why shouldn't their teachers let them? In this way, kids can be creative while still utilizing their deeper understanding of the literature and critical thinking skills in new ways. Their own interpretation should serve as the base board to get all kinds of interesting feedback about the book or story shared in class.
After reading this chapter, I feel much better about using technologies in the classroom, especially ones that I feel comfortable using myself. Technology isn't going anywhere, and as educators, we really need to be aware of what is out there and how to use it to our students' advantage, so that they might actually succeed in the world.
I guess why I struggled with this idea of technology in the classroom was because as a high-school student, we didn't really use technology. The technologies we did use, like PowerPoint, and Twitter in my senior AP English class to discuss Tale of Two Cities was generally hated by everyone that used it. But my teachers were not allowing us creative solutions to discussing literature. As the textbook points out, my teachers boxed us in with these technologies, and nothing extraordinary was being accomplished, other than the fact that we could more effectively cyber-stalk each other. The textbook gives some really great examples and inspiration for teaching with technology in an actually effective way.
I have a personal blog on Tumblr,where I can post things that I love with very few restrictions. This blog is a site that allows me to be creative in the way that I find comfortable, while at the same time, I am able to connect with other people that live in Singapore, England, France, and Australia. I love the universality of this site, and would love to use it as a teaching tool at some point. Perhaps I could have students create an account and they could post their thoughts on class, or connect their own interests with the literature in class.
Similarly, one of my favorite ideas in the text was the making of the book trailer. Kids know how to use these technologies, and why shouldn't their teachers let them? In this way, kids can be creative while still utilizing their deeper understanding of the literature and critical thinking skills in new ways. Their own interpretation should serve as the base board to get all kinds of interesting feedback about the book or story shared in class.
After reading this chapter, I feel much better about using technologies in the classroom, especially ones that I feel comfortable using myself. Technology isn't going anywhere, and as educators, we really need to be aware of what is out there and how to use it to our students' advantage, so that they might actually succeed in the world.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Beers Chapter 8
This chapter makes me think of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycr5z48qTFI.
(I'm not sure how to post a video, but this is Jim Carrey speaking Korean in his movie Yes Man.)
Anyway, there was something ironic to me about having to read this chapter for today. In Dr. Kash's linguistic class, we had this same conversation about how to teach the students that don't speak English. His idea was to learn their language, which is good in theory, but totally unrealistic. As teachers, this is definitely a problem we need to think about. How do we address the students that don't speak English as a first language, especially if our school does not have the staff to have an ELL teacher.
I loved several of the ideas the book presented. The one that really sticks out in my mind is the idea that as Americans, we are open-minded enough to try ethnic foods and go to foreign places, but when it comes to our students, we have certain expectations and our prejudices come out. We need to be able to look past stereotypes enough to help our students the best we can regardless of what they look or sound like.
One of my favorite ideas was centered on the idea of students writing in English at the beginning of class, and then speaking to other students in English as a kind of warm up exercise, so they feel better prepared when it comes to actually speaking in class. I also liked the idea that sometimes ELL students need to work with native English speakers sometimes too. It just shows how, as teachers, we need to not only open our own eyes to erase prejudice, but to erase prejudices to our students. Foreigners are not going to stop coming to America any time soon, and we need to be as prepared as possible for helping these students to the best of our ability.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycr5z48qTFI.
(I'm not sure how to post a video, but this is Jim Carrey speaking Korean in his movie Yes Man.)
Anyway, there was something ironic to me about having to read this chapter for today. In Dr. Kash's linguistic class, we had this same conversation about how to teach the students that don't speak English. His idea was to learn their language, which is good in theory, but totally unrealistic. As teachers, this is definitely a problem we need to think about. How do we address the students that don't speak English as a first language, especially if our school does not have the staff to have an ELL teacher.
I loved several of the ideas the book presented. The one that really sticks out in my mind is the idea that as Americans, we are open-minded enough to try ethnic foods and go to foreign places, but when it comes to our students, we have certain expectations and our prejudices come out. We need to be able to look past stereotypes enough to help our students the best we can regardless of what they look or sound like.
One of my favorite ideas was centered on the idea of students writing in English at the beginning of class, and then speaking to other students in English as a kind of warm up exercise, so they feel better prepared when it comes to actually speaking in class. I also liked the idea that sometimes ELL students need to work with native English speakers sometimes too. It just shows how, as teachers, we need to not only open our own eyes to erase prejudice, but to erase prejudices to our students. Foreigners are not going to stop coming to America any time soon, and we need to be as prepared as possible for helping these students to the best of our ability.
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