Blog Post #12

I have greatly enjoyed reading my classmates blogs. I think that one of the most interesting things I've been able to discuss with my classmates is the ways that they feel technology does and does not belong in the classroom. I have found that my own opinions have changed a great deal since taking this class and that has a great deal to do with reading other peoples thoughts and feelings about it that they present in their blogs.
I'm not sure yet what the next technological skill that I want to learn is but this class has made me feel far more open to learning anything technological than I used to be. I guess, lately, I have been interested in video blogging. My boyfriend and I have been talking about making one about how to live comfortable when you're in college and therefore poor. And I think that having to keep this blog has made me more open to making one on my own. And I also think that the research skills that I've learned have made me feel like I can find anything my heart desires. Truthfully, I even get my grocery list offline (If you're as neurotic as me: http://www.grocerylists.org/ultimatest/).
I think that this sort of independent exploration is exactly how I'm going to be able to achieve whatever technological goal I end up setting for myself. I also think that having friends who are really into computers, programing, ect, will also be helpful, and, absolutely being surrounded by young children who know more about this stuff than I do - for sure! - will also be very helpful to me in coming up with and achieving a technological goal.

Blog Post #11

I'm not really sure how to describe my experience using Twitter this semester. I don't really know that I used it all that much. Mostly, I thought about using it when I didn't have an educational need for it, and then when I had class questions, I found myself sending e-mails or text messages instead. I think, perhaps, because over the last four years I have just gotten more accustomed to e-mailing.
However, I think that since I intend to be working with 12-14-year-olds, I might feel more comfortable with them using something like this since that same reliance on e-mail hasn't been built up. I'm not sure. I have been really interested lately in working with students in Title 1-type schools and I sometimes wonder how much out of class computer stuff I can do due to the typical socio-economic status of most students. I think that if I'm at a school where most kids have a computer in their home or a cell phone that gets text messages, then I'd more than likely use it, but if not, I guess then, I wouldn't.
I would use it because I do think it is a useful educational tool. I think it's a really easy way to allow students easy access to information from their teacher. I do, however, also see how this could become a problem. I guess I've always been a work-at-work kind of person. I think it's useful, however, because students can get the information that they may have forgotten very easily, which would be especially nice if a student were sick that day. However, I also see how that could create a reliance on it. And I think that it is important to teach students to remember their tasks. I do, however, mostly feel like it would be worth a try.

My Awesome Podcast

I stumble over a lot of words.

Blog Post #10

I am really interested in using Diigo and have actually been using it myself lately for a few papers that I’ve been writing. I think it is a great source for keeping yourself organized. For a long time, I was really neurotic about printing things out so I could have a tangible hard copy of my sources but when my printer ran out of ink that became a problem. However, this website is great because I don’t have to be on my own computer to find all the things I had been doing research on.

I think this will be great for eighth grade English students. Kids no longer desire a hard copy of things because so many of them grow up with computers in a way that is so different from how I did. Using this cleanly organized source, they can do research at school and access it at home or in the public library. It is very simple and incredibly easy to understand how to use. I think this will be very helpful when it comes to teaching students how to write research papers.

I absolutely think web 2.0 technology is not only useful but also necessary in K-12 education. I think, however, one thing that would be very helpful would be for students to learn web etiquette. That was something I had to learn by making mistakes and many of my friends have shared the same thing with me. However, I think that computers in daily life are no long something of a privilege, but rather a fact. Students are going to need to know how to use one in order to succeed in any job or career that they enter into.

Blog Post #9

http://www.webenglishteacher.com/

This is the website that I found that I am finding particularly interesting. It has an amazing amount of resources, it is well organized, and it is all about english! The presentation isn't particularly captivating but the material is what I really care about, and it is full of that. And, it's very easy to find whatever I could ever possibly need, and then some.

I'm not completely certain that it is the very best one out there, but I think that is something I will discover the further along I go with working. Speaking of which, by the time most of you are reading this, I will have taught my first lesson. My sister encouraged me to keep a blog of it and so I am. It can be found here: alisonslusarczyk.blogspot.com Yay! It's definitely been interesting.

I think that the obvious way that I will be using Excel, or a program like Excel is in keeping grades organized. I love any type of organizational software and use Excel on, at least, a weekly basis. But, I also have always really enjoyed making word searches and crossword puzzles on it, which I think is a really fun way to help kids remember their vocabulary words.

Blog Post #8

For my PowerPoint 2 assignment, I did the Jeopardy version. I am not fully certain how well mine fits the things addressed in Chapter 8. I am of the belief that it fits very well the type of thing that it is supposed to be. I chose to do four different topics: Art, History, Literature, and Classical Music. The questions were geared towards 9^th graders and they were one, concise statement with four possible answers.

I am still not sure about how I would integrate non-computer audio-visual technologies in my classroom. I think that much of this has to do with what the school I’m working at has available for me. I would like to think that I would be able to provide my students with absolutely everything, but I think, realistically, not every school has everything.

I do think, though, that the things I’ve learned about using PowerPoint will be very useful. I think that the biggest thing I learned was how much time PowerPoint takes. I think that one of the most difficult things to learn, whether you’re going into teaching or not, is time management. It’s definitely the most difficult thing to learn, for me. And so it was really helpful to get a feel for what it takes to make one.

Blog Post #7

I think that one of the biggest advantages of using a program like powerpoint (or any kind of presentation software, really) is that students who take a long time to write things down have what was previously said on the slide that is behind the presenter. I also think that it helps keep a lesson on track because it is, in a certain way, an outline. However, I think there are several problems that come with this. One of them is that students often only pay attention to what is written on the screen, and not to what is being said, at least, I know I do that sometimes. I think, also, there is something that is absolutely wonderful about the spontaneity that takes place in class discussion and I am a very large supporter of education that maybe isn’t on the syllabus but does come form children’s curiosity. So, maybe having an outline isn’t THAT great of a thing. However, I think, at the same time, it would help keep a person like me a little more focused.

I am noticing that quite a few people have said that they felt like powerpoint wouldn’t be a good tool to use when teaching English. I actually did my assignment for this week on To Kill a Mocking Bird. I used it to present historical information, show pictures of the south in the 1930’s so viewers could get a better feeling for the setting of the novel, and show the due dates for reading and the paper. (This class doesn’t exist, but it does in my mind). I have had a few teachers use power point for things like this and I, personally, really enjoyed it. Actually, I had one teacher who taught a religion course who only used powerpoint to present pictures of maps. In this way, I feel like it can definitely be useful to English teachers. I think it also helps to put one major question up – mine was about why knowing history is important to literature – for the imaginary class to discuss. This way, no one needs the question repeated, and no one can say that they don’t know what’s being asked.

I think that I am still interested in the place of technology in the classroom. I, personally, am still not sure how much technology I would like to use in my classroom. I know that, on a certain level, the technological revolution is one that I should embrace for the sake of children, but I think that there is something really great about using a pencil and paper. I know, I write almost everything that way still because I think there is a certain amount of importance in the motion of writing and how it connects to your brain and it’s function as a catharsis. But, I don’t think that means computers are totally out. I think it’s something I’ll have to experiment with. But, I’m very curious to know what other people think about it.