Arguement for Tech Access

When I consider using technology, especially the internet programs, in the classroom, there is always a high risk of exposing students to inappropriate material. Online applications like Glogster and Voicethread can be used in new and innovative ways to get students more involved, but the these sites can also be harmful as well. When I looked at Glogster, I noticed that it can also be used as a social networking site. It kind of reminded me of myspace, with the different background pages and the application that allows the user to add music to the page. I’m afraid that students might use this site for being social and not put as much effort in it as they are supposed to. Also, other users can post whatever they want, thus immediately exposing students to all kinds of unwanted material. The best solution I can think of, is for a teacher to set up some guidelines for glogster. These guidelines may include the students not posting any inappropriate material. Any violation of these guidelines would result in a reduced grade or disciplinary action of the teachers choosing. I also recommend a a parental consent form that the students must get signed. This form will inform the parents of the activity the class will be taking part in. And if the students parents do not want his or her child to take part in the activity, the student may submit his or her post via email or hard copy.

Sand Magic

This is my post.

American Dollar Pic

http://voicethread.com/#q.b443908.i2359296

Web 2.0 sites

The first site I ran across was the Piclits.com site. I don’t really think the site itself can be used in a classroom setting, but I do believe that the idea of this site can be used. For example, lets say that we are doing a unit on descriptive writing. I could put up an image on the doc cam and create a word bank on the board. Then I could allow students to try to put the right words in the right place and the right order to capture the essence, story, and meaning of the picture. This way, the whole class can participate, and I can dictate the images that are being used.
I didn’t really see to much use for the site called Scratch in the English classroom. It could be something fun and creative to do in a computer technology class though.
The same thing applies for Voki. There isn’t really much a teacher could do with this one either. One suggestion would be to create a character from a novel we just read and give the character a voice. Have your made up character recount a chapter in the novel from that characters point of view.

Tim Tysons Keynote

The video on Mabry Middle School is like none I’ve ever seen before. These students are so driven and proactive. From what has been presented, it appears that Dr. Tyson has created an Utopian society for his middle school. The lady who introduced him commented that all the students respond well to him and he actually takes the time to interact with the students as well. I also like his idea of global distribution. Making a way so the whole world my see and enjoy the students work is a very good idea as well. Teachers in China can see the methods that the students in Mabry are using and use or even modify those methods any way they see fit. Global sharing can also give different worldly perspectives on different issues. For example, two different classrooms from different parts of the world could be presenting on the same topic, but the message and the main point could be totally different.
I believe Dr. Tyson posed a very important question at the beginning of this video. He asked his students “what do you have to say that it so important that the Whole World needs to see it?” And with the support of their parents and other teachers, the students were able to answer.

Classroom use

The idea of have a blog and allowing students to post on various topics is a new and exciting idea. Students will really be excited about exploring this new avenue. But in this day and age, facebook parallels, if not exceeds the idea of blogging and putting your ideas out on the web. This is where sites like gabcast.com come in. Students can still voice their ideas, but this way, students have a opportunity to be literally seen and heard. It will be as if students will have their own radio show. For example, if the students have an assignment to do a book review, they can make the review as creative as they want through their gabcast. They can do it as an interview, news report/ investigative report, or they can do as a late night talk show.
The Wordle is also a very interesting idea that can be used for the classroom. It gives a very artistic feel to the students writing. This would be perfect for poems. Though, I do not believe all the students would respond well to using this. I have a feeling that the more artistic students will really enjoy and appreciate this assignment more than students who are not as interested in aesthetic art.
I also think the museum box could be used for numerous assignments. Students could try and tell a short story through the items they put in their museum box. Then when they are done, students can share their museum box with other students. After the museum boxes are shared, students can try to come up with their own short story, based off the materials found in the museum box.

Multimodal learning through Media

I can’t begin to say how many times I have heard those statistics about the thing we remember. My teachers tried to pound that in our heads, and even at a young age, I still questioned the convenience of how round and accurate the numbers were. I would most certainly beg to differ, because I believe different students learn different ways. Some students retain information better by listening and observing, and other students need to be hands on to grasp the concept of the lesson. Although I do have respect for Edgar Dale, I am not completely sold on how high the percentage for say and doing information is, but I do believe that saying and doing something will help you retain information the best. I also would like to argue the learning pyramid on page five. I think that demonstration should have a higher percent than 30%. In that same thought, I tend to believe that demonstration fits in the same category as teaching, but to be able to teach, someone must first know the information.
Later in the article, it starts to talk about memory. My thoughts on that was about how to exercise our students long term memory? When I was in high school, it seems like I never remembered anything for more than a week. I learned the material just for the test, then I erased that slate and began thinking about the next thing. In math or science it is easier, because students can’t really just remember formulas and expect to get by. They have to know how to do the material, to pass. But literature on the other hand, students can just remember important facts about the content and erase their slate afterwards. So how do we make literature more hands on and easier to remember? One idea I have, is to have the students act out the literature, especially for Shakespeare. Any other suggestions?

Teen targeted websites as text. Wow!!!!!!

I never was a big slim jim fan. the commercials annoyed me to no end. But i do love Doritos, so I can see what the author si talking about in that sense. But the more I read the article, the more I see how these company’s marginalize different races and ethnicities. It had one part about how on the website they have a black girl being a dj, a white guy playing the air guitar, and a Hispanic boy with a soccer ball. Is this what is associated with the youth of these races? Black people want to be hip hop and white people rock and role? And Hispanic people don’t really have a acceptable musical identity, so lets give them a soccer ball? Is this what the executives think? WTF. And the sad thing about it is, young kids buy right into it. Heck, I even enjoy me some spicy nacho doritos every once and a while.
I would have liked the author to do a deeper study into how company’s marginalize and target other groups of people. Lets take Mcdonalds for example. Who do you think they target? Don’t worry, I’ll wait. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Well ok, let me ask an easier question. What kind of people do you see in Mcdonald’s commercials now a days?. . . . . . . . . . . . . Black people. And if black people arent in the commercial, there is a reference to African American culture in it. Just think about it. I even have some commercials to show you. And as much as I hate what they are doing, I can’t give up my mcdouble. I’m so week.

A Video is worth a Thousand Words

A Video is worth a Thousand Words

Pick one of the posted music videos that are posted under this assignment on the class blog. After you have chosen one of the videos, you are to watch the video with the sound off. If you recognize the song or the video, please make another selection. After you have watched your selected video several times, you are to write a fictional short story about what you believe the video is about. Your short story must be at least one thousand words. The events, settings, characters, conflicts, and resolution you choose to include in your short story must have some relevance. In other words, your main character may not be a space cowboy unless the video gives you reason to believe that he is a space cowboy. You will be working on comprehending and interpreting visual works and exercising you creative writing skills in this assignment. After you have completed your short story, you must write a paragraph on your artistic approach to your creative piece. Explain to me why you chose the setting, tone, characters and climax of your story. You may work alone or with a partner. Paired groups are required to make their story at least 1500 words. And most importantly, be creative.

10/1  Watch and select a video

10/2  Begin drafting the short story

10/6  Rough draft due

10/9  Final draft and one paragraph explanation due

Rational:

This assignment will be done in a high school classroom. We wanted to use this clip, because it has a lot of artistic value. We could tell that the artist wanted this project to be more than just a music video, but he wanted this to be looked at as a piece of art. Taking that into consideration, the video is open to a wide range of interpretations, just like many pieces of literature.

During this assignment we want the students to be able to look at this video and be able to make their own interpretation of what they believe is the point of the video. We would also show the video without any sound. This way the student’s interpretation will not be swayed by the words of the song. As students progress through literature, they will be forced interpret different pieces of literature. So we see this assignment as a way to practice their interpretation skills. But instead of creating a mental image while they are reading, students will be able to see the details in the video.

Once the students have a good idea of what they think the video is about, they will write a creative short story inspired by the video. We want the students to be able to create a setting, characters, conflicts, resolutions etc. through what they perceive. First, this short story will allow the students to practice their creative writing skills. It is another way for students to express their interpretation and also justify them creatively.

To help the students get a better understanding, we will walk them through an example video clip assignment. First we would show a music video in class with the sound off. Then we will walk them through our beliefs about the characters, setting, tone, and conflicts. Along with those details, we will provide justifications for why I created my short story in such a way. This way we are showing students how to justify their interpretation and not have senseless details.

Questions:

What is the value of the colors?

What is the tone? And why?

Why did the artist choose these characters?

What are the symbols?

Does the artist use text? If so why?

Does the artist make any references? If so Why?

What is the quality of the video( good, bad, old new)? Did the artist choose this quality on purpose? If so Why?

Is there a conflict? Is so, what is it? If not, why not?

How does the artist end the video? Why does he choose this ending?

How Company’s hook our kids

I never understood why kids go crazy fruity snacks until I did some extensive research. When I was growing up, my parents did not allow me to have fruit roll ups and such, so I didn’t quite understand. When I visited the gushers and fruit roll ups site, I thought to myself “How could a kid resist?” All the bright colors, and games just for kids that get them hooked right away.
I decided to look at the skittles website to examine a product that titles people of all ages. And I was amazed. On the front page in Bold, Colorful, Exciting font, it says “HOLLA AT THE RAINBOW” I can tell some old executives reached back about six years and grabbed some slang. Though it did catch my attention with how they presented the font, I was not amused. Older people reading this message may think “Hey, I’m learning some knew slang” but my generation knows better. I really don’t see any value in this advertisement at all. I see it as a sad attempt to get people to buy their product. Sorry Skittles, You fail.