Thursday, August 5, 2010

social equity at its finest

In the article from Learning & Leading with Equity it was useful to learn about the Digital Equity Portal. Free computers! Strategies to help access! Sounds good. They mention reflecting on the use of technology and surveying students which seems quite logical in order to assess how effective a teacher’s use of tech is. Helping students find access outside of school is important for equity.

In the article by Christine Greenhow, she highlighted that we should help students become acquainted and proficient in how to use technology as preparation for the real world. In her article she cited that access wasn’t so much of a problem for low- income students. Students are quite savvy on chat rooms, with texting and on social networking sites for example but not so much with email. It seems to suggest that students want to be engaged and prepared to use technology so if we are not using it or teaching students how they can best utilize it’s benefits, students would be at a disadvantage.

I think that we should utilize whatever resources we have to enhance our lessons and connect to students. Of course when we are seeking to connect to our students, because they are so diverse, we should use diverse methods to connect to them. We have learned about learning styles and technology can help us connect to all students’ different learning styles.

I think a big consideration is for homework. I think that is where I need to draw the line. I think we may have to be diverse in our approach to giving assignments and expectations about what students need to do outside of school. I think this goes back to setting our standards and the proficiencies that we want students to meet. Obviously, if we are testing students on technical skills like typing or being able to utilize the internet well for research, then we may have to provide extra time in class for students to do that work in order to be equitable to students who don’t have technology outside of school or are still working at becoming proficient in using technology. At the school I used to work at, we used Open Office and there were students who wanted to use their Macs or MS Powerpoint so when I gave work time in class, they worked on other work or tried to prepare the slides they would do later on paper. I thought this was a way to make sure there was time for students who needed computers and gave flexibility to those who had more technology access outside of school. Also, I gave the option to do the presentation on paper and some guidelines for that. The point was to present information in a creative and interactive way so I thought it was best to be flexible.

I think we need to survey, as they said in the article. Once we find out which students don’t have tech access outside of school, we can help them trouble shoot how to find it (library, maybe there is a study hall period they could go to the computer lab at school, etc.) I think it is also good to give work time in class for those students to utilize the resources we have at the school. I also think it is fair to ask them to stay after school or come in early if the expectation is that ALL students will have to utilize some time out of school doing the project.

Monday, August 2, 2010

powerpoint- the good, the bad and the time consuming

1. I thought there were many good photos that enhanced the presentations and sound integration fade in of photos were great. Noelle’s video awesome and presentation relevant to students. MK’s photos lined up, I loved the cool background with all the dates. I liked that Scott had students read the powerpoint. Andrew had great diagrams to help understand Current.
2. I zone out if there are no words and no notes page. Some words help students who struggle with paying attention.
3. More photos, overwriting on photos, fade in and out, sound bite worked at home but I don’t know why it didn’t work here
4. I like the visual aspect and think that with notes pages and some words it could be a great learning tool for students.
Pros- visual, engaging when done right, great for substitutes and helpful for ELL students
Cons- time consuming and dependant on reliable technology. I think that inserting video and sound may be easy if I used it a lot but I feel like I could spend more time on that when it is just as easy as keeping a window open with the video ready to play.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

they know the difference

I read the article, “Is Chatspeak Destroying English?” and found that both sides of the issue rang true for me. I do think there is a danger in chatspeak if students don’t know the difference of when to use it and when not to use it. I think that students may be learning a second language in a sense and learn to codeswitch yet I do think that if, as teachers, we don’t validate that students do have another form of language that is appropriate with friends and teach that chatspeak isn’t appropriate for school, it could be detrimental to our relationships with students.

I think young people and marginalized people have often created means by which they can communicate in a way that others may not be able to quickly understand. I agree with Greg Monfils when he says, “ … that it makes it all the more attractive to teens who, by any means at their disposal, will codeswitch to create a private language that excludes members of my generation who will most likely find their code aesthetically wanting.” He continues that if chatspeak happens to bleed into formal papers it often is due to rebelliousness rather than not knowing the difference between formal register and chat.

Linda Howard has a point that “The shortcuts and acronyms that make instant messaging, text messaging and online chatting so popular have no place in academic, business and other formal writing settings where it is essential that all individuals involved are using language that is clear and concise.” I agree with this and I think that as teachers we can teach students when and where to use certain registers. If students are taught that chatspeak is o.k. with their friends but not o.k. in the academic and business setting then I font think we have to worry. Just like teens speak differently at school than at home or with their friends. Each teacher has to decide their limits and make their expectations clear to students so then they know what to do. If teacher A doesn’t mind if students use chatspeak in their emails to him or her and teacher B does, then students can adjust. If we have to give them gentle reminders, then so be it.

I imagine some schools may even come to ban chatspeak but I think that schools should choose their battles. If it is seriously infringing on academic success, then it should be addressed. Otherwise, I think we should set our personal annoyances aside and let teenagers be free to create so long as no one is getting hurt.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is harassment, threatening behavior and things that a student says online, in chat, in a text or otherwise using technology to inflict harm on a person. When I was working a a high school last year we had a few issues of this. One young woman would say really threatening and hurtful things to two other girls on Facebook. None of these students’ pages were on private so we could see everything. Every once in a while I would check to see if things were being said even after we talked with the perpetrator. She would continue to do it until finally I think the drama of that situation passed. Fortunately nothing extremely bad happened but I know that the girls were hurt by the words and that hurt could last a lifetime.
I find the legal issues in the cases of cyberbullying quite interesting. I can see the point that schools can’t discipline students for behavior that happens off school grounds but if it harbors learning for a student in school, I think schools should have the right to discipline the perpetrators. I guess that it’s refreshing that schools can develop their own policies and are encouraged to get police involvement if the cyberbullying is severe enough. Also, principals can point parents to contact law enforcement if their children are being harassed. I think that schools should be able to help parents and students get resources to address the issue and do what they can to help make it so that the students involved are helped or referred to help depending on what both the victim and perpetrator may need.
On the stop cyberbullying website, I liked the suggestions that they gave for teachers to help students to check in before they wrote something online that they regretted. I like the Stop! (take 5 minutes,) Block (the cyber bully,) and Tell (an adult strategy) to teach students.
I think that I would use a pre-emptive strategy as we talk about expectations for the class. I think that students often don’t realize the power of their words and by harassing on the internet or in a text, they may feel more detached thus not think about the consequences of their words. I think initially doing it as a whole group lesson and giving suggestions about how students can stop it if they are a victim or if as friend of theirs is a victim would be really helpful. This could easily complement talks about respect and how we treat others at the start of the class. Also, to dissuade students from cyberbullying, we could teach a strategy that helps students if they are victims that also would hopefully discourage a student from doing it. We used to say at the high school, “Copy, Paste.” I think if students have a feeling that if they say something bad and others can copy, paste, give it to a teacher or their parents, they might decline.
If an individual does cyberbully and I were to find out, I would talk with the school counselor to determine the best plan of action. It is only a matter of time before all schools have policies around “responsible use” regarding this issue and/or make specific rules about this… I hope. I think this should be treated the same as bullying and harassment.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

google me!

1. I was happy to find that I didn’t come up on Facebook or Myspace when I googled myself. I found myself on the school’s website that I used to work for, a study abroad program that I went to, a grant I got at the school, a couple of websites that I registered on and sports stats for boxing and running. Pipl had the same results but had my addresses.

www.jym.wayne.edu/studyabroad_germany_fulbright_fellows.html
www.millerfound.org/teaching-awards/2009-awardees/
www.lephigh.org/LEPfaculty.html
http://www.mylife.com/c-2589024316
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/laura-valent/15/530/a38
www.riverwestcurrents.org/2003/July/000759.html
blog.oregonlive.com/runoregon/.../cinco_de_mayo_race_report.html
www.racecenter.com/results/2010/res_ft10.htm
http://www.beavertonvalleytimes.com/sports/story_2nd.php?story_id=117095375762810400

2. I am fine with those results coming up except the addresses.
3. I think that teachers should be held to standards that promote best practices and the current research on teaching for students who come from diverse backgrounds. I think it is good to be open but teachers have to also have good boundaries and those boundaries are often hard to determine. I think that in some cases, teacher’s language can and should be used against them. I in no way think that we should revert to the standards that were written in 1905 which also show extreme gender discrimination especially since teachers at that time were women. I think teachers should be held to a high standard of moral behavior and I believe the same about politicians, sports figures, Hollywood stars and most jobs. It is hard to convince young people of the value of being an honest, committed, legitimate person when the people in power can drink and drive, cheat, lie and steal and get away with it. Just because teachers work directly with kids they shouldn’t have to live by an extra high standard.
4. I mostly thought that the free speech clause was interesting in the article. It is interesting that free speech can be protected, “in regard to issues of public importance.” I agree that it is tricky to be able to designate a proper discipline for a teacher who speaks off duty about issues that are not of public concern and …whose business it is what a person does outside of work? I think it is a good suggestion to help teachers define the line within schools based on the school’s policies and personal choices when well informed of risks and benefits.
5. I am not going to accept students as friends on Facebook. I am happy to see that I am well hidden from searches and I will continue to do what I can to keep it that way. I am not afraid of what people will find out but I am concerned about my personal information being public. How do I get my address off of there?

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Digital Natives/Immigrants

1. I believe I am a Digital Immigrant. I remember having a computer in the house when I was a teenager and I played a game called Kid Pix. I can see the benefits of technology and I am pretty well acquainted with some of the language that Digital Natives use, but I can't see eliminating all other methods that have been used to help students. Teachers should learn the language that students are speaking just like we should learn what is of interest of them.

I think it is a struggle as a teacher to validate the benefits of computers and at the same time highlight the importance of curriculum that may be considered more in line with "legacy" content. I agree with Prensky that we need to teach both. After watching the video, I was shocked at some of the numbers; average college graduate plays 10,000 hours of video games and is on the phone 10,000 minutes by that age. They spend 20,000 hours watching TV. In the article, it also said at the most of the students only read up to 5,000 hours reading.

In the 2nd part of Prensky's article, he uses evidence from neurobiology and psychology that, while I think it is interesting, we all know that practice and excessive attention to anything will make a student more proficient. So why not learn to play a sport, musical instrument or some other kind of hobby?

2. In high school and college, I don't recall much technology being used. I remember doing the Oregon Trail game in Middle school but that is about it. I was just working at a Charter School and we had many issues keeping up on our tech. As a charter school we didn't have as much tech support as we needed and computers were used so much that they had a very short shelf life. Some teachers killed the benefits of PowerPoint by overusing it and students were encouraged to use PowerPoint so much that sometimes it seemed like a back up for lack of creativity.

We had projectors in every room and a few ELMOs. The biggest challenge was really the staff's lack of knowledge on technology and we had to learn how not to depend on it - even when it would be helpful- in case something would get in our way of using it.

3. I would love to incorporate technology but not be overly dependant on it. I think that Document Viewers, Projectors, videos and music can be helpful to enhance lessons. I think Web searches can be a great tool if they are well guided and also, as a Spanish teacher, there are great games that students can use to learn grammar and memories verb conjugations. I don't think these articles changed my mind but I do feel that they were quite biased and I am nervous about Technology becoming so prevalent in students' lives if it will cause them to be less connected to other humans.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Introduction

My name is Laura Valent. I am pursuing my certification in Spanish and English as a Second Langauge in high school. I like giraffes. I did a cheesy meditation thing on youtube and I discovered that the giraffe was my spirit animal. Giraffes are said to be intuitive and they have strong legs. I also love lions and a giraffe kick can kill a lion which is sad but also cool and powerful. Also they are speedy when they run and I like to run fast too!