New Post, New Class, Old Blog

So this is the same blog that I used for the ed tech class, and I figure it is a good idea to just continue as it will be a good documentation of my progress and thinking through different parts of this credential program. I began reading today the book, “Rethinking High School,” which is something that I do on a daily basis. I wonder often if the ideas that I have are just some utopian dream, or if there is reality stashed away in there somewhere. What I immediately took away from this chapter is that I am not the only one that feels this way the authors do too. And that some schools are failing, while others are in reform mode, and there is really no one-way to get to perfection.

From student’s perspective, schools are “badly out of tune with the time,” and they “are usually boring, frequently a waste of time—and sometimes a danger.” From a reformers perspective, the keys to successful change are keeping the feeling of the school small and personal, allowing students to feel connected, making it much more individualized, focused interdisciplinary curriculum, mentor like teaching practice, and interaction with the community at large.

These are broad strokes of the painting, how one particular school actually gets there is left to experimentation, trial, and error. I completely agree that schools for the most part are totally outdated. In fact, in clinical practice one, I happened to be a part of a classroom environment that was well structured, but stuck very closely to the practices of 30 years prior. In comparing educational reform to geology, the authors illustrate nicely what it feels like in public education. I feel like with each batch of graduating teacher candidates, reform is seeping ever so quietly into the system. It may no longer take an earthquake, but rather little tremors along the way.

Video Madness

By far the most entertaining and fun project I have had all semester.  No offense to Mr. Portacio’s excel lesson, but this was a hell of a lot more fun.  Not only was the lead up the project fun, things like the story boarding and the costume design, but the actual filming was great.  Our group has had moments of disagreement, where we have not seen eye to eye, and it has felt like there is a little tension every once in a while, but this project really brought us all together.  We were all having such a good time with the acting, the filming, the ideas and the story all seemed to be flowing. 

For me personally, this project really let my creativity out.  It was the perfect outlet.  So often we as students are stuck doing the same drab and boring assignments.  This project didn’t even feel like schoolwork.  I know that if I were able to get completely amped on a project for school, my students would be as well.  This type of project can be used in so many ways in the classroom.  I love the idea of the small format or commercial format.  It allows for students to be succinct without boring the audience and themselves.  Having to get ones point across in a matter of minutes instead of hours (when writing a paper) or even with a longer video makes the students really analyze what is most important to the point of their video and what needs to be said most. 

This project gets a A+ in my book, even if I don’t.

Evaluate the Evaluation

So often today we are faced with new and “improved” technology.  It seems as though something new is placed before us on a daily basis.  What we choose to spend out money on or the schools money must be carefully evaluated and analyzed for it reliability, dependability, and functionality.  From audio/video mediums, new software programs, CD-ROMs, and the infinite number of websites that pop up each day, we as teachers need to know what makes something quality and what makes something a waste of time at best and money at worst. 

http://www.evalutech.sreb.org/criteria/index.asp gives us the tools necessary to do just that.  It is a break down and a rubric for what makes something quality.  This run down will allow anyone to look for certain highlights in which products should have.  There is just so much out there that this one stop shop will help anyone, no matter what his or her level of technological expertise, and allow for a simple analysis. 

One of the links titled, “Questions to ask about your technology investment,” is a list of things that we should be asking ourselves when buying new technology for our classrooms.  They are things that we do not always think about when entrenched in the moment of purchase.  As anyone that has ever bought anything knows that that moment can be highly impulsive.  But if we have a list that has been well thought out, and allows ourselves some time to think and be a bit more methodical about the decision without rushing into things, we may come away with a far better product and something that will benefit us that much more.

WIKI WIKI WIKI

Wikis, are they the greatest or worst information source ever conceived?  The jury is still out on that.  The can be a tremendous asset if utilized properly and maintained on a regular basis.  But the problem with them is that a lot of false information can also be uploaded.  My gut instinct towards wikis is that they are an undeniably valuable resource for quick information checks.  But when doing more in-depth analysis or research, it is ALWAYS necessary to cross check any and all information that one comes across via a wiki. 

In all honesty, the reading for this week seemed to be a bit obvious.  E all know that there is a technology gap between schools that have the resources and those that don’t.  Some of the fund raising suggestions were valid, and there is definitely a need for the teachers to be aggressive in and out side of the school administration.  Lacks of financial resources are something that every teacher will have to deal with throughout his or her career.  Unfortunately that is not something that will go away any time soon.  So therefore it is up to the teachers to find additional sources of monies or actual hardware.  Another valid piece of advice given in the article is to be self reflective upon when and how much technology is actually utilized within the classroom.  Technology should eventually be viewed in the same light as books or pencils.  This is how essential they are to modern culture. 

As far as copyright laws are concerned, it is just one more set of rules and regulations that will have to be paid close attention to.  I don’t think that it will affect me very much in the classroom.  But I do feel that I will need to separate my personal views from those that are the actual views.  I may disagree with some things that are law, but that is not for me to present to the class.  I am there to set a good example, the students can make up their own minds without my impute.

WeB QuEsT

I have never experience a web quest first hand that I can recall, so if I did do one, it must not have made much of an impact.  However, the term is familiar, and after reading and hearing about it this week, I am convinced that this strategy will be employed in my classroom.  It seems like the most obvious of assignments, something that is almost common sense.  Using the internet as a source for solving problems, answering questions, analyzing data, is something that everyone will eventually be used to doing (if they are not already).  To simply transfer this to the classroom is so logical.  But I do feel like there is a major difference between sending a student off on their own to simply “research” on the Internet, and helping guide them through a topic, which essentially is a web quest.

There are so many variables that can be employed and they enable teachers to touch on many levels of thinking (Bloom’s Taxonomy).  One of the things that I like most about these types of projects is that they are interactive and can easily become group projects.  I feel that so much of what is done in the work place is cooperation between employees, teaching students the importance of working with one and other on a consistent basis is a critical skill to learn when preparing them for the “real world.”  In addition these projects can take on a long or short-term time frame.  I really like the idea of an evolving web quest that takes place over the length of a semester.  It becomes much more complex and I think increases exponentially on the difficulty scale the deeper students get into a project like that.

The simplicity of the structure, which is, Introduction, Task, Process, Information sources, Evaluation, Conclusion, allows for such diversity and creativity when designing a good quest.  These exercises can turn into group presentations, individual presentations or even extended into a report or physical project.  Really the options are limitless.  As mentioned before, this tool will definitely be used in my classroom.

Sites, Sites and more Sites

There is no doubt that I will be using a website for my classroom.  Even if it is something that is really simple and to the point like the sites that we created this week using the Google sites tool.  Eventually I would like to make something a bit more complex, but nothing that will take an exorbitant amount of time to keep up to date.  That is one of the issues that I see happening when looking at other teacher’s sites.  They have way too much content, it must take a full time jobs just to keep the site up and running.  But besides the time that something like that takes, the aesthetic appeal of a page filled with clutter really diminishes the more that goes up.  People can easily get overwhelmed and frustrated with sites that are just a mess of information.  Things have to be easy to navigate and make some sort of logical sense. 

I would love to include things on my site like blogs, threads, vlogs, pod casts, file sharing and of course a calendar.  I think that websites are the best tool to communicate with parents.  It is so easily accessible and can give a real window into what is happening in a child’s classroom.

As up keep of the site can be an issue.  One idea that came to mind is to have the students help in those tasks.  They would not only learn the intricacies of website maintenance, but it would also help to reinforce the lessons and or assignments.