Social Justice

During this entire class I have wondered about what I would do if I was teaching in a low income area where not every student had internet at home. Although I get very excited about using everything I am learning in this class, that has always been in the back of my mind. I think that the article had a very good idea about discreetly finding out what kind of access your students have to technology. I like the idea of doing a survey at the beginning of class. However, I don’t feel like giving them information for a community center or library is sufficient. It definitely makes a difference if that student lives within walking distance to one of these locations, but if not, they are most likely not going to utilize these resources. This may be because of lack of transportation or it is just one more step to finish their homework that the other students don’t have and they may just not do it.

My opinion is that if only a few students, or maybe even one, do not have easy access to internet or the technology required to complete an assignment, I should not require the assignment in the first place or I should give them an option to complete the assignment in an alternative form. They do still need to learn important technological skills, so if I was in a school that had the resources, I would make all technological assignments to do in-class. If I am not in a school with the technological resources I would then follow the advice of the article and search for resources using the Digital Equity Portal and Toolkit. I may also speak to my principle and superintendent or try to get the community involved in raising money for the school. If I am in a low income community and a school that does not have the resources, my guess is that I will be advocating for my students in many other ways as well. Technology definitely deserves a spot on my “to fight for” list because, like the article stated, having technological skills is vital for the future success of our students.

I would do my best to not allow the lack of access of a few students ruin the chance for the rest of my students to gain technological skills. I would simply do most or all of the technology based assignments in-class or I would give the students without access an alternative if possible, so the rest of the students could do the assignment with technology. For example, I created a webquest that required my students to make a travel blog. For a student who had no access to a computer or internet at home or near home, I would print out the webquest pages for them, allow them time in class to research and print out information or go to the library and allow them to turn in written blog posts.

I think there are ways around a lot of the issues, but I think the hardest to overcome would not be your students not having access at home, but the school not even having access to technology either. Now I realize the importance of technology in the classroom and I hope to advocate for it in my future teaching job.

Should cell phones be banned from classrooms?

I tend to agree with Josh Allen on this one. I think that cell phones should not be used in the classroom. Every use that Liz came up with for cell phones in the classroom could be done on the computer. The nice thing about that is that you don’t have to worry about a student using the computer during an inappropriate time in class (it should be pretty obvious, unlike a cell phone).

I think she is missing a major factor when she stated, “There are businesses that are completely mobile, and job interviews that are done via phone. Students need to learn how to use their social devices as a professional tool if they want to be competitive in the future”. First of all, the students that already own the kinds of phones that she is talking about will already know how to use all of the gadgets, so I think they will be fine as long as we teach them the professional skills they will need in the business world. As far as the students that don’t have these types of phones, we cannot require them to purchase them for school because that is obviously unfair and I agree with Josh Allen when he says that, “Any monies spent on phones and plans would be much better served with any number of other technologies.”

Before reading this article, I did not know that buying every student a cell phone was even discussed in schools. I am curious to know how common this is. I would also like to find the best ways to control social cell phone use in my classroom.

Is Chatspeak Destroying English?

I tend to agree with Greg Monfils in saying that no, chatspeak is not destroying English. As I was reading the other side, written by Linda Howard, I thought of the foreign language example. I am a strong supporter of bilingual education and I think it would be inconsistent of me to agree with Linda. Many people think that knowing another language endangers a person’s command of the “more important” language. Well, that is simply not true and there is plenty of research to back it up. If a person is taught when to use which language and is educated in both, then it is a benefit to know both. Greg argues that student’s, “command of chatspeak is directly proportional to their awareness that the fashion of chatspeak subverts traditional rules of written English.” I think this is very true and disproves most of Linda’s arguments.

It is extremely important to teach our students when chatspeak is appropriate and when it is not. I don’t think it should be allowed in the classroom at all. Unlike Greg, I would not allow my students to email me using chatspeak. They need to learn how to write professional emails to professors, bosses, and colleagues in the future. I think Linda’s fear that it “will be difficult to switch gears and construct adequate, meaningful academic papers and other assignments” can be solved by simply educating our students. It is our responsibility to teach them how to write and express themselves in meaningful, academic ways and to also teach them when to use which type of language.

I am anxious to see how much this really affects student’s writing in the classroom. Do they already know not to use chatspeak in school work like Greg argues? My feeling is yes, but I guess I will just have to wait and see. Another question I had while reading the article was: Does it affect students who already struggle with writing more so than those who don’t struggle? Linda argues that yes, it does, but I guess I will have to wait and see on that one also!

Webquest Comment 2 - Tom Ramsey

I really liked the topic of this webquest. It is a great combination of Tom’s two endorsements: social studies and science. I think students will really learn a lot from this project and is a great way to raise awareness about the relationship between salmon and humans. I really like how they have to come up with a solution to the issues that they discover. They are really engaged in their own learning by doing this. I also really like the video that Tom included. It is a video based on his personal experience and I think the students will really like that. Tom included everything required in the rubric except for the standards in the teacher page. He had many links for the students, pictures for each task, and clearly described the requirements.

My suggestions for improvement would be to fix some of the grammatical and syntax errors. Students will definitely notice that and, as we have heard, love to point out all of our errors! I would also suggest having the links open in a new window. That is just something that I like to do when I am looking at multiple things online. Besides that, I think this is a great Webquest project and Tom’s students would/will learn a lot from this experience!

PowerPoint Presentation Reflection

I really liked the variety of topics of the power point presentations. I love learning about random things from my classmates! It was obvious that everyone carefully chose their topic and were passionate about it. That was the best thing I saw: their passion for their subject. It was evident when they presented that they chose that topic because they are genuinely interested in it and want to share the information with everyone else. I have learned so much from everyone’s presentations. For example, I learned about Chichen Itza, the Isle of Man and the bike race, and how to make a camera out of a box.

The least engaging thing about some of the power point presentations were that they were not created/presented in an interactive way. Some had too much text and the presenter relied on the power point too much. This way of presenting is not interactive with the audience and if we ever use power points in the classroom, we need to interact with our students or else we will lose them.

If I could change something about my power point presentation I would probably add more slides in order to clarify and practice the vocabulary more. I went through really new information pretty fast, so I don’t think anybody actually learned anything long term. If I was doing this with a real Spanish class I would have added more slides and gone a lot slower.

I always thought of power point as a tool for student’s presentations or for some kind of business meeting. I never thought of it as a teacher tool and I was a bit skeptical at first. It turns out that it can be very useful. I really enjoyed getting creative and finding a way to use it in a classroom to teach my subject. I am excited to use power points in my classroom now because I feel like there are so many possibilities and it can be a great visual for students during my lessons. I only need to be careful not to rely too heavily on it and get lazy. Power points have amazing potential to be boring, so I should only use it when it can add to my lesson, not as a crutch.

Is Technology Shortening Student Attention Spans?

I agree with different parts of both sides of this article. I thought Marcovitz made a really good point when he used the plant example. With educational technology, “allow students to explore rich worlds, growing generations of plants and animals in an instant, watching them die, changing the parameters, and then doing it all over again”. An important question that he asks is, “After seeing a flower bloom in a minute, who has the patience to wait for it to bloom in real time?”. This is why I think using technology in the classroom is all about balance and using the right kind of technology. I would probably not use this flower blooming simulation in my classroom. I would however, grow a real garden with my students and allow them to keep a garden journal in a blog. I think that technology does not need to be completely ignored because as David Son says: “Technology has the power to capture our children’s attention by making learning interactive and fun”. This is very true, but we cannot fully rely on technology to capture our student’s attention, we want to instill an intrinsic desire to learn, not simply get their attention long enough to do a lesson. We want them to be curious and patient enough to observe that flower as it grows in real time; that is teaching something that goes beyond the walls of the classroom, that is teaching them life skills.

When David Son described a perfect school that uses technology in a way to argue for his side, it actually had the opposite effect for me. That sounds terrible! “They tell a story using software, video and audio on a computer”. That can be a great differential tool, but every student needs to be able to get out a pencil and paper and write a good story. For me, it comes down to balance and using the right kind of technology at the right times.

I am curious to find out how many teachers are actually using technology in their classroom. If they are using it, what kind and how much? Is it mostly used in extremes? One teacher is anti-technology and another is all about it, so they use it everywhere? I think there should be a mix. How would the majority of teachers react to this article?

Webquest Comment 1 - Heather Campos

I think Heather’s webquest looks really good and polished. It gives clear directions. If I was a student, I would know exactly what to do and when I needed it done by. I liked how each task was divided by days, so the student knows when they are doing that specific task and how long they have to complete it. She follows everything in the rubric, except I didn’t see a video, which was a stated requirement on the webct page, but not stated in the rubric. So, I’m not sure if that matters.

One suggestion I would make would be to check over the wording of questions. There were a few syntax errors and we all know students will pick at anything the teacher does wrong! I may also put a few more pictures. There are pictures on some of the pages, but a few more visual aids may liven up each page a little.

I think this is a great project for students. I really like assigning the roles of dietician, doctor, and trainer. I think it engages them in the topic, lets them have some ownership rather than telling them about obesity and fitness plans. I think they will learn a lot more this way and it may spark more personal interest in the topic or possible careers in this field. I also like that they present to the class, this way classmates can learn from each other, rather than the teacher talking at the class.