Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Bringing it all together...
After using the three different softwares to create a digital story, it is great to know the wide range of options and freedom we have when it comes to sharing information. Personally, I think Animoto had the coolest result...I barely had to do anything, yet the pictures and the music looked absolutely awesome together. I wish I could brag to people that I put that slideshow together myself, but Animoto did it all for me! (Another bonus: Less work!) Even though it required the least amount of work and (in my opinion) had the most aesthetically pleasing result, Animoto offered the least amount of freedom in telling a story. Besides being able to choose your own pictures and music, the software does everything else for you. There is no option to make comments or to know the order/emphasis that each picture will be given. For that reason, if a teacher wants to tell a specific story with details and timelines, I don't think he or she should use Animoto. However, if a teacher wants a less formal but more exciting presentation, I think Animoto would be great to use.
While I didn't like the result of ScrapBlogging as much as I liked Animoto's, I think the scrapblog was the most fun to put together. It allows for the most creativity as far as making your own decisions go, and it really gives the opportunity for the artistic side of a person to come out when they design each page with pictures. Like I said, this webpage was very fun to put together, but like Animoto, I do not think it offered the most freedom out of the three software. Yes, it allowed you to choose pictures, but there wasn't much room for comment or explanation.
Although I found VoiceThread to be the most boring to put together as well as the most boring result, I think this one is the best when it comes to telling a story. This one allows the creator to choose the pictures, the order, and the comments. If there is a specific "story" a teacher would like to tell, VoiceThread definitely gives them the most freedom to tell that story. However, I think they are somewhat boring to watch, so I would probably still choose Scrapblogging or Animoto for my classroom.
While I didn't like the result of ScrapBlogging as much as I liked Animoto's, I think the scrapblog was the most fun to put together. It allows for the most creativity as far as making your own decisions go, and it really gives the opportunity for the artistic side of a person to come out when they design each page with pictures. Like I said, this webpage was very fun to put together, but like Animoto, I do not think it offered the most freedom out of the three software. Yes, it allowed you to choose pictures, but there wasn't much room for comment or explanation.
Although I found VoiceThread to be the most boring to put together as well as the most boring result, I think this one is the best when it comes to telling a story. This one allows the creator to choose the pictures, the order, and the comments. If there is a specific "story" a teacher would like to tell, VoiceThread definitely gives them the most freedom to tell that story. However, I think they are somewhat boring to watch, so I would probably still choose Scrapblogging or Animoto for my classroom.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
The Internet: Friend or Enemy?
Everyone has heard it before: The internet is a dangerous place for young kids, and it gives them too much freedom, independence, and privacy than they know what to do with. I've always been wary about the internet myself, and watching this documentary really made me consider the rules that I am going to have when I have children of my own. One of the things that was great about this documentary was that it touched on the impact of the internet from many different angles. It is typical to hear people focus on only one potential danger of the internet, whether it be online predators or online bullying. However, this documentary focused on both of those things, as well as the dangers of negative body images and shutting yourself out from the rest of the world.
Since all of us are mostly around the ages of 20 or 21, I think we are a funny position in that our generation was the first to become truly internet savvy at a relatively young age. I started talking on AOL when I was in 6th grade (and I still have the same embarrassing screen name), and internet research was a huge part of my classes in junior high and high school. Now, though, it seems as if kids are starting to use the internet at a younger and younger age everyday. In fact, one of the girls interviewed in the documentary said something to the effect of, "Like, come on, I mean, I've totally been using the internet since I was like, in second grade." Second grade? Are eight-year olds really ready to handle the land of the internet?
While many people would like to think that parents play a large role in determining the impact of the internet on their children, I really don't know if this is the case. To an extent, yes, parents can be incredibly influential, and should try to have as much control over their child's use of the internet as they can. However, even going to the lengths of having the family computer in the kitchen did not stop one woman's son's drunken escapades from ending up on YouTube. And another family knew how much their son would shut himself out from them once he got online, yet they did nothing to deter his internet usage. Overall, I think parents should be as involved as possible when it comes to using the internet, but unfortunately, I think much of the impact that the internet can have depends on what their friends are up to and what is seen as the "cool" thing to do.
In my junior high and high school, Facebook and MySpace weren't really big things. By the end of senior year, I could see that a lot of the younger students were getting sucked into the mystique of MySpace, but for kids my age and years older, we were never really affected by it. To me, the biggest problem I always found with the internet was its time consumption. My friends and I would be up talking online for all hours of the night (and we still do), but internet bullying was luckily never a big problem where I grew up. However, I can see more and more how the internet is constantly sucking kids away, and it's starting to become annoying. I can't go a night at a friend's house now without someone YouTubing something, going on ITunes, or surprise surprise, checking their Facebook. Last Spring Break, I went to Arkansas for Habitat for Humanity, and I went an entire week without using my cell phone or the internet. That was the longest I'd gone without using either in a very long time, and I have to say, it was one of the most refreshing weeks I've ever had. This just goes to show that we, along with young kids of today, will never be able to resist the impact of the internet.
Unfortunately, I do worry about the internet. There are obviously many positives to it, but there are even more dangers. And even as parents and teachers, there is only so much we can do about it. It will be great to educate our kids about technology, and hopefully they will use it to their benefit both inside and outside the classroom. However, it is important that we educate our kids about the dangers of the internet and give them options besides technology. I feel like the days of riding your bike, playing in the backyard, and going to the playground are coming to an end for young kids because all they want to do is play video games or work on their MySpace Page. It's a shame that this is starting to happen, so when we have kids and students of our own, it is important that we tame the internet from turning into the beast that it has the potential to become.
Since all of us are mostly around the ages of 20 or 21, I think we are a funny position in that our generation was the first to become truly internet savvy at a relatively young age. I started talking on AOL when I was in 6th grade (and I still have the same embarrassing screen name), and internet research was a huge part of my classes in junior high and high school. Now, though, it seems as if kids are starting to use the internet at a younger and younger age everyday. In fact, one of the girls interviewed in the documentary said something to the effect of, "Like, come on, I mean, I've totally been using the internet since I was like, in second grade." Second grade? Are eight-year olds really ready to handle the land of the internet?
While many people would like to think that parents play a large role in determining the impact of the internet on their children, I really don't know if this is the case. To an extent, yes, parents can be incredibly influential, and should try to have as much control over their child's use of the internet as they can. However, even going to the lengths of having the family computer in the kitchen did not stop one woman's son's drunken escapades from ending up on YouTube. And another family knew how much their son would shut himself out from them once he got online, yet they did nothing to deter his internet usage. Overall, I think parents should be as involved as possible when it comes to using the internet, but unfortunately, I think much of the impact that the internet can have depends on what their friends are up to and what is seen as the "cool" thing to do.
In my junior high and high school, Facebook and MySpace weren't really big things. By the end of senior year, I could see that a lot of the younger students were getting sucked into the mystique of MySpace, but for kids my age and years older, we were never really affected by it. To me, the biggest problem I always found with the internet was its time consumption. My friends and I would be up talking online for all hours of the night (and we still do), but internet bullying was luckily never a big problem where I grew up. However, I can see more and more how the internet is constantly sucking kids away, and it's starting to become annoying. I can't go a night at a friend's house now without someone YouTubing something, going on ITunes, or surprise surprise, checking their Facebook. Last Spring Break, I went to Arkansas for Habitat for Humanity, and I went an entire week without using my cell phone or the internet. That was the longest I'd gone without using either in a very long time, and I have to say, it was one of the most refreshing weeks I've ever had. This just goes to show that we, along with young kids of today, will never be able to resist the impact of the internet.
Unfortunately, I do worry about the internet. There are obviously many positives to it, but there are even more dangers. And even as parents and teachers, there is only so much we can do about it. It will be great to educate our kids about technology, and hopefully they will use it to their benefit both inside and outside the classroom. However, it is important that we educate our kids about the dangers of the internet and give them options besides technology. I feel like the days of riding your bike, playing in the backyard, and going to the playground are coming to an end for young kids because all they want to do is play video games or work on their MySpace Page. It's a shame that this is starting to happen, so when we have kids and students of our own, it is important that we tame the internet from turning into the beast that it has the potential to become.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Paying Kids for School?
Back in the days of junior high and high school, my friends and I joked around that we should get paid to go to school. We went everyday and it took up our time and energy, so why not? Now, after reading the Chicago Tribune article as well as the blogs of my classmates, I can't believe that schools have actually reached the point of paying their students to get good grades. I definitely understand that it is a source of motivation for kids who aren't crazy about school, but at the same time, is it the right kind of motivation? Brooke and I had a lot of the same feelings about the program being implemented in the Chicago Public Schools. (http://bkenned5.blogspot.com/). As a student, I would have loved getting paid for good grades, but as a future teacher and parent, I do not think it is the right message to send to kids. Furthermore, Brooke brought up a really good point I did not consider, and that is the way these students are getting paid. A 14-year old student probably has not yet acquired very much financial maturity; by paying them in cash, parents and teachers have no control over what the money is spent on, and more likely than not, these students are not going to spend their "hard-earned" money on extra textbooks for class. In Brooke's response, she suggested giving them gift cards to bookstores or grocery stores, therefore giving the school some control in how and where the money is spent. Gina also brings up this money issue in her response. ( http://teacherintraining-gwarner.blogspot.com/). Many school districts, especially those with high poverty rates like the Chicago Public Schools, are not getting adequate funds to provide their students with the materials they need to succeed. For that reason, instead of dishing out cash to individual students, the schools should consider spending they money on services or programs that would benefit their school as a whole.
Furthermore, Gina and Laura bring up all of the potential problems that could result from awarding money to high school students. First of all, Laura notes in her response that high school is a time to explore passion and interest, and it is not the time to "earn a buck." (http://laura335.blogspot.com/) After students graduate from high school, and hopefully college, they will have the rest of their lives to "earn a buck." Even in college, young students are thrown into the pressures of the real world when they have to juggle school and jobs and bills. However, in my opinion, high school is the time to be carefree from these worries. School, of course, should still be an issue that they are constantly thinking about. However, they should be thinking and worrying about school because they want to do well, not because they don't think they will earn as much as their friends at the end of five weeks.
This then takes us to an issue that Gina brought up: While there will be many students that will earn cash at the end of every five weeks, there will be just as many that don't earn anything. This, unfortunately, could cause psychological problems for the kids who don't "succeed." I have have many education courses here that have drilled into my head the idea that "success" is different for every student. For some, success could be straight A's, but for others, it could be raising a grade from a D to a C. However, CPS is now defining success by cash values, and I don't think that is something high school students should be exposed to. One of the hardest things for us as teachers will be to motivate our students, but I want to do it in a way that does not bring money into the picture.
Furthermore, Gina and Laura bring up all of the potential problems that could result from awarding money to high school students. First of all, Laura notes in her response that high school is a time to explore passion and interest, and it is not the time to "earn a buck." (http://laura335.blogspot.com/) After students graduate from high school, and hopefully college, they will have the rest of their lives to "earn a buck." Even in college, young students are thrown into the pressures of the real world when they have to juggle school and jobs and bills. However, in my opinion, high school is the time to be carefree from these worries. School, of course, should still be an issue that they are constantly thinking about. However, they should be thinking and worrying about school because they want to do well, not because they don't think they will earn as much as their friends at the end of five weeks.
This then takes us to an issue that Gina brought up: While there will be many students that will earn cash at the end of every five weeks, there will be just as many that don't earn anything. This, unfortunately, could cause psychological problems for the kids who don't "succeed." I have have many education courses here that have drilled into my head the idea that "success" is different for every student. For some, success could be straight A's, but for others, it could be raising a grade from a D to a C. However, CPS is now defining success by cash values, and I don't think that is something high school students should be exposed to. One of the hardest things for us as teachers will be to motivate our students, but I want to do it in a way that does not bring money into the picture.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
How Will We Meet Expectations?
The main point of these YouTube videos were very clear: We are living in a digital world, and the students of today are digital learners. This is not the first time I have seen these videos, but every time I do see them, they scare me a little bit. As a future teacher, I realize that education is evolving, and that students today are no longer being engaged by the same lessons and activities that may have engaged us when we were in elementary school or junior high. As the videos portrayed, technology is supposed to "save" us, and it is that new technology that will help us transform knowledge into solutions. At the same time, technology is also something that is holding students back. The amount of time spent Facebooking, watching tv, chatting online, and listening to music is astounding compared to the amount of time spent actually sitting in a classroom or reading a book. These stats go to show that standard educational practices- ones that we are still currently learning about- are no longer holding students' attention or pushing them to want to learn more.
For that reason, it is our responsibility to be agents of change in our classrooms. When I was in junior high and high school, my friends and I would sometimes complain about the way a teacher taught or the activities he or she made us do. Now, it is our turn to decide how to connect with our students, and based on the world today, the way to achieve that connection is through technology. Unfortunately, much of what we are being "trained" to do is not the way that kids want to learn. We can all say as much as we want about how we want to make our classrooms fun and interesting for our students, but now, it is really time to start thinking about how we are actually going to achieve that. That is why I'm happy to finally be learning more about blogging creating webpages; my students will more than likely know more about it than I will, simply because they grew up with blogging and I did not. However, I want to learn as much as I possibly can so I can really have an effect on my students when it comes time to start teaching. Our students will expect us to teach them how to think, analyze, and apply their knowledge. Based on these videos, there is not better way to do it than through technology, and it is our responsibility to give them the information they need in a way that will engage and interest them.
For that reason, it is our responsibility to be agents of change in our classrooms. When I was in junior high and high school, my friends and I would sometimes complain about the way a teacher taught or the activities he or she made us do. Now, it is our turn to decide how to connect with our students, and based on the world today, the way to achieve that connection is through technology. Unfortunately, much of what we are being "trained" to do is not the way that kids want to learn. We can all say as much as we want about how we want to make our classrooms fun and interesting for our students, but now, it is really time to start thinking about how we are actually going to achieve that. That is why I'm happy to finally be learning more about blogging creating webpages; my students will more than likely know more about it than I will, simply because they grew up with blogging and I did not. However, I want to learn as much as I possibly can so I can really have an effect on my students when it comes time to start teaching. Our students will expect us to teach them how to think, analyze, and apply their knowledge. Based on these videos, there is not better way to do it than through technology, and it is our responsibility to give them the information they need in a way that will engage and interest them.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Response to Creativity in Schools
http://michelle101.vox.com/
Michelle made a great point in response to Ken Robinson's video, and that is we have to remember that creativity has value. As future teachers, creativity is obviously something we are all aware of, but to many of us, the importance of its value may not have been understood until now. I agree with Michelle's opinions on the importance of creativity, and like her, I was fully convinced by Robinson's video.
She brought what I thought was the most important point that Robinson made. At a young age, children have no fear of being wrong. For that reason, we get moments where "kids say the darndest things," and even though children might come up with outrageous ideas, they are nonetheless ideas that are uncensored and straight from the heart. It is unfortunate that as kids get older, they gradually "grow out" of creativity, and as a result, the fear of being wrong sets in. Michelle is completely right in saying that children need to begin exploring their creative sides at a young age. If we can get children to do this, we can change the future of education in America and perhaps gradually begin to move away from the traditional "hierarchy of subjects" that Robinson mentions.
Unfortunately, the challenge for us will be how to incorporate this important idea of creativity into our own classrooms. We all want to bring out the gift of the imagination within our students, but how will we do that without neglecting other important subjects? This is a question that Michelle struggled with, and it is one that I struggle with as well. As she stated, it is difficult to place the importance of one subject over the other. Obviously, math teachers will say that math is the most important, historyteachers will say that history is the most important, and so on. In my opinion, we need to bring the creativity to those specific subjects rather than cutting a subject out. We perhaps need to let children explore these subjects with a different kind of grading system so they do not learn the ultimate fear of being wrong. Finally, as future educators, we need to fight to keep Fine Arts an important- and perhaps mandatory- part of curriculums. All in all, I agree with Michelle's point on ultimately teaching our students to think outside the box.
Michelle made a great point in response to Ken Robinson's video, and that is we have to remember that creativity has value. As future teachers, creativity is obviously something we are all aware of, but to many of us, the importance of its value may not have been understood until now. I agree with Michelle's opinions on the importance of creativity, and like her, I was fully convinced by Robinson's video.
She brought what I thought was the most important point that Robinson made. At a young age, children have no fear of being wrong. For that reason, we get moments where "kids say the darndest things," and even though children might come up with outrageous ideas, they are nonetheless ideas that are uncensored and straight from the heart. It is unfortunate that as kids get older, they gradually "grow out" of creativity, and as a result, the fear of being wrong sets in. Michelle is completely right in saying that children need to begin exploring their creative sides at a young age. If we can get children to do this, we can change the future of education in America and perhaps gradually begin to move away from the traditional "hierarchy of subjects" that Robinson mentions.
Unfortunately, the challenge for us will be how to incorporate this important idea of creativity into our own classrooms. We all want to bring out the gift of the imagination within our students, but how will we do that without neglecting other important subjects? This is a question that Michelle struggled with, and it is one that I struggle with as well. As she stated, it is difficult to place the importance of one subject over the other. Obviously, math teachers will say that math is the most important, historyteachers will say that history is the most important, and so on. In my opinion, we need to bring the creativity to those specific subjects rather than cutting a subject out. We perhaps need to let children explore these subjects with a different kind of grading system so they do not learn the ultimate fear of being wrong. Finally, as future educators, we need to fight to keep Fine Arts an important- and perhaps mandatory- part of curriculums. All in all, I agree with Michelle's point on ultimately teaching our students to think outside the box.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
First Question
"Given the realities of our modern age and the demands of our children's future, is it really ok to allow teachers to choose whether or not they incorporate modern technology into their instruction?"
As much as I love the idea of teachers having a great amount of freedom in their classrooms, I think the incorporation of modern technology into today's schools is something that will be both necessary and beneficial for our future students. As we learned on the first day of class with "Shift Happens," our world is becoming more technologically advanced every single day. As future teachers, it is our job to keep up with these changing technologies and incorporate them into the classroom. If teachers do not incorporate this new technology, they will only be holding their students back from performing at their best possible level. As much as many people would like to remain in the good old days of writing on the chalkboard and submitting handwritten assignments, this is unfortunately not how it is done in schools anymore. Powerpoints, blogs, online conversations, video presentations, music, and websites are the way to connect to today's students, and for that reason, I think it is extremely important that teachers are required to incorporate modern technology in their classrooms. Not only will the learning be more fun and useful, but it will prepare the students for the changing technology that they will face in their futures.
As much as I love the idea of teachers having a great amount of freedom in their classrooms, I think the incorporation of modern technology into today's schools is something that will be both necessary and beneficial for our future students. As we learned on the first day of class with "Shift Happens," our world is becoming more technologically advanced every single day. As future teachers, it is our job to keep up with these changing technologies and incorporate them into the classroom. If teachers do not incorporate this new technology, they will only be holding their students back from performing at their best possible level. As much as many people would like to remain in the good old days of writing on the chalkboard and submitting handwritten assignments, this is unfortunately not how it is done in schools anymore. Powerpoints, blogs, online conversations, video presentations, music, and websites are the way to connect to today's students, and for that reason, I think it is extremely important that teachers are required to incorporate modern technology in their classrooms. Not only will the learning be more fun and useful, but it will prepare the students for the changing technology that they will face in their futures.
All About Me!
Hey everyone! My name is Lisa Schraub, I'm a junior here at U of I, and I'm an English major minoring in Secondary Education. I'm from Lisle, Illinois, which is a small western suburb of Chicago. Not too many people actually know where Lisle is, so when I introduce myself, I pretty much always have to say, "Hi, I'm from Lisle, which is right next to Naperville." Probably like the rest of you, I've wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember, and I can't believe that the time is almost here for us to go off into the real world! I came to U of I because I knew that graduating with a degree from here would be the best possible way for me to become a great teacher, and so far, I've learned incredibly valuable information about what it takes to make it in this profession. However, I know that we still have a long way to go, and I'm really looking forward to these next two years of classes and educational experience. After I graduate, I want to become a middle school or high school English teacher, where I would also like to eventually coach cross country or basketball. In addition, after a few years of experience in the classroom, I would like to go back to school to earn my Master's Degree. That's about it for me!
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