While reading through the Netday survey I came across a response by a home-schooled student. Before I discuss my dislike for homeschooling let me just say that I enjoyed reading this survey about how students use technology. I don't think much has changed, at least in our area, in terms of integrating technology in the classroom. Except for those who are products of our MAT program. I think it would be a good idea for a final project to interview/survey students about their technology use.
Anyway...back to homeschooling. I understand that some kids are homeschooled for medical reasons and teachers may actually come to their house. BUT what I don't understand is why a parent feels they could be a better teacher than someone like me who is (or will be) certified to teach. I know today's schools aren't doing the best job and kids are bored. But I wouldn't be in the MAT program if I did think I could make a difference out there. Isn't that true for most? It just bothers me because it makes me think some people view our career choice as not specialized or that we're not experts in our field. If anyone can educate their children in all subject areas why do we need teachers?
The homeschooled student from the survey did respond with using technology to take online courses, like Spanish, that his/her Mom couldn't teach. That's great, if a student is home and taking online courses from an accredited site or school, I'm ok with that. And of course they're going to because HOW COULD YOUR MOM TEACH EVERYTHING?! I took years of Spanish but would never feel comfortable teaching it. It's like the blind leading the blind. The parent is probably learning the material along with the student.
Does anyone agree? Or am I crazy? ; )
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Monday, September 18, 2006
It's Been Awhile
It's been awhile since I've posted anything. But it's not that I'm not thinking about this class. That's not the case at all. I'm constantly thinking about the flat world and what it means to me. And some signs or indicators that I'm constantly surrounded by it. Here are some:
-The feeling I got going into a brand new Super WalMart. It was sort of like a feeling of home, like I could find everything I needed in one giant store. But at the same time I feel guilty feeling that way. I feel like WalMart's are taking over the land (literally) and I know its workers don't get the benefits they deserve. But why do I love this store so much?
-Instant Messanger
I just realized how important it was to me. I can get in touch with someone while I'm sitting at my computer. I know what's going on in the lives of people I haven't seen or spoken to in years. That's not always a good thing but it can be fun sometimes. When I got to college it was sometimes the only way I communicated with people. I would always tell my mom "I talked ____ the other day." She would say "Oh you did? You called ____?" I would respond with "No my I talked to ______ on the computer." I still don't know if really understands that. I've talked to her on the computer, man it is rough. But I start to go a little crazy when I haven't been on AIM in a few days or checked my email in a few hours!
-Lonely Girl
So I heard she was outed. I read a few short articles online about her. It was all a scam; she's not really lonely! She's just another actress trying to make her big break. This is from http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/830450
"Our intent from the very beginning of this was to tell a very realistic fictional story" says Lonely Girl creator Miles Beckett.
The writers are moving Lonely Girl to her own website where the saga will continue but it remains to be seen whether [Jessica] Rose can make a career from this or whether she's used up her 15 megabytes of fame.
Is this what acting and fame is coming to? How appropriate is "15 megabytes of fame" to the idea of a flat world. She was supposed to be discussed on VH1's Best Week Ever. I waited for it and they skipped over it for some reason. One of the articles I read said 80 girls auditioned for the part of Lonely Girl. This to me, is strange and intriguing at the same time.
-The feeling I got going into a brand new Super WalMart. It was sort of like a feeling of home, like I could find everything I needed in one giant store. But at the same time I feel guilty feeling that way. I feel like WalMart's are taking over the land (literally) and I know its workers don't get the benefits they deserve. But why do I love this store so much?
-Instant Messanger
I just realized how important it was to me. I can get in touch with someone while I'm sitting at my computer. I know what's going on in the lives of people I haven't seen or spoken to in years. That's not always a good thing but it can be fun sometimes. When I got to college it was sometimes the only way I communicated with people. I would always tell my mom "I talked ____ the other day." She would say "Oh you did? You called ____?" I would respond with "No my I talked to ______ on the computer." I still don't know if really understands that. I've talked to her on the computer, man it is rough. But I start to go a little crazy when I haven't been on AIM in a few days or checked my email in a few hours!
-Lonely Girl
So I heard she was outed. I read a few short articles online about her. It was all a scam; she's not really lonely! She's just another actress trying to make her big break. This is from http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/830450
"Our intent from the very beginning of this was to tell a very realistic fictional story" says Lonely Girl creator Miles Beckett.
The writers are moving Lonely Girl to her own website where the saga will continue but it remains to be seen whether [Jessica] Rose can make a career from this or whether she's used up her 15 megabytes of fame.
Is this what acting and fame is coming to? How appropriate is "15 megabytes of fame" to the idea of a flat world. She was supposed to be discussed on VH1's Best Week Ever. I waited for it and they skipped over it for some reason. One of the articles I read said 80 girls auditioned for the part of Lonely Girl. This to me, is strange and intriguing at the same time.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Mother's Beach, Bellport
2006 07 06 - 190452 - USA, New York, Long Island, Bellport, Mother's Beach
Originally uploaded by Czar & Jerry.
My Cup Runneth Over
I'm so excited to have the opportunity to work on the Cortland Downtown Partnership. So many of the things Lloyd mentioned last night are so important to me when I think about what a downtown should be. I grew up in a small bayside village on Long Island and we have two markets. Cortland needs a small grocery store/market. An IGA would be perfect, especially because of all the local farmers.
I feel like this is going to be a great way to make changes to an area that I never thought I'd want to live in but have made it my home for almost seven years now. Who knew that when I came to Cortland (in the Fall '99) as a scared/excited freshman from Long Island I'd end up choosing to live here. My parents met at SUNY Oneonta-- my dad from Patchogue, Long Island and my mom from Endicott. They chose to move and a start a life on the island and I am forever grateful that they did. Alex and I met here at SUNY Cortland and it's because of the wonderful friends and colleauges we've met in Cortland, we have decided to start our life in Central New York. That is of course that we both find jobs. So thank you Karen for bringing this project to class and allowing me to share my love of this area with the community.
I feel like this is going to be a great way to make changes to an area that I never thought I'd want to live in but have made it my home for almost seven years now. Who knew that when I came to Cortland (in the Fall '99) as a scared/excited freshman from Long Island I'd end up choosing to live here. My parents met at SUNY Oneonta-- my dad from Patchogue, Long Island and my mom from Endicott. They chose to move and a start a life on the island and I am forever grateful that they did. Alex and I met here at SUNY Cortland and it's because of the wonderful friends and colleauges we've met in Cortland, we have decided to start our life in Central New York. That is of course that we both find jobs. So thank you Karen for bringing this project to class and allowing me to share my love of this area with the community.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Monday, September 11, 2006
Podcast Ponderings
So while Jen Gee and I were in the Mac lab at the library we began talking about our enhanced podcast assignments. She, luckily opened my eyes to a crucial part of the assignment. Until yesterday afternoon I didn't realize our podcast had to do with the mood of the flattened world. I read Prof. Reid's post about the assignment and was present in class last week. But I clearly didn't understand why some were worried about what the mood should be. I get it now-- the mood?! What mood? My mood, the mood of the world itself? But after reading more of the Richardson book, I feel slightly better about it. I will reflect my feelings/mood or what I perceive the mood of society to be about or because of the flattened world.
I have been thinking about the digital pictures I have. Alex and I visited the Boston Science Museum over Spring Break last semester and have many pictures of the Star Wars exhibit. I have pictures of Yoda, Chewbacca, and of several costumes from the movies. But how could this relate to the flattened world. It may not relate at all. But the pictures are incredible.
I also have literally thousands of pictures from last year's production of The Vagina Monologues. There is a definite mood surrounding this show, one of pride and importance in knowing you are a part of a worldwide campaign to help stop violence against women. This show has been an important part of my life since 2002. Because The Vagina Monologues are performed all over the world in many different languages there has to be a way to connect my experiences with it to the flattened world. For some reason at this point, I cannot see the connection. It may be because I'm too close to the project. Maybe there is no connection at all. And what does the show have to do with education and my future classroom? I have often thought about how to adapt the show or perform segments of it with high school girls. I'm just trying to put all my thoughts down before they leave my head. If anyone has any helpful ideas or tips I'd really appreciate it.
P.S.
Reading chapter 2 in Richardson's book I realized I used an article about his class' The Secret Life of Bees weblog for my paper in Mary Kennedy's class last fall. It's really is a small world.
I can't wait for Richardson to come to campus. I'm so thankful for the book we're using. It's easy to understand and I am more than willing to adapt some of his ideas about web tools for classrooms into my own some day.
I have been thinking about the digital pictures I have. Alex and I visited the Boston Science Museum over Spring Break last semester and have many pictures of the Star Wars exhibit. I have pictures of Yoda, Chewbacca, and of several costumes from the movies. But how could this relate to the flattened world. It may not relate at all. But the pictures are incredible.
I also have literally thousands of pictures from last year's production of The Vagina Monologues. There is a definite mood surrounding this show, one of pride and importance in knowing you are a part of a worldwide campaign to help stop violence against women. This show has been an important part of my life since 2002. Because The Vagina Monologues are performed all over the world in many different languages there has to be a way to connect my experiences with it to the flattened world. For some reason at this point, I cannot see the connection. It may be because I'm too close to the project. Maybe there is no connection at all. And what does the show have to do with education and my future classroom? I have often thought about how to adapt the show or perform segments of it with high school girls. I'm just trying to put all my thoughts down before they leave my head. If anyone has any helpful ideas or tips I'd really appreciate it.
P.S.
Reading chapter 2 in Richardson's book I realized I used an article about his class' The Secret Life of Bees weblog for my paper in Mary Kennedy's class last fall. It's really is a small world.
I can't wait for Richardson to come to campus. I'm so thankful for the book we're using. It's easy to understand and I am more than willing to adapt some of his ideas about web tools for classrooms into my own some day.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Not related to ENG 506 (sorry!)
- Was anyone else crushed when Andre Agassi lost last weekend? And when he cried, I cried. And since then, every time I see a clip of him crying I get choked up. What an end to a fabulous career. I loved watching him play tennis. He has so much personality compared to other male and female players. His speech was so heartfelt too. And the way he talked about having success throughout his career when he just lost a crucial match. We should all want to express emotion like that when our careers are ending. It's the process and the struggle, not the product.
- Who's been watching Rosie O'Donnell on The View? Do you love her or hate her? I'm so thankful to have her back on TV. She may be overpowering but those women need that. And the work she does for charity and adoption.
- RIP Steve "The Crocodile Hunter" Irwin. Crikey, that's sad.
- Hope you like my bits of pop culture, I couldn't live without it. (Best Week Ever is a great show if you're interested in this stuff too! The Soup is good too. Joel is funny but no one will compare to John Henson.)
Whoa, Nellie!
Our class blog is crazy, amazing, and borderline out of contol (in a good way) -- there's so much to read and look at. I finished listening to (I have the book on CD) chapters 1-4 of The World is Flat and; I went to the postings on Friedman and read some and skimmed over some. Like I said, there's just so much at times, I find it difficult to sort through. I'm realizing that I should and must spend time reading every day.
Anyway here are some thoughts about our world that is flat:
Before listening to any of the book I already knew the world had been flattened. I just didn't realize how flat it was and how many factors went in to the flattening. And thinking about the great lengths Friedman went to for this work. But two things that boggled my mind were his descriptions of Wal-mart's headquarters (anyboy else think of that Southpark episode?) and UPS' syncronized supply chains. The world is flat because all of these massive webs have been spun across the globe. I had no idea UPS employees fix Toshiba computers and that UPS employs meteorologists and is the largest private user of wireless technologies. It all makes perfect sense after stepping back from it, but is nonetheless fascinating. While listening to all of this and the rest of chapters 1-4 I found myself wondering, "How will all of this apply to my future English classroom?" Well, because the world is flat and we are in the midst of so much technological change, I must take part in fulfilling the "economic destinies" of my future students. Current classrooms don't seem to being much to help students survive in the flattened world. As Karen asked on the class blog: "What would an ELA pedagogy with self-actualization even look like?" It would be thought of as radical to most because students would be reading and blogging about what types of literature and writing are important to them. I think a reading-writing workshop setting combined with blogging, and using Wikipedia would help students realize who they are as people and what matters to them. I would have loved to pick my own reading material in high school (I got to do that one time that I can remember, in 9th grade, and I read Ayn Rand's Anthem. Besides this being a good book- we could pick what sounded interesting to us rather than listening to a recording of Julius Caesar. We did that too.) and write about it.
I know I'm only scratching the surface of The World is Flat and the course content but, if the U.S. doesn't pick up the pace we are going to be flattened by the flat world. All the poor English students and teachers will be crushed reading Shakespeare or Arthur Miller's The Crucible out loud until the end of time!
Anyway here are some thoughts about our world that is flat:
Before listening to any of the book I already knew the world had been flattened. I just didn't realize how flat it was and how many factors went in to the flattening. And thinking about the great lengths Friedman went to for this work. But two things that boggled my mind were his descriptions of Wal-mart's headquarters (anyboy else think of that Southpark episode?) and UPS' syncronized supply chains. The world is flat because all of these massive webs have been spun across the globe. I had no idea UPS employees fix Toshiba computers and that UPS employs meteorologists and is the largest private user of wireless technologies. It all makes perfect sense after stepping back from it, but is nonetheless fascinating. While listening to all of this and the rest of chapters 1-4 I found myself wondering, "How will all of this apply to my future English classroom?" Well, because the world is flat and we are in the midst of so much technological change, I must take part in fulfilling the "economic destinies" of my future students. Current classrooms don't seem to being much to help students survive in the flattened world. As Karen asked on the class blog: "What would an ELA pedagogy with self-actualization even look like?" It would be thought of as radical to most because students would be reading and blogging about what types of literature and writing are important to them. I think a reading-writing workshop setting combined with blogging, and using Wikipedia would help students realize who they are as people and what matters to them. I would have loved to pick my own reading material in high school (I got to do that one time that I can remember, in 9th grade, and I read Ayn Rand's Anthem. Besides this being a good book- we could pick what sounded interesting to us rather than listening to a recording of Julius Caesar. We did that too.) and write about it.
I know I'm only scratching the surface of The World is Flat and the course content but, if the U.S. doesn't pick up the pace we are going to be flattened by the flat world. All the poor English students and teachers will be crushed reading Shakespeare or Arthur Miller's The Crucible out loud until the end of time!
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Richardson
"Without question, our ability to easily publish content online will force us to rethink the way we communicate with our constituents" (pg. 5). Why have a course outline, syllabus, or rubric at all? If students are spending so much time in front of their computers anyway, put all the class information in a blog. I know many teachers already do this. But it's just making so much sense to me.
I had never heard of a wiki until last week. I've used wikipedia before and found it to be extremely helpful. But I had no idea that anyone can edit the material found there. Richardson talks of having "faith that collectively we can produce information that is as high quality as what a trusted few produced in the past" (pg. 63). I don't know if I have the faith yet. It might take awhile or only a couple of days. Time will tell.
I do love the idea of a teacher resource wiki. Teachers share lesson plans and ideas anyway, it would be so helpful to be able to access plans from other teachers in our area or across the nation. A SUNY Cortland MAT English wiki is a great idea...any takers?
I had never heard of a wiki until last week. I've used wikipedia before and found it to be extremely helpful. But I had no idea that anyone can edit the material found there. Richardson talks of having "faith that collectively we can produce information that is as high quality as what a trusted few produced in the past" (pg. 63). I don't know if I have the faith yet. It might take awhile or only a couple of days. Time will tell.
I do love the idea of a teacher resource wiki. Teachers share lesson plans and ideas anyway, it would be so helpful to be able to access plans from other teachers in our area or across the nation. A SUNY Cortland MAT English wiki is a great idea...any takers?
Prensky
I am intrigued by the notion of Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants. Today's students really are different. They're different than even ten years ago when I was in high school. Because in high school I didn't have my own computer or home access to the internet; I find myself somewhere in between a native and an immigrant. My parents are total immigrants, although they are getting better. My dad finally has an email address. But I'm not totally immersed the digital world yet. I don't own a digital camera or an ipod. But I'd be completely lost without my IBM laptop and my cell phone. For me, this class is going to mean fun, interactive activities and projects for my students. As most of you know, theater is my thing and I want to incorporate that into my classroom. I could have students blog about a final performance project. (Blogging and wikis are going to save the world a lot of paper.) As new and future teachers we'd be crazy not to cater to the Digital Natives out there. We must lift them out of their boredom!
1st Post
Hello everyone and welcome to my blog, which is currently under construction. Stay tuned for more...
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