Last Post

On the last day of MAC class, I find it fitting to be posting my last blog post (for the purposes of ED504). I have enjoyed my foray into the technological world, but was a little frustrated with how little technology I got to use in the classroom this year. For this reason, I am most looking forwards to having my own classroom next year and getting to do my own thing. I've got a crapload of ideas and can't wait to use them. Also, I feel I will be able to better incorporate technology into my teaching simply because the ultimate purpose will be teaching content and not forcing technology into a classroom in which it doesn't really go. But, this seems to be the name of the game - when you are a guest in someone else's classroom, there is a certain level of compromise. Although I have enjoyed my student teaching experience greatly (and will most likely continue to until the end of the year), I am excited to strike out on my own. I feel I'm been pretty well prepared through all we have been required to do. Now, I just have to complete the e-portfolio and call it a day. And so ends my blogging experience. It's been enjoyable, and I'll probably be back in some new form some time from now, but for now: Seacrest OUT!

Internet Plagiarism

I hate cheating. It's one of the things I have never understood and something that angers me to the core. When something requires you to have your own ideas, the thought of stealing someone else's seems like a profound insult to your own brain and the capabilities of it.

It's not like I don't understand the draw - sure, it's easy. Especially with the internet, cheating can be as simple as copying and pasting from wikipedia or whatever website comes up in the top 5 google search responses. You can also then e-mail this to a friend and both of you are done with the assignment, and you can go on and do other things.

But I find that having opinions about something is just as simple as seeking out someone else's. In fact, it's much simpler. It doesn't require a computer, an internet connection or even a piece of paper and a pen. It only requires the one thing that we use everyday: our minds.

In my humble opinion, the majority of the blame for the plagiarism epidemic can be placed on the very people who allow it or ignore it. It is not acceptable to me to pass of cheating with a 'well, kids these days, that's just what they do.' No way. There is nothing inherent in kids that makes them think copying and pasting an entire paper from the internet is okay. Either they have gotten away with it in the past, it has been ignored, they have never been seriously reprimanded for it, or they have never been taught that this is not the right way of doing things. If all teachers, parents and peers taught and reinforced the idea that cheating is not just 'bad,' but rather it is disrespectful, cowardly and irresponsible, and not just something that happens, I think I could be a happier person.

Given that I cannot control the actions of those around me completely, I guess I live in an idealized world. However, I would not have become a teacher if I did not believe that I couldn't have at least some effect on some people. I guess I will start with myself and hope that through my teaching I can make a tiny, yet not insignificant dent in this problem. And yes, people, it is a problem!!! Let's attempt to fix it and change the perception.

Okay, I'm done with the rant. It's my birthday today, so I'm going to go ahead and me a happy person now. Yay.

Writing without the Writing

"Good writing may be the quintessential 21st century skill. Just as the nature of and expectation for literacy has changed in the past century and a half, so has the nature of writing. Today people write as never before - texting, on blogs, with video cameras and cell phones, and, yes, even with traditional pen and paper. People write at home, at work, inside and out of school."

I found this quote on one of my favorite blogs: Weblogg-ed. This is a blog by Will Richardson that I have been following for a while. This was a link on Will's page to an article by Kathleen Blake Yancey about the importance of writing to all aspects of life and learning.

I have long thought that the ability to write well is the most important skill a person can have. I felt as if Kathleen had plucked this idea right from my head and put it into some eloquent words and phrases. What was new and particularly interesting for me was the role that technology could play in helping students to learn to write well.

The more and more I teach, the more I see the resistance to traditional essay/paragraph writing in a history class. Students complain, "this is not English class! Why do we do so much writing?!?!" They also have difficulty conceptualizing the importance of this skill. I also struggle with putting into words how important I think it is.

What I am beginning to understand is that technology could bridge the gap between the my need to have my students write and their desire to avoid it at all costs. Whereas my students balk at the idea of creating a thesis statement, they have no problem making arguments via a text message. While they complain constantly about how boring writing paragraphs are, many have blogs or myspace accounts in which they open up to the world.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I'm learning that writing does not have to be formal to be useful. It is hard for me to let go a little bit of the formal writing I know is so important (and I'll always make my students do this type of writing) but I am beginning to see that technology need not destroy the writing process. On the contrary, it can help many students have fun with writing without all that those "boring paragraphs and essays."

Podcasting

This past week I introduced a podcasting project to my students. In groups of three, they were asked to answer the question, 'Should unlimited Power be given to one individual?' in the form of a radio show. Many of the kids seemed to respond well to this project, but it has caused a few problems. First, it takes a long time to do. I planned to get it done in 2 days, but it's going to spill onto 3. Also, the computers the students use have not been properly maintained. Many are non-functional (constantly freezing up) or are in need of an update. Because of this, we ended up using my computer to record the podcasts. This seems like it will be okay, but it is a bit of a hassle.

I had to adapt this lesson multiple times, which seems to be the name of the game when it comes to lessons with technology. What perhaps is most frustrating to me, however, is that the technology purchased by the school district has been so poorly maintained. I know it must be a hard job, but it seems like the investment has not been taken care of. Sure, a computer cart with 30 laptops seems like a great thing to have. But, if fewer than half of them are functional at any given time, it can throw your lesson for a loop. I was fortunate in that for this project the students were working in groups, so they did not each need a computer. I'm certainly not complaining - I'm aware that plenty of school districts don't have computers for their students to use. However, it is perhaps more saddening to see that those who are fortunate enough to have this technology are not doing what they need to take care of it. I'm not sure I have an answer about how to take care of these issues, but it seems like when such a large investment is purchased, the schools should make a commitment to maintain and protect the investment.

Major Twittage

I guess I have Jeff and Liz to thank for my new web fix. After growing increasingly tired of a stale and constantly changing (for the worse) facebook, I was hungry for a new social network. Although I haven't yet completely broken away from facebook (but I do feel the end is near), I see more utility and have more fun using Twitter.

I registered for a twitter account over a year ago when I read a newspaper article about it. I thought it could be fun, but honestly it was confusing. What did the @ mean? Why were there all sorts of variations of the word 'twitter' (tweet, twit, twitterati, ptwitty, etc.) that I didn't understand. Side note: I have now learned that 'ptwitty' is actually p. diddy's (formerly Puff Daddy, of course) twitter name for himself. I think that says quite a bit about his personality, if you ask me.

Needless to say, I was not impressed. I was unfulfilled by following a handful of celebrities and news corporations (although I do still follow a few: I must get my smut somewhere). However, over the past couple of weeks, my eyes have been open to a new use for twitter - professional development.

I admit, it did take some commitment. I had to make the step to go out and find educational twitters and sort through which ones would be useful to my teaching needs. However, once I had followed a handful of great educators, the world of twitter opened up before me. I sorted through who they were following, who they mentioned in their tweets (or twits... or as Rainn Wilson puts it 'twats') or who my lovely friend Mr. Tweet recommended for me.

Now, everyday when I log on, I have at least 10 wonderful ideas for lesson plans or ideas about technology to use in the classroom. In addition, I get anecdotes from actual classroom teachers or tech coordinators about what works and what doesn't or what they like and what they don't like. Also, I get interesting quotes or ideas for classroom posters.

In the interest of twitter, which is all about sharing, here are some of my favorite twitter-ers (or twits or twitters - I'm still not clear on this...)

kerrygallivan - always has links to great tech articles
educationweek - great ideas/articles
WWIItoday - a great 'this day in history' for World War II
futureofedu - classroom teacher using technology in classroom
DetentionSlip - wacky education news
russeltarr - lots of great ideas/quotes

And there there are of course, the somewhat less useful, but still fun people to follow:

lancearmstrong - a twitter staple
the_real_shaq - HIGHLY recommended
perezhilton - this is pretty much necessary for me
rainnwilson - of dwight schrutte fame
PTIshow - great ESPN twitterers

So, if you were frustrated by twitter the first time around, I encourage you to take another look and follow some educators. Doing so can turn a potentially 'indulgent' tool into something that actually has some value. And, personally, I think it's important that we don't fall into the trap of assuming that a technology is bad or useless simply because not everyone using it is using it to its potential. For instance, I think all of us would cite the internet as a useful technological tool, but lord knows there are a ton of people using the web for what many of us would consider 'non-productive' means. You can change the reputation of something by using it in positive way.

Alright, I'll shut up now.

Liveblog test