Reference Books? Nah...we'll just use Google. [Double Jounal Entry #6]

Quote: "Teaching must capitalize on students’ preferred literacy behaviors online. For example, since we know that students are speed-reading and skimming online, that they prefer clicking to scrolling, and that they will rarely read below the “fold” (Nielsen, 2002), we can teach quick ways to assess authority and credibility. Simple techniques, such as cutting back the URL, or pasting the author’s name or an asserted fact into a search engine, can validate authority or confirm bias."

Reaction: I agree with this quote very much. Kids never fully read anything longer than 3 paragraphs. I admit to skimming the article above! We live in a timed society. Anything that takes longer than a few minutes is viewed as a hassle. And that's not going to change. What can change is teaching kids what to look for when they "read." Also, validating sources is very important. These days anyone can make a website, make it look legit, and put whatever they want on there. Teachers always say Wikipedia is not a source, and I'm not saying it is, but it's a great place to start. It has all the info you need on one page and is broken up making it very easy to read. I think Wikipedia is great. You can go on there and if you learn something new, you can just search that fact to find other sources that back it up, rather than doing a broad search that leads you nowhere. I think that is a good quick way to teach how to check validity and creditability: search the one fact you found for other sources to back it up.

Related Source:

Sources:

Abilock, D. (2003, Nov. - Dec.). A Seven-power Lens on 21stCentury Literacy. Multimedia  

      Schools, 1, 30-35.

Philippines Outsourcing: Outsourcing, Data Entry, Back Office Operations. (n.d.). Philippines

      Outsourcing: BPO, Data Entry, Back Office Operations. Retrieved September 29, 2011, 

      from http://www.datasolutions.ph/Services/Internet-Research

Obama Pictures

Photo 1:

This photograph is heavy on implications. It seems very much like Obama and his team are on top of things and proactive. It shows that if Obama isn't worried, you shouldn't be either. This photo is very positive on the plans Obama has in store to clean up the oil spill and fix the problem. The questions this photo results in are posititve ones: will this be done quickly? Is this not a big deal like everyone thinks? Will everything really be ok?

Photo 2:



This photograph, like the first, says a lot. Although, unlike the first photograph, the message is negative. Obama looks worried and concerned. It makes you think Obama is not convinced his plans will work. The downcast eyebrows makes him look very afraid that disappointment is inevitable. He is also hunched foward as if it the pressure on him is wearing his down mentally and physically, which puts doubt in his ablitites. The questions this photograph raises are negative: How long will this take? What is the real impact on the American people? Can this even be fixed?

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Photo 1 clearly gives more confidence in the President's abilities. He looks very confident and head strong, where in the 2nd picture he looks unsure and exhausted. Photo 1 makes the reader believe in Obama and have faith that his efforts will prove successful. Photo 2 makes the reader feel Obama himself is doubtful that his plans will work.

Writer : Word Processing :: Artist : Photo Story [Double Journal Entry #5]

Quote: "Multimedia communication has become ubiquitous in a short period of time because of two fairly recent developments. First, today's relatively affordable, easy-to-use, multimedia technology acts an assistive technology for the artistically challanged. In the same way that word processing opened up the world of the writer, multimedia technology has opened up the world of the artist. Today, anyone who can move a mouse can jump in and give it a go."

Reaction: Ohler makes a good point that I never thought of. A few years ago, PhotoStory would have had to been bought in a store (for probably over $30), taken home and a disc put in your computer, then maybe an hour later you could begin your project. Now, I downloaded this program for my laptop for free in about 5 minutes at the most. He also points out that this is the artist's version of word processing; another point I never thought of. This allows anyone to be an artist. Your photo story could be a piece of art.

Related Resource:

Sources:



4everlearner / PETE and C 2010 Web-based Digital Storytelling Options. (n.d.). 4everlearner / FrontPage. Retrieved September 22, 2011, from http://4everlearner.pbworks.com/w/page/23111272/PETE%20and%20C%202010%20Web-based%20Digital%20Storytelling%20Options

Ohler, J. (2000, October). Art Becomes the Next R. Educational Leadership Magazine, 58, 16-19.

About my Digital Story

The Quote I chose for my digital story is: "I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma." - Eartha Kitt. I chose this quote because I agree with it 100%. Just because you graduate from high school or college doesn't mean you know everything, or anything really. We learn new things everyday.

I think the digital story relates to the ISTE-NETS standard 1: Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. This is a very creative-friendly project. Assigning this would definitely promote creativity and engage students using digital tools and resources.

This could promote learning in my future classroom several ways. This tool could help my students learn about an event or person in history and increase their knowledge in a better and more interactive way than lecturing.  

I could have the students pick an admendment or a Supreme Court Case and make a photostory describing the significance and history of that particular thing. For example: Say we are learning about the constitution. If I give each student an admendment to work with, then present at the end, all the admendments get covered but it's a fun and new way.

Michelle's Photostory

See all the graphics?! Oh wait..this was supposed to be about something? [Double Entry Journal #4]

Quote: "The problem for many students is their focus on the power of the technology rather than the power of their stories. Some students are engaging the medium at the expense of the message, producing a technical event rather than a story. Part of my task as a digital storytelling teacher is to teach students how to be storyrellers. Two important components of my approach to teaching storytelling are story mapping and practicing written and oral story telling before bringing in digital elements."

Reaction: I agree with the author on this, especially on the first sentencs. Digital and media projects can be a wonderful tool to use in the classroom. But there is always that risk of a student being more concerned about the technology aspect than what the assignment is. We don't want this is be mistreated and the learning that's supposed to be taken place get overtaken by the excitement of the technology.

Related Resource:

Sources:

Google Images. (n.d.). Google. Retrieved September 18, 2011, from http://www.google.com/imgres?q=students+and+technology&um=1&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbnid=pyUSAkcPgL9zlM:&imgrefurl=https://www.doit.wisc.edu/news/story.aspx%3Ffilename%3D1121&docid=buShuu0df09cDM&w=335&h=344&ei=Hlt2TvzVIem2sQKe-J2MBQ&zoom=1&biw=1366&bih=587&iact=

Ohler, J. (2006). The World of Digital Storytelling. Educational Leadership, December/January, 44-47.

Make Beliefs Comix

Learning Style Test and Picasso Head

My learning style is Read/Write and Kinesthetic. My results put me at 2 points higher in Read/Write but I think they are the same. I think I identify with both types of learner equally. For Kinesthetic it says field trips, videos, and photographs help me learn, and I definitely agree with that. Whenever we watch a video in class I can usually remember that better than lecture notes. However, when it comes to studying, I agree that I am more read/write. I read my notes several times. However, I do not do many of the other study tools, ex. "Organize any diagrams, charts...into statements." I do better looking at the diagram and charts and remembering them that way.

My Picasso Head:

Changing English, or just being innovative: [Double Entry Journal #3]

"There is a long and noble history of trying to change the English language’s notoriously illogical system of spelling. The fact that through, rough, dough, plough, hiccough and trough all end with -ough, yet none of them sound the same as any of the others, is the sort of thing that has been vexing poets and learners of English for quite some time."

Reaction: I have quite a few foreign friends and I always hear them complain that the English language is so difficult to learn. And I can't disagree. Many of our words have more than one meanings and then we have the words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings. The English language is definitely complex. This artle is talking about how reforms to change English have never been successful until now, with texting. I disagree. Texting is NOT CHANGING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE and these people need to calm down. The world won't stop turning because Suzy Joe texted Billy that she had a "gr8 time" on their "d8 last nite." And the majority if people don't even actually text like that. The novelty of that went away with the flip phone. I would argue that the writer of these articles have no idea what they are talking about. They need to be actually the kids that they believe are doing this and not just assume. They are freaking out over nothing. Out of all the people I text only ONE texts in "text-lingo" and it's not even that bad. Most kids actually text the full words. And no one stops to consider why the words have been shortened...maybe it's because one text message can only contain 160 characters. So why use space to write "that was funny" when you could just simply put "lol"? It;s not because we're lazy, we just don't want to send two messages for just a few words. As for the kids who do put letters in their words and completely butcher the spellings...it won't last for long. Trust me.

Related Resource:

Sources:

The OutSource Group, Inc. | Texting. (n.d.). Texting Archive. Retrieved September 6, 2011, from http://www.theoutsourcegroup.net/blog/?tag=texting

SHEA, A. (2010, January 22). On Language - The Keypad Solution - NYTimes.com. NY Times Advertisement. Retrieved September 6, 2011, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24FOB-onlanguage-t.html

Poll Everywhere and Wordle and NETS-T

I made my Poll on polleverywhere ask the audience what subject they wanted to teach and what grade levels. I then took the responses I recieved and made them into a wordle, which takes the key words and arranges them in a fun and creative way. This applies to the first bullet of Standard 1 of the NETS-T by being creating a creative environment for the students to learn.

I read the wordle lesson plan. This teacher teaches English at the elementry level. She switched the assignment around numerous times until the kids were more comftorable with it and she was getting better results. The blog doesn't say what she was using the wordle for, but she tells that the kids made their own wordles from, what I assume, was vocabulary words or spelling words. 
This applies to the third bullet of Standard 1 of the NETS-T by using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes.

I could use these both in my classroom. For wordle I could create one of the presidents, or states, or something like that. A poll could be created by asking students short answer questions. I don't think Poll Everywhere and Wordle have to be used together.

LOLing @ ur English [Double Entry Journal #2]

"Are instant messaging and text messaging killing language? To hear what the popular media say, a handful of OMGs (oh my god) and smiley faces, along with a paucity of capital letters and punctuation marks, might be bringing English to its knees.

Although journalists tend to sensationalize the linguistic strangeness of "online lingo," quantitative analyses of instant messaging conversations and text messages reveal that abbreviations, acronyms, and even misspellings are comparatively infrequent, at least among college-age students. For example, in a study I did of college students' instant messaging conversations, out of 11,718 words, only 31 were "online lingo" abbreviations, and only 90 were acronyms (of which 76 were LOL). In a study of college students' text messaging, my colleague Rich Ling and I found a few more lexical shortenings; yet the grand total of clear abbreviations was only 47 out of 1,473 words, which is hardly overwhelming."

Reaction: I'll admit that, when texting and IMing, I am a major "LOL"er. But I also know that school is not a place for such things. I usually don't even think about using those acronyms when writing a paper but I'll confess to almost putting "LOL" in an e-mail to an adult before. But some kids can't distinguish when it's approriate and not. I am a straight-english texter, meaning I use complete sentences and spell all my words correctly. But there are many kids who hardly ever spell out anything when texting and those are most likely the kids who let those "words" slip into papers and other school related things. 

Related Resource:

References:

Baron, N. (n.d.). Educational Leadership:Literacy 2.0:Are Digital Media Changing Language?. Membership, policy, and professional development for educators – ASCD. Retrieved September 1, 2011, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/Are-Digital-Media-Changing-Language%C2%A2.aspx

rosecourt12 « newmedialanguage. (n.d.). newmedialanguage. Retrieved September 1, 2011, from http://newmedialanguage.wordpr

Poll Everywhere

Click here to view my poll!