Sunday

Today's my husband's birthday, and he wanted me to cook a pot roast dinner (his favorite). This is his first birthday where we are all not together. My daughter is in college and was already home during the week to attend her great-grandmother's funeral. She was 99 years old and the "glue" of my husband's family. My daughter called my husband on the phone, and he seems okay with that. The events of the week threw me off track and I'm trying to get my act together before I go back to school.

This week their report cards go home, and we have parent/teacher conferences for three afternoons. I'm exhausted just thinking about all that talking. This week we are having test rehearsals for the NJASK4, and I'm tired of teaching for the test. We have a faculty meeting tomorrow about the test, and I'm not too excited about that either. My principal is probably going to ask me to host a second cup of coffee for the 4th grade parents. We already have the powerpoint presentation from last year; we'll just have to do the presentation. I know that I'm wishing my life away, but I enjoy teaching after the test is over in March.

At least in social studies, we do not have a state test. This week we're doing a project that the students are excited about creating. I'm also going to look into doing a podcast with my social studies students for their next presentation. I hope to post it on the moodle site where the parents will get to hear what we're doing in school. I have to speak to the tech coordinator. I hope that we have the capability of creating several podcasts. I hope to incorporate them into my graduate project.

So much for complaining. I hear that we're going to be having some snow and I may get tomorrow off!! I'm doing the snow dance after this blog. So long for now.

Project and Paper Questions

At first I thought that I would like to do my project on comics because I have used it in the past (the old-fashioned way with pencil and paper). I would like to try creating comics with the new software. I'm not sure how I would be able to do this with my students because we do not have the software at the school and there is a license agreement for software. I'm not allowed to install any software; it's blocked. Is this project to be done with our students or can we create it without them?

Now I think that I'll do my paper on podcasting in education. I may also create a podcast for my project. I have to speak to the tech coordinator this week and see what she thinks about podcasting.

Reaction to Facebook

What are my thoughts about my experience creating a Facebook page?

I am familiar with Facebook because my daughter is a freshman in college and it's the rage there. Everyone writes on her wall, and she responds to her friends. She had quite a photo album on her page. I like to look at it and see if there are any new photos. I just requested her to be my friend. I wonder what her reaction will be to that? My son told me not to do that to him because he will refuse me. "Mom, no one has their mother as a friend on Facebook!!!!" He helped me tag my photos because I had never done that before. Now I understand the meaning of tagging.

It helps to apply the readings and actually be a part of the "new literacies." I never would have created this if I hadn't taken this course. I do email photos to my relatives and receive photos from them on a regular basis. I've always been interested in photography, and I love my digital camera. Now I store my photos on CDs. I even received a grant from the school district and have a digital camera to use at school including a photo printer. I display photos on my bulletin board at school that include the various social studies groups and their projects.

All in all, it was a fun experience creating a Facebook page.

Reaction to an exploration of Multiliteracies

After reading this article, I was made aware that there is another literacy called "anime-inspired fantiction." (All of this new jargon is hard to keep straight in this new Web 2.0 world.)

I was excited about the author's idea of taking media as a starting point for writing especially since my students are turned on to media. This could be a great way to motivate them to write. So many of my students are great illustrators and a lot of my Asian students draw manga characters already. I wonder what type anime I could use in the classroom as a writing prompt? I may just bring in a video and have them watch it for a few minutes and ask them to predict what happens next and create their own endings. I would model this to the class first before I would expect them to do this. Another idea would be to show a video's ending and ask them to write the beginning and middle of the story. They could create a story board first and add dialogue later.

I found out this month just how much my students love comics when they created them in conjuction with our WordMasters lessons. We discussed the elements of a good comic strip, read various comic strips (which they loved doing), and they created their own comics using WordMaster words.

What surprised me about this article was that Eileen and Rhiannon had their own small fanfiction world outside of school where only a few trusted people could enter. Their drawings and stories were not part of the classroom. School was kept separate from this fanfic world. Their personal writing was much more important to them. It's sad that the two worlds couldn't come together. The article mentions that the students would have benefitted from their teacher's help because they could have been composing in Word instead of emailing their stories to save them. (I went off track here.)

I'm starting to see a common theme in these articles that we are reading for our graduate course. We seem to have two separate worlds: school and home use of technology. I'm hoping that by our district using Moodle (similar to Blackboard) that the two shall become one. Students should be able to communicate with various types of technology and opportunities for "literacy learning." I agree with the author that teachers need to think about fanfiction. I liked the idea about bringing an example of your best personal writing at the beginning of the school year. It's a good ice breaker and a way to get to know your students. I think I'm going to discuss this with my colleagues and ask for a writing sample for the first day of school with an illustration. This course definitely has me thinking about new methods of literacy instruction.

Creations with Technology

I read my email from Dr. D. and she was interested in finding out what I create with technology. Here's a sampling of some of the things that I have created with technology. When I was in my twenties, I worked for six years for a software company where I worked in the publishing department. I was trained as a typesetter on an AM Varityper system, and I also learned word processing on a PC. I created various collateral material for the company to help market their products, and I also was the editor of their international company newspaper.
I stayed home for six years to be a full time mother of two children. We purchased our first Gateway PC and had so much fun creating cards and other projects with Greetings Workshop. I ended up teaching pre-school and kindergarten where I typed parent letters, newsletters, and school papers. I changed jobs and became an instructor for the 8th grade laptop class in an urban district and learned how to use the various software programs in 1999-2000. I created slide shows and helped the children with their various projects using the internet.
In graduate school, I have researched papers using the internet, and also used Microsoft Office. I have used Blackboard in the past for assignments and to participate in online discussions.
In my present position, I use email, moodle, provide students with links for projects, create webquests with the tech teacher, help children use the computer and internet, and create banners for my bulletin board. In the future, I will be using moodle to communicate with parents and students on a regular basis. I know that this is just touching the surface after reading about Web 2.0, but it's a start. I'm hopeful that this course will help me have new "conversations" in cyberspace. I realize that I have so much to learn.

Snow Day

Well, we finally have an official snow day. I was looking forward to sleeping in today, but the phone rang at 5:30 and I've been up since then. My body's clock did not cooperate and let me fall back to sleep. I ended up going through a lot of paperwork all day long. I will now be ready for the accountant, and I'm learning about Web 2.o today. It feels good to catch up on some things.
My students wanted snow, but they wanted to celebrate St. Valentine's Day at school. I guess we'll do it tomorrow. I'll wear red and hand out treats. I heard that next year we will no longer be infultrated with cupcakes. There's a new law about eating only healthy foods in schools. May be I'll lose weight.
My son and husband are doing the snow shoveling while I stay warm inside. They've done it twice already. My son's happy because he's making extra cash by shoveling the neighbors' properties. Now they're off to Home Depot. I can't believe that they are driving in this mess.
Yesterday was my 30th anniversary of the day my husband and I met. I can't believe how time flies. We ended up staying home due to the weather forecast. We'll celebrate Saturday night. My daughter is away at school and sent us a handmade card. She also created a CD of love songs from the past 30 years. I was so touched by her thoughtfulness.
I'm not sure what to make for dinner tonight to celebrate. It feels like a soup night to me, but I don't know if anyone else will feel this way. I'll make brownies and that should cheer everyone up a bit. It's a day for chocolate, and I didn't buy any because of my diet. I was afraid to have it in the house, and I usually get so much of it at school. My son is upset because I didn't give him any. I told him that I bought him a coat on sale at Kohl's instead. His mood improved greatly. My husband is aware of my diet and gave me 12 red balloons. They will probably be floating around the house until spring. Well I have to start dinner now. So much for my snow day.

Challenge of Mindsets

I agree with the authors that we don't know how to deal with "new literacies educationally." The teachers at our school have been offered a moodle workshop and only a handful of teachers are willing to become moodlers. I was so excited about the prospect of having a laptop and a laptop program in my classroom that I jumped at the chance. I found that so many teacher are afraid of technology and don't feel up to the challenge of learning something new. Even though I am welcome to the idea I still feel like I will need further training in order to use the technology to its fullest.
There is a large gap between how we use technology in school and how we use it at home. My son does most of his communication online or through text messaging. He rarely uses our home telephone. He's also busy gaming online with his friends. They hardly get together physically but they are in tune with each other electronically.
In response to the reflection question in chapter 2: To what extent do you see yourself as a newcomer or an insider with respect to Barlow's classificationand to new technology practices?
I see myself as a newcomer and not just because of my over 35 classification. I see myself as a newcomer because I do not fully utilize all of technology and feel completely confident teaching with the new technology. Luckily, I am able to collaborate with out technology coordinator and I am willing to learn as I go along. I am not sure that I will ever feel like an insider the way I view my son, but I am at least giving it a try. Compared to other people in my school, I am viewed as proficient in using technology, but I feel like I am just touching the surface of this enormous iceberg. I hope that this course will enable me to approach the insider status.

Reaction to Podcast

It was fascinating listening to my first podcast from home today. It was very informative and helpful to get my professor's perspective on the readings for this week. I now have a different viewpoint of the term literacy(cies). I understand how it would be very difficult to be completely illiterate today.
I can relate to my professor's experience with the Hispanic culture in Denver; I taught 8th grade in a school system in Hudson County and was immersed in their culture. Multiculturalism was a common theme in our classroom and it was part of the educational experience. They also taught me a lot about their culture and food was important to them. We ended up having our own International Day where we learned about each other's holidays and sampled various types of foods. They were very proud of their heritage, and it impacted on how they perceived the world and on their education. They loved telling stories and sharing information about their country of origin. Even though they were mostly all Spanish, other cultural groups were represented such as students from India and I had one Russian student. This was a unique group of children because they had been selected to be in the self-contained laptop program at their school. We were on the cutting edge of the latest technology at that time. This district promoted learning cooperatively with technology.
Everyone I taught had English as their second language and I was required to take ESL classes by the district. I learned a lot about different learning styles in my coursework.
I realize now how much impact new literacies and technology affects our students and also myself as a new graduate student. I never thought that I would be a blogger or a moodler. Here I sit reacting to new and exiting ways of learning from my home computer. We are never too old to learn something new. I am very motivated to learn in this new and exciting way.

New Experiences

Well you never know what one day will bring. Last night something happened to my home computer and I am now sitting typing in my daughter's dorm room at TCNJ. It took us 2 hours to get here and thank goodness her internet is working and her laptop is so cool. I feel like a college freshman sitting at her desk. I commuted to college myself and never experienced college life. Her room is decorated with artwork and photos. It's actually quite homey. She's coming home for the weekend and will be working on an art project. She's decided to change her major to nursing. I just want her to be happy. Well her roommate just appeared and I guess it's time for me to leave. I really like blogging. I think of it as my "new" diary. So long for now.

From "Reading" to "New" Literacies

The readings from the text have hightened my awareness of the changes in jargon that goes along with the changes in our culture and technological advances as it pertains to our thinking about education. The term literacy has different meanings today then it did in the past when I was growing up. Reading and Writing have been replaced with the new label, Literacy, in the school where I teach. Also our principal is interested in balanced literacy and uses that term quite frequently. The sad part is that not everyone is exactly sure what she wants. It seems that all of the teachers have their own philosophy about teaching literacy and the administration is trying to make our school more uniform in its educational practices.
The chapter referred to the "No Child Left Behind Act" that has placed more focus on education and literacy (both meanings of the word apply here). Our school as well as many schools are working on basic skills and having our students test well on the state tests. The term proficient was mentioned in the chapter and my students take the NJ ASK 4 this March. We just met with our administration about test prep and went over our students' scores from last year. A lot of emphasis is placed on being proficient on these tests.
I also have seen how literacy is a big industry because I am constantly bombarded with advertisements for products and workshops. My folder for professional development in the last ten years is overflowing. I met my 100 hours in the first year of it inception.
One of my teaching experiences was in an urban district which required that I take ESL graduate courses in order to teach there. Their philosophy of education was based on studies that showed how Hispanic students learn best by working coooperatively with their peers. In this case literacy was part of their social experiences and it was definitely "embedded" within their learning environment. I was immersed in their culture and way of viewing the world that was much different from my experience in suburbia.
Lanham defines literacy as "the ability to understand information however presented." I think that this sums up the intent of the chapter best because we now have so many different ways to communicate information. Our world has changed and the way we view the world has changed rapidly in the last 10 years. We no longer view literacy as being able to read and write. Technological advances have changed they way we communicate in our society.
One final note is that I agree with Gilster that we need to "teach and learn how to use the internet properly." My experience in different districts is that children are not always taught how to use it properly. Even in my 8th grade laptop class where they had been in the same program for three years, the students would be lazy and cut and paste directly into their documents. I had a great deal of trouble teaching these ESL students how to summarize and synthesize information. New lessons are needed to accompany the use of technology in the classroom. Most teachers are not experienced in this area and need assistance with these types of lessons. The role of a teacher needs to be redefined and we need to be open to new ideas as we explore new avenues in education and "new" literacies.

Social Studies Project Nears Completion

Tomorrow we are finally finishing our social studies region project. This is my second year doing this project on New Jersey's regions. We have tried to improve on the project, and if we do it next year, I would still change a few things.
Our district is embracing the UbD and DI philosophy, and I am trying to create units in social studies that comply with this plan. My attempt to have the students answer the essential questions about this unit was a lesson in patience. I learned that higher level thinking needs to be fostered in this grade level. We have also been working on answering open-ended questions in reading. It has been a difficult week. I need to recharge my batteries. I also need to have a break from group work. Certain groups do not work well together and I'm tired of being the facilitator. I really need the winter break.

Writing Workshop

Does anyone have experience teaching Writing Workshop from Columbia Teacher's College? I attended a workshop this week, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to use this method in my classroom. It takes at lest 45 minutes a day and my writing period is also jammed with grammar, spelling, and wordmasters. I can see the benefits, but I have had a lot of success with the six trait writing program. We also do a lot of NJ ASK prep and have an established curriculum in that area. Any thoughts???