PuzzleTime!

So in class yesterday we did an activity where we had 4 people (two at each table) and each table had specific parts of a puzzle that made an image. We had to put the puzzle together with the group behind us without looking at them and only using verbal cues. We could not turn around or anything and no one in the class could help us. 

I wish this was something we could have had the middle school students do because they are having a hard time learning how to communicate effectively and respectfully in the classroom. Not so much now that it’s the last week of the session but in previous weeks it has been difficult. I think this is a good way to get your class to communicate in different ways. You could even make it harder by doing it silently and showing only each piece at once.

We talked about how we would incorporate this into a foreign language classroom and this is what we came up with.

Liberty Leading The People- Eugène Delacroix

-These photo puzzles are a good way for students to learn the directions along with situational descriptions.

-Use the picture of something culturally relevant, so for French I would use “Liberty Leading the People” or possibly a photo of a special landmark or like Sacre Coeur.  I don’t think I would use the La Tour Eiffel because it would be too easy.

Use a picture of a set table for table vocabulary (plate, fork, knife, napkin, spoon, etc.) and food vocabulary in addition to explaining where things are on the table.

     If you did a picture of people for part of body vocabulary.  You can basically use it for anything as long as there is vocabulary to be learned.

Thoughts.....and some confusion..

The assignment for this blog was to write a response to an Edu(cation) Blog. I chose one written on the NY Times website called Beyond the Tree Line. It’s about a alternative high school in Tennessee and specifically focuses on several girls that attended the school. It brings up several interesting and important points (among so many) in education today.

First, the topic of teen pregnancy is brought to the forefront of the blog because that’s the first picture we see. Of an 18 year-old, Miranda, who is pregnant getting her nursery ready. She discusses the problems she has encountered in the town she lives in because the father of her baby is African American and how in the 2010 census indicated that there weren’t any African American’s in the down she lives in. You get the feeling that the town is quite racist but at the same time the girl says that she doesn’t have a problem with black people but that they just don’t live there.  In terms of pregnancy- Miranda seems to have many resources available to her unlike most teen mothers you see on TV. She has mentors from her high school that help her and give her advice. I am not sure about her mother. I don’t want to assume anything but her mother is not discussed a lot in the blog. It is more of a passing remark.

Second, the main point of the blog is to discuss what happens when you’re not in school anymore. Or as a person in the story describes it as  “Behind the Tree Line.” Many of the girls in the this article were given people to rely on and a structured school setting at the Carroll Academy and after they left the school they were out of resources and people to go to. Many of them slipped back into the not-so-good actions they were partaking in before they started going to the Carroll Academy.

So my question is: why do the resources to the students who need them the most stop when they graduate high school? A time when they probably need those resources the most. 

I have a Quest-ion,

So in class two days ago we talked about how we could incorporate video games into our classrooms. Whelp, here is my idea.

My subject is French so I would have a map of ancient France, probably pre-Crusades era on the wall. Plus all of its territories at the time. A huge one. Probably the whole wall would be taken up by it. Maybe a mural- that would be awesome!

Each student would be able to pick what camp they wanted to be in, the Gauls or what have you.

Each assignment would be a quest and when you get to a test you would be in the castle. After the test is conquered the castle is yours and your territory increases.  Each assignment would be worth so many furs, arrows, horses, chain mail, or gold coins and with those coins students would be able to go to market to buy food, land, animals, an army, etc.

For special assignments or biographies on people of the time or something the people could visit their castle and they would have to “host” famous people. Learn about them in order to know what they would like or something. Kind of like drawing a card in Monopoly.

When we got to Modern Europe we could use plans of attack from WWI and WWII and more modern things to trade and make money. I think it would make the class a little more fun and hopefully more interesting for the students. I know it would make it more interesting for me, but thats not the point.   

Class, Today's Lesson will be Taught by Mr. Masterchief

            Hopefully some of the people that read this know about the Halo franchise, if not please visit the Wikipieda Link or the Official Page for details. For the purposes of this post I will only be discussing Halo: Reach.
           Before even getting to the gameplay itself, I think its worth noting that when in the Matchmaking menu (for playing on Xbox Live) the game has what they call a "Veto System." Meaning that there are three maps to choose from and the players in the game vote on which one they want to play. They can choose any of the three maps and also the option "None of the above" and the option that has the most votes is that which will be played.  This can teach kids about democracy and the action of voting possibly before they know the importance of it.
Another option when getting into the Matchmaking menu is that you can choose what type of game you play. You can have the traditional Slayer option but also there are games such as Capture the Flag and other slayer options that have objectives assigned as well. These team objectives allow players to sometimes strategize verbally (with a headset, but only young'ns use those) or have to use their intuition and strategize without talking to their teammates. For example, for the successful capture of the other team's flag one person needs to get the flag while being guarded, heavily. Another person needs to be outside the door (there is typically a door or arch or rock of sorts), another person needs to be in a vehicle if possible (mostly for the larger maps require a vehicle) and one person needs to be guarding your flag. There are many different ways to play Capture the Flag but they all require teamwork. In the traditional Slayer option, there can be one person that carries the team (not it!) and everyone can do minimal work or practically none at all. But not in the games with objectives.
        Kids can also learn about consequences from playing Halo: Reach on Xbox Live because if you betray a team member (even if it was an accident), that person gets a message on their screen asking them if they want to "Boot" or kick you out of the game because you betrayed them. This is great way for kids to learn cause and effect.
        So I think there are a lot of things that kids can learn from Halo: Reach, but I don't think any of them could be readily applied to a classroom environment, mainly because the game is incredibly violent (lots of assassinations! Yes!). Maybe its because I play it so much and never have this thought in my mind while I am doing so. I will definitely be posting another blog about this after I have more time to play the game with the teacher mindset.



Also, Here is a video of a King of the Hill game. For a taste

Super Deep Reflection

After going to class on Monday I realized that my previous post was sort of lacking. OK It was REALLY lacking but I was exhausted when I wrote it. So here I am all awake....prepare to be mind blown.

BAMN!

After listening to my fellow group members explain their programs (gooru and diigo) I realized I lucked out sort of because I had been assigned Evernote. Like I mentioned, I had only used the iPhone version of Evernote and was not aware of the other possibilities it contained. Most of the awesome possibilities are only available to those that pay for it, such as pdf annotation and the program that goes with Evernote or is compatible with Evernote is Skitch. This program sounds way cooler than Evernote itself. I am hoping that before the fall semester starts I will have time to really dive into Evernote and maybe pay for it. I think its about $50 a year but if it really helps then it might be worth it. There is a business version that I think would be even better to use because it has more collaborative tools and in a class setting that might be super helpful.

The things that I learned in class are more about my classmates and the class dynamics than anything else. Mainly because I felt it was very hard for us as a class of 20-23 to decide on a simple question to ask during 20 questions. It got pretty heated I think but it could be my easy going/joking attitude that makes me believe that. I think it was a good learning experience for us because we're going to be together for the next year.


Toodles!

Prepare for the Zombie Apocalypse

It is now Monday. My least favorite day of the week and yet here I am still awake after waking up at 8am. Rough stuff. However..........

Since our last meeting of Ed 504, we were tasked with investigating and reporting on an online organization tool. I was assigned with Evernote. I have previously used the Evernote for iPhone app and had quite a bit of success with it. Until about three hours ago I had no idea the awesome capabilities that Evernote was capable of. I was kind of blown away actually. There is an Evernote premium but I clicked on quite a few things in the regular free edition of Evernote and did not get blocked by a subscription or purchase notice.  

I think organization tools like Evernote are important because it is one program where you can compile so many things. Notes, audio, documents, and you can even share them with other people. I was quite surprised that you could do all that on the computer version mainly because I had only ever used the mobile version to write grocery lists and what level of the parking structure my car was on. I had no idea Evernote had such possibility!  

To infinity and beyond!

Technologies Anonymous

Hello Everybody, my name is Destiney and I am addicted to technology.


*Claps* "Hello, Destiney."

Even though my brain did not really function at too high of a level in class today, there are a few thoughts I would like to get out before my brain shuts down for the night (its not even 10:30pm yet..uh oh)

In class, we talked about the efficiency, the quantity and currency of information, the organization, excitement, and the standardization of technology in our age; but we did not address the expectations that come along with those qualities.

I think that one HUGE aspect of technology is how readily available it is to the average..again, average person.

We answer emails on our phones because we can

We text because we can,

We Facebook because we can

We Google because we can

We do everything but call people because we don’t have to!

I mean…why actually speak to someone when you can just have an impersonal text-based conversation that has no emotion what so ever? (except for those who use emoticons incessantly, like myself J) Because WE CAN!

On a personal level, I am embarrassed to say that I am attached to my iphone like its an appendage. I don’t want to be but in an age when you don’t have a landline and are never home I feel as though I don’t have a choice (in reality I do, let me be honest with myself). We also mentioned in class that we give up on discussions because we can simply Google the answer to a question, so much that we’re losing touch with the conversation.

So the point of all of that was to address the expectations that come with everyone having technology. We all expect everyone to be easily accessible, everyone will respond in a timely fashion to everything. When shockingly! This is not the case. I am making it a personal mission to not be as accessible as I normally am..which is proving to be quite difficult for me as some can imagine.

So kind of in conclusion, I think we as individuals and especially as teachers need to pay close attention to the delicate balance of technology within our everyday lives because if we don’t keep it in locked down we will have tv shows like “Intervention iphone” or something before we know it!

John Dewey say wut?!

I would first off like to admit that until just now, I had no idea who John Dewey was or how he contributed to the field of Education. An in all honesty was a tad lost when he was referenced in the previous weeks. That being said, I now know a little bit about his ideals and thoughts.

In the article titled “A Significant Contributor to the Field of Educational Technology,” by Peter Rich and Thomas C. Reeves they bring up some points that Dewey makes. I am not sure if he is the first person to deduce that learning through experiences is the best way to learn but Rich and Reeves make it sound as though Dewey was the creator of the idea.  They also introduce what seems to be a misinterpretation of something Dewey again, pioneered- the “student-centered” approach to education. I do not quite understand how someone could interpret that phrase literally and expect the teacher to be completely absent from the classroom.

            In the article written by John Dewey himself titled “My Pedagogic Creed,” Dewey makes quite declarative statements about his belief system surrounding education. While I agree that the school should be thought of as a community, I find it hard to believe that its sole purpose is to fuel the social life of the children it serves.  Most of the beliefs that Dewey lays out make sense and I can agree with some of them’ however, it is the last one that I am having trouble with. He states, “ I believe that in this way the teacher always is the prophet of the true God and the usherer in of the true kingdom of God.” I am not quite sure what to make of this and am actually quite baffled because of the supposed separation of religion from public education in the United States. Thoughts?

Participate Much?

 "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."-William Arthur Ward

Until June 2012 I did not want to be a teacher. If someone asked me “What are you going to do with a French and History double-major? Teach?” I would’ve said “No” so fast their head would’ve spun. I have always liked children and have babysat since I can remember; however, it was not until I worked in an Early Childhood Development environment that Education as a career was cemented in stone in my mind and in my future. Since June 3^rd, my life has been a crazy whirlwind of ambiguity at its finest.

We had to take the GRE. We were told to take the MTTC, the OPIC; a test on BBP, and we have done CPR’s and CCA’s. And a bowl of alphabet soup’s worth of Learning Disability names and identifiers.  We have asked a thousand questions about the dress code and have made countless excel sheets.

I can say with confidence that I have never participated in any class I have ever taken as much as I participate in the MAC classes. If you ask my classmates, that may or may not be a good thing. BUT I am enjoying what we are doing so far. J Technology is a huge part of education these days but as I was drawing my “Ideal Classroom” I was thinking back to the last time I wrote a paper on my computer. It took me FOREVER. Writing a three-page paper took me an entire day because I was so distracted with everything but the paper, so in my classroom I did not have computers. I had typewriters. Mull that over will you? I’m really curious what other people think because no one really commented on it in class.

Have a good weekend everybody!