My final post for now and Constantly Blinded

I cannot believe that I have a blog. My sister has had one for quite some time and I was always shocked by the things that she did on it. She had pictures, links, etc. I even told her that I would never be able to have something like that and now I do. I am definetly going to keep posting and I hope very much to integrate a blog into my classroom when I teach. I think it is an excellent tool, especially for a future English teacher!!!!

Luddites and Someday

I was talking with a co-worker on Sunday night about technology. He carries around a Blackberry and I was shocked when he showed me the tiny myspace screen that he was able to conjure up. Our Point of Sale system had been acting up all night and one of my other coworkers was texting instead of working. At that moment, I declared how much I was against technology. My male co-worker then called me a luddite, which I didn't really understand. So I went home and looked them up. I am not completely Luddite, but at times I feel that way. Here is the definition of Luddites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite

The Great Gatsby and Music of the Night

For my final presentation for Instructional Design, I did a lesson intro on The Great Gatsby. I wanted to incorporate some kind of technology into the lesson plan and so I went to You Tube where I found the greatest idea. Several high school English classes had posted movie trailers for The Great Gatsby that they had made themselves. This is a great end of the unit assignment that I would love to do in my classroom.

The following link is to one of my favorite trailers done by students:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=aYAzg_aDA4M

A Proposal and The Wind Beneath my Wings

The following link takes you to an interesting proposal done by Phil Coogan. He proposes a technology infused English classroom, equipped with computers, flat screens, multi-media machine, telephone, fax machine, etc. All would be in two different classrooms: 1 in Oregon and 1 in New Zealand. Case studies would occur at these two schools to see how technology aided in learning.

http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~iejll/volume4/Coogan/

Blackle and La Vie Boheme

I have become rather concerned about the current state of our environment. I am not an extremist, but I do believe in global warming and the excessive waste of the United States. I feel that every little things that is done can make a difference. I hope that the recycling project here on campus begins soon. In fact, my cooperating teacher at King's has started such a recycling project at King's. I believe that is very important to indoctrinate students into taking care of their world.
One of the things I have found while searching is http://blackle.com/. This is a search engine site that is powered by Google. So when you type in anything, the same results will come up as would on Google. But what makes this search different is that the screen is predominantly black. Because of this modification, energy is saved. In fact, as of today, 350, 521.131 watt hours have been saved. This is small, but everything counts. I would encourage other to use this search engine.

Voki and Mandy

My aunt blogs religiously. Nearly everyday she posts about her life, her family, her dreams, etc. I love to read her blog because it is just like talking directly to her. Recently I noticed that on her blog, she had put a Voki on several different occasions. A Voki is an animated avatar character. You can make them look as closely to yourself as possible. You then pick a voice and type something for your Voki to say. At first, it is a little creepy, but also fun. I thought that as a teacher, you could use this one your blog or on a class website to relate messages to students or recount the assignment for the day. Below is the Voki homepage and my aunt's blog, in case anyone is interested.

http://www.voki.com/

http://dothedishesfirst.blogspot.com/

Technology Tips and Jumpin' Jack Flash

I came across this website for teachers. It is all about technology and website that teachers could find useful. It has different catergories such as Stuff you gotta try, Handouts, Fun Powerpoints, Tutorials, Articles, and Interesting Tech workshops. If you go under Stuff you gotta try, the author of the website-Marilyn Western- has different site that you can go to for your specific subject matter. There are tons of great website and just some fantastic ideas. I was so impressed not only with this website, but also with the amount of time and energy spent on finding all this information for other teachers!! I am definetly going to use this website in the future!!!

http://www.edzone.net/~mwestern/

Mind Google and One Song Glory

I was surfing the Web earlier today and I came upon this article.
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7032011443887998212

It seems odd to me to compare the human brain to a man-made Internet search engine, but the article makes a rather convincing argument. Any thoughts?

Old Friends and My technological experience

I have had one actual technological experience while at King's this semester.

I was able to teach one class and I decided that I wanted to make an overhead of a photograph by Robert Capa. This photograph is surreal and incredibly gripping. I thought that it would do go very well with the unit that I was teaching. You can see it directly left.

But, I had no idea how to make an overhead. Yes, it is a simple process, but I had never done it myself. Using the help of my cooperating teacher, the school secretary, and the school librarian, I was finally able to make my overhead.

I have had such a respect for those who a technologically savvy. I wanted in those moments to impress these women with my technology skills. But I have a long way to go. But at the same time, I have learned so much this semester that I will take with me.

King's High School and My Love

This semester, I did my practicum at King's High School. It is a rather prestigious school, known for both sport and academics. I was in awe by the school buildings themselves. They are rather stately and grand. There is much history behind the school.
I was also suprised by the verocity that the students attacked school studies. I have been in an Advanced English junior class and nearly every student gives 100% in every class. They are also very active in SAT prep and the like.
But almost most shocking to me was the lack of technology throughout the entire school. In my classroom, there is a tv mounted to the ceiling with a VCR and DVD player. The teacher has a computer, and the only other technology is an overhead projector. I have been in other classrooms and they all have virtually the same equipment. In the library, there are several computer stations, but they are older computers.
It is just interesting to me how technology is downplayed so greatly at King's. But students do incredibly well, so something must be going well.

Smart Boards and Sexy Back

I was doing some research on Smart Boards. Before this semester, I had never even heard of a interactive classroom board. I thought such things were just shown in space televsion. But once I saw and actually touched the board, my mind was blown. Honestly, I was rather afraid of the whole thing at the beginning. I always seem to break technological things. But I was shocked at how easy the whole things was to do. I am by no means a master, but I would like to integrate a Smart Board into my classroom someday. As such, I did some research on Smart Board grants and such. I found them all very interesting and informative for a future teacher.

http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/Classroom+solutions/Get+SMART+in+your+classroom/Grants+Funds/Find+grants/US+National.htm

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