It's Time to Reflect

When I started this class, I was quite nervous because I really felt out of the loop with regards to technology. When the questionaire was handed out for us to complete, I had knots in my stomach because I had no idea what some of the things on the survey were.
When I watched cable news shows such as CNNor MSNBC, I wondered what they meant when they talked about blogs. What in the world was a blog? I didn't take the time to look into it though. When we created our own blogs, I finally realized what they were and how easy it was to use to post entries on. I also did my project and paper on this to find out more about how blogs could be utilized in the classroom. In my research, I found out that teachers are using them to extend students learning from within the classroom to outside the classroom. Students have someone other than the teacher to write to and teachers have found this to be a great experience.
I still do feel that I am so behind with technology overall. It was funny the other day when one of my students(who is now in fourth grade) from three years ago came to stop in to read a book that she had written and dedicated to me (I read it the next day to my current students). Well, her mom was telling me how her daughter is using powerpoint for school presentations and I told her that she could teach me how to use powerpoint. My colleague (that same week) told me how her daughter, who is in 6th grade, uses powerpoint as well and how comfortable she is using it. We then talked about how uncomfortable we are with it because we don't know how to use it and how students nowadays have just grown up with this at their fingertips.
Another funny thing was when I went over to my parents house the other day to help them with the water from the flood. That wasn't funny but seeing our old computer in the basement was. It made me think about what we have talked about in class in terms of Web 2.0. This old computer sitting in the basement was used just to find information for reports. Attached to it was this old printer that used the paper with the holes on the sides to feed the paper through as it was printing. Now, I go on to e-mail, blog and make comics. Computers have indeed become any extension of us allowing us to communicate with an audience so much greater than I could have imagined with just the touch of a button.
With regards to Myspace, I really don't have any interest in it for myself but I can see how it is of interest to so many including students in the schools today. It's very interesting how now when the news media needs to find information out about a person, they go to Myspace and refer to the postings that are made on their sites. This was done with the recent Virginia Tech shootings where they looked up both the victims and the shooter to find out more personal information. It's also apparently being used by employers so that they can do an unofficial background check on a potential new hire. Is this right? I don't know but I think people really need to think about what they put out there because once it's out ... it's out for all to see.
During the summer, I plan to play around with the computer and my new digital camera to learn some more things than I do now. I keep telling my husband that we need to upgrade our phone to one that has a camera. His students that he works with at his church tease him about his 'dinosaur' of a phone. Maybe that will get him going. I may also go ahead and take a course or two related to powerpoint and other tech material so that I can learn more for my own sake. I should probably ask my niece or nephew to teach me. They would probably love it. Well, that's it. Thanks for the experience!

What A Week!

What a week ... a flood and the shootings at Virginia Tech.
On Sunday, I was saying that this was just another rainstorm and that the weather forcasters were just overdoing the weather as they have in the past. I was out shopping in the morning on Sunday and then doing things around the house when I got the frantic call from my parents about all the water in their basement. They knew that we had a wet/dry vac so they called to have us bring it over. Unfortunately, my husband didn't know where all the pieces were to it. OK ... there went the relaxing Sunday afternoon. So my husband and I headed to home depot to get my parents a wet/dry vac and we got the last two (very small ones). I swear, we could have sold them for three times the price. People were staring us down as we were checking out. I was very tempted to do just this (just think of a great shopping spree at J.Crew). But of course, that was just fun thinking, not something I would do unless the price was right. Ha-ha! So off we went and we realized that these two little things were not of any use (I returned them the next day). So back home we went to search for the missing pieces to our wet/dry vac. After some searching .... victory. A 20 gallon one that pumps out the water as it goes into the vac. So off we went again. Dad was very happy needless to say. So was I. I didn't want to see them so stressed out over this. Eventually, everything worked out ... as they usually do. So once again we were off to our house to get the dog out and check on our house when we noticed that ther river by us was rising. Once again ... hopeful thoughts that all would be fine. In the end they were for me but unfortunately for neighbors closer to the river, they were not so fortunate. It looks as though they will have a busy week ahead. Here's to happy thoughts being sent their way.
Now all that is being discussed is the shooting at Virginia Tech. It is just so horrible and senseless. What is our world coming to? Hopefully something positive can come out of all of this. I don't know what but hopefully something will.

Buddy Up?

Hi! As requested by Dr. Dana, I'm (as you are too) looking for a partner to buddy up with for the project and paper. Please let me know. Thanks! Have a great holiday weekend!

YouTube

You tube is quite interesting and vulgar for some of the outrageous videos that are posted as well as just being too cute for the pet videos that are listed (where I usually go). The site has the videos listed by most viewed this month and week as well as viewer ratings. I think it is a good way to get exposure for directors in the director's cut section. I remember the one about the bride from hell; the one who cut her hair on her wedding day and then I found out that it was just a bunch of actresses. It defintely got lots of exposure. You can definitely put so many different types of material out there and get it to so many people in just the click of a button. That is what makes everything about the internet so amazing ... it connects you to millions just by clicking onto a website. With regards to what we read in Michele Knoble's paper in terms of memes, YouTube extends through such a diverse audience that such memes as catch phrases, fashion, and popular music can be exposed to anyone with a computer. .... Just mazing how far away we all are from each other but yet how connected we are.

Hopkin Green Frog

I Googled Hopkin Green Frog and found it to be about a 'lost frog' flier that was posted in Seattle from who was origianlly thought to be a little boy (because of the handwriting and mispellings). The little 'stuffed frog' from a McDonald's happy meal giveaway turned out to belong to a 15 year old who has autism. It seems as though this took a life of its own as websites and t-shirts have appeared with 'lost frog' logos. As I was clicking into several different links from my first one on Wikipedia I came across one that was written by a local writer who was going to do a story about this as well as give a frog (the same type that was lost and that he bought from e-bay) to the boy. When he contacted the dad, the dad talked to him but didn't want to have the boy's picture shown or name identified and also didn't want the frog sent to him. The dad was concerned about a his son having a meltdown and having bad memories being brought back about this incident. What followed on the link was lots of blogs; some about how people liked thinking that the frog belonged to a little boy rather than an autistic teen whose dad didn't want to have anyone send a frog as a replacement because of what could happen. Then came one by 'Love Monkey' who was doing some research on the internet and came across this link. They posted their own blog because they too had an adolescent teen with autism. This blogger wrote about how they could truly understand the dad's perspective and overall wrote a fantastic blog related to autism and their child. Bloggers after this one commented on this blog and how it touched them to mean something more than just a cool thing. There were even blogs of starting a fundraising activity to sell green "I lost my frog' bracelets like those of Lance Armstrong. Other people gave links to other ways to do fundraising for autism. There were still the silly blogs but it was very interesting to see what people were writing about on this site and how far reaching this was (there was even a blog from Poland). It is also quite interesting how something that happened in 2004 is still creating this type of discussion and hype and how many sites are related to just this one topic. I think because I work with students who are have different levels of autism / on the autistic spectrum, that I found it moving. I also noted a book that one blogger referred to titled The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. It is supposively about an autistic boy who goes on a search to find who killed the neighbors dog. Maybe I'll look it up the next time I'm at Barnes and Noble. This was an interesting assignment ....Thanks Dr. Dana.

A Book a Day Allows Imaginations to Play

I would consider myself a casual reader. I enjoy reading novels from my favorite authors as well as magazine articles from various magazines. I will sometimes go online to read from news websites as well as for teacher resource materials. I will always have a book with me when I'm headed to the beach so I can sit and read on the beach. One thing that does effect me is my inability at times to just sit and read because either my eyes will get tired or I will lose my focus and feel the urge to do something else because I'm tired of sitting. If it's a book that I am really into, I can sit and read for hours and finish the book in a few sittings (ex. Marley and Me and Lovely Bones). I think this is why I bring a mindset of casual reading to my first grade classroom. During D.E.A.R. time, students may find any space in the classroom to sit (as long as it isn't under and tables). I have carpet squares, seats that look like ants, mats to lie down on, stools at our 'Learning Cafe', as well as the students desks. I want the students to be comfortable when they're reading because I know I have to be. I have also organized my reading materials in a way that makes it very easy for students to find books at their level. We have so many different reading times throughout our day because reading is found within all areas of the curriculum. I love to read with and to my students. It allows students to learn about different genres as well as allow their imagination to blossom. For my specific 'Language Arts' lessons, I have Guided Reading groups (in which students wear 'closed' signs so that they aren't disturbed by friends), readings from big books and anthologies, our basal reading book and various workbook material. Students also enjoy time on Friday when a parent comes in to read a favorite book chosen by thier child. I teach most of my reading lessons at the rug but also use student desks for other reading activites. This is such a great time of the year for first grade teachers becasue this is the time that we see students who may have been struggling with reading ... become so much more comfortable and confident with reading and writing. I had such a wonderful moment in my classroom two weeks ago when one of my students sat down and started reading by the rug area. Other students who were busy with other activities around the classroom left their seats and surrounded this student to listen to her read. It was such a great moment and one that I shared with the parent. Talk about a confidence builder!
I use technology to gather teaching material from various websites and students use the computers (3)within the classroom to reinforce both math and reading skills. We will use it as a class to look on various websites when a special idea or comment sparks a moment to go and look something up (ex. going to the Bronx Zoo website).

My Space

I just thought of someting that related to what Dr. Dana had talked about on the first day of class. On CNN they were talking about the bus that was carrying the college students and the bus crash that killed 6 of the passengers and injured so many others. They had one of the CNN reporters on that had looked on My Space to find out more about the players who had died and reporting who this person was by his pictures and posts. It made me think of the student that Dr. Dana had referred to and how this site may now be a way for others to share their thoughts about those who were lost and those who were hurt.
Another My Space related blurb that I heard about during a newscast was quite interesting because apparently some employers are screening potential employees by seeing what they're like on their My Space page. Another sign of the times .... you do really need to watch what pictures are posted unless your going to be on American Idol. Then maybe it works to your advantage.