When I first heard we were going to create blogs for this class, I was a little ambivalent. I don't tweet, never had a myspace, and have used my Facebook less and less. Posting things online makes me uneasy. This weekend I wanted to take a break from school and started playing around with it. I changed my background a bit, and added a profile pic. This made blogging a bit more exciting. So I'll give it a try :)!!!
Technology is cool to me; for awhile I was responsible for keeping up with the specifics of current and potentially future Apple products as a sales specialist. I am not naturally a "techie", but I do have a little bit more knowledge than when I started. I basically say that now no one can up-sell me on a computer because I know about RAM, HD space, and processor speed. Yay!!! Also, I can't fix your computer; I wasn't a Genius (people typically respond with a disappointing "oh").
Speaking of technology, the Sheskey article discussed how technology can be used in a classroom setting outside of the typical Youtube video, article from the web, or song. A digital camera was used to document student work. I thought this was cool because students could see their work from a different perspective. The teacher then showed the photos to the whole class. I know for me, like many other people in the class, knowing that my work was going to be displayed for everyone (a high school classroom can feel like everyone) to see can be nerve wracking. I would try really hard to make sure it looked good. Someone in class mentioned how at this point the grade did not matter, it was what your peers thought that had more of an impact. I think this is interesting because this is a moment where grades aren't driving motivation.
The article on Bloomberg banning Coke sparked passionate conversation. I liked how the teachers allowed us to talk about whatever we wanted. It was as if the teachers knew that many of us had a burning desire to talk about the different issues related to the article :D. I am excited to see what fun things I can do with technology that I wasn't aware of before this class. Kids today grow up with technology and this class will hopefully help us keep up.
Guess: What product did John Pemberton invent in the late 19th century?
I am sorry that I didn't have to time to respond to your brilliant blog posting earlier. It inspired me to expand my own (hypothetical) plans for curricularizing the Soda Ban for Latin (see my blog). I really like your bringing in the vocabulaic aspect and the parallel and related issue of westernization. Your research and presentation of relevant and revealing imagery made the lesson more real--and kind of woke up our meeting! So bravissima, Musetta! I look forward to more from you.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your uneasiness toward posting things online! I'm in the same camp...no "tweeting," no myspace, and barely use Facebook these days (though most likely because I have zero free time, owing to the rigor of the MAC program!). I labor over my blog posts, nervous about expressing opinions that are one-sided, not to mention worried about making grammar or spelling errors that then become public. :-P Nonetheless, I have tried to embrace the task, and focus on the benefits of blogging, particularly since I think it could accomplish what Sheskey noted in his digital camera scenario!
ReplyDelete"Kids today grow up with technology and this class will hopefully help us keep up."
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to use kids ideas about which technologies to use. That could be a good exit ticket question: "what web website would you like to see us use in the classroom?" or "what web technology would you like to see us use in the classroom?" I suspect there would be some good ideas, and they would be more likely to resonate with the students.