As the semester draws to a close in science fiction seminar, I decided that it was time that the students wrote creatively with a different kind of media. I have been helping the students to write the start of novels, short stories, and poetry, but realized that it is really had to make a living these days as a novelist or poet. Therefore I think that it is necessary to also teach the literacy of a 21st century writer. That being the said I decided to have my science fiction students create a story on some of the technology that they have been researching in my class. We have been looking at the singularity theory, when artificial intelligence will surpass the human brain by being able to access the web and communicate with what is around them. We have also been studying robots that learn to adapt to their environment and learn from their surroundings. If you want to learn more about what the singularity is, check out this video, or read more from Ray Kurzweil in his book, When Humans Transcend Biology. The students were supposed to take one of the themes mentioned in class and show mastery of it by using it creatively in a story. I decided that we would use imovie for this story in order to demonstrate the students ability to tell a story through technology.
The following movie is my example for the class of what they could do with imovie and the amazing things that they could create.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Article Response to Digital Gaming Online
I researched using educational online games (something I knew nothing about before) so that I would be able to understand what my students are into and how I can channal that energy. One of the websites that I found that is really interesting is Games for Social Change. To see my whole response of what I found out click here, Games.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
IEP for technology class
2-1-2010 In the hope that I will be able to learn more about the uses of blogging. I chose to set up a blog for my science fiction class where students will be able to post what they have learned as we explore different topics.
At this point I am not entirely sure how to do this, but I am sure that through practice (i.e. multiple hours of wasted time and frustration) I will be able to come up with a home-site that is useful for me as a teacher, and also interests the students.
What follows in this post are the play-by-play actions as I explore and apply my technological IEP... Creating a class blog to help manage writing!
Today was the start of my creation. Check out the class blog that I created here, at Brave New World
2-9-2010 It is now February 9th and the class is underway. I tried to get my students into the lab to create their blogs, and was very surprised to realize that blogger is blocked. I then tried to get them to comment on my blog and found that that was blocked as well. Students were frustrated, and I had no idea that I would run into this kind of road block.
Instead of giving up I have been working with the tech at our school to establish a secure connection so that the students in my 5th hour will have access to the blog. It will be nice if I can get this kind of clearance to proceed.
Until that happens the students can still use my 'master' blog as a place to find information. I have posted the reading schedule and continue to post questions for each of the chapters that we are reading. It is an easy way for students who loose their papers to still have access to the material. I also put on two online versions of the books, and it has helped at least two students so far who were not able to check out the classroom copy due to having too many books overdue.
So far the main blog is a great success, I will continue trying with my students individual blogs.
2-12-2010 This past week was a productive one. I was able to work with the technology specialist in my school and get her to unblock blogger for the students in my class. I had to provide her evidence that I was going to be using blogger for educational purposes, but that wasn't hard to do since my personal blog was already set up.
Since then I have pulled a few students (my teaching aid and a student in my first hour) into the lab and had them set up a blog as well as comment on my blog, which they did so successfully. So far 8 students have successfully set up a blog and have a link posted on my main site.
I also decided that I would make my portfolio for my masters program a blog. You can find a link to the work in progress here Portfolio.
2-16-2010 Today the students are online. Blogger is unblocked and students got online to make a blog. I was surprised at how long it took to create the blog. The only assignment was to get me a blog address, and this took 20 minutes! Of course there were speed-bumps, and some of the (about a third) still need to get a blog created, but overall it was a success.
2-17-2010 Students went into the lab today to use their blog. Things were slow, but I imagine as we do this more and more it will go quicker. I taught a quick lesson about how to make a link on the blog by showing students on my blog while it was projected on the big screen in class. We started class by reading a chapter out of "Brave New World". Then, we went into the lab and the students had an assignment that was, "find an example of the Brave New World in our 2010 world. Post this on your blog with a link to a picture or website that shows this. Most students got something posted, but many students are still in the "exploring" phase of blogs. I hope that by giving out more small assignments students will be able to become more fluent in the blog.
2-23-2010 Students currently have two assignments to post on their blog. They are starting to get quicker with using their blogs, and we are continuing to post things that connect to the book. You can check out the assignments by clicking here; assignment one, assignment two
After going into the lab, however, it took the students 20 minutes to get onto the internet. The server moved too slow for the class to navigate effectively, so not to many students got much done. I do not know if I can spend much more time trying to get this cool thing up and running.
At this point I am not entirely sure how to do this, but I am sure that through practice (i.e. multiple hours of wasted time and frustration) I will be able to come up with a home-site that is useful for me as a teacher, and also interests the students.
What follows in this post are the play-by-play actions as I explore and apply my technological IEP... Creating a class blog to help manage writing!
Today was the start of my creation. Check out the class blog that I created here, at Brave New World
2-9-2010 It is now February 9th and the class is underway. I tried to get my students into the lab to create their blogs, and was very surprised to realize that blogger is blocked. I then tried to get them to comment on my blog and found that that was blocked as well. Students were frustrated, and I had no idea that I would run into this kind of road block.
Instead of giving up I have been working with the tech at our school to establish a secure connection so that the students in my 5th hour will have access to the blog. It will be nice if I can get this kind of clearance to proceed.
Until that happens the students can still use my 'master' blog as a place to find information. I have posted the reading schedule and continue to post questions for each of the chapters that we are reading. It is an easy way for students who loose their papers to still have access to the material. I also put on two online versions of the books, and it has helped at least two students so far who were not able to check out the classroom copy due to having too many books overdue.
So far the main blog is a great success, I will continue trying with my students individual blogs.
2-12-2010 This past week was a productive one. I was able to work with the technology specialist in my school and get her to unblock blogger for the students in my class. I had to provide her evidence that I was going to be using blogger for educational purposes, but that wasn't hard to do since my personal blog was already set up.
Since then I have pulled a few students (my teaching aid and a student in my first hour) into the lab and had them set up a blog as well as comment on my blog, which they did so successfully. So far 8 students have successfully set up a blog and have a link posted on my main site.
I also decided that I would make my portfolio for my masters program a blog. You can find a link to the work in progress here Portfolio.
2-16-2010 Today the students are online. Blogger is unblocked and students got online to make a blog. I was surprised at how long it took to create the blog. The only assignment was to get me a blog address, and this took 20 minutes! Of course there were speed-bumps, and some of the (about a third) still need to get a blog created, but overall it was a success.
2-17-2010 Students went into the lab today to use their blog. Things were slow, but I imagine as we do this more and more it will go quicker. I taught a quick lesson about how to make a link on the blog by showing students on my blog while it was projected on the big screen in class. We started class by reading a chapter out of "Brave New World". Then, we went into the lab and the students had an assignment that was, "find an example of the Brave New World in our 2010 world. Post this on your blog with a link to a picture or website that shows this. Most students got something posted, but many students are still in the "exploring" phase of blogs. I hope that by giving out more small assignments students will be able to become more fluent in the blog.
2-23-2010 Students currently have two assignments to post on their blog. They are starting to get quicker with using their blogs, and we are continuing to post things that connect to the book. You can check out the assignments by clicking here; assignment one, assignment two
After going into the lab, however, it took the students 20 minutes to get onto the internet. The server moved too slow for the class to navigate effectively, so not to many students got much done. I do not know if I can spend much more time trying to get this cool thing up and running.
Socializing online; joining discussion forums
I have started looking into online social media that will help me reflect on my content area and found some really cool things.
There are lots of different kinds of social media out there, and many of them have useful information that can be used in the classroom.
I am directly following a few different blogs so that I can stay up to date on my content area.
The first is Kerouac Alley, which follows new writing centered around mid 20th century American Lit. This is the area that I studied in my undergraduate, and hope that by following the blog I will be able to maintain my passions and stay up to date with current writing in the area.
Secondly, I searched around the internet for blogs that would help me get ideas to get the students writing more. I found a blog called, Build Creative Writing Ideas, and decided that I would follow it so that I could get more arsenal in my toolbox for future classes on writing.
So far it is still early in the semester, so time will tell how much I can get out of the two social medias that I subscribed to, but I was certainly inspired as I looked through them.
2-12-2010 After meeting with my professor I have decided to try a few more links that might be more helpful as I continue on my journey of technological literacy. Today I subscribed to the Ilearn technology website today, where they continually send updates on new technology and how to use them in your classroom. I am looking forward to seeing what they send.
I noticed that they had the Jackson Pollock Whiteboard technology where students would be able to create abstract art on the digital screen by moving around the cursor. I am thinking that I will be able to use this in an easy chapter review type way. First I will ask the students to sign on to the website, then I will have them make an abstract painting of the chapter, and lastly I will have them explain to the class why they made the artwork that they did. This would be a lot of fun and get us talking about the chapter!
Secondly, I checked out my creative writing idea page and got an idea about getting students to write about their homes. We could do this before we start our Africa unit so that they will be able to reflect on the differences between our homes and the homes that they are going to read about. To see the home writing exercise follow this link, home.
2-23-2010 Today the ilearn technology website came out with a mars exploration program. This is something that I really could have used last semester in my science fiction class when we were exploring the other planets. This program takes people through exploration of Mars and would help with the crative writing topics that I gave them and given them more of a background to build off of. Check it out at this link.
There are lots of different kinds of social media out there, and many of them have useful information that can be used in the classroom.
I am directly following a few different blogs so that I can stay up to date on my content area.
The first is Kerouac Alley, which follows new writing centered around mid 20th century American Lit. This is the area that I studied in my undergraduate, and hope that by following the blog I will be able to maintain my passions and stay up to date with current writing in the area.
Secondly, I searched around the internet for blogs that would help me get ideas to get the students writing more. I found a blog called, Build Creative Writing Ideas, and decided that I would follow it so that I could get more arsenal in my toolbox for future classes on writing.
So far it is still early in the semester, so time will tell how much I can get out of the two social medias that I subscribed to, but I was certainly inspired as I looked through them.
2-12-2010 After meeting with my professor I have decided to try a few more links that might be more helpful as I continue on my journey of technological literacy. Today I subscribed to the Ilearn technology website today, where they continually send updates on new technology and how to use them in your classroom. I am looking forward to seeing what they send.
I noticed that they had the Jackson Pollock Whiteboard technology where students would be able to create abstract art on the digital screen by moving around the cursor. I am thinking that I will be able to use this in an easy chapter review type way. First I will ask the students to sign on to the website, then I will have them make an abstract painting of the chapter, and lastly I will have them explain to the class why they made the artwork that they did. This would be a lot of fun and get us talking about the chapter!
Secondly, I checked out my creative writing idea page and got an idea about getting students to write about their homes. We could do this before we start our Africa unit so that they will be able to reflect on the differences between our homes and the homes that they are going to read about. To see the home writing exercise follow this link, home.
2-23-2010 Today the ilearn technology website came out with a mars exploration program. This is something that I really could have used last semester in my science fiction class when we were exploring the other planets. This program takes people through exploration of Mars and would help with the crative writing topics that I gave them and given them more of a background to build off of. Check it out at this link.
3 AWESOME sources to be used!
In my technology class I found three awesome sources that English teachers can use. Most of these are a big time saver for any teacher, but can help an English teacher save time on those days where it is hard to find some. To see more information on them, and get the links to them, click on the following link!
3 Awesome Sources!
3 Awesome Sources!
Monday, December 14, 2009
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