Reflection for Week 4

Last week I had really thought I reached significant turnign point in this class. Yet, this week has proved different. I believe that if we had an assignment, like creating a wiki, expanding on it and really getting to use it, instead of merely checking it out for a week, my enthusiasm would be different. This is difficult for me to write because I think of myself as someone who is very motivated and enthusiastic about whatever situation I am in my life. Aside from making me feel more like a pessimist than an optimist, it dissapoints me to see my constant reaction to technology. Although I'm interested in the material we read, I feel like my responses are very anti-technology, which is by no means how I feel. I think that my reaction to Kinzer and Leander article could very well be taken as completely negative. Yet, I in my defense, it wasn't. I agree with the need for us as teachers to produce completely literate students but I think that that can only happen after the earlier years focus on the basics. I even jotted down while I read the article that the "other" type of teacher that they talked about reminded me of the veteran faculty where I taught who were always up in arms whenever the administration implemented another aspect of technology into the classroom and into expectations from teachers. I think that this is part of the problem, the amount of time spent on technology in the schools is within the teacher and administration circle using the technology instead of developing curriculum to implement the technology in class. For that reason, I do wish that we could slow down a bit in this class and focus on developing a certain aspect of technology in the classroom instead of focusing on so many at once.

Initially I didn't think that n ot having been in the classroom for the past year would have any impact on my ability to follow along and feel at ease in a teaching class, yet after reading people's final project assignments I began to feel as though I couldn't think of such a structured focus for my project. Never having taught in the English classroom I think is also hurting me in creating a final assignment.

You asked us in the reflection questions that you provided, "what do we need to learn from our students (and ourselves) and to teach students (and ourselves) about the issues and problems that readers/researchers will confront re. the process of finding information through web-based resources (both scholarly and public)? I think that last week our in class discussion really covered this question. We talked about how our students know how to use the internet to get what they're looking for but that many times they don't know how to disifer quality sites from weaker ones. I think that that should be a serious focus in any classroom. If we want to talk about literacy, understanding how to correctly maneuver and find information over the internet could easily be defined as being internet literate. This is something I would like more discussion on in class as well as an issue that I hope to incorporate into my curriculum once I get back into the classroom.

Classroom communities & how to best use a wiki

I liked the idea that Kadjer presented in Chapter 8 about the communities that can be formed through the internet. It seems such a simple idea - use what the kids are already using to promote their academic growth! Wow! So, simple, yet I've never done it. She says that "we strive to create meaningful spaces for student learning," which is absolutely right, but I think I've been trying too hard (98). The wikis and blogs that we've experimented with this week have planted a seed in my head of the possibilities that can arise using the internet. She refers specifically to email in the beginning of her chapter. "E-mail is appealing to students (and teachers) because of its speed, efficiency, ubiquity, and accessibility" (99). Although I personally love the speed of the internet, I still feel that it takes away some of the interpersonal connection that an in class discussion has. Yet, using these programs only reminds me that my students communicate in this form daily. Many of them text each other frequently instead of calling each other (something I hate when people do to me - for example sending me an invitation to go out as a text message instead of calling me directly!). Although I may think that it's impersonal, my students don't. My class needs to be interesting for them, not necessarily for me. If this will keep them engaged then this is what I need to include in my class to be a successful teacher.
Which brings me to my reactions to "When Blogging Goes Bad: A Cautionary Tale About Blogs, Email Lists, Discussion, and Interaction". Krause begins by quoting that " "Content Delivery in the 'Blogosphere,'" Richard E. Ferdig and Kaye D. Trammell claim that the benefits of blogs in classrooms include giving students a "legitimate" space to participate in discussions and to share diverse perspectives with readers in and outside of the classroom," - my own initial reaction to what blogging could promote in a classroom. Yet, Krause's article also seems very reasonable. He talks about people feeling disengaged, lack of a dynamic, and lack of participation. I appreciated this article because of its honesty. It presented many of the concerns that I have had in the previous weeks but it also leads me to think that the use of blogs and wikis in a class have their place, as long as they are only a small portion of the class. For example, the professor who came to our lab last week (and I apologize for not referring to her by name), I think had a successful experience with her wiki project because it was simply a project that the class did to help their grade, not a substantial part of the course. If the class really reacts well to the project, then there could be a possibility of expanding its use. Yet, I think the idea behind including these programs in class should be to attempt to talk outside of class, to expand thier use of technology, to add another dynamic to the class, and to provide for mulitple communciation levels. What do you think?

testing 1, 2, 3

Just checking if this works.