Monday, October 20, 2008
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Digital Storytelling
"Digital Storytelling is the modern expression of the ancient art of storytelling. Digital stories derive their power by weaving images, music, narrative and voice together, thereby giving deep dimension and vivid color to characters, situations, experiences, and insights. Tell your story now digitally."
Leslie Rule, Digital Storytelling Association
Here are a few digital stories made by me:
From ANIMOTO:
The story behind this is my grandpa was put on dialysis shortly before his 80th birthday. He lost a lot of energy and was really upset about it. At his birthday party, we hired these dancers called "Those Funny Little People," because he saw them once and they made him laugh. At his party, he forgot all his troubles and everyone had a great time. I figured that an Animoto video would be the best way to show this. It can convey the emotion with the music while showing all of the pictures in a nice way.
From VoiceThread:
This one is a demonstration of 3 Card Monte. If you click the small picture to the left of the video, you will hear a voice over of me telling you about all of the tricky stuff that is going on. I chose VoiceThread to do this because it would allow me to demonstrate and then explain a video using my voice and some drawing on the screen.
From Scrapblog:
This is a few pictures from my trip to Mexico with my Family. I thought this would work best in this format because it is like a scrapbook to show pictures.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Growing Up Online
“The internet has created the biggest generation gap since the advent of rock-n-roll.”
I’m scared.
Aside from the fact that my sister just turned 13 TODAY, there were moments of this video where I just could not believe what I was hearing. Websites dedicated to the goddess Ana (the “anorexic” goddess), and websites telling you how to best kill yourself… This is not something I’d want anybody, let alone my own family/students to have access to.
However, this is life. Something like this comes along, and we can do nothing but make sure we all know how to use it. A few other people who reviewed this movie discussed how the important part is education, and I wholeheartedly agree. We need to teach kids how to use this scary thing called the internet, and we also need to educate parents! We need to let parents know that the internet is a great resource, and not make it seem like every time a child talks to someone online, they’re going to get attacked.
I also know as a person living in these times that we cannot live without this technology. Have you ever tried to make plans with someone whose cell phone is dead? Yeah, enough said. Makes you wonder how our parents did it.
While the internet seems like a very scary thing, it is very useful in the right hands. Unfortunately, we usually only hear about the terrible because it makes for better news. The first thing I wanted to do after watching the video was delete my Myspace, but I also find the irony that I’m telling you all this somewhat anonymously on my own blog!
The Video:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/
Inspiration:
http://jimbosblog-jimmy.blogspot.com/
http://robjohnson11.blogspot.com/
I’m scared.
Aside from the fact that my sister just turned 13 TODAY, there were moments of this video where I just could not believe what I was hearing. Websites dedicated to the goddess Ana (the “anorexic” goddess), and websites telling you how to best kill yourself… This is not something I’d want anybody, let alone my own family/students to have access to.
However, this is life. Something like this comes along, and we can do nothing but make sure we all know how to use it. A few other people who reviewed this movie discussed how the important part is education, and I wholeheartedly agree. We need to teach kids how to use this scary thing called the internet, and we also need to educate parents! We need to let parents know that the internet is a great resource, and not make it seem like every time a child talks to someone online, they’re going to get attacked.
I also know as a person living in these times that we cannot live without this technology. Have you ever tried to make plans with someone whose cell phone is dead? Yeah, enough said. Makes you wonder how our parents did it.
While the internet seems like a very scary thing, it is very useful in the right hands. Unfortunately, we usually only hear about the terrible because it makes for better news. The first thing I wanted to do after watching the video was delete my Myspace, but I also find the irony that I’m telling you all this somewhat anonymously on my own blog!
The Video:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/
Inspiration:
http://jimbosblog-jimmy.blogspot.com/
http://robjohnson11.blogspot.com/
Sunday, September 21, 2008
"A Momentary Monetary Gift..."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/chi-money-for-grades-11-sep11,0,4916582,print.story
An article in the Chicago Tribune said that students in some Chicago Public Schools would receive $50 for A’s, $35 for B’s, and $20 for C’s from a Harvard study.
Most of the people who end up talking about this idea agree that it may be the wrong kind of incentive. Liz Pulliam Weston in her article “Is it smart to pay for good grades?” discusses how giving money for good grades will stop kids from getting good grades for the satisfaction, and only for the momentary monetary gift. She quotes Jon Gallo, saying “Some psychologists believe that paying for grades is a bad idea because it substitutes an external reward -- money -- for an internal sense of satisfaction and therefore interferes with developing a work ethic.” This makes a very strong point for parents and teachers because the thing we want from our students (or our children) is for them to have a good work ethic.
Not working for ethics will in turn cause them to lose a sense of responsibility for the community and their families. According to Janet Bodnar, this happens because after receiving grades for money, they will assume that everything in life will earn money, but that is just not the case.
Another blog that I looked at had the reader think about it a different way. How would this be if a teacher got paid more if his/her students performed better? As a future teacher, I think that would be a great idea, but however, the same conondrum will apply. Will the teachers be teaching the subjects they want to teach, or will they only teach the test so they can get paid more? Is that what we want from our teachers? In my opinion, as much as I love money, we all know the answer is “no!”
As a future teacher, I do agree with some form of reward for good grades. However, does the reward have to be monetary? I don’t claim to know what the reward should be, but I do think that money is the wrong choice. The sense of a job well done should be enough. Unfortunately that isn’t the case. What does that say about our culture then? The culture argument, however, we will save for another day.
Cited:
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/RaiseKids/IsItSmartToPayForGoodGrades.aspx
http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/2008/03/pay-kids-for-grades.html
http://judyarztblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/pay-for-grades.html
Other sources:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/blogentries/index.html?bbPostId=BzZD7fN81BUuCz5vaAKVeiW86Cz6kCqd1ZrR8UBACJApjc65v4&bbParentWidgetId=B8k88rWwXopuz5STgLeVwBLu
An article in the Chicago Tribune said that students in some Chicago Public Schools would receive $50 for A’s, $35 for B’s, and $20 for C’s from a Harvard study.
Most of the people who end up talking about this idea agree that it may be the wrong kind of incentive. Liz Pulliam Weston in her article “Is it smart to pay for good grades?” discusses how giving money for good grades will stop kids from getting good grades for the satisfaction, and only for the momentary monetary gift. She quotes Jon Gallo, saying “Some psychologists believe that paying for grades is a bad idea because it substitutes an external reward -- money -- for an internal sense of satisfaction and therefore interferes with developing a work ethic.” This makes a very strong point for parents and teachers because the thing we want from our students (or our children) is for them to have a good work ethic.
Not working for ethics will in turn cause them to lose a sense of responsibility for the community and their families. According to Janet Bodnar, this happens because after receiving grades for money, they will assume that everything in life will earn money, but that is just not the case.
Another blog that I looked at had the reader think about it a different way. How would this be if a teacher got paid more if his/her students performed better? As a future teacher, I think that would be a great idea, but however, the same conondrum will apply. Will the teachers be teaching the subjects they want to teach, or will they only teach the test so they can get paid more? Is that what we want from our teachers? In my opinion, as much as I love money, we all know the answer is “no!”
As a future teacher, I do agree with some form of reward for good grades. However, does the reward have to be monetary? I don’t claim to know what the reward should be, but I do think that money is the wrong choice. The sense of a job well done should be enough. Unfortunately that isn’t the case. What does that say about our culture then? The culture argument, however, we will save for another day.
Cited:
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/RaiseKids/IsItSmartToPayForGoodGrades.aspx
http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/2008/03/pay-kids-for-grades.html
http://judyarztblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/pay-for-grades.html
Other sources:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/blogentries/index.html?bbPostId=BzZD7fN81BUuCz5vaAKVeiW86Cz6kCqd1ZrR8UBACJApjc65v4&bbParentWidgetId=B8k88rWwXopuz5STgLeVwBLu
Monday, September 15, 2008
Technology In Schools
Wow... There is so much technology everywhere. Students today can sometimes be overwhelmed. They get so much mental stimulation constantly! It really makes learning from a teacher very boring compared to the "norm." As a teacher we are going to have to adapt to this rapidly changing society. Like Mark says, even the record companies and TV corporations can't keep up. The only way we as teachers are going to make it is if we can keep up with the kids in terms of technology. One of the memories I have of high school is that some of my friends could completely stop a class from happening just by unplugging and switching around the AVI cables because the teacher had no idea why the DVD wasn't playing. A common theme among other viewers of these videos is that they realize students aren't going to learn by just sitting in a lecture hall. Kids today have to DO! I'm in a particular class at the moment that is so passive, I end up sleeping or playing with a deck of cards because I'm not engaged at all. The content is interesting, but the class would be exactly the same if I wasn't there. That is something teachers (past and present) should think about...
Inspiration:
http://sacsquatch.blogspot.com/
http://markci335.blogspot.com/
http://robjohnson11.blogspot.com/
Inspiration:
http://sacsquatch.blogspot.com/
http://markci335.blogspot.com/
http://robjohnson11.blogspot.com/
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Ken Robinson: Schools vs. Creativity
What did I think about this speech? It was amazing. There was not one word of it that I disagree with. Everything he said was, from my experience, absolutely true. It happened to me when I was in Calc 2. I was thinking to myself about all the homework I had: Rhet, Chem, Math, Religion, etc. I realized as I was trying to learn how to take the infinite sum of a series that "This school wants me to know EVERYTHING!" I was right. There is so much that I am supposed to know before I leave this institution that I'm afraid I might explode.
As a TA for Chem 202, I know how people feel when they don't want to learn about something you are teaching. It's not fun for you, and its DEFINITELY not fun for the student. As a future chemistry teacher, I know that a lot of my students will not be engaged purely by my subject matter. I will use many open ended projects in order to allow kids to express themselves in their unique way. If one child is exceptional with a video camera, he can make a video about a molecule, or one kid can write a song if she is so inclined. It is all about choices that let the students WANT to learn about the subject. After working with kids for a while, it is easy to see that if they don't want to do something, it is almost impossible to keep them engaged. Something has to be done that caters to the students, and not only to the teacher, the subject matter, or the big scary placement tests.
-Danny
Monday, September 1, 2008
Technology: Optional?
Should teachers choose whether or not to incorporate technology? NO WAY! They have to! I'll tell you right now that if some of my teachers never let me use technology, I'd have no idea how to post a blog (or at least know how to experiment).
An example:
My mom: terrible with technology. She thinks I'm a tech-deity, when I really know nothing. What I do know, however, is the basics. If, for example, I need something copied. I know it's a) located in one of the drop-down menus above or b) I right click. My motto is "When in doubt... right-click!" Sadly, it works about 90% of the time for my mom's problems.
So I don't know if I answered the question, so let me put it this way: We may not have to teach technology, but we should definitely teach technology thinking. That is, we should teach children how to go about figuring out problems that may arise when doing something on the computer. We don't have to teach every kid how to make words fly from above in powerpoint, but we should at least give them the backbone to at least let them figure it out if they so choose.
An example:
My mom: terrible with technology. She thinks I'm a tech-deity, when I really know nothing. What I do know, however, is the basics. If, for example, I need something copied. I know it's a) located in one of the drop-down menus above or b) I right click. My motto is "When in doubt... right-click!" Sadly, it works about 90% of the time for my mom's problems.
So I don't know if I answered the question, so let me put it this way: We may not have to teach technology, but we should definitely teach technology thinking. That is, we should teach children how to go about figuring out problems that may arise when doing something on the computer. We don't have to teach every kid how to make words fly from above in powerpoint, but we should at least give them the backbone to at least let them figure it out if they so choose.
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