Am I Ready?

As part of this week's assignment I watched a video with a boy asking me that question.  Am I ready to be his teacher?  Am I ready to teach him about what he needs to know?  Do I surf the internet?  Do I go onto social media?  I have a different answer today than I should have had 8 weeks ago.  I probably would have answered "yes" 8 weeks ago, but I know more now than then; give me 8 more and I will know even more.

Today I communicated with 6 people that I have not seen since we were in the 4th grade together.  I lived in St. Louis from birth through the end of 4th grade.  I have remembered many of my classmates and have kept their pictures and names with me all of these years.  This class, yes this class, gave me the courage to go onto a social network and find them.  And believe it or not, they remembered me too.  Wow!  We remembered the same moments.  The same teachers for the same reasons.  I could not have done that before.  It may seem simple and funny, but I could not.

As part of this week's assignment I read the last chapter of  my Frey, Fischer, & Gonzalez book Literacy 2.0 (2010).  I was reading it as an online book; the way I purchased it.  Remember how I started this class, kind of complaining about it.  I have been pushing online books for my students, but have not been ready to jump into the deep end of the pool myself, until this book.  Well, guess what this chapter was about?  Online textbooks and other resources.  And guess what one of my student crisis issues of the day was?  Online problems.

You know I am a spiritual person.  So today, all of this came to a point where I could really help a student.  Without breaking too much of the FERPA law (I will explain that on another day), without hurting too much, this student is not doing the needed work for the class because the work is online and the student is uncomfortable reading online material, utilizing online resources, trusting that online conversations are safe, and that what online work is completed will actually be counted toward the final grade.

Wow!  Did the Lord know to send this person to me or what? 

So the student was not responding in the class and the instructor sent me a note asking for help.  I got ahold of the student and dug into the problem.  Guess what I told the student?  I have been in your shoes and I am here to tell you it will all work out.  REALLY!  Told the student about my class, this blog, my issues with the video not working, anything I could think of to make the student hear that I understood.  Really understood how frustrating it can be to not understand technology and be starting school all over again with students the same age as your own children.  Oh, did I forget to add that part in, too?  Yes, we had that in common. 

I want to say that I told this student how wonderful studying with younger students can be!  I have learned a great deal from my classmates.  I did not have the same technological advantages that many of them did, but it has not mattered.  I have still learned a great deal from them!  I have admired their creativity and passion for education.  They have inspired me! 

Am I ready?  Each day more and more, yes.  I am learning as I blog.  I will continue to learn and I am excited about each step that I am taking!

Resource:

Frey, N., Fisher, D., & Gonzalez, A. (2010). Literacy 2.0: Reading and writing in 21^st century classrooms. Bloomington: Solution Tree Press.

My Latest Project

Well here it is. The latest and greatest. I have made a chart utilizing my grandmothers knowledge and my computer. I could have looked all of the information up in one of my cook books. Or I could have looked the information up on my phone. But instead I utilized the best and the brightest to help me create my homework. 

So now, I have a chart to print out and hang on the iside of one of my kitchen cabinets for my daughter and I to use (and probably my husband).    I really AM learning as I blog!

Learning How To Build A Video

In our class we were to build a storyboard.  A story that we chose.  I decided to build one on my life and how and why it is so crazy and mixed up right now.  I had now idea that during the building of the video it would get more crazy.  But as my life spins, I know that I am being held tightly in the arms of my Lord. 

The video is not as I orginally saw it in my mind.  However, I hope that you enjoy it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx3bDzDESAg

Week Seven

Using Technology for Assessment is this week's topic. 

There are so many different types of assessment.  I really enjoyed Anderson, Green and Speck's (Anderson, 2008) review of them in our reading for the week. 

1.  Objective assessments that have set answers that are defined.  Instructors ask students matching or true-false or multiple choice or corresponding answer questions at all levels or education across the spectrum of fields.  Many of the assessments of this type at my institution are done on scanned forms which students must fill in the correct circles with a number two pencil; you know the kind I mean (p.199-200).

2.  Checklist assessments where the student and teacher can mark off a list of the objects or information to be learned or met through an assignment.  My "favorite" example of this in my own school district, at both the middle school and high school levels for both my children and myself is the infamous LEAF PROJECT.  Where the student must have x number of leaves from this type of tree and x number of leaves from this type of tree, etc, etc..  And the project must have "fresh leaves" with correct labeling of scientific and common names.  (The fresh leaves are so you know you cannot use your older sibling or if you have a hoarding parent, their leaf project.)  Students have a checklist that must be followed so that the teacher, student, and parents all are on the same page as to what must be obtained for the maximum number of project points (p.203-204).

3.  Rubrics are a guide type of assessment that is similar in nature to the checklist.  However, it provides the student a rating dependent on how much or how well an area was accomplished under the standards of the project.  Most of the graduate work I have had at Missouri Baptist University has utilized rubric assessments.  I have encountered them in a couple of other places and I myself have used them in my own classes.  I believe that they provide the criteria upfront to the student in a way that some other assignment assessments may not (p.204).

4.  Portfolios are another type of assessment that is used at Missouri Baptist in this program.  We have a working electronic portfolio; which is to say that we are constantly building upon what we are learning and we use it in each class to demonstrate what we have learned from class to class as our competencies evolve and increase in complexities.  I did not get an undergraduate degree in education, so I did not have a portfolio as my mother, aunt, and others who are close to me had to complete.. However,  most of there portfolios were not electronic in nature, but were more of a three ring binder or multiple binder project for a committee to review (p.207-208).

5.  Performance based assessments were what I was used to because I earned my first degree as a vocal and instrumental music major.  In music, assessments are difficult because they are powerfully based upon instructor judgement.  And I hate to say this, 20 years later, but it is true, if they were having a bad day, you may have a bad assessment.  Human error is human.  Dancers, painters, sculptures, artists of any kind will tell you that from time to time, they have no idea why they did not receive a good assessment on their work for a given day (p.203).  However, I believe that those critics of those works made those students better at their art.  The student may not have agreed with or liked the assessment of the performance, but they probably grew stronger in their field from the experience. 

Do you know the old Harry Chapin song about "Flowers are Red"?  Basically the song is about a little boy who goes to school and starts to draw flowers with all the colors he has in his box.  But the
teacher tells him that he is wrong; that flowers are read and leaves are green.  The boy argues with her that there are so many colors!  Why can't he use them all?

As I have been working on this degree and as I read this chapter, that song kept playing in my head.  Technology cannot understand how technology will ever provide meaningful performance based assessment.  The leaf project can be scanned and assessed.  The multiple choice, true/false, and matching tests can be assessed.  How can a flute sonata or a pen and ink sketch be assessed?  I guess I better do some more reading and exploring. 

I am still learning as I blog.

Reference:
Anderson, R., Grant, M., & Speck, B., (2008). Technology to teach literacy: a resource for k-8 teachers. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.

WEEK SIX
 
This week we are learning about ESL or English as a Second Language.  In the Technology to Teach Literacy (Anderson, 2008) book that we are using, I was reading about utilizing technology as a tool to engage elementary children in their process of learning English. This discussion took me back to my first experience working technology and students with physical disabilities.

Many people do not think about it, but sign language and braille are both languages.  For many college students, English is a second language to them and they therefore work with an ESL specialist.  With the wonderful advancements in technology, students are able to "speak" in English, "read" English language, and "hear" English language even if they are unable to speak, see or hear.

Most people over the last year have probably seen commercials for a computer program called "Dragon Naturally Speaking".  This is a program which allows individuals to speak to a computer and the computer will type and edit documents for the person.  It is a very common program these days, but a decade ago, it cost a great deal of money for colleges to have licenses for students to utilize. 

When I first started purchasing the program for my institutions, I had students who were unable to utilize their hands for typing or were visually challenged.  "Dragon" would allow students to "type" their assignments, answers to tests as they were being read to them, compose papers, or even just sending simple emails without assistance of someone else.  The program would read back what was typed, including punctuation and even suggested spelling corrections; as with any spell check. 

There are numerous programs being utilized by my institution and others which level the playing field for our students to be able to work within their own physical restrictions without placing educational limitations upon them.  These programs, while in the past focused upon education, are finding their way into the workforce.  I know that my institution, for one, has a training center established to teach employers how to work with the technology and their challenged employees to benefit both their company and the individuals.

When it comes to students with hearing challenges have long had signers as translators in the classrooms.  However, for students like myself, I needed something more than a translator.  I need subtitles.  In a world that centers around visual and auditory technology, subtitles are a must if you cannot read a person's lips or have a translator available.  While it may seem to many that all television shows and films available automatically have subtitles, it is not true.  Subtitles are still being written for many films and older programs which are not shown on a regular basis.  Because of this, some students are not able to participate in the full viewing of certain courses' materials; especially if commercials are involved.

 Many of my classmates are young enough to be my own children.  So they do not really remember when there was a world without internet; but I do.  I remember when the internet began and it grew rapidly with sound.  However, institutions had to make sure that students who could not hear those sounds were still included.  So we have to make sure that the sounds are subtitled for equal access. 
Visually challenged students must receive their own form of subtitling on websites also.  Through auditory subtitles, individuals can navigate through websites on their own. 

When I am with my friends,  who are not in the field of education, and the topic of English as a Second Language or ESL comes up, everyone automatically thinks of Spanish.  But ESL is so much more than that, especially when technology is concerned.  ESL is making sure that everyone is able to be included in the learning process.  I know that there are many advancements in educational software and tools that can assist in this area which I need to learn, as I am blogging.

Reference:
Anderson, R., Grant, M., & Speck, B. (2008). Technology to teach literacy: a resource for k-8 teachers (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.