Mariomassone. (Photographer). (2010). File name. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Minkskeleton.jpg

Clausula

Friday marked the end of the first semester of EDUC 504 and of the MAC program in general! I can't believe an entire semester has passed- granted it was an extremely abbreviated and intense semester, but still, it flew by.  As far as Friday's tech class, it was a great idea to have previous Macers talk to us about how they're implementing technology in their own classrooms.  I'm really bad with names, so i'll just refer to them by description.  The girl who we video-conferenced with in Paris had a lot of great resources, especially different ways for how us world language people might use technology in our classrooms. I had heard about freerice.com before, but I hadn't heard about Moodle, and upon checking it out I found that they offer a Latin option! How exciting! I was also really interested in what the guy from the IBO school had to say.  I didn't know anything about these types of schools, so it was very interesting to learn about them.

I enjoyed our discussion on the readings- it seems like many people picked up on the same points I did as far as seeking behavior and privacy issues with teens today.  It was also really cool to Skype with Lauren and her students, and hear their take on technology in the classroom.  I found it really interesting that there is a school rule that students aren't allowed to have their cell-phones, but clearly that isn't very strictly enforced.  It makes sense, though, as Lauren explained that the school is in the Bronx and a lot of the parents want to be able to stay in contact with their children throughout the day.

I definitely learned a lot this semester about technology and its possible uses in my teaching practice.  I also learned that I have a whole lot more to learn before I decide when and how I want to use it in my practice.   On that note, I'm glad we will be continuing the course in the fall!

A different take...

I was surprised to find that this week's readings looked at the more negative side of technology.  They addressed many issues that I think are representative of some of my big problems with technology, but that I couldn't really have expressed in words.  I find this idea of "seeking" behavior incredibly interesting- probably due to my Psychology background.  What really resonated with me was the idea that we are driven more by the action of seeking than by the tangible reward of what we are seeking.  I am definitely guilty of wasting hours Googling random facts and in the end feeling more dissatisfied than I was before I ever started because at some point I run out of things to seek.  Interestingly, I heard on the radio today that studies have shown that when people are forced to go 24 hours without their smartphone, they experience the same symptoms of withdrawal- depression, lonliness, etc.- that are experienced by patients in drug rehab.  Obviously, after reading the seeking article yesterday this caught my attention.

The article on Generation M's definitions of private and public was also quite interesting.  I noticed that many of the characteristics Klapperstuck and Kearns attributed to Generation M are ones that I too possess.  I often find myself on my phone and/or computer when I'm in the company of other people, and upon reflecting (thanks to this article), I realized that the way people respond to this behavior is extremely generational.  My mom hates it when I am texting during dinner or on my laptop while watching a movie.  On the other hand, when I'm with a group of friends they are usually engaging in the same sort of multi-tasking.  In other ways, though, I think I have more in common with  my mom's generation than with Generation M.  The idea of "privacy" and sharing information on the internet is something that still makes me very uncomfortable and which I am quite wary of.  I can't help but be intrigued by this dichotomy.

After watching the PBS video a second time, I'm excited to Skype with Lauren tomorrow!

Fun and Frustrating

Okay, so right off the bat today Jeff hands us this paper full of little symbols and asks us to decode it. Talk about frustrating! No context, no key, nothing. I get so uncomfortable with tasks like that because there's no way to know if you're doing it right. Which is exactly where our discussion went.  I was SO happy that the first part of the discussion centered around the foreign language folks (sorry all other disciplines).  It seems rare that this happens, so it was exciting for me to be able to add valuable input to a conversation.  In relation to the task Jeff presented us, Mindy brought up this idea of ambiguity in the context of foreign language learning.  She made some very interesting and insightful observations.  But I still have to go back to my point that the ability to be comfortable with ambiguity in a subject presumes, I think, a certain level of knowledge and understanding of that subject.  I can be comfortable with a certain level of ambiguity in Latin because I know the fundamentals of the language, and I know where and how much ambiguity is acceptable.  I do, however, agree with Mindy's point that reading texts in a foreign language is very much like problem solving.  This is something I hadn't really considered before, but it resonated with me very strongly. I love reading Latin and find it so much fun to figure out how all the individual pieces fit together into a coherent whole.

The second half of class was podcasting. Which, again, was frustratingly fun.  It took me a while to figure out how to navigate the aviary software, but definitely worth the struggle.  I enjoyed making the "commercial" for Marginalia- the blog I follow- even though the end product has me sounding like an enthusiastic clown.  Oh well, isn't that the point of commercials? I haven't yet listened to my classmates' podcasts, but I'm sure they are all very entertaining.  I'm still a little apprehensive about the podcast assignment due on Friday, but am ever so grateful to Kristin for sitting through this practice session with us and helping to clear up questions and problems that arose.

Definitely an enjoyable class!

Classical References!

Well first of all, being the Classicist- and I use that term rather loosely- that I am, I loved the references to Heroditus and Plato's Phaedrus.  However, before I got to those references, I was less than enthusiastic and thoroughly skeptical about the topic of this week's readings.  Video games as a learning tool? Really?  Needless to say to anyone who has been following this blog, skepticism has become my go-to frame of mind in this class, which I'm not entirely sure is a bad thing. 

 Elsewhere in Phaedrus, Socrates notes: 

"ἀλλ᾽ εἰ ἀπιστοίην, ὥσπερ οἱ σοφοί, οὐκ ἂν ἄτοπος εἴην"- "but if I were to disbelieve, just as wise men do, I would not be alone.  

So anyway, I reluctantly started reading Gee's article on video games, and the first couple pages didn't do much to alleviate my cynicism about the topic.  I kept thinking saying to myself, "Okay, so this guy knows the names of a lot of video game avatars. So what?"  Needless to say, I was relieved when he finally got to the meat of the article and started discussing the learning principles that "good games incorporate", and indeed found his discussion about how we should fashion education to be more like the virtual game world to be rather interesting.  I particularly liked his notion that the tasks we assign to students should be "pleasantly frustrating".  Tasks should challenge students and force critical thinking, but not be so hard that the student can't ever hope to accomplish them.  

Indeed, I was "pleasantly frustrated" by the TED talk.  As I watched it I realized that I was beginning to understand and possibly even agree that 'gamers' might be able to change and save the world--IF their energy and enthusiasm can be brought out of virtual reality and applied to real-world circumstances.  And it sounds like there are researchers out there performing studies aimed at doing just this.  

To be honest, it's probably going to take a long time for me to throw all caution to the wind and fully jump on the technology train.  But like I said, I'm not entirely sure that's a bad thing.  Anyway, I think Socrates would agree.

Nuntii Latini et Ephemeris!

Class yesterday was great! I really enjoyed finally getting to sort of plan a lesson and do something that I can definitely see being useful in the classroom.  Sue was very helpful in pointing out some of the more important things we should consider when planning a lesson- whether it falls in the beginning, middle or end of a unit; how many kids we are going to have to assess, etc.  In my high-school we didn't really have a "media specialist" or librarian, so I was surprised to find out what a great source of information one can be.  We all agreed that it was a bit of a stretch applying this assignment to World Languages, particularly less common ones like Latin and German, but once we got into it we came up with some really creative (I think) ideas about how to incorporate them into the tsunami project.  

I was also excited to discover (with help from Sue and my classmates) all the online Latin resources that I didn't know about.  I found a couple of websites that have current news articles in Latin, a few blogs and listservs devoted entirely to posting resources for Latin teachers, and I EVEN discovered some really cool PLNs on Twitter that I'm now following! One in particular that I'm really excited about and can see myself using with my own students provides a new Latin vocab word with etymology every day.  I can't believe I'm admitting to being excited about something on Twitter, but I am! Who knew?

Magna Unda

I'm very curious about this activity that we'll be doing in class on Monday. I think it's a great idea and am very excited to try my hand at planning a lesson.  However, after reading the NY Times blog and the Tsunami scenario guidelines, I have some doubts about being able to come up with a lesson plan that connects the earthquake and tsunami in Japan with my field- Latin.  Do I sound like a broke record yet? My apologies if I do, but I really didn't see many ideas on the blog for foreign language teachers.

That being said, I think the WHERETO approach discussed in the other article will be really helpful and I'm excited to use their guidelines and suggestions in this activity and hopefully in my future lesson plans as well.  One thing that resonated with me was to provide clear learning goals and performance expectations for your students.  If students are able to understand the purpose of doing an activity or assignment they are much more likely to appreciate the value of it and to try and do well on it.   I'm hoping that with the help of my group members and the guidance of our assigned librarian I will be able to come up with an engaging lesson for teaching my Latin students about the magna unda that rocked Japan.

Still not sold on Twitter...

Class yesterday flew by, and I'm pretty sure I got whiplash from the whirlwind of technology.  Every time I finally felt like I was catching up we switched gears to a new topic.  Once I finally got the hang of HootSuite it was actually pretty cool, although I think if I use it in the future it would be for Facebook more than anything else. Everyone was "tweeting" at once and there was no way I was going to be able to keep up with everything so I didn't even try.  Instead, I made my obligatory tweet to the class and then focused on trying to find a good PLN for Latin teachers.  I wasn't able to find one specifically for Latin, but did find a few for foreign/world language teachers in general, so I added the #WLTeach stream and we'll see what happens.  To be honest, I haven't returned to Twitter or HootSuite since leaving it after the first half of class yesterday, but after Anotonia's discussion I can at least appreciate the usefulness of PLNs and will consider the fact that Twitter might have some merit beyond what I originally thought.  

Moving on from Twitter to Reader, something I found extremely useful! I'm still not sure about this whole blogging thing, but I can say I don't hate it, and I really like that I now have a way to easily access the blogs of my cohort (and can quickly add anyone else if I so desire) without having to go to C-Tools and then Wikispaces.  I still haven't added any blogs outside of my classmates', mostly because I kind of missed that part of Kristin's presentation while I was still fumbling through the setup of Reader.  But I can definitely see myself getting on when I have some free time...so next year...and browsing for blogs of interest to me. 

As for these product reviews, I'm completely clueless about my product, but am excited to have a fun new tool to explore, and best of all I not only GET, but am required to tell everyone exactly what I think about it.  Who doesn't love voicing their opinion? I'm also pleased that I'll be working with Brianne, as her cinnamon rolls are delicious and I'm expecting more tasty treats every time we work together.  So thank you for that in advance, Brianne!

coo-coo-ca-choo

well, well, well...Twitter, eh? The fact that I have to create a Twitter account  makes me shudder to my core.  Now I'm no stranger to social networking.  I'm an admitted Facebook addict, and though I have tried numerous times (unsuccessfully) to re-habilitate myself, my stalker tendencies always prevail.  But that's Facebook; this is Twitter, and if you ask me, Twitter is just a whole new level of narcissism.  I mean, really? Does anyone actually care where I am or what I'm doing at any given moment? Moreover, do I actually care what anyone else is doing at any and every second of the day? Sure, but nobody who has a Twitter account.  And to be honest, I find it creepy that anyone might be that interested in me or my life.  At least anyone who couldn't just call or text me to find out what I'm doing.

So those were my thoughts on Twitter before doing the reading for this week, and the readings haven't done a whole lot to change these thoughts.  Figuring out a whole new techy thing does NOT sounds appealing to me, and even after reading the tutorial on C-Tools I still don't think I could proficiently navigate the Twitter website. That being said, I do think being part of a PLN could be extremely beneficial.  Most schools do not have large Latin programs, so it's highly likely that I will be one of the only Latin teachers in whatever school I end up in.  Having a large network of professionals teaching the same subject could be a great source of support and resources.  I guess I'm willing to give Twitter a chance on this front, but I'm not going to be particularly happy about it.

One more quick note on trying to incorporate Twitter into the classroom.  I could get on board with the argument for using Twitter for homework purposes.  The 28 Creative Ideas for Teaching with Twitter had some interesting suggestions- creating a poll, follow politicians or current events, having students post responses to homework questions, etc.  However, having Twitter in the classroom is bound to turn into one giant distraction.  I just don't think it's possible to allow your students access to Twitter in the classroom and also expect them not to follow their own private networks and what not.  I don't see this happening.  So that's my rant against Twitter.  But now that I have an account, ask me in 2 weeks and I'll probably go on another rant about how much I love it.  I'm fickle like that.  

Odi et Amo

Well I'm not nearly as creative or articulate as many of you, but I certainly enjoyed reading all of your blogs.  I guess I'll start by explaining the title of this blog.  Odi et Amo is the title of one of Catullus's most famous poems, and means I hate and I love.  Fitting enough for my first blog.  Like many of my classmates, I have a love-hate relationship with technology.  I really love the idea of it, the ability to find information on anything at a moment's notice on my phone or laptop, but beyond texting, emailing and Facebooking, my technological knowledge is severely lacking.  I'm constantly being frustrated by my vain attempts to do something or other on my new MAC or DVD player that is far too advanced for my narrow knowledge.

That being said, I came to class on Friday with some serious apprehensions about my own abilities (or lack thereof), and about the role of technology in the classroom.  I was quite relieved during the activity to discover that my classmates had many of the same concerns.  I worry that my students will find me irrelevant in the classroom with my limited knowledge, and that I won't be able to keep up in EDUC 504 because of it.  But I think my biggest concern with this whole technology in the classroom thing is making it applicable to my subject area.  I am so used to learning Latin through the use of pencil and paper activities, so I'm excited to learn about ways to use technology to teach Latin because it is such an old and outdated subject, and I think the help of technology will be useful in helping students to recognize its relevance in the context of our modern world.

I was also very intrigued by everyone's answers to the "why do you want to be a teacher" question.  To be honest,  if you couldn't tell by my own half-assed response to this question, I'm not big on "sharing", so I'm very impressed by those of you who were able to open up and share a part of yourself with the class.   You've inspired me to try and be more open with you guys in the future.  We'll see how it goes...Anyway, I left class early, but from what I've read in everyone else's blogs it sounds like I missed an interesting discussion on John Dewey and a good video.  Looking forward to whatever Jeff and Kristin have in store for us this week!