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and paper activities, so I'm excited to learn about ways to use technology to teach Latin because it is such an old and outdated subject, and I think the help of technology will be useful in helping students to recognize its relevance in the context of our modern world.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!
You are soooooooooo great!
ReplyDeletelove the pic!
ReplyDeleteOkay, a real comment now:
ReplyDeleteRegarding technology nervousness, I wonder how your students would like it if they got to teach you about technology. Obviously we'll be learning about some tools in this class, but new things will crop up throughout our careers. I bet students would like to turn the tables a bit, and teach the teacher about the gadgets they use.
Also, that is a mighty cute baby!
Totally agree about the love-hate relationship with technology. I feel like I can do more advanced stuff with special computer programs and such, but it takes me 10x longer than it should to finally get it to work. I had to make a video and upload it to YouTube for my Shakespeare class a couple of years ago, and it took me FOREVER (and 2 or 3 downloaded programs) to put the whole thing together. Hopefully this class will teach me how to use technology efficiently.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Your daughter is ADORABLE!
I think many of us in the program have the same love-hate relationship with technology, and it's reassuring to hear that a lot of people are apprehensive about incorporating technology into the classroom. Pretty much, we're all in the same boat, so it should be an interesting year!
ReplyDeleteAlso, your daughter is ADORABLE :)
Overall, I'm pretty much one of those people who likes technology, although I do have to tell you that I have a love/hate relationship with Latin. I took 2 Latin classes during undergrad, and the thing that I didn't like about it was that the teachers didn't seem to make any connections between history and the grammar/vocab we were learning. And it's not that I don't like old stuff...I love reading Old English texts and I'm really not that interested in any literature newer than 1650. What I'm saying is that what would have made Latin fun for me would have been learning about the history and stories that go along with the language...and this is where I think technology can really help out us language teachers.
ReplyDeleteMary, I'm glad you mentioned the interesting juxtaposition of teaching an "old and outdated" subject (on the other hand, so many of the subjects we teach are "old" to varying extents--math, for instance!) using new technology! I bet there a lot of interesting possibilities!
ReplyDeleteI'm also kind of hopeless about technology and worry about how I'll be able to use it and be at the level of my students. But even what we have read/discussed so far has got me excited and has encouraged me to remember to have an open mind.
Hopefully we'll both learn some new things and our eyes will be open to some new possibilities for our teaching!
And, yes: your daughter is ridiculously cute!
Okay Mary, finally I have made my way to you. You are last in the Cohort list you see – but most certainly not least. I enjoyed reading your take on things and your style, and your humor, and your humility, and of course your little future heartbreaker. The pink hues added to the overall adorabelness of it all and I further applaud your for being so timely and thorough with your reflections. Not exactly being technically fluent myself, you knocked about many of the same bumpers I’ve been feeling bounced around in. Right now it all feels like a lot of flashing lights, bells and whistles and frankly I’m not sure what it all really means nor how to go about using it to an advantage. What I think enjoyed most in the blog however, was the fact that you incorporated a little Latin lesson into it all as you went along. I know only the most pedestrian terminology so anything along the lines of expanding my horizons in this area is greatly appreciated, not to mention valuable assistance to the Sunday crossword pursuit.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your patience Mary and thanks as well for taking the time to comment on mine. Hope you have a nice weekend.
Mary~
ReplyDelete"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."
Your openness and interest in brining Latin (a "dead" language) to life with the integration of technology in the classroom has so much potential. I agree that technology can be intimidating, and I, too, fumble with its intricacies, but if we can learn to work through our discomfort (ODI), and focus on the opportunities (AMI), technology in language has so many possibilities. I am looking forward to exploring them in EDUC504,as well.
"Docendo Discimus" (We learn by teaching)
~Mindy
P.S. Audrey Jean is adorable!!!