Teaching Tiny Tots & Teens

Writing Spaces and Remediation

morgan57 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:20:47 +0000

Three writing spaces I most often use are Facebook, Myspace, and AIM. Facebook and Myspace are both networking site. They are places to meet new people or to keep in touch with friends. They both provide a place for people to post information about themselves and their lives. They can add pictures and other graphics images to the profile. They can have fun applications added to their pages as well. They both have an area or wall, that people can leave comments to them. They can also be made private or open so hat only friends can see it or everyone can see. Facebook was originally unique because it was only offered to college students, unfortunately they changed that rule. Myspace is unique because it allows all sorts of people, bands, places, and movies to have a page with information on it. These two sites are also unique because they are in constant competition. AIM is a chat device where people can type conversations with one or more person at a time. They have different features such as voice chat, chat room, or even video chat on the newer versions. It is unique because it allows people to have an almost phone like conversation (except typing instead of speaking) with numerous people at a time.

As I had mention earlier, Facebook and Myspace are inconstant competition. This is a prime example of remediation, which is defined as “a process of cultural competition between or among technologies” (Bolter 23). For example, Facebook was first to add applications. A few months after that, Myspace added similar applications to it. Facebook had updated statuses, then Myspace got them. Myspace had the idea of top friends, so facebook got top friends. Needless-to-say, when one site gets something, the other one copies. It is an ongoing effort for them to out do each other, an attract more users/steal the users from the other site.

Christmas in the classroom

morgan57 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:39:02 +0000

Obviously its important to teach all the holidays in the classroom so not to offend any students religion. I also think it is fun though to have some Christmas fun when teaching! The link at the bottom is a site with different Christmas websites and activites that students can do during the holiday time. Some looked like fun! Here it is:

Christmas sites to use in the classroom

Happy Holidays everyone =)

Screens everywhere

morgan57 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:31:16 +0000

I thought Becoming Screen Literate by Kevin Kelly was an interesting piece. It is so true how in today’s world there are screens everywhere we go: home grocery store, school, work, etc. We carry around our cell phones with screens on them and some have screens in their car whether it be a tv or a gps. I think that its a good thing though. I personally think that having these “screens” are the access point to so much. Through them we can see the entire world. We can see places, people, things, almost anything you want to do or know can be achieved when using screens. I think that it exciting. Our lives are so full of technology that I think that the human race is actually smarter from it. Look at children today are so much smarter then I was when I was that age. I believe this is all do to screens technology. Children today have so many resources at their disposal. They have a lot more opportunities to go look for information because pretty much every home in this country has a computer and Internet, and if they don’t, it shouldn’t be hard to find a place that does! All in all I think that screens are the future and they are everywhere, maybe soon they’ll begin going more places…

McCloud’s Comics

morgan57 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:19:17 +0000

I like Scott McCloud’s style of writing in comic form. I think it is very creative and interesting way to present information. I personally prefer comics and stories with illustrations. It sometimes give more meaning and description by the image that is presented. Pictures can set a certain atmosphere, feeling, or setting. Like its said, a picture can say a thousand words. I think that is like what is being said about how the pictures and icons are representations of something, but we naturally know what it is. For me personally, these pictures and icons leave a mental picture clearer in my head. I have more of a photographic memory, so when I have a picture or image in my head I am much more likely to remember it.
My personal opinion is that although we don’t always have illustrations or actual pictures in books and stories, we automatically make mental pictures in our heads. Therefore, I agree that pictures and words go hand and hand. Our brains naturally associate pictures and images when we hear words, phrases, or sentences. Since pictures do date back in time and we are first see pictures before we can read, we automatically have that sense of connection between pictures and words.
I thought it was interesting how he got into why we have such complex cartoons and how they are created to focus on specific details. He talks about how we give emotions and identities to things in comics, but I think we do that in a lot of different ways. People are naturally prone to the personification of objects and animals. For example, I am guilty of personification everyday with the kitten. I talk to him and act like he is a human baby.

Online Chat in Classrooms

morgan57 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 02:55:55 +0000

In the writing arts classroom we used the technique of online chatrooms to discuss things. I personally like this idea. I think its a fun and creative way to go about discussing topics, it also allows shy people a chance to voice their opinions. I personally have a fear of speaking in front of my peers (I’m fine when talking to children in a classroom but have a mini panic attack when it’s my peers…weird huh?), so I enjoy this form of communication. I also think that if computers are in every calssroom by the time I start teaching, I’d like to implement this. I think that for children, directed online chatting to discuss without being shy and it would give them the opportunity to practice writing skills.

Teacher dropouts

morgan57 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 02:50:09 +0000

THE IMPACT OF TEACHER ATTRITION

This is a pdf file with teacher drop out rates and information on it. I felt like looking it up again, after Professor Tweedie had read them in class. It’s pretty scary to see that. I really hope that teacher works out for me. I don’t know what else to do if I didn’t make it in the teaching world. Since I’m a pretty terrible writer for a writing arts major, I know I’m not going to ever be able to get a job in writing. So I’ll be left with no useful degree and no job. I’ll end up working some minimum wage job and struggling to provide for a family. That is a scary future that I don’t want. I refuse to become one of those statistics!

Rewards of teaching children

morgan57 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 02:37:03 +0000

My roommate, Luis, teaches young children to swim every sunday during the semster at the rec center. Two days ago was his last day. He recieved two thank you notes from two of his students. I read them and they were so adorable. Luis was so touched by them. It reminded me of one of the reasons I can’t wait to be a teacher. I love the way children are so appreciative when you help them. Its one of the best feelings in the world to know that you made a difference in that childs life.

Funny blog

gatesm81 — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:35:37 +0000

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/

I found this site a couple months ago and thought it was hilarious- read it for a really good laugh!

Self-Check Out

gatesm81 — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:19:18 +0000

I found this comic today and I thought it was funny because the technology we have today is making things less personal. I use self-check out all the time and I never realized how this is a new technology. New technology is all around us and there’s so much that sometimes it’s hard to recognize it when we see it.

Screen Literacy

gatesm81 — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 08:29:31 +0000

“Becoming Screen Literate” was a really interesting read. With all of the technological advances, it’s easy to fall behind. So we need to keep up with evolving technology to be able to get full use out of it. The sooner you learn (and become literate) an area of technology, there will soon be a new one to learn. So it’s important to keep up and this article shows how helpful these screen tools can be in every day life.