Reflection

	Excellent A/A- range	Great B+ range	Good B/B- range	Passing C range	Unacceptable/Absent below C
FORMAT: Uses 20 slides on 20 second timer to tell an effective story with a central theme	X
CONTENT: Slides help viewer understand the project content		X
STYLE: Spoken presentation is well organized, timed and crafted		X
REFLECTION: Clearly articulates how the digital product will enhance the teaching and learning in presenter’s classroom/life		X

(OVER for written assignment →)

The Written Assignment:  (Due Monday, July 8 by 5:00pm on your blog)

In order to give your project some context and to connect it to the major themes of this course, I want you to write about the process and product you have created.  The core of this written assignment will be the script for your Pecha Kucha, though you may have an extended version to post to your blog as the final reflection. Your goal here is to show me that you got something out of taking this course, to demonstrate that you understand the major course themes and issues (such as new media, digital natives, educational reform, critical pedagogy, media as ideology, textual analysis, representation, consumers/producers, etc). Each person must write a +/-1500 word blog post that includes the following:  

	Excellent (9.5-10)	Great (8.75-9.25)	Good (8-8.5)	Passing (7-7.5)	Unacceptable/Absent (under 7)
Includes a narrative context about where this project came from, what you did and why it is important to you	X
Explains how this use of digital technology positions you as a technocrat, techno-traditionalist, or techno-constructivist to enhance or change content/context	X
Discusses how this project reflects what you believe about how students learn (points x2)		X
Draws from at least 3 of our course themes, texts or issues (points x2)	X
Demonstrates something that you could not have done or conceptualized before this course	X
Includes hyperlinks to at least 5 external resources (academic and/or technical)	X
Writing Style (creativity, style, flow)	X
Writing Skills (grammar, spelling, format)	X

Narrative

This year was a whirlwind, honestly, comparable to a hurricane if you would. I started off my school year, only my second year teaching, switching schools within my district, and changing grade levels. I went from teaching 4th to teaching 5^th and trust me, there’s a noticeable difference. Just beginning to feel somewhat comfortable in my position, our union was in contract negotiations and we were then ordered, work-to-rule. And being the naive teacher I was, thought nothing of it and I didn’t understand the full implications. “Oh we only have to work during our paid hours? Sounds good to me!”  I quickly realized that is actually impossible, and it’s every teacher’s worst nightmare. 

So far, a lot of changes- new school, new grade level, and work-to-rule, and it’s only September 5th? Great. Let’s flash forward a few months, shall we? All right, so it’s November 4th. Yes, I remember the date because this was a plot twist I wasn’t expecting. Thankfully I have been on this Earth for 24 years, without breaking a bone (knock-on-wood) and never needing surgery. So my body decided my appendix was going to burst around 1 in the morning. It was a Sunday, and school was the very next day. In a lot of pain, but also on a lot pain medication, I nervously asked the doctor when I could return to work, and he responded with the following, “Thursday!” Ecstatic, I communicated with my principal that I’ll be back in no time! She responded, “yeah see ya in 6 weeks…” And she was exactly right. It was a long recovery and the worry of what in the world could possibly be going on right now in my classroom was whirling around in my head. The thoughts I had were, “Who is the sub in my room? Can he or she find my generic sub plans? Are they behaving?  Can they find my emergency binder? I don’t have sub plans, wait, I really don’t have sub plans for 6 weeks, what am I possibly going to do?!” 

With all that commotion, I finally returned right before Christmas break. You know, the most wonderful time of the year when all the students are working hard and totally on track and behaving! I realized, not only was I frantically a mess, so were my students. I had different subs thrown in and out of my room, nothing was graded, my expectations were out the window, and everyone was on different pages on what we were working on. 

Beginning my third year of teaching, I have learned a lot about myself that I don’t think I would’ve necessarily had if I had not gone into this profession. There have been moments I’ve wanted to give up, and the days that I went home crying considering if I was doing enough for my students. Though, to quote Dr. Bogad, “struggle without hope is self-defeating, hope won’t solve problems on it’s own” so I knew I needed to make a change. Looking forward to the 2019-2020 school year I want to make some positive changes.

The hurricane is finally over and the sun will be shining again in room 7. That is why I believe a successful academic school year is directly correlated by creating  a student-centered hub. Here, parents and students can come for academic support, community interaction, and collaborative learning through creation of a classroom website. I feel as though I can meet all of the expectations I have for myself, my students, and ultimately bridge the gap between the home and school environment.  Dana Boyd believes, “digital literacy needs to be taught, regardless of age or background” and during the first 6 weeks of school, I plan on walking my students step-by-step explaining our purpose for using our classroom website, and how to use it. Not only can students access the website during school, but they can access it at home. Just as Simon Sneck, I believe introducing my “why” and our purpose, will challenge my students to become critical thinkers. 

Technology is here, and it’s all around us. It is a fact that we can’t run away from it, and I believe we need to embrace this in our classroom. Before taking this course, and studying Scott Noon’s 4-Tier Model, I categorized myself as a techno-traditionalist. Someone who accomplished simple classroom tasks such as, Google docs, Gmail, and Google classroom, though that was the extent! Now, I feel as if I am teetering on the line of a techno-traditionalist and techno-constructivist. I am going to use my class website to completely reorganize the structure of my classroom. Not only will my students have access to helpful resources for math, including examples of what we had gone over that day, they will also have links to helpful resources and videos that explain key content. There are different sections for math, reading, writing, and science. 

I made sure to include a link for parents. There are accessible ways for them to contact me, a Google forum “beginning of the year” survey, as well as helpful links for homework resources. If a student forgets what we have for homework, or they are interested in getting ahead to see what our week looks like, a weekly agenda will be posted as well as a monthly calendar for upcoming tests. I had a few parents this past year that asked me to message them a few days before we had an assessment, because their child would become anxious. With this tool, parents will be able to access the calendar digitally weeks before.  This alleviates the stress for parents, students, and puts the pressure on me to continually reach at my goal of staying organized.

In grade 5, we also rotate classes for Science, Social Studies, and Writing. With that being said I created two new Google Classrooms for the other two fifth grade rooms, for their students to access, and to help myself stay organized in regard of who has completed what task, and what I need to grade. Last year, returning after my surgery, it was a nightmare trying to organize the remainder of my student’s grades- when I barely had my own 25 students covered. With the use of Google Classroom, this will lessen my stress of where everything is, because it is all conveniently in one place.

In conclusion, just as Wesch believes, learning is an ongoing process. I am still learning, my students are learning, and we can all learn from one another. Creating this website is a risk, but it is a risk that I am so excited to introduce to my future fifth graders and their families. Without taking this course, I would have never thought of creating a website for my classroom. I would’ve tried to organize my classroom with more paper, folders, and filing cabinets, than I have room for. Now, I not only have my class organized in one place, I have also organized my two other classes, for my writing block. Having my students submit their writing pieces digitally will save me a lot of time for grading 75 writing pieces moving forward. With that being said, I am more motivated than ever to continue to work on this website over the summer, and throughout the school year.

Pecha Kucha

Here is my Pecha Kucha

Turkle and Wesch, allies or opponents?

Reading the New York Times article written by Turkle, The Flight From Conversation and comparing that to the article written by Michael Wesch, Anti- Teaching: Confronting the Crisis of Significance it was challenging for me because I felt these authors wrote about different ideas. Though, I wouldn't necessarily label these two as opponents, more as allies.

To begin, I really enjoyed the piece by Turkle, her main idea conveyed human communication in the 21st century, and how so many of us are committed with using technology to communicate, rather than having face-to-face interaction. Not only do we desire to have our phones on us at all times, we would rather have that simple, short, conversation over messaging. "As we ramp up the volume and velocity of online connections, we start to expect faster answers. To get these, we ask one another simpler questions; we dumb down our communications, even on the most important matters." I also notice from being in my classroom, that if technology isn't loading as soon as my students press "enter" they become frantic. This article was written in 2012 and still very relatable in 2019. I picked up that it was a few years ago by how she told a story about an businessman notices everyone is busy around on their email, and he doesn't want to interrupt them. Meanwhile, he corrects himself by stating, they may be busy but I'm the one who actually doesn't want to be disturbed, "I'd rather just do things on my Blackberry" he says.

I especially relate to Turkle's article when she explains, "when people are alone, even for a few moments, they fidget and reach for a device. Here connection works like a symptom, not a cure, and our constant, reflexive impulse to connect shapes a new way of being." To be honest, this is how I usually feel 85% of the time when I am with my friends! And I am usually the one who says "Okay let's all put our phones on the center of the table and the first one who touches their phone has to pay the bill" competitive games usually motivate them, and at least I get the chance to have real conversations with them! We are all hanging out, what is the point to stay connected to the people who aren't with us right now...in this moment? It bothers me. (Anyway, that's my rant for the day...)To compare this reading to Wesch's point on "Anti-Teaching" as I previously stated, I found somewhat challenging. I actually, had a great conversation with Nhi and Jamie regarding this! Wesch had the mindset that students were having difficulty putting significance into their education. He quotes, "When students recognize their own importance in helping to shape the future of this increasingly global, interconnected society, the significance problem fades away. But simply telling them this narrative is not enough. The narrative must become pervasive in the learning environment.There are many ways to do this." I feel as though, what Wesch is trying to tell us, that we are all interconnected in a sense, and we have to show them. No matter where you were born, or what your passion is.

Relating this piece to Turkles article, creating that sense of a welcoming community in your classroom to really discover one another, and ourselves for who we really are is powerful. Not only will it bring students closer, but it may drive them to think for themselves, question reality, and question the world. He also made the point that I found relatable that, "Good questions are the driving force of critical and creative thinking and therefore one of the best indicators of significant learning. Good questions are those that force students to challenge their taken-for-granted assumptions and see their own underlying biases. Oftentimes the answer to a good question is irrelevant –the question is an insight in itself. The only answer to the best questions is another good question." Over my first few years of teaching, I was told to ask those higher-level thinking questions, though we don't put the emphasis on the students asking or responding with a thought-provoking question.

In summary, Turkle wants us to take a break from our phones and refocus on that face-to-face interaction, while Wesch, wants us to question. Question how we learn, question our purpose, question how we can change the world and where we can begin. I think we can use technology as a tool to guide those answers to those questions, I just would make sure we remember that collaborating and having that critical discussion piece with one another is also vital.

My Text Overview

Text Overview 2019

Talking Points- Parent/ Teacher Communication Tool

Hey everyone, this is my very first time using the digital resource, Talking Points and it is also my very first time I tried out ScreenCastify!


Talking points is a digital tool that is great for teachers to communicate with parents who speak a different first language, or are not entirely proficient in English. Talking points has over 25 different languages to translate to. I have used applications such as ClassDojo or Remind in the past. These applications are great, but with families whose English is not their first language, translating isn't an option. I work in a district that celebrates diversity, as we have a lot of diverse families, so being able to connect with everyone clearly is very important to me. I believe parent engagement is directly linked to student outcomes, and parent communication is vital to student success. With that being said, language should not be a barrier between the two.


Take a listen

Six, Going on Sixteen

The chapter I chose to read in "Rethinking Popular Culture and Media" was called, Six, Going on Sixteen by Geralyn Bywater McLaughlin. I was intrigued with the title of this chapter because this is exactly how I could describe many students I have taught. I could even relate this to my younger siblings, acting older than they really are. It was an interesting read because teaching fourth grade, I believe that some of my students have lost their "innocence" and that was either due to older siblings, or family structure. McLaughlin told her story of teaching kindergarten and compared that to teaching middle school, just as the way her students were acting and speaking. She said she felt as though she was "unprepared" to deal with this behavior in the younger grades.

For example, students in her classroom were identifying each other as, "boyfriend" and "girlfriend", 5-year-old girls were vying for the attention of the "coolest" boy in the classroom. They would imitate how how rappers and artists dance in music videos, discussing about "being in the club" and "drinking Heineken". Yes, drinking Heineken... I did write that!! P.S. we are still discussing behavior from KINDERGARTENERS. The more I read, I grew more and more concerned as did McLaughlin. Her classroom dynamic really took a shift. The class community was not as strong as it was in previous years, mind you, she had been teaching for 18 years. Not only were these children behaving as young adults, they were getting in fights over the idea of who was wearing the "nicest" brand name sneaker. She spoke with one of her kindergarteners on the first day of school, and she had pointed out to McLaughlin where the "popular" table was. McLaughlin questioned what she meant by that, which the student responded, "Oh, you know, they have nice clothes." Asking where she had learned such a thing, the student responded without hesitation, "The Disney Channel".
Not knowing what steps to take next, but knowing she wanted something to change, she enrolled in a two-day summer media institute at Wheelock College called Media Madness: The Impact of Sex, Violence, and Commercial Culture on Children and Society. Within this course, she learned that big corporations are deliberately targeting vulnerable children (p. 30). Of course, depending on the targeted audience for a specific channel, it makes sense that corporations are targeting children to have their parents buy a certain product, that is a simple marketing strategy. Even television shows on Disney or Nickelodeon, provide children with an unrealistic depiction on how to act and dress. For example, my younger sister who is now, 11, watched Disney channel all the time growing up, where characters who looked like her age on the show, would discuss what relationships they were in, which I thought was way above her age level. McLaughlin also discussed age compression and she quoted Levin an author that stated, "Children become involved in and learn about sexual issues and behavior they do not yet have the intellectual or emotional ability to understand and that can confuse and harm them."
McLaughlin's goal? To bring back childhood. Studying before the start of the new school year, she understood that children had two critical social problems, problem-solving and compassion. Which was a "direct result of current media and popular culture" (p. 32). She wanted her students to learn through play, learn through experience, and solve social issues together. Figuring out strategies to use when a social issue were to occur in the classroom. Through play, they created their own social stories, and were able to solve as the powerful individuals that they are. She also created a school-wide initiative which she called "Tv Turnoff Week" helping students create individualized schedules of what they can accomplish that week, instead of watching TV, or their iPad. I think that is an amazing idea.
I found myself relating to McLaughlin a lot during this reading. I do believe that media has a lasting impact on children. She provided a great example of, "How often have you seen children playing Power Rangers, or Cheetah Girls? The boys have to be violent and the girls have to be sexy. That's what they see so that's what they play" (p. 34). That line really struck out to me because I remember vividly putting on a "show" (if you want to call it that) with my four neighborhood girl friends and we would act out the dances from Cheetah Girls, with my boombox in my front yard! We weren't creating, we were intimidating, we were not in control of the kind of play. I hope more teachers can take a lesson from McLaughlin in their classroom, and incorporate a sense of childhood and play into their classrooms.

Here's more on the sexualization of youth