My adventures in web design for the semester are coming to a close. It was fun while it lasted, but now it's time to throw on a graduation robe and walk across the stage. I hope this is not the end of my adventures forever, as I have learned many valuable skills by making my webpage. It has helped me to understand how websites are made, how to organize files for the website, how to upload and effectively edit photos, and how to make links work on webpages. I know that the way the world is turning is toward a more Internet-based society. No matter where I end up or what I end up doing, I know that Internet will be a huge part of my life, and these skills will only help me to become a more skilled and responsible consumer. I hope to also be able to teach my students good Internet etiquette and skills so that they, too, can more positively contribute to society.
Thank you for this opportunity and hope to see you cyberspace (Tara said to write this).
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
The many uses of the Internet in the Classroom (Assignment 5)
This essay is going to take a different tone, since it is on my blog. It seems appropriate that in writing about the role of the Internet in the classroom, that I use my blog to write it. Why not?
It doesn't seem to matter these days if you love or hate technology. You are forced to use it in school, at work, and in your social life unless you want to commit academic, career, or social suicide. The generations above us that got away without using technology in virtually every aspect of their life are quickly falling behind and surrendering to Smartphones and Facebook, much to many peoples' chagrin. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Right?
It seems to me that the more you know (in technology and in life) the more you realize you don't know. However, we still must run to keep up. As teachers, we are becoming more and more responsible for teaching our students about the world outside the classroom and this includes educating them about Internet ethics and responsibility.
As a future English teacher (and having previously student taught high school English students), it is nice to know that sometimes the "good ole fashioned" book is still used, and still does the trick for many things. What I have to keep reminding myself, and often, is that the Internet is simply a tool. It is not reinventing the wheel (it has not rewritten Shakespeare or changed history) but it has expanded our knowledge, and made information more accessible, which is extremely helpful to both teachers and our students.
As teachers, perhaps we should be one step ahead of our students, but this task might be nearly impossible considering the rate of change in technology, and how quickly our students pick up on it. However, if there is one rule to live by, perhaps it would be to start slow and steady. Pick one or two new technological endeavors for the year and master them. Make a website (especially if you must for your school) and stick with i,t or start a blog or a Twitter account for your students. The Internet can be a scary place, so if you start small and monitor it carefully, it will be much more effective.
Listening to students is also key. They can teach us new things every day, and when it comes to technology, we cannot pretend to know everything - even if we may know a lot. Let our students teach us new things. Make it an assignment for students to find two websites that have to do with a book the class is reading and make them review it and teach the class something new they learned. This way, we are teaching content AND have the opportunity to talk about Internet responsibility and how to determine what can be trusted on the Internet and what cannot.
A discussion about the Internet and its lack of privacy should never be avoided. As an English teacher, any opportunity to have students read articles about technology or the Internet and privacy, etc. will utilized. Integrating technology in the classroom should not just mean using it, but talking about it as a part of creating the responsible and successful adults our students will become.
Here is a great website, Safe in Your Space, that provides information, outlines, and ideas about Internet safety, students, and the classroom.
It doesn't seem to matter these days if you love or hate technology. You are forced to use it in school, at work, and in your social life unless you want to commit academic, career, or social suicide. The generations above us that got away without using technology in virtually every aspect of their life are quickly falling behind and surrendering to Smartphones and Facebook, much to many peoples' chagrin. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Right?
It seems to me that the more you know (in technology and in life) the more you realize you don't know. However, we still must run to keep up. As teachers, we are becoming more and more responsible for teaching our students about the world outside the classroom and this includes educating them about Internet ethics and responsibility.
As a future English teacher (and having previously student taught high school English students), it is nice to know that sometimes the "good ole fashioned" book is still used, and still does the trick for many things. What I have to keep reminding myself, and often, is that the Internet is simply a tool. It is not reinventing the wheel (it has not rewritten Shakespeare or changed history) but it has expanded our knowledge, and made information more accessible, which is extremely helpful to both teachers and our students.
As teachers, perhaps we should be one step ahead of our students, but this task might be nearly impossible considering the rate of change in technology, and how quickly our students pick up on it. However, if there is one rule to live by, perhaps it would be to start slow and steady. Pick one or two new technological endeavors for the year and master them. Make a website (especially if you must for your school) and stick with i,t or start a blog or a Twitter account for your students. The Internet can be a scary place, so if you start small and monitor it carefully, it will be much more effective.
Listening to students is also key. They can teach us new things every day, and when it comes to technology, we cannot pretend to know everything - even if we may know a lot. Let our students teach us new things. Make it an assignment for students to find two websites that have to do with a book the class is reading and make them review it and teach the class something new they learned. This way, we are teaching content AND have the opportunity to talk about Internet responsibility and how to determine what can be trusted on the Internet and what cannot.
A discussion about the Internet and its lack of privacy should never be avoided. As an English teacher, any opportunity to have students read articles about technology or the Internet and privacy, etc. will utilized. Integrating technology in the classroom should not just mean using it, but talking about it as a part of creating the responsible and successful adults our students will become.
Here is a great website, Safe in Your Space, that provides information, outlines, and ideas about Internet safety, students, and the classroom.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Not sure if I'm worthy...
The hardest part of this whole "Internet publication" thing, for me, is feeling as though I even deserve to have one! I'm a relatively creative person, have decent writing skills, and a pretty keen eye for the way things look best- but I have trouble deciding what is worthy of being posted for all to see!
As far as my website goes (and many things in my life) - I feel that simple is best. Too much information or too many fancy things and the true message gets lost!!
As far as my blog (this one and my first one included) - it seems as though the times I have the most thoughts and ideas and emotions running through me are the times I least want to share those things. Why would I want that to be immortalized on the Internet? Once I have those thoughts I want them gone, and they are private! But isn't it the best writers that share their deepest, darkest thoughts and aren't afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves? We'll just have to see about that, because I feel too vulnerable right now to share any of that.
OH, and more relevantly, we watched a video in class today (see below) about our digital dossier, which I am heavily contributing to by having a Facebook, 2 blogs, a website, a Gmail account, and all sorts of other digital exchanges that I am SURE looking back were not meant for most people's eyes. I guess like the TIME magazine cover said, I'll just have to get over it.
As far as my website goes (and many things in my life) - I feel that simple is best. Too much information or too many fancy things and the true message gets lost!!
As far as my blog (this one and my first one included) - it seems as though the times I have the most thoughts and ideas and emotions running through me are the times I least want to share those things. Why would I want that to be immortalized on the Internet? Once I have those thoughts I want them gone, and they are private! But isn't it the best writers that share their deepest, darkest thoughts and aren't afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves? We'll just have to see about that, because I feel too vulnerable right now to share any of that.
OH, and more relevantly, we watched a video in class today (see below) about our digital dossier, which I am heavily contributing to by having a Facebook, 2 blogs, a website, a Gmail account, and all sorts of other digital exchanges that I am SURE looking back were not meant for most people's eyes. I guess like the TIME magazine cover said, I'll just have to get over it.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Oh one last thing - another self-serving ploy!
I'm participating in our school's second Relay for Life which is a huge fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. It is an all night event and it is really fun and extremely motivating. Last year our school raised over $32,000 for the fight against cancer.
I'm really close to my goal and the event is on Thursday, so please help me out!
Click here to donate to me and my team.
Click here to view the homepage of our event.
Thank you to everyone who donated and everyone participating!
I'm really close to my goal and the event is on Thursday, so please help me out!
Click here to donate to me and my team.
Click here to view the homepage of our event.
Thank you to everyone who donated and everyone participating!
It's been a long time
So it turns out that making a website is just as hard as it sounds! However, it is not unmanageable and it is mostly about staying organized and patient.
In the past couple of weeks I have lost my flashdrive, had to replace it and catch up, and learned how to organize and make a functional website. Now it is all about sticking with it and working through problems - oh yeah, and backing up EVERYTHING!
I decided to make each of my pages a different flower on a white background because it looks pretty - or is visually appealing - and to do this I sometimes have to find an acceptable picture of a flower and then copy it onto a PowerPoint slide so the background is white and it doesn't look too "busy" and then save it as a .jpg or .jpeg.
I chose not to use any buttons because I think it looks cleaner when all the colors are the same and I can control the theme without worrying about these free buttons working. I'm also planning on uploading my resume at some point so that maybe someone will see it and want to give me a job! Don't worry, this is not my only job-seeking method.
Other than that, for now, it's just work work work!
In the past couple of weeks I have lost my flashdrive, had to replace it and catch up, and learned how to organize and make a functional website. Now it is all about sticking with it and working through problems - oh yeah, and backing up EVERYTHING!
I decided to make each of my pages a different flower on a white background because it looks pretty - or is visually appealing - and to do this I sometimes have to find an acceptable picture of a flower and then copy it onto a PowerPoint slide so the background is white and it doesn't look too "busy" and then save it as a .jpg or .jpeg.
I chose not to use any buttons because I think it looks cleaner when all the colors are the same and I can control the theme without worrying about these free buttons working. I'm also planning on uploading my resume at some point so that maybe someone will see it and want to give me a job! Don't worry, this is not my only job-seeking method.
Other than that, for now, it's just work work work!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Really Really Ridiculously Bad Websites
Today we learned about the many composing essentials of Web Building.
You can view a copy of Professor Debren's composing essentials right here.
It is interesting to understand how websites are made- kind of like understanding the way anything works ( a car, your body, the male psyche); it really gives you insight into how to appreciate/ manipulate it from the user-side as well. What I'm excited and looking forward to is being able to design websites so that they look good and mostly, so they serve a purpose. My dream is to be able to create a blog/website that is aesthetically pleasing as well as functional so that I can put a variety of mediums on the site such as literature, photos, audio, etc. and also link to the many other great websites out there.
Here is to hoping my website never looks like any of these...
(Oh, and please excuse the language on the website.)
You can view a copy of Professor Debren's composing essentials right here.
It is interesting to understand how websites are made- kind of like understanding the way anything works ( a car, your body, the male psyche); it really gives you insight into how to appreciate/ manipulate it from the user-side as well. What I'm excited and looking forward to is being able to design websites so that they look good and mostly, so they serve a purpose. My dream is to be able to create a blog/website that is aesthetically pleasing as well as functional so that I can put a variety of mediums on the site such as literature, photos, audio, etc. and also link to the many other great websites out there.
Here is to hoping my website never looks like any of these...
(Oh, and please excuse the language on the website.)
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The anti-creativity age
My mom always said that my brother probably would have been diagnosed with ADD if he had grown up with me, ten years later. He was just a typical boy, but it has become apparent that we are over-diagnosing kids who have differences. They have a learning disability, or a mental health problem. In a way these things are good, but in a way it has become clear that we are stifling students' creativity because when they are different, we medicate them or send them to therapy.
There is also little time in school these days to let kids be kids and to let them really explore different mediums. We are so focused on standardized testing, and holding teachers accountable for teaching each student as if they are exactly the same, that there is absolutely no time or room for risk to let students learn in their own way and there is no funding for the arts in schools. Our goal for students should not be having them achieve academic and financial success, but having them become reflective and positive adults. In my opinion.
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