Sunday, September 30, 2007

Chapter 10~ Quick Response

“Arrange internships for students” (178). Participating in learning outside the school is a great way to gain invaluable experience and knowledge.

What better way to learn than to get involved in a field that interests you? By students getting involved with internships they gain experience in areas of interest to them and possibly make contacts that will be useful to them upon entering the job field. An internship is also a great way to discover whether an area of interest is right for you. Perhaps through working in a pharmacy, a student decides this is not the route she wants to follow; then she can put her focus elsewhere when applying for colleges and deciding majors. Internships are valuable for both narrowing down which areas would be best to pursue in college and which are not of interest at all. This could potentially save a lot of headaches in the future, and help to direct and motivate students in work and in school.

Chapter 9 ~ Quick Response

“She’s only gone to school five days this whole year, and her grades are still passing” (165). What??!! How is this possible?

Each student should be valued, respected, and accounted for. How is it possible that a student could miss more school than they have attended and they still have a passing grade? How is that helping the student? How can the teacher justify that?? There are students in the class showing up and participating everyday, how does that validate the hard work that they are putting in?? It doesn’t. Why try? Why show up? What is the incentive? The student who is in class everyday should be validated for that and the student who is missing everyday should be held accountable for such behavior. Also, what if this student is having serious troubles at home? Is anyone checking on that? How is continuing to give them a grade going to help a potential serious problem at home?

Chapter 8~ Quick Response

“Give us alternative methods to present our knowledge” (153). The more aspects of real life and variety of subject matter a teacher can incorporate into teaching students who are still learning the English language, the more successful they can be.

I think the more ways a teacher can introduce English to the student the better. Perhaps there are other methods such as computers or art that can make the subject matter more interesting or more understandable and that speak more clearly to the student . The more saturated their life becomes with the language the easier it is to learn and absorb.

Chapter 7~ Quick Response

The idea of a suggestion box is a new and an intriguing one to me.

I like this idea. I think ideally it could be a great resource for the teacher and a great opportunity for the student. There will always be some students who will take advantage of this tool and use it inappropriately, but I would hope that the majority would respect it. I think so frequently teachers forget to check in with the students to see if the concepts of class are clear. This is a great way to get feedback about potential problems. This method is also good for the students because their questions/problems can get resolved/addressed and it is an anonymous way to submit concerns weighing on them.

Chapter 6 ~ Quick Response

“Get us in the habit of free writing” (119). Writing is essential to all aspects of school, so the more time students have to work on this skill the better off they are going to be across the board.

Free writing is a great chance for students to be creative, to express their feelings and thoughts, and to brainstorm on important topics. If students are allowed to write freely about subjects important to them they will be more receptive. The more the students write, the better they get, then hopefully the more they enjoy writing even for assigned papers. A great way to start students free writing is by using a journal. This is a tool just for them, somewhere private for them to express themselves and experiment. If they choose, they could take excerpts and share them or use them in an assignment given. Writing becomes a skill that they have control over and enjoyment in.

Chapter 5 ~ Quick Response

“Use a rubric to assess our work” (98). A rubric is a great tool which clearly outlines the expectations of the assignments given to students. It is good for these to be used by the teacher and also by the students if they are working in groups assessing each other.

I think a rubric is crucial to the classroom, not only for the teacher but for the students as well. A rubric gives the teacher a clearly specified set of grading elements so they can go down the list checking off which elements were completed and to what degree. This is also very important to the student; it assures there is fair grading across the entire spectrum of students. With a rubric expectations are clear, and there is little room for error- there is not question of what is to be expected.

Chapter 4~ Quick Response

“Like when they use red and write in big letters- I don’t want no one hollering at me on paper!” (65) When correcting papers perhaps, there is another method available to mark up papers and give comments without sending the possible negative psychological message the red pen does.

My mentor teacher has a great alternative to the red pen- it’s the green pen. Instead of saying “bad,” “stop,” “danger” she is saying “good,” “go,” “safe.” She calls her approach “greenlining.” When possible, she sits down with the student for a conference to make corrections, suggestions, and positive comments with the green pen. So instead of getting back a paper covered in red and having to decipher it, the students get verbal feedback and a paper with a more comforting and encouraging feel.

Chapter 3 ~ Quick Response

“Let students know your plan for the class” (38). It is incredibly important to let students know what to expect for the day, that way they have a plan laid out before them to help reach a goal.

This idea is so important to success, both for the teacher and for the students. Without clear guidelines students can become confused and unsure of what the goal is for the day. By writing a class schedule on the board this also helps keep the teacher on task so they can manage their time and prioritize the aspects of the material which are most important.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Chapter 2~ Quick Response

Is it necessary for students to like a teacher? "Kids expect adults to give us [students] directions and boundaries, but it's a balance" (p.19).

I think this statement is so true. I have had teachers or professors from both ends of the spectrum and some in the middle. The teachers I have had who just wanted to be the students' "buddy" did not command or recieve much respect; nor did I learn much from them. The teachers I have had who were strictly "business" also were not effective in my eye. No one really wants to learn from someone who appears to have absolutely no interest in who you are as a person. It's is hard to take either version of a teacher seriously and really strive to work hard for yourself and for them, it is hard to sit and listen intently, and it is hard to focus fully on the materials fully- you are more concerned at times with the relationship, or lack thereof you have with them. I think it is crucial to strike a balance! Be friendly, respectful, and interested, but also be focused, dependable, and responsible. That, I beleive is the "key" to successful teacher-student relationships.

Chapter 1~ Quick Response

"Have students keep a journal...making time in class for students to keep a journal can offer a teacher an invaluable look at who their students are" (p. 7).

Journals are a great way to "check in" with your students, on a number of areas. You can gather information on how they are feeling personally, how they are grasping the subject matter, how effective are you at presenting the materials, among other valuable pieces of information to help you be a more successful teacher. I have had a number of classes which incorporated journals or commonplace books; and I found that I tended to perform better in those classes. I think a journal can also be a great asset to students as well. It is a place for students to candidly express how they are enjoying, or not enjoying the material and how well they are understanding it. It is also a place for them to be creative in their thoughts, to write in a free, unconstrained manner, brainstorming possibilities for further exploration.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Copyright & Fair Use LR

#12)Again, the lines seem blurry. One could edit and insert themselves into an episode of “Frontier House,” or tape a movie (already out on DVD) and use that as a tool in a project, but is not able to take that same movie and copy it from the actual DVD version. What is the difference? They are the same movie, only one is on a DVD and one is in your television programming for the evening.....

I would think that the movie production company, the director, etc… would be the folks in charge of setting these rules and regulations. To me it makes no sense. “Mary Poppins” is the same movie whether it is viewed online, on the TV, on a DVD, or on a VHS tape. Where does the change come? Only where money is exchanged? Regardless of where ”Mary Poppins” comes from, the same material is being used in the class project. Why does it matter? The same amount of money was made to produce the movie, the same actors are in it (the TV version does not star Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen), everything is the same. Why is one permissible and the other is not. You could argue that if you used the DVD version at least you paid your $19.95 to view it as opposed to viewing it for free on the television. Where is the line, who makes it, and why is it there?

Copyright & Fair Use SR

5. “The number of students who can use a software program simultaneously is restricted to the number of copies the school owns”
So, does that mean that Jack cannot look on with Jill at her computer to view what this CD-ROM has to offer? Does that also mean that Mrs. Crabapple cannot project that same CD-ROM on a screen for the entire class to view. Does she have to have 20 other copies, paid for in full, stored in her desk just to cover the number of students in the class? Not sure the reasoning here makes sense.

7. I am very surprised that it is okay to post copyrighted material without permission online for students' family and/or faculty to view! We see later on, however, that it is not ok to pass along via the web copyrighted materials such as clip art. Not sure if I completely understand how one is acceptable and the other is not.

10. As I mentioned above I cannot see a huge difference in using copyrighted material on a website for student’s family and faculty without permission is ok, but creating a website and sharing that information with other teachers is not ok. To me the line seems very fine in these instances of sharing online materials with others.

11. I am shocked that this is permissible. To take an already created and aired television programs and then to turn around and edit it, not only in length of programming, but by also adding in external materials not related to the original product seems not up to standard in my eyes.

12. Again, the lines seem blurry. One could edit and insert themselves into an episode of “Frontier House,” or tape a movie (already out on DVD) and use that as a tool in a project, but are not able to take that same movie and copy it from the actual DVD version. What is the difference? They are the same movie, only one is on a DVD and one is in your television programming for the evening.

14. I find this to be crazy. It is not ok to allow kids to watch Disney DVD’s bought by the PTA at a back to school night event? This is not considered to be for entertainment use? What other use is it, if not entertainment. It wasn’t stated that any money exchanged hands for the child care services. For what other use would the PTA have bought those DVD’s?

16. There are so many twists and turns here in the Copyright Regulations. A teacher can use a machine “that defeats the copy protection on DVDs, CD-ROMs, and just about everything else,” if they are using it as classroom material. However, they cannot take that same material and that same machine and make a copy for themselves. So, I take from this a teacher can make a copy of “The Last of the Mohicans” to use in class, but is not permitted to later take that movie and watch it for her own amusement. Not realistic.

17. I am a bit surprised that it is ok to take pictures of specific streets and businesses to use in a web project. When one takes a photo of a specific person in public it is mandatory, as far as I know, to get them to sign a release for you to use that photograph of them. So, why is that not so with a specific business? That business’ name is copyrighted. Not sure I fully understand.