Reflections on 331 First Reading Assignment

Chapter 1 The Read/Write Web

            My original impression of the learning that I would do in 331 was to become more proficient with new ways (and old) to deliver content to students, and to help them become computer literate.  I focused on the idea of meeting teaching standards in a fairly simple view.  I was not considering teaching them to be life long self learners, and that is one of the “Big Ideas” that I have taken away from the reading in between having tech frustrations and filling out my student teacher application.  When I first got the book, I read it through and signed up for blogger, twitter, RSS feeds and used Delicious to find a few web sites but I still didn’t fully understand why.  I read about using class WIKIs and had previously been introduced to them by Michelle Johnson who teaches in the middle school at Adams-Friendship.  Michelle showed my how she uses a WIKI to allow parents keep up with what the kids are doing in class.  She also teaches her peers how to set them up and how to use them.  Michelle has an MS degree in educational technology.  At that time I did not get the message that I could use the WIKI for student projects, investigation and collaborative projects with people in other places.  That is such a neat idea.  I also thought, from my first read, that only about 10% of the text had substance.  I liked having the tool box list and I think I should copy and file those pages for reference.  I would use them like strings on my fingers to remind myself of all the options I have.  On the other hand, I felt a bit disappointed with the chapter because I was looking for something to tell me how to do stuff.  In other words, I wanted the laboratory part of the course which is what I (we) are doing right now.

Chapters 2 and 3 Weblogs

            I think that chapter 2 confused me.  I really did not previously know what a blog was.  I did not know that it was a published web site or that it could turn into a conversation.  I understand some aspects now but I remain a bit leery of it because I still wonder why anyone would want to blog.  I understand the teaching applications now at least a little.  However, it seems to me that some people would use the blog to show off with impunity, or as an attempt to communicate in frustration. 

            But, then I got to chapter 3, my favorite chapter, and started the lab part of the class.  I did this during August and I posted a blog called teacherinwisconsin  (http://teacherinwisconsin.blogspot.com/).  I have learned some things from doing this, actually.  First, nobody has ever looked at it.  So, my question is, “How do I get people to look at it?”  My second finding happened when I looked for blogs with similar subjects.  The subject of my blog is low teacher pay and public impressions about that.  I found a couple from 2009 that had not been commented on either.  So, my conclusion at this point is that few people care about the topic.  Maybe and most probably I just don’t know what I am doing yet.  I have some other ideas for blogs such as foreign student workers, ice cream recipes, and to use it for gathering information about substitute teaching.  I really want to write a small book about it so that I can get rich and famous like Esme.  Ha! Ha!  But, I don’t want to publish it on the web so that people can read it for free.  It would probably be a good way to share jokes.  Having some good (clean) jokes would be good for any customer service profession in addition to teaching.  How about a blog entitles “Clean Jokes”?

Chapter 6 Social Web

            Before I got to the social web, I thought that this meant facebook and although I have an account, I don’t use it much because I think of it as a super e-mail.  So, why not just e-mail.  Why do I want to share everything with everybody when I know that few. If any, people care about me.  Of course, my attitudes are colored by my life experiences, and a little reverie about party lines on our early telephones.  And, I know that the FBI and Homeland Security (the modern Gestapo) are continuously surfing the web to find targets.  They have a big computer center that uses key words to look for people who they might need to further investigate or to monitor targets already identified.  This has been going on long before 911.  I have had some training in undercover operations at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Glencoe, Georgia.  FBI agents train at Quantico with the Marines.  So, we aren’t supposed to like each other.

           

            Also, before I read chapter 6, I had read chapter 5, set up Google reader and subscribed to some RSS feeds.  I have one that is OK, and 2 that are cool.  One tells me every time there is an earthquake anywhere in the world.  Wow, I can use this for teaching and one is science news with teacher resources.  So, then I read about delicious and I did not sign up initially.  I used it to look for sites but did not understand how I could use it as a personal place to file resources.  So, I held off.  Then, I started using it.  Now, I combine it with RSS to make a net to catch ideas and information.  So, some sites I might just want to bookmark while other sites I might want to have the RSS feeds, if they do that sort of thing.  It seems more and more are.  So, I ask myself,” How will I use this in teaching?”  Well, I will use my RSS feed to show students that the tectonic plates are really active.  There are about 90,000 earthquakes per year.  I didn’t know that either a couple of weeks ago.  And, I will use Delicious to find more cool lesson materials.  I can also combine use Delicious as a class project to monitor whether students are looking for appropriate materials on the web and to stimulate students to “want” to learn more. 

Conclusions

            So, after actually doing the laboratory part of the class, my thinking has changed from wanting to use the Internet for delivering content to wanting students to use the web for learning.  My pedagogic philosophy has evolved from needing to teach students to compute to wanting to teach students how to learn.  What I will do differently?  I am not certain at this point.  It will depend, in part, as to a school’s policies and on it’s technological capabilities and on what it refuses to unblock.  I already used my digital biography in classes that I substituted in.  And, I used RSS in EDUC 337.  The ability to keep informed about science news and new lesson materials will help me to revise lesson plans often.  I will involve students more in constructing their own learning by using blogs, sites like delicious and other things I have already learned and I will look for other similar sites.  But, I ask myself the following question.  When will all of these free sites try to force me to pay?  Years ago there were free internet telephoning sites and certain sites where I would store files in cyberspace.  Then, after a year they started charging for their services.  So, when will delicious start asking for $29.95/year?  I hope never; I know better.