For lack of better words I have to say that David Theune's presentation was AWESOME. I thought the ideas he had for helping students learn how to write were fantastic. I thought the concept of teaching students to write for certain audiences, instead of writing for a rubric, was a great way to hopefully help students learn the process of writing. I'm really hoping that I can implement the idea he had about writing for your community. I thought this idea was fantastic because it gives the students a sense of agency in who they are writing for and why. This project seems like way more fun than the typical 5-paragraph argumentative essay. It doesn't help that this type of essay is typically extremely formulaic and not the most exciting piece of writing you'll ever create. This project also takes the boring, tired prompt that is usually along the lines of, "Do you think students should wear uniforms" and changes it. Having the students argue for a charity of their choice makes every decision made regarding the paper the student's own. I say this because often the argumentative essay comes down to which side I can support better, even if I don't personally agree with the side I'm arguing for. With this prompt for the essay, I've made the decision on which charity to argue for, and I've chosen the evidence that I want to use to support my claim of why you should vote for my charity.
Finally, the ending to this project is what really has me psyched to try it in my own class. I think that having the students vote on the best essay, and then having the winners give the money to the charity of their choice is the ultimate embodiment of empowerment. This gives the students the power to see the effect that their writing had on other people, which is an opportunity we typically don't get. This project does a fantastic job of putting the agency into the student's hands, and this is something I want to strive to do with my teaching practice.
I thought that most of what Theune had to say was great, but I struggle with the idea of not using rubrics. I agree with him in the fact that students will typically only write for what will give them an "A". I myself am guilty of doing this. I'm all for scrapping the rubric, but then I find myself wondering, "If I don't have a rubric, then how do I set expectations for myself and my students?" Currently I don't have an answer to this issue, and I don't expect to have an answer any time soon, but I will keep my eyes open for better options.
Monday, October 20, 2014
Tech In My Placement
To be honest, when I signed up for this whole teaching adventure using technology wasn't even a thought that crossed my mind. Very simply, I thought technology would just be throwing images up on a projector, showing a movie or two, and that's about it. While working on my Tech in My Placement survey I was enlightened to what opportunities technology can provide and I can hopefully use some of these tools to help my students. This survey really got me thinking about what pieces of technology will be available and I'm beginning to think about how I will essentially put the pieces together to incorporate technology into my lessons.
One lesson learned from this survey helped me understand what a lack of technology can do to a classroom and also helped me start to think of contingency plans in the event that technology doesn't want to cooperate. From my time at my placement we've had a few occasions where the internet wasn't working or the computers were operating so slow that the students couldn't get any work done. This is where I think it would be extremely handy to know what technology is available at my school in the event that my first plan doesn't work. Hopefully I can have a second computer lab or a lesson I can easily exchange with my lesson to make sure that we are still productive without the technology that I had originally planned on using.
Another limitation that I began to think about was the actual hardware available for students to use. I'm not just speaking of computers, but also items like camcorders or audio recorders. I have some ideas for projects that my students could work on that would require recording devices. This Tech survey has caused me to take a hard look at what may be possible. I may have to rely on my student's technology to get the project done, which I don't have a problem with, but it adds another element of how I should plan for a project. Here I think it will be a great idea to have the students fill out a form at the beginning of the school year to make sure that they have access to certain types of technology, such as using a cell phone to record video. Essentially I see the process as figuring out what my lesson is, what technology I have available to me within my school and with my students, and then putting the pieces together. Let's hope it works!
One lesson learned from this survey helped me understand what a lack of technology can do to a classroom and also helped me start to think of contingency plans in the event that technology doesn't want to cooperate. From my time at my placement we've had a few occasions where the internet wasn't working or the computers were operating so slow that the students couldn't get any work done. This is where I think it would be extremely handy to know what technology is available at my school in the event that my first plan doesn't work. Hopefully I can have a second computer lab or a lesson I can easily exchange with my lesson to make sure that we are still productive without the technology that I had originally planned on using.
Another limitation that I began to think about was the actual hardware available for students to use. I'm not just speaking of computers, but also items like camcorders or audio recorders. I have some ideas for projects that my students could work on that would require recording devices. This Tech survey has caused me to take a hard look at what may be possible. I may have to rely on my student's technology to get the project done, which I don't have a problem with, but it adds another element of how I should plan for a project. Here I think it will be a great idea to have the students fill out a form at the beginning of the school year to make sure that they have access to certain types of technology, such as using a cell phone to record video. Essentially I see the process as figuring out what my lesson is, what technology I have available to me within my school and with my students, and then putting the pieces together. Let's hope it works!
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