Dewey This, Dewey That

"Dewey was convinced that the education of his dday did not work. Why? Beccause educators have assumed education to be a preparation for future living rather than the experience of living now. You cannot prepare a child for the future because you do not know what the future will be like" (Castle 174).

In response to the Dewey quote:

I think it is taught that teachers do not think about students' present lives, rather they think about what the student is to become (or who s/he is to become) in the future. Perhaps it is a little disconcerting for teachers to think about who their students are NOW, and it is easier to consider what they may be AFTER the teacher has had their effect on the student.

Damage Control

Time to assess what I've done thus far:

- Podcast is done, burned, and ready to go. I can't wait for all of you to hear it. As far as I'm concerned, I am pleased with my efforts, and those of my willing comrade, my husband. What I attempted to do is to initiate a dialogue between the "Native" and the "Immigrant;" I think that the use of images rapidly speeding by are in-line with that of the Native, while the Immigrant is focused, stagnant, and looking backwards.

- Blogging is proving to be a bit bothersome, I'll admit, but now that I am done being sick and ready to be more active, I think I will be able to pick up speed in my posting and commenting on other people's blogs, and on the course blog.

- Wikis are interesting. Since I am the type of person who LOVES to start, to make progress, and to complete whatever I'm doing, wikis are trying my patience. I think the best practice I've had thus far is posting on Jack's SharedShortFiction. I added a paragraph or two, and can't wait to see where the story goes next.

- Final Project projections are fuzzy. I'm not sure what I want to do, but I am intrigued by Flash Poetry, as suggestion on the course wiki. I am planning on taking a look at some of it during the next week to see if that is truly what I want to do. I love writing creatively, so I'm thinking it would be a great combination between the creative-me and the technologically-more-savvy-me. We'll see.

- Friedman and the Alvermann book are a lot when combined, but I'm finding that I think the two work well together, one source being a journalist and the others being educators/researchers. They provide both sides of the same angle, and that is helpful. More comments to come in future posts.

Out.

Print Control

According to the 3rd chapter in Alvermann, printed information is the source of control in the classroom:

"The use of popular culture, represented by multimedia, may undermine the traditional control teachers enjoy when enacting prescribed curricula...The result is that intermediality, while overlooked by teachers ostensibly because it detracts from print literacy, is consequently enhanced in its subversive use by students...students' competence with digitized multiliteracies must be delegitimated because it has the potential to destablize teachers' control" (42).


If teacher control is derived from using the traditonal, canonical DWM texts to subdue and bore their students, then it is WORKING!


However, if a teacher's aim is to continuously learn and relearn their field, their content, and their methods, then maximizing student input, ideas, and technological aptitude is a no-brainer: we need to make use of our resources, including that of our students!


Alright, here's an example:

If we decide as ELA teachers that WE are in control of the input-output flow of information, knowledge, and (perhaps even) wisdom, then it would be considered allowing students to "waste" time surfing when they could be doing...more important things like alternately reading Frankenstein and watching the movie version.

Better version of the above example (perhaps a bit more progressive):

As ELA teachers, we realize that the students are the ones in control of their learning. If they don't want to, they won't. WHY waste their time and ours with mundane (though useful tools of assessment) essays, multiple choice questions, and all other traditional forms of understanding their knowledge? Perhaps, instead of the book/movie version, the students provide a set of presentations/podcasts/iMovies/etc. on their interpretation of Shelley's horror novel after reading the first half. Then, maybe it would be time to show CLIPS of the Hollywood versions, and do a compare/contrast between their versions and the expensive type.

There are no limits to the ideas our students have. Why should we be the ones to put a cap on their imaginations??!

Home Schooling

(Reposted from a comment made in Katie's blog)

I knew a couple of people (for religious and personal reasons) that were home schooled in elementary and middle school, and then their parents enrolled them in high school to allow them to get "acclamated" to a social environment.

This was outrageous!

The people I knew were immediate outcasts to the cliches that had formed over the past 7 or 8 years, and though this changed slowly, and they were able to make friends, their social skills were definitely awkward and unrefined. It was as if they had spent the last decade of their lives in a secluded little cave...it was difficult to understand their weird behavior and unconformed forms of communication.

Perhaps, it was a good thing to be in contact with them, but I am not sure it was entirely beneficial to them...it was definitely a rude awakening to the workings of the social world.

Maybe the social web would help them to adjust to reality?

What, another blog?

I have done the impossible!

I have created another blog, this time in beta, for me and my two siblings to communicate more effectively while we are all busy with college life. My sister is at SUNY Fredonia, my brother is at the Chicago Art Institute, and I am here.

I'm hoping this will be a great new way for us to stay connected...when we have the time to.

Just wanted to share the good news.

Though they are the only ones able to comment, here's the site for fun: http://thegoodrichclan.blogspot.com/


Dawn

Hello, beta!

Here is the link to the previous posts and comments from the non-beta blogger.

http://creativewritingsenged.blogspot.com/