Albummers

 This assignment was kind of a bummer...because of the photo size and pixel limitations.  So, I found all my awesome pictures, they met the requirements (5 different sources, see if you can guess where each came from!), and I was ready to post them to Picasa.  UNfortunately, I then spent the next half hour re-sizing them to the appropriate dimensions.  Not super fun.  On the flip side, however, I can now re-size like a pro.

Anyway, here is my album I created around the theme of "Culture".  It's cool to think about the different aspects of our lives that our culture influences.  

Bellow!

In the middle school class I'm observing we're working on writing, and with that, of course...vocab.  Does anyone like learning vocab?  Does anyone think it's fun?  When I think of learning vocab I get post traumatic flashbacks to SAT cramming and fill-in-the-blank sentences.  Bleh.

How does memorizing help you LEARN words?  It doesn't.  Today in my Middle Grades Literacy class we talked about different ways to retain new vocabulary.  There were so many great ideas involving drawing pictures, grouping new words with ones you know, and using words in a context that you are familiar with, etc.  

Let me talk about Linear Arrays for a sec.  Linear Arrays list related words on a spectrum.  For example, in class we listed the following words from softest to loudest: gossip, state, declare, utter, holler, screech, cry, murmur, and bellow.  The activity filtered down into a class debate on which was loudest--screech, holler, or bellow?  Imagine!  An impromptu debate on the meaning of words.  I'm not a logophile by any means, but I was pretty surprised to find myself arguing passionately that bellow was the loudest sound word of all.

My biggest pet peeve is lists of unrelated words.  Why would you group Agile, Vigor, Valedictorian, Sheepish, etc, together with no united theme?  There are so many words to learn, you might as well teach them in groups that make sense.  I'm guessing that someone would more easily remember a previously unknown word from the Linear Array I mentioned than by writing it ten times and putting it in a generic sentence.

WikiWikiWhat?

Working in Wikis can be a little bit frustrating.  Our social studies group shares a wiki page with the other class, so we never get to interact personally with the other Wiki members.  This leads to a few questions on my part:  What is proper Wiki etiquette?  Am I supposed to comment when I change someone else's stuff or should I send them a "Maybe you should change this" comment?  

Also, who are these people??  Are they real?  Are they internet ghosts?  Am I communicating with deceased social studies teachers?  I still get a little skepitcal when interactions are occuring without direct human contact.  I think it stems from when people's moms would be IMing me under the disguise of their child's screen name in middle school.  Creepy.

Don't Feed the Bears

On Friday, I went to the Great Smoky Mountains for the annual synchronous firefly mating season. There are only two places in the world where fireflies sync up like this, and I have always wanted to see it for myself. We showed up a little too late to go the main viewing site, so we were directed instead to a nearby picnic area.

I hadn't been to the mountains in a long time, so I enjoyed myself. I scrambled over huge rocks in the creek, saw a salamander (by the way, the Smokies are the "Salamander Capital of the World"), and saw a curious black bear sniff around the picnic tables as the sun went down.

The fireflies soon came out, which was fantastic. The synchronous flashing made the forest look like a Christmas light display. But every once in a while I could hear lumbering and scraping sounds nearby, and since I could not see in the darkness, I assumed legions of black bears were surrounding us. It was not surprising to me when I heard a mother's voice squeal nearby, "Bear! Bear!" and I dragged my friend as far away from the bushes as possible (making sure to back away slowly so as not to illicit some primal chasing instinct from the bear). Even though black bears are relatively gentle and peaceful creatures, I didn't like being in a picnic area in pitch darkness with food scraps scattered around me. Just another reminder NOT TO FEED THE BEARS!

Although this particular firefly event does not occur at a convenient time for school field trips, any trip to the Smokies is likely to become a learning experience. The national park has several ideas for teachers interested in exploring the Smoky Mountains with their students, whether in person or online.

Deception

The last thing we want when using the Internet in the classroom is confusing, unreliable, or unorganized information. If the first thing we see on a page about Elizabethan England is an ad reading "Help Cure Cancer by Donating Umbilical Blood" we probably don't want to be projecting that page loud and proud on the SMART Board. I don't want to explain umbilical blood to 12 year olds, thank you. So check out Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators and look at the different articles, web pages, and surveys that can inform both teachers and students on how to identify reputable web sources.

On a Break

Hmmm….technology. Right now technology and I are "on a break." 10 minutes ago, as I was drifting through Discovery Online articles and drooling at the pretty pictures, technology and I were doing GREAT. However, as we speak, technology has prevented me from blogging directly into this thing because, as Google told me, “Sorry, there seems to be a problem. The service you're looking for is temporarily unavailable. We're working hard to restore your access as soon as possible. Please try again in a few hours. Thanks for your patience.” Unfortunately, in a few hours I will no longer be using class time, but rather my own time…which is sadly limited these days.

…Wait a second, you say. How are you typing in present tense about this blog if you are unable to log into you account?

Well, as all good teachers know (and hopefully I will be joining their ranks soon) you must always have a backup plan. This is my backup plan: write the blog on Word, then copy and paste it to the web. Let’s just hope it works! (It did if you’re reading this, of course).

Back to my relationship with technology. I think of technology as a handy dandy toolkit. Right now I have a Swiss Army Knife range of materials rather than a Home Depot at my disposal. I’ve got Google taken care of—Google Earth, Google Maps, Google Docs, Google Google Google. I am Googled out. I’ve got Pandora, Facebook, Grooveshark, Cornify (try it), the list goes on and on. But what I am lacking is technology that can be incorporated into the classroom: stuff to get kids going “Woooaaahhhh, cool!” So if you know any good websites, apps, what have you, share the love!