Teach English

I’m frankly confused about CC. The idea is great, and as I watched the videos, I was eager to go to the website and search for materials. However, I can’t tell when a document/Powerpoint/Video, etc. has a CC license. When I did a search for instructional material for Great Expectations, the results were very similar to a Google search. The site has a disclaimer warning that the search results are not necessarily covered by CC licenses, and for the life of me, I could not find the CC logo.

There is a great need for the service that CC provides. The old saying that “All teachers are thieves” comes to mind immediately. With the wealth of information available on the web, knowing how to cite and giving proper credit to an author become increasingly important. I have made use of many Power Point presentations, word documents, and even lecture notes that I have found on line, but I have always given credit to the original source.

I’d like to read more about CC and how it works because I don’t feel as though I understand all that it offers at this point.

I have to say that I am not a proponent of Wikipedia in the classroom. Students, assuming that anything in print in reliable and true, rely far too heavily on the site. I tell my students that Wikipedia is a good springboard but that it is not a reliable source because anyone can add information.

Having said that, I am amazed at the complexity and size of Wikipedia. I don’t think I’ve ever searched for a topic that it does not cover. Today I searched “comma splices” and looked at the “Discussion” and “Edit” tabs for the first time. Seeing all of the information there for one simple subject made me wonder how in the world people manage to keep this site up-to-date. When I looked up Nancy Pelosi (I’m not a fan and wanted to see how she was portrayed on the site), there was a disclaimer at the top that admitted the information on the page may not be accurate, probably because someone had recently updated  the page. In fact, the moderator for that page seems quite busy based on the history. Surprisingly, though, the information was unbiased and factual.

I had some wiki fun checking out various teachers’ sites. Some sites were very simple. One was a one-page wiki on which a kindergarten class placed pictures of objects numbering one to one hundred. I liked the idea of using pictures, and I’m sure each child was thrilled to see his/her own contribution on-line.

Others were much more complex. I enjoyed surfing Fayetteville High School’s combined history and English wiki. The teachers had a page where students (and other surfers) can download class documents. Each page had a hypertext table of contents that allows visitors to navigate easily throughout the site. I’d love to learn how to create a TOC. One of the teachers, Jennifer Barnett, actually has a Q&A page for teachers who are interested in starting wikis in their classrooms. The teachers have posted a lot of instructive materials, but I thought publishing student essays on the wiki would be a great addition.

My favorite site was The Great Debate 2008 wiki on which students debated election issues. What a great way to get kids involved in the election. The site provided research, polls, and candidate videos for the students who were to participate in a discussion over the issues.

Here are some ideas I’ve had for creating my own wiki:

1. Having my AP Lit students create a wiki for their MWDS (major works data sheet) forms.
2. Starting a grammar wiki which would have separate pages for each grammatical error. Students could correct sentences and/or offer examples of their own.
3. Posting paragraphs/essays about which students could comment and make edit suggestions.

I’m actually pretty excited about wikis, but I still need more info on creating them and organizing the information effectively so that the site is manageable.

I’ve loved checking my RSS feed this week. It is so simple to browse through the posts, read the ones of interest and pass by the ones that are not. I did have somewhat of a difficult time finding blogs that were relevant to me and my class at first. Many were geared toward elementary ed or other curriculum areas, but when I searched English Blogs, and specifically AP Lit blogs, I hit the jackpot.

Here are a few highlights:

Plagiarism is an on-going issue in the English classroom, and I found two sites that discussed the issue of academic integrity. The first was on CyberEnglish and the other was on my favorite blog so far, Dr. Kirk’s blog on effective teaching. Dr. Kirk’s blog entry has a link to another site that offers dozens of strategies for handling and preventing plagiarism.

Dr. Kirk also had another post on 21st Century learning. The author, Professor Hoyle, advocates tests that measure actual learning rather than memorization, an idea I wholeheartedly endorse. I would highly recommend not only this article to fellow teachers, but I would also recommend checking out Dr. Kirk’s blog. She posts very relevant information for secondary teachers.

I love my one-stop news shopping that is my Google Reader. It’s like reading my very own personalized newspaper every day!

I’ve enjoyed checking my Google Reader this week. Having all of the articles in one place makes catching up on new ideas and articles much easier. It took me a while to figure out how to navigate through all of the blog messages, but now that I know how to mark items as read, the process is quite simple. One of my favorite posts provided links to twelve grammar sites for teachers. Most of the sites offer on-line exercises, and some have worksheets for use in the classroom. In addition to the educational sites, I’ve added several of my favorite news sites to my reader as well. Catching up on current events has never been easier!

The most interesting thing I noticed was that bloggers learn through blogging. One teacher, Dan Meyer,  had taken an adamant stand against homework, but actually changed his perspective after reading one of the comments. Because teachers are constantly reinventing themselves, their classrooms, and their methods, blogging can provide invaluable feedback. Sometimes, a reader can learn more from the comments than from the original post itself.

Another valuable aspect about blogging is the journal format. I enjoyed Kaia and Skyelar’s blog that was started by their father. He uses it to record his daughters’ journey through childhood. What a valuable diary this will be for both him and his daughters. Applying this type of blog to a classroom setting has obvious advantages. For example, a teacher could document the entire year through a series of posts. I can see using a blog to teach or reinforce different grammar skills taught throughout the year. Students could go back to older posts to review past lessons. Another skill I’m always working on is improving students’ written expression. Each post could be a separate passage that needs revisions, and students could comment on ways to improve each sentence.

Looking through the blogs gave me several ideas for using this tool in my classroom.

I was fascinated by the Web 2.0 information. The statistics were staggering, and they drove home the fact that educators need to integrate technology in the classroom effectively in order to reach today’s students. Web 2.0 can open up new lines of communication between teachers and students. It truly seems as if the world grown smaller every day as we become connected electronically in milliseconds. Discovering new ways to challenge not only myself but also my students to take advantage of these applications is my primary reason for enrolling in this class.

The most challenging habit for me is, unfortunatley,  having fun! Sometimes I take myself and my work too seriously. However, I’m going to try to enjoy the process rather than overcomplicate it!

The easiest habit for me will be viewing problems as challenges because I feel I grow through solving problems and finding solutions. I find that in working through difficulties, I usually come out with a much stronger grasp of the situation than I had before.

Creating a toolbox will be the most important habit for me. I recognize the need to have my proverbial ducks, and I intend to create a cyber place where I can organize all of the information so that I can access it later.