besanradwan's blog

Hello All,

Going into this field placement on Friday, I knew exactly what the problem was. Though I had been deterred from going into the classroom, I finally understoof why. These teachers were most probably amazing teachers, they were capable of engaging their classroom and using innovative tools to get their idea across. However, there was NO technology in the classes, but this was not a random occurrence. This was the result of hesitation from the teachers because of their lack of experience in the field of using computers. Therefore, I finalized a script and began my camtasia video on how to create a google calendar  

Hello All,

In my quest to better understand the hunger games as a tool for learning in the classroom, I have found this article written by a student at another university:

http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1310&context=srhonorsprog&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dliterary%2520criticism%2520of%2520hunger%2520games%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D1%26ved%3D0CDAQFjAA%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fdigitalcommons.uri.edu%252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D1310%2526context%253Dsrhonorsprog%26ei%3DVJ-pUOShO6vh0wG_yICgDQ%26usg%3DAFQjCNHfffVw8aicP2Vul5K0ROcKdU-LFQ#search=%22literary%20criticism%20hunger%20games%22

This persepctive compares themes found in the hunger games to classical themes found in other classical, well know books that are typically used in classrooms. This further leads me to thinking that our classmate Kelsey had the right idea, by using the hunger games alongside another text to highlight certain themes and ideas that could relate to real world historical events. This could both engage the student, while teaching history in a new and innovative way. Please let me know what you all think!

-Besan

Sadly, there is not much to add to my field notes from last week. constructing writing and creating videos to teach students about basic ways to use technology. E.g. How to create an event in their google calendar. therefore, i haven't really interacted with how students at my placement school use technology, or how teachers use technology to interact with their students. I have however devoloped insight into the basic technology gap that is present amongst the teachers. 

Camtasia; it's the name of a program that my host teacher liason Mrs. X gave me to work on. Camtasia is a program that allows you to video record your momevement on a computer screen as well as anontating what you do on screen both orally and with video graphics. Mrs. X thought that a lot fo the teachers at school M were not tech savvy enough and did not even know how to do the simplest of tasks such as creating and editing a word document. For this reason Mrs. X put me to work on creating video recordings of how to do everyday computer tasks. This frustrated me immensely seeing as previously Mrs. X had promised me an opportnity to work in the classroom. I felt like even though I was making an impact on how teachers better used technology, I was not getting to see the impact of that technology, or the lack of impact of technology in the classroom.  

When I first told my friends that I had to play minecraft for one of my classes, I got a look of jealous glares. Everyone thought that I was so lucky, until one of my friends said something interesting; she said that she loved playing minecraft, but if someone had told her to play it, she probably wouldn't. That struck me as surprising, and then it made me think. How are we going to using minecraft as a tool to enagage students, and make them feel like this isn't "typical" HW or school work if we still make them play it for a few hours.

My Field placement at school X has been very hectic. So far, I have been trying to coordinate with the person they put me in contact with about working with a teacher inside a classroom, because I feel like that would help me gain some insight for this class and be better versed in the actual implementation methods in the classroom. However, the person they put me in contact with wanted me initially to work with her in an office figuring out iPad apps. We have since reached consensus about what our goals are, however, she has yet to get back to me about when I can come in and actually work with a teacher.

Hey All,

My field placement isn't until tomorrow, but I thought I'd still try to contribute by posting what is on tap for my placement work tomorrow. Teacher M at School X wants me to sort through a bunch of iPad apps and rate them and see how applicable they could be to the students at each grade level. This is a very efficent use of technology and even gamification to better enhance a students learning experience. That's all for now, but I'll be sure to post tomorrow to let everyone know how it went.

Hello everyone!

So, one thing I love more than ANYTHING is when my classes overlap, and that happened to me today with my Computer Science class and this Education class. We had a speaker come in today and talk to us about incorporating dance and technology. Somehow, I managed to bring up Clark's cyborg reading and it fueled part of the discussion about how people "felt" about technology beign incorporated into their bodies and movement. The answer in short is apparently dancers LOVE it! They feel it enhances their capabilites.

I just wanted to share that! 

In class, our group discussed Clark’s cyborg readings and how that played into our feelings towards the class. There was a general consensus amongst the people in our group that the Clark reading was more confusing rather than informative. The main reason I think this is, is the writing style that Clark adopts. In his writing, Clark tends to try to prove concepts by examples rather than solidifying his claims and arguments by using original research. Thus, Clark’s text seems more like a thoughtful muse, rather than a piece of writing meant to prove a certain fact.