MySpace Experience

I just recently created a MySpace page. I was apprehensive at first because I didn't really know what to expect. I was surprised to see how much it "sucked me in" and started becoming a part of my life. I am also surprised how many people I have found, whom I wouldn't communicate with under any other circumstances, but now I am able to have communication with them. It really is quite a network. I can go on to a friend's page and find other people that I didn't know were on it. I have spent quite a lot of time just looking through other people's friends. I am fascinated by what we are able to do on MySpace, but I am not sure if it is something I will have for very long, just because I waste a lot of time on it.

I am really excited because I became a licensed boater today! I went to take a safe boating course with my mom, dad, sister-in-law, and boyfriend because we weren't officially licensed boaters. (A lot of rules have changed over the years and although my father has been a boater all his life they are having everyone take this course to get an official license.) So I am enjoying my President's Weekend beach vacation--Ha! 20 degrees and a frozen bay! I am feeling a large sense of accomplishment after a full day of learning boating safety and taking the test and passing!

This Week's Readings

I found the readings for this week very interesting. I found the Pew Internet STudy interesting because the number of adolescents that contribute to the web is a very large number. Of course, all of us taking this class are contributing, and I guess I hadn't really thought of that until reading this study, either. I think this study says a lot about our world and what we as teachers really need to realize. I am sure there are many teachers who should probably be given a copy of this so that they understand that it is time to start making the move toward accepting technology and begin to try to incorporate it or allow their students to express themselves through multiliteracies. Which brings me to the other article, Adolescents' anime-inspired "fanfictions": An exploration of Multiliteracies. The part in the article that seemed very important to me was the point that they mentioned about teachers using students fan-fictions as a means for pre-assessing students writing so that they are equipped with the knowledge of what students need to learn in writing. I understand that they mention in the article that the fanfics are perhaps not suited to use in the classroom setting; however, I feel that for a more technologically progressive teacher, fanfics could be a wonderful way to encourage even the most reluctant writer. I am sure the teachers of adolescents probably have a difficult time encouraging reluctant readers and I would think that providing students with every means possible for engaging them in the writing process would be great.

Yeah Technology!

So...I feel like I am constantly wondering how to incorporate technology. Prior to doing it, I start to get a little anxious. I wonder if the kids will catch on to what they are doing and figure out the game they will be playing, will they have enough time while sharing only 4 computers amongst 19 students, and will the activity correlate to what the rest of the class is doing? Well, I was observed on Wednesday during math and I decided that my lesson would be on attributes. So I had my students do various button sortings and naming of attributes and I found (through a colleague) a fantastic website game! The kids loved it, shared the computers as they worked through centers, and it was so easy to use! The educational benefits of the game were wonderful and my students were so excited to use the computers.

Response to Readings—New Literacies

Chapter 1-From Reading to New Literacies and
Chapter 2-New Literacies and the Challenge of Mindsets

Lankshear & Knobel discuss the change that has occurred over time in the field that was once called reading, which we now refer to as literacy. They mention that several factors led up to this point, one factor being the work by Paulo Freire. Freire helped people to realize that literacy is what helped them to voice their emotions and thus giving them the power that they desperately needed. What I learned about the move from reading to calling it new literacies is that the term encompasses so much more. I have learned that literacy and the way we use it really depends upon our social settings. There are several discourses in which we use literacy. The discourse that we use in a formal setting varies greatly from the discourse we use with friends. This is important to keep in mind with students. Many students’ literacy practices are shaped by their social settings.

The inclusion of new literacies and understanding the state of literacy currently, means that my students will understand that I am of the “insider mindset” and that I am making the choice to allow new literacies to be incorporated into instruction. Being of an insider mindset, I will be understanding of the type of discourse that my students use and I will try to incorporate the new literacies that they have grown accustomed to using in everyday life outside the classroom walls. I will make every effort to include new literacies, without completely doing away with some of the more traditional measures.

Prior to reading I never really thought about how literacy really equals power, but thinking about this makes me realize just how much they work hand in hand. Yet, I also see how it is really difficult to be illiterate in these times where literacy is everywhere. Having the literacy skills needed to communicate your feelings is what gives you the power that you need to be a functioning citizen in society. As I read on, I was thinking that we are lucky to live in a time and society where literacy is so prevalent. Print is everywhere, all sorts of media is very accessible, and people use literacy without even realizing that it is literacy!

Car Trouble

It always seems that car trouble comes when you really need it the least. The coldest day of the year, when you have a late meeting at school, and no time to squeeze sitting around a mechanic at all. Augh....I know things could be worse...which is why I was really proud of myself when rather than whining to my dad about it I simply called and matter-of-factly told him about it. I can handle this one.

My grandma turns 80 on Feb. 7th. This weekend is a big deal because my family is having a party for her. I have really been looking forward to this because I am so close to my grandma. She is one of the closest people in my life and she means the world to me. I used to live with my grandma after college. When it came down to it after college, during that indecisive time, I wondered...where should I go? California? D.C.? Somewhere I hadn't even considered? I was so confused. I wanted to know an answer. I started thinking that I have always liked where my grandma lived, because it felt "homey" and maybe I should consider that. It was where she was, but when I was ready for my "real life" I was close to Hoboken and the city. I chose to move in with her and take a great job near where she lives and I couldn't have made a better choice. chances are, had I not taken that job, had I not moved in with her, I would not be as close to her as I am today. I am so fortunate that I had that opportunity and I wouldn't trade that chance for anything in the entire world. She is honestly someone who I am proud to say is my grandmother, and someone who I call an incredible friend. I look forward to honoring her this weekend.

There's Always Something to do...

The idea that a teacher's job is never done seems to apply to me a lot more than it ever did. I feel like I go to sleep with a to-do list in my head, and most of that doesn't get completed in the following day, due to the daily events in a teacher's day. I wish I could add an extra hour to my day where I could contact more parents, grade more papers, and develop more individualized instruction.