Tech Task #3: The Search Begins

"What's your favorite kind of music?" my friend David asks around a cheese sandwich. We are roadtripping across the prairies, listening to an old Steve Bell tape. The tape player on the Taurus cuts out every 30 seconds. Every few minutes it goes completely beserk with static, then resumes playing. That was annoying for the first 2 hours, but by now I've gotten used to it.

"I like mellow stuff. Piano. Violin. That kind of thing."

"Oh really?" he is nonplussed, but polite.

"What do you like?"

"I'm more into rap and electronica."

"Hm." I am similarily disenchanted.

Fast forward 3 hours... David finds a playlist of 25 most played songs, and we blast it through the defective sound system. True to form, the first song was quintessential rap/electronica... followed by 24 definitively mellow tunes.

"Don't like mellow songs, eh?" I tease him.

David laughs (that's why we're friends. he always sees the humor in the situation).

"I guess I like them more than I thought. Wouldn't it be funny to see a playlist for other parts of life, like '25 most told stories' or '25 most eaten foods?' "

I tell this little tale because it's a concept I've been chewing on recently. How much of what we believe about ourselves is true? What would it be like to  have a computer data printout about our real likes, dislikes, habits, etc?

For example, who (out of 6 billion people out there) could really be my best friend? Is it someone in Bangledesh? Old? Opposite gender? One thing I'm sure of: I'm sure the answer would surprise me. And I'm sure I could never pick him/her out based on my own intelligence.

I thought of this again as I searched for bloggers and twitter users to follow. It's like looking for an earring clasp on the beach. Somewhere out there are people who are blogging/tweeting about things I would be FASCINATED by, and I don't know how to find them!

But. I have a theory about finding kindred spirits online. First, find people in your area of interest. And follow them. Pay attention to who's following them. And follow them. And so on. The first blogs you follow may not be the ones you keep following, but at the very least they are clues that lead you to new networks.

 

from www.toptenreviews.com





So here are the fruits of my blog-finding labour today:
http://leoxicon.blogspot.ca/ ... teaching EAL from a lexical viewpoint. Some of his principles challenge my methods of teaching language. It's good to re-assess one's presumptions about teaching every so often!

http://flipyourclassroom.blogspot.ca/ ... flipped pedagogy. This one caught my eye because of the reference in Dean's first class about "flipped classrooms." It's a highly visual style of blogging, which really catches my attention!

www.thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com/... I found this one last fall while I was interning in grade 1, but decided to add it to google reader today. My favorite feature is the plethora of writing and math instructional strategies!

I chose one about teaching EAL, one about technology in the classroom, and another about teaching primary grades. Basically, I've started three "mine shafts" to start excavating. Here's the exciting part (to me): I discovered the power of using twitter! A basic google search on "EAL blogs" profited me nothing. So I jumped on twitter and searched with some hashtags: #tesol, #esl, #tesl and discovered a whole host of people! I am now following... ahem... 38 people! That's a start! I've tapped into a network of ESL/literacy professionals from Alberta. The challenge now is to devote some time every day to keeping up with google reader and expanding my twitter network.

What are your favorite education blogs?

The Results are In!

The results are in! The question was:
Would you rather...
...sleep in a tent on the Alaskan tundra, knowing that there is a grizzly bear with her cubs close by

-OR-

...sleep in a tent in your backyard, knowing that there is an armed criminal within 2 blocks of your tent?

Total responses: 16
Grizzly bear fighters: 11
Criminal combatants: 5

...and WHY?

"It could be easier to stay away from the bears and stay warm in the tent, than get caught in the crossfire of a convict with a gun and police with guns.”

That I trust a grizzly bear verse an escaped convict. I chose his answer because a grizzly bear with her cubs will only attack if provoked... an escaped convict is a lot more dangerous because they can “snap” whenever.

I'd rather deal with a person because they can be  psychologically manipulated.

I would pick option one because a lot of the time I like animals instead of people.  Animals kill out of protective instinct, so as long as I stayed in my tent and kept all of my food in my tent, there would be a greater chance of survival with the bears vrs the convict with the gun in my opinion...hmm, maybe I prefer the safest route instead of danger.  Also, bears are cute!  (but keep your distance!)

I think that escaped convicts usually have scores to settle, and wouldn't be out for random crimes. However a Grizzly bear would be curious and territorial...

I distance myself from what I fear.

...that I prefer to be mauled naturally, rather than maliciously. The bear would be doing something admirable, after all, even if I don't see it that way at the time.

If I'm going to die at least Alaska is somewhere cool! I feel like the bear might leave me alone if I respect her territory but you never know what the mind of an ex con is like .

Animals act on instinct, while people are crazy. So long as I have no food in my tent and do not place myself between the mother and her cubs, I should be perfectly fine. She is most likely to steer clear. The convict is most likely making decisions from a place of desperation making him far less predictable.

It's less of a risk.

I'd rather die while having an adventure than to die at home.

"It would seem to say that I tend to analyze situations objectively (at least, when I am not in the situation and given time to think). 

In my backyard I am close to people who could assist me or call for help as well as objects that I can use to defend myself or hide behind.  On a tundra, there isn't much I can do to outrun a bear or hide my scent.  There also isn't any reasoning with a hungry bear and her cubs!"

 

A little post-script for my fellow teachers:

I made this handy survey using Google docs. You'll need a google account, and then go to "google documents" site, click "New" and choose "document." It's pretty straightforward to create a survey/quiz. ONLY make sure that you select "Edit Confirmation- show results" if you want them to be public- you can't go back and show them later, as far as I can tell.

 

Some uses in the classroom:

-"exit" slip

-reading response

-anonymous class vote

-survey to get to know your students better

-"Dear Abbey" column

Tech Task #2: What's your danger personality?

How Freddy's Rescue Roundup Changed my Life

www.en.wikipedia.org

My name’s Shannon, and I’m a video game addict. That might come as a surprise to my friends. But it’s true. Ever since I discovered Wagon Trail to Oregon in grade 1, I’ve been mesmerized by the blinking lights, the virtual reality, and the thrill of victory. We didn’t have a computer or video games in our home growing up, so I drove my friends crazy by playing theirs nonstop.

Enter Kindly Old Neighbour who gave us his old 1984 Compaq with… drum roll… Freddy’s Rescue Roundup! It was a match made in heaven. I devoted the better part of grade 6 to mastering all 25 levels.

It all came to a head one New Year’s Eve. I was at the climax of a year-long quest to pass level 24, and my family wanted to play Scrabble. Of all foolish games. Of course, I excused myself. For two hours I listened to laughter and voices float upstairs to where I was holed up with the Compaq.

Finally, by the end of the evening I was rewarded by the psychedelic purple and blue screen announcing that I, Shannon, had graduated from Freddy’s Rescue Roundup. But instead of pride, I felt let down. Suddenly, it didn’t feel like such an achievement to win the game. As I thought about it, I regretted all the time I spent with Freddy instead of with people. I realized that I was the kind of person who could let video games become the Great Fact in my life. So I made a decision: no more video games.

I’ve never regretted that decision, but I see the same compulsive tendencies with other technologies- like email. How often does the average person check their email? I probably check mine 12 times a day. Throw in Pinterest, Facebook, blogs, news, YouTube… and it adds up to a lot of screen time. When I go home to my mom and dad’s farm (who don’t have internet), I’m surprised by how much more “time” there is.

So. I’m looking for balance. I want to keep touch with what’s happening online, and I want to play shinny at the rink. I want to use social networking for my professional development, and I want to volunteer at my church. In the past, I’ve over-done some things and over-avoided others. Any ideas on how to strike a balance?

In the meantime, my fellow country music fans, enjoy PaulBrandt’s take on this subject:

www.calgaryherald.com

 

 

Tech Task #1: Hello ECMP355!

Hi friends,
Welcome to my teaching blog/online portfolio! I chose blogspot because it is linked with my gmail account, and I already have a blogspot blog (how many times can I use that word in a sentence? Say blogspot 7 times fast!). It's fun to customize blogs, but I'm always aware of how much better it could look if I had the help of a designer! I like to read blogs that have a clean, uncluttered layout, so I tried to keep mine simple.

I've spent most of the morning creating my blog, setting up my twitter account, writing the first blog post, and making my intro video. This isn't my favorite way to pass the time, but I hope that soon I can start the interesting part of social networking- meeting people!

 

So What's Your Teaching Experience?

There are a couple of ways to answer that question. Do you mean "what teaching jobs have you had in the past?" or "what has your teaching experience been like?"

I'll answer both!

My past teaching jobs:
Age 9.... smuggled paper outside during recess to show classmates how to make paper fortune tellers
Age 16... morphed from a drama to a leather tooling teacher as needed at Bible Camp.
Age 17... created epic flannelgraph scenes for Bible stories in Sunday School
Age 20... led ESL students through the wild and wonderful world of the present perfect tense, among other things
Age 21... travelled to a middle eastern country; taught refugees from a restricted nation how to make Valentine's Day cards
Age 23... helped a middle-aged student with an acquired brain injury study quadratic equations for her GED
Age 24... taught Mom how to use a laptop computer
Age 25... helped grade one students discover why bats hang from ceilings and how to run faster

My experience of teaching has been...

Varied: From toddlers to seniors, from English to crafts, in rural and urban settings, for pay or volunteering, there have been so many opportunities to teach!

Stretching: I have often felt very young, inexperienced, and overwhelmed. In these moments I've wished that I could jump ship and take a job as a delivery truck driver (or a similar job that *appears* to be less challenging).

Humbling: Sometimes I ride impressive waves of success and other times I get washed up on shore with seaweed wrapped around my ear. I'm learning that it's okay to be a 6/10 teacher some days. I'll never be perfect.

Fun: People are funny, and when you work with lots of people all day long, you're guarenteed to come home with at least one great story per day.

My teaching experiences have not all been walks in the park while snacking on marachino cherries. I've learned hard lessons about myself, about relationships, and about perserverance and suffering. But all my experiences, whether difficult or enjoyable, have developed my character and faith. Teaching isn't always where I want to be, but I believe it's the vocation I've been called to- both for my good and the good of others!