Philosophy of Education

Education gives us independence and power.  We use it to improve our lives, our community, our country and the world.  The more we learn the more I hope we are humbled at what there is still left to learn.  I believe in instilling students with the value of hard work, the power of confidence and need for ethics. "Work smart AND hard." (Ritz, 2013)

As a teacher, I am kind but firm.  I take the task of learning and working hard very seriously but I have a sense of humor in my classroom.  I am impressed with bright students and continually try to challenge them.  I have faith and confidence in struggling students and continually remind them to have faith and confidence in themselves because I know the underdog can prevail.  I inspired by the hard working students who try their best, no matter what the obstacles are. I actively listen to what students are saying and respond without judgement while doing everything in my power to assist them.  I love sharing with the students all the different ways they can learn about a topic and all the different ways they can apply what they learn outside of the classroom.

I believe the use of technology has greatly helped education and administration.  I have been blogging for over 8 years using various blogs and they have all been successful.  I have created and maintained wikis for high school students with great success and also to continue to use various other online tools for education.  Technology can be used in safe and very effective ways to assign and collect assignments, assess and communicate with students and parents, just to name a few.  It can also be a way for students to share work with their peers. "One student emphasized how writing for an audience is more exciting than the regular way of writing for the teacher:"…at school, no one else [but the teacher] reads [my texts], so it really doesn't mean that much."(Avila, 2012)

I know the media (television, online, billboards, etc) play a huge part in all of our lives.  I will help students to be aware of the media around them by helping them create their own media and/or digital story with the messages that they believe in that are related to our area of study.  Educators should additionally help guide students in exploring their interests and values without the help of advertisers and celebrities steering them into stereotypes and consumerism.  "Experiencing such digital stories, assisting kids and adults as they create them, and documenting their meanings and significance bring home to me a most urgent need: to expand our conceptions of what it means to be fully literate in new times."(Hull, 2003)  Students need formal guidance on how to interpret the media given the amount of time most American children and adults are online and watching television. "Such interrogations can lead to disruptions of taken-for-granted realities with an explicit aim of the critique and transformation of dominant ideologies, cultures and economies, and institutions and political systems."(Avila, 2012) "Recent research has highlighted the need for educators to bring digital literacies into our classrooms."(Avila, 2012) 

Educating others and educating oneself is beautiful and timeless.  My passion for educating others, improving the education system around me and educating myself will never die.

Resources and Links:

Avila, J. & Pandya J. Z. (2012). Critical Digital Literacies as Social Praxis: Intersections and Challenges. Peter Lang: New York

Ritz, Erica. "Mike Rowe on How Many Are Following the "Worst Advise in the History of the World"." Blaze. 23 Oct 2013: n. page. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. <http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/23/mike-rowe-of-dirty-jobs-speaks-about-hard-work-how-many-are-following-the-worst-advice-in-the-history-of-the-world/?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=ShareButtons&utm_content=buffer5e27a&utm_medium=twitter>.

Storyful, . Model Transformed by Airbrushing Highlights Media Distortion of Women. 2013. Video. Yahoo! News, Global DemocracyWeb. 3 Nov 2013. <http://news.yahoo.com/video/model-transformed-airbrushing-highlights-media-130320963.html>.

Hull, Glynda. "At Last: Youth Culture and Digital Media: New Literacies for New Times." Research in the Teaching of English. 38. 2003. <http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.fairmontstate.edu/stable/40171638>.

"The Visual Literacy Toolbox." Teaching Visual Literacy to Students with Technology. Center for Teaching Excellence. Web. 1 Sept 2013. <http://www.humanities.umd.edu/vislit/activityplans.php>.

Cameron , Russell. Looks Aren. 2013. Video. You Tube: TED channelWeb. 25 Aug 2013. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KM4Xe6Dlp0Y>.

Digital Story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcH0oJjn-MY

Please use the link as I have posted it as unlisted.  I hope it is meaningful to you in some way.

Reading Discussion #14

"Experiencing such digital stories, assisting kids and adults as they create them, and documenting their meanings and significance bring home to me a most urgent need: to expand our conceptions of what it means to be fully literate in new times."

I believe this quote stood out to me because the author has the same sentiment that the author of our text does in the urgency to teach digital literacy.  I would say I agree but am also surprised that the author says it is an urgent need.  I think most people feel that using the internet or watching television is something they have a lot of experience in and they feel they can handle media messages just fine.  It does take research to be presented the way DUSTY does to make an impact to people that, yes, we are swayed by the media and advertisers in the way they want us to go.  DUSTY does sound like a really fun and worthwhile organization that really empowers people to be their own agent of change!

http://www.youtube.com/user/DUSTYOTEC

Above is the link to a DUSKY YouTube channel.  It had a lot of different links to info about media literacy and even lesson plans!

1.  Digital storytelling promotes academic literacies because it encompasses written and spoken language, requires the storyteller to brainstorm and organize ideas and be creative, artistic and engaging.
An example from the text, "...we can help draw on interdisciplinary insights from fields such as communications theory, film studies, visual culture, semiotics, and ethnography of media…"
2.  Absolutely not, a digital story has more dimensions to incorporate various sound throughout, various images/videos and then written or spoken text.  I believe only a highly skilled writer can engage most people better than through the digital story's visual images of text and pictures as well as the auditory components of music and spoken words.
3.  They will definitely become more proficient in the programs needed to make the movies, which is better than just using media to be online.  Ideally, they will also be more likely to realize that the media is always giving us the images and messages they want us to hear (the same way they, as creators of a digital story, only shared what they wanted to share).  Additionally, it becomes more of an interactive yet personal project which will help the students feel more pride and accountability in their work which will inspire a stronger desire to create a high quality product.

At Last: Youth Culture and Digital Media: New Literacies for New Times

Glynda A. Hull

Research in the Teaching of English , Vol. 38, No. 2 (Nov., 2003), pp. 229-233

Published by: National Council of Teachers of English

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.fairmontstate.edu/stable/40171638

Reading and Discussion #13

"Gronseth et al. (2010) advocate for "maintaining a level of authenticity in technology experiences" as a means of providing real-world context for technology training (p.30)."

This quote stood out to me because there is a lot of talk about the value of a college education.  The cost has increased to much higher than the rate of inflation and it is considered the new high school diploma.  This leaves college graduates with a lot of debt and a sense of value in their abilities that may be as inflated as their student loan payments.  What I am saying is students and their parents are so focused on their child getting a college degree that they overlook the job outlook and the cost of tuition.
As a business education teacher, I work in a career and technical center where we value and encourage students who are working towards a trade.  We believe college isn't the only way to a successful career path.

This is an article that was circulating amongst some of my friends.  There is another article by linked in by Mike Rowe, from the show "Dirty Jobs" and Ford commercials that is also very good.  Rowe has spoken at a conference some business education teachers I work with attended giving the same sentiment there as he did in the article.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-stewart-holland/i-might-not-send-my-kids-to-college_b_4219594.html

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/23/mike-rowe-of-dirty-jobs-speaks-about-hard-work-how-many-are-following-the-worst-advice-in-the-history-of-the-world/?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=ShareButtons&utm_content=buffer5e27a&utm_medium=twitter

Additionally here are a couple images I'd like to share on the topic:-)

(This comic was posted at Randolph Technical Center.  I took a picture of it.)

1.  The authors use the term 'critical digital literacies' "to de-emphasize the relative importance of technology skills, and emphasize the critical understanding of and engagement with functional technology skills within the broader contexts of technology use.  Additionally this term includes not only the functional aspect of digital literacy but the broader digital literacy framework and contexts.

2. I would say it was more literacy based because we didn't focus much on certain tools, even a smart board, but we did make an online education portfolio which helped us incorporate functional skills and the other components of critical digital literacies.

3. I like the TPACK solution which focuses on the intersection of content, pedagogy and technology tools and affordances to best implement critical thinking as it relates to use in school.

4.  At the Randolph Technical Center where I completed my student teaching and where I substitute often, I believe most of the teachers I work with in business and technology classes do give these students all of these rights.  For example, students in the Desktop Publishing class are able to create very unique images and in Web Design class students make very individualized web sites.  Both of these examples shows how students explore and experiment with one's own digital space.

Reading and Discussion #12

"However, despite the flooding of "South Los Angeles" in the media, I have never heard any of my students refer to this community as anything but "South Central.""

This reminds me of being in my late teens (I think) and hearing about riots and other violence in South Central through the news and through hip hop music.  I did not know the media was trying to change the name but my initial reaction is to agree that a name change might improve morale.  Although, the residents might have pride in their neighborhood.  I know I have pride in my little neighborhood even though it wasn't much.  It was still my home.

I also chose this quote because I am interested in what really happen in that area.  Like I said, I was too young to really know for sure.  It is fascinating knowing there are essentially no white students in that school considering the area I live in now has very little diversity besides white people.  My middle school was predominately non-white in Florida but this goes to show white people are not going to be the majority for long (if they even are now!).

http://www.southcentralhistory.com/la-riots.php

This article gives a history of the LA a riots which started in South Central.  That seems like it might be a difficult thing for students to handle knowing about their neighborhood.  I know their elders must mention the riots somewhat regularly considering the widespread damage and publicity it caused.

1. How did Ask Anansi game support critical literacies?
"…the main product of this game is one of problem-posing critical thinking and civic participation…" (p. 113)
2. How did the Ask Anansi game support academic literacies?
"Illustrating the connections between 21st-century literacies and the academic literacies that are most heavily emphasized by standardized curricula, tests, and policies" (p. 113)
3.  How did the Ask Anansi game support digital literacies?
"Alleviating teachers from the strain of a digital participation gap" (p.113)
4. What is meant by the term "reading the word and reading the world and writing the world"?  Give an example from the chapter.
"Later, the digital world, too, was written upon by the class since the students took to the official Wikipedia page for South Central High School Wikipedia." (p. 122)

Addressing the Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling

Point of View:
My digital story will likely be from my point of view.  I might try to tell it third person but I'm unsure if it will sound right.  My story's message, and title possibly, is, "Life ain't a track meet, it's a marathon".  It is important to tell people this message so they know they know life goes on and they can improve and also no matter how well they are doing bad decisions can cause them lose their way.  I think my audience could potentially be very broad.  It is an important message for teenagers but people trying to move on from a divorce might also benefit.

Dramatic Question:
"At what point is someone's fate determined?"

Emotional Content:
I will share some of my life experiences that showed I was an at-risk youth who was likely counted out by many teachers.  Then I will share how I changed to become a different person.  I will also include some information about my best friend in high school who had a GPA of 4.3 due to excelling in honors classes.  She became an alcoholic and committed suicide at age 28.

Voice: I like the suggestion of talking as if I'm talking over a cup of coffee.  I will narrate and hope to be able to surprise my viewer throughout the story with twists in the story and changes in inflection.

Soundtrack: I agree instrumental music will likely be best but I may use some music with lyrics briefly.

Economy: I hope the narrated story is full of ups and downs that keep the audience interested.  The pictures and music hopefully will give a fullness to the story that help make words and narration less necessary (i.e. a picture is worth a thousand words).

Pacing:  I hope to have a steady pace to help get to the point of each idea then allow a moment for brief reflection during strong endings of ideas.

Reading and Discussion #11

"One student emphasized how writing for an audience is more exciting than the regular way of writing for the teacher: "...at school, no one else [but the teacher] reads [my texts], so it really doesn't mean that much."

I just thought this was a fascinating quote.  I would like to say I strongly agree because I think everyone works harder when they have to present it to the public or peers.  Although, I feel there are students who have different talents and interests that do not include writing and it may be embarrassing for them to share writing with the public.  I still think I would agree because even if a student is not a strong writer, it would still be nice for them to feel confident in their improvements in writing.  I have always tried to communicate to students that everyone has different talents so I hope they would support each other- the less talented writers complimenting the best writers and the better writers cheering on the struggling writers.

Please open the link to the following article for more information about this topic:

http://www.edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2013/10/wikipedia-when-college-students-have-audience-does-their-writing-improve

1. "In the essentialist account of technology, interest focuses chiefly on abilities in the medium in itself, without paying attention to the actual settings in which the technologies are used."
The topics here are really fascinating because I had never really formally thought about the difference between how well a specific technology worked in comparison to how it can actually be applied.

2. "They were blogging in a different but related class.", "Students could work on their computers writing their blogs any where they felt natural for them: at their desks, outdoors..." and "Most of what the students did during Anne's classes had to be displayed, depicted, summed up or reflected upon...".