Unit Plan Canvas

          Creating the playground canvas was not as hard as I thought. In the beginning, I was confused as to which widget represented what, but once I started creating my canvas it all made sense. The canvas widgets are a great tool for teachers to use and for students to reference before a unit or during a unit.

My unit is on Hamlet by William Shakespeare and throughout the unit students will learn how to analyze text, depict certain elements within the play, and understand Shakespeare’s verbal usage. This unit is for a 12^th grade English class focused on British Literature. In my canvas I have various elements that students can use as an introduction to my unit for Hamlet. I added pictures of the author, different book covers, and of a movie version of Hamlet so that students can have a visual before reading the text. I also added a movie clip of a movie version done in 1990 of Hamlet’s famous speech “To be or not to be”, so that students can have a reference to what the play looks like once it’s actually performed. During the unit the students will have a chance to watch different movie productions of the play so that they can compare and contrast the difference between reading the play and then seeing it live.

http://www.play.annenberginnovationlab.org/play2.0/challenge.php?idChallenge=2239&mode=view#network6

Edmodo in an English Classroom

        I have recently been exposed to the website Edmodo by my cooperating teacher. This website is a great resource for students and teachers. Its interface is similar to Facebook in that the teacher and the students have a profile and there are certain apps you can use for your classroom activities. The teacher can post a “status” on her profile and the students will receive the post. These posts can be anything from homework assignments to links and other resources. The students can then comment on the teacher’s page as well. For example, if the student has a question at home about a homework assignment, they can ask on Edmodo. This way the teacher or other students can answer the student’s questions about their homework.

            There are certain apps on Edmodo that can be used for everyday classroom instruction. For example, there is an app called Storyboard where students can literally create an online story board. It is a very fun app because students can customize the setting background, choose characters and customize their appearance, and then add text bubbles to incorporate writing. This app can be used for students to create comic strips by using dialogue, or create a visual story. Not only is this app an educational promoter for online instruction, but it resembles apps and software’s that students are already familiar with.

            Before being exposed to this sort of technology I was slightly adverse to the use of technology to teach, because I felt that in high school teachers used technology to solely make their lives easier instead of catering to the students needs. But now that I’ve been exposed to it and seen it happen live I think it’s a great idea. The first time I saw students use this app I was astonished by how many students were actually engaged in the lesson. It is really difficult to engage students effectively in a classroom because they are so used to moving around and multi-tasking. However, during this specific lesson 100% of students were engaged because the technology that was being used was not only complementing their learning, but complementing their interests. Our students are born into a world full of technology and start using technological devices at such a young age. So why not cater to them? Witnessing this has changed the way I view the use of technology in education.

Technology & Pedagogy

         I chose this lesson plan because I liked the way it introduced Hamlet to the students. The lesson is a pre-reading lesson and I believe it to be very important to engage the student before reading because this ensures that they dive into the text with interest and not with despise.

        The curriculum goals, teaching strategies, and technologies were aligned. However, the video that is indicated in the lesson explains both critiques of Hamlet as a hero or anti-hero. But the teacher, in the original lesson plan, only wanted students to explore what a hero is. The reason the author of the lesson did that may be because Hamlet is most often portrayed as a tragic hero. However, I changed it so that students had the opportunity to pick which “type” of hero they wanted to use. This way they could see how their classmates interpreted what the video explains.  

        The technology that was already integrated in the lesson plan is a way to show the students that there are multiple critiques to what Hamlet’s heroic qualities embody. This video was essential for them to learn what a hero is made of. However, that was the only technology integrated in the lesson. Therefore, I decided to use the avatar website in order to allow students to further their imagination. This would allow students who are afraid to speak in front of a large group to express themselves through their avatar. They can also create visually what their hero or anti-hero would look like; performing it in class wouldn't give them this opportunity. I also added the smart board because the definitions are really important to use for the rest of the curriculum and having them displayed allows students to see what they originally thought. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhS4CL5Y_Nu3dDkxOUlFeFRFOXVjUExTenV0YU1RdUE&usp=sharing

Using Voki Avatars in an English Classroom

Before writing this blog post, I really did not know what I wanted to write about. Therefore, I Google researched what the latest technologies in teaching were. I came across this website called Voki, on this website students and teachers can create an avatar and give it their own voice

I first came across this innovation through the Lexington Institute website. They had a whole presentation about different technologies available to teach English Language Learners. Even though this is not my concentration, I do believe that students in an English class can benefit from Voki avatars. Students can create their own and give them a voice. This helps students who are shy and do not like to participate, to participate and communicate with the teacher via the Voki avatars. It is also an innovative way to get students to interact in classroom activities. For example, they can create avatars for characters in a novel they've read and then use the “voice” of the avatar to analyze each character. Once they've created their avatars, they can then present in front of the classroom and instead of using their own voice they can use their Voki’s voice.

Voki’s are also a good way to get to know students. The teacher can create her own avatar and use the avatar to show her interests, expectations of students, and even create lessons. She can then have each of her students create their own Voki and then they can interact with each other on the website. Each student personalizes their avatar; therefore, the teacher can capture each of her student’s interests through their own creation of themselves. Also if the teacher is going to be absent, she can create a lesson through her avatar and the students can all join in and participate. This enables the teacher to be “present” even though she is technically not.

Creating Voki’s is a very interesting way of getting students interested in the material of your content and in your class. It will give them a different view of what learning is. These avatars help them understand things in a non-traditional way.

Resources:

http://www.lexingtoninstitute.org/library/resources/documents/Education/TechnologyInnovations.pdf

www.voki.com

Written Journals vs. Online Journals

       I remember when I was in eighth grade my English Language Arts teacher had us write journals as a motive for creative writing, but also as a way for us to write about all the exciting things that happen in the eighth grade. Journal writing I believe is a very positive thing when it comes to teaching students. Some students need a place where they can go on into their own realm and just talk about what their feeling; or they can draw it if they liked. I also believe that any form of expression whether it be written or visual is a positive reinforcement for the child to express how they are feeling. In contrast, online journals or blogs can also be a form of expression but it takes away from the journaling experience and expression of feelings.

            The written form of journaling has been around since men invented paper and ink. Queens kept diaries, saints kept diaries, everyone who wanted to express their feelings or jot down an idea kept a written form of expression. Many teachers still keep that tradition and have students keep a journal in terms of promoting writing. I think it’s a great idea and a great way to get to know your students. When I think about journal and diaries the movie Freedom Writers always pops into my head. That movie touched my heart because the teacher initially did not connect with the students, but then found a way of doing so with their journals. Their journals then made her able to understand them better and find ways of connecting the curriculum to what was happening in their real lives.

            In terms of online journals and blogs, students are learning how to navigate the internet world and express themselves. However, these journals become impersonal and not private between the student and teacher. The connection that a teacher forms with her student from reading (physically reading) their journal is an irreplaceable bond that the internet cuts off. But even so, the teacher can find ways to form online blogs and journals into creative realms for the students. For example, many teenagers now write fan fictions without realizing that they are expressing themselves through creative writing. This is a great motivator for creative essays. Instead of having the student hand you a typed essay, they can create a fan fiction. 

History of Technology in English

Mimeograph: Spreading the written word since 1940.