Technology in English

I don't know about you guys, but sometimes it feels harder to integrate technology into an English classroom than it would be in a different discipline. I found this website though, which offers a lot of information about how to integrate technology into an English classroom. I really liked it, so I thought I would share it with you.

Check it out!

copyright infringements!!

I'm hoping I just happened to pick two bad examples, but the two videos I chose to watch both infringed on copyright laws.

The first, We Didn't Start the Fire, basically has video and pictures to go along with Billy Joel's song by the same name. While it was interesting to see pictures of the actual historical events, none of the pictures were credited, nor was the song itself. Since the pictures were older, and of important historical events, I'm sure it would be possible to find pictures that were ok to use for a project like this, but the video doesn't state where the creator found any of the pictures or video. I think the biggest issue is the use of the song without any credit.

The second video, Classroom Rules, had the same issue. It used more than the allowed 30 seconds of Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice Baby." Other than that it's just him rapping his own words to the song and dancing ridiculously, which while not pretty, isn't against any laws.

On a side note, I second Ashlee's comment that it will be a very bleak day when I rap to my students. Really, no one wants to see me rap. It would be ugly.

social networking

I was asked to tell you a little bit about stumbleupon, which is something I use that could be a form of social networking.

StumbleUpon is basically a tool for you to find websites that interest you. You sign up for an account and it offers you a list of interests you can select. I'm not sure how many options there are for other disciplines, but I know for English you can choose things like British or American literature, poetry, linguistics, writing, etc. Then you download a toolbar that has a "Stumble!" button. When you push that button it takes to to a website that is categorized under one of your interests.
The websites are found by actual people. When I find a website that I think is interesting and that other people with similar interests will enjoy I can push a button that says "I like it!" on my toolbar. Then I categorize the website under one of the categories and it will come up when someone who has selected that website stumbles. It's nice because it's an easy way to find interesting websites without having to sift through everything on the internet yourself.
You also can use StumbleUpon as a social network where you can find friends with similar interests to you and send them messages. When you visit websites through StumbleUpon you can tell it whether you liked them or not to help it 'learn' your preferences. All the websites you have said you've liked are stored on a page under your account, which makes it easy to see the kinds of things other people like as well as offering a convenient place for you to find all of the websites you liked without having to clog up your bookmarks.

As a disclaimer, I tend to waste a LOT of time stumbling, so don't get it if you're prone to get distracted by pages and pages of craft projects or recipes or movie trailers or short stories like I am.

I also have a goodreads account, which I think is another good social networking tool for English teachers. It allows you to select books you like, books you want to read, and to make lists of books. You can connect to other people through the site and share recommendations with them. I think it's a really good resource to learn more about books and get suggestions for new books to read, as well as organize all of the books you like. I often have a hard time remembering everything I've read and enjoyed, but organizing it all on goodreads makes it easy for me to look it up.

personal learning network

Google reader kind of overwhelmed me before, but I think I actually can use it now. That is excellent.


I subscribed to a couple of English teaching blogs that offer ideas about how to teach English at a secondary level. I also subscribed to two library blogs, one of which offers information specifically about new young adult literature. As an English teacher, that's something I really want to stay on top of so that I can offer suggestions to my students. I know a lot of classic literature, but I think that contemporary YA books are often excellent as well and especially useful in helping reluctant readers.

widgets

In addition to a link to my profile, my blog list and labels, I also decided to add a widget showing what I'm currently reading. I think that as an English teacher it is important to always be reading something that isn't required and to share those books with your class. I think if students see that I enjoy reading they'll be more likely to read recreationally as well.
I also added a picture of my pet rabbit, Sebastian, because I love him and I think he's very cute. He's a siamese sable Netherland Dwarf. He's full-grown and only about 2 pounds. He is adorable. I'm kind of like those obnoxious grandparents who share their photos of all their grandchildren, but that's ok.

goals for this course

First: a little background

I like to think I'm adequately experienced when it comes to technology. I'm fairly willing to play around with new applications or websites until I figure out how to use them. I'm good at things I use (powerpoint, word processing, iPhoto, iTunes, facebook, etc.) but there are a lot of technologies I don't really have much experience with. Although, I do remember making really bad, simple html websites with really bright solid color backgrounds and really bright too-big font when I was in elementary school. However, I haven't really done much with websites since then. (Was it just at my elementary school that everyone did that? We thought we were so cool.) I also tend to just use things personally. I fiddle around with iTunes playlists and organize and edit my pictures a little bit, but with the exception of facebook I don't really use technology to commuicate with anyone. I don't have a flickr account or a twitter. I use stumbleupon, but I don't have any friends. If you have stumbleupon you should be my friend so that I'm not so antisocial.

therefore my goals for this course are:

• use technology to actually interact with other people
• learn ways that I could use technology in teaching English
• be comfortable with technologies I would use to create a class website (like voicethreads or blogging)