Standardized Testing

One of the big educational debates recently has been about the value of standardized testing. It is easy to find a lot against it and fairly difficult to find a lot of defense (the benefits) in favor of it. Yet it is a fact that as teachers, we will be administering these tests. Whether or not we agree with the value of these tests, we will be required to prepare our students for them. Because of this, each teacher should best learn how to use these tests for the benefit of the student. Some of the strongest feelings arguing against standardized testing come from those teachers who aren't taking the opportunity to look for benefits or how they can use the results to help their students. I'm not saying whether I'm for or against standardized testing. I am saying that as long as teachers are required to prepare students to take these tests, they should do what they can to make it a beneficial experience. They can cling to their opinions while still making the best of the situation.
Here is a site that presents (in a question and answer format) the "For" and the "Against" side of the argument:
http://school.familyeducation.com/college-tests/educational-testing/38358.html?page=2

Personal Technology - Part 2 (Homework Assignment)

This is the document I would have students use. I had originally planned this to be a homework assignment, but if I was going to do that, I think I would actually print out the poems themselves and give them to the students as hard copies. Or, I would do this review as an in class assignment, it which case, I could just use this electronic copy since they would each have access to a computer.

Tools of Poetry

Here is a review of some of the tools we’ve gone over. Read the poems that are listed for each section

Imagery
“The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop

Alliteration
“Youth and Art” – Robert Browning

Line Breaks
“This is Just to Say” – William Carlos Williams

Rhyme
“My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun – (Sonnet 130)” – William Shakespeare

Sound
“The Pickety Fence” – David McCord (You’ll have to click on the section titled “Rhyme and Sound” to find the poem)

Personal Techonology Project - Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan

PLANNING

(This would most likely be done in 8th or 9th grade English class; however, it could easily be adjusted for an older grade level as well)

Date: 12/1/09

Title/Subject of Lesson: Final Poetry Project

Objectives: Students will be able to utilize the tools of poetry they have learned to create their own poems. They will also be able to make poems using picture prompts.

State Core Curriculum Standard:
[1b] Enjoy the processes and outcomes of reading and writing
[3a] Understand that language enhances and identifies human beings as meaning makers
[2c] Extended Writing
Use narrative details (e.g., dialogue, descriptions, imagery, symbolism)

Materials Needed: Computers with both Microsoft Word and Internet access


PERFORMING

Continuation from Previous Lesson: They should have finished the homework assignment to review a few of the different tools we’ve discussed by reading the assigned poems (see document “ToolsofPoetryReview”).

Lesson Presentation:
A) Getting Started
· In computer lab, have each student open www.piclits.com
· Each of them will create an account
B) Directing the Learning
· Explain and demonstrate how to use the Drag-and-Drop feature
o Show personal examples from My Piclits
· Students will create and save their own Drag and Drop PicLits (2). They will choose their favorite one and copy the text to a Word document. Above the text, they will describe the picture they used.
· Explain and demonstrate the Freestyle feature (Show examples from My PicLits)
· Students will create and save their own Freestyle Poem (1).
· Student will then choose 2 different tools from the Review sheet (Rhyme, Sound, Alliteration, Line Breaks, Imagery) and write two new Freestyle Poems – each one focusing on one of the tools we discussed as a class. They will copy the text from these two poems to their Word document. Above the poem, they will simply describe the picture.

C) Bringing the Lesson to a Conclusion
· Students will print off the Word document where they have saved their PicLits projects.

Assignment: Students will find a picture (Can be a magazine picture, a home photo, an image from a book, etc.) and use it as a prompt to create a poem. They will bring the poem and the picture to class and share their poems in front of the class as part of the class Poetry Jam.



Here are my examples that will be shown as demonstrations
Drag-and-Drop:


See the full PicLit at PicLits.com


See the full PicLit at PicLits.com


Freestyle:

See the full PicLit at PicLits.com


See the full PicLit at PicLits.com

And more poetry

I feel that I have been posting a lot of poetry links lately. As I was working on finding resources for our final class project, I came across a wonderful site for teaching poetry. There is a list of many different poetic tools and devices and examples for each. It is called "Poetry Foundation", and I've become a huge fan!

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/

Different Learners Require Different Techniques

I came across a really neat site that offers suggestions for how we can use different resources and different topics to teach English. For example, a student might struggle with English, but loves drama. There is an entire page dedicated to how a teacher might tailor an English assignment so that it centers on some aspect of drama.

This site includes everything from lesson plans to PowerPoint presentations to sample assignments.

It is actually developed by the Education Bureau of Hong Kong, so most of the grammar examples/lesson are geared toward learning English as a second language. However, the lessons themselves are easily tailored. I think this site is valuable for any teacher looking for ways to present material in a new, interesting way that will benefit and excite the students.

Writing Fix

I came across a great resource for English teachers. Often students struggle knowing what to write about. Teachers don´t necessarily want to dictate what to write about, but students often crave that guidance. WritingFix is a wonderful site that offers everything from daily writing prompts to full lesson plans based on commonly used literary works. It also provides writing resources concerning the different points in the writing process (pre-write, revision, etc.). This site is more geared toward teachers than students, but students could access it for writing prompt ideas.

My Personal Technology Project

For my personal technology project, I would like to explore PicLits. This site provides pictures and words and it allows one to drag and drop words to form poems or narratives. This would help students who struggle coming up with topics to write about. It requires more abstract thinking, and it could engage students who normally struggle with the typical approaches to writing. In my opinion, this way of writing would appeal to many different kinds of learners.

I also would like to learn more about WebQuest. I think that it will be good tool for researchingas well as creating. This seems like a wonderful way of assessing students' mastery of a specific content area. Making a WebQuest could possibly be a test assignment at the end of the unit. Or, a teacher could utilize this resource for group projects. Each group could perform one of the WebQuest tasks pertinent to the subject matter being covered in class. After they have completed it, each group would be responsible for presenting what they learned to the class. This way, a lot of information could be covered and all of the students are responsible for learning and teaching.

I would like to explore both of these resources in depth for this project. I'm not positive how I could use both of them for the same assignment yet. As I begin to learn both of them in greater depth, I will look for a way to combine these two resources.

Huckleberry Finn Book Report

One example of how a teacher could have his/her student use video technology would be to have them do Digital Book Reports. They have to pick out a theme of the book to present and relate to the audience as a whole. They should use pictures, narrations, and quotes from the book.

This book would most likely relate to high school students, but this project could work with any age level. One section of Utah's core curriculum is called "Comprehension of a Literary Text."
This assignment would help any grade focus on comprehending a literary text, but it would specifically help achieve 3a (identifying character, plot, etc.), 3b (analyzing characters and characterization), and 3c (identifying themes). These basic guidelines apply to grades seven through twelve.

I chose to do my video on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This is an example of what a student might do:

Poetry Slam and Favorite Poem Project

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june00/poetryboxlessonplan.html

This is a great site for teaching poetry in a high school. It contains a great lesson plan idea. It has students reading, listening to, and writing poetry. Students will first listen to and read poetry. They will find their favorites and also discover what they like in poems. They will then write their own poems. All who wish to will share their poem in front of the class. This is where the "Poetry Slam" part comes in. The lesson plan suggests that students rate each other on their poems with a system similar to that of Olympic Ice Skating judges (holding up cards with a score on it). I don't so much like this idea of students rating each other - it seems like feelings could easily be hurt, or students might change their minds about sharing if they know that they will be scored by their peers. However, this idea provides a way for students to be immersed in poetry, and it could be a fun activity for the classroom.

The second link is called the "Favorite Poem Project". In 1997, Robert Pinsky, the 39th Poet Laureate of the United States, invited all Americans to submit their favorite poems. On the video section of this site, one can watch videos of people telling a little bit about themselves and their favorite poem. They then read the poem. It is a great resource for teachers!

Internet Safety Project (continued)

For my internet safety assignment, I read an article by President Monson in the October 2008 New Era entitled, "Standards of Strength". I also read a message fround in the August 2001 issue of the Ensign called “Tips for Internet Safety. ” It was written by Eric L. Denna who was then a stake president of a BYU stake.I taught my sister-in-law's two sisters. One is in junior high and the other is in high school. I basically just went over some of the basic tips (be careful sharing information online, be careful who you form relationships with online, let your parents know what you are doing). I also shared with them the video I found. They also commented on the "Tracking Teresa" part (the same part of the video that really stood out to me). They mentioned it was a little bit scary. Because I know them pretty well, and the older sister, who uses Facebook, is already very careful about what information she posts, I also mentioned the value of sharing what they know with their friends.

Interesting

I think this is interesting. It is actually about some of the downsides to using technology in teaching language:
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/controversies-using-technology-language-teaching
Last week in class, we discussed when it is appropriate to use technology in a classroom. Pete Sharma, the author of the article and co-author of the book Blended Learning, considers the role of a teacher when it comes to technology integration in the classroom. He outlines four principles:

1) Separate the role of the teacher. It is important to understand the respective roles played by the teacher and the technology in the learning process; the teacher could deal with the ‘fuzzy’ areas mentioned above, for instance.
2) Teach in a principled way. Whenever a new technology emerges (such as, say, podcasting), it is important to go beyond the ‘wow’ factor and think about the pedagogical reasons for using it.
3) Use the technology to complement and enhance what the teacher does
4) 'It’s not what it is, it’s what you do with it.' (Jones 1986.) So it is not the interactive whiteboard per se which could improve the learning experience, but how it is used.

Internet Safety Assignment

First of all, I watched a few videos - some funny public service announcements and home made videos. However, the best one I found was actually from TeacherTube.


http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=24390&title=Internet_Safety
There is part of this video (the section about Tracking Teresa) that really opened my eyes to some of the things we do or share that we might not even think about.
I read a message from President Monson that was in the October 2008 Ensign. He reminds us that the admonition of Paul is to seek after "anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy". If we use this as our guide, we can avoid many of the dangerous and addicting snares we may run into on the Internet. President Monson counsels young people to not only follow the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet when establishing standards, but also (and especially) to follow the guidance of the Holy Ghost. He gives a wonderful guide for each of us to follow: Precious young people, make every decision you contemplate pass this test. He encourages us to ask ourselves a few questions when making decisions. These same questions apply when considering what we should be involving ourselves with when it comes to the Internet: "What does it do to me? What does it do for me?" He continues. "And let your code of conduct emphasize not 'What will others think?' but rather 'What will I think of myself?' Be influenced by that still, small voice."
I am grateful that not only are there concerned parents, teachers, and leaders that are willing to help everyone remember how to be safe on the Internet, we also have a prophet who is called of God to remind us to guide us to make good decisions in general and to live by certain "standards of strength".

My photo (About Me page)

I just saw the announcement asking me to post what I did to my photo. I used Picnik and started out by cropping it (It is actually a picture of me and two other people). I then lightened it and changed the sharpness a little.

Slavery - Preparation for Pudd'nhead Wilson

Watch this video and fill out the answers for Part 1.

http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=21276&title=The_Road_to_Freedom




Pictures. See Part 2 of the worksheet. Answer the questions:




Here is the Worksheet:
https://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dc2wrh89_2cshdvdcb

Getting To Know You Questionnaire

Getting To Know You Questionnaire

Class Calendar

About Ms. Leatham

My name is Jessica Leatham. I am from Carson City, Nevada. I am the fourth of six children, and I have four brothers and one sister. My sister and I always got along well, and my brothers and I...get along really well now. I love reading and writing (what I call the "Top Two for all English Educators). I also love music! I love to listen to it, play it, compose it - anything. I love football but only as a spectator. I follow BYU football faithfully (It's where I attended college - Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah). More than anything, though, my favorite pasttime is hanging out with my family. One goal of mine is to visit New Zealand. I would love to see the beautiful landscape and learn more about the history of the native people (the Maoris). It has always fascinated me.
I attended middle school at Eagle Valley Middle School in Carson City. Although Eagle Valley Middle School and Canyon View Junior High School are not the same school, I can remember some of the challenges and triumphs that I faced during this stage of my life, and I hope that my experiences will help me to get to know each of you better as you go through this time in your life. I remember that I often felt challenged in my classes, and I believe that I grew because of that. It is my opinion that when a teacher expects great things from her students and is willing to help every step of the way and when students are willing to work hard to reach those expectations, great things can happen. I pledge to expect great things and help you in every possible way. Students,will you pledge to live up to those expecations by working hard? Parents, will you help your child by understanding these expectations (via this class website) and helping them to reach those expectations by encouraging them to work hard? If we all do our part, great things can happen. That's my promise to all of you for this school year.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. My e-mail address is jessicaleatham@hotmail.com
Here is a map for Canyon View Junior High School:

View My Saved Places in a larger map

Map to Canyon View Junior High School

View My Saved Places in a larger map

New good site

I was preparing an assignment for one of my classes, and I came across this site. It's a general humanities site (not specific to English), but it contains lots of lesson plans or ideas for lesson plans.
http://www.edsitement.neh.gov

Further comments

The two videos I watched were good. One was specifically related to teaching English. I thought it was interesting to present a new unit through an online presentation. It seems that it could be an effective way of helping student prepare for a class discussion. The homework could be to watch the presentation and write thoughts or feelings down before coming to class.
The second video I watched was more just for fun. It was a funny presentation to welcome the students.
As I watched different videos from TeacherTube, I realized how effective this resource could be in and out of the classroom. There are a lot of examples or ideas presented that I could shoe during class time to help students further understand a concept or see it visually presented. I could also use it as a resource in finding new ideas to try.

Teacher Tube - Copyright Assignment

1) The first video I watched for our Copyright Assignment was a video put together by a teacher named Ms. Latham (I didn't even notice the name until I was halfway through the video - It was purely a coincidence, I assure you :) ). Ms. Latham introduced her students to their poetry unit with a video in which she read a poem entitled "What We Believe" by Anita Endrezze. Her recorded voice accompanied the images on her slideshow.

http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=28160

Ms. Latham introduced the poem by sharing with her students (and any other viewers) the title and author of the poem - giving full credit. She only used one poem from this author, so she seems to be staying in the guidelines. To introduce poetry and the specific poem, she read from their class text book. If the poem she used was also from their text book, she is not violating any copyright laws. The only question I had was regarding the images she used. It appeared to me as if they had been taken from the internet, yet other than one or two exceptions (in which the site was "printed" on the picture itself), I didn't see these images cited.

2) The second video I watched was a teacher that put a humorous video together to welcome his students back after the summer break. He uses clips from what appears to be many different sources.
http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=1246&title=Welcome_Back_to_School
From what I can tell, he does well abiding by the copyright Fair Use policies. He plays short clips from different sources and he cites all of his sources at the end of the video.

English Education blogs

Here are some of the sites I've come across since I've been looking around for other English Education blogs: http://www.enotes.com/blogs/english-teacher-blog/


http://poemshape.wordpress.com/introduction/ (This one has some good posts about poems)


http://weblogg-ed.com/


http://www.mikepiero.com/wordpress/2009/05/17/teaching-grammar-in-today%E2%80%99s-modern-classroom/



http://www.huffenglish.com/

My Background in Technology and My Goal for this Class

To tell the truth, I don't feel very technologically savvy. I can find my way around the Internet, and I'm somewhat proficient with Microsoft (Word, PowerPoint, Excel). However, I know that there are a lot of tools that I have access to that I do not even know about, let alone how to use them.
My main goal for this class is to find what resources I have access to, and learn how to use them for my benefit, and for the benefit of future students. I am in the English Teaching program, and I feel every teacher ought to feel confident using techological resources available. I would also like to have the opportunity to discuss with other English Education students how we can use these resources in our specific subject. I feel that I will greatly benefit from this class as I communicate with members in my group, ask for suggestions, and share ideas.
For example, here is one website that I think is just brilliant for English Teachers:
http://www.free.ed.gov/