What it's about...Our I Am Movie

The journey we have taken throughout our college career towards graduation has been full of its ups and downs. Although it has been tough, we have been determined to get to the end. We are almost there; we have almost succeeded. We also hope to succeed as teachers. All of the following clips express the good and bad of teaching.

I Am Movie

Presenting our movie made by me, Karey, & Felicia which describes our determination to graduate & succeed at becoming great teachers.... Comment & let us know what you think!!!

Visual Media Texts

First of all I think the beginning of this article was difficult to understand. It confused me a lot and did not care for it. It was not until page 70 that things started to make sense. "The main sentence that stood out to me on that page is where it states "This emphasis on the visual presentation of information is manifested broadly in our culture and represents an important "turn to the visual". This makes me think of how now days we rely and learn from visual representations like the t.v. or the internet. Also makes me think about how our culture is more about learning visually and hands-on rather than just lecture like in the past.

"When English composition teachers have thought to bring visual forms into their classes - a practice which they have practiced for @ least 40 yrs. - they have typically presented them as 2nd-class text: either as "dumbed down" communications that serve as "stimuli for writing but [...] no substitute for the complexity of language" or as texts related to, but certainly not on an equal footing with, the "real work of the course". I can definitely see this because when I was younger my teachers used videos, computer games, and even tape players at times when teaching the class a new concept. The teachers usually used the media text as a tool for what she was teaching us that day or what we had already read in our textbooks. It's kind of surprising to realize that teachers have been using visual forms into the classes for the past 40 yrs. but not really using it to introduce a new concept.

If teachers become more comfortable and confident about using visual media texts to teach or use in the classroom than obviously it will be a more common tool used. There are a variety of approaches listed started on page 73 which teachers can use to provide media texts in the classroom and incorporate them frequently. The activity stated on the visual essay as a classroom activity and the one as a homework activity seem pretty cool. I think it is neat that the article gives examples, especially on a topic that teachers may not be comfortable with.

I have 4 cute grandpups!

This afternoon Emma had her puppies...She had 4 cute lil pups!


Puppy #1...It's a girl! Her face looks like pup #3 but has a big white spot on her chest. Her coat is a chocolate brown with black spots & her tail is black.


Puppy #3 It's a girl! Dark chocolate & black color coat.


Puppy #2 It's a boy! He has a light sandy tan coat with light chocolate spots.


Puppy #4 pic coming soon..it was a late arrival & surprise pup so don't have a pic of it yet but looks kind of like puppy #3. It's a boy! He is a dark chocolate, redish coat.

Teacher Blogline and Link

This teacher's blog is from a science teacher who describes how she used to teach certain concepts without technology compared to how she teaches now with technology tools. The topic and concepts seem more interesting to me as a reader so I can only imagine the difference it made for her students. Seeing the sun rise and set from our everyday environment may not be much of interest to us but by being able to watch the sun rise and set from different locations of the world could turn a student's motivation into a positive. She provides the list and some links that she uses to make as she says "The field trip take place in class". Imagine that, an in-class field trip without having to deal with all those worries of an outside of the class learning experience!
http://ateachersthoughts.com/

Multiple Literacies

There are definitely more multiple literacies in my life now than when I was a kid. My current multiple literacies would have to include textbooks, television, texting, facebook, myspace, and my email accounts. I feel that without some of these things I would totally be lost. As far as textbooks and books, they are not a big part of my multiple literacies. For now, books in general are only apart of my school life. I never get to just read a book for interest anymore since there is not much time for it. I think books will be a bigger part in my life after school when I actually have time to read. I also know that in the future as a teacher books and textbooks will be one of the many connections between me and my students. Books currently function as a common connection between my class peers and teachers though.

Television is one of my mulitple literacies that I have in common with many of my friends as far as the certain shows we watch. With a book you can not sit down and exactly read it with your friends but television shows can be watched with your friends. Even if a friend is not there watching the show with you you can talk about it on the phone, computer, or the next time you see them. Multiple literacies can form a common interest and bond for many people, and I think it does for some of my friends. These things can also be really good for students in the classroom as a way for them to find a common interest. Through text messaging I am able to communicate with my friends and other people as one of my multiple literacies.

Facebook, myspace, and emails are used very often as one of my multiple literacies as well. I use facebook to communicate with friends that I may not feel like texting or to just see how they are doing in a quick manner. I use myspace to keep in touch with long distance relatives instead of having to call them. It also allows for me to see pictures of how much they are growing up since I do not have time to go visit them. Emails are a very important multiple literacy with school, bills, and just getting in touch with anyone in general. As a teacher I want to be able to use the internet and emails to keep in touch and notify my students about things when we are outside of the classroom. A student who may be scared to ask me a question about something or a problem in person or on the phone may be able to do it better by writing me an email. Students can also email each other about school issues or assignments during the weekend as a means of one of their multiple literacies.