my.voyager.net

Since I am a devout lover of comics and graphic novels, I intensely searched through the recommendations of websites that this upcoming weeks readings provided for me.  I found http://my.voyager.net/~sraiteri/graphicnovels.htm to be one of my favorites.  It was created by Steve Raitieri, a librarian in Ohio.  That in itself I thought was pretty cool.  I know alot about comics already but I found Raitieri's organization of his website to be the most helpful for any curious school that wants to start their own collection of graphic novels/comics.  He goes through recommended comics from DC to Japanese Manga and summarizes what is included in these specific collections or editions.  I even caught some descriptions that included his own personal opinion on the story lines, whether they were appropriate or not.  I feel that these little summaries could really help a library expand its resources.  I look forward to adding some of his suggestions to my collection soon :)

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I found the introduction to McTaggart's article to be amazing;however, I did not really like the rest of the piece.  I felt that McTaggart stated alot of obvious facts in her work, yet didn't really elaborate on them.  Two ideas in her work caught my eye though. The first was that Graphic Novels are simply rising in popularity along with the action packed superheros. The second, that "Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, TV programs were rescheduled and movie releases were delayed or abandoned" (29).  I feel that the rise of popularity of superhero's, comic books, and graphic novels are due to the attack and results of 9/11.  While many may think this is far fetched, I have wondered this many times while the new commercial for Avengers, or Dark Knight flashed on my television.  It would make sense, and I was excited that McTaggart mentions it a little bit in this article.  The Comic book industry stepped forward the soonest after our country experienced extreme vulnerability.  I figured as well that it would be a natural reaction.  What better to fantasize about but a superhero solving our problems.  A superhero could help save the world, and after 9/11 there was a clear wish for someone or something to come along and help us in our time of need.  It is clear that many individuals love of comics, superheros, and graphic novels could have originated from a change in our culture.  It is also clear that these pieces of artistic literature are beneficial for student learning, so why not encourage most schools to start collections?  If these works have been resurfaced in popularity and are becoming a significant symbol of our culture and our countries response as a whole, why not allow them to aid learning? I cannot stress, as a nerd, how happy I was to see that McTaggart had been wondering the same thing I had been when it came to the re-rising of graphic novels, comic books, and superheros :).

New Windows Tablet

Well I have been inspired due to having to purchase a new laptop this weekend.  I was being informed on the new and upcoming windows 8 when I saw a pretty cool tablet with a keyboard attached.  I asked my helper friend at Best Buy "What the heck is that? Is it a computer or tablet thingy?"  He informed me that it is a tablet with a keyboard that clicks into the frame of it.  I was pretty amazed at how thin the keyboard was, it was thinner than my notebook for this class.  Although I was mesmerized by it's fanciness I walked away keeping a budget in mind.  I sat down for some T.V. time and the new commercial for this new and shiny item came up.  I instantly started to feel old.  I barely can work a laptop to it's full ability, let alone a tablet. 

The commercial focuses in on all generations, even an elderly couple...which I found impressive due to the fact that most of my grandparent's generation can barely figure out how to email let alone grasp the concept of a touch screen.  The inclusion of students in the commercial was interesting as well, showing how something so innovative can be used to efficiently enhance knowledge in the classroom.  This seemed a bit lazy to me, encouraging students to bring in personal technology to an elementary classroom, but hey at least everyone was actively dancing in the commercial.

Although I feel confident students, elementary to college, would be able to figure out such a lightweight and efficient piece of technology, what does this mean for computers?  I can only imagine that tablets are becoming the new laptop and the new computer.  People won't need to have a desktop at home and a laptop to travel with, or even a separate computer at work to work on.  It's scary to me that a small touch screen with an almost paper thin click on touch keyboard are going to be able to do it all.  Students won't need to go to their schools labs, they will be able to do it all on their notebook sized tablets.  I know for now this seems like it isn't realistic, but if my grandparent's generation find a cell phone and desktop computer to be intimidating to use, especially in a classroom, I can only imagine what computers are going to evolve into when were our grandparents age.

Check out the commercial yourself; I'll be interested on what everyone thinks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7UlE-o8DQQ

Shafer: Video in Classroom

I really enjoyed Gregory Shafer's article, "Prime Time Literature in the High School," simply because he discussed the non-technical benefits of utilizing video in the classroom.  While Lund focuses more on the various roles students can take within the group as well as the specifics on what a student can gain from learning the technical uses of film, Shafer addresses what using video means to the language arts classroom.  I loved how he used the quote "Language is a performing art. We learn our first language skills by performing them" (93).  I agree, most student will be able to learn about a novel, writer, poet, etc., through the use of visual and literary learning.  By allowing students to take ownership of a project that is truly created by them is amazing!  I know how frustrating it can be sometimes having to write an analytical paper that is using literature about literature to compose your own idea on an author or literature.  I think Shafer does a great job in pointing out that "Ownership is they key, since much of language instruction places students in the role of subordinate" (96).  It is through a video assignment that most students will be able to show a final project that is in itself their own doing.  They are taking their analysations and still making them their own.  I really look forward to being able to assign a team project like this in the future!

Podcasts

I found Rozema's  article to be interesting.  I for one love listening to podcasts and will listen to at least one before I go to bed.  I think it's great that Rozema has her students create book reports through a podcast and allow them to be seen by outsiders.  I also found it interesting that she set limits; that they couldn't summarise but could only promote and provide hints to encourage viewers to read the book for themselves. Rozema states, "I play podcasts to entice students into reading superb YA novels such as Feed, Monster, The Chocolate War, and others and to give them a sense of the podcast requirement, which in turn shapes the way they read the novel" (34).  I feel that a simple podcast can shape the way a student reads novels.  It allows them to look for underlying theories and various topics to discuss, while reading a novel, for their podcasts.  It unintentionally forces a student to focus in on a book instead of quickly skimming through a reading.  Not only this but Rozema compares a blog to a podcast and points out the similarities.  In class we discussed how  blogs give students the chance to find their voice in their writing.  Podcasts can do the same.  They allow students to find their voice in how they view a reading.  Or how they interpreted a particular passage.
 I find podcasts to be an amazing project to assign students and will definitely be utilising podcasts in my future classrooms. 

Wilber's Sources

I found many blogs and wiki's, and digital story links in Wilber's work that didn't jump out to me.  However, I found a few that I actually am going to try and follow!

I know many of the blogs talked very factually about teaching and how to integrate outside sources into the classroom.  However, what I found to be most inspirational of all the blogs was http://doyle-scienceteach.blogspot.com/.  This teacher not only addresses being a teacher and the activities he does in the classroom, but he reflects emotionally on his experiences.  He doesn't glorify all the perks and great feelings he gets out of the success of his students but he openly discusses the doubt he sometimes has as a science teacher.  He discusses in full he adventures in nature, with hands on activities and then compares it to what he may believe his teenage students are doing.  His posts are very thoughtful and almost philosophical; I loved them!

One other blog I liked was http://teenink.com/.  This is general website where you can look at fellow teens articles.  It is a sight for highschooler's to look at fellow teens writings.  The one that caught my eye was a poem titled "A Holocaust Victim's Point of View." (http://teenink.com/poetry/free_verse/article/192066/A-Holocaust-Victims-Point-Of-View/).
I loved how it doesn't have to be just informational but it could be creative as well.

The source http://www.classroom20.com/group/digitalstorytelling was interesting simply because it allowed for a mass amount of teachers and professors from around the world to share digital stories they or their classmates have done.  It was cool to see from elementary school students to college level learners, how digital storytelling can be assigned and utilized in a classroom.

Overall I think I prefer blogs still over most of the sources I explored.  I believe it is because it encourages a more personal opinion to be used within posts.  I would rather hear how people feel about certain topics then just click on links that are only fact based.  Knowing the ups and downs of a classroom is vital insight that I know will provide a realistic sense of how to use technology and what it will really be like dealing with real students in an actual classroom.