Reflection on 2008 spring semester

Well, this is it: my final posting on my blog for my Education 429 class. It has been a hectic semester, to say the least. Besides taking this wonderfully relevant class, I am also finishing up another Education class (relating to standards) and an American poetry class. On top of that, I am teaching high school full time at Lathrop High School, raising my daughters, taking care of my wife and father, and running my small but spirited sled-dog team. Being so close to the finish line (less than 13 days until my last final exam), I am feeling elation and exhaustion. I'm elated because I'll be finishing 20 years of college and I feel I now have the tools to help me devote my time to becoming an effective educator; I'm exhausted because I can sense my heart isn't into some of the theoretical work I still need to complete in order to finish my class work, which brings me to my final project for this class.

For our final project in Ed 429 we are being asked to design an instructional unit which incorporates some of the technological tools we learned in class into our unit's lesson plans. As usual with most projects I create that have a heavy technological component, I have a hard time deciding on what it is I will focus on. Once I am exposed to a certain technological program, my infatuation with it becomes obsessive and I'll start five or six different, yet valuable, projects at the same time. I am always foiled by the lack of time that my lifestyle allows me to really commit to such endeavours. I hate to give up on an idea, but often they die on the vine for lack of attention, or, which happens most of the time, are placed on my que of projects to complete. This assignment will not fall to such a fate, but it will have to be delayed gratification because our school year is coming to an end and there is no time to implement it.

For the sake of brevity, I will not get into details regarding this project, unless I am required to post another blog entry, but what I have planned will be very useful and I am certain the students' interest will be engaged and their final project will fill them with a pride that some of them do not usually experience when completing typical class projects.

Before I sign off, I want to thank our professor Skip Via, a true educator who imbues his students with confidence, competency, and curiosity, which is all a student needs to have success. If all educators possessed his drive and desire our schools would be what they should be: a place where inquisitive minds can be nurtured and nudged to find the path on which they will excel.

Late Semester Weekly Blog

This week's blog finds me realizing the semester is quickly coming to a close and I have a ton of work to complete. At the end of this semester I will have completed 20 years of University work. In that time, I have earned undergraduate degrees in history and English, a teaching certification, a Masters in Education, and (almost) a Masters in English (I'm two classes shy of qualifying). The stress is mounting because I have three major assignments due in the next 14 days, while also having to take care of my high school students (and my family!). I can't wait until it's over!

As I begin figuring out our final project for this class, I realized I do not know how to use Inspiration. Hopefully the learning curve is manageable and I'll be able to put together a good presentation for this class. Now the only problem is to decide upon which idea I'll focus on. At this moment I have at least a half a dozen different projects that I want to incorporate into my classes next year. On top of that, there are a few projects that I want to create for my own classroom presentations. What I envision down the road is having every technology integrated into every one of my classes. I can show succinct video clips of our daily vocabulary word; I can include a popular song in my daily lesson plans to relate to themes in the short stories or poems we're reading: and I can even feature a daily visual (and audio) biography of a famous writer we're studying. Gee, with so many educational possibilities, and the only constraints being imagination and time, I'm imbued with an excitement that was so common when I first began teaching (15 years ago), yet often don't experience as often as I'd like. I'm excited.

VoiceThread project

This week's assignment was to create an instructional unit using an on-line program called VoiceThread. This free, web-based program offers many opportunities for students and educators to create instructional units that can instruct, inform, and inspire. What I like best about VoiceThread is its accessibility and its relativly user-friendly interface.

For my project I chose the controversial Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X. I am deeply interested in the Civil Rights movement, which profoundly changed the the course of the nation, and in the future I plan to have my students pick a character from this era and present a quick biography using VoiceThread. I created this one as a model for my students, and I purposely didn't try to perfect my narration because I wanted to be able to address this aspect of the project with my students. When it comes to putting my voice on tape, or even on public display (via a speech or a radio/television opportunity), I always get nervous and "choke." I believe relating this to students will help them relax, and do a better job.

One of the most appealing aspects of this technology is its accessibility. Students will be able to work on their projects at home and create their audio text in the comfort (and safety) of their own homes. What I really like is the preparation needed on the student's part just to produce a three or four frame VoiceThread biography. They'll need to do research, create an outline, compose a narrative that gets to the essential importance of their subject, and find pictures that, in the words the poet, are worth a 1,000 words. I look forward to introducing my students to VoiceThread; I'm sure they'll love it.

Panraven storybook project - Shea Stadium Memories

This week's blog has my Panraven storybook project called Shea Stadium Memories embedded above. This medium is another wonderful tool for both students and teachers. I have shared my last two projects in this class (poster and Flickr Slide Show) with the baseball fans in my high school class, and they like this one the best. Apparently they enjoy the slide show with the captions explaining each image of Shea.

This was an enjoyable project, but it wasn't as user-friendly as the last few projects we completed. The issues of limitations on text (on my slide-show the words seem too small, or perhaps my aging eyes are showing their weakness), and lack of manipulation objects of the individual pictures are minor flaws, and students should be able to produce a compelling story with very little direction and not a whole lot of man-hours.

One project I'll start with my students using Panraven will be autobiographies of their favorite poets. They will have a biographical theme, which will lend well with pictures and text. I may start this before the year ends, because it is fairly easy, and students should be able to garner pictures of their poets on the web. Overall, this program gets easier the more you work with it, but even a novice can produce an adequate, educational, and instructive final project on a first attempt.

Flicker Slide Show of Shea

This flickr slide show was created to honor one of my favorite places on this planet: Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York. The stadium first opened its doors in 1964 (the year before I was born), and sadly, it is to meet its demise at the end of the 2008 baseball season. I am saddened because I have countless memories (most wonderful) attached to that building, so I figured I'd create something to honor those feelings and, perhaps, allow me to revisit a time long ago when life was simple.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

I enjoyed working on this program for a few reasons. The first is the storage capacity and accessibility of the Flickr website. What a wonderful resource! Students doing class projects will be able to store all their pictures on Flickr, without worry of gumming up the computer they are working on, and also enjoy access wherever they like. I also appreciate the slide show aspect because I can envision my students creating informative slide shows that strengthen their narrative skills. I will begin using this program immediately for students who leave class for a week or two on a cheap, off-season family vacation. They can submit a slide show with a narrative of their vacation, and then they won't be buried with make-up work when they return to the class. I also have plans to allow students to create civil rights narratives, which I hope will further their understanding our country's recent past, to coincide with our novel To Kill A Mockingbird. Once again, the only limit to this technology, like so many of the others we've been introduced to, is imagination.

Comic Life assignment

This week's assignment was to create a collage of pictures that represent a theme that has some importance to the artist (me!). I chose Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadows, Queens, N.Y. because it was an important part of my childhood and it is to be torn down soon. I also wanted to create a tangible homage to a place that I hold dear, and I think this poster will be a great gift for many of my extended family and friends who share my sentiments.

Originally opened in 1964 to house the New York Mets, a team created to replace the recently departed N.Y. Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers, Shea has never been considered a landmark like its crosstown rival Yankee Stadium. While the elitist Yankee fans raise their noses at Shea, for two wonderful years (1974 & 1975) the Yankees were forced to play their home games at Shea while the house that Ruth built was being remodeled. Imagine my nine year old joy to have both teams playing in my favorite stadium all year 'round. Pure baseball bliss!

I really enjoy working with Comic Life because the graphics are easy to apply and imagination seems to be the only boundary to creating aesthetically pleasing projects that can inspire, amuse, entertain. I plan on using this technology, some how, to have students explore evocative themes such as Civil Rights, American politics, literary movements, and important inventions. The sky is really the limit with what a student can create. Imagine a genealogy project or a family tree that a student can take home and perhaps, one day far from now, give to his grandchildren. I love the possibilities!

Comic Life - KinderComics

This past week we were introduced to Comic Life and I am amazed at its possibilities in the classroom. Students can work on a creative project that can combine artistic ability, visual graphics, and writing clarity, all in one package. After my initial introduction I left class with a number of ideas for educational applications and I believe I have one that we'll begin working on soon. My English Tutorial class, a class comprised of Freshmen and Sophomore students who are identified to be at-risk, weekly read to elementary students and a Comic Life project would be right up their alley, so to speak. All I have to do is work out the logistics, especially the parts concerning computer access, a digital camera, and computers that have the program (of which our school has none).

The reason this project should work is that the students can learn a new program, have artistic control over its direction, and have something tangible when the project is complete. On top of that, they'll be able to give their KinderComic books to the students, who should love them. I'm really looking forward to this.

Old Friends

I have tried over a dozen times to post this IMovie, but haven't had any luck, until now! It looks like this worked and I'm happy to see it posted. This IMovie was created for my family so they would forgive me for missing so much family time with them by taking three University classes at night, while working full time in the day. I hope they like it half as much as I enjoyed putting it together.

Digital Video assignment

This week's assignment was fun and interesting, albeit for me a bit self-indulgent. I have created I-Movies before and even used one in class for an introduction to the Vietnam War and the turbulent 60s, but it has been six or so years since I've played with this technology. Just like my last foray into this technology, I got carried away with family photos (especially of our little girls) set to some of my favorite music. But I see the value of video, especially concerning history. I am in the midst of creating an IMovie about the Harlem Renaissance, complete with blues music and spoken poems. I'll use it next year during my poetry unit. Its value is strong because students will see and hear the poets, view some of the historical milestones of the era (Great Depression, Jim Crow laws, etc.) and come away with a better understanding than if we read a textbook.

What's invaluable about IMovie is when students are assigned a topic, they really have to learn it. If their interest is sparked, they will voluntarily seek more information about their topic, which may not necessarily enhance their production, but will better educate them about what it is they are producing. If they do not pursue additional information, that's okay, because they wouldn't have done so from reading a text book. But if they do seek supplemental information, just to satiate their new-found curiosity, well that's the first step in getting hooked on the discovery of knowledge, which is really the goal of every teacher.

Of all the technology we've covered in this class so far, I believe this is the most accessible to students for two reasons: first it gives them power to direct the action and narrative; second it is relatively designed to be user-friendly. The hardest part of using IMovie is self-control - it's easy to get carried away and want to create too much.

PowerPoint as an Instructional Tool: Learning to learn

This week's blog is imbued with frustration due to my lack of progress on my upcoming assignment for my ED 429 class. I have been given the task of creating an interactive Power Point presentation that serves as a tutorial on how to use the wonderful computer program Garage Band. My main frustrations echo problems most educators have had with the encroaching technology that has become part of our educational mandate: the learning curve is too difficult. My experiences with computer technology have been fair, and I have held my own (see my 350 plus page HSGQE website I designed by myself), but I feel I may have a learning disability when it comes to understanding certain programs. I do fine when I have an expert available, but I seem to get tangled up in dead ends when I'm left on my own. This is exactly what is occurring this weekend. I have put in over seven hours, which may not sound like much, but working as a teacher, with its deluge of lesson plans, papers to grade, and misc. housekeeping chores, along with two other UAF classes I'm taking and my family obligations, even seven minutes seems precious: thus the rant.

My specific problem with the Power Point presentation is that I haven't learned to easily navigate Garage Band, so it's difficult for me to write a tutorial on a program I don't fully understand. Match that with my incompetence at Power Point, and I am experiencing serious angst over this assignment. I could throw something together, but it seems disingenuous to create a tutorial that will never be used. I like everything I do in all my UAF classes to have some relevance to the children I teach on a daily basis, but time is of the essence and I'm losing my joy with this fun software. Worse yet, I feel that I'm not learning anything, and that is always troublesome.

What I'm trying to accomplish with this assignment is to create an accessible tutorial on Power Point for my English 9 students so they can record their Poetry Out Loud (POL) on to Garage Band without too much one-on-one assistance from me (in order to help expedite the assignment). I am hoping they can also layer music as a background in order to create a cool presentation to their peers, and have fun manipulating this interesting computer program. The only problem I have is trying to figure out the program and any bottlenecks that pop up.

Well, I reckon I've complained enough and it's time to get back to work. I apologize for using this space to complain, but perhaps in a week or two I can look back at this lamentation on wasted time and realize it was time well spent. Or not.

Peers as resources

Wow, what a great resource the students of Skip Via's Education 429 class have turned out to be. Each student has their own blog and each blog has interesting, educational sites that really supplement my educational tool box. The purpose of this class is to learn new technologies and apply them into our lesson plans. Although this work is stimulating, it could be a bit overwhelming due to the vast number of resources available. The act of sorting out the great from the mediocre has been significantly shortened when the class works as a team, with each reviewing sites that are worthy and passing them on via the blogs. This week we begin building Power Point tutorials that should cover relevant educational software. I hope I can contribute as well as my peers.

Alaska Standards resource review

My final resource review this weekend was a smart-board website that confused me greatly, due to a combination of my inexperience (and ignorance) and the programs' innate difficulty. I originally downloaded a Capital Cities smart board, but later went after something easier to navigate. That search lead me to a webpage with the Alaska Standards. On that page I found the Language Arts standards for the Freshmen I teach, along with multiple links to smart board pages I could use in class. These pages have promise and could be utilized into my lesson plans.

Language Arts resource review

My second website observation was another driven by my daughters’ curiosity and came from the same Fun Brain website as the math resource. Grammar Gorillas is a colorful grammar game that is actually useful for the Freshmen I teach, as well as my elementary-aged daughters (and some adults who could use a refresher). The graphics are adequate and there are many levels on which questions are based. The best part is the corrections that are offered if a student makes a mistake. Along with that are are the definitions of the parts of speech at the bottom of each page. I recommend this page and have had my children spend time on it, and they have enjoyed it too.

Math software resources review

Since I have two grade-school children who always need help with their math facts, finding a good math website would really make things easy for them. Their love of computer games (generation on-line!) and the ubiquity of the web in their lives can be used to their advantage. The first site I found was a wonderful jumping-off point, but it contains the all to often problem with internet searches: too much information. To make things easy, I chose the baseball website which seems like a good way to test my daughters’ mental math abilities.

The positive aspects of this website include easy navigability and straightforward instructions. The negatives include a lack of bells and whistles and no tutorial to explain mistakes (which may be good because the flow of the game would be slowed).

A website I created

Check out this great website for the HSGQE! Well, maybe "great" is too grand a term, but the effort involved in creating it was a gigantic endeavor.

Please let me know if you have any trouble navigating the site.

Week 1 observation

The first week of UAF classes are complete and it will be rough for me to maintain the balance I need to excel in work, school, and play. Time is always tight, and there is always something I need to sacrifice. This is an interesting dilemma because I see my Freshmen struggling with the same concerns, on a different level, of course. I feel empathy for their pleas when they are not prepared and need an extension, but I also know that preparation is key. As for this class, I'm curious to see if the content learned in this class will actually be worthy of passing on to my students.

Baby blog

My name is John Flynn and I welcome you to my blog for Ed 429. I am a high school English teacher at Lathrop High and I am a full time student at UAF. Besides those jobs I also am a father of three, and husband, a son, a brother, a dog musher, a carpenter, and an avid reader of American literature. As you can see, life is busy, so my blog postings will be succinct.