Reflection on the class

I'm trying to think back to what my expectations were before I took this class. It was (is) a required ed. course, and I knew I had to take it, that I might pick up a smattering of computer skills (and no one needed that more than me!), but I didn't really think it would relate all that well to my subject area of English. How wrong!!!! In fact, after being introduced to Webquests, I suspect my content area might be even more transformed by technology than other fields (like math and science which I thought of as the ones that went hand-in-hand with technology). It is possible now to unearth the kind of data--almost instantaneously--that used to take hours of digging through the most arcane areas of a library's collections--and when failing to cross-reference one important link could cause a student to miss the one thing that might spark his/her interest.
Being out of school for the past decade or so, just when the internet has exploded, I am finding a changed landscape. . . .At home, the web has entered and changed my life slowly, and so perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised to find it has changed scholarship in literary studies as well--simplified what used to be tedious research, expanded the availability of data, of materials supporting and supplementing the bare bones of literary criticism that used to make up most of my subject area. Certainly a high school class studying almost any work of literature today can approach it differently through technology--from the author's biography, to the historical or cultural background of a work, to the traditional areas--symbolism and imagery--of literary criticism, all quick and easy now to access online. Webquests are the most obvious way to get students involved with a work of literature, and the promise of that kind of project is that it gives such flexibility, with tasks and roles that allow teachers to draw on multiple intelligences, giving each student his or her own special angle on any given work--and their own chance to shine. I think PowerPoint presentations will also figure in my classroom, since this is just another way to see that students actually grapple with the material--but in a way most would find fun (a word not often heard in the classrooms of my youth) as they have a chance to organize it in a way that is meaningful to them and, ultimately, to transform it.
But writing, the other area of concern in my content area, has also been affected by technology. Word processing has streamlined the mechanics of writing, but there are now numerous websites that offer help with the actual composing process--from formulating an idea through the final draft, scaffolding every step of the procedure along the way. And now with that online help, teachers have more time to concentrate on the substance of students' writing, free to devote limited class time to discussion of content and ideas. Of course, oversight is still needed, but online writing advice is like having a tutor for every student. Heaven!
But perhaps the greatest use of technology is a bit more subtle--and one I cannot claim applies only to my field. It is the chance to foster a sense of community within each class--who would think cold, hard technology could do that? But teachers who take the time to provide a Hotlist or design a web page or make themselves available to students and parents outside of school through emails are in greater contact with their students and communicating in the most basic way that they care about them--which could translate into students caring too.
I am still uneasy with many aspects of the virtual world--afraid material will be wiped out, afraid some procedure I'm not familiar with will damage my work. . . . .but there is the rest of the summer to go slowly over all those things I should have grasped before I began this class (like how to copy and paste!) and then get my files in order (thank you, Bob)--and then begin work on the wonderful things now possible--for us, for our students--with all we've learned to do.

I am feeling good about both the pages I have done for the culture quest (even though they need a bit of editing) and my digital story--but as always, when I have my eye on some flashy new thing I can just about master, it is the little things that trip me up (like not being able to figure out the mouse with the laptop when we recorded our digital script), the kind of basic things most people already know how to do, and I "get" but am still very slow. The Excel program was the kind of thing I can see being incredibly useful and time-saving for a teacher--but I'm going to have to go over it carefully and slowly at home, fixing the steps in my head. . . . .but know I can do this!! I am feeling little flickers of panic over the fieldwork--just because I haven't done any of these kinds of things before and am not sure how much time to allot in writing them up (and feel that time is running out!). . . . I visited the Sony Center last Friday, and took a friend (the only way I could justify taking the day off to meet her) and she loved it and plans to take a couple of students she's tutoring. Anyway, maybe this faint panic is because I'm leaving for three days to go back to Illinois--and fear if I stop focusing on all this as intensely as I have, I may lose it all. Irrational? Maybe, but hope I return from this break refreshed and ready to tackle the things that remain. kathyb

An interesting class today, with the visual literacy tying nicely to my recently finished class in Aesthetic Education--so many of the same themes and the same goal of using (celebrating) different types of intelligence. I also feel like I have the things we're doing in hand--though, ironically, I still feel very shaky about my basic computer skills. When we were working on our culturequest, we worked at my desk, and I was keenly aware of how slow and hesitant I am about zipping around the computer, opening files, and could feel my partners chafing at my inept-ness. . . . .Think perhaps sometime this summer I will attempt a tutorial that would show me what to do (saving things, closing things, filing things, etc.) and WHY (the important part)--so it would make sense and I could actually apply what I'm doing. . . .as it is, I'm a rat in a maze, needing to do things slavishly in the exact same order. . . . .kathyb

One more class over, and only three left--which seems unbelievable and sort of scares me too. I feel pretty much on top of things, except for the Web Quest which I keep changing, and know with the deadline approaching, I'm going to have to commit to some course and stick with it! At first I had four different historical periods students were to look at for their research, with four different roles within each group--but that became incredibly unwieldy and I could not figure out how to organize it. I spent most of class today looking at other websites (for the umpteenth time), trying to find something that would work. Finally, I found one where everyone was a reporter--finding that formula or pattern has suddenly put my mind at ease, as I've already collected most of my websites and felt that little click when you know you've solved your problem. Still, I'm feeling there are a lot of things that could go wrong with other aspects of this. . . . We'll see--But hope it will go well as I like what I'm doing!! kathyb

I stayed to write in class on Thursday, then lost it in trying to correct a typo--and it strikes me that that is a metaphor for the class and my skills at this point. I can do the overall things--more or less--but find I'm tripped up by the little things and can't correct them easily. Anyway, I meant to blog the next day, and forgot in trying to do my web page. . . .I have it done, but it wasn't easy (those little things again). My daughter in Chicago downloaded Netscape just so she could help me figure out why I couldn't get my links to work--it was so easy in class! And she immediately saw I wasn't using the Browser icon (like the directions clearly say to do). She figured it out without directions--and I hope I get to a point where this all becomes that instinctive! I still have not figured out how to put text BESIDE a picture--but overall, it looks pretty and the links connect (finally). Who could ask for more? Now, it's on to the pics for the digital story and of course I've made it difficult, wanting to use a few family photos. . . .I am dreading tomorrow, when I must unplug my flash drive to bring to class; there is always that moment of sheer terror when I am certain I've done something wrong and all my work will be lost, part of a bigger discomfort with technology in general and the virtual aspect of it. I want to hold my work in my hot little hand--so much so that this past semester I e-mailed every paper I had due to a daughter, so convinced was I that something would wipe it all out. . . .But while I still have a long way to go, over the past couple of weeks, it's undeniable--I've come a long way too. Kathyb.

It is all making sense (sort of). I understand the basic ideas underpinning everything we're doing--WebQuests, CultureQuests, powerpoints, streaming, the digital stories--somehow in knowing the purpose of each, the format suggests itself. . . . .But I'm still shaky on the specific maneuvers that get me from one screen to another. I am giving short shrift to content still, so focused on all the new procedures that I can't seem to think straight about real substance--and I long for the day when that drops away and things just flow as an extension of my thinking. This all feels akin to learning to drive, and I long for that moment when I'm flying down the highway, just enjoying the scenery!

Like all our classes, last night's presented me with all kinds of new skills and opened up all kinds of possibilities I'd never considered. The class I observed studying Othello (which I've mentioned before here and talked about in my Power Point) had used a concept map for that play--the characters and their relationship to each other--a handout my friend had gotten from another teacher; I couldn't have imagined just a month or so later I'd be learning how to design one of my own. . . .
But I'm also still feeling a bit daunted. I have never had a course or formal training of any kind in computer skills and have picked up just what I've needed as I've needed it--mostly e-mail and word-processing and very little else. As a teacher I've known I would need more--but had no idea how much more! I'm thinking of most of the programs we're learning in the same way I think of my recipe box--they're there, but I'm going to need to go over these things much more slowly at home and practice them--when I have time and peace of mind. . . .
I'm also thinking about my last stint in grad school, when I studied Rhetoric and Writing. The abstract nature of that field, so heavily laden with theory, seems so theoretic and arcane compared to education studies--and no course I've taken has seemed more practical and useful than this one. I think the fact I'm struggling is a reflection that I'm really taking in something totally new for me (also called learning?).