The Yard

In a way, it seems kind of strange to be writing my last blog post of the semester. I think Jacqueline was right on target by saying she wasn't sad that class was over. We've all done a lot of work, and since the field of educational technology is continually evolving, we all still have quite a bit of learning (and reflecting) left to do. Originally, I took this class based on the recommendation of others who had taken it in semesters past. I kept hearing how this class provided a valuable lens through which to view emerging technologies, and how taking this class could provide me with a skill set that would be valuable to my career. So, at the end of our abbreviated semester, I've landed exactly where I hoped to, and I look forward to seeing where my path leads next. Anyhow, I'm off to read some blog posts.

Thanks, everyone, for a fun semester!

I know it's a shameless plug, but if you have a moment, please visit my Electronic Portfolio.

Best,

Nora

No really— I'm not sad. But I'm not happy either. I "finished" my ePortfolio last night and had no feelings of closure whatsoever. It's the first time that's happened. For every other class, I've handed in a paper and felt spiritually lighter after watching it drop into a collection box. Or hit the "send" button with such emphasis, the computer must have felt it. Or put down the pencil after a test with a deep breath and sense of completion. But for this class? Nothing.

I think it's because very little is actually ending. My personal learning network is growing exponentially and my blogging will continue. I already want to completely rewrite the Introspection Page of my ePortfolio for the billionth time, even though every time I did that I ended up editing it down to make it concise again. Due dates have just lost all significance compared to the work itself and I'm starting to think that's a good thing. We actually want students to care more about the process of learning, not just focus on the content or quality or timeliness. Deadlines just propel action. Good learning (and the willingness to share) will naturally generate thorough products and memories about the content.

The best classes I've ever taken and what they taught me:

-genomics; bioinformatics and science databases exist. I had no idea that members of the "science community" actually shared information up until then.

-epidemiology; populations in communities in ecosystems are dynamic and interdependent. No system can be studied in isolation.

-psychology; you have to think about thinking in order to understand behavior and communicate better.

-theater and design; good art is well-connected. It ties in moods, characters, plot, and the audience.

-emergency medicine; the body is an interconnected system, failure in one domain can crash everything.

-car maintenance; People can show me how to fix things so that I can help myself later... and save money.

-educational technology; we should think about the learning process, employ creativity and problem solving daily, and take advantage networked knowledge and feedback. Technology can often help accomplish this aim.

Summary:

Metacognition and interconnectivity make life interesting and me a more complete person.

(Yet they aren't even in my MS Word dictionary... ?)

I think/hope we'll start seeing more thought-provoking and integrated K-12 classes soon. Part of it involves trusting good teachers. During my last class I covered geography, ecology, plant biology, evolution, ancient history, international relations, anthropology, and reading and writing skills all in one lesson centered around collaborative Google maps, a photocopied passage, and blogging. (The reading/writing skills is a work in progress.) The teacher using the room before me stayed a while and told me later how it made her day to see such a well rounded discussion. I replied that I hadn't even planned it to go all of those places, the students just had good questions which, luckily, I was able to answer and/or open up for discussion. What were we talking learning about? Cocaine trafficking. There's no way Boston Public would ever even think about teaching a class like that. A fearful and creatively stunted classroom denies students opportunities to learn, reflect, and connect.

Maybe someday...

My co-teacher and I were driving home from school a few weeks ago and she blurted out, "Do you think our students will do okay in college?" I thought about it for a second and then reminded her that our school teaches students to ask for help and, more importantly, to accept it. I think the ones that succeed in learning to appreciate and build their own academic support groups will do fine. They're learning that teachers and even other students do care and will push/pull them for as long as it takes. Our Dean of Students emails "positive kid updates" periodically, and probably the two most common updates are students encouraging each other and students recognizing a teacher/administrator's efforts. Some are on the right track.

So how does this relate to this week's readings about writing ability? As long as you know your weakness and get others to help you brainstorm ideas or edit for style and content, you'll make it through college and eventually master it on your own. I'm glad universities are addressing writing deficits, whatever their cause, with writing intensive courses and writing centers to help struggling students. They are both forcing students to realize where they need help and providing resources to aid them. Before this class, I took an English course at the Extension School and the writing center was emphasized repeatedly. Why hasn't this trend caught on more in secondary school? (Has it, anyone?) I definitely would have used a writing center if my high school had set one up.

Later in the conversation, my roommate also brought up the life skill of code switching, such as changing your behavior and dress to shift from “street code” to “school code.” It boils down to obedience; the ability to recognize expectations and adapt. I've heard that IMing and texting has ruined students' spelling, grammar, and abilities to write complex works. It has caused failures in academic code switching. On the other hand, Thompson's article argued that understanding one's audience and purpose remains more important. Stanford students in Lunsford's study still succeed there. Like everything else, I think it depends on the student. I'm not sure texting has corrupted otherwise good writing for my students or that they always remember their audience.

Why don't we use blogging and microblogging to candidly teach them about academic code switching? Write a text about lowering the voting age, now write a 140 character tweet, now write a blog post, now write a three page essay, and finally write a ten page research paper. Using similar topics and comparing the purpose and creative process for each method of communication would certainly clarify the differences. Perhaps in teaching the difference we can improve all forms.

Please visit my ePortfolio.

It’s better late than never.

For me has been very difficult to write in English. When communicating and writing I am very concerned about grammar and structure. I want to confess to all of you that all the blogs and writing assignments I have written during the course have been grammatically checked by my husband (we check them together so I can learn from my mistakes). I It is important to mention that all the ideas and essence in writing are mine. But I need to recognize that my writing skills in English are not the best and during the semester I have felt restrained because of it.

As I became more in touch with the English language I am more conscious about my writing mistakes. Because of that I became ashamed to write or deliver even a paragraph or an email without being grammatically checked. Maybe I realized too late that what I have done is limiting my learning and thoughts with my classmates. But I want to take this opportunity to share with you that I have decided to leave behind that fear. That even though this class is close to the end I will deliver this short blog and the last one without being checked. For me it is very difficult to do it. I have always wanted to make my best and give the best as I could in any assignment or job. So delivering something that for instance I am sure that it is not completely correct it bothers me. But I think it is more important to fight my fears.

Finally I would like to share with you a Journal Assignment I wrote last semester as part of the Human Development Course given by Dr. Elizabeth Grady and Dr. Diane Tabor. It is a reflection of me as a writer. That journal represents my feelings about writing. I strongly recommend you Human Development subject for next semester!  The teachers and course content are great!

See you tomorrow in class!

Nancy

Name: Nancy Leonor Pineda Alanis                                                                      May 5, 2009

Class: Human Development

Teachers: Dr. Elizabeth A. Grady and Dr. Diane S. Tabor

Journal Assignment 11

By reflecting about my own habits and approaches as a writer I was able to envision different perspectives of myself. For instance I found myself writing in Spanish or in English, writing as a hobby or to meet requirements for an assignment.

                What I consider my first experience as a writer took place when I was around 14. There were some nights when I could not sleep and began to write my thoughts and feelings in a sheet of paper, trying to get tired so I could get some sleep. After that, because of all changes that adolescents have, I began to think in love and experienced different feelings and changes. I describe that stage as “Being in love with love”. I needed to express all that I was experiencing in my thoughts. I started to write poems or big journals without any reasoning. I let my feelings flow and my hand began writing without checking how everything was giving form. After I finished, I used to read everything again. Many times I got surprised with what I had written. It was like discovering a part of me that I had never known before. It was like uncovering my conscious. Basically there were nights when I decided that my feelings would lead my writings and other nights when my reason would guide my writings. Usually my “reason” writings tried to understand and explain what my “feelings” had written. I discovered a way of knowing me better and I loved that! This stage was usually at night and in periods of “inspiration”. I learned to let me go without limits, relieving myself and trying to rationalize if I was right or if I was exaggerating in my beliefs and feelings. I discovered that I can communicate better by writing. For example, if I was in a middle of a discussion in where one or both parties lose control and it was impossible to get an agreement without hurting each other (by saying something because of angriness), I preferred to relax and write about the issue. After writing about it, I reread and tried to think and analyze what was the right thing to do. I tried to think how I could defend my thoughts and feelings by being rational. Then I would spoke with the person again or give them the letter, and in most of the occasions it brought me great results! I still use that method to express myself in certain occasions (also to express good feelings that I can’t express verbally).

                At first, it was difficult to emigrate from handwriting to computer texting; I was not able to write fluently and as much as before. I had an old habit and certain conditions for writing: at night, everything in silence, a pen, a paper, and a hurting hand. I noticed that depending on my mood I put a different level of pressure in my hand. The next day at school my hand was so tired to write. As time passed by I found myself typing all my thoughts and feelings in a computer.

                When I began to work in a company, I needed to write about certain things or topics that were requested. It was not anymore a free writing. Now I needed to be aware about vocabulary and grammar, and I was required to write only in an analytical and “rationalized” way. Also, I thought that I could only write at night! Later I learned that it does not needed to be at night, however, it was important for me to be in a quiet place. As the level of difficulty in writing increased, I needed to find a way to gain concentration and inspiration (I have always had a serious issue with concentration). I discovered that I write better and faster when I have my desk completely clean (only with the resources needed for the topic) and without any missing task. This is because may brain works as a puzzle. When I think, I have a lot of pieces moving around my head; I can even see (imagine) them. These puzzle pieces are different thoughts. Usually my head is handling different puzzles at the same time. Often I find myself struggling to solve the easy puzzles in order to avoid disturbances and thus concentrate on the more difficult or important ones.  Also, I had learned that the only case when I can handle different puzzles at the same time and in a quick way, independently of their difficultness, is when I work under pressure (and of course I have limits).  

                Writing in English has been difficult for me. Particularly I had enjoyed so much this class, its lectures, and journals homework. But I felt restrained because I find difficult to express myself as in my native language (my journals have been shorter than they would have been in Spanish!). For me the style and words used in writing gives life to what are you writing. Sometimes I feel that my English writings miss some of my personality. But during the semester I understood that I am developing a different style when writing in English. At first, I used to think in Spanish and tried to translate my thoughts to English. Now the pieces of the puzzle are in English and I give form to my writing without translating from Spanish. But even when my thoughts are in English, I have the problem that when I do not know how to express some words in English I think them in Spanish. So it is kind of a “spanglish” puzzle. At the beginning I tried to write with my best grammar and vocabulary I can found (so that makes my inspiration or concentration go away), later I decided to write everything with the English that goes out from puzzles and then re read everything and make corrections (something similar what I do when I write to express my feelings). Writing in English demands me more time of concentration compared to writing in Spanish. It takes me so much time to write, that I feel I am not efficient. I feel that I have significantly reduced the time I require to complete a write. However, I am aware that I still have to improve a lot. I believe that as my vocabulary and grammar skills improve, my English writing will show a better structure. Sooner rather than later I will find no difference when writing in any of these two languages.   

It’s really amazing how we change over time. How writing can reflect our thoughts, feelings and believes in a certain time of our lives. It makes me think that writing is another proof that every day, every hour, and every second we are a different being. It’s important to not be ashamed of what you were or wrote before; because thanks to that is the result of what are you now. Also, I realized that it’s not good to be looking so many times at the past, because you miss the joy of the present. I used to enjoy seeing how I changed during time, but certain day I decided to throw away all those thoughts and look forward to my present and future. I decided to continue expressing myself and try to print my personality in any writing I have to do.                 

I think that reflecting about reflection is only one step away from blogging about blogging. (Yes, I really enjoyed last week's discussion on reflection. Looking through a text on reflection aimed at the elementary school set was a nice way of getting back to basics.) Anyhow, our talk reminded me of an exhibit of Maurizio Cannavacciuolo's work shown at the ISGM in 2004.

According to the site for Cannavacciuolo's TV Dinner exhibit:

TV Dinner is about...a very human act: the act of choice. The viewer can choose to engage with the  work in the special exhibition gallery, or not. To engage will mean patiently exploring the two-part wall drawing. As you look beyond the bold primary colors and allow your eye to grow accustomed to the lighting, the delicate web of images will come slowly into focus....Untangling the thread and finding  a satisifying narrative will be each viewer's personal adventure.

Taking the time to engage with TV Dinner revealed something amazing, and in a way, I think this is what I am trying to accomplish with my reflections for my electronic portfolio. I suppose I should get back to work.

As I assemble my thoughts on blogging during this accelerated semester, I've come to the conclusion that I've been using my blog in The Yard to engage in a practice of social networking. (This idea has been informed by this week's assigned readings and by what many of my classmates have already posted for reflection9-09.) The Economist Debate on Social "Networking" mentions that social networks can provide youth with a structure in which they can engage educationally, and I think social networks can also make the powerful affordance of structuring educational engagement available to adults as well.

Whether it is silly or not, I'm pleased that, as a result of having enrolled in this class, I now have a greater number of Facebook friends with similar academic interests. (If considered from a standpoint of self-promotion and self-disclosure, this is an especially cool development.) Even so, I'm not entirely sure that I would have experienced as high of a degree of engagement with this class if we had been using Facebook as our primary social networking tool instead of The Yard. As much as I enjoy Facebook, I've found The Yard to be a superior tool for learning. The fact that The Yard was developed with a specific community of learners in mind adds to its clarity of purpose, and makes it a more suitable extension of our classroom environment.

Still, after our class discussions and readings on computer-mediated self-disclosure, I'm beginning to have strong opinions about the kind of presence I maintain on Facebook. As a teacher, I have a vested interest in student motivation and maintaining a positive classroom climate. Taking the time to make sure that my Facebook profile serves to enhance my professional credibility is essential. Once I have taken this important first step, and have given a substantial amount of thought to how I can engage in a practice of self-disclosure that does not involve crossing any significant or problematic boundaries existing between me and my students, I can use Facebook (or perhaps any other social networking tool of choice) to help create the sense of intimacy that research has shown to be beneficial to student learning.

If I have to speak honestly, I would have to say that, given the current educational climate in the state of Massachusetts, Facebook is probably not a tool that should be used in the classroom, even with students at the secondary level. Still, I think that research findings relating to self-disclosure are of consequence to all teachers with a presence on Facebook and other social networks. Self-disclosure, depending on its nature, can have positive or negative results for student learning and a teacher's professional reputation. I'm thinking that it's probably a good idea for me to engage in the reflection necessary to keep the effects of my self-disclosure on the positive side.

This might be a good time for me to get back to the idea of how I've been using (or have attempted to use) my blog in The Yard as a social networking tool. In preparation for reflection9-09, I've been following Spotlight, FiveThirtyEight, as well as the blogs of our course instructors. One of the main differences between these blogs and the blogs belonging to me and my classmates' is that they seem to contain fewer I statements. In other words, these blogs appear to contain a lower degree of self-disclosure on the part of their authors, and seem to have been created for the purpose of sharing and communicating information in a somewhat informal yet authoritative manner.

So, what makes my blog and my classmates' blogs different? According to the Economist Debate mentioned above, social networks have the ability to harness the “collective power of community to help inform perspectives" that an individual might not arrive at on his or her own. Using this reflective assignment as an example, other people's posts on the yard have provided me with the tools necessary to better articulate my own thoughts on blogging and social networking. Reading my classmates' blogs has, I think, given me insight on their ideas as students, professionals, and as people with whom I can have an informative conversation. As this semester has progressed, I have been spending more time thinking about my posts, and trying to write them in a way that will generate more responses and feedback. In other words, I have found The Yard to be an effective extension of the discussions that take place during our face-to-face learning time.

I'm glad that our class blogging has not been an exercise that could be titled “Hooray for Technology,” but has instead been a thoughtful means to an end, and as tool used to meet a highly-specific and reflective goal. I am glad that I will have continued access to The Yard once our class ends, and think I will be more likely to interact with my current classmates on Facebook now that I know them better. Now that I have had the opportunity to use my class blog as a networking tool, I feel better prepared to engage in what Jacqueline refers to as "reflective blogging," and l look forward to meeting the challenge of transforming my blog into an informative resource that other people are willing to follow.

Carroll's post got me thinking about honesty and self-disclosure again.

Last semester a student asked me what kind of music I listened to. The answer was classic rock and heavy metal, genres that are loaded with negative stereotypes but also encompass music he liked. I rapidly began calculating the ratio of negative valence/relevance to positive impact on my relationship with the student. While slowly answering I decided that the student was on the fringe of the school's social community and, although he might be amused, would probably experience a "hey, my teacher gets me" moment. In a school that places a heavy emphasis on positive student-teacher relationships, that moment is a good thing. So I answered, he said "cool," and then we moved on to find a hip-hop station for the class radio anyways. The next class (while waiting for everyone to arrive) he asked me about my opinion of Grateful Dead, which I answered and tied to the course material. Win–win.

Purposeful and honest self-disclosure isn't that treacherous when you apply some common sense and think like a psychologist. Mazer et al.'s article about computer-mediated disclosure is kind of obvious. In general, looking human is more likely to help you reach students. There's a reason some of the most influential figures in children's lives are their friends; they connect to them and value what they have to say. So you should really try and appear personable to students. What to disclose when connecting so that you maintain the "role model" and not "friend" status is the hard part. Good old psychological reflection helps here. How will people perceive me as a person if I present myself like...? Will students be encouraged to trust me as role model if I post...? Will my authority be diminished by...? What will students personally and cognitively connect to if I talk about my experience with...? The bottom line: if it's not going to help students connect personally to material, build a positive learning environment, or foster an inspirational student-teacher relationship, then DON'T SAY IT/POST IT. If anyone questions your actions you'll have a reasonable defense ready.

I was a fan of social networking tools before I taking this class. I had also already begun limiting self-disclosure by changing privacy settings, untagging hundreds of photos, limiting personal information, and expanding professional information. However, upon joining Del.icio.us for this class, I realized that I was only networking socially, not professionally or academically. I blame Facebook. If a networking site like Harvard's Yard had instead suddenly risen to popularity my freshman year in college, maybe I would have more readily noticed the potential for networking sites to aid collaboration and meaningful information sharing. Now I'm actively looking for ways to profit from other peoples' work and advice as well as share my own (though somewhat limited). I no longer rely on isolationist internet practices for professional development and information gathering. The proof? Google and Wikipedia have been replaced by Gmail as my homepage and supplemented by a Del.icio.us toolbar and Twitter a click away. I've been slowly figuring out the role of new concepts like tagging or what to tweet versus Facebook status update (FYI, I decided to only tweet teaching related things but sync Twitter with Facebook). I'm also rapidly improving how easily I find information on networks. When I joined Twitter I had a really hard time finding teachers to follow. Now I can easily navigate though others' profiles to find informative people. I had told a teacher friend of mine about Del.icio.us and some other the other tools I'd discovered and she had said that her undergraduate education classes had to use several of them, but she doesn't anymore. WHAT?! I can't imaging choosing to ignore the wealth of networked information out there. That would be like choosing to reinvent the wheel for every question you have.

I am all for educational networking in the classroom. Students need to be led through academic networking in order to see past the limits of Facebook. Yesterday I had students collaborate using Google maps so that they could overlap their work with their classmates' to save time, see multiple solutions to one problem, and realize that they could use the internet to collaborate academically. Minus some inevitable technical problems for a few, they definitely benefited from the experience. When asked if we should switch to paper since some laptops weren't connecting well to the internet, I got responses like "No! This is keepin' me awake!" and "Can't we just work in pairs?" I even got a rare "Oh, cool" from one student. (Success!)

As for my progression through blogging, I need a whole other post for that...more to come.