LGBT Guestspeaker in Diversity Course

This evening we were graced with a guest speaker, Jim, in our Diversity class. He was a very intriguing, intelligent man who has accomplished many things in his days as a maverick (I can no longer say that word without GGLing <-- that one's for you Chatspeak group) for LGBT students all over the country. He left me filled with many thoughts and unanswered, not to mention, difficult questions. Off topic, why do we say 'not to mention' if we will immediately thereafter mention something? LAME! Regardless, I will present my questions for you fine ladies and gentlemen to attend to and do the work for me! :

The University of Michigan fosters and encourages speakers such as Jim who support LGBT individuals, groups, events, ideals, etc. However, how do people who don't agree with these types of sexuality and who attend the University feel about this? A question of similar content was raised earlier in the semester concerning political views. Democrats make up the majority on this particular campus, and republicans are often chastised and criticized for their stances. The world is progressing and moving toward a more tolerant and inclusive perception of human differences, but isn't berating the religious and conservative considered an invasion of their beliefs and a condemning judgment of their character?

Say I teach at a conservative school. After fruitless attempts at prevent harassing behavior of my students' comments, I appeal to the school's administrators to implement some type of rule against bullying. My request is ignored because the administrators and school board does not condone my support of LGBT students and views. Regardless, the students will know my perspective on this issue. Perhaps a few closeted gays will approach me asking for help or counsel. How do I react without angering the administrators, school board, parents, community, etc and without hurting the child also. I could tell the administrators that as a teacher it is my job to make resources available for all students. But what will be the repercussions of this action? What will happen with the parents, my job, legalities, etc.?

Tough questions, colleagues. I beseech you, HELP!

Skyline Teacher is Treerific!

I absolutely enjoyed the guest speaker, Jeff, who visited our technology class last Friday. Number one, I can easily see why our tech teacher regards him and his teaching practices so highly. Jeff is extremely energetic and engaging! The whole class seemed to feed off his excitement and love for his concentration, Science. He provided an impressive tour of his blog, which he uses as a teaching instrument for his classes. The blog is packed with student work, assignments done or work to be done, videos of class activities, and student-produced podcasts and verbal reviews. Jeff applies free technological tools that he finds on the Internet to provide these various resources. Jeff is doing his students a tremendous service by requiring them to use cameras, voice recorders, Itunes, podcasts, etc.. They are learning useful technologies that will aid them in many professions once they graduate. More importantly, though, Jeff is getting his students interested and even excited about learning. He gives them a lot of freedom to produce their own assessments (i.e. make a video of what happened in Science class this week) and entrusts them with expensive equipment, which builds the students' confidence and sense of responsibility, which are also useful tools in the professional world.
Jeff's blog is unbelievably complex, teeming with academic opportunity, and yet quite organized. I looked at it and freaked out a bit thinking, "How am I ever going to create something as elaborate as this?" However, he told us he has been working on this project for many years, adding a little at a time. Jeff finds a tool on the Internet, such as a voice recorder so the students can do their homework interactively and post it on the blog for the whole class to see (or just the teacher if he/she so chooses), and he learns how to use the tool and about its implications and possibilities. The search for and discovery of these online technological tools is an ongoing process for Jeff. He has shared his methods for employment of these contemporary learning instruments with his colleagues and his students' parents. He showed our class how to search for similar free devices to use in our own classrooms. I was completely taken by Jeff's presence, his love for teaching, and his desire to continually learn about teaching tools or methods that are challenging but that enhance his students' learning and desire to learn. I was inspired and entertained and enlightened...and a bit confused! Still hopeful though!

Shakespeare/Dante duel

This is a brief example of how you can use animated PowerPoint presentations in your classroom. Because I teach English, my partner Ben and I created a brief animation that illustrates a hypothetical duel between the famous, classical poets, Shakespeare and Dante. It gets pretty heated (pun!) and is entertaining, if nothing else! I need to review the steps for animating PPTs and hope to try this activity in my Poetry class this trimester.

I really love trees. So much so, I think I am going to get one tatooed on my back/side (not back side). This picture was the model for the logo of the TV show "Six Feet Under", which I also love.

An Edublogger's Take on Standardized Tests

As research for my debate paper project in Professor Potter's class, I came across an educator's blog concerning his opinion about standardized tests. He is a high school teacher, but his position, location, and name remain unknown. I'm assuming this is the case because his post focused on providing reasons for being a standardized test supporter. I was immediately intrigued by his opening declaration, "“Let me come right out and say it….I am in favor of standardized testing in order for students to get their high school diploma." I was taken by this statement because the person's hesitation and seeming embarrassment about this assertion was pronounced even as text on a blog post. It was as if I could see his cheeks turning red. Regardless of my impression of this person or his opinion (wrong, he's wrong...) I was excited to find a blog that satisfied an assignment for two of my courses and one that related to my life. I even cared about what I was reading and felt some sort of emotion while learning! This man's argument is that we merely shuffle kids through school because we don't want to deal with them, or we give up on them because they are so behind. He asserts that because of our neglect as teachers, we aren't adequately preparing students to be beneficial citizens in society. In this case, I agree with anonymous blogger man. I feel bad for these kids. However, this is why we SMACers don't sleep and work extra hard in order to change the future in our own small, but significant way. So change on, colleagues. Keep kicking butt (and reminding me of assignment due dates)!

Welcome Back to Reality!

So, I'm back at school. We jumped in to classwork and intense conversation and content right away. I'm already tired! However, I am enjoying my placement thus far. My teacher is very enthusiastic, and the students - although quite loud and sometimes quite distracted - are lots of fun. Having visited the classroom only four times, I can not accurately predict how the year will unfold, but I have good feelings about all this. I videotaped my teacher on the first day to capture initial procedures, rules, and conduct. I haven't done much teaching myself yet, so I have had a lot of time to observe things, and I am frequently reminded of this course. I immediately noticed the amount of students carrying and sometimes using cell phones during the school day. I brought this up to a few of the kids today, and they said cell phones were not allowed in the classroom at all. This surprised me because I have seen my teacher tell the students to "Put the phone away or it's mine." on numerous occasions. Her reaction made me believe they were allowed but not for use. Personally, I am tempted to check my phone when the students are doing work, but on the flip side I get annoyed and a bit offended when the students are playing around with their techie toys during my time. I have also been checking out the software and machines available around the school. My teacher hasn't used any technology at all except for a very old c.d. player during an exercise that required students to bring in music that exemplified literary terms. I've noticed multiple computer labs around the school (3 I think) and numerous televisions. In the coming weeks I will keep my eyes sensitive to other forms of technology I see around Romulus. I will also cross my fingers for the students to magically become less talkative!