Week 3

As I read the material I kept trying to relate the skills and techniques to my own background and education. The role of play really sparked my interest because as the authors suggest it is one of the earliest forms of learning (Jenkins 22). One of the learning tools described was actually a program I used in my own economics course in high school (Jenkins 27). Although this particular game was discussed in the simulation section, it can also be used to describe how play can help students learn and relate to real world concepts in the classroom. Not only were we learning how the stock market and supply and demand worked; we were also learning how to work together as a team to make the best business decision.

Most individuals enjoy a game over tedious memorization and information gathering which is why this technique is so useful. It requires students to grasp basic information about the "rules" of the game which is where your core material comes into place but then it makes the learning fun because you use that knowledge to advance your game. Of course this is not something that students would be engaged in every day or for the complete lesson, but it can be seen as a treat to reinforce the material while making it interesting and relatable.

The reading overall was interesting and changed my ideas of the role of new media in education. I initially was against all this technology in the classroom, or at the very least limiting the role of new medias. However I am now convinced that it is appropriate and useful to incorporate the internet and new technologies into the classroom. My only concern now is that not all students will be able to have the same amount of access to these technologies. My mother is a junior high school teacher in a school in Brooklyn. The neighborhood is composed of low income immigrant families. Many of the children do not have access to the internet in their homes and due to budget cuts there is currently no one to run the computer lab. So although the school has the equipment and access the students are barred from this type of education because they are considered a failing school and their funding has been cut. It seems unfair that the students who need it the most will not have access to a technology that I am now understanding is the wave of the future in education.

 

Week 2 Post

Students should always be held to a higher standard of learning in schools. Knowing proper grammar and spelling, and being able to decipher all kinds of texts are an important part of learning. Although technology and the internet has made the sharing of communication and ideas much easier and faster not all blogs and sites are held to the same standard as commonly recognized scholarly works. Internet technology is important but so are the classics. In order to be successful on scholastic exams, students must be literate in all types of works.

 

Lankshear and Noble (2006) define literacies as “socially recognized ways of generating, communicating and negotiating meaningful content through the medium of encoded texts within contexts of participation in Discourses.” By this definition, literacy can be described as any piece of media open to interpretation by individuals. Literacy can be imagery, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, theatrical works, cinematic works, music and any other medium used to share ideas. New technologies have succeeded in the sharing of ideas however the concern is that those ideas are not always relevant, thought out, or expressed in a scholastically acceptable way.

Media and the presentation of information is always changing. We have books on tapes, documentaries, educational video games and web sites. All these forms can enhance learning but none of them can replace the reading and comprehension of a book on your own and under the instruction from a professional. We have already become too relaxed with our vernacular in everyday language. Even in certain New York newspapers professional journalists are using words like “prez” and “cuz”. We have simplified our language so that it can fit in an entry of 140 characters or less and are using shorthand for words that are not really that long to begin with. When it comes to education we need to focus on scholarly and culturally relevant material. Blogs and internet sites are not always authoritative references and should not be used to replace classical literature or education.

Week 1 Post

"The distinctive contribution of the approach to literacy as social practice lies in the ways in which it involves careful and sensitive attention to what people do with texts, how they make sense of them and use them to further their own purposes in their own learning lives" (Gillen and Barton, 2010, p. 9). Please discuss what you do with various texts, how you make sense of them and how you use them to further your own learning.

Lately the majority of my readings are related to my employment. At work I try to use the information at my disposal to help further my clients' goals and needs. I often have to write summaries on my clients in the form of progress notes or psychosocial evaluations. I use the information gathered before my encounter with the client as well as the information gained from our sessions to paint a thorough and fair image of the client in order to figure out how to empathize, relate with and best assist them. I am often confronted with medical terms, social service acronyms or jargon that I am unfamiliar with and am always doing research on the side to understand a diagnosis, organization or entitlement program. I do this because I want to further my understanding of the field I am in but also for my clients. In order to make a proper referral, I need to be able to understand and explain it to my clients in simple terms. It is not unusual to have clients that simply sign any document placed in front of them with no understanding of what they have agreed to. It is my job as their case manager to make sure that they understand my role and their expectations while in the shelter and to provide the services or referrals to the services that they need. The bonus is when I can use that information to help not just one person on my caseload but several clients as well as my coworkers.

Introduction

Welcome!

My name is Shanyssa and I am a twenty-something year old mother of a 21 month old son. I work as a case manager at a men's shelter in Brooklyn, NY but have always wanted to teach. So excited to finally continue my education with this M.Ed program.