The Final: What I Learned Through Eng 625

I guess I've been living in the nineteenth-century when it comes to the applications, both social and productive, that can be used in a composition classroom. I suppose I could list the programs that I liked using and plan on using in the future, but more important is the fact that I know many of these programs exist. When our students begin to outpace us in the use of technology then I feel that there is a certain disconnect that occurs where we may be viewed (along with those gold nuggets of knowledge that we are trying to pass on) as outdated or of lesser relevance in a technological world. It may seem weird to say that we owe it to our students to keep up with them instead of the other way around, but where technology is concerned that is often the case. I would like to have a minimum of a basic working knowledge of the most likely applications that students will use and like to use.

One of the most interesting things I learned about distance learning was that it does not work to take traditional teaching styles and lesson plans and simply put them out there in a virtual classroom and expect the students to "get it." It takes a lot of work, planning, and practice to get it mostly right. How the dynamics of the virtual classroom work sounds like something that I would like to experience as a teacher. It can only make us better teachers in an online environment and in a brick and mortar setting as well. In addition, there are a lot of issues that need to be taken into account for an online environment that we often take for granted in a brick and mortar classroom (ethical, personality styles, learning styles, etc.). I look at online learning like a submarine. These vessels can navigate as well as any ship on the ocean without the benefit of visual sight to aid them. With online learning we have to use our radar and sonar to "ping" our way through to recognize how we can establish the best path for a student who needs to get from point A to point B in the most efficient way.

Finally, I love the multimodal assignment. I would definitely use this in a composition classroom. I'm not sure it would work in an online environment because students would often need hands-on assistance with programs and applications they are trying to use. But the really nice thing about it is that it gets students thinking about composition in ways that they never dreamed. It also gives students the flexibility to decide the direction they want to go with the project. It's something they can take ownership in. It still allows the teacher to slip in traditional forms of composition (composing, drafting, citing, etc.) without it being a painful process for the student. The only problem that I see, and one that would take a lot of planning, is grading the projects. Coming up with a rubric for projects that may be all over the board in complexity and creativity may be a challenge. It wouldn't be impossible but I wouldn't do it without a lot of deliberation on what students may come up with. Students have a knack for surprises that are both delightful and horrific.

Although I have always leaned towards more traditional forms of teaching because I was terrified that I would show my own weakness in the classroom for not knowing how things work, or getting them to work when I want them to, I realize that we have come to a point where we no longer have a choice. The technological classroom is here to stay, in the humanities of all places! I can no longer hide behind a desk and podium, do a lesson plan, and call it a day. Being a better teacher is what it's all about, and learning new technologies that are at our disposal and may help our students is no longer an option but a requirement. English 625 probably just scratched the surface, but at least I'm on the path.

E-Portfolio

All I have left to do on the e-portfolio (I think) is to create a "splash" page. Did everyone else do this? I wanted something with a little eye candy so it would be inviting to anyone who would be interested in actually reading and looking through it. Are there any tips that anyone may have about what they did on their page if they created one. I'm going to try and finish up early tomorrow so it will be ready. Hopefully, it won't take to long to create. I was thinking of doing something simple like a big title with a photo(s) and an "Enter" button that will link to my home page. Does this sound feasible?

Finished my seminar paper

Whew! I just finished my seminar paper. The subject that I chose was on ethics in online learning. There were some surprising things that I learned about how ethical issues can play a big role in the way we teach online. It was also surprising to find out that it would be very easy to unknowingly break some rules concerning ethics that are not normally an issue in a brick and mortar classroom. My suggestion for anyone who ever teaches or considers teaching an online course familiarize themselves with some of the ethical issues that come into play in an electronic environment I'm glad I have learned what I learned, but there is still a lot to learn.

Trying to catch up

I don't know if Dr. Cadle told everybody where I was at, but I've been laid up at St. John's for the last few weeks. I have thought about you and have missed you all. I'm starting to feel good enough to try and catch up on some of this work that I got behind on. Right now I feel like a blind man trying to feel his way through a maze, which is to say, "It pays to attend class!" For those of you who are graduating and going on to your careers, I wish you the best of luck and happy lives and will keep you in my thoughts. For others, I will still be around this summer and fall and hope that we see each other sometime. I love teaching and I love school but eventually they will kick this bird out of his nest.

A little off-subject

As a teacher, I have admittedly become somewhat jaded to excuses that I get from students who fail to show up for class or turn their work in on time. I try to be understanding that problems happen and they lead lives like the rest of us that are full of pitfalls and turmoils. Trying to discern a student's honesty about problems that they may have is something teachers struggle with.

I once made the comment that if I had a nickel for every student who emailed me and said they couldn't make it to class because grandma, grandpa, cousin, uncle, aunt, or acquaintance died I would be a rich man. True or not, I've had excuses as wild as a student telling me that he was hit by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike to school and could not make it to class. By the way, he wasn't hurt, but he had to fill out a police report which detained him.

As graduate students who have lives that often deal us with blows, it makes us cringe to have to explain to a teacher that we have had something come up that prevents us from being there. We ARE graduate students because we did our work, and yet I cannot dismiss the feeling that every time life deals me with a blow, sometimes severe, I cannot help but think of all those emails I received from students that seemed doubtful at best. When I send an email that says "Oh, by the way I won't be able to make it because life happened," I have all of my past and present students' emails haunting me. Dealing with this issue as a teacher is still a mystery to me. Dealing with the issue as a student whom is also a teacher is even tougher.

"Taking Vernaculars Seriously"

In case this shows up in the top spot on my blog, forgive me this was a draft that I had done some time ago and meant to edit it before I published. It may appear out of place.


Okay, I may be about to get myself in trouble. This is a sensitive subject and one that I take very seriously. but I have to say as a "hillbilly" with bad speech skills that I acquired over a lifetime that I have learned to do some code-switching between my academic life and my private life. The question that linguists have argued over for years is: how much leeway should be afforded various groups for language patterns that have developed over decades? Do we treat these vernaculars as separate languages with their unique styles? Should we force students to adopt elitist and standardized forms of language at the risk of wiping out a cultural heritage that dates back for centuries?

My take on the subject is that we should not dismiss oral traditions and speech patterns that are passed down from one generation to the next. Quite the opposite is that we should celebrate the diversity that we enjoy. However, in a world that has essentially adopted a standardized version of English as a global language, where does that leave people who refuse or neglect to adopt the language skills that they need to succeed. We have people from China and India who struggle to master the language in a world that has evolved, maybe unfairly, around them so that they may get a piece of the pie that we call "The Global Economy." For many of these people it is NOT a choice but a necessity to survive and succeed. They are not being asked to forget their heritage or their native tongues, but the choices they make are theirs to make and often makes a difference in their economic success.

If we have people in the United States who cannot, or refuse, to be able to use a standardized form of English to be able to succeed then those groups are woefully misguided into a misconception that it is acceptable to use vernaculars in any situation. This case is simply not true.

The "Gameplay" article

Last Christmas my fourteen-year old son received an X-box "live" program so he could use his X-box 360 online and chat with other players in realtime audio through a headset that plugs into his console. There are many weekend nights that my son will stay up until three or four in the morning to play his favorite game "Call to Action." My assumption was that it was just a game and that it was okay to indulge him as long as it didn't interfere with school work or other social activities, after all, I know very well how addictive computer games can become.

What I wasn't prepared for was that he forgot to turn off the exterior sound to his headset one day while he was playing online. As I sat in the family room listening to the chat that was being discussed from who knows where, I was appalled at the amount of explicatives and politically incorrect language that I heard. Much of the language came from what sounded to be people who were much older than my fourteen-year old. I really wasn't sure how to react to the situation and admonished him for participating in an activity that allowed the use of such language.

The "Gameplay" article disturbs me on many fronts. The most disturbing of all is that there is already X rated games being promoted to adults as a sort of a "fantasy sex world." While it may be great for Carlos and consenting adults to explore their sexual identities in an online environment, is it really necessary for my son to be exposed to such propositions at his age? He is just at the age where he is exploring sex and sexual boundaries (he has a girlfriend) and I would prefer that his judgement and values concerning sexual matters be guided by me and his mother and not by an online gaming environment. What a spooky thought that is!