Written Assignment: Reflection for Final Project

     

           When this project was first introduced, I was consumed with the idea that I wanted to create a website. It was always something that I wished I could create, but with my busy schedule, there was never enough time and I did not know the first thing about creating a website. However, Weebly made creating a website an attainable goal. 

Originally, I had wanted to create a classroom website but I was unsure of what this website would contain. However, most of my students’ parents speak different languages other than Spanish and some of my students do not have access to technology at home, therefore this posed an issue when considering the creation of a classroom website. I began to then think of ways to use this website so that it would be beneficial to my students. This lead to considering the areas they struggled in the most. These two areas are science and social studies, which are the two content area classes where my students do not receive services. Most students are failing these classes since there is not an ESL resource teacher to provide them with a push-in service or a teacher in the content area that is either ESL certified or has had professional development on how to target their instruction for students who are classified as ESL. Therefore, these students are getting the same instruction that the mainstream regular education students are given, without the necessary modifications based upon their language learning level. No professional development was provided at the district level due to funding and many teachers with their busy schedule were not able to meet with me to ask questions, therefore teachers did not have the tools they needed to modify assignments for English Language Learners. I finally decided that I would create a website for ELL Teaching Resources for content area teachers. This website will provide them with the tools and strategies they need to modify content area instruction to ensure academic success in their classroom for all learners. 

This project is important because as a teacher, I serve the role as advocate for my students. By creating this website, it allows me to advocate for my students by presenting content area teachers with strategies that they can use in their classroom. Many of these strategies are SIOP (Sheltered Instruction ObservationProtocol) strategies that align with meeting the needs of English Language Learners. In addition, I have also provided a link on the homepage to the WIDACan-Do Descriptors in which teachers will be able to measure a student’s ability in the areas of reading, writing, listening, and speaking according to their language level. 

The use of digital technology enhances the project since it provides links to other resources and videos. It enhances the content of the material presented since it provides access to these strategies through external sources including websites with additional information on the strategies, videos that demonstrate the strategy implemented in the classroom, and templates to go along with the technique. The website gives the content the added appeal since it can be accessed from a computer or mobile device. It also creates a visual means of presentation rather than just explaining the strategy or producing handouts for other content area teachers. All of the information is stored in one webpage rather than selecting information to be placed in a binder. 

By creating the Weebly Website, it touches upon two out of the three course anchors presented in the class, Critical Pedagogy and Educational Reform and Media as Ideology. According to the Course Anchors and Guiding Assumptions in the class syllabus, Critical Pedagogy and Educational Reform “rest on the assumption that public schools should be driven by a commitment to social justice, equity and inclusion that values all learners, an assumption that challenges the current educational status quo.” Through the creation of the ELL Teaching Resource website, I have demonstrated that the inclusion of all learners should be valued by educators by considering their learning needs, styles of learning, and language level. The website targets these needs accurately by providing a resource for content area teachers to use to implement the necessary modifications to their instruction. Media as Ideology is presented in this project since the use of the internet as a digital culture will be presented to my colleagues as a digital tool to use in their professional lives to enhance their teaching abilities with English Language Learners. In the past, I have considered myself on the borderline of Digital Immigrant and Digital Native, growing up with the evolution of technology without the critical tools necessary to comprehend each technological tool that was presented. I knew how to use some of the devices at a basic level rather than the advanced critical levels that others knew. This project demonstrates a more recent shift that I had made from a digital immigrant standpoint to the world of digital natives where I am able to explore and comprehend more advanced tools as media and technology progresses. The website also aligns with the goal of exploring a resource from the Digital Toolbox to expand my knowledge of relevant digital sources that can be incorporated in my classroom as well as my professional life. 

Before completing this course, I would have considered myself as a techno-traditionalist. I was able to create PowerPoints for presentations, use the document camera for presenting instructional material, and also used some forms of media in the classroom such as relevant content area videos. However, upon completion of this course, I would consider myself as approaching the techno-constructivist realm. Although I am still in the process of learning about Digital Tools and forms of media in the classroom, there is much more to explore. Creating a website to share with my colleagues was the first step in the direction of a techno-constructivist. I was successful in creating a website that consisted of adding images, text, video, and other external links using a tool that I had not previously used. After this website is presented to other faculty members in my school, I would like to add more information over time to build upon the material presented in my site. I included information that was concise since I did not want to present content area teachers with too much information at once. By adding a few more strategies every few months, teachers will have an abundance of strategies they can modify for their ELL students. Because I am now able to use this digital tool, my next step in my journey is to create other websites such as a school or classroom website. In addition, I would like to explore other digital tools to use in the classroom to incorporate media and technology in the curriculum so that students can become both consumers and producers of technology and media.  

Website: ELL Teaching Resources 

Pecha Kucha: ELL Teaching Resources Website

Self-Assessment Rubric:

The Project:

	Excellent (9.5-10)	Great (8.75-9.25)	Good (8-8.5)	Passing (7-7.5)	Unacceptable/Absent (under 7)
Uses new technologies that you have not explored before.		X
Does this project position you as a technocrat, techno-traditionalist, or techno-constructivist? Explain.	*** See written assignment for explanation.
Product is practical, useful, and enhances the teaching and learning in your classroom/life.	X
Layout (attractive, user-friendly, and professional)	X

The Presentation: 

	Excellent A/A- range	Great B+ range	Good B/B- range	Passing C range	Unacceptable Below C
FORMAT: Uses 20 slides on 20 second timer	X
Slide images help viewer understand the project		X
Spoken presentation is well organized, timed, ad crafted		X
Clearly articulates how the digital product will enhance the teaching and learning in the presenter’s classroom/life		X
What questions or feedback can you offer this presenter?

The Written Assignment: 

	Excellent (9.5-10)	Great (8.75-9.25)	Good (8-8.5)	Passing (7-7.5)	Unacceptable/Absent (under 7)
Includes a narrative context about where this project came from, what you did, and why it is important to you.	X
Explains how the use of digital technology enhances or changes this content/context (points 2x)		X
Draws from at least 3 of our course themes, texts, or issues (points 2x)	X
Demonstrates something that you could not have done or conceptualized before this course.	X
Includes hyperlinks to at least 5 external resources (academic and/or technical)	X
Writing Style (creativity, style, flow)		X
Writing Skills (grammar, spelling, format)	X

Turkel and Wesch: Allies or Oponents in New Media and Technology?

          After reading Sherry Turkle’s “The Flight from Conversation,” I immediately thought “Wow, this is so true!” However, after viewing Michael Wesch’s Ted Talk: From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-Able, I found myself repeating the same statement. Each of them has a significant view of the role that technology plays in society today. I believe that both Turkle and Wesch are partially allies in the sense that they are both strong advocates of the role that technology plays in the modern day world; however they also have strong opposing viewpoints.

            Turkle states that in today’s society we are essentially sacrificing conversations for connections. Instead of having intellectually stimulating conversations, we are having brief interactions with people who hardly know us other than what we portray on our social media profile, which is how we “want” to define ourselves.  She emphasizes that face to face conversations teach us patience in order to listen to one another’s ideas, however instead we are posting how we feel and waiting for others to comment on our statements. One example she provides is the mentality that some have where they lament by saying, “No one is listening to me,” and in order to solve this loneliness, they turn to Twitter, Facebook, or other social media sites. As time passes, we expect more from technology and less from one another. I was particularly disheartened when Turkel was saying how robots are replacing humans and gave one example of how a woman was devastated by the passing of child and that she was comforted by the look in the eyes of the robot in the form of a seal. There was also talk about the hopes that as Apple’s IPhone becomes more advanced, Siri will become more like a best friend.

            Throughout the article, the overall message was that as humans we are desperate to connect through our devices. Turkel describes how we are distracted by the use of our phones and other devices around us. This immediately made me think of one friend in particular. Every time we are in the middle of a conversation and her phone goes off, she cannot resist the urge to check it. She does not think anything of it, but continues to talk and states, “I’m still listening to you, but I just need to text this person back.” Again, this reverts back to the constant need to be connected to what else is happening around us.

            On the other hand, Wesch embraces this sudden shift in technology. He describes media by saying, “Media are not tools or means of communication, but media mediates relationships.” There are differences in the types of media. For example, television is considered a one-way conversation whereas other forms of media like music are effective and considered more than just a conversation. There is a need for critical thinking skills and for students today to embrace real problems and act as seekers of meaning. One particular use of technology that I found to be powerful was when messages could be sent from Haiti to an open street map to cite an area where a tragic event is occurring and send out the news to others.

            Overall, I view Wesch and Turkle as opponents in the discussion of new media and technology because of their distinct viewpoints. They both have solid reasons for their opinions on technology, therefore I find myself agreeing with both of them. Technology is important for students to develop their critical thinking skills; however it is important to keep in mind that technology should not consume their lives. I believe that a balance should be created between both Turkle and Wesch’s perspectives to ensure a happy medium.

Seventeen, Self-Image, and Stereotypes

When considering this assignment and skimming through the text for a writing piece to reflect on, I immediately focused on Bakari Chavanu’s “Seventeen, Self-Image, and Stereotypes.” My mind immediately thought back to the weeks prior in school when I would continuously hear my seventh grade girls complain about the way they looked. Comments like “I look so ugly today” and “My hair looks bad,” were heard multiple times a day. Many female students in particular would ask to go to the bathroom often throughout the day to fix their makeup or their hair because of their self-consciousness about the way that they looked. And most of their concerns about their physical appearance were not only for themselves…it was for a boy.

                Bakari Chavanu discusses the role in commercial advertising and the negative affect that it has on the younger generation, mostly based on stereotypes as taught through a seven week unit. Again, my thoughts were immediately redirected to a new unit in the curriculum adopted this past school year that teaches persuasive writing through advertising. As I reflect back on that unit, most of the girls decided to analyze ads that were visually appealing to them such as perfume, make-up, and current fashion. This would have been the perfect opportunity to analyze these ads for common stereotypes or unrealistic expectations that are plastered across them such as flawless beauty and the girl that is posing in a size 00 jeans. Chavanu had her students complete exercises such as ad analysis in both magazine advertisements and TV commercials. One of the most important quotes in this piece describes it perfectly, “ Ads will have you believe that no one is disabled and everyone is heterosexual; that a woman’s body is in constant need of improvement; that women need to look young, ‘beautiful,’ made up, sprayed up, very thin, and perfectly groomed” (28). Because of these frequent advertisements that are plastered in billboards, show up in every other page of a magazine, and is flashed on TV, statistically speaking one out of five women have eating disorders, teenage girls self-esteem is significantly lowered, and women of color question their beauty because of their lightness or darkness of skin.

                By asking students to act as the role of critical consumers, students in her 11^th grade class discovered the realities of Seventeen magazine. These stark realities consisted of advertisements dominating the majority of the magazine with only a few article scattered throughout, surveys that asked teens questions to reveal how they should think and act, and an unrealistic portrayal of society. One student exclaims this harsh reality by stating, “Well, now I realize that young girl magazines only focus on looks, and not being smart and achieving your goals. [They] never mention schooling or jobs—just malls and cosmetics” (29). This unit caused Ms. Chavanu’s students to question their own identities.

                For further claims of the negative aspects that advertisements have, there is a list of fifteen facts in relation to what is wrong with advertising (27). These facts include that the average person spends three and a half years of their waking life watching commercials and how advertising turns almost every event into a sales, for example, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade complete with what else? Disney characters.