Class Again...

So after what seemed more like a month our class was able to meet last night for the first time since the snow came a week ago. It was good to learn how different the Google Earth experience would be on school computers vs. at home. Having navigated with more ease in class meant perhaps I'm not as bad with computers as first feared and just lacking high powered equipment. There wasn't much we talked about, that I can remember, that I didn't already have an understanding of. We went over the spreadsheet assignment. It has been looming over me for a week or so and nothing done so with intentions to work on it today, last night I found myself getting a good head start on it until 4am. As we went over them in class though and I worked from a mock spreadsheet, much of what we discussed two weeks earlier came back to me rather quickly.
We talked about Powerpoint presentations and what works and doesn't work. Included in that list of guidelines about how to give a strong presentation, were points instilled in my mind many years ago now back in highschool when we were coached on giving ppt presentations for our seniour projects. Face the audience, speak/act in a professional manner, don't overload the slides but make them clear and concise, and keep them engaged. I didn't say aloud in class however, that chewing gum, slouching, saying um, and fidgeting really detract from a professional presentation. Though I admit I freeze up with nerves giving one and find it hard to act as confidently as I rehearse; I've sat through many painful presentations in college where my peers didn't seem to understand there is a difference between casualism and professionalism.
Good class. Went home feeling on top of things and dread the push and pull of yet another project on the horizon.

Google Earth

Wow. All I can say is, maybe I am not as saavy with the internet as I thought I was. This last week, as I have not needed to be in class since last Tues afternoon as a result of the delicious snow, I have come and gone from Google Earth and various other web 2.0 programs at leisure. In all, I must've spent about 10 hours online exploring these and didn't really accomplish much. Maybe I am too overwhelmed by all my new options or just not using them right. I just couldn't seem to accomplish anything I set out to do.
My first experiment which I approached with great anticipation was Remember the Milk, a program that acts as an online planner/reminder. I figured this could be very useful because, when I have important things to get done and they are noted in my planner, it's when the planner has been tucked away in my bookbag for some time while I am off doing other things that I completely miss the reminders. This way, at least when I am online, I can receive the reminders via my instant messenger. IF it could be useful to me, I imagined how I could have students make use of this funky little online organizer to keep track of their work. However, it couldn't less confusing on how to add appointments and such. Again, it's either too complicated or more complicated then needs to be or I am missing something. Any other program I tried to explore just wouldn't well on my computer because of slow connection. If they didn't require endless download/installation processes, the programs were just too thick for my skimpy little connection to carry and eventually got closed out.
These programs probably work and might even be really helpful, especially in a classroom; but there are so many and for the less saavy or those like myself with more inferior technology at hand, they can pretty much be deemed useless and a waste of time.
I loved Google Earth but couldn't make it do what I wanted. It was interesting to see different views of places I go, some places (like Coney Island) even had street views you could click on to see actual photographs of that spot. I attempted to upload some of my own photos through their program but never found out how to make them appear on the maps. There should be better instructions, step by step, to walk newcomers through each aspect.

Class 3- Groundhog's Day

So whether or not old P. Phil saw his shadow I don't know, but what I do know is that it feels like winter with the wonderful snow! Today felt like a very productive day despite waking up hurting all over, call it the cold damp weather or old age but some days it really hurts to get out of bed. Even with the looming threat of snow, and in fact because of it, we really got alot done. We started by having a discussion about the difference between Summative and Formative assessments. This comes in handy because I have conveniently picked up another class this semester that deals with assessments and until tonight, despite having referred to these multiple times in class, I was unsure exactly what they meant. Summative focuses on the long-term learning and assesses, essentially, if the teacher had bascially done their job in teaching students what they need to know. Formative assessments go hand in hand with instructional activities and occur more frequently, because they help the teacher determine at what point in learning each student is with the lesson. Therefore with Formative assessments the teacher has the opportunity to remediate if necessary; whereas with Summative assessments, although they may be used in a formative way/more frequently the more or less cap the front and back ends of the learning period such that the end results come after the point where help may have been needed.
On to our excel spreadsheet assignments. Excel, got it. It sounds or feels eerily too easy after having the in-class demo on the basics of Excel but I shall give it my best effort. We discussed how to calculate weighted grade averages, this following our previous discussion about assessments in schools.
Teachers really have alot of work to do, I think it's poor logic to assume that teachers need yet more pressure added in regards to finely balancing their many duties-mandatory test prep included, like an act of juggling eggs with satin mittens on. I can understand teacher accountability to a certain degree, there being a certain set of obligations but teaching is NOT like working a production line, where all the goods being churned out are identical and predictable. It isn't fair to assume every teaching situation will have the same turn out at all times, and what of difficult students who really don't care to be in school and come just for the free lunches? How is that a teacher's fault such that they should take the blame for that student's weak performance?? As a future Art teacher, I know we face hell because the core curriculum teachers view Art as a dummy class because it does not involve standards testing and such, but it is just as important within a school as any, if not more for some students. There needs to be less focus on just math and science because not every student is going to move onto a career where these are needed, not fair. Japanese students score tremendously high in math, they also spend most of their year, all day, all week, in school; suicide among teens is the highest in the world. High math and high demand high pressure lives vs. ok math for those who won't need it and happy people.