So I have one of three presentations done as of today. Christine and I presented our WebQuest to the class and to our teacher, Lisa B., this afternoon. It feels so great to a) have it done, b) to have presented it to the class... I was really proud of what we did, even if it took SO MUCH WORK! Now that it's over, I am actually thinking that is was fun... crazy after all the late nights and fretting over all the language (it's all in French). The final product looks really professional, and wasn't really that difficult, just time-consuming. It was really great to have the time in class to work on it, and to actually have it required of us. It's one of those things as a teacher that you always plan to do sometime but never really find the time to actually DO. Well, now that I've done one, I am excited to try and create another one for the beginning of the school year. We'll see if I really get it done, but at least I know that I have to intellectual tools in place to do it.
Here's the WebQuest link, if interested:
www.lcmatsl.googlepages.com
Off to finish the other two final projects, one due tomorrow morning and one Saturday. Ciao!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Kids and TV
Lisa B. mentioned her feelings today about kids and TV/video games, and how she thinks that those who grew up in the late '70s-'80s can multi-task well, but also need much more stimulus to keep their attention. I very much agree. When my first son was born, I did some reading about the effects of television, video games and computers (basically, any screen time) and learned that before the age of three, viewing normal television, with the fast pace at which it moves, literally rewired the connections in the brain in a way that would not happen without tv time. It is recommended that children under 3 years old have no screen time so that they may develop these brain connections using real objects and people.
I see implications in my classroom when my students cannot sit still or focus on a task or listen to a set of instructions that last more than a minute. It is interesting to look at the statistics on learning and attention issues (ADD, ADHD, etc.) that have mushroomed over the past decade. It must be caused by something, and to me, the corrolation between screen time and alterations in attention seem logical. It will also be interesting to follow what case studies emerge and what research will end up substantiating regarding this connection in the next few years.
Disclaimer: though I know that it is better for children to have no screen time before the age of three, I do admit that my sons watch some TV. They usually watch things such as "Thomas the Tank Engine" and "Peter Pan", and not commercial television. Ideally, I would prefer no screen time. But the reality is that sometimes the ease of things like television take an enormous effort to avoid. I fully admit to not putting forth that effort necessary, and try to keep their screen time to a minimum...
I see implications in my classroom when my students cannot sit still or focus on a task or listen to a set of instructions that last more than a minute. It is interesting to look at the statistics on learning and attention issues (ADD, ADHD, etc.) that have mushroomed over the past decade. It must be caused by something, and to me, the corrolation between screen time and alterations in attention seem logical. It will also be interesting to follow what case studies emerge and what research will end up substantiating regarding this connection in the next few years.
Disclaimer: though I know that it is better for children to have no screen time before the age of three, I do admit that my sons watch some TV. They usually watch things such as "Thomas the Tank Engine" and "Peter Pan", and not commercial television. Ideally, I would prefer no screen time. But the reality is that sometimes the ease of things like television take an enormous effort to avoid. I fully admit to not putting forth that effort necessary, and try to keep their screen time to a minimum...
Friday, July 20, 2007
Chat rooms
Okay, so the beach picture below and the beach excursion feel like such a long time ago. It's been an incredibly long week, and we have one to go. I had a fairly big presention on Sartre and the Resistance on Thursday morning, for which I stayed up late on Wednesday. I think it went okay, but I ran on adreline the rest of the day yesterday and have been dragging today. I really love the content of our French class this week, and got really involved in the whole Sartre thing, which took me by surprise.
For our tech class today, we all had to meet in a chatroom and chat about topics our professor gave us. She didn't come to the school but managed it from her home. It was really crazy - all those messages flying all over the place - but I can definitely see great ways to use it in my classroom. One of the other French teachers and I have tentatively set a date to get our middle school students together virtually to chat in French. We'll see how it goes.
For our tech class today, we all had to meet in a chatroom and chat about topics our professor gave us. She didn't come to the school but managed it from her home. It was really crazy - all those messages flying all over the place - but I can definitely see great ways to use it in my classroom. One of the other French teachers and I have tentatively set a date to get our middle school students together virtually to chat in French. We'll see how it goes.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Les Babes à la plage...
Here is a quick photo of our lake excursion yesterday. I'm hoping for more to come...
Photo op
Here is a picture of the commons which we pass several times a day on our way to our classes... (I thought I needed another picture to brighten things up on my blog. Okay, really I'm just procrastinating...)
Hitting the wall
Okay, so we are to blog about 'hitting the wall' regarding our tech class or the MASTL program in general. There have been times in the last 10 days when I've hit a fence, but I'm not at the wall right now. I am, however, and have been numerous times, completed blown away by how much material there is on the web. Many times I sit in front of my computer, dazed at where to begin. When we are told to explore websites, podcasts, blogs... it's like giving someone a telescope and saying 'go look at a star' (Rob, you'll appreciate the analogy). There is a universe of information out there and to try and go see what's out there, as our tech prof says, is such an immense task.
I have also gone through several series of hitting mini-walls with all the information we are held accountable for here in MATSL, and all the final products we are expected to produce by ... holy cow! ... NEXT FRIDAY?!?!? That's like 10 days!! Okay, no more blogging today, I've hit a concrete wall of panic and must go work! (notice my fire/panic red font of today)
Oops, I just realized that I was supposed to be blogging for my tech class about how my students often hit the wall in their languages and how that must feel. I can certainly relate in that when I am bombarded with too much information here at MATSL, I've found that I very much need reassurance that I'm doing alright, that it's supposed to be this hard, that I will not fail out of this program -- all irrational places that my mind has tended to go this past week. And I also learned how my mind and psyche respond when I do not receive the reassurance that I am seeking. It's completely crushing to call out for help, maybe just a little word saying that I'm doing okay and to keep going, and to not receive what I think I need. It's a valuable learning process about how I function and work through this kind of pressure. If my own students aren't having a strong self-confidence day or have been through things that push them beyond their perceived limits, and reach out for a little reassurance, I will very well give it to them, in piles, so that they are able to get beyond that self-doubt, and are able to continue with the difficult, seemingly impossible tasks at hand.
Whew. Okay, outta here. :)
I have also gone through several series of hitting mini-walls with all the information we are held accountable for here in MATSL, and all the final products we are expected to produce by ... holy cow! ... NEXT FRIDAY?!?!? That's like 10 days!! Okay, no more blogging today, I've hit a concrete wall of panic and must go work! (notice my fire/panic red font of today)
Oops, I just realized that I was supposed to be blogging for my tech class about how my students often hit the wall in their languages and how that must feel. I can certainly relate in that when I am bombarded with too much information here at MATSL, I've found that I very much need reassurance that I'm doing alright, that it's supposed to be this hard, that I will not fail out of this program -- all irrational places that my mind has tended to go this past week. And I also learned how my mind and psyche respond when I do not receive the reassurance that I am seeking. It's completely crushing to call out for help, maybe just a little word saying that I'm doing okay and to keep going, and to not receive what I think I need. It's a valuable learning process about how I function and work through this kind of pressure. If my own students aren't having a strong self-confidence day or have been through things that push them beyond their perceived limits, and reach out for a little reassurance, I will very well give it to them, in piles, so that they are able to get beyond that self-doubt, and are able to continue with the difficult, seemingly impossible tasks at hand.
Whew. Okay, outta here. :)
Monday, July 16, 2007
On est en vacances!! (vite, vite)
So today began like the others here at Bennington, wake up (relatively) early, shower, breakfast, off to class. We have quite a few assignments raining down on us over the next few days so this morning's class was heavy with information. We knew we needed lots of explanation time with Noelle and Isabel, and were running a bit behind in the morning, but didn't fret because we had three hours of classes with them this afternoon. The teachers, as usual, wanted to get through lots of material, and we'd done a good portion of it, but were not finished (as usual) as noon approached (which, again, was okay, because we had this afternoon - see where I'm going??) Nancy, the assistant director of the MATSL program came into our classroom at five minutes before noon to tell us to pack up our things, go to lunch and then to change into our bathing suits because we were all heading to the lake for a 'relaxing' afternoon. Now you'd think this would make us happy (it sure made the Spanish folk sing!), but most of us (at least Nadia and I) were actually really frustrated and a little stressed out at the thought of not having our classes - or our resources, namely our teachers - to help us with our assignments. Also, think of the time we would be 'wasting' not working! But this wonderful outing was obligatoire, so after a few moments of grumbling, we headed off to lunch (more grumbling) and then traipsed up the hill (still more grumbling) to get changed.
It actually turned out to be a lovely afternoon, and, once we settled into the idea, quite relaxing. We stopped off at the "Chocolate Barn" on our way home to drop $8 on little speciality chocolates which should last me through the rest of this week. I will hopefully be able to post some pictures from our afternoon excursion tomorrow...
The other result from this afternoon (aside from relaxation) is that I'm still up at ten past midnight finishing my homework... should be able to sleep in half an hour or so...
Zzzzzzz.......
It actually turned out to be a lovely afternoon, and, once we settled into the idea, quite relaxing. We stopped off at the "Chocolate Barn" on our way home to drop $8 on little speciality chocolates which should last me through the rest of this week. I will hopefully be able to post some pictures from our afternoon excursion tomorrow...
The other result from this afternoon (aside from relaxation) is that I'm still up at ten past midnight finishing my homework... should be able to sleep in half an hour or so...
Zzzzzzz.......
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