Category Archives: Literacy teacher educators

Keeping up with Technology in Education

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I (Cathy) am not sure that keeping up with technology in education is possible.  This is where collaboration in the classroom becomes a necessity. The ‘technology-gifted’ students become our greatest resource, in effect- the teachers.   Unlike the cartoon below, I’m not referring to the  students who can afford the latest gadgets, I’m referring to the students who are ‘technologically intelligent’.  Several years ago, Howard Gardner suggested this was possibly  a new intelligence to add to his list, but unfortunately never followed up.  Personally, I have relied on such students in the past.  They are our mentors. They ‘see’ the digital world and the possibilities. It’s a gift.  Look for these students in your class.  They may be a fantastic untapped resource.

 

'Our school computers are one year old. How can we be competitive in the job market if we're being trained on obselete equipment?'
‘Our school computers are one year old. How can we be competitive in the job market if we’re being trained on obselete equipment?’

Concept of Design will “weave their lives back together”

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While investigating how educators interpret the “concept of design” when using a multiliteracies approach, I (Cathy) came across this intriguing application. I felt it was most appropriate in understanding how our definition of literacy or literacies is now so incredibly comprehensive. This ‘concept of design’ integrates the processes of narrative with issues of social justice, environmental change, and elements of traditional culture.abeer

Designer:  Jordanian-Canadian Abeer Seikaly received her Bachelor of Architecture and Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2002. Over the span of 10 years, she has built a foundation of interdisciplinary skills that span architecture, design, art, fashion, textile design, and curation. She won the 2013 Lexus Design Award for her work, “Weaving a Home.” Abeer’s work is rooted in the process of memory – journaling, documenting, archiving, and collecting – to create objects, spaces, and experiences that exist in the realm of her narratives.

Purpose: Abeer hopes her Weaving a Home design will allow refugees who have been displaced by global and civil war, and climate change to have the chance to “weave their lives back together”. Inspired by elements of nature such as snake skin and traditional cultural aspects such as weaving, nomadic life and tent dwellings, this weather proof, strong but lightweight and mobile fabric tent is designed to collect rain water for drinking and bathing. 

Product: The Weaving a Home tent has a flexible dual layer tent structure has the ability to close out the cold of winter and wet weather. Solar energy hits the tent fabric and is stored in a battery for use at night providing renewable electricity. The tent sides also open up to allow cool air in and hot air out in summer. Rainwater is collected in the top of the tent and filters down the sides so the tent does not become flooded. The tent also has the ability to become a showering facility with water being stored in pockets on the side and drawn upwards via a thermosiphoning system providing basic sanitation.

tenttent at night

http://www.abeerseikaly.com/weavinghome.php

Motto for Education

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I (Cathy)  came across this quote and felt it was most applicable to education.  As teachers and teacher educators we must be forward thinking and forward acting.  We must look to where or students and society is going to be and prepare them. Thank you # 99 for reminding us of our role in the progress of educational theory and praxis.

 

I skate quote

 

Teaching with Technology- A Constant Challenge

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trust technology1

 

This cartoon reminded me (Cathy) of an incident from when I was teaching grade four.  The math problem for the day was:

A man went to bed at 11:00 p.m. and got up at 7:00 a.m. the next day.  How many hours did the man sleep?

One of my students just couldn’t figure it out it.  He usually didn’t have problems with mathematics, but he just couldn’t “see it”. In an effort to guide him, I told him to draw a clock and count the hours in between 11 and 7.

Sometime later I noticed he was sitting at his desk just staring at his notebook.  I walked over to see what he was staring at. This is what he had drawn:11

 

I guess my technology wasn’t matching up with his technology.  It’s a constant challenge!

Second Wave Change

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Every once and a while I check online to see if my favorite literacies scholar, Allan Luke, has presented something new I can learn from.

Allen

Although not ‘new’, this time I happened upon a  short and poignant video called Second Wave Change.  It’s a succinct  explanation of  the kind of substantive content our students need to be discussing and thinking about to change our world.  This is a perfect video for student teachers.

So worth watching, but Allen Luke always is.

 

 

A Book Printing Machine at Toronto Library!

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books.jpeg

The CBC reported that this past weekend the Toronto Reference Library unveiled book printing machine which allows individuals to walk away with store-quality books. As of now, authors can print 10 copies of  their books (150 pgs) for $145. A bit pricey in my opinion, but definitely unique with a lot of great potential for students, writers, educators, etc. CBC reports that “What’s new is the ability to self-publish books – whether your own piece of literature, a cook book, dissertation or whatever you choose for a relatively.” The Toronto Reference Library will soon be offering courses on how to best format books for professional looking books.

Read CBC article here:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-library-offers-store-quality-book-printing-to-customers-1.2670661

 

 

The Future of Education?

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I (Cathy) recently read a blog posted on the The Huffington Post.  If you are not familiar with the Huffington Post, it is an American online news aggregator and blog, that has been public for 10 years.   In 2012, The Huffington Post became the first commercially run United States digital media enterprise to win a Pulitzer Prize.

I qualify the source only because I am always suspect of individuals or groups that make claims or forecasts about education, yet  know little about the systems. As I consider The Huffington Post a relatively reliable and informative source, I gave the claims made by , a guest blogger who was the Former President for the  Society for Quality Education a second look.

In this blog, Dare proposes that all education systems are cartels  (an association of manufacturers or suppliers with the purpose of maintaining prices at a high level and restricting competition) and these cartels will be disrupted by the world of technology.  Dare suggests:

A software company might put together a complete online curriculum, with built-in testing and reporting, that allows students to progress at their own speed using tablet computers. Already much of this software exists, although it is not yet well organized. Another (or the same) software company might make it possible for parents to access individuals, or groups of individuals, who are willing to coach a group of other people’s children, possibly in their own homes or in a community centre, for a reasonable fee. Part of the software company’s services could be to vet the coaches and ensure they pass health and safety checks.

Dare uses Uber and Airbnb as examples of disrupters to systems and claims educational systems are next.  He goes on to say:

In fact, disruption is already taking place in the post-secondary sector — see UoPeople, the world’s first non-profit, near tuition-free, accredited online university. Currently, students can earn an undergraduate degree in business administration and computer science for $4,000 US, and more programs are being added.

I am fascinated by this blog for a number of reasons.  First, Dare assumes that a young adults  seeking to educate themselves  are comparable to young child who are learning to read and learning to socialize. I have taught children to read (and socialize) and I simply do not  think a  computer can do it.  There is a lot more to education than just text book learning!  Secondly,  Dare implies in the blog that teachers are oblivious to the affordances of technology and reject it for fear it will disrupt the “cartel” in which they participate.   Every teacher I know (from K to HE) incorporates (in degrees) technology into the teaching and learning in their classroom.  They are also aware that students can go online and teach themselves many things. They even encourage it.  The Khan Academy was designed for such learning and is largely responsible for the premise of flipped classrooms which are very popular right now  in Canadian colleges.  I do not think technology will disrupt the educational system.  I think it will just continue to enhance both teaching and learning. Technology and education will evolve together.

Lastly, Dare is completely oblivious to the most significant aspect of education – the relationship.  Countless studies have suggested a caring, attentive teacher can do more for a student than any other factor. Personally, I just can’t see technology completely replacing a good teacher, especially in the education of the young. People simply need people.

Thoughts?

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/malkin-dare/ontario-education-future_b_8916284.html

Time Out

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I (Cathy) read this lovely blog the other day and wanted to share it with you. It seemed appropriate for this time of year, when so many people seem rushed and pressured, preparing for the holiday season.  I think it applies to teachers and teacher educators alike.  But most of all, it’s about our students.  Where some of us live, we can’t take our students outside due to the weather, but I think if you got creative, you could think of someway for them to “unwind”.

I played hooky a few weeks ago.  I filled out my paperwork for half a personal day and took the afternoon off.

It’s not something that was easy for me to do.  I’m usually overcome with guilt and angst whenever I take time off.  I can count on one hand the times I’ve actually taken a personal day, and sick days are used only when I am so ill, I can’t muster the strength to crawl to the shower—one every few years. There’s too much work to be done to miss school—the students need me too much, right?

So, I don’t take time off.

Yet that day, I did. Where I live, the weather can be fickle and complicated.  We never really know what’s going to happen on any given day. But this month, we were given a delightful weather gift.  We had six uninterrupted weeks of perfect days—blue skies, exquisitely clear air, and leaves that turned color slowly.  Every day dawned beautifully—and stayed that way.

But I knew our streak was almost over.  Forecasts predicted plunging temperatures and heavy rain. That’s why, on a whim, I decided to take the afternoon off.

I went home and settled on our back patio.  I sipped a cup of tea and read my way through a few back issues of my favorite magazines.

As the afternoon came to an end and it came time for me to go gather my children from their school, I thought about how peaceful and easy the afternoon had been. I felt full of energy. I’d put a stop to the hamster wheel and it felt terrific.

Since I felt so good after a simple and easy afternoon, I wondered how something like that would feel to our students.  I worry about them. I fear they feel the effects of our “teacher anxiety.”  Amid the push for high achievement, along with the immense pressure to have students reading and writing on grade level—now!—we forget that sometimes we all just need a break. It doesn’t have to be pedal-to-the-metal every moment of every day, right?  Certainly not.  In fact, I’d argue that kind of approach does more harm than good.

So, to all literacy teachers out there, grant yourself permission:  Sometime soon, on a day that feels just right, let yourself put down the lesson plans for an afternoon.  Ignore the to-do list and the upcoming assessments and the small-group conferences you have planned.  Instead, gather your class and tell them to pick out a light book or magazine.  Take them somewhere lovely and different, away from their routine.  Join them in sinking into a comfortable spot to read—in a corner of the school library, beneath a favorite tree in the courtyard, or spread out on the bleachers near the football field.  It doesn’t matter where—just so it’s away and interrupts the routine of intensity. Make sure it’s easy.

 Jennifer Schwanke                                                                                                                                      Contributor, Choice Literacy

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=2353