Technology at John Glenn High School

             It has been a little over a month in a half since my last blog and a lot has happened since then.  I am already in my fourth week of my year long student teaching placement at John Glenn high school (JGHS) in Westland, Michigan.  I have been placed with veteran teacher Michele Anderson in her U.S. history class that is composed up of mainly eleventh graders with an occasional twelfth grader in her class.  I would classify the use and role technology plays at John Glenn as mediocre at best.  The building, which opened in 1964, still has no wifi which makes using laptops difficult.  I am forced to leave my laptop stationary in one spot in the corner of the classroom next to the only ethernet cord in the class.  The classes are all equipped with Dell desktops that are literally 11 years old, which is crazy old considering the recent technological advances in computing the last few years alone.  Additionally, all classes have an LCD projector that is used in collaboration with Smart boards.  Most of the teachers seem to have a love-hate relationship with their boards sighting their potential uses and daily malfunctions and misuses.

            The grading and attendance is all done at JGHS through an on-line program called Zango that is accessible from any computer.  From my experience with the program thus far I have found it to be exceptionally slow and not very user-friendly.  Through speaking with my mentor and other John Glenn teachers I have gathered that the program is really unpopular and more of a pain then a time saver.  Located in JGHS's library is a laptop cart with over 50 laptops and 33 desktop computers available for all students who need to do research or just type up a document.  The student body seems to be more connected with technology as are most twenty-first century students.  Almost all the students have cell phones and are always on them during passing period, with cell phone use being  restricted while in class.  My teacher Mrs. Anderson uses her Smart board nearly every class as she displays her PowerPoint on it during lectures.  I look forward to gaining more insight on the use of technology and its role at JGHS as my student teaching internship continues.          

Organizing my online life

Here is a screen shot of my organizing your online life document.  I found Pinterest to be really innovative and valuable as a future educator.  I plan to use it in my history classroom this fall while student teaching to show various primary sources like pictures and paintings to my students.  If you would like to refer back to my Pinterest blog it was published on July 17th, 2013.

Reading off of paper or an electronic screen?

                I really enjoyed this week's class and readings for EDUC 504.  I enjoyed reading the article "The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens."  I myself have always preferred doing my academic reading on paper, just because I feel more comfortable annotating and having it physically in my hands.  For some reason, I find it easier to flip through the pages and conceptualize when I have a hard copy in front of me.  This is particularly weird because I enjoy reading just about anything else (news, sports) on my Ipad or computer.  When I really need to concentrate on an academic reading I prefer to have it tangibly in front of me so I can sift through the pages, as opposed to doing it all on a computer screen where I have a hard time conceptualizing flipping through pages.  It should be noted that I grew up without a computer in my house till early middle school so I feel that this has something to do with my preference of reading on paper.  Furthermore, it is difficult for me to navigate electronic sources with the same ease as a tactile book or newspaper; I don't know maybe I am just old fashion.  I will say that over the last month in a half in the MAC program I have grown way more accustomed to reading electronic PDF's on the computer, as opposed to printing them all out.  My Ipad allows me to write on the PDF's and highlight whatever information I find important.  This has helped me not only save many  trees, but also keep all my readings centralized in one easily accessible location.  I will say that after looking at my computer screen all day it is nice to read a paper article and switch it up. 

            The article brings up a fascinating study that was done in 1982, and concluded that people read slower, less accurately and less comprehensively on screens than on paper.   Moreover, further studies have concluded that most people still prefer reading on paper, especially when reading intensively.  This trend could be moving though with the introduction of countless new E-readers and tablets.  I for one can attest to this change, having got an Ipad a few years ago and an E-reader app that I put on it.  I love how I can buy the kindle editions of books with one click of the mouse and have the electronic edition of the book in my hands within 30 seconds.  I wouldn't be surprised that if in the next decade physical books and newspapers become virtually replaced by electronic versions.  This idea being furthered by the growing ecological and environmental issues present in our world.  Additionally, the article discussed a study that found that students who read on paper absorb the material more quickly and thoroughly.  All in all, I feel that the preference of reading on a digital screen or book is still just that, personal preference.                 

ED-U-BLOG!

                For today's blog I decided to write about the education blog entitled "Speaking of History..." by Eric Langhorst.  More specifically, I would like to talk about his blog post from this Monday "Connecting the story.  In this blog, Langhorst discusses a workshop he attended in Washington D.C. conducted by Model Classroom and the Pearson Foundation.  He discusses the workshop as being an emotional experience and very thought provoking.  During the workshop he had the opportunity to attend the Vietnam Veterans Memorial which he discusses as being an emotional experience.  I have actually had the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. and see this same beautiful memorial and felt the same way.  In fact, one of my close family friends actually had a brother who was killed during the Vietnam conflict and his name is immortalized on the wall.  My family and I all took a piece of paper and a black stencil and went over his name so that we could forever have it to treasure and honor.  I couldn't believe all the names on the wall, over 58,000 men and women died during the conflict that lasted well over a decade.   As a big history buff I found the trip to Washington D.C. with my family to be incredible. Moreover, as a future history teacher I plan to talk at great lengths about the Vietnam Conflict and the Memorial in Washington D.C..

             Switching directions a little bit, Langhorst also visited the Holocaust Museum during his Washington D.C. workshop.  I also had the opportunity to visit this museum with my family and found it to be just as emotionally captivating and moving as the Vietnam Memorial.  Ever since I was a young student I have always held a deep intellectual curiosity for WWII and the Holocaust.  It's so incredible to think that something as terrible and deplorable as the Holocaust actually happened, let alone in the 20th century.  Moving throughout the museum you could feel the intense emotion of what it must of been like to live and die in a Nazi concentration camp.  The inside of the museum is decorated and designed to look just like a concentration camp and only enhances the emotions and feelings experienced by the viewers.  I really hope that sometime during my teaching career I will be able to lead a field trip or study trip to the Holocaust museum and Washington D.C. in general.  Furthermore, I feel that my trip to Washington D.C., just like Langhorst's, will really benefit me as a future history educator.  

Screen Shot from Age of Empires

Age of Empires in the class

                      At  the end of yesterdays EDUC 504 class Rory asked the question "how can we revise a high school curriculum around video gaming?"  After first hearing the question I really didn't have any initial thoughts or opinions regarding the subject matter, but after having some time to think it over I believe I have developed a clear position.  Growing up in middle school and high school I always used to play the game "Age of Empire" PC games.  "Age of Empires" is a series of PC games that allows players to cultivate their own civilization in real time strategy fashion, similar to the way SIMS does.  This game was so cool to me growing up because it allowed me to express my interest in the subject of history all while playing video games, which is something I loved.  As crazy as it is, I feel that "Age of Empires" really helped further grow my passion and intellectual curiosity for history.  The game allowed me to create my own civilization and decide what buildings, people, and direction to take my land.  I got to build houses, build farms, raise armies, invest in technology, invest in resources, manage infrastructure, create alliances, and much more.  Furthermore, each decision a player makes can drastically effect the direction and outcome of your civilization.

            I honestly believe a real time strategy game like "Age of Empires" could be used abundantly throughout a history or anthropology class during a semester.  The game was created in such a way that I believe it could be really beneficial to use in history classes helping students further understand the importance of history and how it relates to them.  "Age of Empires" in my opinion does a remarkable job of making history come alive to its players.  I also think the game is really beneficial because of its ability to cross into other disciplines and encourage students to problem solve.  Moreover, the game is very user friendly and easy to understand and master.  The game is very similar to the SIMS in that you control everything that happens, and the direction and flow of the game.  "Age of Empires" could be easily aligned into the history classes daily lessons.  For example, if one week my class is discussing WWII, then "Age of Empires" can be utilized as students execute their own military strategies, with the same weapons and geography of that of WWII.  Students can play countless simulations of real time battles where they make numerous decisions that affect the outcome of the civilization.  The game also provides students with a great general understanding of practical economics that they can then apply to a more vast understanding of history.  All in all I believe Age of Empires would be a great game for developing students basic understanding of history, and how it is shaped based on various decisions and strategies.  I plan on using the game a lot in my future history classes.           

An image from the first video game I ever bought!  Mario Kart.