Socially Networked Classroom reflection

The Socially Networked Classroom: Teaching in the New Media Age by William Kist is a great resource when it comes to finding classroom activites and assingments for multi-modal literacies. What I really enjoyed best about Kist's writing style was that he is completely aware that some classrooms may be more technologically advanced. Kist separates his book into chapters based on how much technology is avaliable at a certain school. I enjoyed being able to see what type of activites I can use in a low tech environment compared to an unlimted tech environment. This is really useful because depending on the school I eventually teach at because I can refer back to the chapter to which my school falls under.

What I really think has been great that Professor Kist has been having our Multi-Modal Literature in Secondary Classrooms class actually practice and experience some of the activities he has mentioned in his book. I think this is great because I can get a feel for what these activities are like from a student viewpoint. I also enjoy being able to discuss with my classmates what they think of the activities Kist has presented us with. I am able to get different viewpoints from the differnt type of learners in my class. I feel that reading and experiencing these activities will only help me grow as a teacher. I cannot wait to practice some of the other activities that Kist has mentioned in his book.

Post- Autobiography Presentation

I think my Multigenre Literacy Autobiography went well. I defintely would have put more music into my presentation if I were able to download more songs. My favorite part of my autobiography was the early years. I enjoyed looking back on my past and seeing the different literacies that impacted my life. I liked how it turned out, it did not look as cluttered as the later years. I was trying to have as little slides as possible.

Maralee Bradley's Autobiography spoke to me the most because she talked about how all the literacies in her life helped form her to become who she is. I know that we had a few similarities when it came to our different literacies that we enjoyed growing up.

The benefits of this assignment help students have fun learning about themselves and also the different type of literacies that are out there. I know I never really thought about fashion and pieces of art as literacies. I think a drawback to this assignment might be that it can be too time consuming. I believe we only went through like 5 presentation in an hour and a half. I think it would take me 2 weeks to get through a high school classroom's presentations.

I will be honest, I really don't know how I am going to use clips/images in my future students writing or creation of digital literature. I hope to learn more about this topic because I know I need help with it. I feel like my mind is stuck in the traditional English classroom, rather than the mondern, multi-modal English classroom.

**I tried uploading my autobiography into this blog entry, but it did not work on video and picture or hyperlink. When I figure it out, I will for sure post my autobiography for all to see. **

Vanity Fair's Internet article

After reading Vanity Fair's An Oral History of the Internet, I learned some things that I did not really know about the Internet before. I thought it was interesting that instant communication online, such as e-mail and a form of instant messenger, started around 1978, but I had no knowledge of it till the early 2000's. I did feel much better, however, to discover the World Wide Web was not created unitl the late 1900's.

I found some interesting facts while reading this article. The things that interested me were:

1. Since I strongly dislike AT&T's Luke Wilson commercials attacking Verizon Wireless, I laughed whole-heartedly when AT&T kept refusing to take part of early stagings of the Internet. I also wanted to high-five Bob Metcalfe for refusing to use AT&T.

2. I was extremely confused during the Browser Wars section. I sat there reading, trying to understand what a browser was, but my boyfriend was nice enough to explain. After struggling through the Browser Wars, it made me want to be more tech-savvy.

3. One of the sections talked about Obama being the most tech-savvy president. It only made me think about how much that helped him during the election. I mean I kept seeing MadTV and SNL sketches making fun of McCaine for being too old to work tecnology. I really think having Obama having a Facebook and a Twitter account really gives him a good name towards young people.

4. I really enjoyed the quote by Vincod Khosla "Communication changes society." It really has. Just look at how we use language. I caught myself the other day saying "lol" actually saying it, not texting it.

My Multigrenre Autobiography (before presentation)

I am getting nervous about presenting my Multigenre Autobiography. I am not creative and I just hope that the PowerPoint format that I have will be ok. Even though I am nervous about the presentation, I had fun building the autobiography. It was great to look back on my past, to see the different movies, music, books, etc. that inspired me. This experience was really nice because it made me get back into touch with who I am. I was able to remember what encouraged me to become an Integrated Language Arts major to begin with.

I did not really have any issues with multi-modal literacies when I was working on this project. The only thing I could really possibly think of was I was nervous to put up a picture of Cosomo because it has the word 'sex' on it. I never know if that is appropriate or not, but I have to remember I go to one of the most liberal colleges around.

I would love to do this assignment in my future classroom. I think my students would have a lot of fun doing this profject. I know I had fun trying to remember everything that I was into when I was a kid. It is a fun project, it keeps them learing about multi-modal literacies, they use their creativity, and they are able to present something they are interested in.

finished with Little Brother

The other night I finally finished Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. I thought the book was pretty interesting, but not exactly my cup of tea. The lead character, Marcus, drove me out of my mind. I wanted to just yell at him to stop being an idiot. I, personally, fear authority and like to follow the rules, but Marcus did everything he could to cause problems. I could not relate to his character at all. I felt terrible when I related to Van or Jolu when they told Marcus to stop using the Xnet or jamming.

However, I thought this book was very relatable to mult-modal literacies because it jammed packed with technologies that will interest students and almost help them learn more about the technical aspects of technolgoy.

I don't know if I would use this book in my classroom, I feel like parents and the administration would not like the idea because of some of the content. I do feel, however, that I would definitly recommend this book to students for use outside of the classroom.

thanks Ke$ha

My sister, a high school senior, is obsessed with Tik Tok by Ke$ah and my sister turned me on to this single. I won't lie I jam out to it when it is on my Ipod or radio, but lately I have become obsessed with Ke$ah's other songs. During my RA office hours, I blast Ke$ha music for the entire 2 hours. What I have really enjoyed about Ke$ha is that a majority of her songs are fun and upbeat like her hit single Tik Tok. I feel like when I get a CD based on the fact that I like the artist's single, I want the rest of the songs to be similar. (I mean I liked the song for a reason.) So I wanted to give a thanks to Ke$ha for making her album "Animal" that my friends and I can listen to while getting ready or driving in the car. Here are some of her songs that I really enjoy, I hope you enjoy them as well.

Your Love is my Drug

Kiss N Tell

I do also want to add that I do not agree that this artist is not the best role model, but the kids are listening to her, so we might as well know what they are listening to.