Today I hoped we would focus primarily on 3 items,
• introducing strategies to support groupwork
• debriefing our efforts to modernize our technological lives
• transitioning from secondary school reform visions of the 1990's to practices of today, via thinking about the study of schooling via ethnography
We began with the Broken Circle activity which is meant to bring out two key behaviors that make a group successful: Pay attention to what other group members need, and No one is done until everyone is done.
Next we reviewed the key online structures for our class--listed below--and discussed pros cons of technology, asked questions about getting some things done, shared online possibilities and resources, and generally debriefed our technology experiences the past week.
• WebCT - course base station, assignments, grades
• Class Blog - weekly review, reading reflection assignments, and "other"
• Own blog (for the class) - where you will keep Reading Reflections, your class journal
• Twitter #ed530 - the backstory discussion forum for our course
• Class Ning page - not really sure yet what this is, other than a place to share and discuss
Before lunch, you began considering the course assignment to complete an ethnographic analysis of your CP II placement. You posted the web address of an interesting school and a brief comment stating what element of reform this school had undertaken on your class blog, as well has reviewed some of the Second to None attributes evident at your CP II school. The afternoon was dedicated to beginning and planning for your ethnography work.
Homework for next week, Feb. 15 follows:
1. Read chapters 1-3 in the Cohen book.
2. Complete Reading Response 3
3. Remember to respond to the question below using the comment feature
4. Reminder, last week I asked that you add a photo to your class blog and your Twitter account.
5. Tweet: send out a random thought or experience that connects with our class; use #ed530
Week 4 Question: What was the best book you had to read in high school? Mine was Brave New World, in 9th grade. The classism of this utopia resonated for me then in ways that modern versions of power and privilege continue to trouble my soul.
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The best book that I got to read in high school was Romeo and Juliet, because I just had so much fun reading it out loud in class, acting it out as we read, and using my ridiculous accents.
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ReplyDeleteI do not remember ever having to read a book- The Old Lincoln- but I read and still enjoy to this day "The Coldest Winter Ever".
ReplyDeletetim my favorite part of that play (possibly my least favorite shakespeare (and i love him)) is the do you bite your thumb at me sir part :)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite book in high scool was for sure stranger in a strange land. Everyone should read that.
My favorite book in high school was Catcher in the Rye. I don't remember why I was so fond of Holden Caulfield, but when I reread it as an adult, I knew why Holden is so cool: he sees through all of the facades of the "phonies" around him. As a kid, I thought adults were full of it and a bunch of blowhards, for the most part. Now, I still love Holden, and I still think that most adults are full of pretense and masquerade around as people they truly are not.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite books in high school was A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading The Taming of the Shrew in High School. I have to say, though, I also enjoyed Catcher in the Rye. I really did not gain an appreciation for reading until I got to the college level, but now I love a GOOD read!
ReplyDeleteIt's so hard to choose just one...so I'm going to go with three (in no particular order): The Catcher in the Rye, 1984, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (engaging AND funny!!)
ReplyDeleteHmmm....Siddhartha?
ReplyDeleteAnnie - only a math student would put a parenthesis inside of another parenthesis. Hilarious!
Loved Brv Nw Wrld also. Catch Ry. 1984. Now I'm rereading 2 Kill a Mckng Brd. Atticus Finch's nobility, bravery and willingness to do the right thing should be an inspiration to us all. Scout's a DAMN hoot, too!!
ReplyDeleteOne last thing about Utopia/Dystopia. I had a gang member in my class write about Dystopia in The Giver. He titled the paper "Living in Hell Without Knowing It" Powerful, so powerful coming from someone who is not privileged and is trying to desperately to take some power back.
ReplyDeleteI loved Homer's The Odyssey. Probably because so much of it stirred the imagination and evoked far-off, magical places. A pantheon of crazy creatures and deities, gods and goddesses behaving badly, sirens, lotus eaters...what more could you ask for? I also liked the absurdity of Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot.
ReplyDeleteWow, reading through the comments makes me fondly remember so many great books. I too liked To Kill a Mockingbird, loved Siddhartha, Salinger is one of my favorite authors of all times but I didn't read him until after college. I think Farenheit 451 was one of my favorites in high school though. First time I got all riled up about Big Brother watching.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jacque. Reading everyone's comments is reminding me of the great books. I think that my favorite book would have to be Lord of the Flies. It was fun to read!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed 'To kill a mockingbird' (more so because we took a school trip to an old movie theater to see the Gregory Peck film version). One of the Shakespeare plays we studied in my O level English class was 'Twelfth Night' - our teacher's acting abilities made us see how hilarious it is.
ReplyDeleteI can't pick one...too bad To Kill a Mockingbird was in middle school, or I'd choose that for sure. Grapes of Wrath, maybe, because it got me into reading Steinbeck
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see Brave New World and 1984 made the cut for some people. They are two of my favorites and I am actually re-reading Brave New World now (in an attempt to seem productive while avoiding hw). My favorite high school books were Candide and The Prince (yes, I am a history nerd). They are both still relevant in my life and think more high schools should be assigning them.
ReplyDeleteI would say the best book I HAD to read was All Quite on the Western Front. It was the only book That was assiagned that I read all the way through.
ReplyDeleteI liked Night by Elie Wiesel. I still remember them walking to the concentration camps. It really impacted me and made the event vivid (most other books didn't do that for me).
ReplyDeleteBeowulf and Gredel were my two favorite books in high school
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have to say "Lord of the Flies" was my favorite. One of the reasons I got into the tv show, LOST.
ReplyDeleteI liked Jane Eyre - I liked the simple romance of it and the mystery about the "woman who lived upstairs" - I'm not a big reader and I actually finished this one!
ReplyDeleteThe Grapes of Wrath was a great story until my English teacher made every word a symbol for something else. Loved anything and everything by Vonnegut, can't remember if we could read those in high school (tim, insert old guy joke here__________). Loved The Great Gatsby, have read it about 50 times now..........
ReplyDeleteA Child Called It. It opened my eyes to what kind of people I want to be helping.
ReplyDeleteLord of the Flies was probably by favorite book to read in high school because of the fact that kids in charge and adults were not.
ReplyDeleteI think my favorite book was Lord of the Flies. It was a read on your own book, it wasn't read by the entire class, and I then got to share it with everyone. Plus the movie is pretty awesome. So I will go with Lord of the Flies.
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