I still love my paperback....

Imagine, lying in bed on a rainy night, the wind just right, your pillow propped comfortably, your warm milk at your side,...ahhhh now I’m ready to turn the pages of my E-BOOK!!!!! Yes, that’s right, my E-book. Gone are the days when the choice was between hard cover and paper back novel…now its either I use an Ipad or kindle to read my E-BOOK!!!!! The E-book has arrived. An e-book is an electronic representation of a text. Some key features include: audio, animation and its interactive nature. There are many convincing educational advantages of using this type of book that we can integrate in our classrooms to help our struggling readers. They are: Motivational Help in the development of fluency Aids in vocabulary building Strengthens comprehension skills However, one should not be fooled, not all Ebooks are of the best quality and some may not be rightly suited for our learners. Good ebooks should include the following characteristics: Clear navigation Audio must be clear and must have a “play back” option They should be recorded in a quiet space. The typography should be legible Images contained must support text. This new technology is indeed attractive and very interesting to say the least. Personally, it’s a tad difficult for me to sit and read off a screen, I much prefer to sit and read text on paper. However, I do embrace the qualities and benefits of the e-book. But for tonight and maybe tomorrow as well, I will be curling up with my paper back novel, “He drown She in the Sea” and not worrying what may happen to the novel if I were to fall asleep and roll over on it.

Changes

It's been quite a while since I have written on this blog; so much has changed. Yet so much has remained the same... To be continued.....

"The tortoise and the hare"

Or rather..."The ICT student and Web 2.0"
Once there was a computer who used to look down at me with contempt because sometimes I plodded along typing or surfing so slowly.
"You can never get anywhere with those slow fingers of yours. Look at me, my large monitor, my CPU full of tricks and my many many keys! I’m so quick no one would dare compete with me."

I was so tired hearing this PC brag. I said, "If I were to take up the challenge, I'm sure I could and will learn to do many things on you!" The PC, burst into loud laughter, it said, "What a joke! You, compete with me; learn to do all the things I can do, before you even start you will quit!” "If you only you had a clue you wouldn't be so sure of yourself!” I cautioned Mr. PC.

And so the race began. At the push of a button the PC leaped forward in a great bound pulling out all his tricks: internet, short cuts, navigation…but I had my own tricks too, I was armed with the tools of Web 2.0.

“I’ve won this race already," the PC thought as he saw me slowly typing, fidgeting at times; blogging, getting antsy trying to create a wiki.
“I’m not going to give in!” I often thought to myself.

"There's really no reason to hurry," the PC thought. So he went to “sleep”. "I'll come in way ahead of that ICT student, she doesn’t have a clue.”
Meanwhile, I jogged steadily along, I went to class, took notes and more importantly, practiced, practiced, practiced. So at nights when I came home, I was ready for Mr. PC!

Quietly, I created: my wiki, my concept map, even an e-book; a fabulous digital photo story and the goal of finishing my blog posts was here!
The PC was in shock, it saw me reaching the finish line faster than it thought i could. I won.

Perseverance is one of the key tools in achieving success!

A P(ain) in the... A(hem)

The APA format is a standardized system used for formatting research discourse and citation of resources. APA style, refers to the rules presented in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. It facilitates researchers who may be interested in replicating research material. This allows for a standard approach to all research and eases communication in the various fields. The APA format is frequently used by researchers, especially in the field of Social sciences. it can also help in the avoidance of plagiarism.

Shhhh...Now don't say I say but... I used to believe there was a reason for everything, until I came across the APA referencing style. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do understand the importance of citation and referencing and of giving credit where such is due and the echoes of not plagiarising still plagues my dreams (TURNIT IN...TURNIT IN!)...but hear me out! ...I feel the APA is a system designed to test the patience of those who have little to none. Seriously, why is it necessary to leave TWO spaces after a full stop? (Can someone please explain the logistics?) Why do I have to remember that some words in texts are capitalized and some are not? Not forgetting that titles of books and journals need to be italicised. APA isn’t exactly my “cup of tea”, but I HAVE TO USE IT! There are few benefits – it can increase tolerance and endurance levels. I must warn, however, it can facilitate a slight rise in blood pressure and severely accommodates the reception of migraines. Be wary! At the end of the day, yes, we all have to abide by the rules but…sigh…must the task be so tedious?

In closing I leave you my dear colleagues with a quote from John Milton “Copy from one, it's plagiarism; copy from two, it's research”.

Digital Photo Stories

Story telling can have whimsical effects. They allow us to have vicarious experiences. We can travel to magical lands, ancient castles and even journey around the world within hours! Now we can add digital photos to further enhance this practice making it even more appealing and enhancing to our visual experience.

The task in creating these photo stories is in no way tedious. It is an easy and enjoyable process. The site below is indeed helpful to the person who wants to learn to do so:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/tips/firststory.mspx

This tool can be used in the classroom in many different ways. It is up to the teacher to make creative and wise choices that are suited to the learners.
The advantages of employing this genius tool in our classroom are numerous, these are a few:
• They can be used as motivational tools to aid in giving students a desire to read.
• They are enjoyable.
• They can be used to elicit learners’ imagination and creativity.
• They appeal not only to visual but also kinesthetic learners.
• They can provide opportunities for combining different skills.

Integrating picture stories in our classrooms can provide a more dynamic and enjoyable experience for our students; I am very eager to begin employing this tool in my classroom.

Creole or no??

I was practicing the audio component, for creating an E-book for one of my lessons. I was using one of my younger cousin's voices, I mimicked what she had to say, she looked at me in utmost confusion, she said, “...but Mandy, you are speaking 'badly'.” By “badly” she meant, I was asking her to do the forbidden! Speak as she calls it “Dialect.” O the horror!!

“It is the nature of the West Indian Creole-influenced language situation that is responsible ...for the language education problem at the ...school level.” (Craig (1999) 23).

Creolists have worked at gaining recognition for Creole languages as autonomous languages in their own right and not mere “broken” or “bastardised” versions of a European colonial language.

In our Trinidadian classrooms there is an existence of two codes, Standard English, the official of education and Trinidadian Creole. Whenever the Creole is used as a language of instruction, the result is almost always a negative reaction. It is believed that even though the official code receives attention in the teaching and learning scenario not enough attention is given to the Creole even though it is the native language of the majority of speakers.

It is not a question of whether which language is good or bad; right or wrong, it is our aim as teachers of literacy to give students the opportunities to use both codes BUT teach them to CODE SWITCH. They need to be aware of the uses of both codes; it is only then a balance can be achieved. I believe teachers’ language attitudes towards Creole usage in the classroom, need to be examined, in order to put an end to this stereotype.

Assessment

In an attempt to come up with suitable assessments for my lesson plans, I came across an interesting article: McKenna, M.C & Walpole, S. (2005) How well does assessment inform our reading instruction? The Reading Teacher. Vol.59 No.1 84-86

Assessment is commonly linked to “high-stakes" testing. The discourse seeks to contrast this view and the norm in the classroom to alternative forms of assessment that can work alongside other measures of assessment which would alert teachers from the onset to problematic areas of reading development; promote diagnostic assessment as an aid; offer progress monitoring and examine outcome measures.

The discourse helps one to realize that this (assessment) is a universal issue. It mirrors the reality of situations faced by teachers within the bounds of the classroom, where at times, a tug-of-war between teaching and learning occurs. The article purports the idea that alternative assessment can be used as a tool for monitoring and that there can be co-existence between assessment and instruction; it seeks to compliment to the core. It demonstrates that if the problem is identified from the onset a crisis can be avoided. Assessment should not simply be summative but a continuous process of monitoring.

As educators we are sometimes faced with the decision of whether we teach for assessment purposes or teach so that adequate learning among our students can occur. We are often forced to choose between the two. This is so mainly because of the inescapable high-stakes tests, for example;S.E.A and CAPE. As a result, one may view the alternative assessment as a detractor in attempting to accomplish this. As a result very little weighting is given to alternative forms of assessing in our classrooms in most instances.

It is my hope that I can now use all the new (Web 2.0) tools and information I have gathered in this course to not only teach literacy but to assess literacy in fun and interesting ways that would motivate my learners.