Assignment #1

Although I am not placed in a classroom yet for practicum, I still work with the age group of students I want to teach. I am a small group leader at my church, and I work with many high school students that are much more technological than me. However, I am learning. In fact, I do not think you stop learning when it comes to technology. Regardless, these students utilize various types of technology. They use Facebook, MySpace, i-Pods, mp3 players, various types of surround systems, televisions, cell phones, internet, instant messaging (IM), and many more various other types of technological devices and sites.
Knowing the vast extent of the technological devices out there can sometimes intimidate me. However, amidst the intimidation, I find myself realizing how to use and how to handle more and more types of technology. I desire to work in an inner city school, and with that I am aware that many of my students may not possess, or have access to, as much technology as a more affluent group of students. Yet even though I desire to teach in the inner city environment, I can still use technological devices within the classroom. One idea I have is possibly creating a playlist of songs for the class that the students create. Obviously, I would have to screen this playlist, but each student could give me one song, and we could play about seven minutes of music at the beginning of class while the students’ journal. In addition, we could have cell phone days where the students can text me questions they may have about the curriculum, literature, or any elements within the literature we are reading. Furthermore, there are so many opportunities to use technology within the classroom, and I should really start contemplating how to use it within my own.
In contrast, on a broad scale, not much technology is used within the classroom of inner city schools. I began reading Jonathan Kozol’s Ordinary Resurrections. Within this book, he conducts research on the lives of inner city schoolchildren by observing their behavior, talking with them, and entering their environments. He does not presume to know them, or where they are at within their lives. In fact, his presumptions lie in the truth that he will learn. Kozol states, “The lives of children in poor neighborhoods are studied, and their personalities examined and dissected, often with a good deal of self-confidence, by grown-ups far away who do not know them but rely on data generated by researchers to come up with various conclusions that are used to justify political decisions” (14). So often people place stereotypes on students. They pretend to know them explicitly, and although they may observe their behavior, they do not spend time getting to know who the students actually are. We do this with technology as well. We automatically assume that students are too young to learn something. Or in contrast, we sometimes assume that all students use and even possess technology within their daily lives. As educators, we need to see where the students are and see who they are in order to accurately assess where they stand in the area of technology. The challenge remains with the fact that every student is different, and I will mostly have around 150 students a day.
In addition to reading Ordinary Resurrections, I also read Kozol’s book Savage Inequalities. I must address the fact that this book was written in the early 1900s, although sadly many of the issues that remain within this book still exist today. Kozol brings his readers to various cities across the United States that are lacking funds within their schools. It is absolutely atrocious. One of the places he takes his reader to is East St. Louis. Chemical plants have created massive amounts of lead residue within the air, massive amounts of garbage heap up because a garbage truck has not visited the area within the last ten years, and the streets are still divided with one side for white people and the other side for African American people. If a person crosses the street onto the wrong side, they are shot. Uhhhh. Wait a minute here. I thought we were in the 21st Century where people actually take care of areas like this. But wait. No one does take care of areas like this unless the government receives so much pressure and threat towards their perfect reputation that they actually have to do something about it. As you can imagine, the schools are atrocious. The few computers they have are broken or smashed in by the gangs within the area. There is raw sewage coming out of the drinking fountains. Books are missing sections, and there are way too few of them for the class sizes represented. Killings, rape, and fights occur on campus with hardly any thought given to it. It is literally an educator’s disaster.
So what do you do in a situation like this? Students are sick, starving, and hurting. If I was an educator there, I would want to give those students food rather than technology. Yet if all I did was give them food, they would have no chance for life outside that school. Do you sacrifice books for computers? I do not think so. Yet computers are needed. I would be interested to further research where that school is at today, yet I am not ignorant enough to not realize that there are other schools within the United States that are like this. Do they need technology? Yes. But they also need books, clean drinking water, tolerance for one another, and a safe school environment. I do not have an answer to all my questions, but I do know one thing: those students deserve a chance to learn. They deserve a chance to learn in not only traditional ways, but in every way possible. Reading. Writing. History. Arithmetic. Music. Class Videos. Internet research. Blogs.
Lastly, there are National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for both teachers and students. Like many educational standards, these seem rather broad, however, I would rather have them broader so I can implement them within my classroom as I wish. The general gist of the teacher’s technology standards is to implement technological learning within the classroom, as well as set an example with technology in lessons, presentations, and various means of communication. As educators, we also need to constantly keep adapting and learning throughout the technological process. I agree with these standards. If we do not use technology within our classroom, how are the students going to relate technology with education. In addition, any different way of teaching material that can relate to the students’ lives and values should be used and embraced.
The NETS for students embrace the ideas of students using technology within the classroom, as well as students coming to a place of ownership and respect for the digital world. I really like the standard that is titled “Communication and Collaboration”. I feel like interacting with other students in the realms of digital activity will allow the students to teach one another. They can share ideas, values, and ways of performing tasks digitally with one another, and in teaching one another, they implement even more what they already know. I also liked the idea of reinforcing the fact that they are digital leaders. If they know they are in a respected position where people may seek advice or information from them, they most likely will be more apt to staying updated with the current technological world.
Really, there is still so much more for me to learn, but at least I am learning.