Final thoughts....

When I first registered for this class, I was a little hesitant because the days seemed to change around constantly and I didn't know who Dr.D was. I'm always hesitant when taking a professor that I don't know because then I don't know what I'm in for. However I was pleasantly surprised by both the class and by Dr. D. At first, I had to adjust to not coming to class once a week and making sure I disciplined myself with my work. Once I got into the swing of things, I was fine. It was nice not having to drive to MSU and fight for parking.. Best of all, I like how I could do my work while in my pj's :).

Dr. D was great too--she gave us enough time each week to work on our assignments which is important since we are all working full time. Also, anytime you had a question or concern she was ready to help. Most importantly, she didn't make you feel bad for asking something.

Being my final class before I graduate, I'm very happy that I took this class. I learned a lot about new literacies and its connection to the world. I truly enjoyed the comic book creator and I'm looking forward to trying it with my students. Also, I liked the exposure to facebook, Myspace and Blogger. These are things that I might not have tried if it weren't for this class.

Best of luck to all, and will see you Saturday! It's been a pleasure!

:) Denise

Virginia Tech Shooting

I'm sure everyone was devastated and shocked to hear about the Virginia Tech shooting.. I can't even imagine what those poor people went through.. How scary is the world we live in? Never would I imagine that we could be in danger at school. To me school is a place where you would be safe. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims friends and family. Especially to the La Porte family who lost their only son Matthew. I taught Matthew's sister Priscilla and she is a great girl and I'm sure she will never be the same after loosing her brother. Please keep them in your prayers.

Rainy Day

It was nice to have off today but I hope everyone is safe and didn't have any flooding! They are using my school as a shelter since so many people had to be evacuated.. It's possible that we might have tomorrow off too!

YouTube

I love YouTube! YouTube is a free website that lets its users share videos and upload any video you want. You can find any type of video on this site-- from a tv show, a music video, a personal video and numerous types of movie and tv clips from all over the world. When I searched YouTubes main page, it is a little surprising to see what the top rated videos are. It shows what things people are interested in at the moment -- it ranged from American Idol, a Bill Cosby clip, to a dog on the David Letterman Show.

I must confess, I do frequent YouTube often. I am a huge Elvis Presley fan and I have seen numerous videos, tv appearances and concerts that Elvis appeared in. Here's one of my favorite Elvis clips.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1Qo1eaWF8c

My brother Michael also has been appeared on YouTube a few times. He is a journalist in Washington D.C . and has appeared on a political talk show where they discuss current issues. If you want to check him out, here's the link.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiS1ZlM39WI

Hopkin Green Frog

After doing some searching on Google, I found a few sites about Hopkin Green Frog. The most informative site was wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopkin_Green_Frog

Here I learned that Hopkin Green frog was a toy frog that belonged to a 16 year old autistic boy name Terry. He got the toy back in September 2004 from a McDonald's Happy Meal. After loosing the toy, Terry made "lost" posters and hung them around his neighborhood. His posters were scanned and then was found on many Internet sources. A web site known as Lostfrog.org was created where information and pictures about this story could be found. Being a special ed teacher, I hope that people weren't making fun of Terry. Unfortunately, I'm sure some people who do not understand autism, did make fun of him.

Reading

Throughout my life my experiences with reading have varied. As a kid, my parents would read to us every night which was something I loved. Because of this, I loved reading on my own and really enjoyed it. As I went through school, I started not to enjoy reading as much as I did. It was more of a chore. Some of the books we had to read weren't exactly interesting. Occasionally I would be re inspired to read if I read something good in school. In high school and college, I really only read for school not for enjoyment. It wasn't till my adult years that my love of reading returned. I enjoy reading, it is something that relaxes me. Being off in the summers, I do a lot of reading especially when I'm at the beach.

When teaching reading, I try to choose books that will interest my students. When I first started teaching I used the reading textbooks with my students, but I myself was bored with the majority of stories in them. I then decided to use trade book instead. I try to choose a variety of books that I know will interest my students. I have found that my students truly enjoy using trade books and they often choose books that they want to read.

The activities I do when reading a book vary. I pull a lot of ideas from the concept of literature circles but I modify a lot of it since I teach special ed. I also do a lot of story mapping and webbing. Technology has impacted the way I teach reading because it offers a lot of different things my students can do while reading a book. My students love to create character webs, especially on the program Inspirations. I'm looking forward to learning about the comic book creator--I know my students will love it!

The Matrix

I never really had a desire to watch the movie The Matrix, but after watching it last night, I have to say I thought it was very interesting. It made me a little freaked out thinking that the idea of a virtual world is a possibility. It was interesting to follow Keanu Reeves character, Thomas Anderson, and his realization that world he is living in is not what he really thought it was. All the gadgets and computers in the movie were unblievable..It would be weird to think that one day these gadgets could be a big part of our reality.
When I searched for info on the movie I found numerous sites about the movie. Some sites were informational ones with facts and info about the movie. Other sites provided games and information about the movies sequels. Here is one site I checked out....

http://www.movie-page.com/1999/Matrix.htm

What a nice day!

Today is such a nice day! It is nice to see the sun out and everyone out an about enjoying the weather. I just played catch with my nephew Alex and took my dog Nate for a long walk. Later I'm heading into Hoboken for the St. Patrick's Day celebration-- should be lots of fun..Enjoy your day everyone : )

Facebook

I decided to create a Facebook page since I already have a myspace account. I found the process to be somewhat easier then myspace. I liked how it took you step by step in creating the page. Once I created the page, I immediately had to search for friends to see who has a page. I found out that both my brothers and sister have pages. I liked how you could use your email accounts to search through your address book to see if any of your contacts have a page. Since I love taking pictures, I liked sharing some of my pictures too. The one thing I don't like about Facebook is that I can't create my own background, or use different fonts or colors. I spent a lot of time making my myspace page personal by displaying slide shows, having an Elvis background along with an Elvis video. Now I have yet another way to keep in contact with people.

I'm sick :(

What a way to start my week vacation.. I'm sick!!! :( I've been in my bed since Sunday and its not any fun! I better feel better soon so I can enjoy part of my week off!

Happy Snow Day!

I am so happy to have a snow day today! I was able to sleep in late and watch TV shows I normally can't watch. I feel bad for those who don't get "snow days." Stay warm and safe everyone!

2-10 Reading Assignment- Chps.1&2 Lankshear & Knobel

The authors Lankshear and Knobel discuss some very important topics of literacy in their book, New Literacies 2.0. The first topic is how the term literacy has changed throughout time and how the importance of it has been in the spotlight for a long time now. When I was in school, the term “literacy” was not used. We didn't have a literacy class; it was referred to as “reading” class. According to the authors, this change came about from numerous factors, one being the work of Paulo Freire. Freire worked with numerous groups of people from all over the world and in doing so, he helped people realize the components of literacy. I like his concept of literacy being, “Reading the word and the world.” (9) I think this is important since we live in such a diverse world and our classrooms are made up of different cultures. This is important to us as educators because we need to understand that each student is different because of their background. Because of this, each student has a different level of knowledge to offer and for that reason, they can not be expected to learn at the same pace, or in the same way as one another.
After reading the chapters, I realized how far we have come in the area of literacy. From the term itself, the importance of it, and how it is taught. Literacy is an on going and developing process. Today, literacy is more then just reading and writing , its using technology, the internet, and looking at the world around us.

Vote For My brother!

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/awards/rising_star_journalists_get_voting_52687.asp

My brother Michael was nominated for "The Rising Star Journalists" in Washington D.C. If you have a second, please click on the link and vote for my brother-- Mike Memoli, National Journal/ Hotline. Thanks! :)

I HATE The Cold!!!!!!

I am so ready for the cold weather to be over with... I can't stand being cold. It's a struggle every morning to get out of my bed- I am so warm and cozy under my blankets. To make matters worse, my school doesn't believe in turning on the heat! There are some classrooms that have heat and then others( like mine) that don't... I am ready for the summer - I wish I were laying on the beach somewhere.....

Reaction to this weeks articles....

All three of the articles for this week related to the fact that children today are growing up in a ever growing technological world. This can be both a negative and positive thing. According to Carmen Luke, author of What Next? Toddler Netizens, Playstation Thumb, Techno-literacies he stresses the importance of incorporating technology in the classroom because of the impact it has in our world. He also discusses his four major issues relating to the influences of media.

After reading the article Zero to Six, I was surprised by the overwhelming amount of media children are exposed to in today's world. I know there are a lot of technological things out there today like game boys, ipods and computers, but I didn't realize how much there really was. The article stated that "99% of children live in a home with with a TV set, and half have three or more TV s." Reading these numbers made me think back to when I was growing up. I can remember sitting with my family and watching certain TV programs like the Muppet Show, Family Ties and the Cosby Show. We only had one TV in our house therefore we sat and watched the programs together. It was something that we did as a family. Today that is no longer the situation since most kids have their own TV's.

Another point that I found interesting was that children who are six and under are actively using the computer. I think that fact alone shows how our world is changing because of technology. I wasn't exposed to a computer until middle school and we didn't have one in our home until years later. I think this early exposure is something that is beneficial to children today. They have the opportunity to be creative and have the exposure to numerous educational programs that are enjoyable for them.

In the article, Children Online: learning in a virtual community of practice, the author discusses the role of communities and how it plays a role in children and how they learn. I was interested in reading about the online community that was developed by a thirteen year old girl named Elianna. This community which was called "The Gathering of the Elves," was developed with the help and input of her community and friends. This is an example of the positive effects technology can have on young children.

The Outsiders

Today my 8th grade class finished reading the book The Outsiders. It is one of my all time favorite books and I always love reading it with my classes! I think the story is one that everyone can relate to in one way or another. Whether it is relating to one of the characters or themes, my students have always said that it is a story that they truly enjoy.

We will be watching the movie starting on Monday and my kids are going to compare and contrast the two. I must say that this is one movie that was successful in staying with the book. I'm looking forward to hearing what my students think of it. Does anyone have any other ideas or suggestions for additional activities? :)

Class Concerns

My hopes for this class... I am pretty comfortable with technology and I try to incorporate it into my lessons as often as possible. I like to use Kidspiration/Inspiration with my classes since my students are successful with it. After last weeks class I became really excited about the new things we will learn. From taking this class I hope to find new and creative ways to integrate technology into my lessons that will motivate and inspire my students. I'm excited to learn about the software program- Comic Book Creator. I think this is something that my middle school student would love to do.