Maybe if the ENTIRE economy

Maybe if the ENTIRE economy fails, then I won't have to worry about my student loans. Yay!

Life is good (reaction to class on 9-17-08)

I never do anything the easy way. Often times, the "easy way" to solve a problem or accomplish a task doesn't even occur to me until long after the task has been accomplished, or the problem has been solved. My solutions always make sens in my head, however, they don't always work as planned.

When Dr Smidt asked me to give a presentation on Picasa, I accepted without hesitation. I actually LIKE getting up in front of groups, and Picasa is a program I'm so familiar with that I knew I wouldn't get nervous as easily.

In preparation for class, I reviewed in my head what I would talk about, which features I would show, and how best I could show my class how to use it. But something didn't feel right about it. It seemed too bland. Too.... easy.

While I was thinking about other things a few nights before class, I began to imagine what it would be like to be a student with ZERO English skills in an ESL/ESOL setting, trying to learn whatever the teacher was trying to teach. Then it hit me. I could find out first hand, and in the process, I could teach the class how to use Picasa.

Would it be hard? Yes.

Would the students be very confused and wonder what I was doing? You bet.

Would rabid alien monkeys with rocket packs laser guns from outer space descend upon the classroom and hold us hostage for a ten-billion-dollar ransom? Most likely not. But they might.

I decided to do it anyway.

Esther told me it would have been a little bit more effective for me to tell the class what I was doing and why. While I was presenting, I briefly explained that I was trying to mimic an ESL classroom setting, except in Spanish, not in English. In hindsight, it probably would have been easier on the class if I had explained beforehand what I was doing. But it was a LOT of fun, at least for me. I hope the other students enjoyed it too.

After my presentation, I had a chance to discuss with Yosuke his experiences with technology in a classroom setting. I've never taught in a classroom before, so it was fascinating to hear his experiences in a setting and culture unfamiliar to me. In Japan, he was expected to monitor students while a computer "taught" them TOEFL techniques. He felt more like a babysitter than a teacher, which frustrates me a little. I don't think that computers should replace teachers, I think they should help teachers.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Yes, this really is me. My friend took this of me when we had stopped for a break on the bike trip I took last summer. I think I look like a police officer in this picture.
This is really just a test of Picasa.

Thoughts on class on 9-10-2008

When I had graduated from high school and had just begun my undergrad, I was astonished by the freedom I was allowed. If I didn't want to go to class, I didn't go! I didn't have to have my parents call, and I didn't need to pretend that I was sick. I could simply keep sleeping if I wanted to. I soon learned that with that freedom came responsibility and accountability. If I missed class, I couldn't participate, and if I didn't participate, my grade went down. I learned quickly that missing class is not to be done leisurely.

When I started my major at MSU, I quickly discovered that I didn't even want to miss class. That sentiment has carried over in to my graduate program. I honestly enjoy class and I'm one of those nerds who LIKES going to class.

Regrettably, I had to miss class on the tenth. My girlfriend's mom needed emergency surgery performed on her back, and the only hospital her insurance covers is in Burnsville. However, in discussing what was covered, I almost feel as if I had been there.

The big thing that was covered was Skype. As the class soon discovered, not every computer treats a program the same way. Sometimes there are hardware issues that prevent you from speaking or hearing other people speak, sometimes there are network issues that prevent the voice from coming through clearly, and sometimes there are no reasons for something to malfunction, but it does anyway. I sympathize with those who had problems with Skype and the lesson, because there is no worse feeling than helplessness, and with computers, often the only emotion they cause is helplessness.

Better luck for tonight!

File naming, first hand.

Earlier this summer, I decided to e-mail all of my professors for a syllabus of the classes I would be starting in September. Esther e-mailed me back with syllabi and assignment lists for the classes, and so did my other professor. We'll call him Professor Roundglasses.
The problem with the attachments from my Professor Roundglasses lay in the naming of the documents themselves. The naming was precise, with the month and year listed, but the dates were not in an expected format, such as 080808 (the start date of The Olympics) but rather 08.08.o8. My computer, being the good little Windows machine that it is, didn't look at the formatting of the file, but the name of the file. Windows looks at what's called an extension of the file name, which follows the following format:
filename.extension . Most extensions have three letters, some have more and some have fewer, but they ALL have one thing in common: they start with a dot. Windows reads the file name and sees the dot, and then assumes that everything after the dot must be an extension. In this case, the extension should have been .doc, but Windows said "No, no, it must be .08.08.doc!" and promptly refused to open it. Thinking quickly, I removed the dots in the file names, and Windows finally decided to behave.

It's not easy being this smart AND handsome.... :-)

This has nothing to do

This has nothing to do with TESL, but how the heck did Brittany Spears win THREE video music awards???

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should

What I liked the most about the readings were the tips at the end of Chapter 3.

The first tip was, conveniently, one that spoke to me the loudest.

Focus on Activities, NOT Software Titles

Being a long-time computer nerd, I have an in-born desire to use software that has more common alternatives. For example, I will often use a free program called OpenOffice instead of Microsoft Office. Though the function and result are the same, I get a certain feeling of satisfaction when I use an alternative program such as OpenOffice, if for no other reason than being different. Not necessarily better, just different.

When nerds do as I do by using alternative software, it seems that the reflexive reaction to other people using the standard programs is hostility and righteous anger. I won't lie and say that I've never reacted that way, but I am aware that it's an issue. If such a nerd pursued a career in TESL, these sorts of feelings would significantly impact their ability to teach effectively. It doesn't really matter what program I use to type a paper, so long as I follow the requirements and include the proper information. In the same way, the ends should justify the means, at least in regards to students using technology to learn another language.

DON'T LET TECHNOLOGY DRIVE YOUR CLASS!

One thing that I do in my spare time is volunteer for the Boy Scout Troop that I grew up in. Being a Scoutmaster gives me the opportunity to teach boys how to become mature young men, and one line I often find myself repeating is "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." The same thing can be applied to teaching with technology, and tip number 6 reflects upon that very idea. Don't use technology just because you can! Computers can't teach any better than a hammer can build a house. Used effectively, however, they can be an absolutely invaluable tool for teaching.

But that's not to say that you NEED a computer to teach. Computers have been present in classrooms for only the last few decades, and people have been learning for millennia. This semester, I hope to learn how to effectively distinguish situations where technology will help students learn from situations where technology will only hinder students.

A Broken Promise

Weather: Sunny and beautiful

Listening to: The Rat Pack: I'm Gonna Live Till I Die

As many of you get to know me throughout the next few years, you'll become very aware that I have the attention span of a 3-year-old. As much as I would like to have the capability to sit down and accomplish each task on my increasingly large to-do list in an efficient and focused way, alas, I cannot.

I logged in to my Blogger account this morning at 11:00 sharp, promising myself that I would blog until 11:30, then change into my running clothes and run, and then do other homework and get myself to work on time. But then, after several trips to the coffee machine and checking my e-mail, I logged in to my Bloglines account to see what my classmates were blogging about. Just for some inspiration.

It's now 11:23 and I've just started typing.

Class this week and last not only made me ever more aware of my dislike (and inability) of sitting still and focusing on a single task, it also made me ever more aware of an increasingly annoying part of my personality; I don't work well in groups.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like other people. I do. I'm very loud and I love interacting with people, but I work most efficiently by myself or when I have complete control of the project or task. But one thing was made apparent to me in this past week: I need to get over it.

Group work will never go away. Ever. And if I want to be successful ANYWHERE, doing ANYTHING, I will need to teach myself how to work better in a group.

 

With all of that said, however, I enjoy group discussion. My group had a very lively discussion about the various articles, and as we moved around and discussed our findings with other groups, we used the gained insight to refine our previous discussions. When Esther asked each group to report on their "Ah-ha!" moments, we all looked at each other, stumped. After some prodding from Esther, however, we all agreed that our "ah-ha!" came not from what was in the articles we discussed, but rather, how we read them. Some of the group members read the articles on the computer screen, and some had printed them and read them on paper. We also discussed the fact that the article assigned to our group was easier to read, not because of the wording, but because of the formatting. While 2 of the articles were written as if they were typed on a typewriter, the one we preferred was written in a magazine, and therefore was formatted as such. It had color, the text was broken into smaller chunks and was therefore easier to process, and the format easily led the reader's eye from start to finish. Using this as our moment, we confidently presented our findings to the rest of the class, who agreed with us!

Sometimes you feel like a nut....

I always find is somewhat strange (if only for the fact that it goes against my status quo) when I'm asked to write something coherent, well put-together, and appropriate, and then post it on the Internet. We'll see how well I do this.