Final Blog Integrated Unit

Lisa and I met last week to discuss the teaching process of this integrated unit. It must be said that Lisa’s students are generally more adept with Spanish at the end of the year, so this unit would normally be taught then. Because of EDU 584 taking precedence, I forged ahead and taught the text and completed the projects with my students. Lisa did what she could (given her students ability early in the year) and completed portions of the unit (watching/reacting to 30 days “Immigration” and having a discussion concerning illegal/legal immigration in the United States). Luckily, a great deal of the work from this unit (at least in Spanish class) can be moved around and taught at the end of the year. In world literature and cultures, I had to forge ahead with little technology and a program (Museum Box) that was less than stellar for my purposes. We did have a chance to chat about what we were doing, but true integration was difficult. I think we’ll have better luck next year when we can teach the entire unit at the same time.

The teaching process with the unit was great. Having everything laid out and tied up neatly beforehand really helped. None of the lessons needed tweaking, except that my students didn’t have their laptops yet. Because of this, I had to reserve library time when possible. This is hard to do when a building of 70(ish) teachers becomes reliant on 10(ish) computer carts and we are left with 20(ish) library computers.

Students definitely learned from and enjoyed the unit. The worst part for them was creating the final product. I’m not certain what other web 2.0 tool I will use the next time I do this project. Glogster or Wallwisher may be my best bet. Lisa and I will need to test them out when we have a moment.

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Dimitri Martin

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Chapter 11 TPCK in Preservice Education

Before I begin I just want to say that I love the way the inspirational quotations are dispersed throughout this TPCK Chapter.

I’ve been pondering ideas revolving around technology and preservice education a great deal. Many people become teachers because they are successful in school. They carry their successes with them, and sometimes wear them on their sleeves. Because these preservice educators were successful with a traditional approach to education, they are likely going to model their own teaching in the same way. I fear that these preservice educators will push technology to the side and continue teaching in the same way that people have been teaching for the last two hundred years.

We’re so lucky to have UMF so close. I feel like UMF has certainly come a long way embedding technology in their program since I completed my undergrad. That being said, as a mentor teacher, I have yet to see a huge push coming from my student teachers and practicum teachers as far as technology is concerned. I know that the knowledge is there, but I feel that the student teachers and practicum students I’ve had have been using technology for their own learning rather than that of my students. I’m surprised that they haven’t come to me with new and fabulous ways of embedding technology into their lessons. Perhaps it is because I haven’t had a student teacher this year.

It is my own colleagues at the high school who have been pushing the envelope and sharing tools and strategies connected to technology. I have been so impressed with the technology that has been shared by my colleagues.

Sample Project

Here is a sample page of my museum box student sample. My rubrics are here as well.

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Chapter 8: TPCK in arts education

While I am the first to admit that I didn’t go to all of the sites listed in this article, I appreciate that the author did some research and names sites where teachers can find resources utilizing arts education. My only gripe about having a plethora of websites is the way they were listed. It would be more user friendly to have this information in list form. Lots of the websites are fabulous.

I like that the author believes that arts should be integrated across subjects. As an English Language Arts teacher, I try to integrate art or discussions connecting literary works to art in my classes regularly

This chapter was one of the best in the text. Because we live in rural Maine, access to famous works of art can be limited. There are immense access and equity issues when it comes to art in Maine Schools. That being said, in Maine there are programs available via Colby College and The Farnsworth that help teachers bring students to the works of art at their sites. Although there is really nothing like looking at actual works to really understand the depth, breadth, or sheer size; looking at the actual works is not always an option. The internet can open the world of art to our students in ways that were once inconceivable. You can go to the Louvre or MOMA (and many other art museums) without leaving your classroom.