Miss Bella

Ning

gville81 — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 22:15:36 +0000

Although I currently do not have a Ning account, it seems to be a very resourceful website. I looked through the website to see what it had for individuals who are employed in education and are teaching high school English; there was a large variety of useful information that can be used by anyone who is currently a teacher or anyone who is working on their certification to teach. The listings on this website could be used to be aware of any current changes that are occurring in the field of education. It can also be used for individuals to list any findings they have discovered through research, used to connect classes that are located in different geographical regions, and used in many other ways. Overall, Ning looks very helpful. There are also several other social networking websites that can be used for the very same purpose.

YAL Conference

gville81 — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:59:52 +0000

Although there was a nice variety of young literary writers at the conference, it would have been great to hear from authors who represented other cultures, such as the Asian, Hispanic, or African American culture. If this was done, the activities scheduled for the conference would have better suited the audience members who attended it because the seminar would have been just as diverse as its audience members. Diversity is a major issue that all teachers should keep in mind as they are scheduling activities for their students. Other than that, it was nice to hear from an author, Ned Vizzini, who represented the gay community. It takes a lot of courage for an author to write about an issue that is so taboo in the United States, especially in our region of the country. Besides Vizzini, a majority of the things said at the conference were things I have heard in several of my classes, which speaks highly of my professors. Overall, the concept for the conference was a good one.

iPods

gville81 — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 22:39:45 +0000

Although I think it is great that there are so many technological products that can be used in the classroom in so many great ways, we have to keep in mind that all of our students may not be capable of purchasing such items. Ipods are fairly expensive so it would not be wise for a teacher to place various classroom assingments and activities on the internet to be downloaded on an iPod. I think using them in the classroom would be great, depending upon how the teacher uses them and if this use properly correlates with what is being taught in the class. In regards to a teacher using an iPod to teach classroom assignments, there are numerous examples of what can be done so I am not going to mention any. All it takes is just a little creativity to generate an assignment that uses an iPod.

Nothing but Business

gville81 — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:45:04 +0000

The quote I have is “the business of America is business” by Calvin Coolidge. He expressed this statement during 1925 in an attempt to explain America’s beliefs about wealth and the purpose it should serve in an individual’s life. He felt that American’s believed that wealth should be used to live a better life, but looking throughout America’s history, this idea has led to a lot of corruption in American industry. People so badly want to live a better life that they are going to whatever means to achieve it, such as paying employees low wages, selling faulty or ly products, and price gauging. American’s have become materialistic and are judged solely on what they own. This has also led to a large number of people living beyond their means or what we call “trying to keep up with the Jones.”

In order to maintain that belief, the government created laws that favored the interest of American companies and not its employees or the American people. Before President Obama took office, the Republicans had control of our democracy. One practice they believed in implementing was running America’s business sector through the use of laissez-faire. They felt that the business world could regulate itself and that wealth would trickle down from the wealthy to the middle class. Unfortunately, this practice did not work. Because various business owners were greedy, they acted on self interest and ruined our economy, basically making it impossible to trust they could regulate themselves. This has left America in the ruined state it is currently trying to get out of. Obama has passed several bills trying to correct this matter. Hopefully, things will turn around in time.

The Critical Evaluation of Websites

gville81 — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:53:27 +0000

For class on Wednesday, I was given a web address to visit the website to a company called Buy Dehydrated Water. Although the website provides a corporate address and even has a pay-pal account so an individual can order their merchandise, I do not believe this is a legitimate company. The layout of the website does not look professional enough to be the main website for a legitimate company. The website was poorly designed by someone. Also, the arrangement of the web-page is not appealing to the eye in any form or manner.

I agree with what they mention on their website about how our water has been badly polluted here in the United States. What I do not agree with is their claims against other companies that sell bottled water because they have no statistics to validate their claims. Their comments about other companies appears to be marketing schemes that are not working with me! As a consumer, I am interested in buying water, but this website would serve no real use to me. This is a website that I have never visited before and probably wont ever visit again.
Because there are so many websites out there with crooks selling fake merchandise, looking to steal someone’s credit, or looking to rip someone off, it is important for anyone, as a consumer, to be careful when purchasing items off of the internet. It is also important for individuals to discern what is credible and what is not valid information on the internet, especially if they are conducting research. Because this is such an important issue, I have included the following journals for further advice on the problem.

MySpace and Facebook

gville81 — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:12:51 +0000

When it comes to using websites such as MySpace and Facebook in an educational setting, there are several things that can be accomplished through using them. Schools can use these social networking sites to improve education in the community, and this would be geared towards getting more people to complete volunteer work at the school and in the community. These websites can be used to recruit new employees. They can also be utilized to advertise events that are taking place at the school, the things that the school has accomplished and the success of the school.

In regards to using these websites in a classroom setting, that is something I would not recommend. Because these sites have been established for the mere purpose of social networking, I would suggest that MySpace and Facebook be used for personal usage and not professional usage. These websites have not been established to be used professionally and should not be used in such a manner. Besides, a teacher runs the risk of having her students come into contact with predators, if the students are to use Facebook for some aspect of classroom assignments.

Because there are several issues surrounding the use of MySpace and Facebook in general, I have included some articles that discuss other concerns about using these networking sites.

Why parents must mind MySpace: Posting too much information on social networking sites may be dangerous By Rob Stafford

Don’t Tell Your Parents: Schools Embrace MySpace By Robert Andrews

School Calls Foul on Web Site Statements by BET.com News Staff

Using MySpace to Teach Internet Safety? By jreeve

Imagery

gville81 — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:36:05 +0000

The manner in which this still life image was drawn evoked a lot of emotion within me. I felt a profound amount of sadness when I saw this drawing, and maybe that was the emotion the artist was trying to induce within me. The first thing that caught my attention was the method in which the slaves were drawn. They were illustrated in a manner that takes away their individual identities. Their facial features were sketched very similarly, as if they were all the same individual. The slaves were also drawn so closely together that they seemed to dissolve into one another, as if there was no beginning and no end to each individual, and this further takes away their individual identities.

The second thing I noticed was the environment the slaves were placed in. The lighting depicted in the picture gives it a depressing feel, and I guess that was done because the Africans were sketched on a slave ship. I wondered what region of Africa they were taken from, where were they on there way to and where the slave overseers were; I also imagined how difficult their living conditions may have been on that long, excruciating trip.

The third thing that caught my attention was that the slaves were nude. The picture would have been a more accurate depiction if the Africans were clothed in their native attire. I wondered what he was trying to say by having them unclothed. It appeared as if their culture was being taken from them by having them naked.

Because the power of images is so immense, I have included the title and links to some articles and a book that further explain this topic. They are the following:

Power of Images: Creating the Myths of Our Time By J. Francis Davis
The Power of Images: Studies in the History and Theory of Response by David Freedberg (BOOK)
The Power of Images: The New Yorker cover only reinforces the silly Obama rumors by Jonathan Alter

DEEF EHT

gville81 — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 21:52:42 +0000

In my opinion, to resist the feed is to use your own thoughts instead on depending on technology or the media to provide you with thoughts. One manner in which I resist the feed is I try to complete all of my mathematical problems manually instead of using a calculator. Others and I try not to depend on the media to influence the way we view ourselves as a race and the way we view current political and social events. Because a person is not thinking critically for themselves when they allow the media and technology to shape their views for them, they become mindless individuals, basically sheep following the shepherd. On another note, there’s a couple of interesting articles that are about the uses of technology in the classroom. The following is a list of articles that I think would be helpful when applying technology in the classroom:

Factors Affecting Technology Uses in Schools: An Ecological Perspective by Yong Zhao and Kenneth Frank

Rethinking Computers in the Classroom by Aaron Ricadela

When Computers Break Down, Schools are Turning to Students by Mary Zehr

2008-09

gville81 — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 18:39:01 +0000

THE WORLD IS MOVING ALONG & CHANGING!

ARE YOU DOING THE SAME OR ARE YOU STUCK

IN THE PAST, USING BACKWARD THINKING ?

Rainy Day

gville81 — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 23:12:34 +0000