Here I have comprised a list of seven quotes (one from each chapter) that I believe sum up the most important points that Jennifer Fletcher was trying to get across to her readers in her book, Teaching Arguments.
1. "When academic writing begins with open-ended inquiry, students have an authentic opportunity to understand and respond to real-world arguments" (24). 2. "Often, the search for knowledge leads to the production of knowledge; it's a generative, constructive process of knowledge making as much as it's a process of knowledge finding" (50). 3. "We are all beginners at some point in our learning on any topic" (72). 4. "When we're joining a conversation already in progress, we need to take extra care to listen for the way past voices, concerns, and counterclaims are invoked by writers or speakers" (105). 5. Students will "learn to see outcomes in terms of effective decision making, the achievement of justice, and the celebration of our most cherished values - not just a test score or letter grade" (134). 6. "It's a matter of achieving the right balance" (178). 7. "We want all our students to repeatedly do academic work that is personally relevant and intrinsically rewarding" (208). The two quotes that spoke to me the most were quotes #3 and #7. I think these are both points that we as teachers need to keep in mind when working with our students, as well as ideas that we should communicate to our students as ideas of high importance when it comes to developing themselves as students and as people.
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In my last technology exploration post, I mentioned that I wanted to explore Kahoot more thoroughly. For my tech creation this week, I decided to create a Kahoot review quiz that my Internship students would be able to use. Earlier this year, we spent about a week talking about different parts of speech and being able to identify those parts of speech in sentences. I created this review as a way for my students to practice this activity. Students must identify the italicized word as one of the four parts of speech given to them.
Here is a review of my Kahoot game, you can even play it! :) Parts of Speech Review Game 1) Concerning the social and recreational use of technology, I would definitely say that I am a digital resident. I am on my computer and phone daily, whether it be checking emails, watching Netflix, texting my friends, or scrolling through social media. Concerning the educational digital world, however, as of right now I consider myself a digital visitor. I grew up in an educational world that was mostly on paper, and that is how I saw my teachers conduct their classes and that is the medium I used in my classes to complete assignments. Now, however, everything is digital, from student exams to my grade book. This aspect is definitely something I am still getting used to as an educator.
2) I saw Kahoot being used in a classroom for the first time about a month ago, and I have to say that I was blown away by the students' enthusiasm and engagement in the review. After seeing this, I knew that this was a tool that I would definitely have present in my classroom. I would use Kahoot as a digital review tool for tests, quizzes, or as a summative assessment. I would even use the tool as a means of giving my students a "brain break" by creating fun quizzes based off of movies, TV shows, or pop culture. I would even use the quizzes as a "get to know each other" activity or as a review of classroom rules and procedures at the beginning of the school year. 3) In this technological age, it is obviously important for students to know how to write digitally, and be comfortable in doing so. As I am sitting here digitally writing, I am in a room full of students digitally writing for their 9-weeks exam. It is an unavoidable skill that all students need to acquire. In exploring the different resources listed, I was particularly drawn to the pre-writing resources, specifically the Virtual Bubble Maps. This could be an extremely beneficial resource for those students who have trouble planning out an essay or don't know how to pre-write. For younger students, or visual learners in general, the bubble map format allows students to see their ideas connect in a visually appealing way. In being able to better see their ideas and their plan for writing, students will be able to more easily and more effectively write. The main benefit of students being exposed to digital writing in the classroom is the fact that it is preparing them for their futures in college and beyond. If students are digitally writing as much as they are now, imagine what the classroom environment will be like 10 or even 5 years from now. Personally, I believe that a potential risk for writing digitally is students becoming completely dependent on digital devices to create writing. Automatic spellcheck, grammar check, and even citation generators take away from students genuinely learning the material and relying solely on their digital device. 4) This was huge list of numerous helpful digital resources that could be of use in the classroom. I was surprised to notice how many of these resources I was already familiar with, as I consider myself a digital visitor when it comes to digital tools in education. What I have discovered, I suppose, is that the technology I am already familiar with using has the potential to find its way into a classroom as an educational digital device. For example, I have seen Twitter used in classrooms on several occasions as a means of communicating ideas on varying topics between teachers and students. I also noticed how many different forms of Google were present on the list. I notice this because Google is something that I have recently learned more about and has become something I want to explore more to be able to use in my future classroom. 5) As teachers face the decision of what type of digital media they want to incorporate into their classrooms, I think it is important to keep in mind WHY they are integrating a particular media tool. Teachers need to ask themselves, How is utilizing a digital tool having a positive affect on my students for this particular activity? What difference is this tool going to make in enhancing the activity for my students? In looking at the chart, I also take away the fact that different digital resources can be used to achieve all of the levels of understanding and performing; it is choosing the correct tool for the correct level is the challenge teachers face when utilizing technological tools. 6) Following this exploration, I feel like I want to explore Google a lot more in regards to classroom use. I have begun to use it more as a college student, but I want to see how I can make the different aspects of Google work for my students. I also want to create a Kahoot account and begin to play around with creating quizzes for my future students. |