Week 15

The other day I could hear my 12 year old son talking in the other room.  The only thing that made me go see what he was doing was I knew there was no other person in the room with him.  When I came in the room I saw him playing his Nintendo DS.  I asked him who he was talking to.  He immediately got mad and yelled "Mom you ruined my tutorial!"  I asked him what he was doing, he said he was making a video on his ipad for his friends on how to capture a special character in his Pokemon game.  I apologized and left the room.  It was then that I realized that he was actually making a flipped video for his friends. 15 weeks ago I would not have been able to tell you what a flipped video was or why teachers or anybody would use them.  I don't think I have ever talked to my sons about making flipped videos, or about how they are used.  I thought it was just ironic that he actually was creating one.  Ironic that I have been learning about how to make one and how they are used in school and that he just knows how to create one and he was doing it to help his friends to get better at a video game.  This showed me that children are using this technology and it is second nature for them to learn from a video.  I think about him learning a new dance or how to do almost anything by watching a flipped video.  I guess the old proverb is correct.  It is hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

Here is about a minute clip from his tutorial on how to catch a legendary Pokemon.

I hope this clip works, I trip to capture a portion of the 15 minute video then email to myself and then upload it to blogger.  I am still learning how to use technology.

Week 14

When I was in middle school I was able to get a pen pal from Scotland.  Eileen and I kept in touch all the way through high school and lost touch when she moved to a new school.  I learned so much about Scotland, and how different the educational system is there.  I also realized that Eileen were different but also very similar.  We had similar fears about the future and about relationships with boys and peers.  Our tastes in music and fashion differed but that did not stop us from sharing our lives with each other.  I also had pen pals from Trinidad and Sweden.  Neither one of them had the connection I had with Eileen.  When we talked about the Epals website, it brought me back to the excitement I would get when I would receive a letter from any of my pen pals.  Social media has made the world seem so small but I still think it is important for people to still make that personal connection with another person through letters.  Epals though was not just a website about writing letters to other students in another country, it was a way for teachers to bring other cultures, histories, and stories into a classroom.  While we were exploring the site, I was amazed as how many different activities and lessons that could be done from this website.  Another great site to add to my wiki to have as a resource for my future classes.  I would love to see a student make a connection like I did with my pen pal/friend Eileen.

Week 13

The Wednesday that we met with Aida for class, I was hoping to get more of chance to know this students.  I guess I was hoping to find out what they are hoping for in the future.  I used to work with minority girls in program called Girls in the House with a non-profit called Journey House.  I can remember that these girls had hopes and dreams but then never acted on them.  Most of the time it felt something that was unobtainable.  I try to be the catalyst to have the girls see that those hopes and dream were reachable. It would take an incredible amount of work and I never hid that from them.  It is something that has always broke my heart, to see children or even people give up on their dreams.  I always want to help them and try to make them see that there is hope.  I want give all the children that walk into my classroom hope for a brighter future.
I only worked at Journey House for a year but after the Wednesday night with those eight graders I thought back and wondered if a program like this would have helped them.  In that year, I had 8-10 girls ranging in ages from 12-17.  I remember taking them to Waukesha County Technical College for a Career Day.  I remember the girls being anxious and nervous.  I remember that they had to take a computerized test that would help them develop an idea of what careers fit with their answers.  So many of them did not know what they would do after high school.  Many of them talked openly about having a baby or working at the local gas station or restaurant.  Many of the fears were of not belonging.  If they had a baby then they would always have a connection with their mothers or with the father of their baby or even with other girls who had become teen mothers.  Many of them stated that their mothers did not approve of them going on to school because that was not what women of their ethnic background did. (the majority of this girls were Hispanic and few were African-American).  I felt guilt much of the time working with these girls.  I was lucky that I had role models and mentors that believed in me and my dreams.  My parents did not go to college.  My mother married almost 3 months after graduating high school.  My father didn't finish high school he enlisted in the Army as soon as he could.  But that never stopped them from believing in me.  Maybe that is way I want to be that person who believes in someone when they have no one else.  I believe hopes and dreams are what keep pushing people to do their best.  It is the cheerleader in me.