Through our explorations as a class thus far, I’ve already seen an incredible amount of ways I can integrate class materials and assignments to make it a more beneficial experience for my future students. I’ve gathered several ideas that will enhance class readings, supplement projects, and keep my students alert and aware of what the class expectations are. I want to establish some sort of an online Blackboard. I would post grades, email assignments, and post pertinent readings, outside materials, and links to other information that will be helpful to their understanding of the material. I want this to be public and available to the other teachers in the department, the principal, parents, and students. Grades are obviously private, but the assignments should be posted and external links to materials should be available to the public. I would also include a course calendar. That way, both students and parents alike will be informed of events and assignments that are up and coming. It would create a connect between the parents and their students’ education by allowing parents to monitor their child’s assignments in coordinace with outside activities and can help them with time management. Like Jim Moulton said in his blog, “The Classroom Webpage: A Must-Have in 2008,” it will enhance the amount of material and resources available to students (and parents).
Furthermore, I’d like to include a large project to tie in one of the books in the curriculum that has a good historical context or that can be linked to another subject in order to create a holistic learning experience for the students. I’d like to create a “Facebook” page where each student takes on a character in a particular book. The students will then interact with each other in a modern-style forum in the specific context of that novel. They will be graded on their accuracy of “Liking” a status, posting a status about who they’re with or how they’re feeling, and friend requesting the other characters at appropriate moments in the text. The website will build their knowledge of the text as they read along. It will also help them to truly think like the character they are to emulate. This, like Moulton said, will prove that the teacher is connected. Social networking is what students do. It is how they interact. Why not make interaction from let’s say a Holocaust novel like it would be conveyed today. The students are enduring a war on terror and although it’s not on our soil, they should be aware of how it affects the other parties involved. A novel like “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini would be a great one to use due to its pertinence to today’s cultural issues and affairs, as well as its extensive character list and connectivity to the underlying themes.
I’d also like to utilize programs other than Powerpoint to convey information in projects. (Prezi – more interactive than PP, Pixton – comic book like, Glogster – can incorporate multimedia, and Zooburst – like a pop up picture book.) I also like the idea of creating forums online and having open posting – in my capstone seminar class in undergrad, we did most of our discussions on those Blackboard Discussion Boards because the class only met once a week. It was helpful because some students are very uncomfortable with in-class participation but can post a written comment after they have time to compose it and revise it before they contribute.
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