Educational Apps

Emery finished the second Suzuki Book today and earn his second trophy for violin. 

One of my favorite parts of being a teacher is learning from my students. This week in my graduate class, we were challenged to spend an hour using some sort of social networking site that we might use in our classroom. Some of the suggestions were

I googled social network for teaching and learning (google actually facilitated my key words for me, I was going to google for social networks and education). One of the first few hits was to a list of top 15 or something of recommended social networking sites (I had to find a current list, the first hit was from 2009) and was tempted to choose Edmodo, which I know a lot of school teachers use in my school district. Instead, I choose Edshelf (www.edshelf.com). 


I spent about twenty minutes just trying to figure out how the site works (I spent just an hour overall on the site and did watch the Youtube tutorial, which I recommend. It’s only 4 minutes). Basically, it’s “A discovery engine of websites, mobile apps, desktop programs, and electronic products for teaching and learning.” What caught my eye were all of the cool app icons. Now, I don’t have a smart phone or an ipad or a tablet, so I’ve never owned an app, but these weren’t really so much apps, I guess, as icons (like Facebook, twitter, etc). So, I clicked on an app called “write about this”. That led to a site with a Youtube video describing and demonstrating this app that allowed children to take pictures of things that they were interested in and write about them. There’s a free version and a $3.98 version. And, I began to wonder if this was simply an online catalog. But it’s not. After some additional exploring, I decided it went beyond that. It’s a resource for those interested in finding apps that are working and engaging. Users can share resources, read and write reviews, and the site does seem to allow for the democratic features of social media—anyone can join and contribute for free.

The only apps I ever for education were a multiplication one (which was a simple flashcard system for the phone and I wasn’t impressed) and a pitch pipe one (for singing). But I’m interested in checking some of these out, including math v. zombies.

I might just have to buy an ipad after all. What educational apps do you use?  

What was your favorite book as a child?

Victor's Favorite Childhood Book

I’ve mentioned before that I belong to a book club that exclusively reads children’s books. I’ve belonged to that group for eight years and they existed several years before I joined. It’s a serious group, we actually read and discuss the books and our conversations often lead us back into the books to support our answers. I think its success results from a number of factors:

1.     We all love children’s literature.

2.     Each meeting is followed by a meal and we each contribute something to that meal (wine (which we open before we eat, salad, main course, dessert, bread).

3.     We meet every month except during the summers. If you can’t make it, you are still responsible for your part of the meal (although in an emergency we cover for each other).

4.     While we all love children’s literature, we come from different fields—an author, a librarian, classroom teacher, and university faculty.

There’s an entire ritual and routine to the group and when a member leaves it’s usually because of a move. We’ve read a lot of books over the years and how a book gets chosen is for another post. Let’s just say it can become quite complicated and sometimes I get to a point where I have to read a “boy’s” book, fantasy, or non-fiction. I can only take so much contemporary realistic fiction which seems to be a favorite genre of this group.

For the past few months, we’ve decided to read each other’s favorite books from when we were kids. We’ve read Judy Blume’s Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, E. B. White’s Stuart Little, the Box Car Children, and a Nancy Drew (I think it was The Secret of the Bell). This week we are reading two Newbery winners, Strawberry Girl and King of the Wind.

Next month, it’s my turn to suggest a title. I’m having a hard time deciding between Little House on the Prairie or Island of the Blue Dolphins or Gordon Korman’s This Can’t be Happening at McDonald Hall. Do I want to cry or not?

Which makes me think—do we like to read the same stuff that we read as children? Or are there things that we admire about books. I’ve already pointed out the connection for me between food and books—I will always remember a scene in one of the Little House on the Prairie books where she talks about eating cookies or cake and the lemonade being so sweet but not sweet enough. And, I remember the use of music in books—such as the Sibelius Symphony Number 2 playing from an overturned car. When I pick up a book on my own now, it’s more than likely a memoir, one with rich scenes of food, food preparation, art, or travel. I don’t know where I picked up my habit of reading self-help. It must be because I still desire to be Nancy Drew, that perfect teenager who was absolutely great and confident at anything and everything. Yipes, this is a little too self-analyisish for me.

What does your favorite childhood book say about you? 

Victor's Comment:

My early reading experiences were comic book and the funny pages.  The first “real book” I remember reader was a novel called Star Ka’at. I was 8 or 9 years old and I remember my father giving me a copy because his girlfriend at the time (my parents are divorced) owned cats who were models for the book’s illustrations.  To be honest, I don’t remember much about the book … not the plot … not the characters.  I didn’t even remember the author was the well-known Andre Norton until I just looked up the book on Amazon a few minutes ago.  What I do remember is that the novel set me on a reading path which took me into the genres of science fiction and fantasy.  So … the story?  I guess it was good. Who remembers?  But its influence was profound as it guided my reading for decades.

What are TV Moms Teaching Us?

Did you know Lifetime has a website called Lifetime Moms? 

Okay, yes, I watch Dance Moms and have started watching Bring It. The shows are both about competitive dance troupes, their coaches, and the parents of the young dancers. Given the similarities, it seems fitting to discuss the two shows.

The adults

 Bring It has several scenes of the moms/ parents standing outside of the studio peering in through the blinds. The Dance Moms have their own room with a sofa that overlooks the rehearsal room. Miss D explains that the studio is not a place where parents socialize and “eat your wings,” but capturing the parents’ conversations serve as the catalyst for much of the conflict found in both shows.

Both sets of moms are competitive and advocates for their daughters. And, they both get to ride the buses on the way to the competitions and stay in the prep room in order to help their daughters get ready for the competition.

Who the coaches are

They are loud, authoritative, and skilled. Miss D and Abby may not love their parents (there’s a lot of yelling and arguing with them), but they certainly love their dancers. And they want to win. Also, the Dancing Dolls has a prayer circle before competition; I haven’t seen ALDC pray yet.

The girls

It’s hard to get to know the girls, but for the most part, they are the best part of the show. I rarely see them complain, I often see them cry, and they are clearly talented.

I never see them talk back, yell, or quit. And, in the first episode of Bring It, after Diana chastises Brittany for showing up to the competition late, Brittany’s daughter actually says “Don’t bring me in this.” Smart girl.

The show’s structure

Both have the same components and follow roughly the same structure-rehearsal, introduction of week’s conflict, travel, competition, awards, and aftermath.

I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in the competitive dance world. They learn new routines each week, travel each week, and compete each week.

One of the concepts we are studying in my graduate course is the theory that the public gets taught in spaces outside of the classroom and those lessons are caught up in issues of power, agency, discourse, democracy, and social transformation. Some call this public pedagogy.

Henry Giroux’s work forms the basis of public pedagogy: the intersection between cultural studies and pedagogy. First, culture “deploys” power through “representation, consumption, and distribution.” However, when scholars, especially those in cultural studies, focus on pedagogy, they tend to focus on what happens in schools. Giroux argues that we need to focus on how learning also takes place outside of schools and what that learning looks like given “the broader educational force of culture in the new age of media technology, multimedia, and computer-based information and communication networks” (p. 60). He, then points out those scholars who show how cultural studies can enable educators opportunities to teach students how to read and engage with media and popular culture.

Culture, and its products, “exercises a powerful pedagogical force over how people think of themselves and their relationship to others” (p. 62).

I wonder then what the public is being taught about mothers in shows like these, including the Housewives series, Pretty Wicked Moms and Teen Mom?

Let’s plays[LP]

Cat Let's Player on the Moon

Hi it’s me Emery. I’m back and I’m doing my own thing on let’s plays. A let’s play is where a person posts a video of them and/or other people playing a game. The game doesn’t have to have a “story line” type game, it can be a game like Minecraft where you roam a virtual world and do whatever you want to do. For example, build a house. There will be a link to one of my favorite let’s players in this blog.

According to Game Informer, people want three main things out of a let’s play. It doesn’t have to be all three. One is the person/people playing a game. You can hate the game and still love the LP because of the person’s humor and them interacting with the other people. The second is the game itself. You could have already beaten the game and you want to “re-live” the moment. The final part is the info. You could be stuck on a boss and need to see how to beat it.

Parents it is ok for a kid to watch these. It is like watching TV really. Though, the player may use cuss words. Here is the link to one of my favorite let's players playing a version of Minecraft where you try to be the first to reach the moon. 

Jackie's comments: If you haven't seen a Let's Play, you've probably heard one erupting from your mobile device if you've let your child borrow it recently. I haven't exactly seen an entire one, but I can recognize the sound of a LP from one hundred feet away. Emery's right--they are hilarious and rather harmless. 

Book #14 Hollis Seamon’s Somebody Up There Hates You

Am I only on book number 14? I need to stop picking up titles that are not in my ALAN box. Anyway, here’s a book by yet another adult author who has decided to write for young adults, but that’s a topic for another post as some of those books are rather good.

SUTHY is the story of almost 17-year-old Richie. Richie has cancer and is in hospice. In 30 days he will be either dead or released from the unit, and he is brutally honest with himself about his diagnosis. But his birthday is just days away and he’s consumed with typical teenage thoughts including losing his virginity. He engages in hilarious and touching escapades with Sylvie, another teenager in a room down the hall, who is also interested in losing her virginity, with his uncle who takes him on adventures, and with his grandmother who is his accomplice in several escapades. Riche’s final days are filled with extraordinary, and yet somewhat ordinary, experiences.

Okay, I confess I haven’t read The Fault in Our Stars. Yeah, I know it’s awesome, is a best seller, and is written by a really good author who is a really good guy. But, I heard it was about cancer and I became too afraid to read it. Well, I started SUTHY without reading the back. And, I was crying by page 41 and refused to put it down until I finished it. But I laughed almost as many times as I cried, and I love books like that (The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian is another book I laughed and cried through and read in just one sitting).

I find a couple of things interesting about this book. First, the title. I kept wanting its title to be Somebody Up There Hates Me. But, it’s not because when people ask Richie what he has (or why he’s in hospice) he responds with SUTHY Syndrome. It’s an interesting detail to think about—and I think I like it. But, when I first read the title, I really had no idea what the book was going to be about.

Second, there’s a high stakes poker game near the end of the book. The only other card game that I can recall affecting me as much as this game is a scene from Jeannette Winterson book The Passion where two men play three games, the last one being poker, and I’m not going to reveal too many details, but the stakes are just as high as are the emotions.

Seamon manages to create rather round characters (if I can be a little analytical at this point) in a rather sparse book. We, along with Richie, learn a lot about them in just a few scenes and their lives are just as complex as his.

I’m not sure how many teenagers would pick up this book and read it—but I could see my college students loving it.  

Do I need to read Fault in our Stars?