Blog Post #6: Turtle vs West

I believe that the importance and value of communicating with others is what ties Wesch and Turkle together. Therefore, I view them more as allies than opponents.

Wesch believes that the most significant problem with education today is that students really don't feel significant because they are unable to find meaning and significance in their education journey. As a result of this huge problem in education, Wesch decided to focus on creating a learning environment that was more conducive to producing types of questions, which in return would create life long learners.  He also strongly believes that educators should focus on the quality of learning, rather than the quality of teaching. He stated that teaching students how to critically think will become much more powerful in the long run. Creating an environment that allows students to produce questions involves communicating and interacting with others, which to me, ties Wesch and Turtle more together.

As for Turkle, she outlined the problem with society and students being connected with devices. She believes that all these devices have changed who we are and that society has become so accustomed to being "alone together." This article definitely resonated with me because as the mother of two teenage daughters, I definitely can relate to what she's saying throughout the article. For this reason, my husband and I decided to instill a phone-free dinner rule in our household. She also mentioned some steps that we could take to create sacred spaces in our households such as making sure our cars, dining rooms, and kitchens are "device-free zones." Her major claim was that society expects more from technology and less from one another which she believes to be a dilemma.  

I agree with both Wesch and Turkle. The value of communicating and listening to one another is way more powerful than feeling insignificant as well as being "alone together." I enjoyed reading these two articles.

Class Dojo

ClassDojo Review

What is Class Dojo:

ClassDojo is a communication app and/or website that could be used for the classroom management. 
It also allows educators the ability to stay in contact with individual families.  

Benefits of ClassDojo:

• Allows teachers to stay connected with families
• For example, an educator can share the following with their families:
  • photos
  • videos
  • messages 
  • Both positive and negative behavior reports
  • Photos, videos, messages could be sent to the entire class and/or individual families
• Allows teachers to reward positive behavior
• Allows teachers to track student's behavior patterns
• Allows teachers the ability to communicate with their non-English speaking families more easily because the app has a translating tool feature. 
• Teachers are able to print a record of past class messages and/or messages from individual parents.
• It supplies all letters and resources that you will need to get started:
• For Teachers
• For Parents
• Quick and easy set-up

3 Easy Steps to set up:

• Create a log-in
  
  
  
• Input student names

• Invite parens to join

Additional Features found on the website:

• PD Tutorial Feature
• Gives a clear depiction of what ClassDojo looks like in the classroom.  Great tool for beginners!
• Setting Features Include:
• Add co-teachers
• Reset points given to students
• Edit display options 
• Teacher Toolkit
• Directions display option
• Group maker
• Music
• Noise meter
• Think Pair Share
• Random
• Timer
• Today (an announcement maker)
• Mojo Show
• Includes episode series that is centered around social emotional learning.

Cons:

• Must be consistent 
• Documenting behavior 
• Will it take away from my class time?
• Click here for a list of additional cons from an outside source

My Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Blog Post #5: Seven Graders and Sexism

For my reading assignment, I chose to read the chapter titled: Seventh Graders and Sexism which was written by Lisa Espinosa.  This chapter sparked my interest because I have a daughter who just finished 7th grade.  I was curious about the content that I would find in this chapter.

As a new teacher, Lisa wanted to help her students analyze media types.  She described teaching as an opportunity to help her students think critically about society's inequities.  She also wanted to bring awareness to gender inequality created by society.  

Before I outline the major takeaways from this article, I thought it would be helpful to describe Lisa's background and upbringing.  Lisa was a seventh grade teacher who taught on the South Side of Chicago.  She began the chapter by describing her upbringing as a child of a Mexican immigrant.  She discussed how the gender role responsibilities looked very different for girls and boys while growing up.  For instance, the boys were molded to become independent, strong leaders whereas the girls were groomed to become homemakers.  In other words, girls were taught how to complete all the chores, cook, obey authority and so on.  As Lisa got older,  she began to look at life differently because of the strong influence that professors such as Paulo Friere, Ronald Takaki and Gloria Anzaldua made on her adult life.

The major points presented in the article consisted of Lisa outlinging the ways she helped her seventh graders learn about the following media stereotypes:

• She taught them about the following:
• Gender and Sexism
• Examine Stereotypes
• Free Writing
• Analyzing Media

The rest of the chapter went on to describe in detail some of the ways that Lisa taught her students about the above topics.  

For instance, in regards to gender and sexism, Lisa accomplished this task by facilitating her students through a series of questions so that they can begin making connections.

• For example, she asked her female students the following:
• Why do you remain silent majority of the class while the boys talked?
• Why are you so concerned about your appearance?
• Sample male questions:
• Why do you feel ashamed to show your emotions?
• Why do you use so much homophobic language?

She also noted that they read An Island Like You by Judith Ortiz Cofer. The stories found in this book dealt with body image, peer pressure and gender expectations.  She found that this particular activity allowed her students to challenge their expectations of their lifelong goals and made them really consider what they could actually attain in life. 

In order to examine stereotypes, she asked the students to brainstorm words and phrases that are associated with the ways society thinks a man and/or lady should act.  This activity alone allowed the students the opportunity to firsthand explore gender biases, even if they didn't identify them as stereotypes.  

Free Writing consisted of granting students the space to reflect and write freely about any particular topic.  She learned that what she was teaching in class was reflective through her students' writing.  Students were opening up and becoming aware of how media/texts depicts and stereotypes men and women. 

Analyzing media activity involved the students making collages that either countered or reaffirms common gender stereotypes.  This was done because she wanted her students to critically analyze many of the popular magazines that they choose to read.  This activity was done in hopes to open their eyes and see how media perpetuates the gender stereotypes.

In the end, the biggest takeaway from this chapter consisted of Lisa bringing awareness of stereotyping to her students.  As a result of her commitment,  the students were starting to become reflective in regards to the issues brought up in class.  For instance, she stated that one of the clearest signs that students were reflecting on these issues came several weeks after during the school elections for class representatives.  One of her student asked the candidates, what they were going to do about sexism in the school and in the community?

I will conclude by reminding us of the simple fact that, in the midst of everything, we as educators, need to remember that we have the power to create a strong positive effect on our students.   

Blog Post #4: Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us

I remember watching, reading and listening to Disney fairytales growing up. However, I don't recall being overly obsessed with Disney themed stories and/or movies during my own childhood. To be quite honest, the most excitement that I ever had for a Disney themed movie was when Princess and the Frog first came out. I remember purchasing Disney merchandise for my children as a result of this movie. This particular movie created a buzz in my household because my two daughters were able to see a resemblance of themselves in a Disney Princess. Reflecting back, I was also excited and proud because Princess Tiana was played by Anika Noni Rose.  

Christensen pointed out some interesting, yet valid concerns in regards to Disney's depiction of characters. I understand and support her stance on making sure that students are aware of the biases and negative stereotypes that are often illustrated in Disney movies and stories. However, I think that this could easily be noted in not only Disney movies but television shows, commercials, ads and so on.

Moving forward, I will begin to look at storybooks and movies with a different analytical lens when selecting appropriate stories for my students to listen to and read. I will begin asking myself some of those reflective questions mentioned in tonights readings on page 193.

In regards to Frozen, I was able to look at the ending much differently than before. I really focused in on the relationship between Anna and Elsa and enjoyed seeing the sisterly love and connection between the two of them this time around. Their connection resonated with me a lot because I reflected on my relationship with my sister as well as the relationship between my two daughters. I'm always reminding them that FAMILY is always first, no matter what.  

Frozen also challenged the princess culture because they were not damsels in distress. Both Anna and Elsa were strong minded individuals. In the end, their love for each other is what saved them.

Blog Post #3: Ch. 7 / are today's youth digital natives?

Reflecting on today's class discussion and readings, I now have a better understanding of both Boyd's and Prensky's view points in regards to the term "digital native." Below you will find the highlights that resonated with me the most.

For instance, Boyd stated that we shouldn't assume that teens have the knowledge and skillset to make the most of their online experience due to the fact that they know their way around social media sites. She believes that this notion alone can become a huge disadvantage to teens and could cause more harm than good. She also referenced that it's our jobs as adults to inform and teach students about being able to critically examine what they consume digitally. I agree with this particular stance because, it's very important that we teach our students to critically examine the source that they are gathering information when using digital resources. It's essential that they know and understand the biases that are sometimes found on different media outlets, media sources and websites found online.

Prensky's definition of a "digital native" is centered around the notion of children growing up surrounded by technology. Therefore, he views them as being more comfortable with digital sources, multi-tasking and that they prefer instant gratification and frequent rewards. I agree with this particular viewpoint due to the fact that these characteristics are seen in my classroom daily. For instance, my students love having access to the computers during reading and math rotations. They view the computer station as "fun-time" because in their minds they are playing games, when in reality they are reviewing previously taught reading and math skills. This is one of the reasons as to why we as educators must continuously find ways to keep students engaged in learning.

On a side note, the reference about "Google" knowing everything resonated with me a lot because, I must confess, I too am at fault to this false sense of knowledge. I tend to resort to Google for unanswered questions that I may have about an unknown topic and assume that it must be correct because it's a trusted site. Moving forward, I will keep this article in the back of my mind when referring to Google.

Blog Post #2

After this morning’s discussion, I guess I would have to consider myself as having a mix of both digital immigrants and digital native characteristics because I share some of the qualities found in each category.  

Link to My Workplace:


Birthplace:  Tallahassee FL

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Links to My Top 3 TV Series:
Greenleaf
Queen Sugar
Greys Anatomy


Link to My Favorite Wing Place in RI:

Blog Post #1: Introduction

Hello!

Welcome to my blog spot! 

I'm Porsche DuPont.  I'm a wife and mother of 2 beautiful daughters (Jada & Asha) and yorkie pups (Joi & Aly).  I've been teaching for about 15 years and is currently teaching first grade ESL students in Woonsocket, RI.

In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my family, shopping and watching movies.

My school year just ended last Wednesday.  However, I would say that my summer is off to a great start.  I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with my family.