To Teach or Not to Teach (Grammar)-No Longer the Question - 5 views
Your article here is interesting because it goes with our chapter 8 too. Chapter 8 almost seem like a history of research to why students can't write.
How is Pedagogical Grammar Defined in Current TESOL Train Practice? - 4 views
The article talks about Pedagogy Grammar (PG) and the different programs that teach it to second language learners (SLL) both in Canada and the United States. The two main programs in the article a...
Bi-literate bilingualism versus mono-literate bilingualism: A longitudinal study of rea... - 2 views
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Brendan O'Donnell on 17 Oct 11Noting that most existing studies on bi-literacy have focused on learners whose L1 and L2 share the same script (the roman alphabet), the authors of this study examine the acquisition of Hebrew literacy by children who are already literate in Russian. This longitudinal study compared the reading success of 1st grade students of three groups: bilingual (Russian and Hebrew) who were literate in Russian, bilingual (not literate in either language), and monolingual (illiterate). The study found that that the students from the first group, those who were literate in Russian when they started school in Israel, performed better on a number of reading tasks in Hebrew than the students who started school without literacy in any language (including those who were bilingual but illiterate). From this, the authors conclude that bilingualism does not significantly enhance literacy acquisition but that being already literate in another language, even one with serious structural differences and that uses a different writing system, does aid the acquisition of literacy in the second language.
Penny Arcade - Extra Credits - Gamification - 2 views
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As an avid Video game enthusiast, I've always been curious about what exactly makes them so rewarding to play. Some would say story but that can't possibly account for the success of games like Call of Duty and games like Bioshock are not critically acclaimed solely for their gameplay. This video from a web series called Extra Credits (think TED talks meets gaming) touches on the theory of Gamification. The concept is best summarized in the video where they state "Gamification is simply the idea of taking the principles of play, the things we've learned in three decades of making videogames and using them to make real world activities more engaging." If this theory could be refined and applied to learning, both in and outside the classroom, I feel we would see an almost revolutionary shift in student engagement and enthusiasm.
Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us - 2 views
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This video is a very entertaining whiteboard animation of a talk given at RSA (described on their website, http://www.thersa.org, as "an enlightenment organisation committed to finding innovative practical solutions to today's social challenges") by author Dan Pink (for more, see http://www.danpink.com/about). The question he poses, is "what motivates us?" The common belief that people will work harder for a bigger reward is found to be true only when the work involves simple, mechanical skills. When the work requires even rudimentary cognitive skills, a surprising reversal occurs: the larger the reward, the poorer the performance. Pink states that engagement requires three factors: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Though his presentation is addressed to the business world, I think that he's really addressing fundamental aspects of human nature that can be applied in education as well. For example, his claim that crappy products are the result when profit is separated from purpose, can be applied to education as well, when grades are separated from meaningful learning.
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Great video and surpassingly simple. We do better work, when we are doing work towards something that interests us and that we are voluntarily invested in. That's not to say that we are invested in it voluntarily from the beginning, but that as we invest ourselves the reward is more personally gratifying. We are made happy by getting better at a task and mastering that task, we are made happy by engaging in abstract cognitive ideas that interest us. Money can not buy happiness, it can only buy a lack of cognitive effort.
Chomsky: Philosophies on language of Education - 2 views
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This is a long talk, but you can skip to the comments about education by selecting the chapter. I started watching from Chapter 14 "Media Literacy". Chomsky discusses training of learners by preparation limited to passing the next test. His anecdote of a student who asked a question that a teacher did not have time to answer speaks to the overly structured framework that education exists in. Instructors are required to cover a specific amount of material which means that creative restructure of the class process is marginalized. Yet situated learning is a self creating process in which members should be able to contribute equally to the form and content of the class, especially in a democracy. A country that values equality and tolerance should have institutions that incorporate those morals into the practice of education. To return to evaluating the source, Chomsky has written Miseductation which criticizes the methods of the school systems in America and how they contradict patriotic values by generating conformity and non questioning submission to authority. Chomsky touches on the treatment of students as vessels to be filled with the most important thinkers thoughts until the test day, which obviously is not valuable learning. IN his discussion of the Nobel prize winner he points out that the information age and the role of technology can yield a benefit if used in a 'cooperative effort' (e.g. education) to come to terms with the knowledge that is available.
A mobile-device-supported peer-assisted learning system for collaborative early EFL rea... - 5 views
My first three entries for this research dealt with the classroom pedagogy as it related to teaching. The forth focused on technology used in a university setting for writing. For this last arti...
A Stranger in Strange Lands: A College Student Writing Across the Curriculum - 3 views
Link http://www.jstor.org/stable/40171114 ^^only works while logged in at Chico State
The Linguistic Landscape of California Schools...it is a perfect title - 5 views
http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/cacounts/CC_202STCC.pdf I found this article to be a little bit interesting for the simple fact it was actually from an EDTE class that I am taking this semester...
Fiction writing: the difference between voice and style - 5 views
http://www.helium.com/items/1397787-how-does-style-differ-from-voice I chose to post and write a response on this article because it is a perfect example of just how mixed the views, beliefs, ide...
http://www.peterpappas.com/2011/05/smartphone-dumb-school-education-web-mobile-context.... - 3 views
did it mention writing?
Low-Stakes Writing - 0 views
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This webpage is presented on the Texas A&M University website. It is all about low-stakes writing, and how it helps the students develop their ideas and write more freely. It beings with a description of low-stakes writing, and the ways in which a teacher would have this type of writing in their class (including how to grade, types of assignments, etc). The web page stresses the importance of feedback on the students' writing, and also says that the feedback can come from a number of sources, not just the teacher. It suggests responses from peers, the writing center, or the student themselves.
Grades In writing classes - 4 views
I also read the article which Tim did. http://ehis.ebscohost.com.mantis.csuchico.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=8af00a28-6dcf-45f0-b918-bf88edbe1ecc%40sessionmgr10&vid=8&hid=102 After reading th...
Sponsors of Literacy - 2 views
can't figure out how to put in website, my technology skills are lacking to say the least. http://www.jstor.org/pss/358929 (only accessible within CSUChico campus)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjJjjpELtwA - 4 views
This may not be exactly what I am going to be writing my final paper on, but there are some very good things in this video to discuss further. To begin, this video based itself on the idea of how t...
TED Blog | TED and Reddit asked Sir Ken Robinson anything - and he answered - 4 views
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This online-community-sourced interview with Sir Ken Robinson (British education adviser, author, and speaker) followed his TED talk about creativity in education. He makes some good points about the need to cultivate creativity in students in all areas of education (not just those traditionally associated with creativity, like music or painting). This is closely tied to the struggle to create motivation in the classroom and addresses an attitude more than a specific set of strategies. He tends to talk more about math and science than language, but most of what he says can be applied to our field as well. He connects the idea of "teaching creativity" to "teaching literacy", but I would argue to achieve true literacy, you need those creative elements that are so often lost in the language classroom.
The importance of stupidity in scientific research - 0 views
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"I recently saw an old friend for the first time in many years. We had been Ph.D. students at the same time, both studying science, although in different areas. She later dropped out of graduate school, went to Harvard Law School and is now a senior lawyer for a major environmental organization. At some point, the conversation turned to why she had left graduate school. To my utter astonishment, she said it was because it made her feel stupid. After a couple of years of feeling stupid every day, she was ready to do something else. I had thought of her as one of the brightest people I knew and her subsequent career supports that view. What she said bothered me. I kept thinking about it; sometime the next day, it hit me. Science makes me feel stupid too. It's just that I've gotten used to it. So used to it, in fact, that I actively seek out new opportunities to feel stupid. I wouldn't know what to do without that feeling. I even think it's supposed to be this way."
High Stakes Test-Taking Strategies to Teach in Language Arts and English - 2 views
Here is another little article I found. It is more geared for those who are going to teach multiple subjects, middle school, or at the high school level. The article gives pointers for teachers on ...
I Hate Writing - 0 views
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I found this video actually looking for an informative video about students liking writing ---- goes to show that most students "hate" writing for multiple reasons. Many of the reasons in the control of educators. Teachers have the power to change the negative connotation students interpret writing to be - just an assignment, no further significance to, no interest to write ---- students should enjoy writing <<< school stems from learning through writing and reading ---- students want to write on things that interest them not pedagogical theories and research assignments. Students like to learn through their own eyes - students enjoy different genres of writing. Teachers have the power to enable their students in finding their interest in the writing realm. However, students should know the general rules and process of writing whether it be a narrative or research assignment, etc. Also, (as a teacher comments within the movie) - students don't always take blogs or social-media oriented writing forums with interest since self-representation is then transmitted into a educational institution. The video also covers the public's views on possible preventing of "writing hatred." This video also reflects the concept in the Casanava article in our class packet - teachers need to work on getting students immersed in writing through allowing their personal knowledge be combined with the values and lessons deemed by the institution they are writing for.