I can't give up now, the door is, like, RIGHT THERE!

   Education once again starts properly. No more of these Summer courses, designed to cram my noggin full of a year's worth of education into a 4 week, skull splitting stuff-stravaganza. Yet again my scholastic experience will be mostly facilitated through those magical tubes we all love, the internets. Along with more education classes for me means more thoughtful and verbose ramblings from a madman for you... Happy New School Year!!

Personal Plea.

My semester has ended and I have conquered many a mighty final. I will continue these updates in a....well... not-so-scheduled update-y way. But for now, I leave you this, very personal, posting.
Help Katie Smile

Effectively Assessing Learning.

Meaningful feedback is at the core of learning. Without knowing how the student is coping with the massive amounts of data and information being hurled at them on a daily basis, how can we expect them to preform to a standardized metric? We assign lesson reviews and quizzes, which indeed are metrics for seeing where students lie in their comprehension of  material, but by the time these are handed out and graded the time allotted for instruction has passed. We are able to determine whether or not the individual student is grasping important information, but frequently are unable to help those who are in need of further instruction in the classroom.

"You didn't understand the lesson? 

Too bad, get ready for the next unit: 'The Great Depression'."

   

   If instructors had feedback that ran parallel to the lesson being taught, specific focus and clarification could be planned for as early as the later classes that day. We rely on students to speak up if they don't understand, or to ask more questions. I submit that if this was simply the case, we would have no-one failing any classes. So, how are we to be expected to get rapid feedback from student assessments if the only bits we get are from tests and other papers that cut into classroom time? There exists an option in resources such as QUIZDOM.

I think James T. Kirk attended here...

   We've discussed asynchronous learning here before, but what about face to face instruction; how can that be aided by some razzmatazz techno-babble? Quizdom is a solution that allows the lesson to be delivered by the instructor in class (as well as out) that allows teachers to assess the learning of their students with instant feedback on a student by student basis. We all know that students are going to smuggle their phones and laptops into the class, so we may as well put those puppies to work. Quizdom calls this approach a BYOD (Bring your own device) situation, which, let's face it, would chip a little at those precious budgets that are closely guarded by dragons (sources needed). The teacher has the ability to better structure the lesson plan to accommodate struggling students or close any gaps in the delivery. Students won't have to catch up, and instructors know the efficiency of their lessons. That is a win-win.

TAMUC Locust Legacy

Locust Legacy by Rami Bdeir is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Works Cited.

“1921 Locust pg. 7”. Locust Yearbook, 1921. 1921. TAMUC Digital Collections.

Web. 10 March 2014.Fair Use







“1921 Locust pg. 5”. Locust Yearbook, 1921. 1921. TAMUC Digital Collections.

Web. 10 March 2014.Fair Use







“1930 Locust pg. 12”. Locust Yearbook, 1930. 1930. TAMUC Digital Collections.

Web. 10 March 2014.Fair Use







“1950 Locust pg. 178”. Locust Yearbook, 1950. 1950. TAMUC Digital Collections.

Web. 5 March 2014.Fair Use





“1950 Locust pg. 71”. Locust Yearbook, 1950. 1950. TAMUC Digital Collections.

Web. 5 March 2014.Fair Use







“1975 Locust pg. 20”. Locust Yearbook, 1975. 1975. TAMUC Digital Collections.

Web. 1 March 2014.Fair Use





“Locust Yearbook, 1920”. Locust Yearbook, 1920. 1920.  TAMUC Digital Collections.







"Professor Mayo's College". 1895. TAMUC Digital Collections. Web. 3 March 2014. Fair Use





 Photonormandie. “Crater”. 1944. Conseil Régional de Basse-Normandie / National Archives USA. Web. 8 April 2014. CC.



Photonormandie. “Foxhole”. 1944. Conseil Régional de Basse-Normandie / National Archives USA. Web. 8 April 2014. CC.



Photonormandie. “Long Road”. 1944. Conseil Régional de Basse-Normandie / National Archives USA. Web. 8 April 2014. CC.



Photonormandie. “Atillery”. 1944. Conseil Régional de Basse-Normandie / National Archives USA. Web. 8 April 2014. CC.



Photonormandie. “Artillery Team”. 1944. Conseil Régional de Basse-Normandie / National Archives USA. Web. 8 April 2014. CC.



“TAMUC”. Texas A&M University System. 2014. www.tamus.edu. Web. 14 March

2014.Fair Use.





Javolenus. “NiGiD_-_C120-GTR-impro-chillgroove”. 2013, CCMIXTER.ORG. Web. 7 April 2014. CC.

§110.32. English Language Arts and Reading, English II (One Credit), Beginning with School Year 2009-2010.
(a)  Introduction.
(1)  The English Language Arts and Reading Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) are organized into the following strands: Reading, where students read and understand a wide variety of literary and informational texts; Writing, where students compose a variety of written texts with a clear controlling idea, coherent organization, and sufficient detail; Research, where students are expected to know how to locate a range of relevant sources and evaluate, synthesize, and present ideas and information; Listening and Speaking, where students listen and respond to the ideas of others while contributing their own ideas in conversations and in groups; and Oral and Written Conventions, where students learn how to use the oral and written conventions of the English language in speaking and writing. The standards are cumulative--students will continue to address earlier standards as needed while they attend to standards for their grade. In English II, students will engage in activities that build on their prior knowledge and skills in order to strengthen their reading, writing, and oral language skills. Students should read and write on a daily basis.
(2)  For students whose first language is not English, the students' native language serves as a foundation for English language acquisition.
(A)  English language learners (ELLs) are acquiring English, learning content in English, and learning to read simultaneously. For this reason, it is imperative that reading instruction should be comprehensive and that students receive instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, and word attack skills while simultaneously being taught academic vocabulary and comprehension skills and strategies. Reading instruction that enhances ELL's ability to decode unfamiliar words and to make sense of those words in context will expedite their ability to make sense of what they read and learn from reading. Additionally, developing fluency, spelling, and grammatical conventions of academic language must be done in meaningful contexts and not in isolation.
(B)  For ELLs, comprehension of texts requires additional scaffolds to support comprehensible input. ELL students should use the knowledge of their first language (e.g., cognates) to further vocabulary development. Vocabulary needs to be taught in the context of connected discourse so that language is meaningful. ELLs must learn how rhetorical devices in English differ from those in their native language. At the same time English learners are learning in English, the focus is on academic English, concepts, and the language structures specific to the content.
(C)  During initial stages of English development, ELLs are expected to meet standards in a second language that many monolingual English speakers find difficult to meet in their native language. However, English language learners' abilities to meet these standards will be influenced by their proficiency in English. While English language learners can analyze, synthesize, and evaluate, their level of English proficiency may impede their ability to demonstrate this knowledge during the initial stages of English language acquisition. It is also critical to understand that ELLs with no previous or with interrupted schooling will require explicit and strategic support as they acquire English and learn to learn in English simultaneously.
(3)  To meet Public Education Goal 1 of the Texas Education Code, §4.002, which states, "The students in the public education system will demonstrate exemplary performance in the reading and writing of the English language," students will accomplish the essential knowledge, skills, and student expectations in English II as described in subsection (b) of this section.
(4)  To meet Texas Education Code, §28.002(h), which states, "... each school district shall foster the continuation of the tradition of teaching United States and Texas history and the free enterprise system in regular subject matter and in reading courses and in the adoption of textbooks," students will be provided oral and written narratives as well as other informational texts that can help them to become thoughtful, active citizens who appreciate the basic democratic values of our state and nation.
(Source: Texas Education Agency at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/)


    You see that unbelievable wall of text up there? That's the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) for second year High School English, well, the introduction for it at least. What it provides, however, is a basic understanding for the importance of the English and Language Arts curriculum. It helps me, as a future educator, understand and plan for the needs of the Modern Student. I can tell you that, based on the information above, that I will incorporate many discussions in my classroom. Literature is great, to me at least. I don't expect that every student who enters my door will believe the same thing. So why bang on indefinitely while the students slowly descend into zombification when I can Introduce them to the literature and then help them explore it for themselves through meaningful discussion?

"I am become scholar..."

   Why do I think this is important, in keeping with the required TEKS? My dear readers, it is because we have become a society of social inepts. Many of our graduates today have trouble communicating at the supermarket with their cashier...much less something as intimidating as sharing new ideas with the world to further our understanding as a species. This discussion of literature helps students find not only the importance of communicative ideas through literature, but also as a (small and localized) classroom society that can debate and reach consensus and understanding of complex subjects. If you tell a student "why" then they can regurgitate the answer on a test, if the student is given the ability to discover "why" then they are able to contribute to the global discourse of our world.

Visualization in Education.

   Remember that old cliche, "A picture is worth a thousand words"? Yeah, I remember reading the picture version of War and Peace (that would still make it ~590 pages.). All joking about how video killed the radio-star aside, the above statement can very well be true. I am a student of the literary persuasion (big shock, I know), but I also have studied classic art extensively. A painting can be analysed using techniques very similar to literary analyses. They are two mediums that can be used to achieve the same message. Never mind the fact that early writing and drawings were the same thing.

The original 'knock knock' joke.

   The power of the image as an educational tool is not to be underestimated. Imagine, if you will, the complexities of explaining exactly what the heck a "Krebs Cycle" is without the aid of images. I present to you, exhibit (A).

Yeah... there's a reason I study Literature.

   Look at that monstrosity up there. Now, if you have no idea what is happening up there, that's okay, needless to say that explaining the mechanics of what is pictured without the aid of images would be a stern lesson indeed. I never would have survived science or math classes without the aid of visual tools. They're just some foreign language without the ability to visualize what they represent in the physical world.

   And that's what visualization is, representation. Images already come pre-packaged with all this mental association. It's the whole reason we have modern book covers. Exhibit (B) is go!

Oh, this must be the one with Christopher Robin and that obese stuffed bear.

   If that was just a blank black cover that said "Rogue" across it...you may have trouble ascertaining it's contents, but with Future Space Captain Ninja McBlack-Ops up there, you know this book means business. Future Space Ninja business...

   

   

Mid-Term Fair Use Link

"Professor Mayo's College". 1895. TAMUC Digital Collections. Web. 3 March 2014. Fair Use

The image is used in a scholarly project, and is transformative in nature. The image is used as a direct juxtaposition to the final image in the project and shows the growth of the campus over time. The intent was different from that of the original use, used as an image marker for the change of time.

“Locust Yearbook, 1920”. Locust Yearbook, 1920. 1920. TAMUC Digital Collections.

Web. 3 March 2014. Fair Use

All images taken from the Locust Yearbook. Collection, where used in the project in a focused and instructional way. The images represent the main topic of research in the media project. The images are critical to the instructional purpose of the project.

“1921 Locust pg. 7”. Locust Yearbook, 1921. 1921. TAMUC Digital Collections.

Web. 10 March 2014.Fair Use

All images taken from the Locust Yearbook. Collection, where used in the project in a focused and instructional way. The images represent the main topic of research in the media project. The images are critical to the instructional purpose of the project.

“1921 Locust pg. 5”. Locust Yearbook, 1921. 1921. TAMUC Digital Collections.

Web. 10 March 2014.Fair Use

All images taken from the Locust Yearbook. Collection, where used in the project in a focused and instructional way. The images represent the main topic of research in the media project. The images are critical to the instructional purpose of the project.

“1930 Locust pg. 12”. Locust Yearbook, 1930. 1930. TAMUC Digital Collections.

Web. 10 March 2014.Fair Use

All images taken from the Locust Yearbook. Collection, where used in the project in a focused and instructional way. The images represent the main topic of research in the media project. The images are critical to the instructional purpose of the project.

“1950 Locust pg. 178”. Locust Yearbook, 1950. 1950. TAMUC Digital Collections.

Web. 5 March 2014.Fair Use

All images taken from the Locust Yearbook. Collection, where used in the project in a focused and instructional way. The images represent the main topic of research in the media project. The images are critical to the instructional purpose of the project.

“1950 Locust pg. 71”. Locust Yearbook, 1950. 1950. TAMUC Digital Collections.

Web. 5 March 2014.Fair Use

All images taken from the Locust Yearbook. Collection, where used in the project in a focused and instructional way. The images represent the main topic of research in the media project. The images are critical to the instructional purpose of the project.

“1975 Locust pg. 20”. Locust Yearbook, 1975. 1975. TAMUC Digital Collections.

Web. 1 March 2014.Fair Use

All images taken from the Locust Yearbook. Collection, where used in the project in a focused and instructional way. The images represent the main topic of research in the media project. The images are critical to the instructional purpose of the project.

“TAMUC”. Texas A&M University System. 2014. www.tamus.edu. Web. 14 March

2014.Fair Use.

Image is used in an instructional media project in an academic environment. Image is transformative as a juxtaposition to the first image in the presentation, showing the change of the campus over time.

Lifeformed. "Fifty fps Forest". Fastfall, 2013. mp3. Fair Use

Song is played over images to create atmosphere and is not being recycled for it's own entertainment value. Media project is in a scholarly research project, in an academic environment.