Hoy me levante oyendo el viento, me identifique. Con mi extrema necesidad de libertad e independencia por crecer en la vida a la edad de 5 anos le abri la jaula de pajaros a mi padre, con la excusa de que los mismos necesitaban ser libres e ir donde Dios. Los juegos deportivos de mi barrio no eran tan importantes como leer por horas y entender la gracia de Dios. Sin embargo, la falta de auto-entendimiento me llevo a oir las voces falsas de la propaganda social..y crei que lo sabia todo. Alas! vivi anos "pretendiendo" ser feliz y me senti vivir en prision conmigo misma. Re-empeze mi busqueda interna, creyendo que la relacion en pareja era el problema y decidi salir a volar por las noches bohemias, el libertinaje, la educacion, el mundo y la filosofia...pero seguia sintiendome vacia y sin libertad. Entonces, no es mas que mi interior quien esta atado en prision. Entonces me arrodille ante Dios y le dije, "toma mi vida, por que no se que hacer para encontrar la verdadera felicidad"
Esa noche, senti su presencia entrar en mi, senti a Jesus caminar en mi cuarto, era tan fuerte que sali corriendo al bano a esconderme. Oi una voz que me decia, "arrodillate que estas en la presencia de Dios" entonces corri a la cocina...y la misma voz: "arrodillate que estas en la presencia de Dios"
No me quedo otra, ya havia crusado el rio de la fe!
me arrodille y su espiritu entro en mi, con GRACIA y finalmente me senti LIBRE!
Despues de anos de estudio en mi auto-entendimiento como ser espiritual, emocional y fisico, comprendi que no tengo compromisos que me hacen infeliz por que aprendi a vivir en verdad y con coraje para vivir con el corazon abierto y libre, por que es la verdad que me hizo libre! Soy feliz.
No hay mejor libertad que aquella decision que se toma en verdad!
Gina Resto
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Thursday, February 12, 2009
I can’t think of something on my timeline, but ….
I’ve been frustrated teaching English in this school since I arrived in 2002 because there has been a WRITING LAB. In fall ’02, the English “writing lab” was in shambles: of about 25 computers in the room, less than half worked and neither of the teacher’s stations worked. By the end of that school year, spring ’03, the principal and English AP advised the dept. that the old computers would be removed and replaced with new “state of the art” computers. The administration told the English Dept. that the students would have full and regular use of computers to read, write and research on.
SIX years have passed and the English Dept. at GCA still does not have a computer lab. So much for respecting and caring about both the students and their teachers! [I’m sure that there’s been a scheme and scam with $, but that’s a follow-the-money-story for another time, perhaps.]
Why should students have computers available in English class on a regular basis anyway? Duh? Maybe students would actually write more, if they had computers available. How is it that a blank word document seems less intimidating than a blank white piece of paper?
I ‘m familiar with some differences of writing on paper and writing on a computer, but I wonder what it would be like to read a complete book or drama on a computer. How would we curl up with a good read?
Time’s up!
mm
I’ve been frustrated teaching English in this school since I arrived in 2002 because there has been a WRITING LAB. In fall ’02, the English “writing lab” was in shambles: of about 25 computers in the room, less than half worked and neither of the teacher’s stations worked. By the end of that school year, spring ’03, the principal and English AP advised the dept. that the old computers would be removed and replaced with new “state of the art” computers. The administration told the English Dept. that the students would have full and regular use of computers to read, write and research on.
SIX years have passed and the English Dept. at GCA still does not have a computer lab. So much for respecting and caring about both the students and their teachers! [I’m sure that there’s been a scheme and scam with $, but that’s a follow-the-money-story for another time, perhaps.]
Why should students have computers available in English class on a regular basis anyway? Duh? Maybe students would actually write more, if they had computers available. How is it that a blank word document seems less intimidating than a blank white piece of paper?
I ‘m familiar with some differences of writing on paper and writing on a computer, but I wonder what it would be like to read a complete book or drama on a computer. How would we curl up with a good read?
Time’s up!
mm
I can’t think of something on my timeline, but ….
I’ve been frustrated teaching English in this school since I arrived in 2002 because there has been a WRITING LAB. In fall ’02, the English “writing lab” was in shambles: of about 25 computers in the room, less than half worked and neither of the teacher’s stations worked. By the end of that school year, spring ’03, the principal and English AP advised the dept. that the old computers would be removed and replaced with new “state of the art” computers. The administration told the English Dept. that the students would have full and regular use of computers to read, write and research on.
SIX years have passed and the English Dept. at GCA still does not have a computer lab. So much for respecting and caring about both the students and their teachers! [I’m sure that there’s been a scheme and scam with $, but that’s a follow-the-money-story for another time, perhaps.]
Why should students have computers available in English class on a regular basis anyway? Duh? Maybe students would actually write more, if they had computers available. How is it that a blank word document seems less intimidating than a blank white piece of paper?
I ‘m familiar with some differences of writing on paper and writing on a computer, but I wonder what it would be like to read a complete book or drama on a computer. How would we curl up with a good read?
Time’s up!
mm
I’ve been frustrated teaching English in this school since I arrived in 2002 because there has been a WRITING LAB. In fall ’02, the English “writing lab” was in shambles: of about 25 computers in the room, less than half worked and neither of the teacher’s stations worked. By the end of that school year, spring ’03, the principal and English AP advised the dept. that the old computers would be removed and replaced with new “state of the art” computers. The administration told the English Dept. that the students would have full and regular use of computers to read, write and research on.
SIX years have passed and the English Dept. at GCA still does not have a computer lab. So much for respecting and caring about both the students and their teachers! [I’m sure that there’s been a scheme and scam with $, but that’s a follow-the-money-story for another time, perhaps.]
Why should students have computers available in English class on a regular basis anyway? Duh? Maybe students would actually write more, if they had computers available. How is it that a blank word document seems less intimidating than a blank white piece of paper?
I ‘m familiar with some differences of writing on paper and writing on a computer, but I wonder what it would be like to read a complete book or drama on a computer. How would we curl up with a good read?
Time’s up!
mm
reflection
I feel that while my students are not “dumb” or “stupid” they are not being prepared to function on a high level in 2009 society. I’m not quite sure where this inability comes from. Is it because standards have been lowered to a point at which completing the bare minimum is an achievement that needs to be rewarded with feel good awards like “Students Who Shine” or even a passing grade in my class because, hey, you might be struggling in life, I’m not going to hold you accountable for anything! Here’s an A!?
Reflection
What am I thinking about re: my students, technology and writing? What issue/concern/idea stands out?
I try to elaborate some ideas in which my students can feel more connected with the process of learning Spanish as a second language and hopefully technology could be a good tool to awake their interest. The problem is that I don’t have computers in my classroom. Maybe I could ask them to do some research in their home computers and bring it to class. I may give assignments that they can find the answers in the Internet.
How has technology changed my life?
I could say that if this kind of technology had it existed many years ago, I would it be today in a better position in life. The Internet has created ways to help to communicate to people and get to places faster than what I could do 20 years ago. It amazed me that I could talk and see my family from far away, helps me to do all my lesson plans better, my graduate school papers faster, connecting with so many people that I have lost the connection, keep far away relationships and so much more!
What is possible for my students?
I believe that with Internet “everything is possible” they are so many free learning Spanish programs in Internet as well as so many ways for them to study about the Spanish Culture.
Why do I stand on this issue/concern/idea? Why?
I can say that the idea of getting the students to understand the importance of their academic success is as important to help them connect their love for the Internet and the capacity of knowledge they could get by learning to connect both words.
What students, teachers or other individuals does this issue bring to mind?
I think that we all are aware of the importance of connecting both words in order to help the students to be successful
What would someone who totally disagree with you say about this issue and your stand on it?
I had a teacher who was in favor of teaching the students the humanistic and academic learning. I could see her debating this issue as mad she could be! For her vocational schools are destroying the mind of the students.
What classroom anecdotes brings light to this issue? Where is your issue evident in this story?
Recently, my students had to do a research project about any Spanish Artist. Most of them went to google it. The ones who did the research I asked them about any other artist they have read about in the internet and they mentioned at least another one. The research opened their eyes about another world that is evident they didn’t know about.
Why have you chosen this issue/concern/idea to write about? What is at the heart of it?
I just believe that the whole idea of interacting the learning process with some technology will bring the students mind to a point of feeling more attracted to learn more. That is where my heart is, hoping that technology in the classroom will awake their love for learning.
Reflection:
I try to elaborate some ideas in which my students can feel more connected with the process of learning Spanish as a second language and hopefully technology could be a good tool to awake their interest. The problem is that I don’t have computers in my classroom. Maybe I could ask them to do some research in their home computers and bring it to class. I may give assignments that they can find the answers in the Internet.
How has technology changed my life?
I could say that if this kind of technology had it existed many years ago, I would it be today in a better position in life. The Internet has created ways to help to communicate to people and get to places faster than what I could do 20 years ago. It amazed me that I could talk and see my family from far away, helps me to do all my lesson plans better, my graduate school papers faster, connecting with so many people that I have lost the connection, keep far away relationships and so much more!
What is possible for my students?
I believe that with Internet “everything is possible” they are so many free learning Spanish programs in Internet as well as so many ways for them to study about the Spanish Culture.
Why do I stand on this issue/concern/idea? Why?
I can say that the idea of getting the students to understand the importance of their academic success is as important to help them connect their love for the Internet and the capacity of knowledge they could get by learning to connect both words.
What students, teachers or other individuals does this issue bring to mind?
I think that we all are aware of the importance of connecting both words in order to help the students to be successful
What would someone who totally disagree with you say about this issue and your stand on it?
I had a teacher who was in favor of teaching the students the humanistic and academic learning. I could see her debating this issue as mad she could be! For her vocational schools are destroying the mind of the students.
What classroom anecdotes brings light to this issue? Where is your issue evident in this story?
Recently, my students had to do a research project about any Spanish Artist. Most of them went to google it. The ones who did the research I asked them about any other artist they have read about in the internet and they mentioned at least another one. The research opened their eyes about another world that is evident they didn’t know about.
Why have you chosen this issue/concern/idea to write about? What is at the heart of it?
I just believe that the whole idea of interacting the learning process with some technology will bring the students mind to a point of feeling more attracted to learn more. That is where my heart is, hoping that technology in the classroom will awake their love for learning.
Reflection:
What are my first thoughts about this issue? Regarding my students, technology and writing? What stands out for me?
Students and technology…. Kids are addicted to it, and naturally take to it. They are more comfortable with it than I am, but I have to keep up with them to teach it. So be it. It is now part of life, and they and we will move along with it. Even Obama can’t get by without his blackberry.
How has technology changed my life?
When I left Good Food Magazine in 1988, I was working as an artist at a state-of-the-art Fortune 500 magazine publisher, second hand to the promotional art director. So in the fall of 1988, is was no big surprising deal that my classroom had no computers—heck, I had to buy my own class set of non-reproducing blue pens and pica rulers for layout. But within the following five years, the school would transfer to the Macintosh LCII desktop computer for pre-press graphic production, and a new phase of my life began, and has since continue to force me to upgrade myself.
What is possible for my students?
My students have the capability to access the Internet in my classroom. They have access to Adobe Creative Suite for graphic design and Microsoft Office for business, academic and professional communications. They have the Internet—the biggest free publishing network in the history of mankind.
What my students lack is often a view to the possibilities open to them, and lack of knowledge of how to access these awesome tools. They often lack a vision for how these tools are a ticket to knowledge, personal power and success. They don’t see how the pieces can fit together to support them on their journey. Often, the view from home doesn’t support them either, or the school community isn’t quite clicking the light on.
Where do I stand on this and why?
I see my job as a teacher, especially a teacher interested in writing, art, communications and technology, and particularly human development, human rights and human potential in a global community, to be a coach for the students in my charge.
What other people does this issue bring to mind?
Linda Darling Hammond, Diane Ravitch and Jonathan Kozol come to mind as educators I respect. Stephen Covey has much to offer here, too. George Lucas, too, seems to “get” the human factor required in education. So do Bill Cosby and his writing companion for “Come On, People.”
But other leaders in education seem to see education as a system that runs as a business to be managed, controlled, to be re-budgeted and the labor re-distributed as if schools were markets and students commodities. Parents, in that view, I guess become the fields that harvest the crops and send them to the marketplace for the consumption of the community. Here I think of Michelle Rhee in Washington, D.C., Mike Bloomberg and Joel Klein in New York, and the Jack Welsh’s of the business world, as well as the well-meaning but perhaps educationally naïve Bill and Melinda Gates. Of course these are my opinions, and there is more to learn as we all evolve.
Where is my issue evident in my classroom?
I am caught in the bind between the humanist and practical views, not wishing to submit to either extreme, but mostly veering toward the human view of education that has to see teaching as more than preparation for exams. Students have to be part of the classroom process. I say that, not wishing to call myself a student-centered teaching advocate totally as opposed to a teacher-centered view. Education is an effort, an art and a craft. Teachers and students together have to find a way to make it work.
Students and technology…. Kids are addicted to it, and naturally take to it. They are more comfortable with it than I am, but I have to keep up with them to teach it. So be it. It is now part of life, and they and we will move along with it. Even Obama can’t get by without his blackberry.
How has technology changed my life?
When I left Good Food Magazine in 1988, I was working as an artist at a state-of-the-art Fortune 500 magazine publisher, second hand to the promotional art director. So in the fall of 1988, is was no big surprising deal that my classroom had no computers—heck, I had to buy my own class set of non-reproducing blue pens and pica rulers for layout. But within the following five years, the school would transfer to the Macintosh LCII desktop computer for pre-press graphic production, and a new phase of my life began, and has since continue to force me to upgrade myself.
What is possible for my students?
My students have the capability to access the Internet in my classroom. They have access to Adobe Creative Suite for graphic design and Microsoft Office for business, academic and professional communications. They have the Internet—the biggest free publishing network in the history of mankind.
What my students lack is often a view to the possibilities open to them, and lack of knowledge of how to access these awesome tools. They often lack a vision for how these tools are a ticket to knowledge, personal power and success. They don’t see how the pieces can fit together to support them on their journey. Often, the view from home doesn’t support them either, or the school community isn’t quite clicking the light on.
Where do I stand on this and why?
I see my job as a teacher, especially a teacher interested in writing, art, communications and technology, and particularly human development, human rights and human potential in a global community, to be a coach for the students in my charge.
What other people does this issue bring to mind?
Linda Darling Hammond, Diane Ravitch and Jonathan Kozol come to mind as educators I respect. Stephen Covey has much to offer here, too. George Lucas, too, seems to “get” the human factor required in education. So do Bill Cosby and his writing companion for “Come On, People.”
But other leaders in education seem to see education as a system that runs as a business to be managed, controlled, to be re-budgeted and the labor re-distributed as if schools were markets and students commodities. Parents, in that view, I guess become the fields that harvest the crops and send them to the marketplace for the consumption of the community. Here I think of Michelle Rhee in Washington, D.C., Mike Bloomberg and Joel Klein in New York, and the Jack Welsh’s of the business world, as well as the well-meaning but perhaps educationally naïve Bill and Melinda Gates. Of course these are my opinions, and there is more to learn as we all evolve.
Where is my issue evident in my classroom?
I am caught in the bind between the humanist and practical views, not wishing to submit to either extreme, but mostly veering toward the human view of education that has to see teaching as more than preparation for exams. Students have to be part of the classroom process. I say that, not wishing to call myself a student-centered teaching advocate totally as opposed to a teacher-centered view. Education is an effort, an art and a craft. Teachers and students together have to find a way to make it work.
Assorted Tech-related Ramblings...
Many of my students use technology for writing in some way or another. For many of my students this simply involves using Microsoft Word to type up essays and reports. The vast majority of my students write messages to one another using technology, whether through texting or the use of social networking sites. Two major concerns I have with regard to technology and my students relate to (a) the role of “online lingo” in classrooms and (b) the use of everyday technologies like cell phones, i-Pods, or Sidekicks in the classroom.
I had significant exposure to “online lingo” from a relatively early age. When I was 14 years old, I’d spend upwards of 3-4 hours each day chatting with friends over AIM. This didn’t really change the way I communicated in the “real” world, though; even online, I very seldom use abbreviations or shortcuts in my language, so things like “LOL” never make their way into my vernacular (except in purely ironic contexts). I’ve always thought that abbreviations aren’t really rich enough to express thoughts, ideas and emotions, so I shy away from them unless I’m trying to take notes in shorthand. As a result, I’m fairly resistant to the idea that “text speak” should be considered acceptable in the classroom; even though I’m sure my students view it as a valid means of expression, some pretentious, crotchety, linguistically conservative part of me wants to wretch every time I hear someone say “BRB” or “TTYL” out loud.
In my literacy class at City College, our professor as well as many of the students seem to think that simply because most of our students are always hooked up to technology and texting one another, that we should necessarily be working this into our classes. If the kids like to use their cell phones and T-Mobile Sidekicks, then we should try to tailor our instruction to this. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I completely agree that my students will be more engaged if my instruction is tailored to their interests. On the other hand, I don’t want students to feel as though I’m condoning the constant use of electronic devices in my classroom. As it stands currently, portable electronic devices are one of the biggest distractions in my classroom. Students who have these with them seem to not care at all about what’s going on around them; they only care about the text message they’re typing, the game they’re playing, or the song they’re listening to. The portability of technology has left adolescents in need of a seemingly constant stream of sensory stimulus; they want to consume more and more without ever stopping to digest what’s coming in. By tailoring my lessons to this kind of technology, I’d almost feel like I was sleeping with the enemy. Just because my students are universally interested in something, does this mean I should necessarily welcome it into my classroom? I’m kind of riding the fence on this one…
I had significant exposure to “online lingo” from a relatively early age. When I was 14 years old, I’d spend upwards of 3-4 hours each day chatting with friends over AIM. This didn’t really change the way I communicated in the “real” world, though; even online, I very seldom use abbreviations or shortcuts in my language, so things like “LOL” never make their way into my vernacular (except in purely ironic contexts). I’ve always thought that abbreviations aren’t really rich enough to express thoughts, ideas and emotions, so I shy away from them unless I’m trying to take notes in shorthand. As a result, I’m fairly resistant to the idea that “text speak” should be considered acceptable in the classroom; even though I’m sure my students view it as a valid means of expression, some pretentious, crotchety, linguistically conservative part of me wants to wretch every time I hear someone say “BRB” or “TTYL” out loud.
In my literacy class at City College, our professor as well as many of the students seem to think that simply because most of our students are always hooked up to technology and texting one another, that we should necessarily be working this into our classes. If the kids like to use their cell phones and T-Mobile Sidekicks, then we should try to tailor our instruction to this. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I completely agree that my students will be more engaged if my instruction is tailored to their interests. On the other hand, I don’t want students to feel as though I’m condoning the constant use of electronic devices in my classroom. As it stands currently, portable electronic devices are one of the biggest distractions in my classroom. Students who have these with them seem to not care at all about what’s going on around them; they only care about the text message they’re typing, the game they’re playing, or the song they’re listening to. The portability of technology has left adolescents in need of a seemingly constant stream of sensory stimulus; they want to consume more and more without ever stopping to digest what’s coming in. By tailoring my lessons to this kind of technology, I’d almost feel like I was sleeping with the enemy. Just because my students are universally interested in something, does this mean I should necessarily welcome it into my classroom? I’m kind of riding the fence on this one…
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