Question, Research, Experiment, and Write

I really wish I could have attended the first half of the conference but do to a Physics Lab I couldn’t get out of I was forced to attend the latter sessions.  However, I’m not complaining because this conference was by one of the most informative and eye opening experiences.  Not only did I gain useful knowledge from other teachers, but I have a new found appreciation for English educators.  In the beginning of this class I was determined to find a similarity between the scientific method and teaching English.  Looking back on that I realize two huge mistakes I made.  Firstly, English is an art form and to somehow sculpt that into a trial and error rule based scenario is impossible.  Secondly my idea was too broad.  As creative of an idea I imagined it to be, the scientific method cannot be used in English.  However, I did learn about other techniques I find incredibly interesting!

Zazzle.com

It was the second to last session I went to, but probably the most memorable of all the sessions.  Pen Campbell, a college writing instructor from St. Joseph High School, presented on multi-media in the classroom.  She started the presentation with a personal narrative done with a program called photostory 3.  This program allows you to download photos and to transition between the photo’s at a certain rate while narrating your story.  She also showed us different writing techniques incorporated into a digital story.  From personal narratives to poetry, everything becomes digital and exciting.  Campbell also commented the sense of ownership most students feel after completing a digital story of their own.  She claimed, “Most students are excited to try something new and once they are done they feel proud of their accomplishments.”  I realize a digital story takes a lot of time to create and can’t be used for every topic, however it can be used on occasion as a method of teaching and doing.

I have created my own digital story for an Education class I took at Grand Valley.  Here is an example I hope you enjoy:  My Story

Besides Joyce Campbell’s session I also went to two other sessions.  The first session focused in on problems teachers have in department meetings.  This session as interesting as it sounds wasn’t very beneficial for me.  It may become a little more beneficial as time progresses and I become a teacher and have those problems but I didn’t really understand what was going on.  However the last session I attended was by far a step by step instruction manual of this teacher’s typical day.  Anna O’Dell, a teacher from Olivet High School, gave us her entire itinerary for the year.  She broke weeks down into key concepts she wanted students to learn and by the end of the week a paper was due.  Although, I myself am very OCD and love organization, I didn’t fully agree with her strict schedule.  I took one glance at it and immediately thought to myself, ‘I hope the kids don’t struggle with any one writing technique because she won’t have time to recover it’.  I think it is very good to have an idea of what you want to do for the entire year but I also think leaving room for adjustments is necessary.

Overall I absolutely loved the MCTE conference and I would recommend it to any future English teacher because it really does help you understand your field better.  It was worth every bit of the fifty dollars!