[FOOT] History of Facebook

With the release of The Social Network just this year, this article read just like the script of the movie. Drunk Zuckerberg makes a site, screws over some people on the way, and is now super important, but young and cocky. What the article fails to mention is the coming dissent of facebook, or the fact that as it has become more and more popular (and thus, powerful), it has also become a child's playground more than a professional networking site. While the original facebook was a place for college students, and older people to connect and work in a professional manner, Facebook is now a land of mindless farmville-ing and myspace immigrant scene kids taking mirror pictures. Oh, and now the middle aged people are starting to really get into it, including a lot of parents. It's all very odd, but I see nothing but the same downfall that myspace had, and other such popular sites have also experienced.

Social networking will always, in some way, be a part of our lives for years to come, but it will most likely be continually changing every few years as they expand and then retract.

[FOOT] Oral History of the Internet

I'm just going to open by saying this article was dauntingly long. As someone who is an avid computer user and knows his web history, it took a lot of effort to keep reading through this. Started with the whole Soviet Union scare and then it was trying to get it in the home, etc. etc. I guess I'm not sure what to say because this is common knowledge in my circle of friends (yes, we are all computer geeks). Yes Microsoft has done terribly unethical things in their day, but its also completely reinvented the internet and computing as we know it. People have to do what they have to do to get things done, and I'll take innovation with a few sacrifices along the way. What I do find interesting is that they never once mentioned AOL, which was a HUGE player in the internet boom. It completely neglected it, which was a huge misstep on their take on the history of the internet, especially for it coming to the masses. AOL was vastly important to this in the early '00s.

I think knowledge like this is extremely important. As technology integrates into our lives more and more, we can't stand to be ill informed on the matter; the same as politics. The technologically uninformed will be taken advantage of, just as the politically uninformed masses are in today's society.

[FOOT] Little Brother Post

Just finishing the first half of our reading on Little Brother, I'm impressed by the novels ability to convey a serious message, but turn it into a relatable YA choice through its characterization and all of its descriptions. Its language is never daunting, but its not a children's book, which creates a happy medium where high school students have the opportunity to expand their vocabulary without feeling overwhelmed by the material (i.e. Shakespeare, William Blake, James Joyce, Faulkner, etc. etc.). It's Orwellian relation could make a great segue and comparison novel. I have found that as a technologically inclined person, I may be more drawn to the novel. Some of the language choices when referring to the technology may confuse the less informed, which can make the novel a bit of a niche category for computer loving teen boys.

What I think is most important about this book is the way it looks at your rights and how you should stand up for them. While it's a fun plot and you can feel wrapped in the characters the way a good book should, stepping back and looking at the book's overall themes and the way they are presented makes for a great discussion topic. It can pair literature with the real world and real problems going on, especially seeing how quickly technology is taking over our lives. Here is a comic that I think could stir good discussion as well, depending on the grade level, as they would have to know who both Huxley and Orwell are.

Orwell v. Huxley comic.

Chapter 9

The beginning of this chapter described my childhood: new words on monday, memorize during the week, fail test, forget the few definitions I even remembered. The suggestions given were very logical things I think every generation of teachers may think as they go into the field and then forget. During the first suggestion, it seemed completely ludicrous to me to think these teachers didn't realize how overwhelming and unnecessary the words they were giving were and that they didn't notice they honestly didn't think the students would use them. They knew it was about teaching to a test, but seemed to ignore it. Maybe our generation of incoming teachers is the first to realize this, but I doubt it. There seems to be such a ridiculous disconnect between being a teacher and being a student and teachers don't take into account what it's like to be the student.

Chapter 8

Chapters 6, 7, and 8 have followed in perfect sequential order: pre, during, and post-reading. Chapter 8 continues Beers' wonderful use of real life examples and useful strategies to actually help students after they've read. She starts with talking about scales. The best part of this strategy, to me, is that you can't be wrong if you have a rationale. It will show if the prior strategies paid off to see if the students are understanding the text. Then she gets to a strategy to help summarize that goes "somebody" -> "wanted" -> "But" -> "So" -> "Then."

(Thursday, October 14th edit: hahaha! we used this in class today, professor. I see you've read the textbook. =P)

She then spends time on Retelling, Text Reformulation, It Says-I Say, and a bunch more wonderful things. The set up of the book is becoming easily recognizable; which, while nice, makes it hard to talk about, because I feel I'm just regurtitating to you "hey, this is what she talked about and it's cool." As an INLA major, of course it's cool! I want to do this for the rest of my life

Chapter 7

The very first paragraph shows there is something very, very, VERY wrong with reading classes right now. The fact a student could simply think "They just read it. and then they answer all the questions. That's what makes them good readers, because they can answer the questions." School and life are about KNOWLEDGE, not a test. And the title of that beginning section is one of the truest statements I've heard: "You mean you Make It Make Sense?" Yes. Yes you do. Meaning is not implicit in language. We create it. That's a basic philosophical concept of language. Words are arbitrary, and we shape them to our societal meanings. When you read a piece, you take what is presented and create your own world out of it.

The strategies presented are great ways to make sure students are actually comprehending and thinking critically on their own. Not just answering the questions. Nothing is more aggravating than knowing students seriously think that school is just about answering questions. That is not knowledge.

Chapter 5

Sometimes, the best part of this book is realizing how difficult something that comes so naturally is. An inference is the next critical step in thought, but it can definitely be really difficult for kids. The visualization on page 64 really showed how complex making an inference actually is. The classroom examples she gave easily showed the difference between answer that a student who is getting a lower grade gives versus a higher grade student. I think the biggest thing I learned was that inferences ARE a difficult thinking process that not everyone grasps.

Also, the use of cartoons and bumper stickers was great. It's relatable, and funny. It forces the student to understand the "why" of a natural reaction (laughing), which is important. A lot of people will react to things in life, and not understand that very vital "why" of the event, and this helps them have that critical thinking and become better at inferring.