So this is my Blog dedicated to my educational escapades. I want to talk a bit about media in the classroom, but first, let me tell you a bit about me. I believe my background will help explain why I am adamant about media in the classroom, including the use of cellphones and laptops (which some teachers still resist). As my profile indicates, I used to work in the entertainment industry. If you Google “Colette Claire” you will find my IMDB profile as well as YouTube videos of me interviewing rock and metal bands. I’ve done video and written journalistic work for a number of online publications, and currently write for Screamer Magazine in my spare time. I also sang in a rock band for a number of years.
In the last few years though, I have primarily switched gears to becoming a college English professor. On this path, I am currently a senior at CSUN studying English Subject Matter and going into the Master's Program next year. To some, this may seem like a weird transition, but in reality everything I’ve done up to this point was all excellent preparation for teaching. It seems like many would-be teachers seem to forget that the job requires standing in front of a room full of people. This is especially ironic considering that most English majors, many of whom become English teachers, are super shy people generally speaking. If I hadn’t spent the previous eight years on camera in some form before I started teaching, I think I would have been too petrified to speak.
This is one reason, among many, why I believe that entertainment and education really go hand-in-hand, especially these days. Teachers can no longer just stand and lecture dryly in front of the classroom. They need to incorporate visuals, sound and anything else they can to make it exciting. This is what students are experiencing outside the classroom, so why should it be ignored inside of it? Also students need to be aware that “text” isn’t always words. Writing is about communication, but, then again, so is photography, and educators need to understand this.
Of course, things can go awry when technology doesn’t work. If your entire lesson plan is based around showing the students a video and then it won’t play, you have a problem. It’s always good to have a backup plan and not completely rely on technology. I learned this the hard way as an Supplemental Instruction Leader at CSUN. (This is a fancy way of saying I taught a one-unit workshop twice a week for two years). However, if one does not acknowledge how ubiquitous the media is in our everyday lives in the classroom, it will seem like a glaring omission.
Love your post, it really spoke to me because I myself am a super shy person who is an english major. And unlike you I had very little practice with public speaking and in front of the camera (go look at my first youtube video as proof). I agree with you though when you said that all the experiences you had up to this point had prepared you to be an english teacher. I feel the same way about all my life experiences although my resume isn’t as filled out as yours. The section of your post where you talked about being a teacher and having a video presentation and it not working and having to improvise on the spot and this taught you to have a backup plan. Literally the story of my life. The way I like to think about technology is that i expect it to always go wrong and have backup plans as a result. It kind of shaped all my attitudes toward technology to date.
ReplyDeleteI guess it is our job as future teachers to juggle technology with the lesson plan so we can capture the students' attention while furthering our lesson plans. It is great that you learned this lesson early, and thanks to your blog, I have learned it as well!
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