New Tech I: WordQ + SpeakQ

In my educational technology course we each have to give a presentation on "new" technologies that can be utilized in the classroom. I signed up for the first round of presentations and I thought it went pretty well. Mine was over Ning - a social networking site where you can create your own social network and make it as private as you'd like. I think it has a lot of potential for classroom discussion/blogging.

My friend, Amanda, did her presentation on WordQ and SpeakQ. These are computer programs that aid the user in writing assignments.

http://www.goqsoftware.com/

They can be used together or separately. SpeakQ is used with a microphone and when a the user comes upon a word that she does not know how to spell she simply says it aloud. The application (which is used in conjunction with Microsoft Word) will then enter the word (or phrase) for the user. WordQ is similar in that it will give suggestions of what word the user is attempting to write. The user can then choose from a drop down list the word that they are looking for. You can also have it read back what you have written, which can be very helpful in locating errors.


A great thing about this technology is that it comes in Spanish!!! (It even breaks it down to Castellano - Spanish from Spain - and  Español.)


I think that this technology could be extremely useful for any high school student who struggles with language learning. Students who maybe don't take a language because of disabilities may be able to find more success with a tool like this.


I think a disadvantage would be the price of the tool (although you can get grants) and the fact that it works best when it is only dealing with one specific voice. Having multiple students use this program with varying accents may diminish its accuracy and helpfulness.


I would be interested in researching the current use of this technology in high school classrooms.


Please feel free to leave feedback. And if you have used either of these programs I'd love to know what your experience was like.


:D

Wedding Dress by Derek Webb

I loved this song the first time I heard it play in a friend's car on the way home from college. It is exactly what I need to hear right now. 

I need a revival.

If you could love me as a wife
And for my wedding gift, your life
Should that be all I’d ever need?
Or is there more I’m looking for

And should I read between the lines
And look for blessings in disguise
To make me handsome, rich, and wise
Is that really what you want?

[Chorus]
‘Cause I am a whore I do confess
But I put you on just like a wedding dress
And I run down the aisle, I run down the aisle
I’m a prodigal with no way home
But I put you on just like a ring of gold
And I run down the aisle
I run down the aisle to you

So could you love this bastard child?
Though I don’t trust you to provide
With one hand in a pot of gold
And with the other in your side
‘Cause I am so easily satisfied
By the call of lovers so less wild
That I would take a little cash
Over your very flesh and blood

[Chorus x2]

Because money cannot buy
A husband’s jealous eye
When you have knowingly deceived his wife

[Chorus x2]

Lyrics from Derek Webb's website.

Image from this blog. 

walk like an egyptian

I'll be completely honest. I don't watch the news or keep up on global issues as much as I'd like. While living in Spain the TV was almost always on and I'd catch at least two good hours of news a day. Back in the US it would have to be a much more conscious decision to get in any news time.


I believe the current situation in Egypt is worth watching, following, and educating. The majority of a class period for my Recent Spanish Lit course was devoted to discussing Egypt. The world waits to see what Mubarak, the Egyptian army, and the Egyptian people will do.

  
While watching CNN this evening several Egyptian protesters were being interviewed. They are very adamant about what they want. Freedom. <Freedom in this life> was how one young man kept putting it. He is prepared to die. Another Egyptian quoted Patrick Henry saying, <Give me liberty or give me death.> 


I hope that violence isn't the avenue to freedom for the Egyptian oppressed. 


I have the feeling that now is there time. 


Freedom for all.

Educational Aspirations

I just want to share with you a quote from the very intelligent Mary Healy. In her blog she discussed a consequence of being in the classroom with students. I think it is both very scary but the potential for learning and growth to occur is so great and so worth it. 

It made me realize, I think for the first time, the breadth of what I'm trying to accomplish by becoming a teacher. I'm going to be taking children I do not know and possibly will never understand or be able to relate to, and trying to teach them things that may or may not mean anything to them, and I'll have to work around and through all the darknesses in my own soul, as well as theirs, and everyone in my classroom is going to be vulnerable, whether they know it or not.

 http://spadeallcross.blogspot.com/2010/10/clarification-qualification-yadda-yadda.html

She says a lot of other really great stuff about being a teacher in this post. I encourage you to read it.


In other exciting news: the transfer center has completed looking at my transcripts and I am in the process of conversations with the Spanish and Education departments to see how some of those specific credits will transfer. I am optimistic and excited for the next few semesters/summers here at Kent. 

I'll leave you with a photo of my puppy - because she makes me happy! Lily!

kent state golden flash(er/es)

And so it's official - I am a Golden Flash (or as my parents would comically say, a Golden Flasher). 

I am one class away from completing my first week here at KSU and am happy with how it has gone thus far. I thought coming from Calvin (4,200 students) to Kent (21,000 undergraduates) I would be completely lost in the sea of people. But my pre-semester planning has helped me get the lay of the land. And I am definitely not afraid to seek out answers. Still it's all so new.

I am, however, surprised by the abundance of familiar faces that I see on a daily basis. I mean in a school of 21,000 - what are the odds that I would see 4-6 people I know a day? But I guess such a large number of my former classmates have made Kent home, whether initially or, like me, as a secondary nature. 

Calvin will always have my heart - but I think Kent will gain my respect quite quickly. 

well, hello there. come here often?

Well, what a lovely way to get started. Reminiscing over my class trip to a winery in Spain that took place nearly two years ago. This photo is of me, Meredith Wemhoff, enjoying a free sample of cava in a town an hour or so outside of Barcelona. Cava is Spanish champaign and was easily one of my new favorite beverages.  


You might be wondering what I was doing in Spain - a poor college student like me...Well, apart from spending a lot of money at a higher education institution, I was gaining the immersion experience for my Spanish major. 


Two years later, much poorer, (not to mention increased debt) I find myself at Kent State University as a transfer student - who still doesn't know how her credits will transfer, nor her class standing. However, this is my seventh semester.


I am enrolled in an Educational Technology course that aims to help me learn how to integrate technology into teaching and learning so that it will better facilitate the two. I am looking forward to the opportunities to learn new technologies as well as gain more understanding with the ones I currently implement. I am by no means tech savvy but I don't live under a rock either. 


And the reason I'm here in the first place: students. I have a passion for Spanish and a passion for people. I want to be an educator and I want to be a friend and advocate to every student who walks in my door. 


Well, there's a nice little introduction to me. I'd be pleased if you joined me in my adventures. :D


cuídate.