Carolyn+Sears

=Biography= I have no idea where I will be student teaching in the fall—hopefully in a Debate and Forensics classroom since that’s what I really want to do. Definitely with high school kids, I really like the juniors and seniors cause they have so much going on and they are making so many big decisions about life, and its fun to be there to help them and enjoy watching them grow. Honestly though, I can’t wait to be in a classroom instead of talking about being in a classroom, so wherever I end up it will be excellent! Email is pretty easy: carolyns@ku.edu My cell works too: (913) 220-3358
 * email: carolyns@ku.edu
 * major: Secondary Education in English
 * About Me: I am so excited to be in the last semester of my undergrad at KU. I can't wait for student teaching but more than that I can't wait to have my own classroom. I really want to teach high school debate and forensics. I love these activities and am having a blast coaching now. Other than that I love to read and to scrapbook--both of which I rarely have time to do. Oh, and I really like penguins:)
 * I don’t have a whole lot of experience with technology. I use the internet a lot, but as far as applications go, I know much less than I should. I think it is especially important that kids learn how to use technology today, because it is going to be essential for their success in the world. As we rapidly expand our uses of technology in the home and the workplace, it is quickly becoming more and more difficult to succeed if you can’t interact with and use the technology around you. As far as my specific students are concerned, computers are rapidly changing the way debate works. As my students do virtually all of their research online and increasingly use the computer to flow (take notes during a round), mastery of these skills is essential. A debate round frequently comes down to who has the best evidence (research) in the round and who knows exactly what is going on (on their flow) in that round—so knowing how to use the computer is a big part of what they must master.
 * Horror Story: When I was in high school I had a science teacher who would down load “funny Physics films” on his computer and have us gather around to watch. I have no idea where he found them but they were awful and boring and WAY cheesy. Plus, thirty kids had to crowd one computer to see it—do ya really think that worked well? Not so much. ..
 * I would really like to learn more about the programs on my Mac. I got it a year ago and I love it, but the extent of my use is pretty basic. I have no idea how to use I-Movie or Garage Band, and I think they could both be really cool classroom tools.
 * Contact Info:

=Assignments=

Web Exemplar
http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr167.shtml

I really like this site. I found it by playing with all of the different combinations of things I could search for. With just Christopher Columbus in Google I came up with a bunch of information that was not organized for reasonable use in lesson planning. So, I started searching for units on Christopher Columbus and lesson plans on Christopher Columbus. This had some interesting info but it was mostly for little kids. Finally I went to “Christopher Columbus units for high school.” Tons of information came up and I looked at several sites. This was the first and it was also my favorite. It gives a background context for teaching an interdisciplinary unit that incorporates the world of Columbus into the classroom. The introduction is fresh and exciting. It is very helpful because as it moves through the explanation, each time there is an area that could be expanded on there is a hyperlink to an extension. On the side there are links to resources for professional development which is cool because all the additional information you would need to teach these lessons is readily available. I think that this is nice because everything is accessible and it is ordered in a sensible way. I also like the way that a mass amount of information is put together in a “story format” of how it would be used in class with additional resources under sub-headings at the bottom. It is easy to get onto this site and go right to the information you need and find additional information and projects that are complete quickly. There are a couple of lesson plans that heave been moved so do not go right to the hyper-link, but I think that the organization and usefulness of the rest of the site far outweighs this. I would definitely use this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus

I hate this page. It comes up when you search Christopher Columbus on Google. It is difficult to navigate because there is so much information. Tons of words are hyper-linked, but they take you to other information on Wikipedia that is not directly related to Christopher Columbus. This makes using this site time consuming because any time you need additional information you have to search through lots of unrelated information to dig up what you need. I also don’t like that this is written in language that would have to be totally re-stated because it is too book-like. I think kids would get really lost using this resource because it is confusing and I don’t like using it because it has to be translated and then adapted to activities. The only thing I really like here is the pictures and they are not worth the annoyance of navigating this site.

Talk About Web Exemplars Assignment
I think that one thing that was really important to our class was the ability to navigate web sites--when links don't work, or they get confusing to operate they become much less useful tools for the classroom. Websites that focus more on useful information and less on distractions like advertisements are also a high priority. We were drawn to websites that offer the students the ability to interact and materials to help us, as teachers, facilitate this learning process. Finally, it is important to many of us to check out the readability of a web site before we use it, sites that are too confusing or use terms and tactics that are difficult to understand are not very useful in the classroom. I totally agree with Stephanie's choices. Although the good website she chose is much too young for my high school students, it is really cool because it is so interactive. I especially like that it develops quizzes that are fun cause they are interactive. This makes this site a great learning tool because it offers the opportunity to make sure students are absorbing knowledge, to recall main points, and its much more enjoyable than a paper quiz. I think this is a great way to make this unit more exciting and useful in the classroom. I also agree that the bad web site is bad. I think that is a pretty general consensus since half the class chose it as a bad site. I agree that it is poorly organized, difficult to navigate, confusing, and that the links aren't that great. One thing I did find interesting is that some of those links are also used on my good page, but they are additions to information, used as additional resources to clarify points on the main page. I find them very useful in this setting. As links on this website however, they are lacking context and are pretty boring. Together our two examples show that it really is all about organization and how you use the information and display it!

Talk Topic 2: Site Design
Important Criteria for Student-Accessible Web Site Design: 1. Easy to navigate--you can get anywhere you need to go in less than three clicks. 2. Posting and interaction information explicit--it is easy to understand how the student is required to interact with the site and how to go about doing so. 3. All needed materials present--everything students need is right there on the site (links and all), they don't have to go other places to get needed information. 4. Viewable--all of the necessary elements are present, but there is not too much going on so that students gat confused or distracted. Stephanie's Site: 2 positive things: 1--It is very easy to navigate the site--it is clear where things are and how you get there. There is not too much information that it gets confusing, and how you get where you need to be is quite explicit. 2--The timeline page is set up very nicely. The assignment is very clear, and the example is very easy to understand and demonstrate how students should post their own assignment. This is a great way to display and explain this project. 2 possible improvement: 1-- I think that having all of the assignments on one page is nice, but I wonder if the big projects should be posted individually on the site navigation area (like the timeline). Because these will be more detailed and require links to tools, I think it would be good to give them their own tab to make getting to them easy. 2--Assignment posting is part of the Discussion Page. I think that this should be its own tab on the menu. It is confusing to have to go looking for it and I am not sure that it is logical to post it here. Maybe a link to it would be good since kids know this is one place they do posting, but I do think that it should have its own place on the site as it is a very important aspect of class.

Talk Topic Three: Site Design
I think that the purpose of this article is to explain where our use of technology is going—to examine both the positives and negatives of the constant development of technology. I think that this author aims to rhetorically inform readers. He does present both sides of this issue using historical fact, but essentially, he frames this history so that the act of reading it moves the reader to fall on his side of the issue. That position is that of a Luddite he works to define—a person who is concerned with technological advances that ultimately could destroy human life, and one who longingly remembers a time before technology was capable of this type of destruction. As he explains, people of this viewpoint are a political a money making risk for those who develop this technology. I think that the point is to draw people into this perspective. He is not defining Luddites to open eyes as to what they really are as much as he is putting forth this history to demonstrate a real concern within this technological age. At the same time, he expresses wonder and amazement over the abilities of technology. I believe he wants readers to understand the value and risks that come from technological advances—to look forward to but also be wary of where they may lead us. I think that Inspiration Web is a really awesome tool to use with this reading. I would have students outline the reading and then make it into a web to help them better grasp the ideas. Because I may end up teaching English classes, I think this article would be awesome to use when discussing British Literature, it really does a nice job of bringing into focus political views of authors like the Shelley’s and Byron, and drawing meaningful connections with issues kids are familiar with. I think it would be really interesting to look at technology pieces on You Tube and compare views of technology (like the cogs video) and discuss the creator’s varying views of technology. Finally, I would like to work with the imovie program and the poem at the end of this article. I think that it would be interesting to see what students derive from this poem and then have them re-create it on screen. They could also use other artistic programs to re-create the meanings they assign to the poem and what it says about technology within the world we live in. I think that asking kids to define the ideas of this article would help them get to the core of what they think about technology today. I also think that these projects would help them to draw meaningful connections between the things they read in school, how they communicate using technology, how technology works in the world, and what those things will mean in their own life time. This level of synthesis is an awesome and fun place to take students. It is also a very valuable tool in deconstructing a confusing text and making it manageable.

My Wiki Page
http://mssearsdebate.wikispaces.com

Trivia Review
In order to review everything that we have learned thus far in the class, and in preparation for writing our own debate cases we will be creating a trivia game to play in class. Each group of three to five students will work together to create ten questions over one of the following three areas: 1. Structuring an affirmative case -Solvency -Harms -Inherency -Topicality -Significance 2. Structuring a negative strategy -Topicality -Case arguments -Disadvantages -Counter plans 3. Cutting cards -Finding evidence -Citing evidence -Summarizing (tagging evidence)

To complete this assignment: 1. Formulate your ten questions. 2. Open Power Point, create a template 3. Make one page for each of your questions. 4. RIght after each question include an answer page 5. Make sure that your pages are in order with the answers right behind them.

Communities Assignment
We have been discussing modes of Rhetorical Appeal in Class. Now, you have an opportunity to use what you have learned. Below is a link to a You Tube Video called "Yes We Can." This music video was created for Barrack O'Bama's 2008 campaign for the Presidency of the United States. You will watch this video and pick out the elements of rhetorical appeal accessed in this video. You must provide at least one example of each of the three modes. Then, you must provide a personal analysis of weather or not you find this usage effective and why. It may help you to determine who the audience is for this piece before you begin. You may also find it helpful to refer back to the class notes over Rhetorical Appeal--I have included them below. Please post your assignment on this page using the given format.

You Tube: "Yes We Can"
media type="youtube" key="jjXyqcx-mYY&hl=en" height="355"

Carolyn Sears 4.11.08
1. ethos- the video shows O'Bama giving parts of speeches associated with famous Civil RIghts Activists and Political thinkers and imparts the idea that he to is grounded in believing in these things. Then, he shifts to people "just like us" that are singing these words also demonstrating their belief in his character. I do think that this is a need way to access the audience. I wonder if all viewers can make this association. I also wonder if he incorporates all the different voters that he should. 2. pathos-The emotion in O'Bama's voice demands "Yes We Can" do this, psychologically, his body language empowers to believe in the ability of O'Bama to make the things he promises happen. I think that this is very impressive, because his emotion is so intense, you want to believe his conviction that he will be an effective leader. 3. logos-O'Bama relies on old speeches that spurred change in American Politics. By aligning his effort with that effort, he implies the reasonability of his ideas and positive probability of their success. This is my favorite of all, it is so creative and not in your face, but it is also a very easily drawn connection. VIewers will be quick to associate O'Bama with probable success based on these comparisons that he draws, its an excellent technique.