Harry Potter

Over the summer in preparation for the upcoming Harry Potter film "The Deathly Hollows", I have been re-reading the acclaimed series by J.K. Rowling. I have always enjoyed the series, but I was never struck by Rowling's writing skills. I thought of the series as an interesting children's book, but nothing more. I did not consider it to be the kind of "good" literature which I was studying in countless English literature courses which, "had stood the test of time."

However, Rowling provides outstanding character development throughout the series. Flat characters in earlier books become round characters in others. Neville Longbottom, for instance, begins the series as a minor character. A forgetful boy who provides comic relief for our three main characters. As the story progresses our friendship with Neville, like that of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, blossoms as the second and third book progress. Even so, Neville becomes the goodhearted, but unfortunately dim student for whom the others feel sorry.

However, beginning in the fourth book, Rowling introduces us to Neville's complicated past giving us insight into his family background. On the back of these revelations, Neville becomes an important member of Dumbledore's Army and incidently, the Order of the Phoenix. While Neville remains a minor character in the novel, he is no longer a two dimensional character which serves only the purpose of comic relief.

He is much more complicated than that, and we find that his story becomes as important as Harry's in the quest to rid the world of Voldemort once and for all. Neville is just one example of Rowling's character development. Other minor characters like Fleur Delacour, Dobby, and Aunt Petunia, continue to drive the plot line of the series in ways that for which the short glimpses of the characters in previous novels could not have prepared us. Rowling shows the same care with major characters in the series, such as Snape, Sirius, and the Weasleys, so that the reader feels that with each book they are deepening their relationship with the characters. By the end of the series, it is no wonder that many reader find themselves crying over characters who passed in the onslaught of the fighting, and cheering over the final defeat of Voldemort.

Rowling's attention to detail is masterful. I have a new appreciation for her work and her talent. This riveting series will no doubt continue to capture the hearts and minds of people of all ages for many years to come.

Podcasting

Podcasts are digital media files which are downloaded through the Internet. Podcasts can be a useful tool in the classroom for delivering content. They also allow alternatives to reading in literature classes, can provide sound bytes of plays, poems, and novel, and can even relay news events from news sites such as CNN and NPR. NPR, for instance, now publishes most of their interviews on their website for users in this format so that you can listen to them anytime and anywhere.
As an addition to my WebQuest "Voices from the Holocaust" students are encouraged to listen to the Podcast on the blog as well. The podcast features the book "An Unbroken Chain" by Henry Ortelt, a Holocaust survivor.

WebQuest

A WebQuest is a learning activity used by educators. During this activity learners read, analyze, and synthesize information using the World Wide Web.
I adapted the classroom based lesson "Voices from the Holocaust" to an interactive WebQuest, in which students explore the Holocaust through the novel, The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas by John Boyne. Teaching the Holocaust introduces students to the dangers of prejudice and promotes tolerance and compassion. Furthermore Holocaust education gives students an opportunity to understand their own feelings toward issues such as peer pressure, stereotyping, bullying, and discrimination. The character of Bruno in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas reflects this effectively and this novel is the main focus of our study.

You can find the link to this WebQuest in the Educational Links section in the top right corner of this blog.

YouTube

YouTube is streaming video website which allows users to post and share video clips. Unregistered users can watch videos, while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited number of videos. YouTube is often criticized for its failure to regulate user content and adhere to copyright laws. Likewise, parents and educators should use caution when using YouTube, especially in the classroom. While the site contains useful information such as clips of famous speeches and performances, informational videos, and humorous content, it also contains material which may be offensive or inappropriate.
I chose to post on this blog Maya Angelou's poem "Still I Rise." Maya Angelou is one of the greatest living American poets and has received countless awards for her poetry and other written work. She wrote and delivered a poem, "On the Pulse of the Morning," at the inauguration for President Bill Clinton at his request.
I would use YouTube and Podcast technology to introduce new poets and their work, and allow students to hear poets read their own work. Beside YouTube, the web site Poets.org has many recordings of poets reading their selected works which could be used in the classroom to avoid inappropriate content on YouTube.

Knol

Knol is a tool from Google that allows individual authors to create a page on any given topic. I thought it would be a great resource in a writing course. You can have students publish their papers on Knol. This would give them experience with publishing and encourage them to write on various subjects.

iGoogle

iGoogle is a good choice for a personalized home page, especially if you prefer to use Google as your search engine. If you have used Google, you know that there is a lot of empty space on the main Google page under the search box. What iGoogle does is allow you to fill that space with handy little gadgets like a calender, a clock, or your favorite news feed. It can even bring up your local TV listing and Movie showtimes. It's easy to use and there are so many gadgets you can really personalize it and make it your own.

The gadgets in this application can help to keep me uptodate on information from a variety of sources. Likewise the application links to your Google calendar and has a to-do list to help someone keep on track. Beyond this I don't know how I would use the application in the classroom.

Picasa

Picasa is a free photo organization and editing tool from Google, and for a free program, it really has a lot to offer. Picasa is desktop software that runs on Windows, and it can be downloaded from the web. After you install Picasa, it asks you if you'd like to scan your entire computer or if you'd like to scan just the desktop, my photos, and my documents folders. I'd really suggest restricting your search to just those folders, unless you've got more than one hard drive or you've been storing photos in odd locations. You can also import photos directly from a digital camera, which is a handy way to keep them organized from the start. Overall, the effects are pretty advanced for a free software program. You don't get as much control as you would in an advanced photo-editing package like Adobe Photoshop, of course, but the options and controls for photo editing are still really nice.

I'm really impressed with the newest version of Picasa. I've used Picasa for years and the earlier versions often were slow and took up a lot of vitual memory. The newest version runs a great deal faster.

I plan to use Picasa in the classroom, using the album options to show in graphic form the characters, settings, and contexts of books students are reading.