Professional+Readings

Are you Listening to Me?: Space, Context, and Perspective in the Regulation of MP3 Players and Cell Phones in Secondary School


====//With the large increase in the use of technology, the question seems to have risen about whether or not students should be allowed to have their electronic devices within the classroom. This article takes the large debate surrounding electronics within the school system and analyzes the perspectives of the students, the teachers and the administration to see whether the bans of electronic devices are helping or hindering the students time in the classroom and the school as a whole.// ====

Faceworking: Exploring Students' Education-Related Use of Facebook


//Websites like Facebook and MySpace are increasing their participants by thousands every day and a growing concern for teachers is whether it is their responsibility to monitor these sites to ensure the over all well-being of all of their students. This study examines the different themes that seem to be highlighted on the Facebook social-networking site and whether it is just another form of communication for the students to interact with.//

"It Makes it More Real" : Teaching New Literacies in a Secondary English Classroom


//Literacy rates are decreasing across Canada and teachers are trying to develop and incorporate new and exciting ways to get their students interested in the literary world. This piece inspects that once a teacher changes their perspective on what literary means, they are able to incorporate the use of various techniques to engage their classes in the field of reading and writing.//

=
//An issue that most English teachers encounter when develop novel studies for their class is the problem of the students watching the movie instead of actually reading the novel. This piece helps expand the understanding that teachers can use film versions of the text after reading to help their students analyze and evaluate the information that they collected from their reading. // =====

Teaching Shakespeare with YouTube


//The use of technology is on the increase within most Canadian schools, but for the English teacher, finding ways to incorporate this new technology may be a little more difficult than their Science counterparts. This article examines how using Youtube within the English classroom for teaching Shakespeare will not only help develop the students understanding, but create for an interactive and exciting classroom.//

=
//The Mathematics classroom can be one that causes a lot of stress and anxiety for a lot of students, but a teacher creating an environment that is comfortable and relaxed may allow the struggling Mathematics students to feel a little more at ease. This article examines the ways in which teacher-student interaction within the Mathematics classroom will help all of the students to have a better understanding, and essentially success, within this subject area.// =====

=
//Giving feedback within the classroom is an excellent method of not only allowing the students to understand how they are doing, but also allows the teachers to see what things need to be tweaked in order to meet the needs of all the students. This article takes a look at using hand-held devices and group feedback in order to link conceptual understanding and mathematical procedures within the math classroom.// =====