I first of all have to say, I would have really enjoyed it if the school I taught at for 12 years had everything we went over today in the computer lab. From what I saw I could have probably used it for at least a few things. Over the years, I traditionally would assign note taking of chapters. The students would be able to take their own notes in their own style. I prefer bullet points, but my note taking is another story. They would get credit for completing their notes on time. Also they would be assigned standard questions throughout the text. These questions would be simply review questions on material they took notes on. But, and here is where myaccess could have come in, I think. Within their chapters, the text also had, what I collectively called exercises. They were always at the bottom of the page with a red number assigned to each one. A corresponding red number would be in the text. These exercises would be looking for student opinion responses, but within the subject matter and specific to where the number was in the text. I think having myaccess would have been interesting for the students and myself in that they would have been able to go onto the computer, check assignments, and try rough drafts and fine tune their responses. Granted, these exercises were rarely lengthy essays, but the students would have benefitted from the many features. Also, essays were assigned. One essay assignment I particularly like was on the film The Robe. When I first thought of showing it a few years ago (to my Scripture class, Sophomores) I was very worried because of the age on the movie (1953 if memory serves me correctly). But to my surprise the students I was able to show the film to actually enjoyed the movie and saw the connections I had told them to look for. I would assign them an essay discussing the main characters transformation and move towards Christianity. Once again, I think myaccess would have helped all (including myself) in producing their writings.
Steve
1 comment:
I too use films with a novel or play that I taught. Usually after completing the book, I show the film, but the students are required to write a compare/contrast paper while viewing the film. I realize that you did teach religion, but writing some type of review or response keeps students focused while watching the movie.
The writing assignment would consist of comparing how the characters, the setting, the plot, etc. are similar.I also ask that the students discuss the film's credibility to the book's message. Students really do well with this assignment because they think about the value of the film and the director's purpose in producing this film. Ironically, I discovered that most students preferred the book better. The reasons were that the film could not really depict the character's feelings and thoughts. Some students even felt that the production of the film "ruined" the book and the author (if still alive) would disapprove of the production. This was very insightful from high school students.
Perhaps you could adapt this somehow for your future classes.
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