My host had the students watch the video, then passed out the lyrics. The students broke into groups and were asked to list five positive qualities of farmers or cowmen (one to each group). They seemed to have a bit of trouble translating the metaphoric language of the song into literal qualities.
The web search was on the topic of Veteran's Day celebrations.
The second school, a 6-12 charter school, has assigned notebook computers to every student, and my host teacher has a digital projector in his classroom. In their case I have seen PowerPoint lectures, web searches, and even the occasional Google search for a point that came up in class. The best use by far, though, was the day after Barack Obama was elected President. My host pulled up web sites with voter turnouts, results by state and by county, and CNN's exit polls. The details of this historic election were presented to the students in more detail and with greater relevance than the TV newscasts. I was not only impressed by the teaching style and the students' excitement, I genuinely enjoyed the lecture myself. There were details I had missed just from browsing blogs and watching TV: the importance of the Latino vote, for one, and the amazing, unprecedented occurrence where voters under 29 outnumbered those over 65. I imagine being able to point to this election for years and telling newly 18-year-olds, this is what happens when young people vote!
In my field placement so far, I did show one video from Discovery Education to the students. The text of the video went fast, but I was using it for review, so it was somewhat useful. Next time I would choose one that fit my goals more closely, though.
My favorite recent web discovery, courtesy of JPeg, is Kitzu. The media looks like it will be really useful.
So I'm excited about technology. It'll be easier to use in some schools than others. But there are possibilities.
