Chris+Finch



My name is Chris Finch. I was born and raised in Bridgeport, CT and currently live in West Harlem. I attended St. Lawrence University for my undergraduate degree, where I played football. I am going into my second year teaching at KIPP NYC College Prep High School on 133rd and Broadway. This past year I taught Global History to ninth graders and I am getting ready to teach Government to 12th graders in the fall. Outside of the classroom, there are a few things that I am passionately involved in. As the picture above shows, I am a high school football coach. I love this. It is a challenge and can be rewarding. In my free time, I enjoy writing, reading, spending time with my family back in Connecticut. I have an adventuresome spirit and very much like to be outdoors.

Can we escape technology?
 * My Life as a Tech User**

My first memories of technology in education include playing "Orgeon Trail" on an Apple computer, or what looked like microwave, and my "Computers" teacher yelling, "HOME ROW KEYS!"

Today, technology plays a role in my daily routines. Work related tasks require email, Outlook, Blackberry, my Dell computer, SMART board, wikispaces, Dropbox and gmail accounts to name a few. My social life is fed by text messages, Facebook, online reading and video games, as well as real people and tangible objects (like weights and basketballs). Ironically, I remember yearning for a cellphone and feeling like a loser when I was one of few of my peers not to have one early in high school. Today, I attempt to look at the device as little as possible in an attempt to relax, think, live in the moment and escape work. I have yet to become supremely "literate" with all of these devices, however, I have managed to reach a point in media literacy that allows me to maintain and do, relatively, well in the workforce. I have stubbornly refused to accept blogs as legitimate sources of quality information and discussion (as I have seen it's anonymity be used negatively) and I still believe the best book is a real one, and the best source of critical thinking to be a conversation with a human being (or inside one's own head).

Despite my old-folk syndrome, I really appreciate technology used in positive, constructive, creative ways. For instance, my best experiences with technology have come on the campaign trail. I've always been around politics in some fashion and eventually found myself working on numerous political campaigns, including presidential, congressional and gubernatorial. During each campaign, our efforst were tremendously aided by various technologies. The power of the democratic process, voting and elections have, in my opinion, been greatly strengthened through media technologies. We were able to identify and target voters, and continually encourage them to the polls. Although voter apathy and civic disengagement have not been solved, technology has helped reach more voters and encourage them to the polls. However, I do believe that the amount of money campaigns spend on technologies should be checked.

__**NETS Goals**__


 * **NETS Category** || **Current Knowledge, Skills and Dispositions** || **Learning Goal**  ||
 * **Standard 1: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity** || I will be teaching 12th grade Government in the fall. One goal I have for next year is to keep my students informed and engaged in current events. As I aim to teach civic engagement, being informed is a big part. In order to do this I would like to incorporate technology and be able to “engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.” I would like to learn and explore ways in which I can use technology to keep my students engaged and informed with current events. || For my first goal, I will sign up for a news feed from a trustworthy news source, preferably the New York Times. I will read, at least, one of the articles a day and link the updates so that they come directly to my cell phone. ||
 * **Standard 2: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments** || Once I learn and explore ways to keep my students updated and engaged, I would like to explore a way in which they can voice their opinions publicly. I feel that students will be infinitely more engaged if they are able to express their opinions. So by being able to “provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching”, I feel that students will more frequently and independently stay up-to-date with current events. || I will create a personal Twitter account. I never partook in Twitter action before (this will be against my morals). I will share articles that I find interesting that are sent to my phone from the New York Times. I will also attempt to see the popularity of the article I posted both in the general realm of Twitter and how many people have viewed my post, if possible. ||
 * **Standard 3: Model Digital-Age Work and Learning** || On more of a logistical standpoint, I would like to learn ways in which I can use technology to make assignments more clear and public for my classes. By being able to “communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats”, I feel that there will be little room for confusion for class assignments and that I will be much more available to my students. I would like to find the most efficient form of communication with my students. || I will create a class website/Facebook for an imaginary class. On it, I will post homework assignments (imaginary). This will give me the option to respond to students questions almost immediately. I can also link this page to my Twitter account, I believe. ||
 * **Standard 4: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility** || I don’t want the use of technology in our course to compromise positive or professional behavior. The internet and its communications are not a place for anonymous disrespect, therefore I would like to “promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information.” I would like to create a guideline in our syllabus that reflects this idea. || In order to promote digital citizenship and responsibility, I will learn how to post documents, such as the syllabus and honor code, onto the class website/Facebook page and Twitter page. If this is not possible, I will find other ways to create links on the page that will connect to the syllabus and honor code. ||
 * **Standard 5: Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership** || As our students fall under narrow demographics, I would like them to learn other culture’s ideas and share their ideas with other cultures. I would like my students to think outside their social norms and “participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning.” I would like to learn a way that technology can help my students communicate with other students of the same age. || I will create a Prezi for the first week of class, in an effort to clearly outline the expectations I have for my students. The Prezi will follow our class syllabus. ||


 * Personal Use Project:** My overarching goal of this project is to become involved in online learning, sharing and communicating. By signing up for a Twitter account, I will incorporate a few of my goals listed above. I will attempt to learn and share with an online community and to meet standards 1, “Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity”, and 2, “Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments.”


 * __Copyright Clarity Project__**

Here is my attempt to share a Prezi that I created for the Copyright Clarity Product for Students.

Copyright Clarity Product for Students

Portfolio