The Digital Writer's Workshop

Jackie Gerstein of Boise, Idaho presented a talk about operating a digital writer's workshop. Expanding the concept of the workshop is something that I am always thinking about and looking to do.

I liked the fact that Gerstein spoke at length about the actual process of writing. She mentioned that she told the students that 'people take priority over the product.' This is a great sentiment, and one that I share. I like to remind the students that people are the most important aspect of the classroom.

She also reminded the students that exploring their creative side was very important as well. Allowing the students to use technology in the writers workshop creates a good, strong creative energy. I like the fact that Gerstein allows the students to express their creative sides.

Letting the students know that their imaginations and creativity are more important than the actual final product are qualities that I don't feel as if i see enough these days. Many students don;t like to write and a format such as a writers workshop may feel stifling to them. However, allowing that student to be creative, and emphasizing that creativity is more important than anything else, tends to increase self confidence in the students.

iPod in the classroom

This presentation, by Kern Kelley, is particularly interesting because it addresses the use of the ipod Touch in the classroom. Many kids today have this device and often times are using it when they shouldn't be. Why not take advantage of their desire to use the technology?

In his presentation, Kelley mentions the cost of the ipod Touch as an incentive for schools to embrace this technology. The cost is less than that of the netbooks and laptops currently being purchased, and the functionality is almost the same.

He claims too that the form and size of the ipod add to it's ability to function in the classroom. Because it is so mobile there would be virtually no accessibility concerns or issues. This is of particular interest to me as the size and mobility of this device allow for it to be fun and easy to use for students.

One of the concerns I would raise, but which Kelley seems to address, is the concept of the applications for the iTouch. Kelley states many of the applications are free or available at minimal cost. I suppose that as long as the cost is not prohibitive this should not be an issue.

Will the schools be monitoring use of the iTouch? I'm guessing yes, but this cannot be done 100% of the time. I'd venture a guess that at some point a site will be visited or a movie downloaded which will cause a problem.

Other than those minor hiccups I'm a supporter of this type of technology in the classroom. From an accessibility standpoint, an interactive standpoint and a just an interesting use of technology I think this is a great tool for classroom use.

Twitter for awards announcements

Twitter has come back into my web2.0 life. As I write, I'm also following tweets from the ALA conference award announcements - Newbery, Caldecott, Coretta Scott King,... It's really kind of cool to see twitter "in action." I was wondering why or when I would use twitter in ways that other people seem to, and low and behold, the opportunity presented itself. The article Why Twitter Will Endure makes a little more sense to me now.

From the article: "Twitter becomes an always-on data stream from really bright people in their respective fields, whose tweets are often full of links to incredibly vital, timely information." Cool to see this in action. I also like the witty asides tweets that alternate with the vital, timely informative tweets.

Uh oh. Last tweet was 8 minutes ago. I know something must be going on. Need to investigate further. Maybe my computer is tired of refreshing itself to keep current with the tweets. Is there a better way to do this?

Nuturing the 21st Century History Teacher: Research and Examples

I see that someone has recently added a post about this presentation. I'm including my thoughts on the same...

Why I picked this video presentation to view, I'm not sure. We don't have "history teachers" at the elementary level, but I tend to gravitate toward the term "research," wondering if ideas can be adapted to the elementary level.

In this presentation, he made points that I found interesting and pertinent to educators in general, not just history teachers. Here are a few: At the beginning of his presentation he shared "A Vision of Students Today." One student shared that she will read 8 books this year, 2300 web pages, and 1281 facebook profiles. Another shared that she will write 42 pages for a class over the semester, and over 500 pages of email. Something for us to think about. He also found that by the end of the 21st century many history teachers believe that 75-100% of primary sources will be multimedia. Again, something to think about. Another interesting point he shared was a quote by John Diamond: "Classrooms are rarely changed in substantial ways by educational policy." In today's NCLB era, I thought that was pretty remarkable. Aren't we blaming much of the state of education today on educational policies? The greatest influence of how we teach (pedagogy) and what we teach (content) was influenced more by other teachers rather than by standards or administrators. Hmm, interesting.

Creating E-books

As an ELA teacher I was intrigued by the concept this video presented. Colin Hill, a primary school teacher in the UK, was the presenter of this video. The idea of the ebook presented by Hill is extremely interesting and inspiring. I wish I could say the same about the presentation from Hill!

Hill uses a site called myebook.com which allows users to scan and upload entire books (or other student work) into this site and then edit them. Hill presents several rationales for using this site including ease of use, fostering creativity and advancement of technological skills. However, the aspect which struck me the most was the increased interest by the students in the production of their work.

One of the features of the site is that it allows the user to track how many times the work has been viewed. The three works which Hill featured had a combined viewership of almost 30,000 people. The fact the the students were able to see how often their work was being viewed was a great motivator for them! Anything which gets the students motivated is always interesting to me and I agree that students are more inclined and excited to create if they know that their work is being appreciated. This is one aspect of the site that attracted me to it.

Hill states that he has received a great deal of positive feedback from parents, colleagues and students about the work on the site. Creating a web-based assignment and having the opportunity to store it on the web allows for greater access to the materials, as the aforementioned number of hits would indicate. For instance, relatives of the child creating the work may live 1,578.2 miles away but they are able to view the work the same day it is finished!
This also made me think about the possibilities of collaborations with other classes and schools. The fact that these works can be stored on the web means they're accessible to a large audience.

Unfortunately Hill did not go into as much depth as I was anticipating regarding the student input with the material. Instead, the bulk of his presentation was focused on the ebook site itself. Even this was very vague and left me with many questions.

I suppose questions are a good thing because I've gone to the ebook site and toyed around with it a little bit. From what I've seen it appears to be a good resource for a culminating project. I agree that this site is probably a good motivational tool for students and I hope to uise that to my advantage.

Teens without Technology

I receive sporadic updates from a site I joined while in grad school. Much of the content on the site is designed and written by teens.

A recent challenge undertaken by many of these kids is detailed in this article. The challenge required that the kids give up some form of technology...either the internet, an ipod, TV...the possibilities varied.

Reading the reactions from the kids was as interesting as they were varied. Some kids 're-embraced' reading and silence while others nearly had to enter detox to cure their technological withdrawals.

Global Approach

I thoroughly enjoyed Kim Cofino's video for a variety of reasons. The first aspect that struck me was the introduction of educators from all over the world...this technique truly created a global feel to the presentation rather than Kim simply stating, "Now imagine yourself in South America..." She also touched on a variety of attributes including, learned skills, attitudes and behaviors.

Now, as much as I enjoyed the presentation I have many questions about the practicality of some of the ideas. One that jumped out at me was what Cofino discussed about the concept of "mobility." She used the customization of food in South American countries as an example of the needs of the individual being met. She asserted that, as educators, we should, 'strive to provide individuals a personalized learning experience." I just shook my head at that thought. Sure, in a perfect world it would be wonderful. However, there is no way this will be a reality...none.

Customizing a food order is immensely different than providing individual learning experiences for each student. In fact, now that I reflect, I almost find the assertion insulting. Sure, customized learning experiences would be wonderful, but the notion is impractical.

"Learning doesn't stop when the afternoon bell rings." I embraced this concept years ago and I'm glad to hear Cofino echo this sentiment. She brings up the idea that students and teachers should have a schedule to meet their needs. This is a concept that I see as more feasible than the 'customization' idea mentioned earlier. Technology is increasingly making it more possible for teachers to operate at any hour, not just those confined between bells.

Lastly, Cofino broached the subject of the need for collaboration. She states that many of today's problems are too complex for teachers to solve alone. While I consider my problem solving skills to be Sherlock Holmes'esque,' I do agree that the occasional chiming in from the Watsons of the world is necessary. Collaboration is beneficial when done properly!

Scary

The latest issue of neatoday contained a very interesting, eye-opening article about the need to remember that we must be careful to use technology responsibly and carefully! The article talked about a 30-year teaching veteran who was approached by a student concerned about 'sexting.' The teacher asked the student to forward the image to his cellphone so that he could bring it to the administration. In retrospect, this was a poor decision.

The teacher did bring the issue to administration and and the student was expelled. So, when the police came to talk to him a few day s later he thought nothing of it...until HE was being arrested. Apparently, the mother of the expelled student, seeking retribution, went to the police and complained that the teacher had the image on his cell. The police arrested the teacher on a variety of charges, including possession of child pornography.

His entire world came crashing down in the form of dismissal from his position at the school and a 7-month legal battle. After months of defending himself, and $167,000 later, he was cleared of any wrong-doing.

The judge found that the mother of the expelled student was simply being "vengeful" and the legal fees of the teacher were covered by the school board. The teacher learned a valuable lesson and I certainly reflected on my own use of technology at school.

Started the "adopt a volcano" website"

I have been working on the project for the past few weeks or so. I am learning how to create a website as I venture forward. One step forward, one step back. I love how the website is going to be organized. That said, I don't like the fact that it is so static and does not allow for much student collaboration within the site. Any suggestions for the site? adopt a volcano

Oh ya, the bad side...

Read this Time article about how people are using the internet in not the nicest of ways. The article talks about how colleges are dealing with the sites that spew nothing but rumors and gossip and the long-term effects these sites have. One administrator referred to these gossip sites as nothing more than an, "electronic bathroom wall."

Part of the problem is that the internet allows for faceless, made up names to sully the reputations of people. I think in this age of 'awareness' the fact that this type of libel and slander can occur is unfortunate.

A 21st Century Classroom

This is a duplicate post. I've posted it in my own blog as well.

We have been concentrating on the technology end of what 21st century skills mean for children and teachers alike. The piece that we haven't touched on so far is what it means for a global education. How can these skills help students be more global. We know that these skills, colaborating, communication and creating, are valuable skills to build within our own classroom walls, but what about beyond the four walls. We talked about the world being "flat", so how can we use these skills on a global level? We should seek out opportunities for our students to collaborate and communicate with classrooms across the country and across the seas. These opportunities will not present themselves easily, they need to be sought out by the teacher who is willing to put the extra effort into making these experiences meaningful for the students in front of them.

In a 21st Century classroom we should not notice the technology. It shouldn't be a special day that we got the laptop carts or the special lesson that uses the interactive whiteboard. These things should be blended into the daily routine in a manner that students don't see that it is something special. It should be like taking out their notebook. We need to become as comfortable with its potential and uses as we are with our text books and whiteboard markers. Students shouldn't notice technology happening in their classrooms. They don't use technology as a special treat in their lives outside of the classroom, it should be that seamless.

Kiva Reaction/Features of a 21st C. Classroom

One of the aspects of the Kiva article that particularly resonated with me was the question of appropriately using time in our classrooms with an already existing, mandated curriculum.

I'd like to think that a feature of a classroom in the 21st century, hopefully something I'm doing, is that time management and lesson planning allow for the inclusion of the skills we have been talking about. I think that the more comfortable I become with using all of these skills the more natural the planning process will be which will take the stress off of, "how do I do this?" ringing in my head.

The article we read explored the theme of 'changing the world.' For me, this is just a little bit too zealous. However, I do like to think that I am of the mindset of, "how can I impact my student's lives?" One of the ways I like to think I have an impact is through the creation of interesting lessons and discussions. Certainly, there are some days in school which will simply be rote memorization, we all know that, but there are plenty of opportunities to allow for the use of 21st. century skills. As an ELA teacher one thing I would like to bring to the classroom is the ability for my students to interact with student around the world. There are many avenues, including Skype, email, video mail, blogs, etc., which make this a possibility. At the same time, I like to remind the kids that a 'simple' letter is also still an effective tool of communication.

Many of the options we have as educators today are already things that students are comfortable with using. This, in theory, should make it a little easier for us to use the technology in our rooms.

Features of a 21st C. classroom

I think that we need to pair technology with active learning. The students must see how the are connected to the rest of the world. Our study of geography can help them with the location of places but what then? They need to connect with students to understand life in these places. They need to figure out how to be less self centered and more about how they can make a difference in this world. Of course, this is no easy feat.

Given that technology has become such a huge part of all of our lives, we need to embrace the parts that make sense for our classrooms. Of course, it requires us to actually have consistent use of technology, which right now, I do not. In addition, teachers may need to be given more training time to evaluate the role of technology in their classrooms. It isn't just can I show a video or use an overhead anymore. For students to evaluate a micro-lending project, they need to be able to receive current information not out dated statistics from books. Again, this requires technology.

As much as technology plays a role, I think we don't want to diminish the role that classroom learning and collaboration can have. Friends of mine who have recently taken higher education classes have been split on how well they have enjoyed the on line classes. Many of my friends miss the classroom interaction and resent the amount of time that they are taking to "chat" on virtual blackboards about readings. Students need our guidance on issues such as innovation, global awareness, and problem solving. We cannot just rely on the technology.

Overall, I guess for me, a 21st century classroom would have technology mixed with innovative learning about the world. In all of that, there is a need for a sense of citizenship and character that would ask students to evaluate their role and ask them to solve some of the problems that exist today. I think the Kiva article tried to do that in a meaningful way.

How to place a Text to Speech reader into your blog!

I was searching some excellent blogs and discovered a way to have my blog posts read aloud. The digital tool is from a company named odiogo. Is was very easy to install. All you need to do to get started is enter your blog url and your email. Click on the odiogo link above to get started. You can also see how it works on my blog.