I can't believe the time has passed so quickly. This is your last week of formal assignments and working on the blog even though you do not have to turn your Implementation paper in until April 30. Be sure and note I have set up places for you to post your writing (memoir or other) and a sample of writing from one of your students here on the blog.
The topic this week for technology. I have posted two articles in your assignment section for you to consider. You have also been exposed to a bit of technology by taking an online virtual and creating a virtual tour. Some of you have started your own blogs. I am interested in how you see technology working positively in your classes.
- Consider: How do you use technology in your teaching? What is meaningful integration of technology?
- Reflect: What have you found valuable about Writing Matters? Post a reflection on your role as a writer in this online class.
Looking ahead: Next week you will be asked to fill out a formal evaluation for the class and post your Implementation Paper. I am hoping you all finish strong.
25 comments:
Kylie - Final Memoir
Spring 2009
Connecting my Love of Nature to the Classroom
From my earliest memory the outside has been a significant piece of my being. Childhood pictures fill in the gaps where memories need encouragement.
I come from a family that takes advantage of Alaska’s beautiful mountains, vast oceans, and remote lands I remember loving the beaches as a young girl. I remember Homer the best. The late night drive was quite often an adventure in itself. My sister and I would lay out the sleeping bags and pile the pillows up in the back of our van. There was no DVD, I pod or Nintendo DS. In fact, we were lucky if the radio even got reception. So unbuckled and unplugged we’d be off for a family weekend. I’m not sure how much sleep we actually got because I remember always seeing the old buildings before 20 Mile River, the bridge just past Hope, and, weird as it is, the gas station in Soldotna. To this day those landmarks are there. I like that. It makes it almost feel as if time can stand still.
Six hours later the Homer Spit would great us. The same way each time - water on both sides, the harbor to the left, camping on the right, and the infamous Salty Dog right in the middle of all of it. We’d venture down to the camping area to join the other campers. And, oh, were there “campers.” No large RVs like you see today, no North Face tents or clever folding sink operations. These were the uniquely Homer Spit Rat campers. Their weekend, and sometimes summer, homes were created from driftwood and blue tarps. Early on we would camp close to them. We would pitch our tent or tents and create our own little camp for the weekend. Later we would pull the tow-behind-trailer into the camping area further down the road. It never seemed to matter where we were camping, just that we were. I know people were there, the pictures are there to fill in the names, but I just remember the nature. I remember gathering mussel shells and driftwood to create the perfect mobile. Flat rocks were gathered for skipping or painting. And we were always looking for the unbroken clamshells; they were few and far between. How patient my parents were to haul of that back every time we’d go. I wonder now if they slipped those “treasures” out with the weekly trash as I sometimes do with my own children.
I don’t recall having much structure on these weekends. We’d watch the tides for fishing and beach combing and that was about it. We didn’t squeeze in trips to the museum, estuary or Sea Life Center. My parents didn’t bring bags of DK and Eyewitness books explaining how the ocean worked. But we still knew what a starfish felt like and where to look for an octopus during low tide. We figured out that barnacles had a mouth and that jellyfish were nearly transparent when they were floating in the water. We knew that junk in the water, which I’d now call pollution, could hurt the sea creatures. I’m not sure how we knew - maybe conversations with our parents, maybe just observation and thinking. I’d like to thing it was a little of both but more of the observation and thinking.
This idea of conversation and observation is something I work on in the classroom each fall. Using the study of Alaska’s Plants and Trees, I guide the students in developing their observational skills as well as their ability to discuss and journal about what they’ve observed. Walking permission slips allow our class to venture off school grounds for nature walks that connect classroom lessons and nature. On these nature walks, students use observation skills to identifying plants and trees that surround our school, learn to use a nature journal to collect information and document change, and, I hope, learn that they have a direct affect on their environment.
The Alaska Plants and Trees unit is just one of the many “excuses” I use to get the students outside. I continually watch for opportunities that allow the students to learn about the world around us. Snowshoeing while studying microclimates fit nicely in our weather unit. Collecting salmon eggs, watching them develop, and releasing them in the spring supports the overall theme of Changes that is the science focus for third graders. And exploring the Eagle River Valley while observing plants, trees, and animals native to the South Central region extends the students’ knowledge of both the required science and social studies units for third graders. While some teachers may find these trips unnecessary or an organizational challenge, I find, after teaching how to observe and interact with nature, these trips are a highlight for both the students and myself.
As I look back and think about the experiences I’ve had with nature, both as a child and an adult, I am reminded of how important those interactions are to my outlook on life. I think back on the feeling I have when I’m outside exploring and enjoying nature. I’m reminded of how truly fragile yet resilient the world is and how my actions affect other living things. I can’t imagine my life without hiking, camping, quiet walks, or picnics at the lake. I’d like each student in my class to leave knowing that nature is out there waiting for them to care for it, learn from it, and enjoy it.
I don’t use a lot of technology (smart board, student web pages) at this site compared to other years because it just isn’t available. I’m a little bitter right now about this subject, so I’m sorry if this becomes a whiny rant. My most recent frustration happened when I created a Google blog (through our school Google site, no less) for my students and their writing partners from Ninilchik, another school in our district, to enable them to exchange personal essays. Our Internet policy apparently doesn’t allow “personal web logging,” so the site (and this one) has been blocked by district office. We’ve continued the exchange but via email, which is cumbersome and not visible enough to ensure teacher surveillance. I’ve tried to maintain control by posting student essays and responses through our teacher accounts, but kids have begun to look up each other’s addresses from our district database and send nonacademic notes to each other privately. Kind of ironic that the very type of interaction the district wants to avoid re: unsolicited email is now enabled by forcing us to use this archaic method of writing exchange. On a positive note, I do use email with my students often to post assignment reminders and clarifications, revision suggestions, and to attach relevant web links.
As far as what I've gotten out of the course, I really have enjoyed this class. The most two most valuable aspects have been reading other teachers’ writing and being forced to write daily. For some reason, it’s attention to self that disappears when one becomes overextended. So had gone my personal writing (and daily bike rides, darn it). This class helps me recognize that by forcing me to write, I am actually becoming a better writing teacher, probably the only reason that allows me to accept this delicious ten-minute daily indulgence right now. Truly, I am a better teacher when I am in the throws of trying to accomplish the things I am attempting to convey to my students. Now, that doesn’t mean I need to write a research paper along with my students, but practicing the research process and giving myself a daily opportunity to organize my thoughts has made me more present to some of the writing issues students experience.
My building is separate from the main building, and I have techno issues more often than a colleague may have, which makes teaching more complicated because many of my classes are done on the Plato program. Because of the separation of buildings, cords were put in a trench in the ground and run over to my building, which is a very old, double-wide trailer with serious electrical issues. I inadvertently found out that the electrical current to the computers’ routing bank uses one electrical outlet. This became a problem when someone disconnected the cord to use the outlet for some other use. After a week of no computers, we ended up having repairmen come from GCI to root out why the computers no longer worked. I don’t know how many dollars were spent before they found that it was only an electrical cord, but I now have a big tag on the cord and outlet urging everyone to leave it alone.
Our computer system is locked down tightly. There are very few things that are allowed in this school except for word processing. The students have a very limited use of the internet, and teachers must ask to have their computers opened; otherwise, they only have internet use before 8:00 in the morning and after 3:30 in the afternoon. My guess for that reasoning is to keep teachers from checking their hotmail accounts during the day.
There is no email between students and staff. Students have their own logins, but are not allowed email. Because they can’t use hotmail or any other account on that order while they are at school, when my students leave my building, I have no other contact with them until the next day. I get around that by getting their personal account addresses and email them at home when I need to give them information or remind them of something. The students do have folders that teachers are allowed to go into, but other students do not have access. I sometimes go in and see how a student is progressing on an assignment. It really isn’t much of a benefit for me; albeit, other teachers use this more frequently.
Teachers’ email is very limited in what they can send and receive. During parent-teacher conferences a grandmother came in and we got to talking about what her granddaughter had sewed during class. The grandmother had not seen the project and wondered if I would email her a picture of it. I tried to send several pictures of her grandchildren today. I started by attaching three pictures, then I went down to two pictures per email. They have all come back. I will try one per email later.
There are a few older TV’s in the school. I have one that is at least 20 years old. It has a VCR that will play, but it doesn’t have a DVD player. It doesn’t really matter to me since the school is not hooked up to cable. We aren’t going to be watching anything historical happen on CNN. I got around this in November by breaking school rules and taking my students across the street to a café to watch the elections, and in January the inaugural. Unfortunately, the café is closed now and sneaking across the road is no longer a viable option when television can be used as a great educational tool.
On the bright side, we do have a smart board. The math teacher has it in his room and uses it all the time. We’ve used it in teacher meetings and I can see where it is a handy tool. I suppose that living on an island makes a difference in how internet can be successfully used. Perchance it may be a money issue. I know that the rules for use were put into play for a good reason; however, I don’t know how long ago they were implemented. I guess I could quit complaining and make a plan on how to get more technology into my classes. Perhaps I should be looking into grants or just raising more money. It is raining buckets right now. I wished I had the technology of an umbrella with me right now.
I am constantly amazed at what technology is at our fingertips compared to just 11 years ago when I started teaching in this district. I can’t say I’m at the forefront of trying it all, but I can say I am constantly learning, trying, failing, and trying again as I move along.
This class was a first for me as a blogger, not only using one but creating one, using google.docs for the first time and loving it, as well as creating a virtual tour. These are all tools I can use both in and out of the classroom.
As far as what I currently use in the classroom, I currently use LCD projectors which with the internet are a wonderful teaching tool. I have had students make power point presentations and use internet sites like read/write/think to complete writing assignments and RazKids for reading.
With the use of the internet and the vast array of resources available to teachers on it free, I no longer purchase idea books or theme books to use. I can simply google something or get on a teacher web site and find more than I could ever imagine about a topic or a book. That is what I would say has really made a difference in how I find ideas for teaching.
Technology has also helped make grading, attendance and everything with paperwork easier and less stressful. With the district wide program we have it is all in one spot - although I can’t help but wonder what will happen when and if the system crashes.
On the down side, in the past 11 years I have noticed there are increasingly more students who have a hard time just being able to communicate and get along with others and I truly believe it’s because they are always connected to something and not someone. If they didn’t have technology to keep them occupied they wouldn’t know what to do. We have actually had lots of discussions along those lines in my fourth grade class and I try to give them a look at what I used to do for fun (i.e. marbles). This year out of 26 students only three knew anything about marbles.
So although technology is a wonderful invention and something we will need for the future, I think it's important as educators we help keep our students connected with one another as well.
Okay, I don't believe this but I just lost another posting to the great internet space out there somewhere. I've been "deathly sick" all weekend. Well, I actually have that spring-thing, a sinus infection, but Saturday I felt like I wanted to die. I stayed in bed the whole day.
Anyway, I thought it was pretty cool that you were asking us to write about technology this week after we just had our last half-day technology session this past Friday. It started out telling us what we needed to know for end of the year technical stuff--grades, etc. and then we were entertained by several peers on the technology they are currently use in their classrooms.
From teachers and their students using excel to map volcanic eruptions and flows in science to drawing large and smaller ploygrams and other forms and moving them back and forth to showing comparisons and measuring them in math to the Spanish teacher using blogger.docs to give herr students homework questions that they answer in Spanish, that she grades, responses to and records instantly to groups writing stories, editing them, rewriting and discussing for everyone to comment on and creating web books for credit it was pretty impressive. I actually enjoyed it.
I was also able to show the principal (because he sat next to me) my true dedication. I kept coughing and blowing my nose the whole time. Like many of us, I drag myself to school sick or not because that's what teachers do, right? I'm actually home today after going in yesterday and realizing it was harder than I thought the more voice I lost and the heavier my head felt.
Back on point, I learned a lot in this class and I will be better for it. I would probably never have tried Turnitin.com again (earlier experience wasn't completely successful)and I never would have learned to blog and actually learn to enjoy it.
I will talk more about what technology I will be using in the future in my implementation piece later. If nothing else, I learned to sign up for a class even if it felt "scary" and took me out of my comfort zone a little. Thanks for that and the writing groups. It's been years since I took a writing class and I enjoyed the sharing a great deal. I wish I had more time to do just that. Oh well, thanks for this experience and hopefully, I will continue to use the new tools I'm now acquainted with next year. I plan to play with them this summer with my nephew and nieces. They should be able to help me in Creed's stead. Thanks Creed for all the assists. JJ
Consider: How do you use technology in your teaching? What is meaningful integration of technology?
I use the 'hardware' daily -- SmartBoard, document camera, copiers to email student work samples to myself for sharing in newsletters and use in editing scenarios (and is it worth it to mention that my laptop is an extension of my arm...?)
We have just started a powerpoint -- the seed lesson came from the March, 2009 issue of the Reading Teacher -- that is modeled on an ABC book and will become our class yearbook. Incorporating writers' notebooks with our laptops (we have 50 for the school in roving carts) is definitely motivating for all of the students -- perhaps more than the low-tech way we might have done a class book. The students will get a CD/thumb copy and hard copy of their work. I am not certain if it is MORE meaningful in all ways but they are using powerpoint, publishing, digital camera and internet images to make a single book. And, unlike some tech projects, this has proven to be a very social project, with many possible extensions.
* Reflect: What have you found valuable about Writing Matters? Post a reflection on your role as a writer in this online class.
Having a peer group going through the same difficulties that I am and being successful has been really comforting. Writing more, drafting and getting feedback is motivating. Reading the professional articles and reflecting with other teachers of writing about writing, assessing, technology and teaching has made me a more conscious teacher of writing, a more active writer and kicked my butt, along with my words into the 21st century, finally.
Best of all, writing poetry again!
For the most part the technology I use while teaching special ed is computer programs designed to work with students with disabilities. One of my favorite programs is "Earobics" a program that develops listening comprehension in children. Another fun one is "First 100 Words". There are even programs available for sever student that are bright lights and music/sounds that can be changed by the student pressing on a doughnut switch.
In my HS Reading/Writing class I am so thankful for the audio folder that is included with the reading program. I use it mostly when poems are part of the unit. I find that having the girls listen to someone else read the poem twice, once through and once with us pausing and talking, makes a huge difference when it is their turn to read the poem aloud. They are more willing to take the risk as they have already heard how words are pronounced and understand the rhyme scheme.
We have also read several books in class. I have used the internet to facilitate searches about authors and with the book "Twilight" we did an activity where students searched fan web pages from other countries and wrote a reflections paper. One moment of "Wow, that is just like me! and One moment of "What is that??" We all got a laugh when we shared those papers. We had to wait from October to April to see the movie but we got parent permission to watch it in school. Their compare contrast papers will be part of their final.
For me "meaningful integration of technology" is using technology to facilitate understanding of what ever you are working on. For students in remote locations technology can give a visual reference to words like "lawnmower" or "stadium" something that is not down the next boardwalk. It also means expanding the understand you have now. If use properly can open the world for students, especially those with disabilities (don't get me started on some of the wonderful assistive technology that is now available for handicapped students)
The second part of this reflection asked What have you found valuable about Writing Matters? I would have to say the connection with other writers. I can see how important the sharing part of writing is to development and growth of young writers, and in the end the type of writing 99% of the population does is for other people, even journals and diaries in the end will be read by future generations if you don't put it in your will to have them destroyed at your demise.
I also completely enjoyed the process of writing as a group and to tell you the truth was trying to figure out a way to use it in a book project that is the last thing we have to do (other than the final) before the end of the school year in our reading class.
But most of all I enjoy the feeling of growth I get from learning. It is an addition I hope never to recover from.
I’ve always tried to use technology intelligently in my classroom. My first use of technology was in finding classroom materials to use with thematic units and documenting lesson plans. It evolved into taking my students on Internet journeys to museums, foreign countries and interactive websites like Beringia. Some of my classroom discussions involved the use of Powerpoint presentations.
Today my classroom is equipped with a Samartboard. This seems to be the next wave of technology to flood the classroom. It is great for showing movie clips of video materials while giving a discussion, writing notes and documenting lesson highlights that can be saved for reflection later, and other general classroom lecture housekeeping chores.
The greatest revolution to hit the classroom in the 19th Century was the chalkboard, which was followed up by dry-erase board, commonly known as the whiteboard, in the 20th Century. Computers followed in the last twenty years of the 20th Century with the promise of student learning gains. Students have learned to use the computer to do all sorts of interesting things. But the most popular use for students seems to be the Internet and e-mail. While it is important for students to learn to use these communication gateways responsibly, these intrusions in the modern classroom have become a teacher’s nightmare when trying to provide instruction.
One of the programs that our school district has fostered this year, which came about when I made mention of it during a technology committee meeting a few years back, has been the distribution of laptop computers to our high school students during the school year. The purpose of the program is to help our students by providing them with the learning tools needed to succeed in school. Computers fit that bill, but come with a cost. The cost is the letting go of a certain amount of control the teacher has in his or her classroom. Students have become very clever at concealing what they are really doing during class. There are programs out there that allow the classroom teacher to see what’s on their students’ desktops, but without the support of a site administrator, the teacher has very little control over what their students are doing on their laptops during class.
I am glad to see our district take the stand that several districts in the lower 48 have taken ever since cell phones have emerged from the primeval electronic communication ooze of the 1980s and the MP3 players in the 21st Century. Our students seem to pride themselves on the number of electronic devices they can carry in the classroom. But the rule that these devices are not allowed in the classroom has helped cut down on the number of these devices in the school and the disruptions in the classroom.
Technology can be a boon in the classroom or a bust. Teachers need to be technology aware. I think we all know a teacher or two who suffer from Technophobia. It doesn’t do to have a school district or site administrator invest in technology if it is never used. Sometimes it seems that the only technology that teachers are most comfortable with is the pencil, paper, dry erase marker and whiteboards. But our classrooms are dynamic learning environments and our students are dynamic learning machines. If we as educators cannot keep abreast of the latest, proven educational technologies, then we are doing our students a disservice and hampering their educational growth. I would not forsake my computer and word-processing program to return to the use of a typewriter with its messy ribbons, uneven paper feeding and heavy bulk. That is not to say that the old typewriter still doesn’t have its occasional uses. Boat anchors come to mind, but I’m being facetious. Technology is here to stay and if our students cannot learn to use it in a safe environment, then we are allowing them to wander in unmarked paths fill with hidden dangers. To borrow a phrase from the late Walter Cronkite, “And that’s the way it is.”
A Reflection on Writing Matters
I write because I enjoy creating stories even though I may never seek a publisher other myself. However, what I do learn from writing for myself, I like to share with my students. Writing Matters, while not teaching me any new techniques for my writer's toolbox, has helped me refocus what I teach in my classroom. It has reinforce many of the good writing practices I have learned over the years. I feel that it has helped me refine my writing somewhat.
Jack Bickman, who wrote the "Apple Dumpling Gang" was a professor of mine at the University of Oklahoma in the early 80s. He told the class that no matter how skilled you became as a wordsmith that you will only be as good as you practice the art of writing. I paraphrased the whole half hour of that lecture. But, unless you are willing to invest the time and energy by writing every day, you will never achieve much. And, this course has been part of that investment process.
I enjoyed playing around with poetry. The two poems I wrote has helped me enjoy that medium of writing. While I may not become the latent talent of the next e.e. cummings, Robert Frost, or another Longfellow, I nevertheless have enjoyed making my poems personal to me.
Oh, to the writer's bane that the end must come.
Some, no doubt, will look to the end and shout at not feeling so dumb.
But, I shall miss it all,
the clatter of keys, the blank pages filled with the lively hum,
smiling though my finger my have been numb.
Anyway, it is not my best, but it expresses my sadness at the end of an association, through the electronic ether, of so many encounters with other writers. One of the sadnesses of this electronic ages is that people very seldom write letters anymore. Though it is cheaper to send an e-mail or talk on a cell-phone, letter writing in the United States is fast coming to an end.
My father was an avid letter writer. When he passed away twenty years ago, many of his friends felt they had truly lost a friend. They all looked forward to my father's letters, since he took the time to write. Even though we lived only 120 miles away from my parents and saw them every other week, Dad still wrote us letters.
If I learned anything from this class, it is that writing is only as dynamic as we make it. It lives and breathes through us. That is a hard concept to teach students. We can only hope that they continue their writing development after they leave school. Maybe that is why I keep a journal. I occasionally write several pages, but I do write something in it every day, even if it is just the weather.
Write and enjoy.
Kylie-I loved your memoir. The way you describe nature made me feel like I was right there beside you. I was having a fairly stressful day and when I read your essay. I could almost feel the tension ease out of my shoulders as I made my way through your thoughts. I try to make it down to Homer at least once a summer. It is a very magical place; however, I never did understand how anyone could sleep in a tent on the spit. Land’s Inn is more my style of camping. I would love to be in your class. dc
Other than email, attendance and the mountain of paperwork (done on a program on the computer)required for sped, I do not integrate technology in my preschool classroom. At the middle school level students were able to submit papers electronically, use the internet for research, use software programs like PLATO for remedial support, and make power point presentations. All of those uses were meaningfule to the students as it meant they did not have to handwrite anything, which most seemed to dread.
Taking this course made me realize it is okay for me to take the time to write, both as a reflection on life's events and as a way of improving my writing abilities.
"The tie between information and action has been severed. Information is now a commodity that can be bought and sold, or used as a form of entertainment, or worn like a garment to enhance one's status. It comes indiscriminately, directed at no one in particular, disconnected from usefulness; we are glutted with information, drowning in information, have no control over it, don't know what to do with it." - Neil Postman from speech given the German Informatics Society (Gesellschaft fuer Informatik)
As educators, we have a responsibility to empower our students with the tools needed to survive and thrive in our modern environment. Undeniably, the political, social, and economic environment of the 21st century is rooted in technology, or more specifically, the Internet. As such, teachers in the modern era feel overwhelming pressure to respond the demands of the digital age by utilizing every technological tool we can lay our hands on. Indeed, the ISTE standards compel us to equip our students with the technological literacy they will need to compete for employment in the digital age.
However, in our race to keep pace with technology, such as blogging, social networking, etc. , I feel we must keep a critical eye on our endeavors. The communicative power of new tools like blogs are unquestionably reshaping the social landscape our students in which our future generations will grow-up , play , and work, but we seldom stop to seriously reflect on the nature of that change, to cast a philosophical light on the manner in which humans are shaped by technology.
How, for example, has the Internet shaped the way we think and our most fundamental patterns of learning? In a recent article in the Atlantic titled "Is Google Making Us Stupid", author Nicholas Carr muses:
"Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle. "
What Nicholas Carr speaks of here is a change in our habits of mind, a change brought about by a new mode of thinking fostered by the quick access and abundant nature of information on the Internet. With the Internet, in order to attend to the information we need, we must sift through volumes of information. As such, we seldom attend to any single source of informational text very long or with great depth. The Internet compels us to value breadth of knowledge over depth of knowledge. Simultaneously, it asks us to shift our attention rapidly rather than focus it deliberately.
What are the ramifications of this mind-set? Of course, I can speculate, but before educators rush headlong into advocating for the virtues of technology and supplying our students with the technological skills necessary to realize those virtues, perhaps we should engage in a discussion about the role technology plays in shaping human thought and behavior. To be clear, I do not shun technology. Besides the obvious irony of arguing against technology via blogging, I feel that it would be grossly negligent to leave our students unequipped to attend to the practical realities of the modern world by denying them technological skills, simply because I have personal reservations regarding technology. I simply submit that we should become more reflective consumers of technology.
Sometimes I think technology was invented just to piss me off. Other times it is the perfect teaching tool. Lately it seems to be more aggravating than not. I have a cheaper version of a smartboard and the program that came with it. I think you need to be a rocket scientist to figure out how to use the program that creates the “flipcharts”. I use the board some and I have tried to learn the program but I never seem to have enough time. I also have a projector which is a needed partner with the smartboard. I find that I use the projector part more often. The kids love to write on the board and I appreciate that I can save the writing and bring it back up later. We also use my smartboard a lot for staff trainings, inservices and teacher classes.
I am very thankful that I do not have to deal with the cell phones, pdas, iphones, ds, etc stuff at school that older kids all seem to have now. I just confiscate backaguns and other toys, even though the rule is no toys in school. I do see that my students do not participate in the same kind of play that I did when I was young. Most of them, if not all, are plugged in most of the time at home. Television and video games are what they talk about all the time. Imaginative games, reading books, playing outside, and simple toys are getting to be a thing of the past. And that really scares me. Ok off my soapbox.
On a lighter note, it has been fun to read about all the different resources that people have mentioned on this blog and go look at them. I had no idea that there were so many resources and websites out there. It has also been great to try google docs and blogging. I have really enjoyed reading everyone's writing. A picture has been painted of who we are, it would be neat to meet and put a face to the persona that we create in our minds.
I have never really been a writer, so at first forcing myself to sit and write was tough. I have surprised myself by really enjoying writing lately. It had been nice to be able to express myself in another way. Usually I just talk a lot. This class has also encouraged me to reevaluate what I am doing with my students writing. It had been so interesting to read posts from an upper level perspective, many of the ideas are applicable in the lower levels. I look forward to looping with my kiddos to 1st grade and expanding my writing program.
• Consider: How do you use technology in your teaching? What is meaningful integration of technology?
I am ashamed at how little I use technology with my students to write. About the only technology I use with any consistency is my document camera. Last year I maintained a class website that was rather well developed if I say so myself. I updated it at least every week. I was in a very affluent area however and all my students had a least one computer with internet in their homes. Not so in my current school. In our once a week trips to the computer lab I do have students working on Kidpix and Kerpoof, but that is during their 8 minutes of free time once they have finished Lexia and Symphony Math. For me meaningful integration of technology would be having my students get on the computer and start composing in authentic forms such as emails, blogs, or wikis. I admit I do not do this because:
1. None of my students have email accounts (first grade) so I would have to set them up. At the beginning of the year I don’t think many parents would have been jazzed about me opening an email account for their 6 year old.
2. Blogs and wikis: same issue as above, but also, I have spent the better part of the year just getting my students familiar with the letters on a keyboard. They are firmly in the hen pecking stage of typing and the pace of the blog or wiki’s progression would just about drive me nuts.
I have used podcasts as a way to introduce a book before. I took a class that was just focused on creating podcasts and wikis and that gave me a chance to actually sit down and play with the technology. One of mine was The Invention of Hugo Cabret and was a lot of fun to do but to make it really special took a long time, over an hour of fiddling with it. As for wiki’s- I have a wiki that I use with a group of teacher friends. We post books that we have found and lesson ideas and general gossip. It is just a fun collegiate thing to have.
It’s funny that the Using Multiple Technologies article was written in 2004 and already it read as out of date.
• Reflect: What have you found valuable about Writing Matters? Post a reflection on your role as a writer in this online class.
As always with classes such as these I treasure all the resources I gather from the instructor and participants. That has been one of the most valuable aspects of taking this class. The other one is the kick in the butt that I was in sore need of to get more focused and directed in my writing instruction. While reading other people’s posts about how they progress with their students through the writing process I cringed sheepishly and glanced over at my lesson plans and added more structured writing time. I do not believe in excusing my students just because they are first grade. I expect a lot out of them and more often than not, they can meet my expectations. I have to be honest and say that perhaps I have not expected as much out of them in writing as I have in math and reading and it shows in their performance.
As a writer in this online class I am shy to post, especially at first. Although the anonymity was nice at times, it became a little intimidating. For instance, in the ramblings section, I wanted to actually ramble and post things that I noticed that day or thoughts that I had. All of it seemed to trivial to do so as my online colleagues posted intellectual insights that had nothing to do with the flippant thoughts I wanted to compose. Now, at the end, I am a bit brazen just because it is the end and I feel the freedom to be so. I wonder if anyone else felt the same level of self-consciousness that I felt in posting online without any face to face time.
As far as technology is concerned ... we have far more available than I am using. I was fortunate to be involved with a team of teacher who were given the opportunity to work with a grant program in our district that allowed us to purchase equipment and gave us laptops, doc. cameras, and projectors. The doc camera and projector were a wonderful tool for projecting student writing. I like that the actual piece of writing can be used and felt the students took pride in creating work that might be projected. As far as the grant items we purchased, we chose to purchase cameras, printers, and an AlphaSmart system. We used these three items to support our new adventure - a quarterly newspaper. I used the AlphaSmarts quite often for final product creation but also for the typing tutorial. I found that the students progressed quickly with their keyboarding which made typing final products go more quickly. That system seemed to be very motivating as well. Students wanted to get to use them and were more interested in taking writing past the rough draft stage. I can see where the interactive white boards could be very useful when working on writing. But haven't gotten myself there yet. I'm a proponent of meaningful integration. I think too often, probably more at the elementary level, the technology can be a distraction or not used to enhance the actual skill lesson you are teaching so I'm pretty thoughtful in what I use.
Reflection on my learning in this class ... Each piece of the class seems to have had it's own effect. I thought the articles were useful and worth reading and keeping. They seemed relevant and had had suggestions that made me reflect on how I was approaching writing in my classroom. I found the articles more interesting than the text that was chosen because for the most part they were more clear and easier to read.
The writing part of the class was a good personal/professional stretch for me. I have not done much writing just for the sake of writing so I enjoyed (and at times struggled) creating a piece that I was willing to share. The process of creating, sharing, and receiving feedback was helpful. I know that it put me in the shoes of my students and I realized how important the "share" piece is. I'm hoping to incorporate the "sharing" into my weekly plan for next year.
I'd be interested the experience of this class in a face-to-face model. The online part was a bit tough for me to keep up with. But, I made it through and will be a better teacher for having the experience.
One last note is that it has been great reading about and hearing from teachers in other parts of Alaska. Your world are so different in so ways and so much the same in others. Thank you for sharing!
I've discovered something rather remarkable about my own writing, or more the point, how writing more has affected me. For the past few years, the only written for the same reasons I'm currently writing - classwork. I don't mind writing academic papers; on the contrary, once I get past the initial stages of procrastination, it feels rather good to stretch my brain. However, I've written more in the past few weeks than I've probably written over the course of the previous year. Consequently, I've noticed a profound difference in my ability to articulate my thoughts lately. If nothing else, this course has reminded me of the power of writing. To write is to think. Not 'think' in the passive sense of the word - as, " I thought about what I read and it was...you know...good," but rather think in the sense that I've had to really codify my ideas in a coherent, artful manner. In essence, this course reminded me that the simple act of writing can do wonders in making one more perceptive.
Next year I will strive to make writing more of a priority. While I have students write a lot, I haven't typically given them a lot of space to do so. They respond to prompts and discussion questions, but I haven't done enough to let go of the reigns and allow them to fully engage in exploratory writing.
I like the idea of writing workshops that I've encountered in this course. Thus far in my instruction, I've taught writing, grammar, and critical thinking skills in much more of a fragmented manner. Frankly, I haven't had much luck in improving any of those skills among my students using this approach. I'm looking forward to drawing on the ideas I've explored in this course to motivate my students to engage a bit more in the writing process. Also, I've learned the value of modeling in this course. While I've always been familiar with modeling, I've seldom actually engaged in the process. Last week, as a result of the readings and conversations from this course, I began modeling/collaborative writing with my students, and was impressed by the returns. Students seemed to buy into the process and actually commented about the usefulness of seeing good writing rather than discussing it in terms of the rubric.
4/26/09 - Sunday evening about 9:25
Technology in my classroom – I have always tried to use the technology available to me in my classroom. In my first assignment here in LKSD as an English Language Leader, I was given an office off the computer lab. Since there was no tech, I donned that hat as well and updated the entire lab with new computers and software, desks and chairs. I thought I was pretty savvy. Later, as a Bread Loaf Fellow, I learned how to use Email exchanges to share student work with classrooms across the US. Smart Boards are great, but they do not always work, so I just used the one housed in my room for a projection screen until this year.
Now I just use the far wall in my room as a projection screen. I have a scanner that helps me copy pages to my computer for viewing by students while I make notes for whatever project we are working on at the time. Since I have not the best handwriting, I can type notes which students copy during our discussions of literature. If need be, I can print these out for absent students. This works for me.
I have students email papers to me from home computers often these days. Also I have spy-ware on my computer so that I can check if students are doing assignments or goofing off with IM’s and email. The spy-ware also allows me to check student work if they ask right from my desk. This has been a great help to me this year with my knee problems.
Often, I’ll be on Yahoo Messenger and see one of my students on as well. I’ve found that IM’s with students is rather like a friendly conversation. We chat some and then that’s that. Sometimes, my students look to see if I’m on, so that they can ask me questions or tell me something.
What has been most valuable to me in this course is the exposure to blogging and other possible ways of having students share writing more efficiently. I’ve also appreciated the chance to read other teachers writings about life and classrooms – helps me to feel connected or should I say re-connected. When you teach in a remote location, there is not much opportunity to dialogue as we all have about writing in a what I would call a safe environment. It has been uplifting and revitalizing for me. I am intrigued with the idea of using a blog for sharing student writing with other classes. I’d like to try that next year.
How do you use technology in your teaching?
I use technology in my class usually in a way to help foster collaboration or to make abstract ideas more concrete so that they can be better understood. Later, I use technology to bring together thinking and conversation that lends itself to higher-level thinking. For example, consider what can be done with SketchUp3D, a free download. A second grade student for example could create a 6 sided cube and then build a cylinder that travels through the center, providing a "real" environment that otherwise can only be imagined by most students -and older students can create more complicated structures that are really usable. With today’s other Web 2.0 offerings, like Blabberize can help turn a mundane character from history books into an animated character that shares his personal primary source journal entries. The availability of tools such as Voice Threads and Google Docs take a locked down PC and bring new life to it by making available Cloud computing. (Bandwidth of course is an issue in some areas)
What is meaningful integration of technology? This is a tough question since technology and people differ in so many ways. I would say meaningful integration could be as simple as a pencil and paper, neither of which existed a few generations ago in many places. Perhaps meaningful integration is that which is nearly necessary to make learning available within a tighter and tighter time frame or around a sophisticated lesson. Perhaps this class is a good example of meaningful integration since I don't know that we could have shared our writing and discourse in this manner a few years ago. - We have all learned from each other. Ultimately, I believe meaningful integration requires thoughtful design by a teacher or student. It is true that in today's world, technology is allowing students to learn from a larger audience than their local peers, libraries, and schools. The question about meaningful technology integration might be better answered by today’s learners who are learning everyday with technology on their own.
Reflect: What have you found valuable about Writing Matters? Post a reflection on your role as a writer in this online class.
I have said this before, I have found that this class was helpful in helping me to understand that teaching writing isn't only about making better writers, but helping people organize their thoughts. I have learned a lot in this class. One biggy for me is how this whole group was able to use so many technology tools like this blog for example, or Google Doc’s with nearly zero training successfully. We have all shared and learned from each others perspectives. I think my role in this class was to offer my input and to share little things that might help others. In a class so passionate about writing, it was nice to see it blend so well with technology. I think ultimately what I found valuable in Writing Matters! was the research. I have felt like students who write often will do better across the curriculum and Writing Matters! helps me to articulate why and provide supporting evidence.
"I love technology...always and forever."
Ahh, technology. I won a $4950 scholarship by writing a letter that explained how I intended to use technology in my classroom to reach students. Recently I reread the scholarship letter to see if I was living up to the goals I had set for myself, and sadly, I find myself with good intentions, but lagging behind.
The basic technology that I use on an almost daily basis is my internet connection and projector. Unlike some of the others, my district has fairly decent internet capacity, and I use it for many things. In government class, for example, we watched excerpts of the presidential debates in preparation for our own mock debate (NYTimes.com had a great video plus transcript of each debate which made it easy for me to find the spots I wanted to use without watching the whole thing in class).
I also use a vocabulary program designed by my student teacher mentor, Matt Walton, a teacher at Soldotna High School. The program associates a picture with each word, and kids learn SAT words in mass quantities with very little effort as a result. Matt has put slide shows, tests, etc. on his website, so every week we project those onto the screen while we practice vocab.
Another teacher friend gave me a template for a jeopardy-style game that I sometimes play with kids. I have them read a chapter in a history book and write questions that they have to label as 1-5 point questions according to difficulty. Then I compile all the questions into a game, and we play that, clicking on the question that each team chooses to answer.
I use the projector to demonstrate writing techniques, editing tools, Word functions, etc. I can project a paper on the wall and make corrections as the students watch and not need to even print anything out. Or I can show them how to make a references page for a research paper, project websites and ask them to critique them for validity, etc.
I've noticed that kids are tuned in to anything on the screen, so we use it a lot.
Our school owns one Smartboard that sits in the computer lab and seldom gets used. I would love to use it, but I don't know how, and I am so busy that I haven't had time to learn. Perhaps this summer...?
Another small thing I've started doing (cautiously) is texting one girl to remember to bring her grades to me for grade check. Each teacher in our school has been assigned to 6-8 kids (in classes we don't teach) to do a sort of advisory with them. Every Monday, the kids in our group are supposed to print out a grade report and bring it to us. We look it over, talk to them about it, and try to establish a connection with students to offer encouragement (or prodding). One girl consistently avoids grade checks, and I have tried all manner of wheedling, demanding, suggesting, etc. that she come talk to me. She recently got a cell phone (she's in fifth grade!) with texting capabilities, and she responds well to a message that says, "Are you bringing me your grades today?" I may be naive, giving out my cell phone number to a student. But so far, she has respected it, and it seems to work. I am careful to text her ONLY about grade checks.
I can't think of other uses I have for technology at this point. I have a love/hate relationship with it, always wishing I knew more about it, but hating to put the time in to actually LEARN it. Another summer goal is to figure out our school's blog pages. I tried figuring them out over Christmas, but I couldn't make them do what I wanted them to do.
Which leads into what I think about this class. Sondra, you knew from the beginning (and I'm not sure how much control you had over it if any) that this blog format is not conducive to conversations, and that has been my greatest frustration with the class. If I'm commenting on something that happened ten comments ago, it seems so out of place as to be annoying, so I often didn't comment where I would have liked to. I was used to Blackboard because I took so many online classes at UAA, and there you could start a new thread for each new topic. That way, it felt more like a conversation than these long lists of comments do. Consequently, I guess I didn't feel as though I participated in the way I normally would in an online class. (Oh, yes I did just blame technology for my performance in a class!!!!!)
What I liked about the class was, as someone else mentioned (but I'm too lazy to scroll back through everything and find out who, see comment above), reading other people's writings. I also enjoyed the discipline of writing regularly, even for short bursts of time. I gained some new ideas for my own classroom, tried a few new things, and enjoyed myself.
• Consider: How do you use technology in your teaching? What is meaningful integration of technology?
Unfortunately, I would have to say that I use technology the most when planning and preparing for teaching. Some of my students receive Title I services on the computer via Read Naturally or Lexia. However, I am unsure that this is really meaningful use of technology in teaching. I have found that researching kid-appropriate sites that are relevant to the content we are working with, and then introducing students to the site and allowing some time for exploration has worked well. Students all notice different things on the site and as a result come back with some great information to share. It has been made meaningful to them, and to their peers, via personal discovery. Sure, I have guided the experience, but that is what I do everyday in providing meaningful instructional activities. In the future, I plan to attempt to integrate the use of a blog in my classroom for teaching technology and for publishing student work.
• Reflect: What have you found valuable about Writing Matters? Post a reflection on your role as a writer in this online class.
There are many aspects to this course that I have found valuable; most of it comes back to having a focus for reflection and growth, and being able to collaborate with such a diverse group of professionals. As a first year teacher in Alaska, I get to be a part of the wonderful statewide mentor program. I have had many conversations throughout the year with my mentor about how difficult it is to find time to write and how important it is to me to be able to do that. We tried everything, she even got me a little journal to send back and forth between the two of us and nothing seemed to work. I wasn’t able to focus my thoughts enough to get anything down on paper. The diversity of events in any given day, and the wide range of emotions that went along with each event, just got to be too much for my brain to handle. Taking this course and having it accessible at all hours of the night has given me ample opportunity to focus my reflective writing. I have also found that once I started the habit of writing on a regular basis with a focus, it became much easier to compartmentalize my reflections and get more down on paper than just the weekly ramblings or responses for class. The collaboration piece has been highly valuable for me as well. This course started just as I was beginning to realize the serious lack of communication within my grade level about writing, about anything. I have greatly enjoyed having the opportunity to discuss teaching practices, research, and the practical application of that research with professionals across grade levels and with various levels of experience.
Jerrilyn said...
How do you use technology in your teaching?
I use technology for recruiting middle school students to attend Hutchison High School. I work with the Arts AV Technology teacher and seniors to design recruiting videos. I use classroom LCD projectors with the internet to present the career planning assessment tools; Alaska Career Information Systems (AKCIS) and Testing and Education Reference Center (TERC). The Power School Premier technology I use in the Counseling Department makes assessing grades, monitoring attendance, creating master schedules, scheduling classes, and checking transcripts easy and efficient.
What is meaningful integration of technology?
Meaningful integration of technology is educators using tech tools in an effective, creative and responsible way.
What have you found valuable about Writing Matters?
The most valuable aspect of this class has been the opportunity to collaborate with other professionals in Alaska. I liked using google.doc and blogging with my group. The professional articles were interesting and offered thoughtful perspectives about the process of writing and using technology in the classroom.
Post a reflection on your role as a writer in this online class.
I am a reluctant writer and sharing is challenging for me. This class is a personal and professional stretch for me and a self consciousness emerged that surprised me. I discovered my procrastinator style is that of a perfectionist. I am reluctant to start a task because I might fall short of my unrealistically high standards so I get buried in the details, hoping to avoid mistakes! I had to set specific time limits in order to complete the Writing Matter assignments.
As a school counselor I am concerned about the wired generation, the GenTechs. Teenagers spend an average of three hours per day on the internet. As educators we need to be aware of how the use of technology is changing family dynamics, interpersonal relationships and the face of education. The pace of this social change is profound.
Technology is an important part of daily life in my school. Staff and students communicate throughout the day. Attendance,assignments and grades are on Powerschool. Technology is used as a vital link for communication with parents and to support students. All classroom assignments are listed in each students account on Powerschool. The student or their parents can check their grade at anytime and also view any missing assignments in any class. Some teachers have websites for assignments and provide other links.
We are involved in the 1:1 computer program and every hs student has a laptop. Teachers spent 4 days in training prior to school starting to learn a variety of computer programs such as Notebook, Comic Life, iphoto, imovie and creating podcasts. Teachers from other districts came and shared their successes and program ideas. We had the Apple staff return for 2 more inservices throughout the year to continue learning and revising our technology use with students. The challenge for me has always been having time and training to learn to use technology effectively. We had both this year. We also have had
colleagues volunteer to demonstrate what they have learned and how they use technology in class.
Each teacher has a video camera and projector to incorporate into classroom activities. Part of the the elective rotation is a computer class for middle school students in which they learn to create presentations in a variety of programs using Keynote, powerpoint or iweb. Some high school teachers use require students to use Notebook and podcasts.
Our web use is pretty wide open and the trust issues have evolved in a respectful way. I feel that we are viewed as professionals that will demonstrate common sense and professional behavior. We have Remote Desktop, which is a very nice program for monitoring and increasing control of student computers if needed. It's a useful tool during instruction in many ways also. I think everyone understands that a school computer is kind of a public domain. Teachers would not be smart to misuse access.
I have worked in programs like I'm reading in some of the posts. The limited access makes the computer useless. The inconsistent availability or poor connections make computer usage frustrating. The time it takes to train yourself isn't there. The excitement and learning opportunity that open access provides students is immeasurable.
While I've questioned whether we were better off without technology, I think my conclusion is that it doesn't matter. We have it and it's going to impact education and one needs to be computer literate in today's educational system in order to provide students with what is becoming an appropriate education.
Technology is intimidating and I learn something new everyday from my students. Sharing is key. They also learn how to do all of the stuff you don't want them to and you learn how to counter it and control it. On the other hand they create so much more interesting presentations.
My favorite use is pretty basic. I find the computer essential for writing for many of my students. Often they dislike editing. Editing on the computer is much easier. Manipulating and changing text is faster, spelling is corrected without so much frustration and we don't have legibility issues. Many of my students have poor handwriting.
This is a debate I've heard often in sp ed. Is computer use creating students that cannot write well and is handwriting becoming an obsolete thing to teach, particularly cursive writing. Does keyboarding replace handwriting instruction. I think computers facilitate writing. However, I do think it also contributes to less practice with handwriting. Many sp ed students don't have a signature, which I believe is important. We don't spend a lot of time on handwriting like we used to and if they don't get it and have illegible writing we advocate for using word processing vs improving writing. Whether middle school or high school, I always spend a bit of time in the beginning of the year doing some handwriting and making sure everyone has a signature. I want them to take one more run at it if they don't have good handwriting. I have terrible handwriting unless I really focus and take my time, then it is pretty nice. Many times I've gone back and can't read my notes from classes or meetings. I think it's important.
One of my computer goals is to keep all of my meeting notes organized on my laptop. I'd like to be at a point where it comes to meetings etc. with me instead of a pad and pen. I watch people and for some reason typing on the computer seems much more detached and so I'm still inclined to take paper notes and then spend time transferring it into the computer or stuffing them away to be lost forever.
I think that for some of us there is the human factor that computers seem to take away from.
Jan- It is interesting to me that you had your students read “Twilight.” That was the biggest reading draw in our school. Probably 80% of the high school read the entire series this year. I have one class that has about a 4th grade reading level. Usually these students hate reading because it makes them feel stupid, but they wanted to read this series. We are now on the 4th book. They love it and are interested every day to see what happens. I didn’t think about looking at the web or fan pages. That sounds like a great way to have the students to some research and writing. Thanks for the clue-in. dc
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