Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Animal Project Update
The project isn't finished, but the kids and I have learned enough to this point to make it worth posting.
The 4th graders learned to access the server. The pattern was familiar. The fist time they accessed it was a little on the painful side. Students were having a great deal of difficulty with the idea of Lastname, Firstname. Students were very focused on accurately capitalizing their names, but failed to properly capitalize passwords (names are not case sensitive on our system.) After saving files, they were a little overwhelmed at the idea of dragging and dropping to the "my files" folder (they have a my files, a drop box, and a message board--private, drop box, public, respectively). The very first day, it took the entire class period just to get them all signed in and save one file.
Progress was quick, since we were meeting every day. Students got into the habit of logging in. By the third day, "log into the server" was a single direction instead of a series of steps.
Students learned to rename files. At Valley we save to the desktop and then drag to the location. So, I had students renaming files on the desktop and dragging to the server.
The one mistake I had was having 4th grade students name files based on the date. Students working on a "physical characteristics of" inspiration file would then name it "physical characteristics of 2.17." That was a mistake. Later down the line, if a student spent more time on a file, his would be 2.23, while another student was only 2.21. And the idea of "open the most recent" was lost on them.
In retrospect, I will use 1, 2, 3, etc. with that young of a student. I think it is much easier to say "open the highest number."
At the beginning of the project, I spent time explaining what a server is and why we saved to it. I had to repeat this often, as students would save to the desk top, and think it was alright to "trash" the files right away (my policy is to always keep a public desktop--physical or virtual--the way you found it--so we always trash our files). I'm still not sure that all students understand the importance of the multi-step process. But, one of the nice things about being a specials teacher is I can reinforce for the rest of the year, and revisit the same topic with the same students next year when they are older and wiser.
Despite sometimes cursory understanding of the server and school procedures, the students did remarkably well. Only three students "lost" files (later recovered from the trash) and only one student had a total loss.
Inspiration was a very easy program for the kids to master. I took about three minutes with some how tos, and they spent a great deal of independent time getting it done. The biggest obstacle was (amazingly at this age) students who wanted to talk instead of work.
Students who finished quickly were able to explore changing shapes and colors on their maps. Most students, again, needed to be shown the basics and were able to run with it. A few who weren't able to start right away needed some extra help. This gave me the opportunity to let some of the students be teachers.
I strongly feel that students need to build confidence in their skills. Part of this is giving them exploratory time to teach themselves. Part of this is allowing them to share skills and teach one another. And, allowing them to teach one another also allows them to see that other kids their own age have something of value to share.
Surprisingly, toggling the diagrams into outlines and printing them out was a challenge. In retrospect, it had been several weeks since the students had printed. And, since it wasn't really very fun or engaging, it was a class where a lot of time was spent on refocusing the students. It has been a process all year demonstrating the process of printing for students and having them complete it themselves. It was probably very short sited of me to let them go for so long without printing.
In retrospect, I will change the labeling/numbering system for files. I will make sure to more clearly explain, and continue reinforcing, the concepts of saving on a server and why we are saving twice. And, I will print provide class time on three different occasions to print the three different diagrams so that a) we are not doing all of it at once b) I don't end up dedicating an entire class to printing and c)students continue to have practice and reinforcement of printing through the project and I don't risk some student forgetting this process.
The 4th graders learned to access the server. The pattern was familiar. The fist time they accessed it was a little on the painful side. Students were having a great deal of difficulty with the idea of Lastname, Firstname. Students were very focused on accurately capitalizing their names, but failed to properly capitalize passwords (names are not case sensitive on our system.) After saving files, they were a little overwhelmed at the idea of dragging and dropping to the "my files" folder (they have a my files, a drop box, and a message board--private, drop box, public, respectively). The very first day, it took the entire class period just to get them all signed in and save one file.
Progress was quick, since we were meeting every day. Students got into the habit of logging in. By the third day, "log into the server" was a single direction instead of a series of steps.
Students learned to rename files. At Valley we save to the desktop and then drag to the location. So, I had students renaming files on the desktop and dragging to the server.
The one mistake I had was having 4th grade students name files based on the date. Students working on a "physical characteristics of" inspiration file would then name it "physical characteristics of 2.17." That was a mistake. Later down the line, if a student spent more time on a file, his would be 2.23, while another student was only 2.21. And the idea of "open the most recent" was lost on them.
In retrospect, I will use 1, 2, 3, etc. with that young of a student. I think it is much easier to say "open the highest number."
At the beginning of the project, I spent time explaining what a server is and why we saved to it. I had to repeat this often, as students would save to the desk top, and think it was alright to "trash" the files right away (my policy is to always keep a public desktop--physical or virtual--the way you found it--so we always trash our files). I'm still not sure that all students understand the importance of the multi-step process. But, one of the nice things about being a specials teacher is I can reinforce for the rest of the year, and revisit the same topic with the same students next year when they are older and wiser.
Despite sometimes cursory understanding of the server and school procedures, the students did remarkably well. Only three students "lost" files (later recovered from the trash) and only one student had a total loss.
Inspiration was a very easy program for the kids to master. I took about three minutes with some how tos, and they spent a great deal of independent time getting it done. The biggest obstacle was (amazingly at this age) students who wanted to talk instead of work.
Students who finished quickly were able to explore changing shapes and colors on their maps. Most students, again, needed to be shown the basics and were able to run with it. A few who weren't able to start right away needed some extra help. This gave me the opportunity to let some of the students be teachers.
I strongly feel that students need to build confidence in their skills. Part of this is giving them exploratory time to teach themselves. Part of this is allowing them to share skills and teach one another. And, allowing them to teach one another also allows them to see that other kids their own age have something of value to share.
Surprisingly, toggling the diagrams into outlines and printing them out was a challenge. In retrospect, it had been several weeks since the students had printed. And, since it wasn't really very fun or engaging, it was a class where a lot of time was spent on refocusing the students. It has been a process all year demonstrating the process of printing for students and having them complete it themselves. It was probably very short sited of me to let them go for so long without printing.
In retrospect, I will change the labeling/numbering system for files. I will make sure to more clearly explain, and continue reinforcing, the concepts of saving on a server and why we are saving twice. And, I will print provide class time on three different occasions to print the three different diagrams so that a) we are not doing all of it at once b) I don't end up dedicating an entire class to printing and c)students continue to have practice and reinforcement of printing through the project and I don't risk some student forgetting this process.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Deciding on a new classroom technology
I was approached by a teacher asking to learn about wikis.
Of course, I'm always excited when approached by any teacher to learn anything. But I'm also cautious.
We set up a meeting (and such meetings always go exactly as planned, don't they?). And the first question I asked was "What do you want to use this for?"
Its not about the tool. I think that one of the hardest things for an educational technologist (is that a real word?) is to over come the general teacher conception that "I have to use more tools in my class room."
Tools are just that. They are tools. The most amazing earth shattering web 2.0 tool is completely useless if you don't have an educational goal to match it. And my personal goal for myself is to never match a teacher to a tool for the sake of the tool.
And in this particular case, I wasn't really sure what the best way to go was. The teacher wants to be able to post information, and have students post information. She wants the students to research systems and create a discussion on what systems are the most important in the body (which in my opinion sounds like a really fun idea--I vote for digestive because none of the other systems let me eat chocolate).
In the end we decided to go with wiki after all. It seemed the most flexible to me. Time will tell if I'm wrong, but I think even if she doesn't need everything a wiki can do, a wiki can do everything she needs. And, the 5th grade group she wants to do this project with is currently working in computer class with me on editing a wiki to post information on revolutionary war heroes with the view of having a class discussion in Social Studies on who were the true heroes. It seemed pretty clear to both of us that if they are already learning a certain skill set, we might as well double dip. This option will also allow me to work with her as a teacher, and probably with the students, on tagging, which is a very important skill in my opinion. And I look forward to now going further than I was planning, and teaching the students to embed content, upload files, and create links.
Of course, I'm always excited when approached by any teacher to learn anything. But I'm also cautious.
We set up a meeting (and such meetings always go exactly as planned, don't they?). And the first question I asked was "What do you want to use this for?"
Its not about the tool. I think that one of the hardest things for an educational technologist (is that a real word?) is to over come the general teacher conception that "I have to use more tools in my class room."
Tools are just that. They are tools. The most amazing earth shattering web 2.0 tool is completely useless if you don't have an educational goal to match it. And my personal goal for myself is to never match a teacher to a tool for the sake of the tool.
And in this particular case, I wasn't really sure what the best way to go was. The teacher wants to be able to post information, and have students post information. She wants the students to research systems and create a discussion on what systems are the most important in the body (which in my opinion sounds like a really fun idea--I vote for digestive because none of the other systems let me eat chocolate).
In the end we decided to go with wiki after all. It seemed the most flexible to me. Time will tell if I'm wrong, but I think even if she doesn't need everything a wiki can do, a wiki can do everything she needs. And, the 5th grade group she wants to do this project with is currently working in computer class with me on editing a wiki to post information on revolutionary war heroes with the view of having a class discussion in Social Studies on who were the true heroes. It seemed pretty clear to both of us that if they are already learning a certain skill set, we might as well double dip. This option will also allow me to work with her as a teacher, and probably with the students, on tagging, which is a very important skill in my opinion. And I look forward to now going further than I was planning, and teaching the students to embed content, upload files, and create links.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
2nd grae scratch
I haven't posted in several days. Probably not a good habit to get into.
This week I decided to start teaching the second graders to use Scratch. I wasn't sure exactly how it would go, and in a lot of ways it went better than expected.
When I approach a new program, I think students should be given basics of functionality, and then time to work with the functions they have seen in order to solidify "how to." And, it also gives the more curious a chance to "play" with other buttons and see what happens.
And that is largely how scratch went.
And, like in most of my classes, there will be a small handful of students who figure out some very "fun" or "cool" functionality, and I'll have to reign the class in and demonstrate that as well.
The problem I find is that some students get so caught up in trying to discover new things, that they completely ignore what has been taught and "jump ahead." Those students then end up being the most frustrated. Nothing works. They don't understand. And when I work with them one on one I find that they did not at any point use any of the functions taught in class--even in the follow along phase--and therefore cannot remember the basics, and have not been able to figure out the more advanced (its really not surprising that a student who has not worked with the basics is having trouble with advanced functions).
And on the same day I saw the exact same scenario played out in an upper school elective.
Some students are very curious, and overly confident in the ability. I don't want to diminish the confidence of any student, but at the same time I have to work to create a way to reach those students and let them know that they have to work with the basics for a few minutes or they may end up confused, frustrated, and not enjoying a process that the rest of the class really wants to spend more time on.
This week I decided to start teaching the second graders to use Scratch. I wasn't sure exactly how it would go, and in a lot of ways it went better than expected.
When I approach a new program, I think students should be given basics of functionality, and then time to work with the functions they have seen in order to solidify "how to." And, it also gives the more curious a chance to "play" with other buttons and see what happens.
And that is largely how scratch went.
And, like in most of my classes, there will be a small handful of students who figure out some very "fun" or "cool" functionality, and I'll have to reign the class in and demonstrate that as well.
The problem I find is that some students get so caught up in trying to discover new things, that they completely ignore what has been taught and "jump ahead." Those students then end up being the most frustrated. Nothing works. They don't understand. And when I work with them one on one I find that they did not at any point use any of the functions taught in class--even in the follow along phase--and therefore cannot remember the basics, and have not been able to figure out the more advanced (its really not surprising that a student who has not worked with the basics is having trouble with advanced functions).
And on the same day I saw the exact same scenario played out in an upper school elective.
Some students are very curious, and overly confident in the ability. I don't want to diminish the confidence of any student, but at the same time I have to work to create a way to reach those students and let them know that they have to work with the basics for a few minutes or they may end up confused, frustrated, and not enjoying a process that the rest of the class really wants to spend more time on.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Benefits of Blogging
A colleague of mine has been following some blogs. A few weeks ago I showed her how to follow blogs using google reader, and sent her a few suggestions. I'm hoping some of them are useful. It was a challenge for me, because her subject area is Foreign Language, which is not something I'm great at.
Last week, she told me she found a great idea on one of hose blogs. She'd been finding a lot of pay activities, but this was the first free activity she'd been really interested in. She tried the program--a site that had a song about conjugation (I'm bad at languages and conjugation is so far out of my depth its not even funny).
It went really well in class. She came up to me at lunch and told me the kids had really enjoyed it (it was popular music, with educational lyrics) and she could tell they were actually finally getting some of the concepts to click with it.
She thanked me.
Its always great to feel appreciated, but I told her I didn't need thanked.
She'd been following blogs. Its not always easy as a teacher to make the time for extra reading.
She'd stepped up to try an activity from another teacher in her own classroom--taking a step towards breaking down the classroom walls.
It's exciting for me to see a colleague getting a benefit out of some of the technology I'm trying to spread. Professional satisfaction :)
Last week, she told me she found a great idea on one of hose blogs. She'd been finding a lot of pay activities, but this was the first free activity she'd been really interested in. She tried the program--a site that had a song about conjugation (I'm bad at languages and conjugation is so far out of my depth its not even funny).
It went really well in class. She came up to me at lunch and told me the kids had really enjoyed it (it was popular music, with educational lyrics) and she could tell they were actually finally getting some of the concepts to click with it.
She thanked me.
Its always great to feel appreciated, but I told her I didn't need thanked.
She'd been following blogs. Its not always easy as a teacher to make the time for extra reading.
She'd stepped up to try an activity from another teacher in her own classroom--taking a step towards breaking down the classroom walls.
It's exciting for me to see a colleague getting a benefit out of some of the technology I'm trying to spread. Professional satisfaction :)
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Survey Monkey in the Classroom
I like to use survey monkey in the classroom.
For me it is a great way to get feedback, get input from students, make formal and informal assessments of student learning, and give students an opportunity to answer questions/voice an opinion without having to speak to the whole class.
I occasionally share answer with the class, especially in the older classes (a lot of time the students really want to see what other had to say--I typically don't show names, though).
I used it with third grade today to review/reinforce some of the terms we've been learning. And, sixth grade used it to come up with some really good rules for posting on the class website.
I've use it a little to touch base with faculty, and I really should be using it that way more than I currently do.
For me it is a great way to get feedback, get input from students, make formal and informal assessments of student learning, and give students an opportunity to answer questions/voice an opinion without having to speak to the whole class.
I occasionally share answer with the class, especially in the older classes (a lot of time the students really want to see what other had to say--I typically don't show names, though).
I used it with third grade today to review/reinforce some of the terms we've been learning. And, sixth grade used it to come up with some really good rules for posting on the class website.
I've use it a little to touch base with faculty, and I really should be using it that way more than I currently do.
Monday, February 7, 2011
3rd Grade Patriotic Symbols
I'm staring on a cross curricular project in 3rd grade.
The project is going to incorporate using the internet, reading, writing, social studies, and possibly sound recording. It also incorporates the class website I use with my classes as well as the one created by the 3rd grade teachers.
Students will use a jog the web (link posted on the computer class wiki website). The students will find the definitions for "patriotic" and "symbol" and be prepared to discuss what a patriotic symbol is.
The jog will then take them to the 3rd grade class site, where they will each be responsible for looking up one of the patriotic symbols--these are listed on the site, and are pictured on the classroom rug.
Each student will take a five question quiz about their symbol. They will be able to check their answers online. Once they have all the answers correct, they will record the correct answers to three of the questions on a worksheet.
In Language Arts class, the 3rd grade teacher is going to have students turn their questions (some are multiple choice, some are matching) into sentences. The students will then write a short writing piece. During the next computer class or two they will practice Word Processing--typing, saving, retrieving a file, etc.
Then, depending on time, the 3rd grade teacher and I will work to get each student to record him or herself reading their piece. Pictures will be taken of the symbols, and I hope to put the student audio files with the pictures and create a short movie from it--that can be posted on both sites to be shared with parents.
I'm pretty excited about this. I think at this point the biggest obstacle might be students missing class from the flu.
The project is going to incorporate using the internet, reading, writing, social studies, and possibly sound recording. It also incorporates the class website I use with my classes as well as the one created by the 3rd grade teachers.
Students will use a jog the web (link posted on the computer class wiki website). The students will find the definitions for "patriotic" and "symbol" and be prepared to discuss what a patriotic symbol is.
The jog will then take them to the 3rd grade class site, where they will each be responsible for looking up one of the patriotic symbols--these are listed on the site, and are pictured on the classroom rug.
Each student will take a five question quiz about their symbol. They will be able to check their answers online. Once they have all the answers correct, they will record the correct answers to three of the questions on a worksheet.
In Language Arts class, the 3rd grade teacher is going to have students turn their questions (some are multiple choice, some are matching) into sentences. The students will then write a short writing piece. During the next computer class or two they will practice Word Processing--typing, saving, retrieving a file, etc.
Then, depending on time, the 3rd grade teacher and I will work to get each student to record him or herself reading their piece. Pictures will be taken of the symbols, and I hope to put the student audio files with the pictures and create a short movie from it--that can be posted on both sites to be shared with parents.
I'm pretty excited about this. I think at this point the biggest obstacle might be students missing class from the flu.
6th grade China project day 2 A
Day 2 A because it was only group A.
Class started with a warm up asking students to list rules or policies for editing the class wiki, group wikis, etc. I wasn't sure what to expect. The answer were fairly consistent--don't be mean, don't be inappropriate (both in terms of staying on topic and not saying anything not proper for school) don't post any incorrect information, and keep an eye on spelling and grammar.
Not a bad list.
With some guidance the discussion came around to editing each others pages (I would assume that this hadn't occurred to them) and the conclusion that students should not interfere with each others pages, and that they had to stop editing mine.
I gave them a quick overview of how to use the message boards, and we had a quick posting discussion. One student asked why he had to type something to someone in the same room, and another student was able to remind him that this was to make working with students from the other class work better.
The students played around with the editor for a few minutes and I explained that sometimes wikispaces like to just ignore your formatting if you click in the wrong spot at the wrong time (at least it does that to me from time to time).
The group seemed pretty into the idea of creating web pages. Several if not all are intrigued by having online discussions. We talked about using appropriate language, and we reviewed the idea of not not having control of anything posted online after it is posted--my rule is don't post it if you wouldn't want to see it on a billboard 30 ft. high.
My goal is to make sure students are cautious when posting, and never post without fully considering it, but not afraid to post or create content. Something I really like to stress with this group is that right now, and during these types of projects, they are in a closed, rather safe online environment. And that they are more or less practicing for real life. I want to make sure they are using some judgment if they are using sites like facebook outside of school or in the future.
Next up is password security and resetting passwords. Followed by navigation and linking and creating a "sandbox."
Class started with a warm up asking students to list rules or policies for editing the class wiki, group wikis, etc. I wasn't sure what to expect. The answer were fairly consistent--don't be mean, don't be inappropriate (both in terms of staying on topic and not saying anything not proper for school) don't post any incorrect information, and keep an eye on spelling and grammar.
Not a bad list.
With some guidance the discussion came around to editing each others pages (I would assume that this hadn't occurred to them) and the conclusion that students should not interfere with each others pages, and that they had to stop editing mine.
I gave them a quick overview of how to use the message boards, and we had a quick posting discussion. One student asked why he had to type something to someone in the same room, and another student was able to remind him that this was to make working with students from the other class work better.
The students played around with the editor for a few minutes and I explained that sometimes wikispaces like to just ignore your formatting if you click in the wrong spot at the wrong time (at least it does that to me from time to time).
The group seemed pretty into the idea of creating web pages. Several if not all are intrigued by having online discussions. We talked about using appropriate language, and we reviewed the idea of not not having control of anything posted online after it is posted--my rule is don't post it if you wouldn't want to see it on a billboard 30 ft. high.
My goal is to make sure students are cautious when posting, and never post without fully considering it, but not afraid to post or create content. Something I really like to stress with this group is that right now, and during these types of projects, they are in a closed, rather safe online environment. And that they are more or less practicing for real life. I want to make sure they are using some judgment if they are using sites like facebook outside of school or in the future.
Next up is password security and resetting passwords. Followed by navigation and linking and creating a "sandbox."
4th Grade Animals project day 2
Day two of the project was similar to day 1.
The students worked on finding information using the provided links. I'm starting to see a trend that will, without intervention, only increase as students get older. I intend to intervene.
Students want to allow a search engine to do all the work for them. Even though about a half dozen really good links were provided, some students went straight for askkids.com. This is rather a foreshadowing of what I see in 5th and 6th grade.
But beyond wanting to use a search engine, they also want to simply type in a question and get an answer. It leads to students writing down answer based on the short blurbs provided on the search result page (and attempting to cite google or bing or blekko, etc., as sources) and to trusting completely sites such as answers.com and wikianswers.
To combat the use of search engines as sources, I work with older students to understand what a search engine is. To combat the use of "answers" sites, we talk frequently--in 4th grade and up--about who is providing those answers and whether or not they can be trusted. I'm a big fan of teaching students to just verify everything they find with another source. However, I fear that they are still seeing it as "busy work" that the computer teacher makes them do rather than a skill that needs to be applied to internet research in all other areas. But persistence usually pays off for me, so I'll just keep at it.
That got rambling and slightly off topic of fourth grade.
What really went well today was that students did research in two groups, first the boys and then the girls. The non-research group worked on a reading assignment. I commented to the teacher that the students were so much more focused and calm this way. She said that she had found that herself. Its a conveniently even class--11 and 13.
Next up is a bit more research, an intro to the student server, and then inspiration.
The students worked on finding information using the provided links. I'm starting to see a trend that will, without intervention, only increase as students get older. I intend to intervene.
Students want to allow a search engine to do all the work for them. Even though about a half dozen really good links were provided, some students went straight for askkids.com. This is rather a foreshadowing of what I see in 5th and 6th grade.
But beyond wanting to use a search engine, they also want to simply type in a question and get an answer. It leads to students writing down answer based on the short blurbs provided on the search result page (and attempting to cite google or bing or blekko, etc., as sources) and to trusting completely sites such as answers.com and wikianswers.
To combat the use of search engines as sources, I work with older students to understand what a search engine is. To combat the use of "answers" sites, we talk frequently--in 4th grade and up--about who is providing those answers and whether or not they can be trusted. I'm a big fan of teaching students to just verify everything they find with another source. However, I fear that they are still seeing it as "busy work" that the computer teacher makes them do rather than a skill that needs to be applied to internet research in all other areas. But persistence usually pays off for me, so I'll just keep at it.
That got rambling and slightly off topic of fourth grade.
What really went well today was that students did research in two groups, first the boys and then the girls. The non-research group worked on a reading assignment. I commented to the teacher that the students were so much more focused and calm this way. She said that she had found that herself. Its a conveniently even class--11 and 13.
Next up is a bit more research, an intro to the student server, and then inspiration.
An unexpected demonstration of multitasking and adaptation
I'm a very social creature by nature, and generally find I'd rather be spending time with students than in my office (even when being in my office means I'm doing very important, frequently time sensitive work that I'll end up taking home if I don't finish). So, when the math teacher came over to have me help him double check that a website he wanted to use would work, and after seeing him and his students go into one of the labs, I just couldn't help but go over and visit.
The students were using classzone, a website I wasn't familiar with. The math teacher said it was set up to work with their math books, and was free. I had poked through it after testing, but wanted to see it in action.
The students were using it for practice problems and practice quizzes. While I was there, one of the kids vaguely griped about needing paper to do the work. I suggested using a drawing program, such as sumopaint. I bit my tongue right after it came out, not sure if I was now stepping on toes or not, but the math teacher was very interested to see it in action.
It was fortunate, but about half of his seven students were in one or more of my electives where I'd introduced the program. It was used to varying degrees of success. I reminded one of the girls she could use layers to "hide" past problems and work on new ones. I had to remind others to adjust their brushes to be more useful. Some kids did not like having to erase, and others just weren't into use the mouse as a pen (I can't blame them). I'd say about half the students used sumopaint for paper, while the other half found the recycle bin next to the printers and used real paper. (Except one student who appeared to be doing all of the work in her head, which impressed me since it was all decimals and fractions).
A few minutes later, one student pulled out a calculator, and the boy next to him decided he needed one also--but he hadn't brought one. I had him google the term scientific calculator, and suggested he click on the web 2.0 calculator because it sounded promising. Shortly, several students had that tab open on their browser.
I showed one student, and the math teacher, how to use tab+tilde to tab through different firefox windows (obviously I'm a mac school). Some students used that trick, other used the F3, other used their mouse.
a few minutes later, I saw the math teacher showing one student Khan Academy. At the end of class, he said to me that the students had impressed him by being able to multitask so well that he wanted to try one more tool and see.
I'm blown away. Not only did the students rise to a new challenge, the adapted. They each were responsible for deciding which tools to make use of and which to abandon. The used processes individualized to their own needs. And the teacher stepped up "just to see." I can't say enough about how much that impressed me.
At the very end of class, the math teacher called the students over to see the result for one student who had attempted a quiz. He showed how the system marked answers right and wrong, and how as students that could use that to determine which topics they needed to focus more on, and which topics they could comfortably decide they were strong in.
I think in the end the entire period was in exercise in students defining their own learning. I would wager that most students don't remember all of the websites used, but I'm forwarding the links along to the math teacher.
classzone
sumopaint
web2.0 scientific calculator
khan academy
The students were using classzone, a website I wasn't familiar with. The math teacher said it was set up to work with their math books, and was free. I had poked through it after testing, but wanted to see it in action.
The students were using it for practice problems and practice quizzes. While I was there, one of the kids vaguely griped about needing paper to do the work. I suggested using a drawing program, such as sumopaint. I bit my tongue right after it came out, not sure if I was now stepping on toes or not, but the math teacher was very interested to see it in action.
It was fortunate, but about half of his seven students were in one or more of my electives where I'd introduced the program. It was used to varying degrees of success. I reminded one of the girls she could use layers to "hide" past problems and work on new ones. I had to remind others to adjust their brushes to be more useful. Some kids did not like having to erase, and others just weren't into use the mouse as a pen (I can't blame them). I'd say about half the students used sumopaint for paper, while the other half found the recycle bin next to the printers and used real paper. (Except one student who appeared to be doing all of the work in her head, which impressed me since it was all decimals and fractions).
A few minutes later, one student pulled out a calculator, and the boy next to him decided he needed one also--but he hadn't brought one. I had him google the term scientific calculator, and suggested he click on the web 2.0 calculator because it sounded promising. Shortly, several students had that tab open on their browser.
I showed one student, and the math teacher, how to use tab+tilde to tab through different firefox windows (obviously I'm a mac school). Some students used that trick, other used the F3, other used their mouse.
a few minutes later, I saw the math teacher showing one student Khan Academy. At the end of class, he said to me that the students had impressed him by being able to multitask so well that he wanted to try one more tool and see.
I'm blown away. Not only did the students rise to a new challenge, the adapted. They each were responsible for deciding which tools to make use of and which to abandon. The used processes individualized to their own needs. And the teacher stepped up "just to see." I can't say enough about how much that impressed me.
At the very end of class, the math teacher called the students over to see the result for one student who had attempted a quiz. He showed how the system marked answers right and wrong, and how as students that could use that to determine which topics they needed to focus more on, and which topics they could comfortably decide they were strong in.
I think in the end the entire period was in exercise in students defining their own learning. I would wager that most students don't remember all of the websites used, but I'm forwarding the links along to the math teacher.
classzone
sumopaint
web2.0 scientific calculator
khan academy
Sunday, February 6, 2011
6th grade China Project overview and day 1
The 6th grade project is something a bit new.
This is the second time I've done something very new with this class.
At this time of year, 6th grade studies China. They will be in that unit for five weeks. This year, they are going to incorporate making a web page into the unit.
The group was divided into teams of 4-5. The homeroom teachers were responsible for making the teams and paired students based on strengths.
There was a discussion if teams should be made up of students all in one class (I would see entire teams at once for computer class) or from mixed students (I would see all teams, but only half of the members in my class). I suggested the ability to work with teams asynchronously was a good skill for them to learn. So, it was decided to make mixed teams.
We introduced the project in the combined lab class. This class always goes just a bit slower--with 23 12 year olds arranged in a circle around the room with their backs to me (I am rearranging the lab over the summer--its just too much of an undertaking until then) does not always create the best arrangement.
The 6th grade teacher introduced the teams and provided them with their printed information resource. I went over the directions of what needs to be included on the final website--including where to find it (printed packet, web and other research, and self made drawings, etc.). I also gave some requirements for making a website. I've done projects before where several students focus on displaying information and overlook creating an interesting product.
Each team made a team page on the class wiki. I introduced the concept of tagging by having them tag the page. I also showed that they can use tagging to create specialized navigation (I didn't have time to show how to do it yet).
I showed them a sample page that I had created, and allowed them to grade it for content and creativity. I scored around a B on content and D- on creativity (they were much harsher on creativity than I'll be, which is probably good for them). Having created a subpar product, though, allowed for the students to not only express their opinion, but to also express to me they understood what I was looking for. So, right now I feel very confident that a majority of the students understand what the expectations are.
I wanted to also introduce the discussion boards, but I ran out of time.
Next time I will see the teams in separate groups. I plan to introduce the discussion boards (to allow the inter-class planning and work to begin) and review the concepts of web searching, verifying info, citing sources (and where exactly to keep that information). I may address navigation and the use of multiple pages. I hope to provide a lot of class time for beginning to find and document sources. I will do the same thing in both classes.
The only problem I really had was students editing the page while I was talking. After really thinking about it, I decided this doesn't bother me as long as students are paying attention and not distracting or insulting one another. It did become a distraction to students who weren't "in on it" (only about 4 boys were doing this). And, some of the comments bordered on insulting. I will have to make sure to address the appropriateness of editing the pages during class, and online behavior. I think with this age I need to remember that online behavior has to be addressed often. They are really only saying things online that they would say face to face--but sarcasm doesn't play well online. And, of course, online comments are far more permanent than a playground jab.
Here's a screen shot of the project homepage
This is the second time I've done something very new with this class.
At this time of year, 6th grade studies China. They will be in that unit for five weeks. This year, they are going to incorporate making a web page into the unit.
The group was divided into teams of 4-5. The homeroom teachers were responsible for making the teams and paired students based on strengths.
There was a discussion if teams should be made up of students all in one class (I would see entire teams at once for computer class) or from mixed students (I would see all teams, but only half of the members in my class). I suggested the ability to work with teams asynchronously was a good skill for them to learn. So, it was decided to make mixed teams.
We introduced the project in the combined lab class. This class always goes just a bit slower--with 23 12 year olds arranged in a circle around the room with their backs to me (I am rearranging the lab over the summer--its just too much of an undertaking until then) does not always create the best arrangement.
The 6th grade teacher introduced the teams and provided them with their printed information resource. I went over the directions of what needs to be included on the final website--including where to find it (printed packet, web and other research, and self made drawings, etc.). I also gave some requirements for making a website. I've done projects before where several students focus on displaying information and overlook creating an interesting product.
Each team made a team page on the class wiki. I introduced the concept of tagging by having them tag the page. I also showed that they can use tagging to create specialized navigation (I didn't have time to show how to do it yet).
I showed them a sample page that I had created, and allowed them to grade it for content and creativity. I scored around a B on content and D- on creativity (they were much harsher on creativity than I'll be, which is probably good for them). Having created a subpar product, though, allowed for the students to not only express their opinion, but to also express to me they understood what I was looking for. So, right now I feel very confident that a majority of the students understand what the expectations are.
I wanted to also introduce the discussion boards, but I ran out of time.
Next time I will see the teams in separate groups. I plan to introduce the discussion boards (to allow the inter-class planning and work to begin) and review the concepts of web searching, verifying info, citing sources (and where exactly to keep that information). I may address navigation and the use of multiple pages. I hope to provide a lot of class time for beginning to find and document sources. I will do the same thing in both classes.
The only problem I really had was students editing the page while I was talking. After really thinking about it, I decided this doesn't bother me as long as students are paying attention and not distracting or insulting one another. It did become a distraction to students who weren't "in on it" (only about 4 boys were doing this). And, some of the comments bordered on insulting. I will have to make sure to address the appropriateness of editing the pages during class, and online behavior. I think with this age I need to remember that online behavior has to be addressed often. They are really only saying things online that they would say face to face--but sarcasm doesn't play well online. And, of course, online comments are far more permanent than a playground jab.
Here's a screen shot of the project homepage
Thursday, February 3, 2011
4th Grade Animal Project--overivew and Day 1
I usually see 4th grade in halves--12 kids at a time. I am no doubt spoiled.
Today I had all of 4th grade at one time, and two other teachers. It was still a lot more than I'm used to, and I'm still no doubt spoiled.
We are working on an animal project. This is a slight update of something 4th grade has been doing for quite some time.
The programs included are using a wiki as a class homepage, using various teacher posted web sites for information, using askkids.com for searches, using inspiration for information organization, and ultimately creating a glogster. Students will then be doing a writing assignment about their animal.
Today was the fist day in the lab. We had all 24 kids together. I wanted to talk to them about using the web sites, doing a search on askkids, and how to use wikipedia. The 4th grade teacher and I discussed breaking them into two groups and going over the info twice, but I thought it might take 20-30 minutes to get all the info across, and that would mean 10 or less minutes for immediate application. It seemed better practice to have the full group, go through the set up, and give everyone a half hour to immediately apply.
As anticipated, it took a good 5-10 minutes to get all the students situated in new seats (had to assign seats) and logged in (they frequently rely on auto complete and take much longer to get signed in once new seats are assigned--this group are fantastic at keeping track of passwords, and just not as good at user names).
I used the same wiki that we use in class. I had students read the directions for today. I showed them where the useful sites were. After that we talked about Wikipedia. A lot of teachers are very gun shy with Wikipedia, but so far no one in this building is unwilling to use it. So, I had the kids discuss the benefits of letting anyone edit that site, and why it can cause problems. And, with some guidance, they were able to come up with why you can use Wikipedia, but you have to double check the information (that policy seems very standard to most teachers here).
Student wrote down their findings on a printed out diagram of an inspiration mind map--to be transferred to inspiration later. My original instinct was to propose just jumping into inspiration from the get go first, creating maps, and then filling them from web research. Fortunately, the 4th grade teacher made the comment that this way students could have one thing at a time. I think a lot of 4th graders are good at multitasking, but some are not used to doing it on a computer. And with so many new things going on--and having to balance web research and book research, and using multiple websites at one time--I think it probably is for the best that they do all research first, then move on to recording and organizing their information.
Things went really well. As research went on, I could tell by the questions what information was hard to find and started finding and providing addition "useful sites." And, students started suggesting them as well. I think they like the idea of being able to suggest sites.
Some students are having less luck than others (chinchilla) finding information, and information on baby animals is being less than easy to come by.
The biggest issue was that I overlooked telling students that the top links in blue were adds. Unfortunately, this was a result of being so entrenched in searching myself, some part of my brain doesn't even so those links. I suddenly saw a few students on target and was befuddled as to why for a few seconds. At that point, most students were using the useful links and not askkids, so I decided, instead of breaking the flow of the class, to make a point of explaining that at the beginning of next class.
I think this project started strong. I'm pleased with the progress, and I think the other teachers are as well. I'm excited to jump into inspiration and glogster soon.
Useful sites: NatGeo Kids, Yahoo Kids, San Fransisco Zoo, San Diego Zoo, Discovery, Sea World, Discovery
Today I had all of 4th grade at one time, and two other teachers. It was still a lot more than I'm used to, and I'm still no doubt spoiled.
We are working on an animal project. This is a slight update of something 4th grade has been doing for quite some time.
The programs included are using a wiki as a class homepage, using various teacher posted web sites for information, using askkids.com for searches, using inspiration for information organization, and ultimately creating a glogster. Students will then be doing a writing assignment about their animal.
Today was the fist day in the lab. We had all 24 kids together. I wanted to talk to them about using the web sites, doing a search on askkids, and how to use wikipedia. The 4th grade teacher and I discussed breaking them into two groups and going over the info twice, but I thought it might take 20-30 minutes to get all the info across, and that would mean 10 or less minutes for immediate application. It seemed better practice to have the full group, go through the set up, and give everyone a half hour to immediately apply.
As anticipated, it took a good 5-10 minutes to get all the students situated in new seats (had to assign seats) and logged in (they frequently rely on auto complete and take much longer to get signed in once new seats are assigned--this group are fantastic at keeping track of passwords, and just not as good at user names).
I used the same wiki that we use in class. I had students read the directions for today. I showed them where the useful sites were. After that we talked about Wikipedia. A lot of teachers are very gun shy with Wikipedia, but so far no one in this building is unwilling to use it. So, I had the kids discuss the benefits of letting anyone edit that site, and why it can cause problems. And, with some guidance, they were able to come up with why you can use Wikipedia, but you have to double check the information (that policy seems very standard to most teachers here).
Student wrote down their findings on a printed out diagram of an inspiration mind map--to be transferred to inspiration later. My original instinct was to propose just jumping into inspiration from the get go first, creating maps, and then filling them from web research. Fortunately, the 4th grade teacher made the comment that this way students could have one thing at a time. I think a lot of 4th graders are good at multitasking, but some are not used to doing it on a computer. And with so many new things going on--and having to balance web research and book research, and using multiple websites at one time--I think it probably is for the best that they do all research first, then move on to recording and organizing their information.
Things went really well. As research went on, I could tell by the questions what information was hard to find and started finding and providing addition "useful sites." And, students started suggesting them as well. I think they like the idea of being able to suggest sites.
Some students are having less luck than others (chinchilla) finding information, and information on baby animals is being less than easy to come by.
The biggest issue was that I overlooked telling students that the top links in blue were adds. Unfortunately, this was a result of being so entrenched in searching myself, some part of my brain doesn't even so those links. I suddenly saw a few students on target and was befuddled as to why for a few seconds. At that point, most students were using the useful links and not askkids, so I decided, instead of breaking the flow of the class, to make a point of explaining that at the beginning of next class.
I think this project started strong. I'm pleased with the progress, and I think the other teachers are as well. I'm excited to jump into inspiration and glogster soon.
Useful sites: NatGeo Kids, Yahoo Kids, San Fransisco Zoo, San Diego Zoo, Discovery, Sea World, Discovery
Overstream
I can't help but feel this is one of those things that's been around for ever, and I'm just the last one to the party.
But, at the end of the day, does it matter?
Overstream is a sight I found upon giving up on subyo. Its a basic, straight forward way to add subtitles to videos. I really want to pursue the use of subtitle video for literacy and fluency.
This can be done using imovie, which lets you add more bells and whistles. But, since bells and whistles are available, the process because a bit more complicated. And, if all you want to do is subtitle a video, or you want to help other teachers subtitle a video, really, you want something that only subtitles a video. It just makes life easier.
I subtitled the first thirty seconds of my all time favorite amv, further proving my anime geekdom. But I had to test it on something--might as well be something I enjoy.
No bells, no whistles. Its straight forward but takes some patience.
Mamboleo is a horrible thing to try this on because it goes so fast :p. That's more or less why I gave up after 30 seconds (that and its a good place to stop since the musical interlude kicks in).
But, I might have an interested foreign language teacher and an interested resource teacher :)
But, at the end of the day, does it matter?
Overstream is a sight I found upon giving up on subyo. Its a basic, straight forward way to add subtitles to videos. I really want to pursue the use of subtitle video for literacy and fluency.
This can be done using imovie, which lets you add more bells and whistles. But, since bells and whistles are available, the process because a bit more complicated. And, if all you want to do is subtitle a video, or you want to help other teachers subtitle a video, really, you want something that only subtitles a video. It just makes life easier.
I subtitled the first thirty seconds of my all time favorite amv, further proving my anime geekdom. But I had to test it on something--might as well be something I enjoy.
No bells, no whistles. Its straight forward but takes some patience.
Mamboleo is a horrible thing to try this on because it goes so fast :p. That's more or less why I gave up after 30 seconds (that and its a good place to stop since the musical interlude kicks in).
But, I might have an interested foreign language teacher and an interested resource teacher :)
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Back Channeling
It would seem I have a slowly growing readership.
So, if you are reading this, that means I have to teach you about RSS--eventually--I think there is enough to be getting on with.
I've decided to attempt a backchannel at the next faculty meeting. I don't know how it will go. I have to make sure I am moderating between opening up the faculty to all of the possibilities of connection and collaboration, and doing too much to fast.
I've decided to attack the back channel from a very small, casual angle. I sent out a coffee break email calling for brave, ambitious, and multitasking volunteers. I'm planning on using Today's Meet to carry it on. For anyone not familiar, a backchannel is a live real time chat that happen simultaneously with a live event/presentation.
The goal is to have this go off, and possibly create a Valley backchannel for the NAIS conference. From what I can tell, there is no official back channel, and no hashtag, either.
My first volunteer was the first grade teacher.
I don't think there is anyone on earth more able to back channel that folks who successfully care for a room full of six year olds.
So, if you are reading this, that means I have to teach you about RSS--eventually--I think there is enough to be getting on with.
I've decided to attempt a backchannel at the next faculty meeting. I don't know how it will go. I have to make sure I am moderating between opening up the faculty to all of the possibilities of connection and collaboration, and doing too much to fast.
I've decided to attack the back channel from a very small, casual angle. I sent out a coffee break email calling for brave, ambitious, and multitasking volunteers. I'm planning on using Today's Meet to carry it on. For anyone not familiar, a backchannel is a live real time chat that happen simultaneously with a live event/presentation.
The goal is to have this go off, and possibly create a Valley backchannel for the NAIS conference. From what I can tell, there is no official back channel, and no hashtag, either.
My first volunteer was the first grade teacher.
I don't think there is anyone on earth more able to back channel that folks who successfully care for a room full of six year olds.
Monday, January 31, 2011
ClassroomSalon
My grand push to introduce the faculty to ClassroomSalon has begun.
My first thought at the end of this day--I should have given myself more time. But I work well under pressure. As long as the most dire voices predicting two snow days this week are wrong, I'm on track to meet with everyone in a pretty timely manner.
For anyone not familiar, this is a social, collaborative text drive tool. The administrator is able to post a text document, and users can annotate the text (think highlighter and sticky notes) and respond to questions. I like to call them essay questions. I should probably find a new term, but no one has given me a hard time about that yet.
Reactions are mixed. I think some folks are sort of at the "smile and nod" phase. Not really seeing value, and not really buying in, but not resisting. Its along the lines of "this is something that I've been asked to do, so I'll do it." That to me says I didn't connect. But my basic MO is that sometimes you have to let folks play with it first before trying to connect again.
Some teachers really like it. Some are feeling a little overwhelmed. Some are leary.
I think taking a tool and showing it equally to everyone, even with a staff this small, if you don't hit that entire gambit of reactions, something is seriously wrong.
So I am optimistic and enthusiastic.
And, I'm pleased to say, some teachers I think are starting to see that making connections can be a powerful thing. Some folks who may not really thing having a social text tool to share with their colleagues in the building is all that and a bag of chips, gave a slightly more enthused response to the notion of using something like this with other teachers, in other schools or even other countries, that have more curriculum in common.
My first thought at the end of this day--I should have given myself more time. But I work well under pressure. As long as the most dire voices predicting two snow days this week are wrong, I'm on track to meet with everyone in a pretty timely manner.
For anyone not familiar, this is a social, collaborative text drive tool. The administrator is able to post a text document, and users can annotate the text (think highlighter and sticky notes) and respond to questions. I like to call them essay questions. I should probably find a new term, but no one has given me a hard time about that yet.
Reactions are mixed. I think some folks are sort of at the "smile and nod" phase. Not really seeing value, and not really buying in, but not resisting. Its along the lines of "this is something that I've been asked to do, so I'll do it." That to me says I didn't connect. But my basic MO is that sometimes you have to let folks play with it first before trying to connect again.
Some teachers really like it. Some are feeling a little overwhelmed. Some are leary.
I think taking a tool and showing it equally to everyone, even with a staff this small, if you don't hit that entire gambit of reactions, something is seriously wrong.
So I am optimistic and enthusiastic.
And, I'm pleased to say, some teachers I think are starting to see that making connections can be a powerful thing. Some folks who may not really thing having a social text tool to share with their colleagues in the building is all that and a bag of chips, gave a slightly more enthused response to the notion of using something like this with other teachers, in other schools or even other countries, that have more curriculum in common.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Video Project Ideas
I've had a few ideas spring up over the last few days. But with snow, and snow days, and two hour delays, and more snow, I haven't really blogged everything that's on my mind.
The first idea I got came from a blog post about a totally unrelated topic. I'm attempting to register for subyo. I say attempting because there is a field where the user is required to enter his/her language, but its an unpopulated drop down. So I'm locked in a an endless cycle of error.
But, once I figure this out, its a program that will let you subtitle YouTube videos. The idea is that you can use simple music videos (or anything really) that are in English, and subtitle them in English. That way, when students are watching, they can watch the subtitles as well as the video, and practice their reading. The trick of course is to find appropriate videos--in terms of content and reading level. First grade and the Reading specialist are both interested. And they both want to see it. And this will all go so much smoother once I get registered.
My original thought that there was some weird Mac thing was dis-proven when I tried to register from home on a PC this morning. I think I will just contact support.
My other idea came from observing a science teacher. He was showing a video that displayed different processes in the respiratory system. And I thought to myself, wouldn't it be neat if students were able to subtitle, or caption, or even just write a paragraph narrating a silent video of this type. It would be more dynamic than just labeling a worksheet.
I haven't had the chance to run the idea past that particular teacher yet. Snow, again. But I'd like to get his feedback, and probably run this by a few folks.
I will have to look into way to actually do this.
I bet registering successfully for subyo might be a step in the right direction.
The first idea I got came from a blog post about a totally unrelated topic. I'm attempting to register for subyo. I say attempting because there is a field where the user is required to enter his/her language, but its an unpopulated drop down. So I'm locked in a an endless cycle of error.
But, once I figure this out, its a program that will let you subtitle YouTube videos. The idea is that you can use simple music videos (or anything really) that are in English, and subtitle them in English. That way, when students are watching, they can watch the subtitles as well as the video, and practice their reading. The trick of course is to find appropriate videos--in terms of content and reading level. First grade and the Reading specialist are both interested. And they both want to see it. And this will all go so much smoother once I get registered.
My original thought that there was some weird Mac thing was dis-proven when I tried to register from home on a PC this morning. I think I will just contact support.
My other idea came from observing a science teacher. He was showing a video that displayed different processes in the respiratory system. And I thought to myself, wouldn't it be neat if students were able to subtitle, or caption, or even just write a paragraph narrating a silent video of this type. It would be more dynamic than just labeling a worksheet.
I haven't had the chance to run the idea past that particular teacher yet. Snow, again. But I'd like to get his feedback, and probably run this by a few folks.
I will have to look into way to actually do this.
I bet registering successfully for subyo might be a step in the right direction.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
More planning for the China project--6th grade
Its important to me that teachers know the tech.
I don't think anyone in any field is going to be comfortable using something that they don't know how to use. And beyond that, if teachers are using tech without really having a decent handle on it, it don't believe that serves the purpose of tech integration. My goal, at least, if for students to learn technology in context and not in a box. And, teachers knowing the technology tools works toward that end.
I met with the 6th grade teachers today about the China project. We knew we wanted to use the classroom wiki as a collaborative tool, so I wanted to show them both how to edit the wiki.
I think that wikis are great classroom tools. It can serve as a basic, easy to manage class site for posting info, sharing information, etc. It's also a very easy to use collaborative tool for students.
This morning we went through the basics, and discussed some specifics of the project the students will be working on. We thought about having them create "time travel" sites (which of course I liked) but decided against it so as not to step on the toes of the 5th grade's time travel theme. Other ideas include doing a passport or travel type site.
I think both teachers liked the idea of student accountability with the history (and the added safety net of being able to undo edits). They both also seemed open to using the discussion forums as both teacher tools and student collaborative tools.
We discussed the idea of students resetting their passwords. Up to this point, students have been logging into the site, but mostly everything they have done has not been impacted by the sign in. Moving forward with page edits, though, their page identities will really come into play. I floated the idea of giving students the option of changing their passwords if they were worried about having compromised them. One of the teachers made the very true point that the most diligent students would most likely see the wisdom in changing, but the least diligent would probably have compromised their passwords without really being aware.
She suggested that we approach it as a real world situation. In just about every company, you have to change your password every 30-90 days. The idea made a lot of sense to me. It gives everyone the chance to update their passwords without having to admit to having lapsed in their security. And, it gives me a chance to get back on my password soapbox--a topic I never tire of.
I wonder if she got her idea because we all recently had to update and lock down our own passwords at VSL :)
I don't think anyone in any field is going to be comfortable using something that they don't know how to use. And beyond that, if teachers are using tech without really having a decent handle on it, it don't believe that serves the purpose of tech integration. My goal, at least, if for students to learn technology in context and not in a box. And, teachers knowing the technology tools works toward that end.
I met with the 6th grade teachers today about the China project. We knew we wanted to use the classroom wiki as a collaborative tool, so I wanted to show them both how to edit the wiki.
I think that wikis are great classroom tools. It can serve as a basic, easy to manage class site for posting info, sharing information, etc. It's also a very easy to use collaborative tool for students.
This morning we went through the basics, and discussed some specifics of the project the students will be working on. We thought about having them create "time travel" sites (which of course I liked) but decided against it so as not to step on the toes of the 5th grade's time travel theme. Other ideas include doing a passport or travel type site.
I think both teachers liked the idea of student accountability with the history (and the added safety net of being able to undo edits). They both also seemed open to using the discussion forums as both teacher tools and student collaborative tools.
We discussed the idea of students resetting their passwords. Up to this point, students have been logging into the site, but mostly everything they have done has not been impacted by the sign in. Moving forward with page edits, though, their page identities will really come into play. I floated the idea of giving students the option of changing their passwords if they were worried about having compromised them. One of the teachers made the very true point that the most diligent students would most likely see the wisdom in changing, but the least diligent would probably have compromised their passwords without really being aware.
She suggested that we approach it as a real world situation. In just about every company, you have to change your password every 30-90 days. The idea made a lot of sense to me. It gives everyone the chance to update their passwords without having to admit to having lapsed in their security. And, it gives me a chance to get back on my password soapbox--a topic I never tire of.
I wonder if she got her idea because we all recently had to update and lock down our own passwords at VSL :)
Sunday, January 23, 2011
A New Blog Journey Begins
First, a quick introduction. Who I am and why I'm doing this. And, what will this blog be about.
Who I am.
Most of my readership at this point know me, I'm sure, so I'll keep this short and sweet. My name is Jen. I'm a computer teacher at a small independent school in PA. I just started this position in September. I teach computer classes to students in grades 2-6 once or twice in a 6 day cycle and I teach various technology electives to students in 7-9 2 or 3 times.
Why am I doing this?
Several reasons, really.
First of all, I should be keeping a blog. Its already January, and I haven't started one yet, and that's a shame. There are things that I've done that I haven't written down. I feel that blogging helps me keep a record of what I've done, reflect on what I've done, and share what I've done. This is not to say I haven't recorded or written anything yet, but I haven't really shared.
I'm doing this to connect to the teachers in my school. I want my day to day goings on to be more transparent.
I'm doing this to give teachers at VSL who are trying new things to get recognition for it. Some great things have been going on. I want to make sure that those things are put out there for all to see.
I'm doing this to entice teachers at VSL. I want teachers to see what others are doing, and to get curious, get inspired, and maybe try something, too.
I'm doing this to connect the teachers at VSL. Many teachers out there blog. Many teachers share fantastic resources, great ideas, and amazing insights. I want to get some of the teachers at VSL to start reading some of those blogs, and then to contribute comments, and maybe even to start blogs of their own. Or to use blogging in the classroom with students.
I suppose that is plenty of reasons to be getting on with.
What will this blog be about?
Mostly, this blog will be about what technology is being used at VSL.
I hope to mostly focus on what different classroom teachers are doing. I have worked with teachers on several projects already this year, including using Prezi and creating podcasts. I'm more likely to have insight into projects that I'm involved in, but I'm hoping to be able to expand to tech use that I'm not directly linked to.
I will write about what I'm teaching in my own computer classes. Hopefully, more and more of that will be linked directly with what is going on in other classrooms.
I will write about what is going well. I will write about what is not going well. And I will write about thoughts for improving both in the future.
There are a few projects in the making to keep an eye out for.
3rd graders are going to be using class wiki to help find info for a writing prompt.
4th graders are going to be using askkids.com to search for info and pictures to create glogs for an animal project.
5th graders are going to be web searching for information and posting it to a wiki to facilitate classroom discussion on heroes of the American Revolution.
6th graders are going to be using a wiki to facilitate group work and research and to create a final project (detail tbd).
Several teachers, including 2nd grade, are starting to learn mimio studio to use the mimio board in class. A large part of the first learning session was spent figuring out that you have to turn out the light directly over the white board to get the mimio to work.
One of the math teachers is currently exploring the potential of geogebra.
Who I am.
Most of my readership at this point know me, I'm sure, so I'll keep this short and sweet. My name is Jen. I'm a computer teacher at a small independent school in PA. I just started this position in September. I teach computer classes to students in grades 2-6 once or twice in a 6 day cycle and I teach various technology electives to students in 7-9 2 or 3 times.
Why am I doing this?
Several reasons, really.
First of all, I should be keeping a blog. Its already January, and I haven't started one yet, and that's a shame. There are things that I've done that I haven't written down. I feel that blogging helps me keep a record of what I've done, reflect on what I've done, and share what I've done. This is not to say I haven't recorded or written anything yet, but I haven't really shared.
I'm doing this to connect to the teachers in my school. I want my day to day goings on to be more transparent.
I'm doing this to give teachers at VSL who are trying new things to get recognition for it. Some great things have been going on. I want to make sure that those things are put out there for all to see.
I'm doing this to entice teachers at VSL. I want teachers to see what others are doing, and to get curious, get inspired, and maybe try something, too.
I'm doing this to connect the teachers at VSL. Many teachers out there blog. Many teachers share fantastic resources, great ideas, and amazing insights. I want to get some of the teachers at VSL to start reading some of those blogs, and then to contribute comments, and maybe even to start blogs of their own. Or to use blogging in the classroom with students.
I suppose that is plenty of reasons to be getting on with.
What will this blog be about?
Mostly, this blog will be about what technology is being used at VSL.
I hope to mostly focus on what different classroom teachers are doing. I have worked with teachers on several projects already this year, including using Prezi and creating podcasts. I'm more likely to have insight into projects that I'm involved in, but I'm hoping to be able to expand to tech use that I'm not directly linked to.
I will write about what I'm teaching in my own computer classes. Hopefully, more and more of that will be linked directly with what is going on in other classrooms.
I will write about what is going well. I will write about what is not going well. And I will write about thoughts for improving both in the future.
There are a few projects in the making to keep an eye out for.
3rd graders are going to be using class wiki to help find info for a writing prompt.
4th graders are going to be using askkids.com to search for info and pictures to create glogs for an animal project.
5th graders are going to be web searching for information and posting it to a wiki to facilitate classroom discussion on heroes of the American Revolution.
6th graders are going to be using a wiki to facilitate group work and research and to create a final project (detail tbd).
Several teachers, including 2nd grade, are starting to learn mimio studio to use the mimio board in class. A large part of the first learning session was spent figuring out that you have to turn out the light directly over the white board to get the mimio to work.
One of the math teachers is currently exploring the potential of geogebra.
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