The Widget Hunt

Okay, so I have been trying to figure out what a widget is for about two weeks. I first heard the term at Turning Point, but so many new things were swirling around in my head that I didn't really latch on to it until later. Then I was visiting the iConnect website and saw that Charlie from TPLC knows a thing or two about widgets. I checked out the resources there, but soon realized that my background knowledge was not strong enough to even really understand what I was seeing. Next I turned to my go-to-guy when it comes to technology - my fifteen year old son. He had no idea. My second go-go-guy, my husband was also clueless about widgets. Since I know I am supposed to be driving my own learning, I continued on in my pursuit. I went to the old standby - Wikipedia. Here is what I found, "a physically inspired applet on the web." I have no idea what that means. So my latest attempt is to just give it a try. My Shelfari account asks if I want a widget for my blog. Hmmm, I think, how bad can it be? If something goes wrong, I can just delete it, right? Not really knowing what I was doing, I worked through the steps in Shelfari to create the widget. Voila! My blog has a link to my Shelfari page. So what is a widget exactly? A link from one website to another? I am still not sure, but I am getting closer.

Frontline Digital Nation - PBS

I confess to being a multi-tasker. While typing this blog entry, I am listening to a television program and eating a snack. Within the matter of a few minutes, I have paused to let the dog in, restart the dryer, and answer the telephone. I relish the thought of simply sitting and reading, because it seems to rarely happens. Today I watched the television program Digital Nation on PBS. It's a documentary about the current state of the ways technology is influencing our lives. A theme throughout the program is the amount of multitasking done by students and how much this impacts their learning. The research in this area is limited, but early studies indicate that the brain can really only do one thing really well at a time. Consider driving, studying, and having a conversation. Students believe they can do 5-6 or more things at once all of the time. Teachers wonder about the decline in writing and reading skills and how much of this can be contributed to an increase in technology

The program narrators wonder if we are creating people who are unable to think well and clearly. Are we changing what it means to be a human being? Wow, these are important questions. The program also describes students in South Korea who have become addicted to video games to the point that they go to Internet addiction camp. Researchers wonder about the impact of the Internet on the brain. I do too! I have read such concerns before, but have not taken them very seriously. Like everything else, there must be a balance. Why did the parent let her child play video games for 50 hours straight without food or water? Have some become so wrapped up that they can't turn it off? Is technology just masking problems that have existed long before we powered-up?

I have to admit the program made me have some doubts. I know that multitasking is a problem, and the availability to instant information contributes to this - the urgent "need" to jump from one technology to another. I see my son and his addiction to his cell phone - is there cell phone addiction camp? I wonder how much the integration of technology into instruction contributes to this phenomenon. Food for thought.

A Learner or A Teacher?

The idea for my sabbatical project came during the fall semester of 2008, when I was teaching language arts methods. Throughout the course I gave my usual presentation of various writing samples I had collected from my classroom teaching days. As I was explaining the samples and what the students did, I noticed the dates on the students’ writing – 1989, 1992, 1994. Even though it didn’t seem that long ago to me (a sign that I am getting old?), I could tell that examples didn’t have as much credibility with the students as I would hope. Also, each semester I try to give a vivid explanation of writing workshop to the students, the structure I had used in my classroom for teaching writing. Unfortunately, only about ¼ of my students reported seeing writing workshop, and of those, the quality of the workshop varied greatly. So I thought I would go out in search of teachers who are using writing workshop and video/audio tape them to bring back to my students.

A difficulty I encountered early on was identifying teachers who use writing workshop and even teachers who teach writing at all. My years of networking came in handy as I contacted colleagues in various districts asking if they knew of teachers who used writing workshop. These teachers were difficult to find! I began to wonder if writing workshop is a dying art. If teachers aren’t teaching writing in a workshop approach, how are they teaching writing? Or maybe a better questions is, are they teaching writing?

Also, I had a profound experience in the grocery store (isn’t that a good place for a profound experience?!). I met up with one of the interns I supervised for her year placement at an elementary school and who was an outstanding student in both the reading and language arts classes I teach. Now this was not just any intern, this young woman was recently named as one of the outstanding new teachers in the state. I told her of my sabbatical project and had a thought that maybe I could visit her classroom. When I asked her if she used writing workshop, she gave me a blank stare, like she had never heard of it! Then she said that she does teach some writing, but not as much as she would like. She didn’t really know about teaching it in a workshop form though. I was stunned! Here I had thought that describing writing workshop was an integral part of my instruction. I had hoped that I would be inspiring new teachers to value writing workshop, and the opportunities to write daily, to the point that they would make time for these things in their hectic school schedule. I was crushed by the reaction from a teacher who was only in her second year of teaching.

Then I had the opportunity to visit Turning Point Learning Center for a day last October. I saw kids writing for the purpose of sharing with others through podcasts, tweets, new articles, annotations of websites, wikis, and much more! And that planted a seed that germinated and is now sprouting. Maybe I shouldn’t be lamenting the loss of writing workshop. Maybe I should be exploring the ways we teach students to create messages in all kinds of formats. There is a set of skills needed to write a 140 character tweet that may be a bit different than those skills needed to write a business-like email or those skills needed to write an eloquent poem. All are ways we share what is important to us with others and all rely on some foundational knowledge about spelling, grammar, punctuation.

Now I am not exactly sure where my project is headed, but I am sure having a good time figuring it out. At Turning Point, I watched students and teachers acting as co-learners (a clumsy term). I feel more like a learner than a teacher right now, and it’s a good feeling!

The Process of Learning

I have spent nine days total at Turning Point – a short time in the scheme of things, but I have learned so much. This extended time has given me the opportunity to follow a project through the learning process. The 5th and 6th grade students researched the five major world religions. Online research was done to collect information, which was recorded on a chart using Google Docs. Information was gathered from websites and videos listed on the class Diigo page. Discussions about new learnings occurred among the students and teachers using instant messaging and small group project time. Once students had collected the information listed on the chart, they prepared to share what they had learned with others by creating a podcast. Each one wrote a draft of a podcast using Google Docs. Their directions were to make a 30 to 90 second podcast, introducing themselves and their grade level, but giving no last names. They should also tell the religion they studied at the beginning of the podcast along with being given the following suggestions:
Religion Podcast Notes
1. Brainstorm words that describe your chosen religion
2. Think of two interesting details and 2 wonders
3. Write 2-3 paragraphs form your podcast
4. Words to avoid – big, things, stuff, small, like a lot
Next a whole class lesson was given by Charlie about how to make a podcast. I found this very helpful! Students practiced mixing music to begin and end the podcast, learned how to fade the music in and out, and even received a little training on editing the podcast. At the next session, students found a quiet spot throughout the school for recording their podcasts. They were given almost an hour and told to practice reading the podcast several times before making a recording. What a great real-life application for reading fluency. Their quiet spots ranged from being under a cardboard box in a closet to hiding out in the back corner of a hallway. Throughout the building one could see students hard at work. When they returned to the classroom with a finished podcast, there was time for a couple of students to hook their computer up to the speakers and share with the class. The fellow students gave feedback in the form of compliments and wonderings (rather than criticisms, because there might be a logical reason the creator made that decision). I could see the podcast producers blossom when they heard the praise from their colleagues. They also gave deep thought to the wonderings and often explained their decision. The final step of the project was for the podcasts to be uploaded to the school website at www.turningpointterriers.com. How exciting it has been for me to watch this project all the way through! The enthusiasm and engagement of the students was a joy to see. Even I learned new things about some of the religions and about making an effective podcast, and I was just watching! Imagine what these students are taking away from this experience, and all of the many amazing other opportunities they have at Turning Point.

Enthusiastic Learning

My visit to Hamilton Middle School yesterday took me out in the snow-covered country. The school is located about 30 miles south of Emporia. The Hamilton School District is comprised of an elementary school with combination classes, a middle school, and a high school – all connected or in very close proximity. The district superintendent is also the principal. School is in session four days a week, with Friday School being held for those who need extra help.

The lesson I planned with the teacher, Renee Johnson, focused on reading to make a decision, and the decision we asked students to make was which cell phone to buy. We told them to pretend that the principal decided to but a cell phone for each teacher, and she had to choose from the two we presented, the Bing900 and the TwisterA3, both modeled after real cell phones. The enthusiasm of the students was great because we were talking about something they know! The lesson focused on jargon and persuasive techniques as they had to write a letter convincing the principal which phone would be the best for the teachers. One student wrote, “There are so many other good things about this phone. You won’t regret buying it. It is also a very good price too. The Bing900 is cooler, smarter, and has more technology. Did I mention it was cooler?”

I had fun working with the students. Their enthusiasm was wonderful to see – but who wouldn’t be enthusiastic talking about something so near and dear to their hearts. Watching their interest reinforced the idea that having students read real world texts that apply to their everyday lives is so important.

Fearlessness at Turning Point Learning Center

The word of the day is Fearless. In an interview with Ginger this morning, she mentioned the importance of students being Fearless. We are not talking about the fearlessness of a warrior going into battle. This is the fearlessness that comes from a genuine desire to learn and not being held back by your own insecurities or a fear of being wrong.
So today I am watching for examples of students being fearless and what the teachers do to encourage this. Before school even starts, a few students are trying to figure out how to contact McDonalds to ask if they will include plant seeds and a mini-terrarium in Happy Meals. Next I visited the piano class where students were exploring the various sounds available when connecting their keyboard to Garageband. They explore with a sense of play and wonder, not worrying about making a mistake, but maintaining a sense eagerness to explore. The next activity involved students taking a virtual tour of Greece through Google Earth. Previous lessons have taught students how to use Google Earth, so their prior knowledge was developed before sending them out on their own. Students start the afternoon writing news articles about the happenings around the school. Ginger shares a link for an online new article that is used for a class discussion about paragraphing and quotations marks. The use of a real world example gives students a model that they can return to when working on their own. Next Charlie shared a lesson introducing GarageBand to the 5/6th grade group. During the lesson Ginger put herself in the place of a learner since she hasn’t had many experiences with GarageBand. She asked questions that were likely the same questions that students would have had. By anticipating their learning needs, both teachers set students up to have the confidence (and fearlessness) to explore the program and begin making their podcast. During Spanish, Eric prepared students to create a conversation in Spanish including important phrases that a person would need if visiting a Spanish speaking country. To anticipate their needs, she listed some of the key words that would be included in a conversation, such as why, where, left, right. This scaffolding gives students a bit of structure so that they are less fearful of creating a conversation and trying it in the class.

Being a fearless learner, having the confidence to try to solve learning problems on your own, does not sprout up overnight. It’s built through the stringing together of conversations, interactions, modeling, and attitudes. I believe it stems from a belief that students should be responsible for their own learning – something I have seen every minute of everyday I have been at this school. This attitude of independence is really taking hold for me as I think about how I can incorporate it into my own teaching. I am guilty of doing way too much handholding for my students – and even my own children. I have to remind myself I am not doing them any favors!

It's Like Riding a Bike

I recently spend time in Renee Johnson's classroom at Hamilton Middle School. We have been planning a series of lessons about reading and writing technical text, and finally had the opportunity to teach the first lesson in the series. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous - that feeling that teachers get when they are starting a new unit or activity and they are not exactly sure how it will turn out. It's a good nervous that keeps us on our toes. Before the lesson, Renee gave me a tour of the school, introduced me to the principal, and told me a bit about her class. The students were enthusiastic about the activity, and seemed to enjoy trying something new. We first talked about the kinds of instructions they read at home, and then we shared examples of friendly and unfriendly instructions - a magic trick and instructions for operating a digital camera. Next we shared 4 different versions of instructions for making a paper pyramid. We had them prioritize the instructions from most to least helpful, then the students actually used their favorite instructions to make the paper pyramid. It was interesting to see that different students preferred different instructions. For some, their preferences changed after they actually began making the pyramid. Others couldn't follow the instructions, so they just figured it out on their own. Renee did a good job of pointing out several of the math terms associated with the pyramids. We also discussed jargon - what it means and some examples from the instructions. The lesson was concluded with a discussion of things to consider when reading instructions outside of the classroom. All in all, it was a good experience, and it felt nice to be teaching again. :)