As the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have arrived and teachers have begun rewriting pacing guides, unit plans, and lessons, I've been thinking about ways to increase the amount of writing students do in our classrooms. We've recently had an influx of technology in my district resulting in devices in students hands in most classrooms by the beginning of the 2014-15 school year. That being said, I began my search for ideas through my usual PLN channels. The very first link I was drawn towards was from +Shelly Sanchez Terrell titled "15+ Resources to Inspire Writing with Digital Prompts" (cross posted at teacherrebootcamp.com).
The link has a multitude of great ideas with associated resources. I paired it down a bit more and added some additional resources below. I'm going to be sharing with my staff through our technology integration plan and suggest you all do the same!
Notes for success
Vary the types of writing - different mediums, types, stories, etc
Allow students to be creative - don't restrict the topic (at least not all the time!)
Can writing be fun? Duh!
Timing - a whole class on expository writing = tough for most students to focus and "power through"
Resources
Blogger - obviously! We have student Google accounts so this would be seamless. The best attribute to blogging is at the end of the year, students have a chronological snapshot of their writings (hopefully with tags)
Make Beliefs Comix has over 350 free printables for teachers - sorted by topic, event, and holidays. Students can create their own comic with this tool in multiple languages.
Student choice of prompts - why not let students have some input and buy in?
Memes - who doesn't like memes (put your hand down, Johnny)? See this presentation for more info, with LOTS of ideas. If anything, click the link and laugh out loud on some of Shelley's examples.
Twitter - losing a bit of steam as of late, giving way to Instagram. However, still very valuable lesson on how to succinctly compose thoughts, 140 characters at a time.
Scholastic Story Starters- this is an interactive website where students write their names and fill out questions.
Plinky- a question appears and below the question students write their opinion. Great brainstorming starter. How about setting this as a routine, maybe prompting the beginning of class?
Are there any 1:1 ipad schools? Are there any 1:1 ipad schools receiving grants to fund implementation? Are there any 1:1 ipad schools where implementation is significantly increasing student learning?
I am equally intrigued as I am skeptical. You see, I spent time as a teacher in a school in Nevada where a 1:1 MacBook initiative was rolled out to the Freshman class my last year there. I taught Computer Science and knew the initiative would immediately create new, unique, and exciting learning opportunities for this group of students. Do ipads do the same? Do they do it bettet?
I am more than happy to do some work and tech training with a teacher on a trial basis, but I have no idea where to start. Besides asking my principal to shell out $15k to supply a classroom with ipads, do I have other options at the state or federal level? Or even private grants? What about Perkins?
As you can see, I have lots of questions and few answers on this topic. Anybody have advice?
This past weekend, I attended the CUE 2010 Conference in Palm Springs, CA. The trip afforded me some much needed time to do some extended professional learning in the comfort of an EdTech conference. I drove in early Friday morning and missed Thursday's events as well as the keynote (hey, you have to love that 5am Los Angeles traffic right!?). I immediately went to my first session and began learning about Moodle in the Web2.0 class. All of my sessions went extremely well and I gained a ton of new knowledge.
My main goal for attending this conference was to gain some insight into the latest Web 2.0 tools that others were integrating in their classes. Below is my summary of sessions attended as well as some additional notes/sites/resources that I pulled from the #CUE10 hashtag via Twitter (link opens in a TwapperKeeper.com link). Feel free to offer up feedback and any questions you might have. If you'd just like to visit my Delicious Bookmark feed for CUE10, click here.
A presentation that discussed how to go about integrating Web 2.0 in your classes. Presenter talked about collaboration, presentations, reading & writing, and provided some resources for future learning goals for teachers.
This wiki was used for CUE's informal "Unplugged" sessions. I bookmarked this for future reading, and thought it was a good enough resource to pass along to other EdTech folks. Some great presentations from politics to online field trips to the perfect classroom.
Collect, Connect, Coach (C3). This is a source for administrators that are tired of checking teacher observation boxes; using this iPhone app allows for quicker and easier walkthroughs. Produce charts and other data without syncing.
Ever seen the iPod Touch being used to teach in the classroom? Well, if you've got a Touch, navigate to this site (mobile version for quicker loading on mobile devices), and check out what you can do!
Presentation by Discovery Education's Steve Dembo. You can get a general understanding of his presentation from the Prezi - just think outside the box.
What a nice app this is. Turn a Google Spreadsheet into a map using locations of users. Here is a Google Spreadsheet of Twitter Educators that I turned into a Map:
Flash cards on an iPod? Yes, that's right! Check out Mr. Coley's site - he has templates that free for students/teachers to use to create flash cards that drop onto the iPod for studying!
A website that allows students to show their knowledge by creating a game on any topic of their choice. What better way to get students involved, quizzing each other using technology?
Wow. Web 2.0 tools broken down by type, with examples and descriptions. This might be the best list I've seen in a very long time. Definitely worth a look.
Foldables (3-D Graphic Organizers) Presenter – Dinah Zike NOTE: got a bad seat, had to sit in front with back to presentation – notes are rough.
•Recognition and Recall were not preparing students for learning •Production is a better process for learning •By folding paper, the kinesthetic action helps to reinforce learning and remembering the information on the paper •Clarify concepts with as few words as possible (Venn Diagrams, Concept Maps, etc.) •Better off to have STUDENTS create them •Foldables can be used in any curriculum •Foldables turn 2-D into 3-D •Proven to improve retention and recall •“Make new connections” •Hamburgers, Hotdogs, Tacos, Burritos, Shutterfolds – types of folds in the paper •Use envelopes to staple into inside of organizer •Can bind together multiple folded/cut papers
This session was pretty awesome, but it is very difficult to give an example of a foldable by discussing it in text. Get a better idea here:
What keeps us teaching MS? Understanding who stays, who goes, and why? Presenter: Dr. Tariq Akmal
•This presentation discussed the reasons why teachers leave the middle school teaching/administration field •Researchers suggested ways to keep teachers/administrators •Did not take exclusive notes as Dr. Akmal was making presentation available. •Will post notes and presentation when I hear back from Dr. Akmal.
•I did not take notes on this session as we were involved in a hands-on lab, learning how to use VoiceThreads.
•For more information, check out the VoiceThread.com website.
Advisory Presenter: Michele Tissiere
•“Do Now” activity •Gathering: Stand up/Sit Down – in a circle, have them facing, make statements and students sit/stand based on statements o Making connections o Advisor find out a lot about students in a short amount of time o Make individual kids feel special and noticed o See uniqueness and similarities o Safe activity – no talking (great for ESL) o Builds community oLifts strengths •“Public agreements” – she uses this term to describe the agreement she makes with students. •Goals: o Walk away with a framework for Advisory o Best practices o Advisory design team o Professional development o CLEAR and they are brought into the conversation •A FRAME FOR AN ADVISORY SESSION o Gathering o Agenda o Activity o Debrief o Closing •The ritual of the gathering and closing will help teachers feel like it doesn’t need a prep •The four big advisory goals o Academic Advisement o Community and culture o Healthy Development o Post Secondary Planning •Teacher Leaders – important to getting Advisory successful at the school level •Advisors – the role of the Advisor o Not a friend o Not a counselor o Not a parent o Are a coach o Are a facilitator o Are a role model o Are listeners o Are mentors •Professional Development formats to consider o Workshops before school opens o Workshops on PD days throughout the year o Workshops during in-service o Workshops during conference/planning o Check-ins during dept. meetings o Infusing certain rituals or routines into dept. meetings, etc. •Assessment – a feedback process for continuous improvement of advisory
See Attached Handout for additional ideas/concepts on Advisory (will be uploaded today).
Digital Natives….Got Tech? Presenters – Frontier Middle School teachers and principal •All students, all teachers, have laptop •“Turning Point” was the book that the school (Frontier MS) was built off •We are teaching in their world, not ours •Making a difference in the education of our students o “The Navigators” – different groups have different names o UTILIZING MIDDLE SCHOOL MODEL OF TEAMS (by grade-level). •No textbooks, just computers •Students became experts in their own subject •1:1 computing opened the door •Utilized “more than paper” to begin linking the groups •Uses 4-point rubric rather than grades o “advanced proficient” •Options to include multiple types of media •ClassMarker.com o FREE – throw out a test, automatically graded, results immediately •Examples of assignments o [student examples] o PP/Keynote o Personal expression through movies •Turns short assignments/units in extended learning – more than short answer •Harness the basics/keep the imagination •Good students •1:1 is not magic •Unlimited ways to express one’s self •Recommends the Mac – utilizing Pages for drag/drop templates •shadowpoetry.com •Digitally, you can meet more standards and more easily •Wordle.net •To better learn a concept, students need to interact with it (via media) o Setting stories to music o TASK-S’s compose a soundtrack to correspond with the elements of plot in a short story. •Mood, identify key characters, etc. o Utilizing GarageBand to compose (or Audacity on PC) •Compose their own music •Use preloaded instrumentals •Use preloaded sound effects •Include their own “composer commentary” to explain o [student example] •Scaffolding – gave help for students that may struggle with composer commentary •Provides questions that kids might come across •Provides rubric •Music and technology, together, make a world of difference o Blogger.com •Utilizes blog to post warm-ups, discussion questions, polls, Google news reels, and to mediate. •Technology and Assessment o Utilize iLab for formal assessments – gives the quiet students a voice because they complete them in private (records video/audio). o Obvious indicators from these iLabs “I think...” •Student gave herself a 9 – but couldn’t explain why. Means she doesn’t understand the rubric either. o First Class system is used (much like our FLHSemail.org) o Twitter – she calls it a social networking site, but it is micro-blogging •Rubric – INTERESTING and vague o MySpace – 71% of students have online profiles •Utilized MySpace for character development •Created a profile on MySpace for a character in the book – lots of options! •Rubrics are created with some student input o Online Safety o Anybody can make up information •Filtering the Internet: “Don’t take it away from them, teach them to use it” •SOURCES: o FRONTIERMS.COM
YOU HAVE TO ALLOW STUDENTS TO PLAY WITH THE SOFTWARE FIRST BEFORE EXPECTING ANYTHING OUT OF IT.
TEACHERS SHOULD ONLY BE TAUGHT THE VERY BASICS OF EACH SOFTWARE APPLICATION, ENOUGH TO BE COMFORTABLE WITH IT-LET THE STUDENTS FIGURE IT OUT!
•QUESTIONS: o GRADING? o ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY? o WHAT KIND OF TRAINING ON COMPUTERS/SOFTWARE FOR STUDENTS & TEACHERS? o WHAT DO THE RUBRICS LOOK LIKE? o INTERNET SAFETY AND COPYRIGHT?
Web 2.0 in Your Middle School Classroom Presenter – Erica Roberts Comp Apps @ Jefferson MS in IL (5th year, from the Computer Business)
•http://www.go2web20.net/ •Iteachyoucomputers.wikispaces.com •Differences between Web 1.0 & 2.0 o Read-only o Read/Write - Two-way street •Shows Machine is Using Us (Michael Wesch video – another good one to check out is Digital Ethnography Anthropological look at YouTube) •Benefits of Web 2.0? o What’s going to engage students more? Books or online content? •Use web to create own content – students become content-creators than consumers? •Social Networking o Limited amount of info that we can store •When you “crowdsource” you can get phenomenal answers •She gives the example of utilizing Twitter for its’ powerfulness o She follows educators, people local to her area, Mac techies, etc. •You can “expand your knowledge” •Twitter Lists – you can follow lists, you can check lists that you’re on o Plurk – like Twitter, but goes horizontally (more private? Don’t agree with) o Edmodo – uses it in her classroom. Like Twitter for the classroom. •Positive aspect of social networking o “myspace is kind of an inappropriate place” •all of her students are on edmodo o can use as a replacement for flash drive •Classblogmeister.com •RSS o Really Simple Syndicate - like a newspaper subscription - you get new media when it is released. o NetVibes – set up RSS feeds for your classes •Wikis o Made for collaboration, multiple people working on same thing at same time o Decade assignments for the wiki example o Wikis in Plain English o CoolCatTeacher example of collaboration across the world •Google Docs •Ning o Private MySpace •Creative Content Creation o Kids are really engaged when they can put stuff together that’s fun for them to look at o Edu.Glogster.com •Up to 200, free, student private •Sharetabs.com o Presents links in a table •Acceptable Use Policy – uses as parent permission form, "it is fine because it’s a private network."
My bags are packed, and I'm ready to head to Indianapolis later today to attend the NMSA09 conference. I plan on attending, as part of my self-directed PD, sessions that involve technology integration, web tools for teachers, leadership in education, digital literacy, and project-based learning.
In keeping with my PD goals, I will be tweeting small snippets of useful information with links and quotes about edtech and other topics. I will be utilizing the #NMSA09 hashtag - I set up a Twitterfall page that will show all of the tweets of all conference users with the same hashtag.
Follow @MrDooley on Twitter for my tweets about the conference, or check out the Twitterfall page for more!
