About an hour before the department meeting with Foreign Language, I was in a bit of a panic. The entire network was down. Suddenly, with no reason (and no later explanation since, and I'm writing this about three days after the fact) there was simply no internet.
That was problematic since I was intending to show the teachers some tools and then discuss how they might be used for instructions.
Fortunately, about fifteen minutes before the meeting, the network just as suddenly and mysteriously decided to function again.
The meeting went relatively well. In prep, I had added a page for foreign language to my wiki. I mostly used tools I was already aware of that I felt had foreign language applications. I showed the teachers my wiki, and the list of tools I thought would be of use.
I was hoping to discuss more curriculum and/or standards. But, as is often the case with tech enthused teachers, they were very focused on the tools. Even so, while looking at the various tools, they did talk about HOW they could use them. They talked about how they could replace something less functional that they already used. They talked about specific lessons where these tools would engage students. At first, I was starting these conversations, but by the end of the meeting, I was just sitting back and listening to them.
I think this meeting was a very good start. I showed them voice thread, voki, audacity, and wordle.
Audacity was probably the least favorite, because it looks intimidating. They liked voice thread, but are a little wary of having to pay for the edu version, or of risking students stumbling across inappropriate content or comments. Also, I think trying to use the mouse to annotate images was frustrating for them. Voki was by far the favorite. The teachers were able to quickly figure it out, and saw the potential for having students be very engaged by it. They liked audacity for the idea of having students listen to themselves speaking a foreign language, but liked voki better. Students could still listen to themselves, and re-record as many times as they like. And, students could still share work with one another. But, the interface is more engaging (a talking cat is just better to look at than a big grey box) and less intimidating. The time limit of 60 seconds is also not likely to be an issues. And, as time moves on and the teachers become more comfortable with some technologies, they might be more willing to give audacity another try. I'm of the opinion that in the meantime I should look for something similar that scares people less.
They also had a chance for a better intro to the student laptops. Because they do not have teacher laptops, I decided to bring student laptops to the meeting so that everyone could have a computer. It did make trying to keep everyone on the same page a challenge. One teacher had an exceptionally hard time with the red mouse button. and, the teacher whose room we used wanted to sit at her desk, so it was harder for me to notice if she had missed something.
This was an intro--to the computers, to using technology, and to working with me--and as an intro it went very well. I think that I will have opportunities to collaborate with the foreign language department in the future.
Showing posts with label wikis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wikis. Show all posts
Friday, March 27, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Sight Project--Assessment Day Four
Final day of this project.
It didn't take us long to finish up the grades. We had to watch two more movies that hadn't been played in class because the creators had been absent that day.
After finishing grading, we talked a little about doing the project next year. She wants to do it again, which made me happy. Then, because its a real possibility, I asked her if the grant ran out and there was no coach next year, if she'd still do it again. She thought for a minute, but said she would. She decided the program is easy enough that she could guide kids through it, and, even though grading by herself might take longer, she could get it done. After all, next year she'd have a rubric ready to go at the beginning, and a better idea of what to expect.
I told her how much I liked the idea of having the kids offer feedback. I don' think enough teachers do that, and I know I didn't do it enough in the classroom.
One of the ideas that they shared with CFF coaches at boot camp was the idea that conversations can lead to being able to work with teachers. And here was the progress of that. While talking with her about the feedback, I remembered, and commented on her really unresponsive 7th period class. And we talked about how it was a problem, because without feedback, she wouldn't necessarily know where to go or what the class needed. And, you could never be sure if it was a matter of kids not wanting to talk, kids being shy about talking in front of the class, kids not getting it, or kids just being lazy. So I suggested a blogging project--where kids could think out and write out their answers before sharing.
She seemed to like the idea and asked how it would work. So, I told her about the other "blog" projects I'd done. I gave her the example of the Social Studies teacher who had the kids blog outside of class, and the English teacher who blogged in class (and I was honest about how horribly that went) and the other English teacher who blogged in class and assigned kids to respond to comments by other students. She seemed to like that there were a lot of ways to go with it.
She then said there were going to be starting Greek Myths soon, and she wanted to have them do something with writing their own "journey" story. I was tempted to say they could do a Photo Story, but decided she might be ready to be done with Photo Story for a least a little while. Instead, I suggested doing something like the 1001 Flat World Tales. Then, the students could work with a partner, write their story, have a partner leave comments for editing suggestions, read and make comments on their partners' stories, and edit.
She seemed to like both ideas. And, she really liked that I could offer to show her examples of each.
It didn't take us long to finish up the grades. We had to watch two more movies that hadn't been played in class because the creators had been absent that day.
After finishing grading, we talked a little about doing the project next year. She wants to do it again, which made me happy. Then, because its a real possibility, I asked her if the grant ran out and there was no coach next year, if she'd still do it again. She thought for a minute, but said she would. She decided the program is easy enough that she could guide kids through it, and, even though grading by herself might take longer, she could get it done. After all, next year she'd have a rubric ready to go at the beginning, and a better idea of what to expect.
I told her how much I liked the idea of having the kids offer feedback. I don' think enough teachers do that, and I know I didn't do it enough in the classroom.
One of the ideas that they shared with CFF coaches at boot camp was the idea that conversations can lead to being able to work with teachers. And here was the progress of that. While talking with her about the feedback, I remembered, and commented on her really unresponsive 7th period class. And we talked about how it was a problem, because without feedback, she wouldn't necessarily know where to go or what the class needed. And, you could never be sure if it was a matter of kids not wanting to talk, kids being shy about talking in front of the class, kids not getting it, or kids just being lazy. So I suggested a blogging project--where kids could think out and write out their answers before sharing.
She seemed to like the idea and asked how it would work. So, I told her about the other "blog" projects I'd done. I gave her the example of the Social Studies teacher who had the kids blog outside of class, and the English teacher who blogged in class (and I was honest about how horribly that went) and the other English teacher who blogged in class and assigned kids to respond to comments by other students. She seemed to like that there were a lot of ways to go with it.
She then said there were going to be starting Greek Myths soon, and she wanted to have them do something with writing their own "journey" story. I was tempted to say they could do a Photo Story, but decided she might be ready to be done with Photo Story for a least a little while. Instead, I suggested doing something like the 1001 Flat World Tales. Then, the students could work with a partner, write their story, have a partner leave comments for editing suggestions, read and make comments on their partners' stories, and edit.
She seemed to like both ideas. And, she really liked that I could offer to show her examples of each.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Presidential My Space--Assessments
I offered to help the Social Studies teacher grade the wiki project when we were finished. I fear I wasn't that helpful. I only managed to help with a small handful. He was pretty well finished by the third day of grading, and I just wasn't moving as fast. I did get a chance to look at most of them, and even leave a few comments for him/the students.
Some of the projects turned out really well. Students were creative, and found resources online to make things more interesting.
A few students disappointed by plagiarizing. Only one went so far as to copy another student's project. No one, at least, sabotaged anyone else or defaced a page that did not belong to them.
For the most part, though, it wasn't plagiarizing as much as a lack of summarizing skills that plagued the students. As a result, the teacher even went so far as to give the plagiarizing/badly summarizing students the chance to redo the project instead of loosing credit.
So, the Social Studies teacher and I talked about the lack of summarizing skills. A lot of students think that copying and pasting an article, and removing or replacing a certain number of words, is the same as rephrasing. They also think that picking out key phrases or sentences, and copying them word for word, is summarizing. The English teacher from that team happened to stop in during this conversation and said that, although she does teach summarizing, she hasn't gotten to that part of her curriculum yet.
First of all, this made me wonder if it would be a good idea to have the teams sit down, looked at shared skills, who is teaching them, and when they are being taught. After all, it would be really good practice and reinforcement for students to learn summarizing in English, and then have a summarizing project/assignment in Social Studies the following week. And, it would save the Social Studies teacher a good deal of aggravation if he held the summarizing project until after the topic was covered in Social Studies.
Summarizing happened to come up as a topic on twitter just a few hours later, and I was able to pass this resource along. There were some interesting ideas. I also made the suggestion of giving the students an article, and having them write a "text message" to a friend explaining it. I do think most of these kids can summarize--they just don't have the skills to make a connection between how they "give the short version" to friend and what teachers want out of them in a writing assignment.
By permission of the teacher, I've copied a few of these wikis over, and removed student names from them, so I can show some samples. I picked a few at random from each class, and then copied the ones I liked best as examples. Check them out here.
Some of the projects turned out really well. Students were creative, and found resources online to make things more interesting.
A few students disappointed by plagiarizing. Only one went so far as to copy another student's project. No one, at least, sabotaged anyone else or defaced a page that did not belong to them.
For the most part, though, it wasn't plagiarizing as much as a lack of summarizing skills that plagued the students. As a result, the teacher even went so far as to give the plagiarizing/badly summarizing students the chance to redo the project instead of loosing credit.
So, the Social Studies teacher and I talked about the lack of summarizing skills. A lot of students think that copying and pasting an article, and removing or replacing a certain number of words, is the same as rephrasing. They also think that picking out key phrases or sentences, and copying them word for word, is summarizing. The English teacher from that team happened to stop in during this conversation and said that, although she does teach summarizing, she hasn't gotten to that part of her curriculum yet.
First of all, this made me wonder if it would be a good idea to have the teams sit down, looked at shared skills, who is teaching them, and when they are being taught. After all, it would be really good practice and reinforcement for students to learn summarizing in English, and then have a summarizing project/assignment in Social Studies the following week. And, it would save the Social Studies teacher a good deal of aggravation if he held the summarizing project until after the topic was covered in Social Studies.
Summarizing happened to come up as a topic on twitter just a few hours later, and I was able to pass this resource along. There were some interesting ideas. I also made the suggestion of giving the students an article, and having them write a "text message" to a friend explaining it. I do think most of these kids can summarize--they just don't have the skills to make a connection between how they "give the short version" to friend and what teachers want out of them in a writing assignment.
By permission of the teacher, I've copied a few of these wikis over, and removed student names from them, so I can show some samples. I picked a few at random from each class, and then copied the ones I liked best as examples. Check them out here.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Presidential My Space--Day Three
Last day of the project.
Projects are not due til the following day, so students can work on them from home, or stay after school.
One of the benefits of this project was that students could easily access their work from anywhere. There was no saving of files involved. At the same time, it was not a public web space, so student privacy was maintained. This is probably the #1 reason I'm such a big fan of wikis.
I was in and out of the class today, because I was starting a project with another teacher. For the most part, students made good use of their time, and worked throughout.
One thing I saw was that honors students, who had to follow the general rubric, as well as extra directions that were posted on their class page, were forgetting the extra directions. In the past, when a teacher has divided a wiki into classes, I have them post all of the directions on each classes' page. Its redundant, but I think it helps the students stay organized. I think in this case especially, it would have been a very good idea.
As the project went on, and, as is common, a lot of student were more concerned with how things looked than the content, the teacher and I came up with the idea of using the directions/rubric as a check sheet. We suggested to students to print it out, and check off requirements as they were met. Quite a few students took the suggestion. I think I'll remember that for similar projects in the future, and encourage teachers to either do directions in more of list form, or to have a list version of the directions. Its easier to check off items on a list than in a paragraph.
Towards the end of one of the classes, I asked the teacher about grading the project. He seemed pleased to have someone to help him grade, and suggested that I go through the projects, make grade suggestions, and he'd either take the suggestions or not. Part of me regrets the offer, because its more work. Most of me knows that I haven't assessed anything in a long time. It will be good to get back into it. Also, being useful to teachers helps build those relationships. If another teacher asks me to help put together a project for the simple reason that he/she thinks I'll do all the grading, than that is a great opportunity to introduce yet another teacher to using tech in the classroom.
The projects look very good. It seems that most of the students included most of the required content. I don't know how many students went outside of their comfort zone and had fun being creative, though. I probably won't get to assessing anything today. I'll have to update on how the finished projects are, once I've been through some of them--I even got permission to post some examples once I remove student names.
Projects are not due til the following day, so students can work on them from home, or stay after school.
One of the benefits of this project was that students could easily access their work from anywhere. There was no saving of files involved. At the same time, it was not a public web space, so student privacy was maintained. This is probably the #1 reason I'm such a big fan of wikis.
I was in and out of the class today, because I was starting a project with another teacher. For the most part, students made good use of their time, and worked throughout.
One thing I saw was that honors students, who had to follow the general rubric, as well as extra directions that were posted on their class page, were forgetting the extra directions. In the past, when a teacher has divided a wiki into classes, I have them post all of the directions on each classes' page. Its redundant, but I think it helps the students stay organized. I think in this case especially, it would have been a very good idea.
As the project went on, and, as is common, a lot of student were more concerned with how things looked than the content, the teacher and I came up with the idea of using the directions/rubric as a check sheet. We suggested to students to print it out, and check off requirements as they were met. Quite a few students took the suggestion. I think I'll remember that for similar projects in the future, and encourage teachers to either do directions in more of list form, or to have a list version of the directions. Its easier to check off items on a list than in a paragraph.
Towards the end of one of the classes, I asked the teacher about grading the project. He seemed pleased to have someone to help him grade, and suggested that I go through the projects, make grade suggestions, and he'd either take the suggestions or not. Part of me regrets the offer, because its more work. Most of me knows that I haven't assessed anything in a long time. It will be good to get back into it. Also, being useful to teachers helps build those relationships. If another teacher asks me to help put together a project for the simple reason that he/she thinks I'll do all the grading, than that is a great opportunity to introduce yet another teacher to using tech in the classroom.
The projects look very good. It seems that most of the students included most of the required content. I don't know how many students went outside of their comfort zone and had fun being creative, though. I probably won't get to assessing anything today. I'll have to update on how the finished projects are, once I've been through some of them--I even got permission to post some examples once I remove student names.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Presidential My Space--Day Two
Day two had a lot more work get done.
The first class of the day was the honors class. I was very disappointed with some of the students by the end of class. Most did not make very good or wise use of their time. Very little in the way of content was added. A lot of students spent class making their text look better, or trying to edit the background, or coming up with cute or funny comments to put on the pages. A few did get work done. Many started working in word--they seemed to have an easier time working with text in word (makes sense). So, even those who did a lot of work don't have much to show on the wikis.
The rest of the classes made much better use of time. This did surprise me, since they were non honors classes. A lot of students started having fun with it. The teacher was very good about allowing students to use "slang" and phrasing that would get them kicked out of an English class. He told me its hard for him to read Lincoln saying "yo yo yo, I like country cause we didn have none a dat hippity hop", but he's letting the kids do it anyways. And I'm very glad he is. The kids, despite their word choices, are using accurate info. It did occur to me part way through the day that kids who are being very conservative and straight laced with the language are having a much harder time putting it in their own words. Kids who are "my spacing it up" are actually having an easier time summarizing (that is something I will have to remember).
Also, kids who are having more fun with the language are having more fun with the project, and putting more work into it. The teacher commented more than once that a few kids surprised him. Students who don't usually do well because they are not strong academically--or because they are not motivated to put in effort--are doing well (not all of them, but quite a few). And, again, even though George Washington would roll over in his grave at the way he's now "talking," he's not saying anything that's not true.
A few students didn't make the best use of their time. And a few are still having trouble navigating pages, or dealing with going back and forth between multiple pages. However, its getting better. That makes me happy. I'm glad we did a project that requires a skill that a lot of students lack. It has been a little frustrating for all involved, but the students are getting stronger at a skill that everyone will expect them to have.
And I think the teacher is seeing the value in creativity. Because the kids are able to enjoy the project--and let themselves show through the project--they are doing better. Its not true of all kids. And some are more interested in how things look and being funny than in being accurate (or even substantial). But by letting go of something like standard English (as a Social Studies teacher myself, I can sympathize, but as someone younger, I'm taking it better) he's allowing students to be more engaged. Some students even worked on the projects from home, and have done some amazing things with layout, and using different internet tools.
The first class of the day was the honors class. I was very disappointed with some of the students by the end of class. Most did not make very good or wise use of their time. Very little in the way of content was added. A lot of students spent class making their text look better, or trying to edit the background, or coming up with cute or funny comments to put on the pages. A few did get work done. Many started working in word--they seemed to have an easier time working with text in word (makes sense). So, even those who did a lot of work don't have much to show on the wikis.
The rest of the classes made much better use of time. This did surprise me, since they were non honors classes. A lot of students started having fun with it. The teacher was very good about allowing students to use "slang" and phrasing that would get them kicked out of an English class. He told me its hard for him to read Lincoln saying "yo yo yo, I like country cause we didn have none a dat hippity hop", but he's letting the kids do it anyways. And I'm very glad he is. The kids, despite their word choices, are using accurate info. It did occur to me part way through the day that kids who are being very conservative and straight laced with the language are having a much harder time putting it in their own words. Kids who are "my spacing it up" are actually having an easier time summarizing (that is something I will have to remember).
Also, kids who are having more fun with the language are having more fun with the project, and putting more work into it. The teacher commented more than once that a few kids surprised him. Students who don't usually do well because they are not strong academically--or because they are not motivated to put in effort--are doing well (not all of them, but quite a few). And, again, even though George Washington would roll over in his grave at the way he's now "talking," he's not saying anything that's not true.
A few students didn't make the best use of their time. And a few are still having trouble navigating pages, or dealing with going back and forth between multiple pages. However, its getting better. That makes me happy. I'm glad we did a project that requires a skill that a lot of students lack. It has been a little frustrating for all involved, but the students are getting stronger at a skill that everyone will expect them to have.
And I think the teacher is seeing the value in creativity. Because the kids are able to enjoy the project--and let themselves show through the project--they are doing better. Its not true of all kids. And some are more interested in how things look and being funny than in being accurate (or even substantial). But by letting go of something like standard English (as a Social Studies teacher myself, I can sympathize, but as someone younger, I'm taking it better) he's allowing students to be more engaged. Some students even worked on the projects from home, and have done some amazing things with layout, and using different internet tools.
Presidential My Space--Day One
Yesterday we started the Presidential My Space Pages.
One of the common complaints, of course, is that we aren't using real My Space pages. I should probably rethink/rename this project so that kids are not left thinking that they would rather do real My Space pages.
For the most part, the teacher went through directions with students. As a time saver, he went through how to navigate through the page to the student pages while kids were still booting up their laptops. Since the student laptops do take so long, I agreed with this decsion. However, a lot of students didn't pay attention. It led to problems later. I had to help about half the students 1-on-1 to find their pages. I had to explain to many students that there was already a page, and not to create one. And, one students edited the front page, and another deleted and edited over the rubric.
The rubric is fairly simple:
One of the common complaints, of course, is that we aren't using real My Space pages. I should probably rethink/rename this project so that kids are not left thinking that they would rather do real My Space pages.
For the most part, the teacher went through directions with students. As a time saver, he went through how to navigate through the page to the student pages while kids were still booting up their laptops. Since the student laptops do take so long, I agreed with this decsion. However, a lot of students didn't pay attention. It led to problems later. I had to help about half the students 1-on-1 to find their pages. I had to explain to many students that there was already a page, and not to create one. And, one students edited the front page, and another deleted and edited over the rubric.
The rubric is fairly simple:
For this project, you will create a mock 'My Space' page for one of the former Presidents. You may choose any former President you wish. Barack Obama is not a former President. You will create this page as if you are that President, living today. That means you should write in the first person, using 'I' instead of 'George Washington said...'. The page should contain mainly biographical information about that President. You should include at least the following sections:
Title: 'George Washington's page' The title should include the name of the President. (3 pts.)
Pictures: Include at least two pictures of the President on the main page. (2 pts.)
Background: Include Dates of birth and death, and dates the President served. Include place of birth. (5 pts.)
Biography: This should be 2-3 paragraphs about the President's life, from birth until they became President. You can include information from 'Background' instead of making a separate section for it. Be throrough. Include educational background, military experience, and any previous political experience. Talk about why these experiences prepared the man for the Presidency. (15 pts.)
Presidency: Include 2-3 paragraphs about what happened while this person was President. Include any important events, wars, scandals, etc. You can talk about what life in America was like during this Presidency. Remember, write as if you are this person. If something negative happened, try to explain why. Include at least 2 events and how the President handled that problem. (15 pts.)
Retirement: Include a brief description of the President's life after the Presidency. (5 pts.)
Creativity: A more creative page will receive additional points. (5 pts.)
Total points: 50
When picking your President, be careful to look at when they served. Picking a President who died after 2 days in office is a bad idea. You don't have to pick a famous President, like Washington or Lincoln, but skim through the bios to find someone who did something interesting, or served during an interesting period of history. Remember to make this a first person account, and use your own words. DO NOT COPY AND PASTE. That is plagarism, and will result in a zero for the entire project. This project is due Tuesday, February 24.
Most students didn't have much trouble navigating to their pages. A few got confused because, although I had provided links, they still had to click on a "create page" button after clicking the link. Many students immediately went to the "create a page" button from the home page, and started creating and editing pages there were not linked from anywhere. It was pretty easy to find and correct those students (they would loose their pages, since they weren't linked from the home page) and have them copy and paste their work onto the appropriate page. In later classes, I made every watch as showed the difference between the "create page" and "create a page" buttons. I think this should have been a more predictable problem.
The teacher has even provided three approved web sources for researching info (although a small handful of students went directly to google anyways.)
Students only worked on the project for about half of class for the first day. Everyone had picked a president, and most had a picture and a little bit of info by the end of class. Some only had a picture.
There is definately a large varience of comfort and ability when doing web based projects. Some students understood right away when I suggested they open the rubric in a seperate tab or window, so they didn't have to keep using the back arrow. Others were very confused and needed to be shown multiple times. Others needed to be shown only once before catching on.
And some students have trouble just navigating a single web page.
I was able to teach students the short cut key for pasting (ctrl + v) because the right click they are used to doesn't work in a pb wiki. One thing almost all students seemed very good at was finding a google image.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Presidential My Space
This is a project that has two teachers.
The first teachers was a bit more independent about using it. He wanted me to help him learn the technology, and I helped do some of the time consuming behind the scenes stuff to help set up. After that, he was more content to conduct the project himself. He sent one student to me with a technical issues, but did not ask for any help other than that.
Another teacher is starting this same project tomorrow. He is comfortable with the technology, but also more than happy to have an extra person around the room to help students out with the project.
We worked for the last two days on the same pre-project set up that I did with the first social studies teacher. The wiki in use is set up almost the same way. The teacher created a class wiki that he will create pages on for each project. Each project will be divided by period, and each student will be given his own page.
The teacher posted directions for what information must be contained on the page. Then, students are free to arrange the layout, and add "fun" elements such as friends, interests, heroes, etc. This sort of project seems to help in research type assignments. Students are not overwhelmed with having to write a paper. And, because they get to do something more engaging with the information, they are more willing to find it. However, as all the teachers I've worked with know, it is a fight to keep a balance between letting students be creative, and making sure they accurately, and sufficiently, produce the subject-related material needed. After all, many students would be happy to create a my space page with all sorts of funny friends, music, and movies for George Washington (and most of it would be funny because it would be based on something real) without ever caring to do the biography section.
I'm going to be in the classroom to help with the project tomorrow. Mostly, the teacher is concerned that he won't be able to answer questions that the students have about using wiki spaces. I personally think he would be fine, but part of my job is building relationships. I think it is a far better idea to think he'd be fine, but to help him as much as I can, than to send him out on his own.
The first teachers was a bit more independent about using it. He wanted me to help him learn the technology, and I helped do some of the time consuming behind the scenes stuff to help set up. After that, he was more content to conduct the project himself. He sent one student to me with a technical issues, but did not ask for any help other than that.
Another teacher is starting this same project tomorrow. He is comfortable with the technology, but also more than happy to have an extra person around the room to help students out with the project.
We worked for the last two days on the same pre-project set up that I did with the first social studies teacher. The wiki in use is set up almost the same way. The teacher created a class wiki that he will create pages on for each project. Each project will be divided by period, and each student will be given his own page.
The teacher posted directions for what information must be contained on the page. Then, students are free to arrange the layout, and add "fun" elements such as friends, interests, heroes, etc. This sort of project seems to help in research type assignments. Students are not overwhelmed with having to write a paper. And, because they get to do something more engaging with the information, they are more willing to find it. However, as all the teachers I've worked with know, it is a fight to keep a balance between letting students be creative, and making sure they accurately, and sufficiently, produce the subject-related material needed. After all, many students would be happy to create a my space page with all sorts of funny friends, music, and movies for George Washington (and most of it would be funny because it would be based on something real) without ever caring to do the biography section.
I'm going to be in the classroom to help with the project tomorrow. Mostly, the teacher is concerned that he won't be able to answer questions that the students have about using wiki spaces. I personally think he would be fine, but part of my job is building relationships. I think it is a far better idea to think he'd be fine, but to help him as much as I can, than to send him out on his own.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Social Studies Project--Presidential Wikis
A Social Studies teacher approached me and wanted some ideas on a few lessons he is covering. He wanted to slightly alter some of what he is doing.
One suggestion that I gave, that I don't think he took, was for the presidential cabinets. He usually has students work in groups to research one cabinet office, and then do a round robin to share the info. I suggested having the groups create poems/song lyrics/raps, etc. I figured it would be more engaging, and easier to remember. I'm not sure if he went with that or not. He seemed to like the idea, but he was covering the lesson in the very near future. I hope that either he, or someone else, can use that idea for some topic.
He also has the students do a project every year where each student researches one President. They usually do a poster or a powerpoint. This year, I suggested, he does the projects in the "my space" wiki format. He really liked the idea.
He's not the sort that wants a great deal of help. He's very confident with the technology. So, I showed him how to set up the wiki. He, unlike a lot of teachers, was more comfortable with doing multiple layers of links and not having everything linked from a list on the side. Most teachers were overwhelmed at the concept, and therefore set up multiple pages--one per class per project. This Social Studies Teacher was happier with the idea of one massive wiki--knowing he could keep track of the links--thank managing multiple wikis. I have to say that I'm of the same opinion.
We discussed having the students sign up during class, or manually creating accounts. He decided not to waste class time with students signing up, and had them create user names and passwords for homework. I showed him how to input those, and did several of them to save him some time (its tedious).
Other than help with the mechanics, he does not want any help in the classroom. Once in awhile he will send a student and a laptop down to me with a specific issue, but he does not want to have me in the room on hand "just in case." It does worry me that this is the attitude of shutting the door that we want to break down with expanding learning beyond the classroom. But, it could just be a sense of wanting me to be more available to help teachers who are less confident with the technology. Either way, I think it is important to allow teachers to move at their own pace. If he is not ready to have another teacher in his space, then I won't push. If I do, he might never be willing.
One suggestion that I gave, that I don't think he took, was for the presidential cabinets. He usually has students work in groups to research one cabinet office, and then do a round robin to share the info. I suggested having the groups create poems/song lyrics/raps, etc. I figured it would be more engaging, and easier to remember. I'm not sure if he went with that or not. He seemed to like the idea, but he was covering the lesson in the very near future. I hope that either he, or someone else, can use that idea for some topic.
He also has the students do a project every year where each student researches one President. They usually do a poster or a powerpoint. This year, I suggested, he does the projects in the "my space" wiki format. He really liked the idea.
He's not the sort that wants a great deal of help. He's very confident with the technology. So, I showed him how to set up the wiki. He, unlike a lot of teachers, was more comfortable with doing multiple layers of links and not having everything linked from a list on the side. Most teachers were overwhelmed at the concept, and therefore set up multiple pages--one per class per project. This Social Studies Teacher was happier with the idea of one massive wiki--knowing he could keep track of the links--thank managing multiple wikis. I have to say that I'm of the same opinion.
We discussed having the students sign up during class, or manually creating accounts. He decided not to waste class time with students signing up, and had them create user names and passwords for homework. I showed him how to input those, and did several of them to save him some time (its tedious).
Other than help with the mechanics, he does not want any help in the classroom. Once in awhile he will send a student and a laptop down to me with a specific issue, but he does not want to have me in the room on hand "just in case." It does worry me that this is the attitude of shutting the door that we want to break down with expanding learning beyond the classroom. But, it could just be a sense of wanting me to be more available to help teachers who are less confident with the technology. Either way, I think it is important to allow teachers to move at their own pace. If he is not ready to have another teacher in his space, then I won't push. If I do, he might never be willing.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Speak Blog Update
The snow day has altered everyone's schedule.
I checked in with the English teacher, assuming that the dates we had down would have changed. Fortunately, they have. If not, I would have been double booked between that blog project, and the Reading project I am finishing.
The English teacher finished putting directions up on the site. I'm going to copy and paste them here.
Welcome to 9th grade's on-line discussion board for the Third and Fourth Marking Period of Speak. As it has become evident, this novel is one that teenagers can relate to, even if they have not been in the exact situation that Melinda was in. Speak is a very common novel that discussions center around because many, varying opinions can be brought forth.
As we always say in English class, you are entitled to your opinion, but for it to be valued, it must be supported with examples, experiences, and facts.
1. Click on your period's page.
2. Click on the "Discussion" tab and then on "Question" 1 and post your response. Each response must be at least five complete, detailed sentences written in standard, school-appropriate English. (Do not let the online version fool you! You are not texting, instant messaging, or leaving a message on a My-Space wall. This is an English class assignment.) Your response MUST have examples directly from the novel, i.e. "On page 102, Melinda says....".
3. Proceed through the rest of the questions following the above directions.
4. For questions 1-3, you will respond to your assigned partner. A response can follow different paths, for example:
5. For questions 4-6, you can choose any post to respond to; however you may not respond to an original post that already has two responses.
NOTICE: As everyone begins posting, it will be very obvious to me whether you have written an original post or you have picked out ideas to use from other posts.
There are some really good points here.
She begins by explaining the purpose of the project "As it has become evident, this novel is one that teenagers can relate to, even if they have not been in the exact situation that Melinda was in. Speak is a very common novel that discussions center around because many, varying opinions can be brought forth."
The directions are very clear. She is starting by having them respond to an assigned partner. That will get them into the habit of the project. After the first three questions, they will be free to respond to comments that they want to respond to, within limits.
She makes it very clear that students don't have to agree with one another to comment. Also, she clearly puts forth the expectation that students are to be original, but that they have to have information from the book to back them up.
I'm going to be working with the class next week on Friday to help everyone sign up for a username and password, and to get oriented to the site.
I checked in with the English teacher, assuming that the dates we had down would have changed. Fortunately, they have. If not, I would have been double booked between that blog project, and the Reading project I am finishing.
The English teacher finished putting directions up on the site. I'm going to copy and paste them here.
Welcome to 9th grade's on-line discussion board for the Third and Fourth Marking Period of Speak. As it has become evident, this novel is one that teenagers can relate to, even if they have not been in the exact situation that Melinda was in. Speak is a very common novel that discussions center around because many, varying opinions can be brought forth.
As we always say in English class, you are entitled to your opinion, but for it to be valued, it must be supported with examples, experiences, and facts.
1. Click on your period's page.
2. Click on the "Discussion" tab and then on "Question" 1 and post your response. Each response must be at least five complete, detailed sentences written in standard, school-appropriate English. (Do not let the online version fool you! You are not texting, instant messaging, or leaving a message on a My-Space wall. This is an English class assignment.) Your response MUST have examples directly from the novel, i.e. "On page 102, Melinda says....".
3. Proceed through the rest of the questions following the above directions.
4. For questions 1-3, you will respond to your assigned partner. A response can follow different paths, for example:
- I agree/disagree with you because...
- You bring up a good point I never thought about which is.....This makes me think about....
- TO RESPOND, IN THE SUBJECT LINE, AFTER RE: DELTE "QUESTION 1" AND WRITE THE PERSON'S SCREEN-NAME.
5. For questions 4-6, you can choose any post to respond to; however you may not respond to an original post that already has two responses.
NOTICE: As everyone begins posting, it will be very obvious to me whether you have written an original post or you have picked out ideas to use from other posts.
There are some really good points here.
She begins by explaining the purpose of the project "As it has become evident, this novel is one that teenagers can relate to, even if they have not been in the exact situation that Melinda was in. Speak is a very common novel that discussions center around because many, varying opinions can be brought forth."
The directions are very clear. She is starting by having them respond to an assigned partner. That will get them into the habit of the project. After the first three questions, they will be free to respond to comments that they want to respond to, within limits.
She makes it very clear that students don't have to agree with one another to comment. Also, she clearly puts forth the expectation that students are to be original, but that they have to have information from the book to back them up.
I'm going to be working with the class next week on Friday to help everyone sign up for a username and password, and to get oriented to the site.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
New Blog Project--Speak
I'm now working with the English teacher from earlier in the year. We tried to create a wiki project, but it didn't make it off the ground.
We're now doing a composite wiki/blog project. I would loved this to have been a ning project. I would also have liked to have looked into embedding a blog into a wiki. However, the ning project would require students to verify membership through a link in email for homework, and the teacher didn't want to bank on that happening in a timely fashion. And, I didn't want to risk not having this project up and ready to go--or having her think it wouldn't be--by saying "give me a day or two to figure out embedding a blog in a wiki."
So, we are using a wiki discussion board for the book Speak. This is very similar to the Kite Runner project, except with a different book. Also, it is planned out to be an 8 question project from the beginning.
We are using wikispaces instead of pbwiki. I liked pbwiki's format of putting comments directly on the page for this project, but pbwiki refused to acknowledge this teacher existed. So, rather than waste time trying to trouble shoot a problem I couldn't understand, I suggested wiki spaces. She ended up liking the ability to put multiple discussion threads on one page, so it worked out for the best.
I helped the teacher create a wiki. On the first day of the project we are going to have the students sign up for the wiki using mailinator addresses. Because of issues in the Science teacher's class, I suggested, and the English teacher agrees, she should tell the students that every time they forget their username/password, they will loose 10 points (it's a high point class, so that is not as bad as it sounds.)
She is going to have one wiki. The main page will be directions. Each class will have a page linked from the main page. The class's page will direct students to click on the discussion link at the top of the page, and to click on the appropriate discussion. From there, students will have to reply to the teacher's question.
She is working out what requirements she wants for the discussion. She wants to make sure every student gets responded to, and is considering having students assigned a classmate to respond to. However, she is also thinkking of just letting students respond to whoever they want. I suggested that, since she plans on doing 8 questions, she could try it both ways and see how each works. As long as she takes the time to fully explain any new rules for each question, she can try a variety of different methods. She might even find that method A works well with one class and fails in another.
We talked, as I did with the other English teacher, about how students don't really interact with one another in class. Even with open ended questions, those who want to respond or discuss, will only talk directly with the teacher. I'm hoping these projects will help teachers to help their students understand that they can learn from one another and that they can learn through debate, discussion, disagreement, and defending their own points of view.
One thing I seem to see is that some teachers, who are very competent, and very confident in what they teach, feel that they need to take a back seat to my opinion just because we are infusing technology into a lesson plan. In a way it's flattering that they value my opinion. For the most part, I try to redirect and ask leading questions to find out what they teacher's goal is for an assignment. After all, I could easily try to accomplish my own goals, but these aren't my classes. I hope that experience using the tech will show the teachers that they have every reason to be as confident because they are as competent.
We're now doing a composite wiki/blog project. I would loved this to have been a ning project. I would also have liked to have looked into embedding a blog into a wiki. However, the ning project would require students to verify membership through a link in email for homework, and the teacher didn't want to bank on that happening in a timely fashion. And, I didn't want to risk not having this project up and ready to go--or having her think it wouldn't be--by saying "give me a day or two to figure out embedding a blog in a wiki."
So, we are using a wiki discussion board for the book Speak. This is very similar to the Kite Runner project, except with a different book. Also, it is planned out to be an 8 question project from the beginning.
We are using wikispaces instead of pbwiki. I liked pbwiki's format of putting comments directly on the page for this project, but pbwiki refused to acknowledge this teacher existed. So, rather than waste time trying to trouble shoot a problem I couldn't understand, I suggested wiki spaces. She ended up liking the ability to put multiple discussion threads on one page, so it worked out for the best.
I helped the teacher create a wiki. On the first day of the project we are going to have the students sign up for the wiki using mailinator addresses. Because of issues in the Science teacher's class, I suggested, and the English teacher agrees, she should tell the students that every time they forget their username/password, they will loose 10 points (it's a high point class, so that is not as bad as it sounds.)
She is going to have one wiki. The main page will be directions. Each class will have a page linked from the main page. The class's page will direct students to click on the discussion link at the top of the page, and to click on the appropriate discussion. From there, students will have to reply to the teacher's question.
She is working out what requirements she wants for the discussion. She wants to make sure every student gets responded to, and is considering having students assigned a classmate to respond to. However, she is also thinkking of just letting students respond to whoever they want. I suggested that, since she plans on doing 8 questions, she could try it both ways and see how each works. As long as she takes the time to fully explain any new rules for each question, she can try a variety of different methods. She might even find that method A works well with one class and fails in another.
We talked, as I did with the other English teacher, about how students don't really interact with one another in class. Even with open ended questions, those who want to respond or discuss, will only talk directly with the teacher. I'm hoping these projects will help teachers to help their students understand that they can learn from one another and that they can learn through debate, discussion, disagreement, and defending their own points of view.
One thing I seem to see is that some teachers, who are very competent, and very confident in what they teach, feel that they need to take a back seat to my opinion just because we are infusing technology into a lesson plan. In a way it's flattering that they value my opinion. For the most part, I try to redirect and ask leading questions to find out what they teacher's goal is for an assignment. After all, I could easily try to accomplish my own goals, but these aren't my classes. I hope that experience using the tech will show the teachers that they have every reason to be as confident because they are as competent.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Kite Runner Blog--Day One
I began the "blog" project with the English teacher yesterday (and didn't have time to blog about it). It quickly became a wiki project.
I had created a plan B--a pbwiki--just in case. First thing in the morning, I was very happy to see that the plan B wouldn't be needed, as the blog had been unblocked. I quickly checked to make sure, and it was unblocked.
I went to the lab first period. I explained the project to the kids--what we were doing, why, and how. That all went relatively well. I was having the students write their responses in Word originally. The idea was that, since the question was multi-part, they would be able to save as they went, just in case.
I walked the students through setting up google accounts using mailinator so that their names were recognizable for the teacher. There were a few bumps, but nothing I didn't expect.
And then, about five minutes after letting the students start, many started complaining that they couldn't post. Upon closer inspection I saw that even though the blog had been unblocked, the students were still blocked from posting comments. It was not something I had even considered.
I quickly shifted the plan. In order to have the students have accountability, I had to give them user names, and therefore passwords, for the wiki. I didn't do this in the best possible way. I had the kids come up one at a time to pick them.
By the end of class, all of the students had user names, but no time to sign in and post. School was canceled today, so the English teacher and I have yet to decide what to do as our next step.
The later classes went much more smoothly. I started the class by having students write down user name/password. I then sent them to the blog to begin working on their answers in Word. It took about five minutes to sign up all of the students. At that point, I stopped class, sent everyone to the wiki, and was able to trouble-shoot specific sign ins as they became issues. Everyone was able to post twice successfully.
I was a little disappointed to be using the wiki. Students were not able to reply directly to one another's comments, so they had to just put another student's name in their comment. However, this did address privacy issues.
My original thought, that students would not see the value, and would therefore do the bare minimum of two comments and not focus on engaging conversation, were right. I think, even had some been inclined to try for better conversation, the peer pressure would have probably prevented them from doing so. However, I am still inclined to think that, with continued exposure, positive feedback, interaction with the teacher, and access to resources, the students could start finding a project like this interesting.
I had created a plan B--a pbwiki--just in case. First thing in the morning, I was very happy to see that the plan B wouldn't be needed, as the blog had been unblocked. I quickly checked to make sure, and it was unblocked.
I went to the lab first period. I explained the project to the kids--what we were doing, why, and how. That all went relatively well. I was having the students write their responses in Word originally. The idea was that, since the question was multi-part, they would be able to save as they went, just in case.
I walked the students through setting up google accounts using mailinator so that their names were recognizable for the teacher. There were a few bumps, but nothing I didn't expect.
And then, about five minutes after letting the students start, many started complaining that they couldn't post. Upon closer inspection I saw that even though the blog had been unblocked, the students were still blocked from posting comments. It was not something I had even considered.
I quickly shifted the plan. In order to have the students have accountability, I had to give them user names, and therefore passwords, for the wiki. I didn't do this in the best possible way. I had the kids come up one at a time to pick them.
By the end of class, all of the students had user names, but no time to sign in and post. School was canceled today, so the English teacher and I have yet to decide what to do as our next step.
The later classes went much more smoothly. I started the class by having students write down user name/password. I then sent them to the blog to begin working on their answers in Word. It took about five minutes to sign up all of the students. At that point, I stopped class, sent everyone to the wiki, and was able to trouble-shoot specific sign ins as they became issues. Everyone was able to post twice successfully.
I was a little disappointed to be using the wiki. Students were not able to reply directly to one another's comments, so they had to just put another student's name in their comment. However, this did address privacy issues.
My original thought, that students would not see the value, and would therefore do the bare minimum of two comments and not focus on engaging conversation, were right. I think, even had some been inclined to try for better conversation, the peer pressure would have probably prevented them from doing so. However, I am still inclined to think that, with continued exposure, positive feedback, interaction with the teacher, and access to resources, the students could start finding a project like this interesting.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
PodCasting
Received an email this afternoon from an AP teacher interested in creating podcasts of lectures.
That gave me the push I needed to finally figure out how to convert an audacity file into an mp3. That was not nearly as daunting as I had anticipated. The needed file was already installed, so I didn't have to have the tech guy install it. Once I had located the file I was able to export as an mp3.
I then created a gcast account. I know there are other programs out there, but that is the one I am most familiar with, so it is the one I will be using. I found it to be very easy to use.
I now just need to find a time to meet with the teacher to go over how to use audacity and gcast, and to discuss whether to embed the podcast in a wiki or a blog.
That gave me the push I needed to finally figure out how to convert an audacity file into an mp3. That was not nearly as daunting as I had anticipated. The needed file was already installed, so I didn't have to have the tech guy install it. Once I had located the file I was able to export as an mp3.
I then created a gcast account. I know there are other programs out there, but that is the one I am most familiar with, so it is the one I will be using. I found it to be very easy to use.
I now just need to find a time to meet with the teacher to go over how to use audacity and gcast, and to discuss whether to embed the podcast in a wiki or a blog.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Reading Project Update
I think working with the English teacher on the reading project is one of the easiest to manage. Because I share an office with her, it is really easy to find time to collaborate.
We made a few more tweaks to the project and have set down a timeline. To give the kids practice using cueprompter, she is giving them a pre-project reading. Every kid will have the same article, will have time in and out of class to practice reading out loud, and will be recorded with audacity. Then the kids will have to listen to their own recording and do a reflective activity. Basically, the teacher feels that the kids are unlikely to actually take her seriously when she tells them they won't do well if they don't practice. She wants them A) to have more than one out loud reading and B) listen to themselves with the first reading and realize they really are going to be embarrassed reading in front of the whole class if they don't practice. I thought it was a brilliant plan.
Also, this will help her determine about how long the final project articles ought to be. She wants the kids to read for a significant amount of time--3-5 minutes I think. But, she doesn't know how much they need to fill up that time. So, we're going to look at how long the recordings are and make length requirements for the articles based on that.
Instead of having kids loose on the internet looking up articles about vague, broad topics, we decided to confine them to four broad topics and point them in the direction of some resources. I created a very basic wiki with links to new sources and to sample articles. This way, the students have an idea of where to search, and the sample articles can give them a visual of about how long we want the articles to be.
I wanted to get the entire site set up for the teacher to see, so I did that yesterday. I let her know that I can swap out the articles easily. That way, if the ones I picked are too short/too long, we can fix that. Also, she can look through them and let me know if they are at an appropriate reading level. The students are allowed to use the samples, but I didn't go out of my way to find the most interesting articles (although some of them are pretty interesting.) That way, students are encouraged to find their own. Either way, students will have to read a few articles to find one that they want to read.
We made a few more tweaks to the project and have set down a timeline. To give the kids practice using cueprompter, she is giving them a pre-project reading. Every kid will have the same article, will have time in and out of class to practice reading out loud, and will be recorded with audacity. Then the kids will have to listen to their own recording and do a reflective activity. Basically, the teacher feels that the kids are unlikely to actually take her seriously when she tells them they won't do well if they don't practice. She wants them A) to have more than one out loud reading and B) listen to themselves with the first reading and realize they really are going to be embarrassed reading in front of the whole class if they don't practice. I thought it was a brilliant plan.
Also, this will help her determine about how long the final project articles ought to be. She wants the kids to read for a significant amount of time--3-5 minutes I think. But, she doesn't know how much they need to fill up that time. So, we're going to look at how long the recordings are and make length requirements for the articles based on that.
Instead of having kids loose on the internet looking up articles about vague, broad topics, we decided to confine them to four broad topics and point them in the direction of some resources. I created a very basic wiki with links to new sources and to sample articles. This way, the students have an idea of where to search, and the sample articles can give them a visual of about how long we want the articles to be.
I wanted to get the entire site set up for the teacher to see, so I did that yesterday. I let her know that I can swap out the articles easily. That way, if the ones I picked are too short/too long, we can fix that. Also, she can look through them and let me know if they are at an appropriate reading level. The students are allowed to use the samples, but I didn't go out of my way to find the most interesting articles (although some of them are pretty interesting.) That way, students are encouraged to find their own. Either way, students will have to read a few articles to find one that they want to read.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Projects Update
The famous Americans project was redirected because of curriculum concerns. In order to fill a curriculum requirement, the teacher has to have the students give a speech. I remain optimistic, though, that another project will happen with that teacher.
The blog project is moving ahead. The teacher involved is being more independent of me than others. He is also having students do most of the work outside of class. I helped him set up the initial structure. The students will be presenting in class as usual, and blogging about it outside of class. I will keep in touch and discuss how to evaluate the blog entries, but I think he has a pretty good idea of what he wants for that as well. I am most curious to get his feedback after the project is complete/once it has gotten started (the structure is set up but the first blog entry probably won't happen til after the break). In past years, students have given feedback to the presentations via a worksheet. I am curious if they will find this method more engaging, and if they will participate in more back and forth as a result of the more interactive nature of the medium. I am inclined to think that they might not, being that they are given only a 24 hour window in which to comment. I plan to suggest that in the future the teacher requires students to comment within 24 hours but gives some motivation (aka extra credit or such) for students to continue the conversation after the first day.
The blog project is moving ahead. The teacher involved is being more independent of me than others. He is also having students do most of the work outside of class. I helped him set up the initial structure. The students will be presenting in class as usual, and blogging about it outside of class. I will keep in touch and discuss how to evaluate the blog entries, but I think he has a pretty good idea of what he wants for that as well. I am most curious to get his feedback after the project is complete/once it has gotten started (the structure is set up but the first blog entry probably won't happen til after the break). In past years, students have given feedback to the presentations via a worksheet. I am curious if they will find this method more engaging, and if they will participate in more back and forth as a result of the more interactive nature of the medium. I am inclined to think that they might not, being that they are given only a 24 hour window in which to comment. I plan to suggest that in the future the teacher requires students to comment within 24 hours but gives some motivation (aka extra credit or such) for students to continue the conversation after the first day.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Managing Resources
So I've finally decided to copy all of the resources from my other wiki and create a new wiki that will be organized in similar fashion.
My first wiki was set up as a private space for my teachers to have access to resources while being free to collaborate, experiment, and discuss without feeling they were being watched. That way, they will be able to more freely brainstorm and more accurately discuss what has and has not worked wand why. It's important for us to be able to fail so we can learn from it, after all. However, that put the depository of all of the resources I have found behind a password. A few CFF colleagues asked for access, so reposting everything in a public spot seemed to be the best solution. My teachers still have a private workspace, and I can share the resources I'm gathering. I haven't been able to use even a small fraction of these resources yet, and I haven't even been able to fully evaluate a significant chunk. But there's a lot here that can probably meet the needs of a variety of people.
My first wiki was set up as a private space for my teachers to have access to resources while being free to collaborate, experiment, and discuss without feeling they were being watched. That way, they will be able to more freely brainstorm and more accurately discuss what has and has not worked wand why. It's important for us to be able to fail so we can learn from it, after all. However, that put the depository of all of the resources I have found behind a password. A few CFF colleagues asked for access, so reposting everything in a public spot seemed to be the best solution. My teachers still have a private workspace, and I can share the resources I'm gathering. I haven't been able to use even a small fraction of these resources yet, and I haven't even been able to fully evaluate a significant chunk. But there's a lot here that can probably meet the needs of a variety of people.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Cell Project--Day Five
I really was going to post about the project every day--but I got busy with actually doing stuff. I haven't gone through all of the finished wikis yet, so its too soon to say if this was a success or not. So I'll just talk about things that went well and things that need to be improved.
This was my first large scale wiki project. So a predictable problem was that I didn't have all of the answers. Not that much of an issue in my opinion. The teacher gets to see that I don't know everything--which hopefully is encouraging (in that all this stuff if learnable). Also, the kids had to see me work through things. I tried as often as I could to let them actually do as I thought (although I'd say I did all the doing more often than not). But I would try to at least explain what I was doing, or why, or why something would or wouldn't work the way they wanted.
The project went better in some classes than others. I think that's always the case. Children did work on dividing up work and working collaboratively. They had to deal with issues of finding information and media resources. I'm not sure how well they did on review or evaluating media resources, though.
We hit some massive snags along the way--including the wireless going down and wikispaces going down.
The teacher and I both have thoughts on what to do differently next time. She thinks it would be a good idea to provide key words that kids have to include--because they didn't really come across them all in their research. She wants to add more structure to the project.
I want it to be more interactive. Students were "posting comment" on the "my space" page by editing their own pages and pretending to be multiple parts of the cell. I think it would be good to have groups post to one anothers pages--that way you have to know your own part well enough to be it, and read someone else's page and learn their cell well enough to talk to it. I think I understand logistically why we didn't do that. Maybe next time, maybe not.
We had to pull together a PBwiki for one of the classes when wikispaces went down. The commenting feature would have been great for the groups to interact, but they cluttered it up with nonsense before the teacher and I had time to regroup and replan.
This was my first large scale wiki project. So a predictable problem was that I didn't have all of the answers. Not that much of an issue in my opinion. The teacher gets to see that I don't know everything--which hopefully is encouraging (in that all this stuff if learnable). Also, the kids had to see me work through things. I tried as often as I could to let them actually do as I thought (although I'd say I did all the doing more often than not). But I would try to at least explain what I was doing, or why, or why something would or wouldn't work the way they wanted.
The project went better in some classes than others. I think that's always the case. Children did work on dividing up work and working collaboratively. They had to deal with issues of finding information and media resources. I'm not sure how well they did on review or evaluating media resources, though.
We hit some massive snags along the way--including the wireless going down and wikispaces going down.
The teacher and I both have thoughts on what to do differently next time. She thinks it would be a good idea to provide key words that kids have to include--because they didn't really come across them all in their research. She wants to add more structure to the project.
I want it to be more interactive. Students were "posting comment" on the "my space" page by editing their own pages and pretending to be multiple parts of the cell. I think it would be good to have groups post to one anothers pages--that way you have to know your own part well enough to be it, and read someone else's page and learn their cell well enough to talk to it. I think I understand logistically why we didn't do that. Maybe next time, maybe not.
We had to pull together a PBwiki for one of the classes when wikispaces went down. The commenting feature would have been great for the groups to interact, but they cluttered it up with nonsense before the teacher and I had time to regroup and replan.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Cell Project--Day One
I went down to the Bio class for day one of the cell project. Some of it didn't go well, some of it did.
An overview of the project--we are having students create "my space" type pages using a wiki. Each group will create a page for a certain part of the cell. They will have to include bffs (the student names) hangouts (where its found in the cell) links (resources used) pictures, etc.
Today the kids signed on and began basic editing. In the first class for some reason creating pages didn't go very well. I would have liked to have tried a different method of page creation, but the teacher said she wanted to create the pages. It didn't take long to do. I think that had I been the teacher, that is the route I'd have taken, too. The first failure was a hassle, although we did overcome it. However, in that situation, with limited time, the last thing you want is to waste more time in another class trying to do the same thing in a slightly different way that might also fail when you have a perfectly valid fool-proof alternative.
I spoke with the teacher who is a little of the opinion that the children are more focused on editing things to make them look nice than on the actual research and info involved in the project.
Its a valid concern.
I've done projects with a fun or "irrelevant" element to them. I think I've found that even though kids will focus on the fun bits, they will get to the information and "meat and potatoes" of it. They just do the fun eye catching stuff first.
She has expressed that she originally wanted to have the students do the research--with old fashioned pen and paper--and then have them create the wiki from it. She has also said that perhaps next year she would have them fill in a pre-created format--with the information--and then let them play with and edit the visuals.
I also think that the "irrelevant" part of this project is not so irrelevant. Teamwork, collaboration, communication, basic computer literacy skills such as editing text and saving often, introduction to wikis, taking responsibility for their own learning, multitasking. None of this trumps the actual biology, but is it on the same level?
And more importantly, is this helping? Is anyone going to get anything out of this project? Are any of the above skills going to be taught or strengthened by this project. Will the biology info be conveyed? Will it be conveyed more effectively, or will children learn it any better, or even at an equal level, than if it had been done in the form of notes?
An overview of the project--we are having students create "my space" type pages using a wiki. Each group will create a page for a certain part of the cell. They will have to include bffs (the student names) hangouts (where its found in the cell) links (resources used) pictures, etc.
Today the kids signed on and began basic editing. In the first class for some reason creating pages didn't go very well. I would have liked to have tried a different method of page creation, but the teacher said she wanted to create the pages. It didn't take long to do. I think that had I been the teacher, that is the route I'd have taken, too. The first failure was a hassle, although we did overcome it. However, in that situation, with limited time, the last thing you want is to waste more time in another class trying to do the same thing in a slightly different way that might also fail when you have a perfectly valid fool-proof alternative.
I spoke with the teacher who is a little of the opinion that the children are more focused on editing things to make them look nice than on the actual research and info involved in the project.
Its a valid concern.
I've done projects with a fun or "irrelevant" element to them. I think I've found that even though kids will focus on the fun bits, they will get to the information and "meat and potatoes" of it. They just do the fun eye catching stuff first.
She has expressed that she originally wanted to have the students do the research--with old fashioned pen and paper--and then have them create the wiki from it. She has also said that perhaps next year she would have them fill in a pre-created format--with the information--and then let them play with and edit the visuals.
I also think that the "irrelevant" part of this project is not so irrelevant. Teamwork, collaboration, communication, basic computer literacy skills such as editing text and saving often, introduction to wikis, taking responsibility for their own learning, multitasking. None of this trumps the actual biology, but is it on the same level?
And more importantly, is this helping? Is anyone going to get anything out of this project? Are any of the above skills going to be taught or strengthened by this project. Will the biology info be conveyed? Will it be conveyed more effectively, or will children learn it any better, or even at an equal level, than if it had been done in the form of notes?
Friday, December 5, 2008
A Few Classroom Projects
I am currently working on three projects with three teachers.
Two of them are very similar.
English--One of the English teachers wanted to update a project that ends with a speech on a famous American. Students spend several days in the library learning research skills and finding information about a famous American. The project usually ends with every student giving a speech. Instead of having students sit through speeches, they are going to take their research and create "MySpace" pages for their Americans in a wiki. They will have to give a bio including what the American did that was significant, and why they are still important today. We are going to include some fun categories that will require some creative thinking from students--blurbs, friends, favorites, etc. After creating the wikis, students will then have to read three classmate's wikis and, in first person of their own American, "post" to the other person's "wall." This will require them again to be creative and decide how people from different time periods who never met might have reacted to one another.
Science--somewhat similar to English. Instead of famous Americans, we are having students create "MySpace" pages for parts of the cell. This project is replacing a poster/PowerPoint assignment. They will again have to use real research and information. They will have to be creative in coming up with favorites. Students will have to collect pictures and create a gallery, and will have to link to their online info sources. They will be required to write one blurb about a cell they met that was lacking their part --i.e the nuclues groups has to write about meeting a cell without a nuclues and what that cell was like. Hopefully, they will also be posting to one another's walls.
Social Studies--this teacher came to me wanted to add a blog for a reflective part of a project. Students have to research a country, and then create and deliver an inclass presentation trying to sell that country. In the past, they have been required to also create a worksheet for others to follow along. At the end of the worksheet, the students in their seats had to explain why they wouldn't buy the country. Now, instead of filling out a worksheet, the students will have to blog about why they wouldn't buy the country. They will have one day after the presentation to post. This gives students more time to reflect, and hopefully the chance to actually interact with one another. We are using a wiki discussion board because a) the teacher liked the organization of doing each country with its own page and b) I'm more familiar with wikis, so I was able to give him more info on how they work and function, etc.
I'm very excited. I'll post updates as they go.
Science is next week
English is the following week
Social Studies is sometime after the break.
Two of them are very similar.
English--One of the English teachers wanted to update a project that ends with a speech on a famous American. Students spend several days in the library learning research skills and finding information about a famous American. The project usually ends with every student giving a speech. Instead of having students sit through speeches, they are going to take their research and create "MySpace" pages for their Americans in a wiki. They will have to give a bio including what the American did that was significant, and why they are still important today. We are going to include some fun categories that will require some creative thinking from students--blurbs, friends, favorites, etc. After creating the wikis, students will then have to read three classmate's wikis and, in first person of their own American, "post" to the other person's "wall." This will require them again to be creative and decide how people from different time periods who never met might have reacted to one another.
Science--somewhat similar to English. Instead of famous Americans, we are having students create "MySpace" pages for parts of the cell. This project is replacing a poster/PowerPoint assignment. They will again have to use real research and information. They will have to be creative in coming up with favorites. Students will have to collect pictures and create a gallery, and will have to link to their online info sources. They will be required to write one blurb about a cell they met that was lacking their part --i.e the nuclues groups has to write about meeting a cell without a nuclues and what that cell was like. Hopefully, they will also be posting to one another's walls.
Social Studies--this teacher came to me wanted to add a blog for a reflective part of a project. Students have to research a country, and then create and deliver an inclass presentation trying to sell that country. In the past, they have been required to also create a worksheet for others to follow along. At the end of the worksheet, the students in their seats had to explain why they wouldn't buy the country. Now, instead of filling out a worksheet, the students will have to blog about why they wouldn't buy the country. They will have one day after the presentation to post. This gives students more time to reflect, and hopefully the chance to actually interact with one another. We are using a wiki discussion board because a) the teacher liked the organization of doing each country with its own page and b) I'm more familiar with wikis, so I was able to give him more info on how they work and function, etc.
I'm very excited. I'll post updates as they go.
Science is next week
English is the following week
Social Studies is sometime after the break.
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