While working with the Social Studies teacher on his Business Plan project, I got an email from one of the Science teachers. She was having blue tooth issues--which is unfortunately not something I'm that good at helping with.
While I was trouble shooting, we got to talking. Her students are currently working on presentations for infectious diseases. She wanted to be able to video tape all of the students and put each presentation on a CD. While we were talking, we started throwing around ideas, and got to the idea of allowing the students to edit their presentation videos in Movie Maker. That way, they could edit out long pauses or such.
I told her I was doing something similar with the Social Studies teacher, and invited her to stop down and check out how things were going if she had time. I also said that I would try to estimate, based on that project, how long she would want to give her students for editing.
She seems to like the idea. It gives another dimension to the project, and it gives the kids a chance to basically give themselves a second chance if their presentations don't go off perfectly.
Showing posts with label conversations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conversations. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Foreign Language Department Meeting
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.
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.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Foreign Language Dept
I finally had a meeting with the non CFF teachers today. I had been unsure if this was going to happen, but, as they are now allowed to use the laptop carts, I strongly felt it was needed.
I wasn't sure what to expect. I had a larger turnout than I'd anticipated. I was on my own--no one from admin or the tech department was able to make the meeting. Still, things went really well. I almost forgot to print a meeting agenda, but I managed to pull one together about fifteen minutes before the meeting, and I had a cart to demonstrate with. I didn't have access to the internet, which meant I wasn't able to show any of the image files I wanted (I couldn't log onto the computer because it was not connected to the network, and I don't have a local logon for the room I was using).
When I took questions at the end of the meeting, I got a lot from the two Foreign Language teachers. Since the work day was over, I eventually thanked everyone for coming and asked the FL teachers if they wanted to stick around and go over some things (I also wanted to lock the laptop cart up before its storage room was locked for the night).
They are very eager to use the laptops. Their first thought was using the laptops to access their online text books. Previously, they had had to have students do this as homework, and even that was not an ideal situation since some students did not have access to the internet. As we talked, we discussed using the laptops with headphones for listening activities. I mentioned the Audacity activity I had done for reading fluency, and they liked the idea of doing something similar. We also talked about having students make and record vokis and use muchobeets flashcards. I hope to also bring up the idea of collaborating or communicating with native speakers. This will be more difficult without student emails, but doable with tools such as blogs, wikis, nings, skype, etc.
One of the teachers I was talking to was the dept. chair. At one point, she said she wanted to share and talk about some of these ideas with other teachers in her department, and I told her that, if she wanted to have a dept. meeting, I would be more than happy to come and talk with them.
I'm glad that, even though foreign language wasn't included in CFF at my school at the beginning, I will have the chance to work with them now. I'm really looking forward to it.
I wasn't sure what to expect. I had a larger turnout than I'd anticipated. I was on my own--no one from admin or the tech department was able to make the meeting. Still, things went really well. I almost forgot to print a meeting agenda, but I managed to pull one together about fifteen minutes before the meeting, and I had a cart to demonstrate with. I didn't have access to the internet, which meant I wasn't able to show any of the image files I wanted (I couldn't log onto the computer because it was not connected to the network, and I don't have a local logon for the room I was using).
When I took questions at the end of the meeting, I got a lot from the two Foreign Language teachers. Since the work day was over, I eventually thanked everyone for coming and asked the FL teachers if they wanted to stick around and go over some things (I also wanted to lock the laptop cart up before its storage room was locked for the night).
They are very eager to use the laptops. Their first thought was using the laptops to access their online text books. Previously, they had had to have students do this as homework, and even that was not an ideal situation since some students did not have access to the internet. As we talked, we discussed using the laptops with headphones for listening activities. I mentioned the Audacity activity I had done for reading fluency, and they liked the idea of doing something similar. We also talked about having students make and record vokis and use muchobeets flashcards. I hope to also bring up the idea of collaborating or communicating with native speakers. This will be more difficult without student emails, but doable with tools such as blogs, wikis, nings, skype, etc.
One of the teachers I was talking to was the dept. chair. At one point, she said she wanted to share and talk about some of these ideas with other teachers in her department, and I told her that, if she wanted to have a dept. meeting, I would be more than happy to come and talk with them.
I'm glad that, even though foreign language wasn't included in CFF at my school at the beginning, I will have the chance to work with them now. I'm really looking forward to it.
CFF teacher Meeting
Over the past two days, I have met with the new CFF teachers.
Meeting with CFF teachers can actually be a trick at my school. Unfortunately, just because of the way we set up the program, it isn't really all that possible to bring in subs to cover classes. And, because of time issues, there's really only a 30 minute (20 minute after waiting for students to get out of the halls and teachers to pack up for the day) window after school when all teachers must be in the building. I've tried making meetings before school, but a lot of teachers don't have time--they don't show up on time, or they have to prep for the days classes. And, we can't make teachers stay any later--even offering to allow them to leave early the following day isn't much of an incentive for most. And, most of the time, meetings can't be mandatory--I don't have that authority.
So, after a great deal of emailing, my principal finally did make a mandatory CFF meeting for new CFF teachers. I didn't get exactly what I wanted--a meeting for all teachers, CFF and non, new and old--but life is about compromise.
The meetings were identical, but divided into two groups to make sure that a) everyone had a chance to attend and b) keep attendance small (this was when I was still expecting more teachers) so that the Tech Director and I could answer questions without them getting out of hand.
The agenda was simple: real basic intro to your laptops, whiteboards, and projectors. Laptops came first. The basic rules were, know where your cart is housed (up to six teachers are now sharing each cart, and each cart has a permanent home) keep the carts plugged in, make sure students remove and replace laptops carefully and plug them in, and report tech issue to the tech department, not the person keeping the cart. I of course also emphasized that there was to be no eating or drinking while students used the computers. The whiteboard/projector intro was equally basic: how to turn it on, open ActivStudio, plug in all the wires, shut it down, flip between computer and video. The Tech Director also emphasized not turning the projectors on and off too frequently to lengthen the life of the bulb.
So all that was lacking was...any sort of mention of integration. Again, compromise. I'd been hoping to have a longer meeting (or two--one for laptops, and one for projectors). But in a school, time is not something easily come by.
I've created a sort of sign up sheet for my teachers. In some ways, I think one on one instruction/conversation about HOW to use the technology--not just how to make it function, but how to integrate it and make it meaningful--is going to work better than large group instruction. To that end, I created and shared a google doc with all of the teachers, so they can sign up for when they want to meet with me.
I probably could have done better, and maybe even thought the entire process through a little more. Since I won't have a chance to meet with teachers face to face to introduce google docs and walk them through the set up, I emailed them directions on how to set up a google account and access the shared document. Then, all they had to do was type their name into the cell on the chart for the day/period that they wanted to meet with me. It seemed simple.
But, I forgot about the verification email that google sent out. Its sometimes hard to remember these things, when I signed up for this or that program so long ago. The verification email from google had a list of links to google apps that teachers now have access to. That tripped some up. I sent out another email that had the original link to my shared document, hoping that that would be enough to keep frustration levels low, but I fear that teachers just don't have time to be patient with a mistake like that.
For now, I'm hoping that, if I wait til Monday, and send out another email with all the directions (better directions that explain that the links in the verification email will not lead to my document) teachers will forgive and forget.
Even with the sign up issues, I've still had the chance to work with three teachers one on one so far. Working one on one allows me to go at their pace, address their questions, and gives each teacher time to use the equipment--instead of doing a one size fits all group training.
And, even though I had trouble getting folks to sign up for google docs, one of the "cart keepers" decided to create a google docs sign out sheet. I swung by to help her set it up and share it. Most of my advice revolved around giving clear instructions on how the set up process worked. I hope that she has better luck than me.
Meeting with CFF teachers can actually be a trick at my school. Unfortunately, just because of the way we set up the program, it isn't really all that possible to bring in subs to cover classes. And, because of time issues, there's really only a 30 minute (20 minute after waiting for students to get out of the halls and teachers to pack up for the day) window after school when all teachers must be in the building. I've tried making meetings before school, but a lot of teachers don't have time--they don't show up on time, or they have to prep for the days classes. And, we can't make teachers stay any later--even offering to allow them to leave early the following day isn't much of an incentive for most. And, most of the time, meetings can't be mandatory--I don't have that authority.
So, after a great deal of emailing, my principal finally did make a mandatory CFF meeting for new CFF teachers. I didn't get exactly what I wanted--a meeting for all teachers, CFF and non, new and old--but life is about compromise.
The meetings were identical, but divided into two groups to make sure that a) everyone had a chance to attend and b) keep attendance small (this was when I was still expecting more teachers) so that the Tech Director and I could answer questions without them getting out of hand.
The agenda was simple: real basic intro to your laptops, whiteboards, and projectors. Laptops came first. The basic rules were, know where your cart is housed (up to six teachers are now sharing each cart, and each cart has a permanent home) keep the carts plugged in, make sure students remove and replace laptops carefully and plug them in, and report tech issue to the tech department, not the person keeping the cart. I of course also emphasized that there was to be no eating or drinking while students used the computers. The whiteboard/projector intro was equally basic: how to turn it on, open ActivStudio, plug in all the wires, shut it down, flip between computer and video. The Tech Director also emphasized not turning the projectors on and off too frequently to lengthen the life of the bulb.
So all that was lacking was...any sort of mention of integration. Again, compromise. I'd been hoping to have a longer meeting (or two--one for laptops, and one for projectors). But in a school, time is not something easily come by.
I've created a sort of sign up sheet for my teachers. In some ways, I think one on one instruction/conversation about HOW to use the technology--not just how to make it function, but how to integrate it and make it meaningful--is going to work better than large group instruction. To that end, I created and shared a google doc with all of the teachers, so they can sign up for when they want to meet with me.
I probably could have done better, and maybe even thought the entire process through a little more. Since I won't have a chance to meet with teachers face to face to introduce google docs and walk them through the set up, I emailed them directions on how to set up a google account and access the shared document. Then, all they had to do was type their name into the cell on the chart for the day/period that they wanted to meet with me. It seemed simple.
But, I forgot about the verification email that google sent out. Its sometimes hard to remember these things, when I signed up for this or that program so long ago. The verification email from google had a list of links to google apps that teachers now have access to. That tripped some up. I sent out another email that had the original link to my shared document, hoping that that would be enough to keep frustration levels low, but I fear that teachers just don't have time to be patient with a mistake like that.
For now, I'm hoping that, if I wait til Monday, and send out another email with all the directions (better directions that explain that the links in the verification email will not lead to my document) teachers will forgive and forget.
Even with the sign up issues, I've still had the chance to work with three teachers one on one so far. Working one on one allows me to go at their pace, address their questions, and gives each teacher time to use the equipment--instead of doing a one size fits all group training.
And, even though I had trouble getting folks to sign up for google docs, one of the "cart keepers" decided to create a google docs sign out sheet. I swung by to help her set it up and share it. Most of my advice revolved around giving clear instructions on how the set up process worked. I hope that she has better luck than me.
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, February 18, 2009
Reading Project--End
I haven't had a chance to update on this project.
With snow days, conferences, and trainings, I was out of the building for the very end of the project. The Reading teacher told me that she had very little trouble finishing up the recordings. She had a few absent kids that she had to record after the official end of the project. She had one student who refused to read in front of the class, but agreed to be recorded after school.
We had some time to discuss the assessment for the project. Most of that was decided early on, because she had to give the students a rubric. The whole project was 75 points, with 5 points each given for meeting deadlines along the way. Twenty points were given for creativity in selecting the article and modifying it for speaking. And, 15 points each were given for accuracy, pace, and emotion. So, the bulk of what was assessed was the three main goals that she had for the read aloud. We were a little worried about having so many points for the creativity with the assignment, but it did end up being a large part of the WORK involved. The teacher took notes while the students read live, and then used the recordings to be able to revisit and look at specifics. So even grading this assignment turned into a large time commitment for her.
Throughout this assignment, we've talked about changes that we would like to make for next year. After having started the recordings, I was made aware that several teachers have actual video cameras, so I would like to use those next year. Also, we talked about using monologues that would be performance ready, to cut down on the prep time and frustration for students, and allow the project to be more clearly focused on reading out loud. I think this year, the students could very easily come away from this project feeling like it was an internet search and writing project. We are still not in agreement about having the same reading being used for the initial recording/reflection and the second recording, or having part of the grade based on the improvements listed in the reflection. i think it is important for me to try to be practical. These are not my classes, and I am not ultimately responsible for grading their assignments. Partly, I think this might be a matter of not having high expectations--the Reading teacher does not feel that the students are able to write good reflections and therefore to get much out of them. My main goal for next year will be to get the teacher to model writing a good reflection. If the reflections improve, perhaps she will see value in adding that as an assessment component in the future.
All in all I think this project was successful. The students all had to read aloud in front of the class, focusing on accuracy, pace, and emotion. There are aspect of the assignment that can, and hopefully will, be improved upon to allow the students to learn more from it in the future.
With snow days, conferences, and trainings, I was out of the building for the very end of the project. The Reading teacher told me that she had very little trouble finishing up the recordings. She had a few absent kids that she had to record after the official end of the project. She had one student who refused to read in front of the class, but agreed to be recorded after school.
We had some time to discuss the assessment for the project. Most of that was decided early on, because she had to give the students a rubric. The whole project was 75 points, with 5 points each given for meeting deadlines along the way. Twenty points were given for creativity in selecting the article and modifying it for speaking. And, 15 points each were given for accuracy, pace, and emotion. So, the bulk of what was assessed was the three main goals that she had for the read aloud. We were a little worried about having so many points for the creativity with the assignment, but it did end up being a large part of the WORK involved. The teacher took notes while the students read live, and then used the recordings to be able to revisit and look at specifics. So even grading this assignment turned into a large time commitment for her.
Throughout this assignment, we've talked about changes that we would like to make for next year. After having started the recordings, I was made aware that several teachers have actual video cameras, so I would like to use those next year. Also, we talked about using monologues that would be performance ready, to cut down on the prep time and frustration for students, and allow the project to be more clearly focused on reading out loud. I think this year, the students could very easily come away from this project feeling like it was an internet search and writing project. We are still not in agreement about having the same reading being used for the initial recording/reflection and the second recording, or having part of the grade based on the improvements listed in the reflection. i think it is important for me to try to be practical. These are not my classes, and I am not ultimately responsible for grading their assignments. Partly, I think this might be a matter of not having high expectations--the Reading teacher does not feel that the students are able to write good reflections and therefore to get much out of them. My main goal for next year will be to get the teacher to model writing a good reflection. If the reflections improve, perhaps she will see value in adding that as an assessment component in the future.
All in all I think this project was successful. The students all had to read aloud in front of the class, focusing on accuracy, pace, and emotion. There are aspect of the assignment that can, and hopefully will, be improved upon to allow the students to learn more from it in the future.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
