Do report cards take as long for other teachers as they do me? I've now survived 29 grading periods. Multiply that by 25, the average number of students I have in each class. times two for my two classes of students, LA/social studies and math/science. That makes 1,450 report cards. Oh my ****ing *@#%. And here's the thing I didn't mention, it still takes me an hour to do each one. I haven't gotten any faster. I have this unhealthy, obsessive compulsive tendency to read EVERYTHING my students have done. Do other teachers do that? If anyone is reading this, please tell me I have to stop that.
I got my first comment on my blog! I'm still so excited. Thanks, Jason! I went to Jason's blog, who also went to NCCE and made a comment on his site - my first ever comment! He runs a blog called the Tech-Savvy Teacher... news, reviews and how-tos from a teacher-neard in the field. (It's much cooler than this site.) See, I can't even figure out how to make these links live. Maybe I'll try the help button, later. Anyway, if want to check out Jason's blog, here's the url: http://techsavvyteacher.com/ You'll just have to cut and paste until I work this out.
I have to report my most recent very cool tech discovery. Another teacher and I run a tech club at our school. We've been working on making podcasts where students are reading short picture books to help younger students learn to read. They follow along as they listen to the story read aloud. So, Natalie reads Repunzel. She spends weeks and weeks editing, and it sounds pretty good. But she's horrified at how when she says the word, "cantaloupe," it doesn't come out soft, sweet and melony, instead it's CANTALOUPE!!!! She thinks she leaned forward and got too close to the mic. Also, after the alarming CANTALOUPE!!!!, the entire rest of the podcast is lots louder.
So, I remember hearing something about a free software that levels out loud sounds and soft sounds. I find the notes I took while at NCCE and find the name of this software - the Levelator! Isn't that a great name? So, I find it, download it in a flash, drag her podcast in and it literally spits it out with a normal reading of her entire story. The whole thing took 5 minutes, tops. It was amazing. Here's the link if you run into similar troubles. http://www.gigavox.com/levelator
The last thing I have to mention is this highly disturbing video I saw of amblypigids showing affection for other amblypigids. Do you know what amlypigids are? I didn't either. They're also called whip spiders, although, they're not spiders. They're arachnids, but not spiders. They're creepier than spiders. So creepy, I can't bear to put a picture on this blog. You'll just have to copy and paste to see what they look like. They are apparently the only social "spiders" known. Watch the video. http://www.sciencefriday.com/news/0316072/news0316072.html Listen to the podcast and learn that if they are separated, and don't get to caress each other, they soon get depressed.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Sunday, March 11, 2007
NCCE sessions -Karen Schmitten and Kelly Hinderer - PNW Journeys of Discovery
This was very cool. NCESD got a grant to develop an amazing site that tells the story of exploring and settling the West using primary sources. The site is packed with resources. Make time to look through this. I can't wait to use this with my students.
www.pacificnorthwestjourneys.org
www.pacificnorthwestjourneys.org
NCCE sessions - Patricia Fitzgerald - Connecting Kids to Community through Technology
In this session Patricia shared some projects she had done as a tech teacher who meets with kids for short periods of time once or twice a week. She did a very cool intergenerational project to celebrate Valentine's Day with people in a retirement home. The kids made a slide show with old and current pictures of the residents, played old music, made comparisons with today and the 1920s, sang songs and recited poetry. They even had a dance. There were other projects, such as learning what your grandparent did at the age of 9. Students made PowerPoint presentations comparing their lives. The grandparents came in for a lunch and to see their projects. There were some good ideas. The one that occurred to me, which I'm embarrassed never to have thought of before, is to meet with old people in a retirement home and learn about a speicific time in history they've lived through. Interview them, do outside research, write about it, and ask for their input. Doesn't sound as good now that it's in text, but wouldn't that be cool? Studying the Depression? Do some research, take it some old folks, ask what they think about what you've got written. I bet that might get them talking. And it would teach students about using multiple resources, the value of primary resources vs. secondary resources. I'll have to try it.
NCCE sessions - Hall Davidson - Staggeringly Good Things Mixing Google Earth and Media
This was very cool. Davidson taught us how to interlay photographs, video files and audio files on Google Earth. Apparently you can save pmz files of your own Goolgle Earth with unique quilities. Yes, your own Google Earth. He showed an example of someone who had created one of all the places mentioned by William Shakespeare. This guy wrote commenst and linked castles, photos, etc to places mentioned in Shakespeare's writing. It's a great idea, and I'd demo it with maybe some pictures over Spokane, but I know it would eat up another couple of hours and I have to start report cards. Here's a link to Hall Davidson's handout. Then you can figure it out and tell me about it.
http://discoveryeducation.typepad.com/media_matters/
http://discoveryeducation.typepad.com/media_matters/
NCCE workshop - Chris Hayden and Allan Dunn - Cool Tools 4 Tech Teachers
This workshop was a complete disappointment. But there was one valuable aspect that came from it—a video he shared of a guy named Sir Ken Robinson talking about education and creativity.
He said, “Kids starting in school today will retire in 2065, but we have no idea what the world will look like in 5 years – yet we’re supposed to prepare them for the world.” What does this mean for us as teachers and places of “education” and “preparation for the world”? He thinks it means that we need to teach kids to be creative. I would add adaptive to change (King’s message) He argues that we educate out of students the ability to be creative. That kids, at a very young age, are artists, and creative, etc. As adults, we are no longer those things. I think there is some truth to that, not completely. I think there’s some developmental stuff that goes on as we age that tells us to be more self-conscious and not free feel like we’re great at everything we do, but I grant that we educators hone in on only a select group of skills, creativity is not necessarily one of them. He talked about how in all cultures across the world we list the same subjects as our priority and art as the least priority. Among the subjects in art, theater and dance are at the bottom. Why? He then talks about academics, you know, the professor-types, that see their bodies as used only for transporting their brains, really one half of their brains, from place to place.
There is some very scary truth to this. Just think that back when I was in college, grad school even! No one had laptops! My transition from college to real world is so different, and we had no idea. What I am that has allowed me to function is adaptable. Open to change, curious, risk-taking, and shall I say, creative? Imagine what our students will encounter when they leave school. Are these the bare minimum skills we need to teach? I don't think that's in the GLEs.
Check out the video at http://tedblog.typepad.com/tedblog/2006/06/sir_ken_robinso.html#
He said, “Kids starting in school today will retire in 2065, but we have no idea what the world will look like in 5 years – yet we’re supposed to prepare them for the world.” What does this mean for us as teachers and places of “education” and “preparation for the world”? He thinks it means that we need to teach kids to be creative. I would add adaptive to change (King’s message) He argues that we educate out of students the ability to be creative. That kids, at a very young age, are artists, and creative, etc. As adults, we are no longer those things. I think there is some truth to that, not completely. I think there’s some developmental stuff that goes on as we age that tells us to be more self-conscious and not free feel like we’re great at everything we do, but I grant that we educators hone in on only a select group of skills, creativity is not necessarily one of them. He talked about how in all cultures across the world we list the same subjects as our priority and art as the least priority. Among the subjects in art, theater and dance are at the bottom. Why? He then talks about academics, you know, the professor-types, that see their bodies as used only for transporting their brains, really one half of their brains, from place to place.
There is some very scary truth to this. Just think that back when I was in college, grad school even! No one had laptops! My transition from college to real world is so different, and we had no idea. What I am that has allowed me to function is adaptable. Open to change, curious, risk-taking, and shall I say, creative? Imagine what our students will encounter when they leave school. Are these the bare minimum skills we need to teach? I don't think that's in the GLEs.
Check out the video at http://tedblog.typepad.com/tedblog/2006/06/sir_ken_robinso.html#
NCCE sessions - Jennifer Arms - Web 2.0 Cool Tools
Jennifer Arms broke down Web 2.0 into three components:
1. User generated content – blogs, wikis,
2. Social Networking – myspace, 2nd life
3. Web 2.0 puts power in communities -ratemyteacher.com (I haven't been rated. I checked.)
The best part of this session was learning how to text message google and get information. I found what sms stands for. That’s cool. Not what sms stands for, but instant info from my phone. She also talked about how teachers have taught architecture, cooking and language classes in 2nd life.
I should build myself an avatar, and look for some social bookmarking to add to my site. I need to be more hip. She had a lot to offer that I need to spend some time looking through and trying out. Just as soon as I'm done with report cards.
1. User generated content – blogs, wikis,
2. Social Networking – myspace, 2nd life
3. Web 2.0 puts power in communities -ratemyteacher.com (I haven't been rated. I checked.)
The best part of this session was learning how to text message google and get information. I found what sms stands for. That’s cool. Not what sms stands for, but instant info from my phone. She also talked about how teachers have taught architecture, cooking and language classes in 2nd life.
I should build myself an avatar, and look for some social bookmarking to add to my site. I need to be more hip. She had a lot to offer that I need to spend some time looking through and trying out. Just as soon as I'm done with report cards.
NCCE sessions - Will Richardson - Webloggs in Schools
This was a good session. He talked about how Blogs are entirely reading based. That’s true for the writer, not just those who subscribe. True, they can be journals or diaries, but their intention is much more intellectual. In them, you’re supposed to make connections, collaborate, reflect, people respond and push back, you develop a network, community building, etc. That's an interesting idea. Was I supposed to read something before starting this blog?
He also talked about how there’s a certain progression for kids in attaining the skills necessary for being members in our society, today’s society where this is how we network and learn. At the high school level, they should be connecting with others, collaborating, blogging, reading blogs, etc. How do we get them there? We start early. At the elementary level, they begin getting comfortable with having an audience for their writing. That’s not easy. It may not be as sophisticated as where we want them to go, but we have to start them somewhere. The sophistication will come later.
He also talked about how there’s a certain progression for kids in attaining the skills necessary for being members in our society, today’s society where this is how we network and learn. At the high school level, they should be connecting with others, collaborating, blogging, reading blogs, etc. How do we get them there? We start early. At the elementary level, they begin getting comfortable with having an audience for their writing. That’s not easy. It may not be as sophisticated as where we want them to go, but we have to start them somewhere. The sophistication will come later.
NCCE sessions - Tony Vincent - Radio for Kids, by Kids
Tony Vincent is the creator of Radio Willowweb, which is massively cool! I say "massive" because it is. It involves the entire school population. It’s inspiring to see what an entire school can do when it comes together to put on a “radio show”. It serves as a great example of how our new Bow Lake could potentially build school community by sharing learning through a school-wide podcast. Check it out at http://www.mpsomaha.org/willow/radio/
NCCE 2007 - Keynote speaker Angus King
Angus King kicked off the NCCE conference on Thursday. If you don't know who he is, (I certainly didn't) he's the former governor of Maine, who brought laptop computers to all 7th graders in the state. King told this story about how much everyone hated his idea from the start. Kids would wreck them, it’d be a waste, they thought he was stupid, etc. He thought maybe people were just afraid of change.
You know, I don't think that was it, although, I do think people are afraid of change. I think people are much more self-centered, and they know that they got along fine in school without a laptop computer. I still think of myself as young. I'm turning 35 this year and when I think back to when I was in school, even grad school, no one had a laptop computer. No one! They could be purchased by the time I was in grad school eleven years ago, but no one owned one. They were huge and clunky. We all, including myself, went to the computer lab or worked on our one desktop at home. I think the reason people objected is because they didn't understand the value because they've never had one themselves or they didn't see how it could have helped them when they were in school. But the world isn't the same today as what it was when they were in school. And the skills we need to teach students to learn in this world isn't the same as it was when people who are still in school were in school!
I like what Angus King said about progress and change. He gave an example of how the Transporation Secretary was excited that he got funding to pave 80 more miles worth of road that he didn't have last year. King asks, are we just making incremental steps that really don’t amount to anything? Is it really progress if we’re still stuck in the status quo? Do the limits of our creativity confine us to stay the same, making literally no progress? (That last one was my questions.) Another term I hate, just cause it’s overused, is “think outside the box.” (I really hate that term, I'm cringing now as I write it.) But maybe that’s what’s not happening. I’m thinking about this in terms of the new Bow Lake. (I haven't mentioned this yet, but my school is being closed and the district is building a new school to house the students in my school, and the students in a nearby school called Bow Lake. It'll be at the site of the old Bow Lake, so, we'll all be "Bow Lake" starting next year.) Where do we see technology fitting into our ideas of school community, world citizenship, and all the wonderful ideas we wrote into our mission statement? If x, then… what? If what we want in our school is all this wonderful stuff that makes us love to teach and our kids love to learn, how do we get there? And do we do it by continuing with the status quo? With incremental steps or real change? What’s real change? Is it Valley View or Bow Lake that will see the real change? (I'll have to write more about the school closing issue. There's lots on my mind about it, and if you don't know about it, this may not make a whole lot of sense, sorry.)
He closed with two really good quotes that I think are worth mentioning. The first, I didnt write down, so this is a paraphrase. It comes from Charles Darwin. "Evolution isn't survival of the fittest, it’s those that could adapt to change that survived." (Maybe it just depends on how you define "fittest".) And the second quote comes from Wayne Gretsky: "I skate to where the puck is going to be. Everyone else skates to where it is." I've been thinking a lot more about that idea than I expected. It is telling about what we need to do as educators to really prepare students for the world. If we don't know where the puck is going, what use are we?
You know, I don't think that was it, although, I do think people are afraid of change. I think people are much more self-centered, and they know that they got along fine in school without a laptop computer. I still think of myself as young. I'm turning 35 this year and when I think back to when I was in school, even grad school, no one had a laptop computer. No one! They could be purchased by the time I was in grad school eleven years ago, but no one owned one. They were huge and clunky. We all, including myself, went to the computer lab or worked on our one desktop at home. I think the reason people objected is because they didn't understand the value because they've never had one themselves or they didn't see how it could have helped them when they were in school. But the world isn't the same today as what it was when they were in school. And the skills we need to teach students to learn in this world isn't the same as it was when people who are still in school were in school!
I like what Angus King said about progress and change. He gave an example of how the Transporation Secretary was excited that he got funding to pave 80 more miles worth of road that he didn't have last year. King asks, are we just making incremental steps that really don’t amount to anything? Is it really progress if we’re still stuck in the status quo? Do the limits of our creativity confine us to stay the same, making literally no progress? (That last one was my questions.) Another term I hate, just cause it’s overused, is “think outside the box.” (I really hate that term, I'm cringing now as I write it.) But maybe that’s what’s not happening. I’m thinking about this in terms of the new Bow Lake. (I haven't mentioned this yet, but my school is being closed and the district is building a new school to house the students in my school, and the students in a nearby school called Bow Lake. It'll be at the site of the old Bow Lake, so, we'll all be "Bow Lake" starting next year.) Where do we see technology fitting into our ideas of school community, world citizenship, and all the wonderful ideas we wrote into our mission statement? If x, then… what? If what we want in our school is all this wonderful stuff that makes us love to teach and our kids love to learn, how do we get there? And do we do it by continuing with the status quo? With incremental steps or real change? What’s real change? Is it Valley View or Bow Lake that will see the real change? (I'll have to write more about the school closing issue. There's lots on my mind about it, and if you don't know about it, this may not make a whole lot of sense, sorry.)
He closed with two really good quotes that I think are worth mentioning. The first, I didnt write down, so this is a paraphrase. It comes from Charles Darwin. "Evolution isn't survival of the fittest, it’s those that could adapt to change that survived." (Maybe it just depends on how you define "fittest".) And the second quote comes from Wayne Gretsky: "I skate to where the puck is going to be. Everyone else skates to where it is." I've been thinking a lot more about that idea than I expected. It is telling about what we need to do as educators to really prepare students for the world. If we don't know where the puck is going, what use are we?
NCCE 2007 - Keynote speaker William Richardson
Last week I went to the Northwest Council for Computer Education conference in Spokane, where a number of teacher geeks convened to talk about how they're integrating technology in their classrooms. It was thought provoking and inspiring. Here are some of the ideas I'm left thinking about after the experience. I'm going to start with one of our keynote speakers, William Richardson, who spoke to us at the tired end of the conference, Friday at 3:00.
William Richardson runs a site (www.weblogg-ed.com) where he posts all of his thoughts about teaching, education and the world. (I'll have to start reading it.) His talk focused on how much the world has changed and that in order for people to function in it, they have to be learners. Learning today means making connections with people and building a community of learners. If we are teachers of students, then we have to teach students how to be learning in that environment and model that to them. That means we've got to be doing it. Here are some interesting points he made:
• My space would be the 9th biggest country in the world if it were physical space. (I think he's thinking in terms of population.)
• Anyone can take MIT courses on line. All of their classes are posted, syllabus, readings, lectures, everything. Can you imagine? And it's FREE! Search for MIT Open Courseware or go here: http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html You can be an astronaut!
• Every kid in Libya will be connected to the internet soon. They have some $100 laptop deal.
• He used the www.martinlutherking.org site as an example of how if you don’t know who’s behind the site, or how to find that information, you are illiterate. (It’s Aryan nation)
• Most of the content has not been edited, so we have to edit. We have to teach students to edit.
• We don’t know what the top 20 jobs will be in the future. It’s not about content, it’s about learning. We don’t know what content they will need. The technologies are not that difficult. It’s understanding the pedagogy.
He ended with these final questions for us:
o Who are your teachers? (He's broadening this term beyond Mr. Huff, my 5th grade teacher. He's giving everyone who networks with him the distinction of being his teacher because they offer new ideas to him.)
o Are you building those networks and learning within those networks?
o Are you modeling your learning for your students? -We’re not modeling it in the way that our kids need to see it. We need to be transparent about our learning.
This was a powerful talk, because he basically changed the way I saw teachers and their roles. There is no question that we can see where the world is headed. It is our job to teach our students to be able to function successfully in that world. That means that teachers to need to learn how to do that for themselves. No longer is there an argument for them to learn in an old fashioned way. The Dewey Decimal system? Ancient. Maybe even writing on paper is approaching ancient status. Kids need to learn to read, write, they need to understand science, history, they need understand how government works, their role as citizens and they need to know math. We are teaching that. Whew… But, they aren’t learning how to be discriminatory in choosing where they get their information. They’re not learning how to collaborate with others. With our literacy program, I’ve been working hard to get my kids to communicate their thinking. Usually about what they’re reading or what we’re learning about. This has important value and will be a life skill in the world that is evolving. More emphasis should be placed here. It also seems obvious that kids need to learn how to type. And that one to one ratio of kids to computers does seem powerful. We as teachers, can no longer teach the way we were taught. And, we need to jump into the evolving world and experience it for ourselves so that we can bring it to our students and help them make sense of it. Because, they're already out there doing it, whether they're doing it safely or responsibly or not.
William Richardson runs a site (www.weblogg-ed.com) where he posts all of his thoughts about teaching, education and the world. (I'll have to start reading it.) His talk focused on how much the world has changed and that in order for people to function in it, they have to be learners. Learning today means making connections with people and building a community of learners. If we are teachers of students, then we have to teach students how to be learning in that environment and model that to them. That means we've got to be doing it. Here are some interesting points he made:
• My space would be the 9th biggest country in the world if it were physical space. (I think he's thinking in terms of population.)
• Anyone can take MIT courses on line. All of their classes are posted, syllabus, readings, lectures, everything. Can you imagine? And it's FREE! Search for MIT Open Courseware or go here: http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html You can be an astronaut!
• Every kid in Libya will be connected to the internet soon. They have some $100 laptop deal.
• He used the www.martinlutherking.org site as an example of how if you don’t know who’s behind the site, or how to find that information, you are illiterate. (It’s Aryan nation)
• Most of the content has not been edited, so we have to edit. We have to teach students to edit.
• We don’t know what the top 20 jobs will be in the future. It’s not about content, it’s about learning. We don’t know what content they will need. The technologies are not that difficult. It’s understanding the pedagogy.
He ended with these final questions for us:
o Who are your teachers? (He's broadening this term beyond Mr. Huff, my 5th grade teacher. He's giving everyone who networks with him the distinction of being his teacher because they offer new ideas to him.)
o Are you building those networks and learning within those networks?
o Are you modeling your learning for your students? -We’re not modeling it in the way that our kids need to see it. We need to be transparent about our learning.
This was a powerful talk, because he basically changed the way I saw teachers and their roles. There is no question that we can see where the world is headed. It is our job to teach our students to be able to function successfully in that world. That means that teachers to need to learn how to do that for themselves. No longer is there an argument for them to learn in an old fashioned way. The Dewey Decimal system? Ancient. Maybe even writing on paper is approaching ancient status. Kids need to learn to read, write, they need to understand science, history, they need understand how government works, their role as citizens and they need to know math. We are teaching that. Whew… But, they aren’t learning how to be discriminatory in choosing where they get their information. They’re not learning how to collaborate with others. With our literacy program, I’ve been working hard to get my kids to communicate their thinking. Usually about what they’re reading or what we’re learning about. This has important value and will be a life skill in the world that is evolving. More emphasis should be placed here. It also seems obvious that kids need to learn how to type. And that one to one ratio of kids to computers does seem powerful. We as teachers, can no longer teach the way we were taught. And, we need to jump into the evolving world and experience it for ourselves so that we can bring it to our students and help them make sense of it. Because, they're already out there doing it, whether they're doing it safely or responsibly or not.
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