Testing

Agghh-Testing! It's not quite as exciting as 21st century learning, that's for sure. But, it is reality and I'm determined to help my students learn how to be successful testers. Now, I'm not sure how this ties in to my technology journey but it's what is on my mind this week so that's what I'm blogging about.

We just wrapped up CELA testing and CSAP will be here in no time. I don't know that my students, all ELA and a high percentage SPED, have often felt the satisfaction of a test well done. Therefore, this week we are beginning Larry Bell's UNRAAVEL, a method to tackle reading comprehension tests. I believe that just having a game plan to attack a reading passage will help my students immensely. It will give them a place to start and some feeling of control if they have concrete steps to follow. Afterward, we'll spend a while learning how to write "Better Answers" to standardized test prompts. This is based on a text by Ardith Davis Cole called Better Answers: Written Performance That Looks Good and Sounds Smart.

I plan to have my students write pre and post reflections on this process and hope to see a new confidence emerge towards test-taking. Stay tuned!

Jing

This week I finally made my own screen casts with Jing, something I'd been meaning to do for a while now. What a great tool! With an entire class in the computer lab, I'm able to show multiple students how to do something at the same time without saying a word! After three months of school, some of my students were still struggling to save documents to the server. Well, not any more. I keep the Jing video on the eboard for each assignment so they can re-watch as needed. I also used Jing to show students the first steps to setting up a Powerpoint for their book talk. It considerably lessened the number of repeat questions from students and they got a lot more accomplished in one period. Now that I know how easy it is to use it will become a regular part of the implementation of our computer lab activities.

Blogging!

I have spent a few hours setting up a class blog and researching how other teachers have used blogs for teaching and reflection. I'm always amazed by the amount of time it takes to learn a new technology and figure out how to best implement its use in the classroom! And I still have so many questions to answer as well as skills to acquire in order to become proficient at using just this one tool.

I am using Edublog. I am starting with one class blog and will eventually have students set up their own blogs to be linked within our class blog. Here's the URL if you'd like to check out the initial set-up: http://mrsblick.edublogs.org

I will begin the introduction to blogging by looking at examples of other classroom blogs and comment strings. As a class, we'll look at a few examples of blogging guidelines and then come up with our own to include on a page in our blog. I'd like to try and have the students be as involved as possible in the set-up of the initial blog. This way they'll have ownership and learn the skills needed to set up their individual blogs later. I envision these blogs to be used as portfolios for finished writing pieces as well as a reflection of the entire process.

It's a little scary jumping into something so new that none of us have done before. At the same time it is exciting. I'll let you know how it goes. Wish me luck!

Project-Based Learning

As I took another look at the first three chapters of "Reinventing Project-Based Learning," I spent some time viewing blogs and websites the authors recommended. This takes considerable time as I always seem to find a link inside one site that leads me to another and then another, etc.... Then, I begin to feel overwhelmed again by the daunting task of creating a project for my own students. So, I was glad to find a list of some baby steps to get me started at Edutopia.org. I'll create a link here if I can figure out how to do it. It shouldn't be too hard, right? The article gives you things you can do if you have 5 minutes, 5 hours, 5 days, or 5 years. I am going to start by planning mini-lessons for technology skills my students will need in order to participate in a project. First up- creating blogs to have a record the process and for reflection!

Information Literacy

Wow! My head was spinning and I think I was having a slight anxiety attack during this session. There are SO many tools available out there and WAY too much information to possibly examine. Our blog was to center on developing the topic, identifying sources, searching strategies, evaluating sources, etc..., but I don't know where to begin.

Originally, I was thinking I would plan a unit for 2nd Trimester and do the lesson plan for 3rd Trimester. However, I've been rethinking this as I have an exciting unit I'm going to do again this year during 3rd Trimester that lends itself well to integrating research and technology. The name of the unit is "Cowboys" and it draws on my own passion for the subject and therefore generates a lot of excitement among the students. The topic is cross-cultural and lends itself to inquiry. For example, last year one of the questions it brought up was the humane treatment of livestock. This year I'd like to have them take such a question and research it to come up with an opinion piece. How this would look I'm not sure yet but it could be in the form of a written document, blog entries, Powerpoint presentation, class debate, or some sort of simulation. Sounds exciting, doesn't it?

Fair Use

I feel much better about my knowledge of fair use guidelines after yesterday's meeting. I was pleasantly surprised to find that students and teachers receive special consideration when using content for educational purposes. As long as we are using the material for a different purpose than the creator intended, we are pretty safe.

The TED video really got me thinking about how the world is changing and the amazing shifts it's already taken in regards to creation methods and rights. I'm glad our students' generation has access to so many tools to express their creativity and become creators. I hope to foster that expression in the lesson plans and unit I develop for this grant. I know it will benefit my ELA students to be exposed to various applications that they could then access in future situations.

Self-Direction

I believe some of the motivators that drive students to remain engaged in self-directed activities are curiosity about the content, a need to be successful, perfectionism (for a few), and the desire to please. One of the elements I consider to be most motivating is interest. If a student cannot relate to the content it will be a tough sell. One of the things I try to do is find a way to tie the material to my students' lives so that it peaks their interest. I also feel that when I have a good relationship with a student, many times they will stay driven to try to please me. I don't know that this is the best form of motivation but it sure helps!

I often feel overwhelmed by all of the options out there to improve my teaching. There is SO much information out there to research as well as a plethora of techniques, plans, and materials to implement. Thinking about how to motivate students is no different. I could spend days just finding and then deciding which methods to employ. But, I shall not let myself be completely overwhelmed! Instead, I'll remind myself that Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will be my teaching career:)