I was nervous about going back to school. The last time I was in school I did not have a full-time job, a home of my own, a husband, or a child. Now all of that has changed and I worried that I wouldn't be able to balance my time among my many demands. While it hasn't been easy, I've been able to manage it and I am so happy I've started this program. This course has been exciting from day one and I don't regret my decision to go back to school one bit. In fact, over the past two or so months, I've become even more excited about becoming a media specialist, and I actually regret only taking one course.
I had no idea how much I didn't know! The thought of using podcasts or digital stories (both of which I barely knew anything about before this course) to teach content is so refreshing. (And who knew Kate Paixao would be able to learn how to use Photoshop?) When I return to working in a school, I know it's going to be so different from the pencil, paper, and text book culture that I left only four years ago.
My hopes for the rest of the semester is to learn as much as I possibly can, because I know I can use all of this in my own classroom/library. I am nervous about my Web site. I'm one of the few starting from scratch, and while I have taken courses in XHTML and have experience and knowledge of the technical side of this, I am not very good at the creative end of making a Web page look nice. I have the Robin Williams book which I hope will help, and I'm going to do my absolute best. I worry because I really want this Web site to be amazing, and while I know I can make it work with all of the bells and whistles, I want it to look appealing as well. That will be my challenge. Will we be breaking off with Hugh to work on these again, or are we restricted to lab hours at this point?
I don't want to call this a suggestion, because this is something that's out of your control. I know that as a professor you are very busy, but for the first five weeks of class I was a little nervous about how I was doing because I hadn't had any feedback up until that point. Once I read your comments on my blog at that time, my mind was put at ease. On the other hand, you have made this class so interesting and I can never believe it when 9:15 rolls around because the time just seems to fly. Keep up the good work, and thank you for motivating me!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Response to Digital Goonies
I was pleasantly surprised to see the tree octopus in one of the Digital Goonies' recent postings (I wrote a post about the tree octopus earlier.) I had heard about this Web site more than a year ago, so I thought it was old news, but I guess not. Jim mentioned similar activities to those that I listed when using a Web site like that. He also listed others that are pretty much the same idea... hoaxes. I'd really like to use these one day if I have an opportunity to teach media literacy.
I also found the posting on dialmycalls.com to be useful. It would be great if something happened last minute and I had to contact all of my students' families all at once, I could make a recording and send it to all of them. How easy and practical!
I also found superlame.com to be a fun site for making creative projects. This site helps the user to make speech bubbles and such to add to their own photos.
I also found the posting on dialmycalls.com to be useful. It would be great if something happened last minute and I had to contact all of my students' families all at once, I could make a recording and send it to all of them. How easy and practical!
I also found superlame.com to be a fun site for making creative projects. This site helps the user to make speech bubbles and such to add to their own photos.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
WebQuest Possibilities
I found two WebQuests that would work great for a school librarian in a high school. The first is called Huck Finn's Eyes, the second, Periods of American Literature.
Response to Inquiry-based Learning
Inquiry-based learning has been a hot topic at my company lately. We are striving to meet teachers' needs in this aspect. I find it challenging to think of things to offer teachers. I write magazines for Pre-K and Kindergarten students. What kind of inquiry-based activities can you offer such young children when your only medium is print? If I was teaching one of these grades, I think I'd find it easier to tackle, because I'd have access to tools, technology, and other materials. We've tried including online lesson plans that we, at least, attempt to be inquiry-based. Some examples include measuring the speed of the wind using a home-made anemometer and the penny experiment mentioned back in my earliest post. It's a work in progress, I suppose.
When I was in 5th grade I was invited to be part of a class called Academically Talented, or AT. Though I didn't know what it was called at the time, we were learning through inquiry. One project that stuck out in my mind above all others was one in which I had to "build a house." Each student had to choose a scenario. Most of the kids chose the scenario that had a family with the doctor-lawyer couple with one kid and loads of money. I chose a family whose father was a mechanic, the mother a home maker, and they had three children. I wanted a challenge(I guess I also may have chosen it because this family was my family exactly minus one sibling.)I had a budget. I knew how much each square foot of the home would cost. I had to design the house on graphing paper with enough room for the whole family. I had a separate budget for furnishings. I had to find furniture that actually existed (I looked through the J.C. Penny catalogue). Again, I stayed within my budget. This was my first experience with money management and having to make smart choices with how I spent the money. It was one of my favorite school projects as a child.
In my school library I see inquiry-based learning playing out in several ways:
1. I'd want to teach students how to think critically about the information they encounter on the Internet. I might send them to Save the Pacific Northwestern Tree Octopus or Squeez Bacon and give the students activities or guiding questions that will help them to come to their own conclusions about what these web sites are actually all about.
2. I love reading Philippa Gregory novels, as may be apparent from my reference to the White Queen twitter page in an earlier post. But after I've read one of her novels I often wonder how much of it was true and how much was made up -- because, let's face it, crazy stuff happens in those stories! I like to look at other works, films, web sites, etc, and see where I can find commonalities and decide for myself what really happened and what was made up. Okay, I know that's not too scientific, but it's only for my own enjoyment.
In a school setting, I can imagine inviting a book club group to do something similar with any historical fiction (with more hard evidence, of course). After reading a work of historical fiction, I'd invite each student to find and show proof of three events that were based on fact and three events that were most likely made up by the author. Depending on their ability level, I may guide them to the right places to do this research, but ultimately it would be up to them to figure it out. This kind of activity could tie in Historical Thinking by encouraging students to look through primary sources, when available.
When I was in 5th grade I was invited to be part of a class called Academically Talented, or AT. Though I didn't know what it was called at the time, we were learning through inquiry. One project that stuck out in my mind above all others was one in which I had to "build a house." Each student had to choose a scenario. Most of the kids chose the scenario that had a family with the doctor-lawyer couple with one kid and loads of money. I chose a family whose father was a mechanic, the mother a home maker, and they had three children. I wanted a challenge(I guess I also may have chosen it because this family was my family exactly minus one sibling.)I had a budget. I knew how much each square foot of the home would cost. I had to design the house on graphing paper with enough room for the whole family. I had a separate budget for furnishings. I had to find furniture that actually existed (I looked through the J.C. Penny catalogue). Again, I stayed within my budget. This was my first experience with money management and having to make smart choices with how I spent the money. It was one of my favorite school projects as a child.
In my school library I see inquiry-based learning playing out in several ways:
1. I'd want to teach students how to think critically about the information they encounter on the Internet. I might send them to Save the Pacific Northwestern Tree Octopus or Squeez Bacon and give the students activities or guiding questions that will help them to come to their own conclusions about what these web sites are actually all about.
2. I love reading Philippa Gregory novels, as may be apparent from my reference to the White Queen twitter page in an earlier post. But after I've read one of her novels I often wonder how much of it was true and how much was made up -- because, let's face it, crazy stuff happens in those stories! I like to look at other works, films, web sites, etc, and see where I can find commonalities and decide for myself what really happened and what was made up. Okay, I know that's not too scientific, but it's only for my own enjoyment.
In a school setting, I can imagine inviting a book club group to do something similar with any historical fiction (with more hard evidence, of course). After reading a work of historical fiction, I'd invite each student to find and show proof of three events that were based on fact and three events that were most likely made up by the author. Depending on their ability level, I may guide them to the right places to do this research, but ultimately it would be up to them to figure it out. This kind of activity could tie in Historical Thinking by encouraging students to look through primary sources, when available.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Photoshop Project
I decided to make a poster using Photoshop that I could use in a classroom or a school library. It would work best for mid- to late-elementary, but the concepts are the same for any age level. I used clip art and photos from public domain and one photo I took myself. The credits are at the bottom of the poster, but they are also listed at the end of this post for legibility. The poster teaches about different fiction genres. I gave each genre a color and took a piece of clip art of a book which was originally blue and changed the color to tie it in to each color scheme. Then I took other pieces of pd clip art, pd photos, and one photo I took myself. I silho-ed the photos and placed them on the books.
It think the poster is an effective way to reach visual learners when teaching about different genres.
Credits: Book image courtesy of Public Domain Clip Art, http://www.pdclipart.org/displayimage.php?album=search&cat=0&pos=15; Girl with dog image courtesy of Public Domain Clip Art, http://www.pdclipart.org/displayimage.php?album=search&cat=0&pos=2; Little Bo Peep image courtesy of Kate Paixao; Image of Castle courtesy of Jon Sullivan, pdphoto.com, http://www.pdphoto.org/PictureDetail.php?mat=&pg=6126; Image of Fingerprint courtesy of Public Domain Clip Art, http://www.pdclipart.org/displayimage.php?almbum=search&cat=0&pos=0; Image of Abraham Lincoln courtesy of Public Domain Clip Art, http://www.pdclipart.org/displayimage.php?album=search&cat=0&pos=1, Image of Robot courtesy of Jon Sullivan, pdphoto.com, http://www.pdphoto.org/PictureDetail.php?mat=&pg=6548
Monday, February 15, 2010
Universal Design for Learning
I used Inspiration to break UDL down into 5 parts, Access for all, Assistive Techonology tools, Application, Framework, and Digital Media.
I color coded each branch to make them more easily discernible from one another.
I found the article helpful in that the missing piece in a lot of educational programs is that we create lessons and then try to adapt them later. It makes much more sense to create lessons with all abilities in mind.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Explanation and Rational of Podcast
In my experience as a teacher of first and third grades, I have seen that it is often difficult for children to objectively decide on a book that is suited well to their own reading ability. While the most obvious reason for this may be that children don’t yet possess the metacognitive skills to think objectively about their own learning, I feel there are other reasons as well.
One reason is that a child’s interest in topics often surpasses his or her ability to read about such topics, the result being that he or she wants to read about topics on which no books appropriate to his or her ability exist. This makes the child want to read books that are too difficult, but this will inevitably frustrate him or her.
Another reason I believe children try to read books that are too difficult is peer pressure. There is a stigma attached to reading books that may seem like “baby books.” “Chapter books” are reads that are coveted by all.
The purpose of my podcast is to teach students a tool that will help them objectively choose a “just right” book. I will talk about the “five finger rule” in which the student holds out one closed fist upon beginning a page in a book he or she likes. For each word the student attempts and has trouble reading, he or she will hold up one finger. The rules are that by the end of the page if the reader is holding up:
One reason is that a child’s interest in topics often surpasses his or her ability to read about such topics, the result being that he or she wants to read about topics on which no books appropriate to his or her ability exist. This makes the child want to read books that are too difficult, but this will inevitably frustrate him or her.
Another reason I believe children try to read books that are too difficult is peer pressure. There is a stigma attached to reading books that may seem like “baby books.” “Chapter books” are reads that are coveted by all.
The purpose of my podcast is to teach students a tool that will help them objectively choose a “just right” book. I will talk about the “five finger rule” in which the student holds out one closed fist upon beginning a page in a book he or she likes. For each word the student attempts and has trouble reading, he or she will hold up one finger. The rules are that by the end of the page if the reader is holding up:
- No fingers or one finger; the book is too easy.
- Two or three fingers; the book is just right.
- Four or five fingers; the book is too hard.
At the end of the podcast I will reassure students that if a book is interesting but too difficult, they should not feel bad, but instead, try to read the book again in a few months.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Standard Choice and Description
I have chosen the following reading standard to focus on during the semester:
Students develop the proficiency, confidence and fluency in reading needed to meet the literacy demands of the 21st century.
As a result of education in Grades K-12, students will:
read a variety of literary, informational and persuasive texts with understanding and meaningfully analyze, interpret, evaluate and enjoy them
There are several reading response activities would help a diverse variety of learners meet or exceed the standard above. Below is a list of some projects a school librarian might give students as choices for students to demonstrate comprehension of the books they are reading. While I could go on and make this list much longer, I've limited the list to activities that could incorporate technology to some degree.
1. After completing a book (or at any point in a book, for that matter), draw a picture of the setting or one event with paper and pencil; or create an image of the setting using a computer program such as Paint or online at crayola.com Digi-Color, art.com or other online drawing tools. This activity would reach visual/spatial learners of any age/ability level, but especially elementary students.
2. After reading, with your group, choose one scene from the book to act out. Not everyone needs to act. You may choose to help create scenes and props that accurately show the scenes and important objects in the story. You may also choose to work on writing the script, or you can write a song and choreograph an accompanying dance. Make an audio recording of the song or make a music video featuring the song. Incorporate the video/audio recording into the performance. This activity would reach multiple learners of any age/ability level.
3. After reading a persuasive book or article, team up with a partner who agrees with the opposing view point. Film a debate between the two of you in which you both try to convince the audience that they should side with you. Post this video online. Set up a poll in which other students who view the debate can vote for which point they agree with. This activity would reach learners that have strong interpersonal skills in upper elementary through high school.
4. After reading a biography (or work of fiction told from first person point of view) write several blog or twitter posts from the point of view of the main character. Pay special attention to the character's feelings about important events. Click here to see author Philippa Gregory's character and historical figure Elizabeth Woodville's twitter posts.This activity would reach learners that have strong intrapersonal skills in upper elementary through high school.
Students develop the proficiency, confidence and fluency in reading needed to meet the literacy demands of the 21st century.
As a result of education in Grades K-12, students will:
read a variety of literary, informational and persuasive texts with understanding and meaningfully analyze, interpret, evaluate and enjoy them
There are several reading response activities would help a diverse variety of learners meet or exceed the standard above. Below is a list of some projects a school librarian might give students as choices for students to demonstrate comprehension of the books they are reading. While I could go on and make this list much longer, I've limited the list to activities that could incorporate technology to some degree.
1. After completing a book (or at any point in a book, for that matter), draw a picture of the setting or one event with paper and pencil; or create an image of the setting using a computer program such as Paint or online at crayola.com Digi-Color, art.com or other online drawing tools. This activity would reach visual/spatial learners of any age/ability level, but especially elementary students.
2. After reading, with your group, choose one scene from the book to act out. Not everyone needs to act. You may choose to help create scenes and props that accurately show the scenes and important objects in the story. You may also choose to work on writing the script, or you can write a song and choreograph an accompanying dance. Make an audio recording of the song or make a music video featuring the song. Incorporate the video/audio recording into the performance. This activity would reach multiple learners of any age/ability level.
3. After reading a persuasive book or article, team up with a partner who agrees with the opposing view point. Film a debate between the two of you in which you both try to convince the audience that they should side with you. Post this video online. Set up a poll in which other students who view the debate can vote for which point they agree with. This activity would reach learners that have strong interpersonal skills in upper elementary through high school.
4. After reading a biography (or work of fiction told from first person point of view) write several blog or twitter posts from the point of view of the main character. Pay special attention to the character's feelings about important events. Click here to see author Philippa Gregory's character and historical figure Elizabeth Woodville's twitter posts.This activity would reach learners that have strong intrapersonal skills in upper elementary through high school.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Response to Podcasting Articles
Podcasting seems like a great way to reach the needs of many different types of learners, auditory, visual, perhaps even kinesthetic (if the students are the ones creating the podcast).
It’s certainly something I could imagine using in a school library. Imagine four third graders, who are advanced readers, just finishing reading The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman. They can divide the story into different important events and illustrate those events. Then they can scan the drawings and insert them into a slide show. Next they would record their own retellings of the story. They could present the final product to the whole class on an interactive white board.
One concern I have about podcasts is the practicality of it being uploaded to mp3 players or cell phones. Though some schools, like the Tidewater Community College featured in the USA Today article, receive grants in order to supply all students with an iPod, this is not the norm. Depriving a student of the experience due to lack of money (or other reasons their parents have chosen not to buy them iPods) would be shameful. From the standpoint of someone with an elementary background, I appreciate the possibilities that the articles are trying to illustrate, but I would be wary of this practice for now. Perhaps in ten years no one will be without an mp3 player, just as nearly no one is without a cell phone today.
It’s certainly something I could imagine using in a school library. Imagine four third graders, who are advanced readers, just finishing reading The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman. They can divide the story into different important events and illustrate those events. Then they can scan the drawings and insert them into a slide show. Next they would record their own retellings of the story. They could present the final product to the whole class on an interactive white board.
One concern I have about podcasts is the practicality of it being uploaded to mp3 players or cell phones. Though some schools, like the Tidewater Community College featured in the USA Today article, receive grants in order to supply all students with an iPod, this is not the norm. Depriving a student of the experience due to lack of money (or other reasons their parents have chosen not to buy them iPods) would be shameful. From the standpoint of someone with an elementary background, I appreciate the possibilities that the articles are trying to illustrate, but I would be wary of this practice for now. Perhaps in ten years no one will be without an mp3 player, just as nearly no one is without a cell phone today.
Response to Teddy Bears Go Blogging
This article brought back memories of when my supervising teacher did a similar project when I was student teaching. We sent about twenty teddy bears out to different countries with instructions to send a postcard to us and to send the teddy bear on to a different country. This looks like another variation of this project. I think it is an important project for children to take part in at least once during their careers as students. It starts them on the road to becoming global citizens by teaching about different cultures and people.
It was impressive that the children requested to work on it at home! I also liked that kids could use the telephone to record audio for the blog. Not only does this help children who have trouble writing and typing, but it also solves the problem of where to find a microphone.
The idea of blogging in the classroom appeals to me, especially when I read that the parents began blogging as well. One thing that I always had trouble keeping up on when I was teaching was my classroom newsletter. With a blog I can imagine this teacher-parent connection working so much better.
It was impressive that the children requested to work on it at home! I also liked that kids could use the telephone to record audio for the blog. Not only does this help children who have trouble writing and typing, but it also solves the problem of where to find a microphone.
The idea of blogging in the classroom appeals to me, especially when I read that the parents began blogging as well. One thing that I always had trouble keeping up on when I was teaching was my classroom newsletter. With a blog I can imagine this teacher-parent connection working so much better.
Response to Digital Goonies Blog
After reviewing a few of the blogs on the list I decided to read more on the Digital Goonies page. I appreciated that the writers not only introduced dozens of resources on the web that I’ve never heard of, but they also gave ideas on practical classroom applications for a lot of them. (And I love their humor!)
One of the resources I like is Voki. I think having a cute bear or another cool-looking avatar talking about a topic would be much more engaging for students than having their teacher talk about it (sigh). As a Media Specialist, I imagine that one could create avatars that look like the characters from books. Let’s say that I created a Harry Potter-like avatar. I could then have Harry introduce himself to the students and give them a little summary of what his book is about and why he thinks they would enjoy reading it. On the other hand, the Digital Goonies warn against letting this become a high-tech dress-up session. Used correctly, by an educator, I think it could be a very effective teaching tool.
Another resource that stuck out to me was rubistar.4teachers.org. I can remember trying to create a rubric by hand because I didn’t have Microsoft Excel or anything better to help me create the boxes. (This was seven years ago.) I would draw the lines using a ruler; type, print, cut, and paste the words into each box; and make photo copies. If only I had this back then! When I get back into a school I will definitely use this. I think it could be especially useful for a Media Specialist who does not see all of the students often. Each time the Media Specialist meets a class she can focus on four or five different students to assess, and then fill out a rubric for each at the end of class. This would help give her a more complete picture of each child when report card time comes. The assessment wouldn’t be all from memory.
I’ve read blogs before (mostly those of friends) for the fun of it, but until today, I truly did not see how useful they could be. I will be looking at blogs differently now.
One of the resources I like is Voki. I think having a cute bear or another cool-looking avatar talking about a topic would be much more engaging for students than having their teacher talk about it (sigh). As a Media Specialist, I imagine that one could create avatars that look like the characters from books. Let’s say that I created a Harry Potter-like avatar. I could then have Harry introduce himself to the students and give them a little summary of what his book is about and why he thinks they would enjoy reading it. On the other hand, the Digital Goonies warn against letting this become a high-tech dress-up session. Used correctly, by an educator, I think it could be a very effective teaching tool.
Another resource that stuck out to me was rubistar.4teachers.org. I can remember trying to create a rubric by hand because I didn’t have Microsoft Excel or anything better to help me create the boxes. (This was seven years ago.) I would draw the lines using a ruler; type, print, cut, and paste the words into each box; and make photo copies. If only I had this back then! When I get back into a school I will definitely use this. I think it could be especially useful for a Media Specialist who does not see all of the students often. Each time the Media Specialist meets a class she can focus on four or five different students to assess, and then fill out a rubric for each at the end of class. This would help give her a more complete picture of each child when report card time comes. The assessment wouldn’t be all from memory.
I’ve read blogs before (mostly those of friends) for the fun of it, but until today, I truly did not see how useful they could be. I will be looking at blogs differently now.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Test Post: Who Is Hiding on a Penny?
As Presidents' Day approaches, social studies activities abound. But you may ask yourself, "What kind of science activities can I teach my students that are related to Presidents' Day?" Here is one idea: Invite your students to use lemon juice-soaked cotton swabs to clean a penny. To add a little fun, tell them that they are detectives using a secret potion that helps to reveal clues. Give each child a magnifying glass (remember, they're detectives, right?). Encourage them to look for details on both sides of the penny. Guide children in recording their findings using drawings and/or words.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
