Last week, I was on vacation at our cottage in Eagle River in northern Wisconsin. The weather was pretty good, but we had a few days of rain. We had brought along a cellular provider's router to test to see if we could get Internet service there. We had no signal and no Internet for the week. While I too enjoy a day or two of "electronics" vacation, I found that going a whole week without the Internet in easy reach was difficult. I am so into the habit of going to the computer for easy access to information that I felt I was "back in time" using an outdated phone book to try to gather information. Staying connected with my family and friends was difficult at best. I could consider myself to be a "Digital Vacationer".
Upon returning from vacation, my first task was to fire up the home computer and check my email and social networking sites e.g. Twitter, Facebook and Ning. You may have heard of Marc Prensky's terms of "Digital Native" and "Digital Immigrant". Digital natives are those who were born into the age of home computers and other electronics. To them, life is not life without these electronics. These are the students and young teachers in today's schools. The Digital Immigrants, on the other hand, are people who grew up in homes and schools without computers and modern electronics. They have learned to use computers similar to a person who learns a new language when they move to a new country. These are many of the parents and veteran teachers.
I have always considered myself neither a "Digital Native" nor a "Digital Immigrant". To me, I would be considered a DBL, "Digital Bilingual". While I can remember the days of little electronics, I feel very comfortable in today's digital age. I can train others on how to use technology. I can use the technology with ease in my classroom. I use technology on a daily basis for my personal and professional life. I even wired my own home when we built it. Perhaps that is why I felt like a "Digital Vacationer" last week. As I was reflecting on this, I realized that perhaps that is how our students feel at school each day.
Most schools do not have 1:1 computer programs. Many do not allow students with their own computers to bring them to school and connect to the Internet. Unless a student has a study hall and can get a pass to the library or a lab, they very likely are without Internet access all day at school. I know many schools where the policy is a maximum of 5 lab sign ups per class per YEAR! Depending on who a student has for a teacher and which classes he or she is enrolled in, students can actually go weeks without touching a computer at school.
But what are they doing once they go home from "digital vacation" at school? As soon as class is dismissed, out come the cell phones and the students are texting. At home, student flock to computers to do homework (we hope) as well as socially connect with others. I have heard many comments from educators that what they do on computers is a waste of time. I challenge them to watch a teenager use a computer over time. They are searching for information relevant to them, evaluating the quality of the information and connecting with others.
Social learning is a very powerful tool, both with and without technology. If we want to get students engaged, let's use the "digital" social learning tools that they love to use. Let's build safe and purposeful social learning networks within our schools so students don't have to be on "digital vacation" during the school day. Let's get going on 1:1 laptop learning or at least allow those who have laptops to bring them to school and get on the Internet. They can share with those who don't have one! I would love it if at least half of my students brought their own laptop to school! That would open a ton of doors for their learning! I challenge you to move forward and end the "digital vacations" in our schools!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Summer Surfing
It is summer. I am finishing up my June projects and look forward to being "off" of work for the next two months. But, do most teachers really take "off" the summer months? From the teachers I work with, I would definitely say "No".
I plan to work on finding progress monitoring tools and interventions for elementary math and reading over the summer months. I won't work on it every day, just rainy days or times when I want to work on it. I also plan to find many examples of how to use web 2.0 tools with elementary students. To me, that will be fun work. I don't really have time to do that during the school year, so summer is a great time to work on it.
What will you be doing over the summer months? I hope you all have some fun and relaxation as well!
I plan to work on finding progress monitoring tools and interventions for elementary math and reading over the summer months. I won't work on it every day, just rainy days or times when I want to work on it. I also plan to find many examples of how to use web 2.0 tools with elementary students. To me, that will be fun work. I don't really have time to do that during the school year, so summer is a great time to work on it.
What will you be doing over the summer months? I hope you all have some fun and relaxation as well!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Interview Project
One of my recent projects involved my fourth grade students. As learning to write is difficult for these students, I try to make the writing as purposeful as possible. One of the skills my students needed to learn was how to write clear questions. I tried to think of a real-world application of writing questions. I decided that one purpose for writing questions was to conduct an interview.
As a small group, we brainstormed who they would be interested in interviewing. Of course, they were interested in interviewing the President of the United States and a few others that I thought would be difficultto arrange. They also came to the same conclusion. They did, however, come up with ideas that were feasible as well. One student decided to interview the principal as she is new to the school this year. Another decided to interview the special education paraprofessional that works in our program. A third student really wanted to interview our high school football coach.
These students then wrote their questions with a great focus on open-ended questions. We talked about the type of questions they would ask that would keep the "conversation" of the interview going. We talked about "thick" and "thin" questions. While they were learning to write quality "thick" questions, they were having a great time! The students then typed the questions into Excel so that they could easily print queue cards for the interview process.
We have been working on reading fluency as well as writing. They practiced reading their questions with fluency which gave a real purpose to the task. Once they had practiced reading the questions with fluency, then we did mock interviews. Someone else role-played the person they were going to interview. While we did this, we video-taped the mock interview. The student then watched the mock interview. I asked them to tell me what they thought they did well and what they needed to improve. The video was very clear for them in determining what they needed to improve.
Next, we conducted the real interviews. From watching the videos, it was easy to see the impact the open-ended questions had on the interview "conversation". In the future, I plan to show these videos with my next group of students before they write their questions. I think it will help them understand better why we need open-ended questions.
This project was very engaging for the students. It provided a real purpose to writing "thick" questions. Because of the real purpose, the students understood that we needed quality questions. I will definitely use this project again with students who need to work on writing quesitons and reading fluency. Along the way, the students also learned some great life skills such as writing a thank you note to the person they interviewed. They were very proud of their work. If you would like to see their videos, you can check out these two videos that students gave me permission to post on my classroom website. Please leave us feedback as we like to hear what others think of our projects!
http://connect.pulaski.k12.wi.us/faculty/saellner/stuproj.cfm
As a small group, we brainstormed who they would be interested in interviewing. Of course, they were interested in interviewing the President of the United States and a few others that I thought would be difficultto arrange. They also came to the same conclusion. They did, however, come up with ideas that were feasible as well. One student decided to interview the principal as she is new to the school this year. Another decided to interview the special education paraprofessional that works in our program. A third student really wanted to interview our high school football coach.
These students then wrote their questions with a great focus on open-ended questions. We talked about the type of questions they would ask that would keep the "conversation" of the interview going. We talked about "thick" and "thin" questions. While they were learning to write quality "thick" questions, they were having a great time! The students then typed the questions into Excel so that they could easily print queue cards for the interview process.
We have been working on reading fluency as well as writing. They practiced reading their questions with fluency which gave a real purpose to the task. Once they had practiced reading the questions with fluency, then we did mock interviews. Someone else role-played the person they were going to interview. While we did this, we video-taped the mock interview. The student then watched the mock interview. I asked them to tell me what they thought they did well and what they needed to improve. The video was very clear for them in determining what they needed to improve.
Next, we conducted the real interviews. From watching the videos, it was easy to see the impact the open-ended questions had on the interview "conversation". In the future, I plan to show these videos with my next group of students before they write their questions. I think it will help them understand better why we need open-ended questions.
This project was very engaging for the students. It provided a real purpose to writing "thick" questions. Because of the real purpose, the students understood that we needed quality questions. I will definitely use this project again with students who need to work on writing quesitons and reading fluency. Along the way, the students also learned some great life skills such as writing a thank you note to the person they interviewed. They were very proud of their work. If you would like to see their videos, you can check out these two videos that students gave me permission to post on my classroom website. Please leave us feedback as we like to hear what others think of our projects!
http://connect.pulaski.k12.wi.us/faculty/saellner/stuproj.cfm
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
How to Delay a Post in Blogger
Ever write a blog post that you want to appear on a later date? If you are using Blogger, this is very easy to do. When you are ready to post the blog for a later date, click on "Post Options" at the bottom of the blog post window. On the right hand side, set the post date and time. Then save and your post will appear on the date and time that you had set it for! How convenient!
This same feature is available in Edublogs. Read this blog post for directions on completing this same task there!
So, the next time you have a lot of great blog ideas OR prior to going on vacation, create a few posts and set the dates for them to appear on your blog. Now, enjoy your vacation!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Wordle: Web 2.0 Tool for Vocabulary and Word Images
Have you discovered Wordle yet? This neat Web 2.0 tool allows a user to create a word graphic, such as the one below, from words, blog posts, or other electronic writings. (Click here for a larger image with similar wording.)
Wordle is a great way for students to take a group of related words and study how they are connected. This would be an interesting way to start a unit of study with students. You could show them the Wordle graphic and ask what they already know about how these words are related. You could also use it as a way to encourage reflection of what they learned in a unit of study.
Wordle allows you to make choices as to which words are larger. Perhaps students could decide how all the words are connected and select the three words that they feel have the most importance on the topic.
Just a word of caution about clicking on the random images. There is no filtering of content. While most of the Wordle images are appropriate, there were a few that I came across that were not appropriate for elementary school and only one that I found that was not appropriate even for high school. I would suggest that students use this tool with guidance, especially for elementary age students.
One teacher uses Wordle as an assessment tool. What other ways could you see to use this neat Web 2.0 tool?
Wordle is a great way for students to take a group of related words and study how they are connected. This would be an interesting way to start a unit of study with students. You could show them the Wordle graphic and ask what they already know about how these words are related. You could also use it as a way to encourage reflection of what they learned in a unit of study.
Wordle allows you to make choices as to which words are larger. Perhaps students could decide how all the words are connected and select the three words that they feel have the most importance on the topic.
Just a word of caution about clicking on the random images. There is no filtering of content. While most of the Wordle images are appropriate, there were a few that I came across that were not appropriate for elementary school and only one that I found that was not appropriate even for high school. I would suggest that students use this tool with guidance, especially for elementary age students.
One teacher uses Wordle as an assessment tool. What other ways could you see to use this neat Web 2.0 tool?
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Web 2.0 Decisions
My class is getting settled into some routines and I feel like I am getting grounded back in the realities of teaching in an elementary special education classroom. I really want to integrate Web 2.0 tools into reading and writing as much as I can. I have started to work on several different ideas for using these types of tools with my students.
First, I decided that I should begin with student email use. Now, I know this is not a Web 2.o tool, but this is where I think I should begin. Reason one is that this is one of the benchmarks in the Information and Technology Literacy Curriculum as well as being one of the most commonly used communication tools...for adults. I thought I could start by having my students each send an email to a parent or other important adult explaining what they are learning in my classroom. By giving them some practice with email, I can teach them some etiquette as well as supervise the communication. Once we move on to blogs and wikis, I will again reinforce the etiquette skills we learned when using email. Another reason for choosing email first is because some of the Web 2.0 tools that I want to use with students requires an email address for account creations. By teaching and using email first, we will be ready for this.
Our school uses the free Gaggle accounts for student email. Our new library media aide has setup my students in the system and added them to my teacher account for supervision. I plan to set the accounts so that they can only email the class at this point. I need to do some lessons with them on proper email etiquette and plan to have them practice within our group for a week or two. I looked for a long time for lessons on email etiquette for elementary students. All I could find was for adults. I will adapt what I found for my students and post it on my site for others to use.
Do you know of any resources for teaching what email is and what email etiquette is? How about some project ideas? Please share if you have ideas!
First, I decided that I should begin with student email use. Now, I know this is not a Web 2.o tool, but this is where I think I should begin. Reason one is that this is one of the benchmarks in the Information and Technology Literacy Curriculum as well as being one of the most commonly used communication tools...for adults. I thought I could start by having my students each send an email to a parent or other important adult explaining what they are learning in my classroom. By giving them some practice with email, I can teach them some etiquette as well as supervise the communication. Once we move on to blogs and wikis, I will again reinforce the etiquette skills we learned when using email. Another reason for choosing email first is because some of the Web 2.0 tools that I want to use with students requires an email address for account creations. By teaching and using email first, we will be ready for this.
Our school uses the free Gaggle accounts for student email. Our new library media aide has setup my students in the system and added them to my teacher account for supervision. I plan to set the accounts so that they can only email the class at this point. I need to do some lessons with them on proper email etiquette and plan to have them practice within our group for a week or two. I looked for a long time for lessons on email etiquette for elementary students. All I could find was for adults. I will adapt what I found for my students and post it on my site for others to use.
Do you know of any resources for teaching what email is and what email etiquette is? How about some project ideas? Please share if you have ideas!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Planning for the 21st Century
Often I hear educators discussing 21st Century learning, particularly now that the Partnership for 21st Century Learning has released their framework and many states are now officially adopting it as a basis for school change.
There are many great thinkers out there trying to guide schools and professionals as they change from industrial revolution teaching and learning to global learning. Ian Jukes, from the Info Savvy group, does a great job explaining to others WHY we need to change what we do in schools because even kids' brains have physically changed due to all the media that they now use. Marc Prensky's "Digital Immigrants, Digital Natives" concept is hard to disagree with. David Thornburg, from the Thornburg Center, has been speaking for 10 years about the need to change education. This list can go on and on with all the great thinkers and planners of today.
It is time for the educational field to move beyond discussing 21st Century learning to implementing change in education. I have spent the past 10 years reading, listening and studying these great thinkers and planners. Change in education boils down to a few key components that will change education so that students are engaged and teachers can achieve their goal of preparing students for the future....their futures. The key components needed to change 20th Century teaching and learning into 21st Century teaching and learning include a strong base in student-centered problem-based learning centered around real-world problems that focus on creating content for real audiences using a variety of technology and non-technology communication and collaboration methods.
What is your school doing to move teaching and learning into the 21st Century? What has really changed in the past 20 years? What are the plans for changing your school in the next 10 years?
There are many great thinkers out there trying to guide schools and professionals as they change from industrial revolution teaching and learning to global learning. Ian Jukes, from the Info Savvy group, does a great job explaining to others WHY we need to change what we do in schools because even kids' brains have physically changed due to all the media that they now use. Marc Prensky's "Digital Immigrants, Digital Natives" concept is hard to disagree with. David Thornburg, from the Thornburg Center, has been speaking for 10 years about the need to change education. This list can go on and on with all the great thinkers and planners of today.
It is time for the educational field to move beyond discussing 21st Century learning to implementing change in education. I have spent the past 10 years reading, listening and studying these great thinkers and planners. Change in education boils down to a few key components that will change education so that students are engaged and teachers can achieve their goal of preparing students for the future....their futures. The key components needed to change 20th Century teaching and learning into 21st Century teaching and learning include a strong base in student-centered problem-based learning centered around real-world problems that focus on creating content for real audiences using a variety of technology and non-technology communication and collaboration methods.
What is your school doing to move teaching and learning into the 21st Century? What has really changed in the past 20 years? What are the plans for changing your school in the next 10 years?
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