Suppl_eMINTS

Play a Little this Summer

I just read this interesting piece of insight on David Warlick’s blog about learning to run software.  It’s basically about a veteran teacher who asked her son to teach her how to use some software.  When she pulled out a notepad and pencil to take notes, he told her to put it away.  What the teacher soon found out was that the best way to learn software is to “play” with it and figure out how to run the software, not to simply follow steps.

The best way to learn to use difficult software is to spend time playing with it.  Of course, I’m not talking about only using the software at our training sessions.  You have to open up that software on a regular basis to really know how to run it.

I thought about my own knowledge of software.  Most of what I know was from “messing around” with the software.  Take my ability to use Publisher as an example.  I used to make mix tapes all the time in college and in the years following.  I went so far as to design special cassette packaging using the program.  This allowed me to figure out how to use templates, play around with text styles, take images from the Internet, etc.  This doesn’t mention how I’ve learned most of the software I now train you all to use.  I have mostly been self-taught, and that may be the best way to learn.

So, this summer, while you sit on your porch enjoying a cool glass of iced tea, open up that laptop and play around a little.  I know that Dreamweaver and Fireworks have caused a lot of headaches for many of you.  These would be great programs with which to play.  You could design a website for your family or design a logo for your church choir on Fireworks.  Have a little fun with it and in the meantime, you might learn to use this software more effectively.

**As a side-note…In order to keep your lap cool while using your computer, try filling a hot water bottle with cold water.  It gives an adjustable pad on which your laptop to rest and keeps your legs from heating up.  (courtesy of Life Hacker)

Assess this!

With the mad rush to cram all kinds of information into our students’ heads before MAP testing, I thought it might be important to think of some other, less threatening ways to assess our students’ learning.

Emmet Rosenfeld wrote a blog post on formative assessment.  Like its summative step-brother, it can tell a teacher where a student is in his/her development.  However, formative assessment can do so much more and can be a vital part of a student-centered classroom.

Rosenfeld identifies some key characteristics of formative assessment that make its value quite clear…

1. It’s ongoing. Kids don’t always know it’s happening; and teachers aren’t always trying to distill it to a number.
2. It’s dialogic. Evaluation is characterized by dialogue; standards are often negotiated, rather than handed down. The discussion about value is as important as the assigning of value; and even that is a task frequently done by self- and peer-assessment.
3. There is a feedback loop. The teacher often assumes a coaching role. Low-risk practice leads to perfect.
4. It’s metacognitive. Self-reflection is cultivated so that a learner can understand how he learned, not just what was learned. Every student becomes their own teacher.

For more on formative assessment, read Rosenfeld’s blog, Eduholic.

We-Blog, You Blog

Ruth did a nice job presenting classroom communication Wednesday night. However, it was too bad that Edublogs did not want to cooperate. I just wanted to supplement a few of the issues and key points brought up in Ruth’s session.

Blogging is something near and dear to my heart as some of you have gathered. I am an avid blogger and have had some success with this tool in the classroom. In researching a conference presentation I’ve found many, many examples of blogs that support good learning. The interactive and literacy possibilities are unlimited. I don’t want our struggles Wednesday night to discourage us from using blogs as a classroom tool.

The safety issue can’t be stressed enough. All this means is make sure you’re able to monitor what your students post, whether that be posts or comments. Also, having kids post in anonymity is essential. Using initials, first names only, or screen names are easy ways to accomplish this.

Some teachers expressed that they would like to see some other blogs that have been successfully used in classrooms. Like I mentioned before, I have found several examples while researching for my conference presentation that could better demonstrate the effectiveness of the blog. Check this link which is a list of classroom blogs that demonstrate various approaches to blogging.

Also, Yvonne shared with me some great ideas for making blogs work in the real classroom. One option could be to limit the number of students blogging to a few each day so as not to overload the system. Then, the rest of the class could comment on what a few students have to say. Another idea Yvonne had was to simply make links on your websites to student papers. This doesn’t supply the interactivity that a blog does through comments, but it does make it possible to publish student work online.

There are plenty of other resources and ideas out there on blogging. As you know, I love to use and tout my delicious account. This link has a list of the resources I used to prepare my presentation on blogging. You can also read the blog set up for my presentation (that I was unable to use due to a death in the family). Also, this link will take you to a list of ten ways you can use a blog in the classroom.

One other thing…It suddenly occurred to me the other evening how an RSS feed could be utilized in the classroom. When students set up their own blogs, subscribe to those blogs and have the students also subscribe to blogs, requiring them to read and comment on what their peers were writing. The virtual conversations that take place can extend the learning well beyond the time you have in class. You can use Bloglines, but I use my Google account to set up a reader.

Whatever you do, don’t give up on blogging yet. I think it is the most interactive and revolutionary tool of Web 2.0. Let me know on your classroom visits if you want me to help you set up your own blog. In the meantime, read some blogs and make up your own mind.

A Busy Week to Come

Geesh! I have not been posting here very often. That’s about to change. The week ahead brings with it many, many events…for me at least.

Monday:

We have our all-day website work…er…day…all…um…day long. (Sorry for the redundancy.) The goal is to have every-one’s website ready to post with all the pages and links set up. There is no set agenda except to work on our sites. This has me so excited that I’ve finally updated my site. I also plan on figuring out drop down menus for the few people who have inquired about them. If you have any other skills or features you’d like covered, post it on the comments of this blog or ask me during the session. Angie, the woman from the module cover, will be there through the morning to assist. Ruth may stop in as well.

Tuesday-Wednesday:

I will not be out to your schools since I have a conference presentation on which to work (more on that later) and to visit two university classes in order to present on blogging. One class is a Web 2.0 writing course taught by my wife’s colleague, Donna. The Wednesday class is actually at Ohio State-Marion. I’ll be talking to my friend Ben’s first-year writing class via iChat on the same topic. My mentioning this is to demonstrate the direction writing at the college level is heading. Your work with eMINTS in using technology in your classrooms will have effects on your students’ future academic endeavors!

Thursday-Friday:

The eMINTS Winter Conference takes place over two days. This is a conference you all attend in your second year in eMINTS. Some of you may even be inclined to present…nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

I was volunteer…I mean, I offered up my services to present on classroom blogging. The hope is that the bandwidth at our conference’s hotel will hold up so that 44-46 people will be able to read and comment on a blog I’m setting up just for the conference. If all goes well, I will have to do very little talking, the participants will experience blogging, guide their own learning, and start their own blogs.

If you are interested in the blogging going on in my session, check here later in the week.

Besides updating my website, I have reorganized my del.icio.us account to include bundles of the tags. Bundles are one way to better organize your bookmarks. It’s sort of like grouping your bookmarks into multiple folders tagged with a theme and then grouping those folders again in multiple folders. It should make my del.icio.us account easier to navigate.

The week is going to end with a weekend long film festival here in Columbia. True/False features documentary films from all over the world that cover a wide range of topics from issues of globalization to teenage angst. My wife and I plan to attend 14 films! I should be ready to get back to the calm serenity of classroom visits and training sessions on March 4th.

Techlearning, Warlick, and PDtoGo

In case you all hadn’t figured it out, I am a huge proponent of the blog, or web-log.  I’ve come across several blogs that I think are worth your time.  Check them out and let me know how helpful they really are.

While I have been checking my Google Reader today, I have noticed that the blog Techlearning has been very busy lately.  They have provided several articles with helpful hints and resources.  One article provides a video tutorial for inserting pictures into shapes on PowerPoint.  Another lists resources created by the federal government intended for free use by educators.  There are also articles (like this one) that help make the connection between using technology and the web in constructivist classrooms.  Techlearning is a site with which every eMINTS teacher should become familiar.

Another blog to keep an eye on is edtech guru David Warlick’s 2 ¢ Worth.  A recent post by Warlick describes statistics he discovered on the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).  The NCES has a “Kids Zone” that…

…provides information to help you learn about schools; decide on a college; find a public library; engage in several games, quizzes and skill building about math, probability, graphing, and mathematicians; and to learn many interesting facts about education.

Apparently the graphing tool is pretty cool.

The third resource blog I pay regular attention to is PDtoGo’s SMART Board podcasts.  Ben Hazzard and Joan Badger provide an entertaining  yet informational program on constructivist-based applications for the SMART Board.  There are often free SMART Notebook files to download at the blog.  I often listen to the podcasts on my way to Wellsville as a way to productively use that time.