There is a type of student that I find is constantly drawn to the computer. He is begging to play games, put on music, and watch YouTube. And when I've given an assignment which involves using the computer, I need to sit where I can see his computer screen because quick as a flash, he finds his way to these favorite applications. Typically, he can get to the classroom before me (I travel from room to room) and though he knows he is not welcome to log on prior to class - there he is - the attraction to the computer stronger than the consequence.
Monday morning I called in sick and was told there was a shortage of subs. I asked that someone simply get my students to the library and ask them to log in to their gmail accounts and I would conduct class from home. While I still have some practicing to make an off-site session go more smoothly, they loved it. Monday afternoon, I made my way to school. I arrive in math class to find aforementioned student on the computer. As I was about to correct him he enthusiastically said, no Ms. Payne, I was looking to see if you emailed us an assignment. Eureka!
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Teacher Tools
Years ago, traveling on a plane to spring break, the woman in the seat next to me and I discovered that we were both teachers. We probably talked about subject matter, schedules, demographics at our schools.... And then she asked if I was familiar with a tool that every teacher should be using - the Pilot G-2 roller ball gel ink pen. "You must have one," she exclaimed. I believe she even gave me hers that day and I now have a set of twelve colors in the top drawer of my desk.
As I sat on a plane yesterday, traveling for the long weekend, that memory surfaced with this question: If I were to rave about one teaching tool today, which tool would that be?
As I sat on a plane yesterday, traveling for the long weekend, that memory surfaced with this question: If I were to rave about one teaching tool today, which tool would that be?
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Assessment
Our instructor would like us to write about assessment and Classroom 2.0. His vision is that computer use is embedded into lessons and that students reach for internet applications with the same ease that they reach for a pencil - and we do not teach or assess how one uses a pencil - or do we?
Back straight, head upright, fingers relaxed, start the letter from the top and draw downward like a hawk swooping...what teachers used to spend 45 minutes per day instructing, is now the focus for an hour or less per week (Newsweek, 11/12/07). The article sites a new study that shows that handwriting is linked to thinking and learning (Graham, Vanderbilt University). Thus, I make a case that teaching and assessing pencil use is a key part of learning. Furthermore, teaching and assessing use of any tool during the elementary stage of its use is important as it adds to effectiveness and fluidity. I am speaking of 'assessment' in its original form - to sit beside. And I'm stressing its formative use - to observe, scaffold, and reinforce.
As savy as some of our students are with Web tools, most of them need to be taught and provided with opportunities for practice. Then, like those students who we've taught to hold a pencil who can now write better or draw better than we can ever dream of, students will take off with internet applications and take them further than we can ever dream of.
Back straight, head upright, fingers relaxed, start the letter from the top and draw downward like a hawk swooping...what teachers used to spend 45 minutes per day instructing, is now the focus for an hour or less per week (Newsweek, 11/12/07). The article sites a new study that shows that handwriting is linked to thinking and learning (Graham, Vanderbilt University). Thus, I make a case that teaching and assessing pencil use is a key part of learning. Furthermore, teaching and assessing use of any tool during the elementary stage of its use is important as it adds to effectiveness and fluidity. I am speaking of 'assessment' in its original form - to sit beside. And I'm stressing its formative use - to observe, scaffold, and reinforce.
As savy as some of our students are with Web tools, most of them need to be taught and provided with opportunities for practice. Then, like those students who we've taught to hold a pencil who can now write better or draw better than we can ever dream of, students will take off with internet applications and take them further than we can ever dream of.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Teaching in a Networked World
Imagine a struggling reader... who spends hours looking at anime... and dreams of visiting Japan...imagine him communicating with a student in Japan about school, dinner, holidays....
Imagine a reluctant reader...who races toward any conversation about NASCAR... and dreams of meeting Dale Earnhardt, Jr....imagine him communicating with a NASCAR driver about what it takes to face one's fears...
Imagine a struggling reader...who would rather be sent out of class and fail an assignment than have her peers discover that she cannot read the assignment... and dreams of people getting along instead of fighting...imagine her communicating with another high schooler who has the same frustrations...
Heck, why just imagine... Let's have them work together on a presentation about how students who struggled in school became successful adults or about how each of them celebrates their birthday.
Does anyone out there know any English speaking Japanese students that would like to work on a project about Naruto?
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Personalization
"Personal Learning Environments" (PLE) is a key term in today's schools. Educators are experiencing that learning is correlated to motivation and that motivation is driven by emotions and engagement. We fool ourselves if we believe that the best learning takes place in our classrooms. Students gain great knowledge in the informal environments in which they interact throughout their day. Life asks the learner to constantly decide where to pay attention; and we find ourselves looking for the relevant.
Given the overwhelming amount of knowledge in circulation, it can be difficult determining where to focus. Other people are invaluable resources in this process. A "Personal Learning Network" (PLN - cultivated connections with other Web users), is an example of such. Finding a writer on the Web with whom you are of the same mind, is finding a north star pointing to the relevant - no matter who you are or how old you are.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Classroom 2.0 - a Link to High School Reform
"Today there are multiple federal, state, local, and philanthropic high school reform initiatives that are simultaneously attempting to address the consistent and ongoing criticisms of the traditional comprehensive high school. Despite the diligent work of school leaders and other educators, academic performance in high schools remains stagnant, achievement gaps exist along race and income lines, and low graduation rates and high dropout rates persist."
~National Association of Secondary School Principals
The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) has a vision of reforming the American high school into an academically rigorous, personalized learning environment. The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), the nation's oldest regional accrediting association, stresses the themes of collaboration, personalization, equity, and engagement in establishing and maintaining high standards in education. Classroom 2.0 is an ideal vehicle for implementation of their key themes.
Collaboration is, by definition, the essence of Classroom 2.0 - the term used to describe the classroom in which web-based applications are used to facilitate learners working together. Individuals can no longer possess all the knowledge they will need. Siemens writes that we can collect and store knowledge through "collecting people." He stresses the idea that developing these connections is more critical than possessing content. If one knows where to find answers, the seemingly infinite amount of content of this information age becomes accessible. And when the flow of knowledge becomes too rapid and complex, a network of people can share the processing and interpreting (Knowing Knowledge, 2006). Today's youth recognize these principles and are applying them by creating networks of virtual "friends." When teachers incorporate networking into the learning process, the focus shifts from receiving and memorizing content to thinking about, creating, and applying content. These in turn lead to personalization and engagement.
"Conversation is the ultimate personalization experience..." (Siemens, 2006). In the Classroom 2.0, assignments no longer end with a finished paper (graded, returned, thrown away). Student work becomes the inspiration for the thoughts of others; it is offered as a starting point to build upon. Learners experience that their voice matters, that people are listening and responding, that their ideas count (Richardson, 2006) and they become engaged. And when the school assures that access to the Web is available to every student, this experience is equitable.
~National Association of Secondary School Principals
The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) has a vision of reforming the American high school into an academically rigorous, personalized learning environment. The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), the nation's oldest regional accrediting association, stresses the themes of collaboration, personalization, equity, and engagement in establishing and maintaining high standards in education. Classroom 2.0 is an ideal vehicle for implementation of their key themes.
Collaboration is, by definition, the essence of Classroom 2.0 - the term used to describe the classroom in which web-based applications are used to facilitate learners working together. Individuals can no longer possess all the knowledge they will need. Siemens writes that we can collect and store knowledge through "collecting people." He stresses the idea that developing these connections is more critical than possessing content. If one knows where to find answers, the seemingly infinite amount of content of this information age becomes accessible. And when the flow of knowledge becomes too rapid and complex, a network of people can share the processing and interpreting (Knowing Knowledge, 2006). Today's youth recognize these principles and are applying them by creating networks of virtual "friends." When teachers incorporate networking into the learning process, the focus shifts from receiving and memorizing content to thinking about, creating, and applying content. These in turn lead to personalization and engagement.
"Conversation is the ultimate personalization experience..." (Siemens, 2006). In the Classroom 2.0, assignments no longer end with a finished paper (graded, returned, thrown away). Student work becomes the inspiration for the thoughts of others; it is offered as a starting point to build upon. Learners experience that their voice matters, that people are listening and responding, that their ideas count (Richardson, 2006) and they become engaged. And when the school assures that access to the Web is available to every student, this experience is equitable.
Web 2.0
Web 2.0 refers to the 'second generation' of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking, wikis, and folksonomies — which facilitate collaboration among users. These new applications have brought about changes in the ways software developers, consumers, and producers use the internet. The term became popular following the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004 (Wikipedia).
In the last chapter of his book about Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, Will Richardson points to two "unstoppable" trends in the classroom because of Web 2.0. The first is the fact that more and more content will continue to come online (with some mind-boggling statistics about this), and the second trend is that the creation of content is collaborative. Collaboration is a key concept in education today. The National Association of Secondary School Principals highlights collaboration as a key strategy for creating positive change in reforming the American high school (Breaking Ranks II,2004).
Richardson continues to uncover what this all means to the classroom by describing "10 Big Shifts." These are outlined here:
Big Shift #1: Open Content
A wealth of information on each subject area is now at a learner's fingertips rather than being presented with the limited content of textbooks and teacher-chosen supplementary materials.
Big Shift #2: Many, Many Teachers, and 24/7 Learning
The Web allows connections with experts around the world; it connects the learner with primary sources of knowledge - 24/7.
Big Shift #3: The Social, Collaborative Construction of Meaningful Knowledge
A creator's audience has changed from the classroom teacher to a "world" of people interested in the same topic. The assignment no longer ends with the finished paper; it now has the possibility of becoming ongoing "dialogue."
Big Shift #4: Teaching Is Conversation, Not Lecture
Learners experience that their voice matters, that people are listening and responding, that their ideas count. "Ideas are a starting point for a dialogue, not the ending point" (Siemens, 2002).
Big Shift #5: Know "Where" Learning
The stress on what is the right answer shifts to the importance of knowing where to find answers. Lessons move beyond memorizing facts and formulas (short-term in my experience)to discussing and applying the facts.
Big Shift #6: Readers Are No Longer Just Readers
This is a move from content being carefully checked and edited before being published to recognizing the ease of posting anything without "an eye toward truth and accuracy." Receivers of knowledge are called upon to make assessments and discern good from bad. The activity involved in reading increases.
Big Shift #7: The Web as Notebook
Paper is becoming less and less effective as a way to capture relevant information. The ease of saving notes and linking ideas now includes audio, video, photography, and more.
Big Shift #8: Writing Is No Longer Limited to Text
The web is changing the definition of what it means to 'write.' Writing genres now include audio, video, music, and photography as well as the combination thereof to create powerful messages.
Big Shift #9: Mastery Is the Product, Not the Test
Determining mastery defined by passing tests, typically not even based on what you could DO with the information, shifts to performance based learning and assessment.
Big Shift #10: Contribution, Not Completion, as the Ultimate Goal
The destination of assignments has changed from that of becoming graded, handed back, and thrown away to becoming messages added to a world-wide conversation and being content that could be used to teach others. Teachers become connectors of content and of people, content creators, true collaborators (read: learners alongside their students), coaches, and agents of change.
In the last chapter of his book about Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, Will Richardson points to two "unstoppable" trends in the classroom because of Web 2.0. The first is the fact that more and more content will continue to come online (with some mind-boggling statistics about this), and the second trend is that the creation of content is collaborative. Collaboration is a key concept in education today. The National Association of Secondary School Principals highlights collaboration as a key strategy for creating positive change in reforming the American high school (Breaking Ranks II,2004).
Richardson continues to uncover what this all means to the classroom by describing "10 Big Shifts." These are outlined here:
Big Shift #1: Open Content
A wealth of information on each subject area is now at a learner's fingertips rather than being presented with the limited content of textbooks and teacher-chosen supplementary materials.
Big Shift #2: Many, Many Teachers, and 24/7 Learning
The Web allows connections with experts around the world; it connects the learner with primary sources of knowledge - 24/7.
Big Shift #3: The Social, Collaborative Construction of Meaningful Knowledge
A creator's audience has changed from the classroom teacher to a "world" of people interested in the same topic. The assignment no longer ends with the finished paper; it now has the possibility of becoming ongoing "dialogue."
Big Shift #4: Teaching Is Conversation, Not Lecture
Learners experience that their voice matters, that people are listening and responding, that their ideas count. "Ideas are a starting point for a dialogue, not the ending point" (Siemens, 2002).
Big Shift #5: Know "Where" Learning
The stress on what is the right answer shifts to the importance of knowing where to find answers. Lessons move beyond memorizing facts and formulas (short-term in my experience)to discussing and applying the facts.
Big Shift #6: Readers Are No Longer Just Readers
This is a move from content being carefully checked and edited before being published to recognizing the ease of posting anything without "an eye toward truth and accuracy." Receivers of knowledge are called upon to make assessments and discern good from bad. The activity involved in reading increases.
Big Shift #7: The Web as Notebook
Paper is becoming less and less effective as a way to capture relevant information. The ease of saving notes and linking ideas now includes audio, video, photography, and more.
Big Shift #8: Writing Is No Longer Limited to Text
The web is changing the definition of what it means to 'write.' Writing genres now include audio, video, music, and photography as well as the combination thereof to create powerful messages.
Big Shift #9: Mastery Is the Product, Not the Test
Determining mastery defined by passing tests, typically not even based on what you could DO with the information, shifts to performance based learning and assessment.
Big Shift #10: Contribution, Not Completion, as the Ultimate Goal
The destination of assignments has changed from that of becoming graded, handed back, and thrown away to becoming messages added to a world-wide conversation and being content that could be used to teach others. Teachers become connectors of content and of people, content creators, true collaborators (read: learners alongside their students), coaches, and agents of change.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
