An overwhelming topic of discussion among adults over the age of 35 is the idea that the younger generation, anyone under 33, suffers from a sense of entitlement. I have to admit that I often agree hardheartedly with this statement; all too often young people think that they are entitled to praise and good grades simply because they showed up for class.
The easiest way to cure this entitlement illness is to remove the cause, hubris. Hubris, or an overdose of pride, is what causes these kids to think they are, and I quote, "Tha BomB!" After years of being told how cute and talented they were for doing very little, they have developed the idea that they can do no wrong. While this is not a fatal disease, most will snap out of it as soon as they are turned loose into the "real world", it is difficult to deal with 25-30 ego maniacs in one classroom.
I found that by having students collaborate and work together on a project egos are set to the side. When working on a collaborative team with others, everyone has equal say. Successful teams play to the strengths of all members but it also creates a dialogue that allows for critique. Students engage in critical analysis of the information and want to present the best collaboration of ideas. All members of the team must therefore evaluate what has been shared and determine how the pieces will be combined. There isn't any room for a one man show when everyone is playing a major role in the production of the presentation.
Collaboration is not to be confused with Coopearative groups. Collaborative groups do not assign roles as in Cooperative groups but allows everyone to partake in each aspect of the project. ALL members will gather information. ALL members will evaluate the research. And ALL members will design the final product. When everyone gets to have a say, diplomacy allows all voices to be heard and no one person can is king.
I am not a violent person but I do appreciate the quick death of hubris and entitlement. Collaboration is key. Sharing ideas and allowing for evaluation of those ideas holds everyone accountable and creates a level playing field.
Until next time...
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Spring has Sprung and So Should the Kids!!
As the weather warms and the flowers bloom, most students get even more antsy and restless than they were in the winter months. Now is not the time to bore them to death with "drill and kill" activities to get ready for the all important state assessments. Students need to move and stretch their bodies, which in turn, will stretch their brains and improve their overall recall. Even the most reluctant learners tend to participate when the activity allows them to fully engage. Below you will find three strategies that have worked in my classroom over the past 15 years.
Pass it On:
This is a great strategy to review content information. Students stand or sit in a circle. The first student is handed a ball of string and holds one end of it. As we review a concept or piece of text the students will toss the ball of string to another student in the circle. When they catch the ball of string they grasp the string and hold on to it before passing it on to the next student. The string creates a web as it is passed among students. When students catch the ball they can either provide a detail/fact about the concept/text or ask a question. If they ask a question then the next student they pass the ball of string to is expected to attempt an answer. It is okay if the answer is wrong, but it is important to point out the erroneous information so that students don't become confused. As students asked questions I recorded them on the blackboard, overhead, document camera, Edomodo etc. Students were expected to review the questions asked and be sure they could completely answer them before the next class. Once every student had a chance to catch the ball, we reverse the ball of string and students roll it back up again. As simple as it sounds I have noticed that doing this as a review of information before a test will improve students scores.
Show Me:
As an English teacher and Theater fanatic, I wanted the kids to create the images they read, so I had them show me. They could work in groups or pairs or do a one man show. The idea was simple, just show me what you read and understood. I would often have students take video on their phones and then show it to me or e-mail it to me. I told them they had to capture it all in less than two minutes. This kept them from trying to include every detail. I wanted the BIG picture, but I wanted them to put it in perspective. I often asked my more advanced Pre-AP students to put the text in a different setting or try to find a way to demonstrate a different point of view than that of the main characters, i.e. a person in the crowd listening to Marc Antony's speech. They loved being hams, and they were in full control. Not every student took this option but if I didn't offer it they were disappointed. The idea works for any content, ask students to show you how it works. If you aren't into acting you might try the IPad app "Showmia" and have the students create a mini slide show with audio explaining the concept.
Strike a Pose:
Vocabulary is one of the most difficult concepts for students to put to long term memory. I tried just about everything with little success. They knew it just long enough to take the quiz or test and then the following week it was gone, wiped clean from memory. In a last ditch effort actually more out of frustration than anything else I started putting poses to vocabulary when I introduced new words. For example, "conflict" accompanied a boxing pose (yes I know there are multiple types of conflict but this stuck with the kids and they understood it inherently). Once I had introduced the vocabulary and poses, we practiced, I called out the word and they struck a pose, and then they called out the definition. I even encouraged students to assign poses to their "found vocabulary" when they were reading. They LOVED it!! For whatever reason, it stuck and it got them thinking, and moving.
As I said these are just a few of the strategies that were successful for me. Of course all of them require that you allow students to get up and move, and sometimes... TALK. The results will speak for themselves your students will learn, remember and you won't have to "drill and kill". Let the warm weather and sunshine revive your students love for learning. Let them "spring" to life with new-found knowledge.
Until next time...
Pass it On:
This is a great strategy to review content information. Students stand or sit in a circle. The first student is handed a ball of string and holds one end of it. As we review a concept or piece of text the students will toss the ball of string to another student in the circle. When they catch the ball of string they grasp the string and hold on to it before passing it on to the next student. The string creates a web as it is passed among students. When students catch the ball they can either provide a detail/fact about the concept/text or ask a question. If they ask a question then the next student they pass the ball of string to is expected to attempt an answer. It is okay if the answer is wrong, but it is important to point out the erroneous information so that students don't become confused. As students asked questions I recorded them on the blackboard, overhead, document camera, Edomodo etc. Students were expected to review the questions asked and be sure they could completely answer them before the next class. Once every student had a chance to catch the ball, we reverse the ball of string and students roll it back up again. As simple as it sounds I have noticed that doing this as a review of information before a test will improve students scores.
Show Me:
As an English teacher and Theater fanatic, I wanted the kids to create the images they read, so I had them show me. They could work in groups or pairs or do a one man show. The idea was simple, just show me what you read and understood. I would often have students take video on their phones and then show it to me or e-mail it to me. I told them they had to capture it all in less than two minutes. This kept them from trying to include every detail. I wanted the BIG picture, but I wanted them to put it in perspective. I often asked my more advanced Pre-AP students to put the text in a different setting or try to find a way to demonstrate a different point of view than that of the main characters, i.e. a person in the crowd listening to Marc Antony's speech. They loved being hams, and they were in full control. Not every student took this option but if I didn't offer it they were disappointed. The idea works for any content, ask students to show you how it works. If you aren't into acting you might try the IPad app "Showmia" and have the students create a mini slide show with audio explaining the concept.
Strike a Pose:
Vocabulary is one of the most difficult concepts for students to put to long term memory. I tried just about everything with little success. They knew it just long enough to take the quiz or test and then the following week it was gone, wiped clean from memory. In a last ditch effort actually more out of frustration than anything else I started putting poses to vocabulary when I introduced new words. For example, "conflict" accompanied a boxing pose (yes I know there are multiple types of conflict but this stuck with the kids and they understood it inherently). Once I had introduced the vocabulary and poses, we practiced, I called out the word and they struck a pose, and then they called out the definition. I even encouraged students to assign poses to their "found vocabulary" when they were reading. They LOVED it!! For whatever reason, it stuck and it got them thinking, and moving.
As I said these are just a few of the strategies that were successful for me. Of course all of them require that you allow students to get up and move, and sometimes... TALK. The results will speak for themselves your students will learn, remember and you won't have to "drill and kill". Let the warm weather and sunshine revive your students love for learning. Let them "spring" to life with new-found knowledge.
Until next time...
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Not Another Web-sheet
I feel that I must first state a disclaimer such as the one at the beginning of every Law and Order episode "The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event." However many of you may recognize or relate to the situation I am about to describe.
Many teachers I know, and I was once one myself, thought that technology integration meant including a PPT or a Prezi when providing notes. Maybe some were even daring enough to include use of the document camera when modeling writing or solving equations. It was limited, and it was BORING. In conversations with colleagues the topic of useless technology integration comes up quite often. Teachers will create a "graphic organizer" in Google docs and ask students to fill in the diagrams. Or they want to share a link with students so they include it on a Google document for the students to find. Yes it is funny, at least to those of you who get the joke, but it also very very sad.
Technology should open up new worlds of knowledge and learning, NOT just save us on the number of copies we need to make. Too many teachers are still using the technology in their classrooms to create web-sheets. Filling in graphic organizers or taking a test on a computer isn't integrating technology. It is the same type of learning students have been doing for years. You have just changed the location of where the information is stored. Instead of recording it on paper, they put it on a screen. There is a time and place for all things; worksheets have their purpose too, but we shouldn't confuse the mundane task of filling out a form with integrating technology. Now if the students create the form in Google, analyze the responses, and then develop a plan of action based on the results that is a different conversation all together.
Let me give you a very REAL scenario of the lack of integration in most technology classrooms. My youngest child told me again yesterday how lame his technology teacher was. I asked him what was wrong this time, and he explained that "Mr. Jones (not his real name) didn't know anything about technology at all and should get a different job." First I had to be sure that Jack didn't actually tell Mr. Jones this out-loud, that his filter was still working and he just THOUGHT it. After calming my fears, Jack said that the problem was Mr. Jones could tell them how to create a word document and where to put the spaces for a formal letter and he even knew a couple of "kinda cool" websites for games about school, but that he really didn't know anything about computers. The problem, it turns out, is that when asked how to download information into a game Mr. Jones simply said "I don't know I just teach computer class." Jack and I brainstormed solutions for what he wanted to do. I gave him some advice, mainly the obvious, stuff like "why not Google it" or "see if there is a YouTube video on it," and Jack went on his way happily. Secretly I started to wonder a little about Mr. Jones myself and what was the point of this computer class. This is a sad but explicit example of how so many teachers confuse using the device with integrating technology.
In order to truly give students the benefits of technology integration we must start thinking beyond the device itself. Steve Jobs, didn't spend his entire life creating new ways of communicating for you to spend money on a phone simply to make phone calls. As the changes in technology and capabilities grow we must grow with it. The days of a typing class are well behind us. Or are students just typing on laptops instead of typewriters as my example illustrates? Do me favor, do Jack a favor and do all the Mr. Jones-es out there a favor. Check on your neighbor next door, you know the teacher you can probably hear through the thin walls. Make sure they aren't boring their students to death with more web-sheets. Show them a trick or two from your varied bag of tricks. Let us not only be leaders in technology integration but guides for all those reluctant followers who may not know the way. Grab them by the hand and take them with you so that all students will reap the benefits.
Until next time...
Many teachers I know, and I was once one myself, thought that technology integration meant including a PPT or a Prezi when providing notes. Maybe some were even daring enough to include use of the document camera when modeling writing or solving equations. It was limited, and it was BORING. In conversations with colleagues the topic of useless technology integration comes up quite often. Teachers will create a "graphic organizer" in Google docs and ask students to fill in the diagrams. Or they want to share a link with students so they include it on a Google document for the students to find. Yes it is funny, at least to those of you who get the joke, but it also very very sad.
Technology should open up new worlds of knowledge and learning, NOT just save us on the number of copies we need to make. Too many teachers are still using the technology in their classrooms to create web-sheets. Filling in graphic organizers or taking a test on a computer isn't integrating technology. It is the same type of learning students have been doing for years. You have just changed the location of where the information is stored. Instead of recording it on paper, they put it on a screen. There is a time and place for all things; worksheets have their purpose too, but we shouldn't confuse the mundane task of filling out a form with integrating technology. Now if the students create the form in Google, analyze the responses, and then develop a plan of action based on the results that is a different conversation all together.
Let me give you a very REAL scenario of the lack of integration in most technology classrooms. My youngest child told me again yesterday how lame his technology teacher was. I asked him what was wrong this time, and he explained that "Mr. Jones (not his real name) didn't know anything about technology at all and should get a different job." First I had to be sure that Jack didn't actually tell Mr. Jones this out-loud, that his filter was still working and he just THOUGHT it. After calming my fears, Jack said that the problem was Mr. Jones could tell them how to create a word document and where to put the spaces for a formal letter and he even knew a couple of "kinda cool" websites for games about school, but that he really didn't know anything about computers. The problem, it turns out, is that when asked how to download information into a game Mr. Jones simply said "I don't know I just teach computer class." Jack and I brainstormed solutions for what he wanted to do. I gave him some advice, mainly the obvious, stuff like "why not Google it" or "see if there is a YouTube video on it," and Jack went on his way happily. Secretly I started to wonder a little about Mr. Jones myself and what was the point of this computer class. This is a sad but explicit example of how so many teachers confuse using the device with integrating technology.
In order to truly give students the benefits of technology integration we must start thinking beyond the device itself. Steve Jobs, didn't spend his entire life creating new ways of communicating for you to spend money on a phone simply to make phone calls. As the changes in technology and capabilities grow we must grow with it. The days of a typing class are well behind us. Or are students just typing on laptops instead of typewriters as my example illustrates? Do me favor, do Jack a favor and do all the Mr. Jones-es out there a favor. Check on your neighbor next door, you know the teacher you can probably hear through the thin walls. Make sure they aren't boring their students to death with more web-sheets. Show them a trick or two from your varied bag of tricks. Let us not only be leaders in technology integration but guides for all those reluctant followers who may not know the way. Grab them by the hand and take them with you so that all students will reap the benefits.
Until next time...
Friday, February 28, 2014
Practice Makes Permanant
I don't know about the rest of you, but when I learned to ride a bike it took more than just jumping on the bike and taking off down the street. I fell, I crashed, I got hurt, I got mad, BUT I got back up again and tried over and over until I had mastered the art of balancing and keeping my speed fast enough not to fall over. This isn't just true of learning to ride a bike, every task we undertake as humans requires that we have a period of crashes and frustration. We have to move beyond that and keep getting back on the bike if we ever truly want to feel the wind in our face as we glide effortlessly down the road.
All to often however, I have found that when it comes to technology I am not patient enough to last through the crashing and frustration to see it through. I open a new device, or try a new app and the first obstacle I come to, I want to quit. I played Angry Birds for three days getting madder and madder that I couldn't get beyond the first level . I threw my phone down fuming that it was a STUPID game and then my youngest son Jack, 6 at the time, told me "Duh, you have to kill the pigs mom!". After seeing all my peers in graduate school with the fancy new Mac computers, I bravely walked into the Apple store ready to throw down a large chunk of change to buy one. Only to turn around and walk back out again in less than 10 minutes with my money still safely in my purse. I couldn't make it work the way they did. Heck I couldn't figure out how to move between the programs. I saved money not buying it, but what did I lose out on?
What we lose out on are all kinds of great experiences and programs that could make our life EASIER. The issue isn't that they are hard, it is that we don't want to put in the effort. I am amazed that children will sit in front a video game and play over and over again dying each time. Why keep going if you are losing? Why? Because each time you will learn a little something that gets you farther.
In my last post I told you I have a new position at work. I work with some of the coolest people who know all the gadgets and apps and programs that could turn an ordinary classroom into an extraordinary classroom. Every day they are finding new things that will make instruction richer and more meaningful. I am awed at their expertise, and yet they say it is nothing. I have decided to be more like them. I am out of my cave and exploring. I won't say that everything in technology is easy. I am still crashing and from time to time get frustrated, but I am learning new things. As I learn, practice and "explore" (this is what they call crashing) I find it is easier. I now rely on programs and apps that 6 months ago I didn't know anything about. As educators we need to be willing to take the risks and try new things. We can't ask our students to commit to learning if we have stopped. Practice makes permanent. The more often we use an app or program the more we learn, the easier it is to maneuver, until like the bike it becomes second nature. That is my charge for you today, go out "explore" something new, and if you crash, get back up and try again!
Until next time...
All to often however, I have found that when it comes to technology I am not patient enough to last through the crashing and frustration to see it through. I open a new device, or try a new app and the first obstacle I come to, I want to quit. I played Angry Birds for three days getting madder and madder that I couldn't get beyond the first level . I threw my phone down fuming that it was a STUPID game and then my youngest son Jack, 6 at the time, told me "Duh, you have to kill the pigs mom!". After seeing all my peers in graduate school with the fancy new Mac computers, I bravely walked into the Apple store ready to throw down a large chunk of change to buy one. Only to turn around and walk back out again in less than 10 minutes with my money still safely in my purse. I couldn't make it work the way they did. Heck I couldn't figure out how to move between the programs. I saved money not buying it, but what did I lose out on?
What we lose out on are all kinds of great experiences and programs that could make our life EASIER. The issue isn't that they are hard, it is that we don't want to put in the effort. I am amazed that children will sit in front a video game and play over and over again dying each time. Why keep going if you are losing? Why? Because each time you will learn a little something that gets you farther.
In my last post I told you I have a new position at work. I work with some of the coolest people who know all the gadgets and apps and programs that could turn an ordinary classroom into an extraordinary classroom. Every day they are finding new things that will make instruction richer and more meaningful. I am awed at their expertise, and yet they say it is nothing. I have decided to be more like them. I am out of my cave and exploring. I won't say that everything in technology is easy. I am still crashing and from time to time get frustrated, but I am learning new things. As I learn, practice and "explore" (this is what they call crashing) I find it is easier. I now rely on programs and apps that 6 months ago I didn't know anything about. As educators we need to be willing to take the risks and try new things. We can't ask our students to commit to learning if we have stopped. Practice makes permanent. The more often we use an app or program the more we learn, the easier it is to maneuver, until like the bike it becomes second nature. That is my charge for you today, go out "explore" something new, and if you crash, get back up and try again!
Until next time...
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Out of the Cave
For those seasoned bloggers forgive me, for I know not what I am doing. In the past year I have started a new career. I moved out of the classroom where I was queen of all things that dared enter into my domain, and have moved into the administrative side of education. Yes, I am on the DARK SIDE now. In my new role I found out rather quickly that while I was in fairly competent in my teaching skills, I had let the world zoom past my classroom without much notice at all. In fact when I look back I should have noticed how dark and hollow my classroom had become. I thought I was doing well having students collaborate with each other in the classroom; I had no idea it was possible to collaborate with students from around the world. I was living under (or actually hiding beneath) a very LARGE rock. My fear of the unknown kept me, and sadly my students, from discovering what education could be.
I am throwing the rock to the side and emerging from my cave. This, my very first blog post, is the catalyst of my new view on education. I will try new things! I will fail, but I will learn from those and rise up again to try more new things. It is the point of education is it not, that we are to strive to constantly stretch our students boundaries, make them grow and learn so that they can see the world with a new perspective? From this moment on I will be a role model of what education should be. In future posts I will share my experiences and relate the things I learn to lessons that you my wise apprentices (at least I hope to have some followers, maybe a handful) can learn from and bring into your own classrooms.
I hope that all those who follow me, will find my journey useful. Until next time...
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