This IS What It's All About

So my Grade 8s have been hearing about the new stuff the grade 5s are doing...blogging, shooting podcasts, using some little Smartboard app on an iPad and even 'going' to Disney World in Math class on the laptops


and they WANT in!

They want to USE their cameras
      and iPod touches
               and laptops
                        in meaningful ways.

They don't want to wait.
They want to use new programs, new tools, new technologies... now in school.

They don't think they should be banned from WiFi access.

They don't think it's fair that the bad apples get to spoil it for them.

They want to learn.
They want to be engaged in their learning through the medium they are now so used to, though mostly outside our schools.

They want to be able to show what they know in 'new' ways.

.

Gotta plan something

 that balances out their desire,


our eagerness to embrace what 21st century technology has

to offer students and teachers with what the practical decision-makers feel is in our best interests.

HMM?   Maybe our Social Studies content can be covered with a class "movie"

using iMovie technology (which will be new for me and several others)

 or be presented through Glogster  or Animoto or perhaps Prezi!

I'll let you know what we do!

The Difference It Makes

When I think back to the cookie cutter approach to teaching, learning, textbooks and tests of my own 'education', I shudder.  Mind you, I was one of the lucky ones; book-learning came relatively easy for me.

 Seeing my name on the wall didn't bother me-I got STARS!

I LOVED to read and write and spell!

But not everyone did.  Not everyone could make the grade.  

Some children never got a spelling star.

Some kids hated to be asked to read aloud.

Some kids hated school.

WHY?

I can recall the look of terror one of my friends had whenever we had a Math test...which was too often.  She just couldn't get it down fast enough, neat enough.  She was not an effective writer but boy, could she draw!  If only we had numbers, pictures and words in math back then!

And then there was the boy who I am pretty convinced was dyslexic.  How he made it through high school amazed me. But then he had his mother reading everything for him over and over and he spent all his evenings copying her notes.

I can think of several of my classmates who struggled through elementary grades junior high 

and then dropped out.  

Kids who knew stuff, 

kids who understood things I couldn't.

                                                               Kids who could sing
                                                                 and talk to people
                                                                      and draw
                                                                and make things
                                                                 and build things
                                                         I was not so good at doing then!
                                                           (And still not able to do!)

And I often wonder where they would be now if they were in today's school system.  

What difference would it have made if they had attended today's schools that recognize multiple intelligences and multiple ways of demonstrating learning?

What if Janice could have present her work in a dramatic reading instead of passing in her scribbled down essay?

What if they had  let Sarah draw diagrams to show what she learned instead of grading the answer?

Or if Terry had built a model to demonstrate how those simple machines work instead of having to write the report.  What difference would that have made?

And what if the child who couldn't write successfully could record his or her thoughts?  What then?!!

I recently purchased an iPod Touch and I used this technology in a new way last week to capture one of my student's responses in a Language Arts activity.  Using Dragon Dictation, one of my students was able to compose his answer to a question and record it with just two taps on the screen. 

This is an intelligent child who reads above grade level, makes strong connections between topics and personal connections to many of the discussions we have across the curriculum, however he is unable to write his name in clearly formed letters and has little sound-letter relationship skills. Conventional use of such word processing software and handheld dictation taking devices have proved to be exercises in frustration often distracting from the main purpose in using them - independence.

Can we conceive what a difference it makes for a child to feel that they are able to show their teachers, their classmates and their family what they know-how well they know- without the help of others!

I wish the people who are not yet convinced of the importance of having tools in our classroom with access to APPS and programs and such - on all the devices we have at our disposal- could have seen his face when he heard HIS voice.  

I wish those people were there to see the look on his mother's face when she came to pick him up and she heard it and realized what a difference this one tool alone would make; that we could email and print out any of his thoughts, ideas, stories...

I wish all the children who needed this type of support had access to it.

I wish all schools had a principal who is as passionate in supporting me, my colleagues, and most importantly the children, as mine!

 What a difference it makes!

That the touchscreen technology has made this and so many other activities possible was not imagined forty years ago... is what it is.  BUT now we can make a difference, we have to make a difference. 

There are no acceptable reasons not to do so.

Christmas Gifts Welcome in the Classroom

                          

As we returned to class this past week and carried out the annual Show and Tell ritual, I was struck by the number of digital gadgets my students had received...

Laptops, I Pods, tablets, Wii systems, e Readers, Nintendo DS contraptions, cellphones, digital cameras...all in the hands of my ten-year old students!

I was also struck how - when I was not much older than they are - reading science fiction, that the fiction included handheld devices that one could speak into and see the other person!  How impossible that seemed back in the day of the rotary-dial telephone.  Web-camming is a new verb and now we can Skype with students around the world in realtime!

When I was my students' age the word computers evoked an image of the roomful of computer framesNASA had to use in order to guide the various space  missions. 

(And yes, I watched the televising of those first steps on the moon on a black&white TV!)  

These days many of my students own personal computers that fit into their jeans pocket!

                           

And with them, my students have access to an incredible amount of information.. and imagination.  

Right in their hands!

They  can see the moon landing , 

the moon's surface and the astronauts' living conditions.  

They can delve into the archived material at NASA 

or enroll in the Kids Club.  

 They can watch space shuttles take off!

In other words whatever interests they have can be pursued easily and incredibly quickly. Whatever we want to learn about in our classrooms is made possible with many technological advances made since I was in Grade five!

ANYTHING SEEMS POSSIBLE and it is all in their hands.  

Well... in some schools.

I cannot fathom the lack of foresight of some decision-makers across North America that have banned the use of these devices in our classrooms.  (Let alone the whole Internet access debate in general!)

I get the issues around inappropriate texting, taping/photographing teachers and students and so on. Cyberbullying is very real and very hurtful; that's not going to be turned around if the devices are banned.

However... if these devices were up on the desks being USED in purposeful ways; if the kids were BUSY learning and teaching others with these devices, most wouldn't be bored or disinterested or unmotivated or motivated to do something off-topic or unkind.

Most children would respond to the opportunities for collaborative, connecting, powerful learning opportunities afforded by bringing these devices into the classroom.

There has been a groundswell of reaction and much debate around technology and whether or not we should be encouraging it in the form of allowing cellphones and such in our schools. As so many innovative educators point out we need to embrace and encourage the sharing of resources and that includes the students' 'toys'!

With so many apps that have educational purposes being collected (check here)- and made available via the Internet, many reviewed by knowledgeable people such as Richard Byrne there is no excuse for not being aware of what could enhance and extend your curriculum.  

That is... IF you can tell your students that they are welcome to bring those presents to school everyday!

Back at it!

For a multitude of reasons I have not been posting here for months.  Not that I haven't been working and writing!  I have been teaching in the busy, messy, noisy way Vicki Davis talks about.
And I have been continuing my graduate studies.  And my volunteer work... and my family life!

With two students who have autism and another whose first language is not English ...in addition to the other smiling/not smiling faces in our class this year, I have been extra busy as a teacher since September rolled in.  (There aren't actually enough hours in the day, are there?!)

Or at least I felt busier!  And stressed out a little more too!

Teacher stress is very real but it's not unmanageable.  Recognizing that you are experiencing it and acknowledging that it is a normal emotion in this profession is perhaps key to staying sane!

As teachers we quite often take the daily experiences of being in the classroom to heart.

..a lesson plan goes awry
...the Internet is down
...the copier jammed and we needed that stuff

...that student looks unhappy again this morning                      
...this student is trying so hard but still struggles
...she can't find her pencil and he can't find his report and
...another student that you thought 'had it' - doesn't!
...this one is attentive but that one isn't!!

...just getting settled with that group when you're interrupted again



...and all the other school-related expectations
like planning
and preparation
and reading student work

and responding to student work                        
and assessments
and keeping in touch with parents
and report card writing
and meetings
 and ......

usually these don't happen all on the same day but we all know that some days feel like that!  

So I tried not to lose my perspective...

I tried to realize my own limitations...                                                             

I aimed to try new approaches...

and above all keep in mind why I am in the classroom in the first place...those faces that greet me each day!

So I haven't been HERE  because I had to make some choices around what had to be done and what could be put on a back burner.

It takes time to blog and to read great posts and to tweet and browse and reflect on what one comes across.

I found I was bookmarking so many interesting and truly useful sites, but I wasn't getting time to think about how to most effectively incorporate the thoughts and ideas as so many more were coming at me each time I logged on through my contacts/PLNs/favourite bloggers!

So I was on hiatus (noun) interval; break; period of rest; separation; interruption!  That being said, I am easing myself back into my digital connections.

I will pace myself  and undoubtedly continue to need to prioritize within my professional and personal lives.

But I'm enjoying this too much to not do it!

For the love of reading

It is only our fifth day  in school and it fills me with such pleasure as I gaze around my classroom during SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) and see so many children ... all 21 of them with their heads lowered over the pages of the various texts they have selected.

 I'm not surprised by what I see.  The culture of reading in our school is well established.  If I walked down the corridor to our Grade 8 rooms, I would see the same sight!


It's just that seeing them all engrossed in books just a few days after the start of the school year means they are already doing something positive and powerful for themselves.  When I eventually move into lessons about characterization and word choice and conflict and connections to texts, we will already have that shared experience of becoming engaged as readers.


And shared it is...it is essential for me to practice what I preach!  I vary my material - novels at MY reading level/interest, university texts, and of course I regularly read new books that have have been ordered for our class library.

The kids SEE me as a reader.  

They also KNOW I am a reader when I can speak in an informed way about the books I am recommending.  When I determine from their interest surveys or a conversation that they prefer mysteries I can suggest everything from Cam Jansen to "How Come the Best Clues are Always in the Garbage?" to Encyclopedia Brown.

Momentum

With so many things on my proverbial plate at this time of year, it was very easy to lose the sense of momentum I had felt earlier and equally easy to not make the time to do something I have so enjoyed...blogging.

It is also somewhat overwhelming when I read so many wonderful blogs and I wonder where they find the time!?  I have come to realize, of course, they carve it out, they take it early in the morning before they go to work (that doesn't fit me!!) or in bits and pieces throughout the day/evening or even across the whole week.  Whatever it takes... they take because they want and need to blog.

So I begin again and will do what I can when I can!

Blogging: Assessment and Learning

My students blog.  Going to a computer to write a post was a regular occurrence last year;  often students worked on them at home "just because"!

Adding various audiovisual clips was something many undertook to enhance their piece.

Quite a few were able to use hyperlinks to connect other useful and interesting sites to their posts.




All of them provided feedback to each other and responded to the comments received, carrying on a enthusiastic conversation with other readers in other parts of the world.  In addition to their individual blogs, the kids collaborated on posts about topics of mutual interest (or just to share the 'work'!)

As the year went on and we became more comfortable with how and what to do, we had a discussion about how blogging fit in our 'photo album' approach to assessment:

~Not everything they do has to go in the album
~They have some say in choosing items to be considered for the album
~Some blurry 'shots' can be removed from the album
~Over time growth should be evident
~Sometimes pictures get taken that you don't necessarily want to be 'in' but you try to give your best 'smile'!]

By the end of the first term (September to November here) my kids are used to thinking about assessment in three ways: