Like Krazy

A couple of days before the last day of class one of my colleagues, Paul Clark, mentioned an end of the year idea that he was doing with his English classes. He gave his students ballots to vote on different categories for the readings they had done in class: Best Novel, Best Character, Biggest Jerk, etc. He gave them the ballots the day before classes ended, tallied the votes, and created cards and envelopes for students to read as part of an awards ceremony in class. He said students had a good time doing it each year and it was a good way to reflect on and appreciate all they had done over the course of the year. Of course, I stole it. I did add a few technological twists and it was one of these that created a surprising ripple effect. My students voted using a Google form that I set up for them and therefore, all the results were placed in a spreadsheet. The next day Paul was using tally marks to compute scores before classes began. I sat next to him, showed him the...

I remember sitting in class a few (plus!) years ago and at times totally following what was going on. It could have been almost any subject but there were times when it seemed to click.  At least I thought so. Then I got home and started the homework. Different story. It just wasn't that clear anymore and I realized that I didn't quite get it the way I thought. This was not exclusive to homework as it also happened at times on quizzes and tests. I thought I had studied enough (which, admittedly was what I always thought) but it did not pan out. I want my students to avoid this problem and the trick is for them to answer the question: "How do I know when I really know it?" But how? I recently saw a tweet for a webinar run by Ray Jimenez, who is a great webinar presenter by the way, entitled "Learners Don't Know What They Don't Know." Of course, I was excited to get the long-awaited answer to my question in one interesting hour but, ironically e...

While I like to give the students an opportunity to do a game-like review (Jeopardy and "Blingo"* are two popular formats) before a test, the time and resources are not always available for me to create an appropriate amount (and type) of questions. But now I have the students generate the questions and then it just takes a cut and paste to build the review into Socrative.com. The review session is done in pairs with students sharing an iPad (or netbook). In a couple classes there was an odd number of students so there was one group of three, but the third person seemed a bit left out and could not read the screen very well with the others. In most cases, as they worked through the review, one student read the question out loud and they both discussed the answer before selecting. The review game in this case is Space Race, which is part of Socrative.com. At first appearance it may seem a little "young" for high school students but my freshmen and senior classes ...

The honeymoon is over. Well, sort of. The second day did not go quite as smooth as the first because of technology issues. Shocker! In each of the two classes, one student had extra difficulty getting his computer to connect to the wireless. I helped and tried several solutions and a couple different computers before finally getting it going. The other students were very patient but it was because they were using their computers for many things beyond getting ready to take the quiz. At least they were distracting themselves and I decided to accept that early on in this process. I'll work on something more "productive" to keep them occupied if (when) this happens in the future. There have been several positives already. I found that I can create questions with a little more detail and make them multiple choice. In the past I did not think it fair to expect them to recall details but they should be able to identify or recognize them in a list. It works very well to se...

"Take out a piece of paper and fold it in half length-wise." Almost every one of my English classes for the last twenty years has begun with that statement. What follows is a short, five-question quiz on the previous night's reading. Recently, one or two of those questions comes with notebooks open, which gives students a chance to see how well they are taking notes and keeping track of what is important from the day's discussion. In any case, both students and I get a quick look at how well (or if!) they are reading and understanding. "Take out your smartphone or get a netbook from the cart." That's how today's class began for two of my classes. Those students took the quiz (created in a spreadsheet and imported into a quiz program)  using the netbooks, their smartphones, and on an iPad.  They loved it, but that's not surprising. It was something different and not only used technology but used something (cell phone) that is banned in school....

The more I heard about the "flipped" classroom model, the better it sounded - introduce students to a topic at home and then work through and learn the process/content in class with the teacher. And then I did the (warning, I'm about to go very cryptic with the next reference) "Hey ... HEY!" double-take from classic 1940's films like "It's a Wonderful Life" because I think my classroom has always been flipped (if I understand it correctly). My English students do a lot of reading during the course of the year and almost all of it is done at home. They do the assigned reading and we discuss it the following day (usually after a quick "did you do the reading?" quiz at the beginning of class). The discussions usually include reading of passages from the text out loud, which is an important part of the process to understanding and appreciating literature. Maybe it is because I have always done things in this manner and therefore, I am a...

Unfortunately, I have been hearing a lot of negative conversation about Khan Academy recently. It does not seem right to put down someone who has done so much to help others in an extremely proficient way. There are so many great uses for what he (and others) have created. If not at the center of a flipped classroom model, the videos can be used as reference by students who may not have completely understood a topic initially. In this example, Khan becomes the classic textbook example on steroids. My daughter occasionally watched a Khan video this past year to help her with a calculus topic. It must have been useful because she recommended the site to friends. One of the tasks of students (and teachers) in the near future will be to keep track of the virtual teachers who may provide them the best outside help. It would be great to have a site similar to Netflix for learning, with suggestions and recommendations based on your "favorite" virtual teachers. Along with teachers,...

Fifty years ago this week, Harper Lee published "To Kill a Mickingbird" and in doing so introduced the world to Atticus Finch, the lawyer who stood up against racism in the 1930's in a small Southern town. He did so not because he wanted to make a statement or move on to bigger and better things, but because he felt it was the right thing to do for the defendant (Tom Robinson) and his own conscience. Recently there have been those who have stated that Atticus' methods would not work today because they are not forceful or vocal enough to be heard. If the novel were written or published today, maybe he would have held a one hour special on CNN (or Oprah?) and announced his intentions to actually defend Tom Robinson even though most believed he should not? But I doubt it. Atticus firmly believed in himself and allowing the opinions of others the respect they deserved. He didn't force his opinion on others via shouting matches or violence. He choose to do what was rig...

Tony Wagner's The Global Achievement Gap left me with many ideas and much inspiration. My main take away has to do with teaching and learning which was my main purpose in reading the book anyway. In his many interviews and observations, Wagner mentions that one of the most important aspects of teaching is learning to ask the right questions . If we can do this as teachers and get our students to do the same we will have much success. Upon reflection on many of my most "successful" lessons based on my perception of student engagement (therefore, VERY unscientific), it seems to hold true when I ask the right questions. I had not concentrated on working toward students learning to ask their own "right" questions but I am sure that at least part of the time they were heading in that direction and that is why they were so engaged. While I have several pages of notes from the book about successful schools and approaches, it seems if I always come back to the central...

My drive to and from school each day has taken on quite a change over the past few months. It used to be that I would set my XM radio (The Loft and The Spectrum are my stations of choice) for a commercial-free and concentration-free commute. Lately, though I have been listening to the Steve Hargadon interviews from FutureofEducation.com and Conversations.net multiple times and each time I seem to find something new to spark ideas and get me thinking about education and things I should try in the classroom. One of those ideas is to create some online content for my students to watch and review from my own lessons, similar to what I have been doing with those recordings. I planned to set aside some time this summer to create these lessons. These would be topics that I will cover and discuss in class, but can be viewed in a less interactive but maybe more visual format as often as needed. My thought was that this type of lesson would lend itself very well to a discipline like math, where ...

For the past few days Mother Nature, via a blizzard and then the snow version of a left hook a few days later, has provided everyone in Maryland an opportunity to pause and many, many opportunities to shovel. While I have had no choice but do the latter, I have gone beyond the pause to learn from many educators through Twitter and online conferences. In jumping from one blog to another, I came across the above video and my thoughts turned to, of all things, my summer vacation plans and the school grant I hope to get to study more on the video's topic. I love this mash-up video by Punya Mishra for several reasons, but what is most interesting to me is that it confirms one side of an argument that I am having with myself (it's usually the only chance I ever have of winning one) while at the same time confirming the other side of the same argument! On one side is the incorporation of one aspect of technology (in this case a video of a lecture but it could be a Powerpoint presentat...

This video from Langara College, "Rethink Scholarship," is a very creative look at continuing motivation of ideas. While conferences such as educon and discussions like edchat inspire me, it may take a short video like this to turn that spark into a fire. This is the main reason I decided to act and begin writing much more frequently to this blog. It is a chance for me to put down my ideas and let them sit for a while. If others happen to read them (and I won't leave it totally to chance as I will push these posts to those I have connected with on Twitter) I hope they may leave their own comments and impressions. None of us can truly learn without others and the feedback is always welcome. Heck, I'll just take the non-feedback to mean that the ideas must be so far ahead of their time that others need a chance to catch up. :) Or that they are really, really lame. In any case, I'll take it. Something's better than nothing to get the ideas in motion. I find that ...

I came across a site for presenters entitled Interactive Lectures that contains summaries of 36 formats for making a presentation interactive. Certainly my job as a teacher is part presenter and I found many ideas to work with in my own classroom. I decided to put my notes here as I examine some of these formats and how I may use them. Please use the comment section to add your ideas and allow this to grow. Format #1: Best Summary Each participant prepares a summary of the main points at the end of a presentation. Teams of participants switch their summaries and select the best summary from each set. This reminds me of an "Exit Slip," which is a good way to check student understanding before they leave the room. The summary could be done in many formats (and may even be done several times during a class session). - working in groups or individually, put summary on index card. If in groups, have them read each out loud. If individuals, collect and read a few out loud. - techn...

During a recent class discussion about a Sherlock Holmes story ("Adventure of the Speckled Band") my students and I had read, it occurred to me that maybe Holmes would be out of work in the 21st century. After all, anything that he could possibly think of (in this case it was a "swamp adder" from India) could be googled. So I asked my class what they thought. The immediate response was that Holmes was obsolete. Google could take his place. All of his knowledge was available right there for quick and easy access. Why memorize when you can google it? Then there was a pause. They caught themselves and actually began to think about it. I could have stopped right then and called the entire class session a success. Heck, that might even be considered a successful week. But we did continue. It was time to press my luck and see where this thought was going. First one voice (you gotta love that one - the one you sometimes wait to call on until many others have had a turn), ...

Both Scratch and Alice peeked my interest because I teach a computer programming course. I have worked with the Alice program in the past and although it looks very interesting and powerful, it seemed to have a steep learning curve. I had seen the Scratch program and realized that I had actually already downloaded but had never worked through it. The Scratch tutorial was a limited but well done introduction to the program. It walks the viewer through the basics and was enough to get me started. I am almost certain that my background in programming helped me understand it more so than a student new to programming would, so I think that I will need to work with students beyond this tutorial to get them up and running. Once they have done so, I think this program is a great introduction to the basics of program and will give them the background needed to understand the concepts as we cover them in class. It is fun, easy, and educational. What more could you ask for?

In Henry Jenkins' "Convergence Culture," he discusses the way students have been inspired to write about the Harry Potter novels as interpreters and creators. I thought about how much writing I have my students do and I am determined to give them more opportunities to write next year. This chapter solidified that for me because I can approach the writing using the Harry Potter method and be confident of success in student engagement.  This method is simply this: begin by having the students write about something they are interested in or about which they have a working knowledge. Jenkins makes several points that support this approach: Because they are already familiar with the topic, they can spend time mastering the writing craft and working on how to communicate their intended message. When they are writing about fictional characters it provides a distance between them and the character, allowing them the freedom to reflect and then express. They will develop a relevan...

I have found the MacMost tutorials very well done and helpful. The tutorial on using iTunes to find podcasts was no exception. I have not used iTunes very much at all so this gave me a chance to see how useful it can be. The tutorial cleared up a possible confusion initially as to where to find the podcasts, explaining that the podcast option in the menu is actually your own podcasts and not a place to search. In working my way through the different layers I found those podcasts dealing with education and can now search for a few to use in my discussion board entries. This is helpful on several fronts!

The video is a sampling of the many things I have learned as part of the Education Media Design and Technology Masters program at Full Sail University. In working on this assignment, I had an opportunity to examine and review eight months of effort and learning. The video above uploaded to the class YouTube page, a process that was much easier than the one needed for the Viddler account.

I have partially watched several of the tutorials given in the list and the one I have found most useful so far was the tutvid.com introduction to Adobe Bridge ("Why use CS Bridge?"). I had never heard of Bridge and that is one of the reasons I chose to watch. While it is probably longer than it needs to be for an introductory video, it is well presented and the speaker seemed prepared for what he was going to say. I have had some difficulties working with the Adobe Suite programs and this should make things a little easier to navigate, if nothing else.

A few months ago I found out about Twitter and created an account. My wife did the same thing at that time and after about 15 minutes of exploration neither of us was convinced that there was anything worthwhile in it. She said "Let me know when you find something useful to do with it" and was done. It has taken a while and although I still haven't found a reason for her to use it, it has become a valuable tool in my learning as an educator. The list of those I follow has taken time to build. It began with people I knew (not many Twitters!) and through online real-time discussion forums such as educhat and Classroom 2.0 has grown to include teachers throughout the world. The people I follow generally have suggestions and ideas of web tools to use in the classroom (and beyond) with my students. I recently received a tweet about a kindergarden teacher sending tweets during the school day keeping the parents in the loop and encouraging them to ask their children about the sp...