As I read Richardson's chapter on bookmarking websites (such as Furl.net, del.icio.us, and Jots) devoted to making connecting web-users to a variety of weblinked resources easier for everyday web browsers like myself and my students, I kept trying to determine the best possible ways in which to use this resource. The easy connections between students would make it ideal for a basis for a discussion board. Richardson also suggests it for a valuable research tool.
Another idea I had for the language arts classroom is based on my idea for context based (rather than genre based) units. I've been wanting to design a context based writing unit since I began teaching, but I have not yet been able to incorporate the necessary core content to make it feesible. If, however, I am able to do so next year, I would definitely use Jots or Furl as a tool. Students could subscribe to RSS feeds of the Harlem Renaissance or Shakespeare to more fully research and present on obscure aspects of the context in which we were studying the plays, poems, and other writings of the era. I look forward to considering this, and the other tools Richardson outlines, as I plan for next year.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Pod-Casting in the Language Arts Classroom
My prior experience with pod-casting has mainly involved me catching up on missed NPR programs over the internet. Before now, I hadn't thought it could be so easy to actually upload my own students voices onto the internet. In chapter eight of Richardson's Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, he outlays the simplicity and variety of podcasting in the classroom.
My intial question was this: how can I use podcasting specifically in the language arts classroom for authentic learning or assessment. Then I realized what a powerful and effective method of presentation assessment this tool could present. Students could record themselves reading their own poetry and podcast it for all the world to hear. They could write plays and monologues and then perform them over the internet. At last we could reach that final stage of the writing process - publishing - and finally make it authentic.
Beyond literary writing, my students could read their narratives aloud, discuss the topics outlined in their feature articles, argue the opinions put forth in their editorials or give their speeches aloud to a very real audience. Or, I could use pod-casting to have my students reflect on their own writing processes. Literature Circles could also be podcasts. It seems the possiblitiees are endless.
My intial question was this: how can I use podcasting specifically in the language arts classroom for authentic learning or assessment. Then I realized what a powerful and effective method of presentation assessment this tool could present. Students could record themselves reading their own poetry and podcast it for all the world to hear. They could write plays and monologues and then perform them over the internet. At last we could reach that final stage of the writing process - publishing - and finally make it authentic.
Beyond literary writing, my students could read their narratives aloud, discuss the topics outlined in their feature articles, argue the opinions put forth in their editorials or give their speeches aloud to a very real audience. Or, I could use pod-casting to have my students reflect on their own writing processes. Literature Circles could also be podcasts. It seems the possiblitiees are endless.
The Digital Story as an Instructional Tool
Because I have worked with digital stories in past classes at the University of Lousiville, I decided to push myself a step further to create a digital story I could actually use with my students. I made a story to introduce a literacy project I plan to do with my students next year called, "Unlocking Poetry."
In this project, students will research a poem that has some sort of special meaning for them. The possibilities for student exploration are unlimited, and I will allow students to use musical lyrics, so long as they can document why the lyricas are poetic. The students will then be required to re-represent their poem in some artistic medium, whether clay, paint, charcoal, colored pencil or any thing else the students can imagine. They will then create digital stories in pairs, in which they will present their individual projects in a fluid and coherent way. Thus, I will push them to make new, more complex connections between individual projects to create a collaborative digital story.
My own digital story will serve as the hook, model, and inspiration for my students' projects.
When they see my former students' work, as well as a model of a digital story, I hope they will be inspired to create a unique and wonderful digital story to express a certain personal connection they had to a poem, and to then connect that in some comparison or contrast to another students' expression. From this project I not only hope that my students will gain technological experience and advancement, but also an appreciation of poetry, figurative language cognitive development, and collaborative working skills. Most importantly to me as a language arts teacher, this activiy should give them authentic access to unlock the mirror and window that is poetry.In this project, students will research a poem that has some sort of special meaning for them. The possibilities for student exploration are unlimited, and I will allow students to use musical lyrics, so long as they can document why the lyricas are poetic. The students will then be required to re-represent their poem in some artistic medium, whether clay, paint, charcoal, colored pencil or any thing else the students can imagine. They will then create digital stories in pairs, in which they will present their individual projects in a fluid and coherent way. Thus, I will push them to make new, more complex connections between individual projects to create a collaborative digital story.
My own digital story will serve as the hook, model, and inspiration for my students' projects.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Changing for Kids; Changing for Change
I'm excited about the ideas presented in Marc Prensky's article Adopt and Adapt, because he challenges educators to push their uses of technology to a truly contructivist model. As a teacher who believes fully in the ideals of modern day educational best practice, and the constructivist model as the most effective and most democratic, I am willing to push myself to find "new ways of doing new things."
Last year I was definitely a "dappler" in technology, hardly even using technology other than to have my students type their portfolio pieces. This year I've tried to implement technology into my classroom in a number of ways: modeling on the projector, an online gradebook, and a classroom website. All of these are essentially "old things in new ways." Next year will be my year to push myself further to implement "new things in new ways," and push my students to the highest levels of Blooms taxonomy with technology as our guide.
Prensky's idea of incorporating the students into decsion making roles in schools and classrooms is a wonderful notion. Josh McHugh, too, is right in arguing that it is the teachers' duty to speak the students' language (in this case a digital one.) It is true that they are the technological natives, and just as I have often consulted them for constructive criticism of my lessons and class procedures, I will happily consult them for technological advice. If it empowers them, it's worth extra planning and flexibility. Personally, I am more than happy to change for them. I went into education to bring about change, and if technology is a vehicle for that change, I look forward to it. If it brings opportunity to my students, empowers them, connects them to the far-reaching corners of the globe, exposes them to new ideas and information, or gives them a forum on which to the voice their own ideas, I more than welcome it. I demand it.
Last year I was definitely a "dappler" in technology, hardly even using technology other than to have my students type their portfolio pieces. This year I've tried to implement technology into my classroom in a number of ways: modeling on the projector, an online gradebook, and a classroom website. All of these are essentially "old things in new ways." Next year will be my year to push myself further to implement "new things in new ways," and push my students to the highest levels of Blooms taxonomy with technology as our guide.
Prensky's idea of incorporating the students into decsion making roles in schools and classrooms is a wonderful notion. Josh McHugh, too, is right in arguing that it is the teachers' duty to speak the students' language (in this case a digital one.) It is true that they are the technological natives, and just as I have often consulted them for constructive criticism of my lessons and class procedures, I will happily consult them for technological advice. If it empowers them, it's worth extra planning and flexibility. Personally, I am more than happy to change for them. I went into education to bring about change, and if technology is a vehicle for that change, I look forward to it. If it brings opportunity to my students, empowers them, connects them to the far-reaching corners of the globe, exposes them to new ideas and information, or gives them a forum on which to the voice their own ideas, I more than welcome it. I demand it.
Monday, March 5, 2007
Flickr Project
The following standards can be applied to a middle school language arts lesson, in which we would implement the technology tool Flickr to prompt students' creative writing.
WR-M-3.5.0
Language: Students will exemplify effective language choices by
· Applying correct grammar and usage
· Applying concise use of language
· Incorporating strong verbs, precise nouns, concrete details and sensory details
· Applying language appropriate to the content, purpose and audience
After viewing the photo prompts, students would be instructed to describe it using as many synonyms and sensory details as possible. They would have the option of exploring the other tags on the web to expand their descriptions.
WR-08-3.5.2
In Personal Expressive/Literary Writing,
· Sudents will incorporate language based on economy, precision, richness or impact on the reader.
Students will develop ideas through descriptive or figurative language.
Students will also be instructed to look at the picture prompts and compare them to something in their lives, or some aspect of their experiences, using three metaphors and three similes.
WR-08-1.2.2
In Personal Expressive/Literary Writing,
· Students will communicate theme/main idea through use of literary elements appropriate to the genre:
o Students will develop characters (fictional/non-fictional) through thoughts, emotions, actions, descriptions or dialogue when appropriate.
o Students will develop plot/story line appropriate to the form.
o Students will develop an appropriate setting, mood, scene, image, or feeling.
· Students will incorporate literary or poetic devices (e.g., simile, metaphor, personification) when appropriate.
Students will incorporate reflection, insight and analysis when appropriate.
Finally, students will be instructed to free-write in verse to build a poem based on these brainstorming notes.
To see our Flickr prompt photos, please go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7216621@N03/?saved=1
To see our prompts as a Complete Set, go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7216621@N03/sets/72157594572290590/
Sunday, March 4, 2007
The Very Real Possiblilities of a Real Simple Read/Write Web
Before this weeks reading, I had not heard of "RSS" before, but I wouldn't have thought it had stood for "Real Simple Syndication." I would have thought it would have stood for something more technologically sounding - or at least gramatically correct (sorry - the language arts teacher in me comes out.)
As far as Richardson's conception of the Read/Write web is concerned, RSS provides for easy access to the reading half of that complex. Indeed, one of the greatest things about setting up an RSS for student use would be the ability to widen the breath of textual materials the students could access and read. Often times in my two years of teaching I've made the statement: "Whatever gets them reading." I think this would be a really engaging way to appeal to students' various interests . It would allow for more student choice in the classroom, and create an easy opportunity for immediate access to texts. It would decrease the time in which students would conduct research, and thus increase time for instruction and student expression.
While RSS provides greater access to the reading aspect of the Read/Write web, Flikr provides an excellent opportunity for students and teachers to contribute to the network in their own meaningful ways. Richardson suggests using Flickr to publish photos of speakers, fieldtrips, special projects, or as a celebration of students' hard work. These are great ideas. To add to the list, I envision using the website as a tool for collaborative group projects. Students who do group work in my room are each held accountable to certain jobs, such as recorder, presenter, director, etc. Flickr makes possible new jobs: photographer and publisher. By digitally documenting the students' work, I could view the annotated digital images, keep students on task, engage them further, give them a sense of ownership and responsibility over their work, and push them to be more creative and diligent than they ever have before. The online discussions about the photos could even serve as a new means of presentation. The possiblities are very exciting!
Another possible use for Flickr is to have the students conduct scavenger hunts or guided tours of the images and respond to particular photos as prompts for entries into their writing notebooks. As I read further, I saw the "Random Writes" idea on p. 107. This would be an exciting activity for my language arts students. I also really like the "Strength of Weak Ties" activity. In addition to using it to illustrate famous poetry, I would also like to use an adaption of the activity to help illustrate and guide the authentic writing of my students own poetry.
It's true that the Read/Write web really is revolutionary. My students, who come from disempowered and often disenfranchised demographics, will hungrily welcome this opportunity to publish in an authentic, public forum. I look forward to implementing these technologies next year to give my students a sense of ownership and empowerment, and to show them how their literacy skills can be applied in the real world so that their perspectives can be "heard."
As far as Richardson's conception of the Read/Write web is concerned, RSS provides for easy access to the reading half of that complex. Indeed, one of the greatest things about setting up an RSS for student use would be the ability to widen the breath of textual materials the students could access and read. Often times in my two years of teaching I've made the statement: "Whatever gets them reading." I think this would be a really engaging way to appeal to students' various interests . It would allow for more student choice in the classroom, and create an easy opportunity for immediate access to texts. It would decrease the time in which students would conduct research, and thus increase time for instruction and student expression.
While RSS provides greater access to the reading aspect of the Read/Write web, Flikr provides an excellent opportunity for students and teachers to contribute to the network in their own meaningful ways. Richardson suggests using Flickr to publish photos of speakers, fieldtrips, special projects, or as a celebration of students' hard work. These are great ideas. To add to the list, I envision using the website as a tool for collaborative group projects. Students who do group work in my room are each held accountable to certain jobs, such as recorder, presenter, director, etc. Flickr makes possible new jobs: photographer and publisher. By digitally documenting the students' work, I could view the annotated digital images, keep students on task, engage them further, give them a sense of ownership and responsibility over their work, and push them to be more creative and diligent than they ever have before. The online discussions about the photos could even serve as a new means of presentation. The possiblities are very exciting!
Another possible use for Flickr is to have the students conduct scavenger hunts or guided tours of the images and respond to particular photos as prompts for entries into their writing notebooks. As I read further, I saw the "Random Writes" idea on p. 107. This would be an exciting activity for my language arts students. I also really like the "Strength of Weak Ties" activity. In addition to using it to illustrate famous poetry, I would also like to use an adaption of the activity to help illustrate and guide the authentic writing of my students own poetry.
It's true that the Read/Write web really is revolutionary. My students, who come from disempowered and often disenfranchised demographics, will hungrily welcome this opportunity to publish in an authentic, public forum. I look forward to implementing these technologies next year to give my students a sense of ownership and empowerment, and to show them how their literacy skills can be applied in the real world so that their perspectives can be "heard."
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