Writing with Digital Natives

    It is so hard to get my fifth graders to write anything that is what I consider a good piece of writing.  They resist adding details and organizing information in a way that makes it easier to understand.  I finally decided to embrace the digital natives inside them and broke out the laptops.  What a difference.  I won't say that I've noticed a huge impact on the quality of my students' writing, but I hear a lot less whining and the students are more likely to try to write a quality essay.  I'm trying to take it one day at a time and enjoy each small victory.  I have faith that we will have some good writers by the end of the year if I can just keep them intersted and keep them practicing.

Multimedia Project

     I can't say I had a lot of fun completing my multimedia project - I hit too many technology roadblocks that stressed me out - but I learned a lot from the process.  I was so proud of myself when I finally finished my Voice Thread.  I had my laptop at school and I worked on the project during my planning time a couple of times while I had a few students in my room.  They were interested in what I was doing, especeially once I started recording my voice, and wanted to know what I was doing.  I shared with a few of them (they thought it was so funny that I had homework with which I was struggling) and allowed them to watch me and give me feedback on what I was doing.  A few of them asked if they could do the same kind of project in our class, so I am now working on a way to include VoiceThread in my next novel unit.  I think its great when I can find a way to include something from my graduate school courses into my fifth grade classes, even when it is something that makes me a little uncomfortable.

Diversity Read-Aloud

     I've discovered the best book for use with older elementary students. As I planned for this school year, I made a point of trying to locate books that I thought would reflect what I learned in the diversity course last year.  Many of the books I chose are first reads for me as well as for my students.  The book I am currently reading was chosen because the main character, Caitlin, has Asperger's Syndrome. It is titled Mockingbird and is written by Kathryn Erskine.  We are currently learning about point of view in language arts and I thought the book would add to that study since it is written from Caitlin's point of view.  The way my students have reacted to the novel has been a joy to watch.  At the beginning, they laughed at the way the main character took some things literally and joked about her behavior.  As they got caught up in the story and heard more of Caitlin's words, you could notice a shift in their thinking.  They began to feel Caitlin's frustration and empathize with her instead of laugh about her actions, words, and thoughts. Sure, they have identified point of view and discussed how other characters may have seen things differently, but the main lesson learned has been about people who may seem different from them.  I too learned a lesson.  I learned just how powerful a good book can be and how important it is to consider diversity as we choose books for our classrooms.  Hearing about it last year was good, but seeing it in action this semester is great!

21st Century Literacies - Ideas

I have a student that is currently homebound because he is vision impaired since a recent operation.  His sight is expected to return - improvement is already occuring - and we hope he'll return to the classroom after Christmas break.  I've tried to think of ways to use what we are learning in this course to help keep M. on top of things here at school.  I often whine about technology, but let me tell you, it has sure come in handy during the past couple of weeks.  I've thought of a lot of the things we've discussed and used in class and worked at adapting them so that a student not physically in the classroom can still experience a lot of what is going on.  I'd love to hear any ideas for using technology to help a visually impaired student at home feel like apart of the classroom community.

Teaching the Teacher

     I know that it is important for teachers to allow students to experiment with a topic we are teaching.  We can't just lecture all day and expect every child to get what we are trying to teach.  Students must be actively involved in their own education.  I know this, but when I experience it myself, the message becomes even more powerful.  Thursday night, I had the chance to experience the power of students (in this case, me) being actively involved in their learning.  When I read about all the different multimedia resources in the textbook, a lot of what I read just disappeared into thin air.  I couldn't comprehend what I was reading well enough to retain the knowledge.  But when I was given the opportunity to play with some sites in the computer lab, suddenly I understood what the author of the text was saying. The lesson Thursday was on ways to use technology to enhance my instruction, but I also learned first hand just how important it is to allow my students to take part in their own learning.  I think both lessons were equally important.

Am I Ready For This?

    I find it difficult to describe how I felt as I read the description of the classroom of the future in our text.  I can't say that I find it hard to believe such big changes could occur.  I've seen too many changes in my 19 years in the classroom to think that things will stay the same.  But I am intimidated by some of the changes that were talked about.  I try to stay on top of technology, but I find myself worried that I won't be able to understand or use correctly the next big thing in educational technology that enters my school.  Younger teachers seem to catch on to tech-y things much quicker than I do and I feel like I am listening to a foreign language when new teachers get together and start discussing ways they are using technology in their classrooms.  I do not want to become the teacher no one wants becasue she is boring and doesn't do the fun stuff like the younger teachers.  I want to understand and use the new things that are entering our schools, but I am still intimidated by the changes that I sense are coming. Digital literacy is necessary.  I know this.  I want my students to leave my classroom ready to face whatever the world throws at them.  But I doubt my ability to understand the technology well enough to do a good job of teaching it.  I hope that as the changes come to pass, I'll gradually learn the knowledge and skills necessary so I'll feel more confident when the time arises to use and teach these new technologies.  Right now though, I am scared.

Sometimes I'm Just So Proud

     My students and I recently had the opportunity to experience sharing in a student's health crisis.  One of my students was diagnosed with a brain tumor a couple of weeks ago and was immediately taken to UVA for a couple of operations to remove the tumor.  He left Friday like every other student and by the following week, my class was only hearing from him through second-hand accounts of his status.  My group of fifth graders, who can be extremely hard on each other and often don't get along very well, rallied together to support our sick classmate and send him warm wishes.  I was lucky enough to maintain a running dialogue with his family memebers and received daily updates which were then passed on to my classes.  The "M. Update" became a part of our daily schedule - after journal writing and before our read-aloud time. As we discussed our concerns and celebrated the good news we received from the hospital - no cancer!!!- the opportunity arose for some very serious discussions.  Students made cards, prayed during our daily moment of silence, and made plans for M.'s return.  When they heard that M. had enrolled in the hospital school, they were shocked.  (What?  No break from school even for brain surgery?!) M. came home last week, but he won't be returning to the classroom for a while.  He has a lot of therapy ahead of him and will be homebound.  I was thrilled when he asked his mom to bring him to school Thursday for a visit.  I was so proud of my brave boy as he was guided into my classroom (he still can't see in one eye, and the eye with vision droops and must be held open.) My ususally chatty students were completely silent.  You could see they did not know how to deal with the change from the boy who left our room to the kid standing before them.  M. acted as if nothing was wrong and even shared with the class that his doctor had been in the operating room when they did surgery on Christopher Reeves.  Yep - M. ranks up there with Superman!  It wasn't long before his friends began to open up and start talking.  The kids most likely to be ugly to others and tease anyone who is different were so kind and gentle.  I was impressed at the way they showed empathy.  They are already planning trips to M.'s house and asking me how we can keep him involved with our class.  I am so proud of all of my students during this stressful time for our classroom - M. for his courage as he faced a health crisis no one his age should have to face, and the rest of my fifth graders as they came together as a classroom community to support one of their own.

Faculty Art Exhibit

     The faculty art exhibit in Green Hall was not what I expected.  There were several types of art I did not expect  to see.  The graphic art was a surprise and I was also surprised by the number of pottery pieces included in the exhibit.  The piece of art I focused on was a large painting with a bunny in the center.  It caught my attention because it appears as if it was painted by more than one artist.  The bunny's style is soften, rounder, and more realistic than the hands coming out of the sides of the painting.  The hands are modern, almost coloring book like.  The background full of clovers made me think of good luck symbols (4 leaf clover, rabbit's foot).  The whole painting felt like something from Alice in Wonderland. I don't think it is something I would enjoy having in my home, it's a bit too busy for my taste, but it definitely caught my eye and made me think.

Common Core Leaves Teachers Out of the Equation

     While I see some things about the Common Core Curriculum that I think are positive, I fear that the author is correct about the movement "sinking" over time.  Common Core State Standards will become another example of an educational experiment that just didn't work the way the experts predicted it would work.  This is because the people who push these "one size fits all" programs at teachers and require them to teach according to a prescribed plan, don't take into account the fact that children aren't all alike.  In a perfect classroom, all twelve of my students would arrive each morning, well-rested and with full tummies, ready and eager to learn the information I have to deliver.  They would participate in class and remain on their best behavior at all times, get along with everyone in their cooperative group, and beg for work to take home so their learning could continue once they leave the school building. In the real world, in the majority of our very full classrooms, teachers are struggling with different achievement levels, students bringing problems from home to school, conflicts between students, and unmotivated children.  The Common Core does not address the difficulty of this task.  Until the real problems in education are taken into account, I do not believe that any program stands a chance of proving successful.

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

     I had to laugh aloud several times as I read this article.  My life experiences prove the author's words are true each and every day.  My fifth graders are much more attentive when I use technology in a lesson.  And using a game to teach or reinforce a concept is their favorite activity! Whenever I get stumped by something my computer or Eno board is doing, I know I can find a student who can probably figure out what went wrong and help me fix it. Even at home, I am constantly reminded that my own three children are digital natives while I am the slower, digital immigrant.  I watch my kids text, interact on Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, talk on Skype, and create projects using the computer.  Computers at home aren't optional by the way.  Every evening, at least two of the three have homework that requires internet access.  Packing the flash drive in the bookbag is as natural as packing a notebook.  Wow! 
     I'd never thought of myself having a digital immigrant accent, but the paragraph on pg. 2 of this article described me perfectly.  I am guilty of calling to see if someone received an email, yelling down the hall to come look at a site I found on the computer, and I print out my papers to edit them. It's no wonder my students sometimes look at me as if I was speaking "Greek".  I guess I do sometimes confuse them just because we are talking from two different places. Even though I'll always keep my accent, hopefully I'll become more fluent at Techno-talk.

Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers...Technology

I was so glad to have a journal article that I could read and understand the first time! (Even if the quality of the article I printed out - words running into each other- was poor.)  I believe it is vitally important that English language arts teachers be prepared to teach and use technology during their time in teacher ed programs.  Technology isn't just a nice "extra" anymore that you use in your lesson when you want to impress someone during an observation.  Technology is now required by many schools, and teachers will find that students expect to see and use technology as part of their school experience.  Technology is the new "normal."  Teachers must also be prepared to let their students be their partners and even sometimes their guides as technology changes.  Our students catch on to new technological advances much quicker than we do.  It is important that we be confident enough in ourselves to step back and either let the students lead a lesson in using new technology or allow them to teach us. Technology isn't going anywhere.  It is here to stay and we must adapt our attitudes and teaching styles if we are to provide our students with an English language arts education that includes being  literate in all forms of text.

Semiotic Representations: Building complex literacy practices through the arts (Cowan, K., & Albers, P., 2006)

     There is no doubt in my mind that many students enjoy the arts.  Drawing and music are popular ways students choose to express themselves.  Drama is always a favorite genre in my classroom. But reading about the importance of linking these art forms to literacy in new ways made me consider the arts in a new light.  I've always tried to find ways to incorporate some type of art into many of my activities in order to motivate those students who prefer thnking and working with the arts.  I am quickly realiziing, however, just how inadequate my attempts have been.  The statement on pg. 125 that referred to teachers' attempts to include art in the curriculum as "formulaic, craft-like activities" (Eisner, p. 29)," iconic images, and symbols that accompany holidays and are created to decorate classrooms and hallways(Collins, 1995) unfortunately describes most of my attempts at integrating the arts.  Ouch!  I have come to the realization that I must do a better job of thinking purposely about what I want the art to do with the literacy.  I shouldn't do things just because they are "cutesy". The literacy and arts must work together.  I am concerned about the amount of time doing this the correct way may take, both the planning and carrying out the lesson.  Finding the time to just teach the literacy lessons isn't easy.  Adding to the lessons will stretch my already limited time even thinner.  I will make the effort, however, since I'd like to see if I could get the same positive results in my classroom that these authors saw in their class.

The Arts, New Literacies, and Multimodality (Albers, A. & Harste, J., 2007)

     As I read this article, I thought back - way back- to my days as a kindergarten and first grade teacher.  One of the activities  my students and I enjoyed was "reading" picture books together.  My students loved to find new picture books in the classroom library.  They'd grab a book, take a few moments to look at the pictures, and then start telling the story based on what they saw. (This is during their pre-reading phase).  The students were using the art to make sense of the text. Not only is it incredibly cute to see our smallest students trying to make sense of pictures and share what they imagine the story is saying, but it is also educational to the teacher.  Have you ever noticed that kids pick up on details in pictures that we often overlook?  They see so much more than we do and can usually come up with some pretty creative stories to explain what they see.  I believe the trend towards using the arts to build literacy is a positive one.  Younger students enjoy and respond to art.  The use of music, dance, and the visual arts can only add to, not take away from, the student's experience with a work.  Some of our newer "art" forms, the technology stuff, can be a little scary for some of us older teachers who may not use the technology ourselves.  We owe it to our students to overcome our fears, to take some chances, to even allow them to teach us, so that we can use the technology they enjoy and understand to motivate our students to make connections and understand more deeply the literary world that is evolving around them. Combining the arts, technology, and literary instruction will be motivating and will lead to better understanding of literary topics.

Infographics

     Unfortunately, I missed seeing the infographic video , but I looked at the resources on Schrock's website.  I think infographics are what we call "graphic sources" in my classroom.  My students enjoy lessons that include these and seem to have few, if any, problems understanding how to read infographics.
     I think having students search through magazines and newspapers for examples of infographics would be a fun activity.  Many magazines that are aimed at students such as Scholastic Action and Time for Kids include infographics with their stories.  Students could work together to find infographics and then describe the information presented in the graphic.  It would also be interesting to discuss other possible infographics that could be used to show the same information.
     Students may also enjoy creating their own infographics.  I can think of several social studies topics that could be used to create an infographic.  Students could decide the best way to show information such as Native American tribes in the USA, explorers in the New World, major North American rivers, etc.  Having students create their own infographic and then exchanging the creations with someone else to see if the information can be correctly interpreted would be an  interesting lesson.

Resources for Teaching about Tragedy

Resources for Teaching about Tragedy

Looking over the various resources listed that addressed hurricanes and what happened on 9/11 was an entertaining assignment. The assignment took longer than I planned because I kept getting sidetracked by links to related sights or I had to watch videos or view slideshows.
The hurricane resources were a little disappointing. I have found that finding resources that are appropriate for middle school aged children is difficult. Many resources are too young for them - primary aged material - or the resources are geared towards high school audiences. My poor babies in the middle get left out! I did see some sites that I thought were interesting or that I could adapt to meet the needs of my students. The "Why do different states have different weather?" link will be useful not only for information on hurricanes, but also as I teach lessons on the regions of the United States and how they are alike and different. I also plan to use the ideas discusssed in "Exploring cause and effect using expository texts about natural disasters." The Hurricanes site (#1) was much more useful than the Whole Child site.
I spent the majority of my time viewing resources on 9/11. Again, finding material appropriate for middle grades students is difficult. A lot of the suggestions also required resources that are difficult to access such as special commemorative magazines and newspapers. My favorite 9/11 resource was the Nick News video. I plan to use this video in my classroom Monday and have my students respond to what they view. We will also use the Fact vs. Fiction idea to review facts and opinions. Many of my students know very little about what happened on 9/11 and some of the information they know is flawed. The video will give them the facts in a kid-friendly way and open the door to discussions on a variety of topics.

21st Century Literacies - Goal Setting

As I read this week's chapter in Riddle, my attitude about the reading topic led me to add a goal to my list for this year of grad school. During my reading, I found that I was scornful of types of literacy other than "print". As a LA teacher, I focus on print since this is what my students are assessed on at the end of the year by the state. I was disgusted to find that I have been brainwashed into teaching only what is tested. I have to wake up and realize that my students need to be taught to read other things. Literacy isn't only about words. So... my goal is to use other literacy types in my classroom. I need to take a deep breath, trust that I am doing the right thing, and go against popular opinion that print is the only literacy that we should be teaching and assessing. I know I have to work on my own attitude first in order to make this work in my classroom.

What I Have Learned

     This course was one that I enjoyed very much.  I teach fifth grade language arts and social studies, so many of the ideas we learned and discussed in class were things I can do in my classroom. I knew about many of the subjects we touched on in class, but I didn't have the motivation to make an effort to implement or try out the activities.  Listening to my classmates talk about how things worked in their classrooms and reading the "success stories" in the Daniels and Bizar chapters made me sit up and take notice a bit more.
      As I use my summer free time to think about my plans for next year, I know that I will finally make myself try out some of the activities we read about.  Of course, there were things mentioned that I am already doing in my classroom, and I was so happy to read that, yes, believe it or not, I was teaching the right way for the most part.  I do read alouds and have students participate in the reading by reflecting on what is read and predicting what will happen next.  Literature Circles have been used in my classroom as well - I love children's novels - and I have student-led conferences with parents using portfolios we create. I need to do more with alternative forms of assessment in the classroom and give my students more "choice" as well.  I also need to integrate in deeper ways.  Many of my read-aloud novels were on social studies topics, but I can do so much more with integration after this class.  I want to integrate curriculum in deeper, more meaningful ways next year.  And, though I can't say I'm thrilled with integrated units right now, I might even bribe a colleague or two to help me develop a unit (much simpler lesson plans, though!!) that we can use that integrates our curriculum.  I think my students would enjoy this.
     I enjoyed the Daniels and Bizar book but I loved the Schell and Fisher text.  I guess I'm biased towards social studies and hate the way it gets pushed aside for tested subjects, so I felt like this text gave me some much needed ideas for creating interesting lessons that could be used to cover more than one topic. I also thought the Integrated Units book was helpful even if some of the units were not written for my grade level.  I think I can modify a few of the units so they will work in my classroom.
     Once again, a large part of what I learned in the class came from my peers.  The textbooks were good, the lessons were well-planned and delivered, but hearing from someone who is doing the same job, in a similar environment, with a population similar to my own makes a comment or suggestion very powerful.  I have borrowed ideas form my classmates in the past and I plan to use even more of thier ideas next year.
     I also feel like the class has prepared me for starting the school year with a new curriculum.  I have had NO training in CCSS or the Essentials that NC plans to use next year.  Because I was "forced" to work with these documents, I have become familiar with them and I am comfortable with the new curriculum and confident that I can use it to create learning experiences for my students.  I can't imagine how lost some teachers in my county are going to be when they see the CCSS for the first time next year as they sit down to write the first week of lesson plans.  While I did not enjoy having to dive in and work with these standards (soooo exciting) I do appreciate being given the incentive to study and learn them so I can be a better teacher from the start of the school year.

Assessment

     Assessment seems like such an ugly word to me lately.  Every where you turn, someone in education is talking about new forms of assessment that must be done and how we will use our latest assessment results, and so on.  I'm tired of hearing about it.  I often feel like I assess more than I teach.  My students don't take standardized assessments very seriously anymore because they see them so much.  Something has to change.  I can't make a change in state or county policy so I know Benchmarks and EOGs are here to stay, but I can make a difference in my classroom.
      A few years ago, I had my students create portfolios where they kept work samples and also had quarterly goal sheets.  They participated in two student-led conferences with their parents that year using the portfolios.  The experience was very rewarding but a lot of work. I'd like to find the time and energy to do this portfolio assessment again because I think it was worth the effort.  I also need to create more authentic assessments.  I admit that I sometimes rely on those ready-made multiple choice tests because I know I have to have a weekly grade and those tests are quick to give and quick to correct.  I feel ashamed admitting that, but I don't always have the time to create awesome assessments for assignments my students complete.  Not that I'm all bad.  I do have several rubrics that I use for projects and I've used checklists as I monitored literature circles.
     The unit my group is creating has some neat assessment ideas in it.   We have students writing letters and we are using rubrics to grade the letters.  Performance on the culminating activity will also be judged based on a rubric since students must first create a product and then share their opinions with a government representative by letter.  We have flip video creations that will show if students understood content they read, and airplanes will be flying in the classroom as we observe students measuring and making adjustments based on the results. The best news is - there isn't a ready made multiple choice test anywhere in the unit!   :)

"Me" Portfolios - Ch. 10 Daniels and Bizar

     During my weekly reading assignment, CH. 10 in Teaching the Best Practice Way (Daniels & Bizar, 2005) caught my attention and gave me the most to think about.  During summer break, I tend to think ahead to what will happen next year.  One of the first tasks that must be completed each year is to turn my classroom into a community.  My students enter CMS from different feeder schools and we spend the first few weeks completing activities that help them learn more about each other.  It is necessary that we build this foundation in order for the many cooperative activities I like to do throughout the year to work. The "Me" Portfolios would be a fun, new way to start building this sense of community.  I've used the same old activities for too many years  now, and reading about a new way to accomplish my beginning of the year goal was exciting.  I like the way the activity incorporated writing as well, so I can assess writing skills as I learn about my students.  Getting to know more about my students personal lives will be interesting for me and for the students' classmates.  I also think it is neat that I get to share my own portfolio with students so they can learn about me from the start as well.  Students love to ask questions about my personal life, and this is a way to share things that I want them to know and allow them to feel as if they know me as well as I know them.  I'll be "real" to them.

Great ideas from Melber and Hunter

     Unit III  in Integrating Language Arts and Social Studies (Melber & Hunter, 2010) had some really neat ideas this week!  I'm ready to try out some of the ideas I read about when school starts next year.  Strategy 12 that discusses Native American Resource Exploration would go along with the lessons I teach about Native Americans in the Fall. I need to spend some time this summer thinking of the resources I want my students to use for this activity.  I really loved the Connecting with Literature, Strategy 13, idea.  I think it is fun to teach  myths and my students typically enjoy reading them, so the creation myth analysis seems like something that I could easily fit into my classroom plans. I also liked Strategy 15 which encourages students to look at both sides of an issue.  I have my students write point of view essays and I think starting the writing off by teaching the way it shows in "Do a Debate" (p. 104) would make the writing more powerful.