(I can take no credit for these. They were created and are maintained by the phenomenal first-year teacher across the hall.)
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Teaching in an Election Year (Wordless Wednesday)
(I can take no credit for these. They were created and are maintained by the phenomenal first-year teacher across the hall.)
Friday, March 07, 2008
Tangram Joy
We've been working on perimeter and area lately and I usually find it to be fairly dull. This year has been a pleasant switch. I gave each student a set of tangrams (punched out from a file folder so that they hold up pretty well). Using the medium sized triangle and the two little triangles they had to create five regular polygons. This step alone made for a pretty good discussion. 
Once they had created various polygons (triangle, square, rectangle, parallelogram, and trapezoid) they were to find the area and perimeter of each of them. I was surprised at how difficult it was for them to realize that all five shapes had the same area. They worked really hard to calculate the area for each one based on their measurements. It was fascinating.
After giving them some time to struggle with this we came back together as a group. We shared the different shapes because some students hadn't been able to figure out all five. Then we moved into looking at all of this algebraically. We compared the sides of each triangle and figured out that there are only 3 different lengths, the base of the larger triangle, the sides of the larger triangle or base of the smaller ones, and the sides of the smaller triangles. Using that knowledge we wrote one shape's perimeter as an algebraic expression. It was a challenge for them to write the rest that way, but they worked through it.
This also helped them see that all five areas are the same. Then we finally had a discussion of the relationship between perimeter and are (the main goal, initially). Most students firmly believed that no shape could have a larger area than perimeter. This activity had shown them that the perimeter and area aren't always the same (shapes with the same perimeter can have different areas and vice versa). As a result, I immediately opened up a grid on our smartboard and had students try some different shapes and calculate the area and perimeter. They quickly found shapes that disproved their theory. Off they went, back to their seats with grid paper to see what else they could discover. They loved exploring this way (both with the tangrams and with the grid paper) and, I think, have a much better understanding of area and perimeter than my students have had in the past.
Once they had created various polygons (triangle, square, rectangle, parallelogram, and trapezoid) they were to find the area and perimeter of each of them. I was surprised at how difficult it was for them to realize that all five shapes had the same area. They worked really hard to calculate the area for each one based on their measurements. It was fascinating.
After giving them some time to struggle with this we came back together as a group. We shared the different shapes because some students hadn't been able to figure out all five. Then we moved into looking at all of this algebraically. We compared the sides of each triangle and figured out that there are only 3 different lengths, the base of the larger triangle, the sides of the larger triangle or base of the smaller ones, and the sides of the smaller triangles. Using that knowledge we wrote one shape's perimeter as an algebraic expression. It was a challenge for them to write the rest that way, but they worked through it.
This also helped them see that all five areas are the same. Then we finally had a discussion of the relationship between perimeter and are (the main goal, initially). Most students firmly believed that no shape could have a larger area than perimeter. This activity had shown them that the perimeter and area aren't always the same (shapes with the same perimeter can have different areas and vice versa). As a result, I immediately opened up a grid on our smartboard and had students try some different shapes and calculate the area and perimeter. They quickly found shapes that disproved their theory. Off they went, back to their seats with grid paper to see what else they could discover. They loved exploring this way (both with the tangrams and with the grid paper) and, I think, have a much better understanding of area and perimeter than my students have had in the past.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Testing Classroom
This may not look awful to an outsider, but it is painful to me. All of our hard work and learning throughout the year has to be covered up for the state test.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Meeting the Needs of ALL Students
Members of our special education team and our gifted and talented team presented at our school's faculty meeting today. The topic was twice exceptional students (kids who are gifted but also have a learning disability, social challenge, or some other such exceptionality). The main focus of the presentation was a video, Ennis' Gift, from the Ennis William Cosby Foundation. The video is beautifully done and tells the story of numerous people who were not successful in school because their teachers did not recognize their gifts. Parts will make you cry. We showed snippets of it and gave everyone chances to talk about it. We had thoughtful questions linked to the video to guide discussions. We had collected children's books with twice exceptional main characters and had them on display. We shared some Calvin and Hobbes cartoons to get things started. It was a brilliantly planned presentation (I had little to do with the planning).
The message we really wanted to convey was: students should not be denied services because of social, emotional, or behavioral issues. The great majority of our staff already know this. However, we still hear teachers saying things like, "That child doesn't deserve to be in the GT class." The belief that a seven year old should be excluded from a classroom that will best meet his/her learning needs because of laziness, defiance, or social awkwardness is sad.
I think the presentation inspired members of our faculty who already understood the concept of twice exceptional students. Hopefully they will be more willing and able to advocate for those students in the future. Those staff members who don't yet buy into the idea were not likely swayed by the meeting. I can only hope that it sowed seeds of possibilities for the future.
The message we really wanted to convey was: students should not be denied services because of social, emotional, or behavioral issues. The great majority of our staff already know this. However, we still hear teachers saying things like, "That child doesn't deserve to be in the GT class." The belief that a seven year old should be excluded from a classroom that will best meet his/her learning needs because of laziness, defiance, or social awkwardness is sad.
I think the presentation inspired members of our faculty who already understood the concept of twice exceptional students. Hopefully they will be more willing and able to advocate for those students in the future. Those staff members who don't yet buy into the idea were not likely swayed by the meeting. I can only hope that it sowed seeds of possibilities for the future.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Technology in Math
This lesson didn't begin with technology. Initially the students were working with three triangles from tangrams and creating polygons. Five regular polygons can be made with those triangles. They then had to find the area and perimeter of the shapes. The goal is for them to realize that shapes can have the same area but different perimeters (or the other way around). It was harder for them than I had anticipated, but they enjoyed it.
We ended up writing the perimeters of the shapes as algebraic expressions based on the sides of the triangles. Actually measuring was not working well and this was good practice for them writing expressions. Plus, that pushed some of them to finally realize that the areas of the shapes were all the same. Once they recognized that the sides of the triangles remained the same no matter what shape they created, they were able to realize that the areas of each triangle did so as well.
As we neared the end of the lesson we realized that we needed to look at some of it a bit more deeply. I gave each student some fresh graph paper and asked them to try and create shapes with areas greater than perimeters, perimeters greater than areas, and equal perimeters and areas. (I know we are comparing apples and oranges to an extent here because we are comparing units with units squared, but they had a lot of preconceived notions that needed to be questioned.)
Then I wanted to be able to look at some of what they found together. So I pulled up grid paper on my smartboard.
They drew several different shapes to show how each of the possibilities might look. Some students were just amazed that you could have equal perimeter and area or that the perimeter could ever be a larger number than the area. It was interesting to hear their discussion. Then Mr. B opened up Geometer's Sketchpad with a shape that he could manipulate so they could watch the perimeter and area change. This allowed them to test some theories quickly without having to do a lot of tedious computation (which would have caused them to not test their theories). They were enthralled.
This was the best on-the-fly use of technology I've done all year. I was so glad to have the smartboard and Geometer's Sketchpad at my fingertips. The one depressing piece was that I hadn't originally thought to do these things as a part of the lesson.
We ended up writing the perimeters of the shapes as algebraic expressions based on the sides of the triangles. Actually measuring was not working well and this was good practice for them writing expressions. Plus, that pushed some of them to finally realize that the areas of the shapes were all the same. Once they recognized that the sides of the triangles remained the same no matter what shape they created, they were able to realize that the areas of each triangle did so as well.
As we neared the end of the lesson we realized that we needed to look at some of it a bit more deeply. I gave each student some fresh graph paper and asked them to try and create shapes with areas greater than perimeters, perimeters greater than areas, and equal perimeters and areas. (I know we are comparing apples and oranges to an extent here because we are comparing units with units squared, but they had a lot of preconceived notions that needed to be questioned.)
Then I wanted to be able to look at some of what they found together. So I pulled up grid paper on my smartboard.
They drew several different shapes to show how each of the possibilities might look. Some students were just amazed that you could have equal perimeter and area or that the perimeter could ever be a larger number than the area. It was interesting to hear their discussion. Then Mr. B opened up Geometer's Sketchpad with a shape that he could manipulate so they could watch the perimeter and area change. This allowed them to test some theories quickly without having to do a lot of tedious computation (which would have caused them to not test their theories). They were enthralled.
This was the best on-the-fly use of technology I've done all year. I was so glad to have the smartboard and Geometer's Sketchpad at my fingertips. The one depressing piece was that I hadn't originally thought to do these things as a part of the lesson.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Equality of Subject Areas
I teach 5th grade in an area where my students head off to middle school next year. Their middle school treats 6th grade as a sort of bridge between elementary and middle school. They switch teachers, but have limited options about courses. They are still pulled out of core classes for band, strings, chorus, and gifted and talented services. They have lockers and dress out for gym. It's a good transition year for them, in many ways.
In other ways I feel like they lose out because they aren't in elementary school for one more year. At my school (and I know this isn't true for all, or even most, elementary schools) our students have two and a half hours four days a week for language arts instruction (reading, writing, word study). They probably have an hour and a half on the fifth day. They have an hour, at least, for math instruction five days a week. Science and social studies get less time. My students have thirty minutes four days a week for each of those, at best. Occasionally we'll spend more time on science or social studies when we are really engaged in something. I feel that my students have to be able to read, write, and do math in order to be able to truly understand social studies or science. So I don't have any concerns about how we spend our time (although I love science and social studies and would enjoy spending more time with them).
However, next year they'll have the same amount of time for math class, social studies class, science class, and English class (which will include reading, writing, and word study). What a switch for them! If they remained in elementary school they would still have a greater focus on language arts and math.
This is yet another time where I think tradition and convenience determine how we handle instructional issues. I wonder if one of the reasons we see so many concerns about young people and reading is because of the small amount of attention we give it after elementary school. Does it truly make sense to value every discipline equally? And equally for all students?
In other ways I feel like they lose out because they aren't in elementary school for one more year. At my school (and I know this isn't true for all, or even most, elementary schools) our students have two and a half hours four days a week for language arts instruction (reading, writing, word study). They probably have an hour and a half on the fifth day. They have an hour, at least, for math instruction five days a week. Science and social studies get less time. My students have thirty minutes four days a week for each of those, at best. Occasionally we'll spend more time on science or social studies when we are really engaged in something. I feel that my students have to be able to read, write, and do math in order to be able to truly understand social studies or science. So I don't have any concerns about how we spend our time (although I love science and social studies and would enjoy spending more time with them).
However, next year they'll have the same amount of time for math class, social studies class, science class, and English class (which will include reading, writing, and word study). What a switch for them! If they remained in elementary school they would still have a greater focus on language arts and math.
This is yet another time where I think tradition and convenience determine how we handle instructional issues. I wonder if one of the reasons we see so many concerns about young people and reading is because of the small amount of attention we give it after elementary school. Does it truly make sense to value every discipline equally? And equally for all students?
Traffic Jam
A couple of people have expressed interest in the activity in the Wordless Wednesday pictures. The activity is called Traffic Jam and I found it on a website for team building activities.
It's my favorite of the team building activities that I do and I was thrilled to be able to come back to it.
I didn't use duct tape, but we put the pieces of construction paper on the floor. That allowed us to try it first with just half the class (both halves tried it in different parts of the room). Once they were able to do it several times we took it out to the hall to have the entire class do it. That was at the beginning of the year. I do team building activities all through the first week to emphasize cooperation and to foster community. We've done it again now as a part of math. We've looked at how the pattern works and how to explain it mathematically.Use the duct tape (or masking tape) to make a starting pattern on the floor.
Have the participants stand in the boxes of the pattern: half of the group faces right, half of the group faces left.
Explain the task: Using only legal rules, people on the left side must end up on the right side and the people on the right must end up on the left.
Legal Moves
A person may move into an empty space in front of them.
A person may move around a person who is facing them into an empty space.
You CANNOT:
Move backwards.
Move around someone facing the same way you are.
Make any move which involves two people moving at once.
It's my favorite of the team building activities that I do and I was thrilled to be able to come back to it.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Wordless Wednesday
Traffic Jam - attempting to move students from one end to the other. They can only jump past one person at a time and can only move the direction they are facing. Very challenging!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Authorities on Education
Every school day I receive an email from ASCD (Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development) with a collection of newspaper and magazine articles. The email includes links and brief summaries of the articles. A year ago it was something I looked forward to in order to keep up with what was happening in education around the country and around the world.
In the past few months I've noticed that I haven't kept up with reading these emails. I finally realized that I would rather spend time with all of the feeds to my reader than to skim through that email. (Of course, the amount of time for those two activities is nowhere near equal.) The authorities on education I turn to now are classroom teachers, like Dan, Doug, Woody, Ruth and Stacey, Tree, Organized Chaos, and Christian, or administrators, specialists and consultants, like, Tim, John, Wes, Chris, and Alice, as well as some big names in the field like Deborah Meier and Diane Ravitch.
The people I read now aren't journalists, they are educators. They know that of which they speak. Who better to be reading to keep up to date with the state of my profession?
In the past few months I've noticed that I haven't kept up with reading these emails. I finally realized that I would rather spend time with all of the feeds to my reader than to skim through that email. (Of course, the amount of time for those two activities is nowhere near equal.) The authorities on education I turn to now are classroom teachers, like Dan, Doug, Woody, Ruth and Stacey, Tree, Organized Chaos, and Christian, or administrators, specialists and consultants, like, Tim, John, Wes, Chris, and Alice, as well as some big names in the field like Deborah Meier and Diane Ravitch.
The people I read now aren't journalists, they are educators. They know that of which they speak. Who better to be reading to keep up to date with the state of my profession?
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
100th Day of School
Creating time lines of 100 years in U.S. history.
Things that measured 100 of some unit (centimeter, pounds, etc.)
Number sentences that equal 100 in a variety of ways (with 2, 3, or 4 operations or using 3, 4, or 5 digits).
Wordless Wednesday (mostly)
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Good Nutrition, Good Economics
A study recently found that good nutrition for young children (infants and toddlers) affects their future earning potential. The study began in the 1970's looking at children in Guatemala. Researchers looked at these groups twenty and thirty years later as adults to determine the effects of a nutritional supplement program.
They found that the adult males in the group who had been given the supplement were earning 46% higher hourly wages than the others.
Surprisingly, however,
Does this mean that good nutrition promotes physical strength which helped these men make more money and does nothing for intellectual ability? That seems highly unlikely, but why these results? Was there a reliable way of assessing school performance? What sort of cognitive testing was used?
On a final note, the researchers asserted that their study suggests that societies need to ensure that children are well fed for economic reasons.
It always comes down to money.
They found that the adult males in the group who had been given the supplement were earning 46% higher hourly wages than the others.
Surprisingly, however,
But surprisingly there was no similar divide in school performance or cognitive test scores.
Does this mean that good nutrition promotes physical strength which helped these men make more money and does nothing for intellectual ability? That seems highly unlikely, but why these results? Was there a reliable way of assessing school performance? What sort of cognitive testing was used?
On a final note, the researchers asserted that their study suggests that societies need to ensure that children are well fed for economic reasons.
"Improving nutrition in early childhood led to substantial increases in wage rates for men, which suggests that investments in early childhood nutrition can be long-term drivers of economic growth," they conclude.
It always comes down to money.
Monday, February 04, 2008
Super Bowl - Quite a Test
The New England Patriots lost their first game all season last night. I know, that's not news to anyone. But it's got me thinking. After an almost perfect season, losing one game has meant that people have called the Patriots' performance disappointing or a failure. This one game, just a few hours, has changed many people's impressions of the team. Is that reasonable?
We seem to do the same thing to our students with standardized tests. One bad day, a few hours of sub-par performance, and a child can be labeled negatively for some time. Their scores on a test often are viewed as more accurate, exact, and important than anything their teachers might know about them. All the anecdotal notes, classroom tests, and other assessments carry less weight.
Our students, at their young ages, aren't ready for a Super Bowl of standardized tests.
We seem to do the same thing to our students with standardized tests. One bad day, a few hours of sub-par performance, and a child can be labeled negatively for some time. Their scores on a test often are viewed as more accurate, exact, and important than anything their teachers might know about them. All the anecdotal notes, classroom tests, and other assessments carry less weight.
Our students, at their young ages, aren't ready for a Super Bowl of standardized tests.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Looking for Advice
I posted today on This Must Be Thursday, a blog I co-author with a close friend and colleague. I wrote the post for the cathartic qualities involved in getting emotions out on the page. However, in the process and since I've been mulling the big questions in it. And I'd love to know what others think.
The main questions were
The main questions were
So, what is my responsibility? Should my students be completely unaware of issues I face? Should they know if I'm having a bad day? Does their age matter, older students being more able to deal with understanding their teacher's mood swings or such? Is it my job to teach my students well regardless?I haven't really been able to figure out where I stand on this and I'm hoping for some thought-provoking ideas.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Online Safety
I've read many posts on internet safety in the year I've really been engaged in the blogosphere. But I haven't really been invested in what I was reading. I think I figured it wasn't a big issue for my students - fifth graders who aren't upper middle class. They don't have computers in their bedrooms, many of them don't have internet access at home.
So, an incident last week took me completely by surprise. One girl in my class went to the counselor with a concern. The counselor kept returning to my room throughout the morning and borrowing or returning students. I didn't really think too much about it, assuming it was a friendship issue (a common problem). At lunch I walked past my principal's office and noticed the counselor and four of my students in there. I got them to lunch and went back to figure out what on earth was going on.
It turns out that quite a few of my students have been using a social networking site. I had never heard of it. It seems to have a focus on anime and manga. One student began receiving threatening emails two days before this. When she didn't respond the bully began emailing her friends to get to her. They were all quite scared.
As a school, we contacted parents, reassured students, and turned this over to the proper authorities. I'm keeping an eye on these students to see if they seem to be upset or distracted or if they show any other signs of distress. Hopefully they will all stop using this site and not be bothered by this bully anymore.
It was eye opening to me and I think I need to do more on internet safety with my students. I thought they were too young, but I was wrong. Only one of them had anything very personal on this site, fortunately, but it's clearly a lesson we need to discuss.
The positive side to all of this was a reaffirmation of the wonders of my school. I spent part of my lunch getting the scoop on the issue from the principal and counselor, but that was all that was required of me. The administration took care of everything. My job was to teach my class and they made sure I could do that. I'm not sure that level of support is a common thing.
(I have to admit that I wasn't willing to be that uninvolved. I'm lucky to have an intern/student teacher working in my room right now so I was able to be out of the classroom to help call parents and talk with the authorities. But, it was nice to have options.)
So, an incident last week took me completely by surprise. One girl in my class went to the counselor with a concern. The counselor kept returning to my room throughout the morning and borrowing or returning students. I didn't really think too much about it, assuming it was a friendship issue (a common problem). At lunch I walked past my principal's office and noticed the counselor and four of my students in there. I got them to lunch and went back to figure out what on earth was going on.
It turns out that quite a few of my students have been using a social networking site. I had never heard of it. It seems to have a focus on anime and manga. One student began receiving threatening emails two days before this. When she didn't respond the bully began emailing her friends to get to her. They were all quite scared.
As a school, we contacted parents, reassured students, and turned this over to the proper authorities. I'm keeping an eye on these students to see if they seem to be upset or distracted or if they show any other signs of distress. Hopefully they will all stop using this site and not be bothered by this bully anymore.
It was eye opening to me and I think I need to do more on internet safety with my students. I thought they were too young, but I was wrong. Only one of them had anything very personal on this site, fortunately, but it's clearly a lesson we need to discuss.
The positive side to all of this was a reaffirmation of the wonders of my school. I spent part of my lunch getting the scoop on the issue from the principal and counselor, but that was all that was required of me. The administration took care of everything. My job was to teach my class and they made sure I could do that. I'm not sure that level of support is a common thing.
(I have to admit that I wasn't willing to be that uninvolved. I'm lucky to have an intern/student teacher working in my room right now so I was able to be out of the classroom to help call parents and talk with the authorities. But, it was nice to have options.)
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Wordless Wednesday
With our buddies (head start three and four year olds):
(Many bloggers, mostly outside of the edublogosphere, do Wordless Wednesday posts every week. I've greatly enjoyed them and decided to give it a try.)
(Many bloggers, mostly outside of the edublogosphere, do Wordless Wednesday posts every week. I've greatly enjoyed them and decided to give it a try.)
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Me as a Model
Not a fashion model, obviously, but a role model for my students. I've been thinking about this since Dan posted about keeping students' attention. It's a great post and my musings are way off topic, but it got me thinking. He has a short video in this post in which he calls his class "boys and girls." It struck me because I typically call my students "ladies and gentlemen" and they are a few years younger than Dan's students. I wasn't the only one intrigued by this. Dina posted a poll asking what others call their students. The responses are interesting.
Since reading all of this I've been more aware of how I address my students. I'm exceptionally polite with them (thank you, please, etc.), more so than I am in the rest of my life. I've also realized that I write thank you notes for anything my students give me, no matter how small. I am not that good about thank you notes to others who give me gifts.
I've realized that, consciously or unconsciously, I try to model the behavior I would like to see in my students. As a result, I am a better person as a teacher than I am in general. I'm not sure if I'm proud of that or not.
This also made me realize how much I'm teaching my students that has nothing to do with the SOLs or our county curriculum.
Since reading all of this I've been more aware of how I address my students. I'm exceptionally polite with them (thank you, please, etc.), more so than I am in the rest of my life. I've also realized that I write thank you notes for anything my students give me, no matter how small. I am not that good about thank you notes to others who give me gifts.
I've realized that, consciously or unconsciously, I try to model the behavior I would like to see in my students. As a result, I am a better person as a teacher than I am in general. I'm not sure if I'm proud of that or not.
This also made me realize how much I'm teaching my students that has nothing to do with the SOLs or our county curriculum.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Mary Lee, at A Year of Reading, was inspired by this year's Newbery Award Winner. Laura Amy Schlitz wrote Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village. She is a librarian at a school in Baltimore and wrote the book originally as monologues for her students to perform. Mary Lee believes that Schlitz went to the ends of the Earth for her students and decided to award some To the Ends of the Earth awards to people at her school.
I think the idea is a fantastic one and I'd like to add a few awards. First, the parent liaison at our school who knows everything about our Spanish speaking students and their families. She arranges transportation to school for some, finds clothing and furniture when needed, and works tirelessly to find medical care and other services.
Second, the secretaries in our office who go way above and beyond for the teachers, students, and families at our school. They are the first ones in each morning and the last to leave. They track down maintenance help, find substitutes, help students celebrate birthdays, and are always cheerful.
The third grade teacher who in addition to raising three girls of her own, manages to be a model teacher, complete her National Boards, advocate for her students, innovate in her classroom, and recognize everyone else's achievements and contributions to our school. We are a better school thanks to her presence.
Our reading teacher who thinks everything through. Nothing happens in our school related to literacy that she isn't considering how it impacts our students. Her model has made all of us more thoughtful about our instruction and has made our school a model in our district.
And, our administrators. It is the atmosphere that they create that allows the rest of us to teach students as well as we can. They treat us as professionals and work hard to find the support for anything we request. They meet with families frequently and are at all evening events. It is thanks to them that we have so many others who go to the ends of the Earth for our students.
(I'm sure that once I post this I will think of six more worthy awardees!)
I think the idea is a fantastic one and I'd like to add a few awards. First, the parent liaison at our school who knows everything about our Spanish speaking students and their families. She arranges transportation to school for some, finds clothing and furniture when needed, and works tirelessly to find medical care and other services.
Second, the secretaries in our office who go way above and beyond for the teachers, students, and families at our school. They are the first ones in each morning and the last to leave. They track down maintenance help, find substitutes, help students celebrate birthdays, and are always cheerful.
The third grade teacher who in addition to raising three girls of her own, manages to be a model teacher, complete her National Boards, advocate for her students, innovate in her classroom, and recognize everyone else's achievements and contributions to our school. We are a better school thanks to her presence.
Our reading teacher who thinks everything through. Nothing happens in our school related to literacy that she isn't considering how it impacts our students. Her model has made all of us more thoughtful about our instruction and has made our school a model in our district.
And, our administrators. It is the atmosphere that they create that allows the rest of us to teach students as well as we can. They treat us as professionals and work hard to find the support for anything we request. They meet with families frequently and are at all evening events. It is thanks to them that we have so many others who go to the ends of the Earth for our students.
(I'm sure that once I post this I will think of six more worthy awardees!)
2008 Education Blogosphere Survey
Scott McLeod, over at Dangerously Irrelevant, has opened up his second annual survey. It's 25 questions, some of them quite thought provoking for me. If you can find 10-15 minutes, go fill it out. The more people who respond, the more fascinating the results will be. I'm looking forward to reading others' thoughts on blogs they enjoy, tech tools they use, and reasons they blog.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Annual Report
dy/dan has put up a design challenge to create your own annual report. He did a previous contest, the Four Slides Sales Pitch, which fascinated me. I lacked the time and confidence to enter that contest. I refused to let that stop me this time.
I'm not happy with this as a final annual report, but time constraints require that I stop. I'm actually glad of those time constraints because I think I could spend a ridiculous amount of time on this. I will say that the more I do, the better I start to see ways to improve presenting what I want to say. I still have a ton to learn, but this has pushed me in a good way and I've really enjoyed it.
2007 was the year I really started blogging. I was on maternity leave from January on into April and took that time to get serious about reading and writing blogs. It was interesting to look back at what I've written and reflect on what I've learned through it.
With two children I've done a lot of reading of children's books this year.
Looking at this year through statistics got me thinking about the physical side of teaching elementary school.
Finally, after the birth of my second daughter I felt a need to get back in shape and lose weight. It felt good to look at the year this way.
I'm not happy with this as a final annual report, but time constraints require that I stop. I'm actually glad of those time constraints because I think I could spend a ridiculous amount of time on this. I will say that the more I do, the better I start to see ways to improve presenting what I want to say. I still have a ton to learn, but this has pushed me in a good way and I've really enjoyed it.
2007 was the year I really started blogging. I was on maternity leave from January on into April and took that time to get serious about reading and writing blogs. It was interesting to look back at what I've written and reflect on what I've learned through it.
With two children I've done a lot of reading of children's books this year.
Looking at this year through statistics got me thinking about the physical side of teaching elementary school.
Finally, after the birth of my second daughter I felt a need to get back in shape and lose weight. It felt good to look at the year this way.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Personal Learning Environments
The tech guru at our school has been thinking hard about how best to work with students and technology. He's pushing us to push the boundaries and meet students' needs in the best ways possible. This morning he shared an epiphany with me. He's been mulling over the idea of 'personal learning environments' and has created a working definition for himself. (I'm sure he'll correct my explanation if I'm missing something, at least I hope so.)
Here's an example: students are working on a study of oceans. In a group they could have a specific focus, say ocean currents. Their group would create a wiki as a base for all their research. They would create a group delicious site full of relevant links, a bloglines collection of feeds, and a blog that they write to share their thinking and their synthesis of their learning through the research. All of these sites would be linked in their wiki.
My question is, what else is a possibility? My feeling is that no piece will make sense for every group and for every project, but these seem like a good starting point. What other tools could help students research and/or pull their thinking together?
Here's an example: students are working on a study of oceans. In a group they could have a specific focus, say ocean currents. Their group would create a wiki as a base for all their research. They would create a group delicious site full of relevant links, a bloglines collection of feeds, and a blog that they write to share their thinking and their synthesis of their learning through the research. All of these sites would be linked in their wiki.
My question is, what else is a possibility? My feeling is that no piece will make sense for every group and for every project, but these seem like a good starting point. What other tools could help students research and/or pull their thinking together?
Friday, January 04, 2008
XO Laptop
I've been meaning to write about this since Christmas because my four-year-old daughter received an XO laptop from her grandparents. She has been loving it and goes to it each day. She now has an email account and has been feverishly sending emails to family and friends. So far folks have been quite kind and quick to respond. We'll see how long that lasts. My husband has done a lot to make the computer work for her and has been adding activities to it regularly. 
She dropped it off the kitchen table yesterday as she was trying to pick it up and it survived without problem. The keyboard is tough for me to use, but works well for her little fingers.
I was finally moved to write because I just read an article from BBC news. It seems that Intel has pulled out of the OLPC project rather than stop backing Classmate, a rival low-cost laptop. I'd love to think that competition will push all of this forward, but I have reservations. I know the XO is far from perfect, but I am very impressed with the entire project. I hope that the loss of Intel does not hinder the good work happening here.
She dropped it off the kitchen table yesterday as she was trying to pick it up and it survived without problem. The keyboard is tough for me to use, but works well for her little fingers.
I was finally moved to write because I just read an article from BBC news. It seems that Intel has pulled out of the OLPC project rather than stop backing Classmate, a rival low-cost laptop. I'd love to think that competition will push all of this forward, but I have reservations. I know the XO is far from perfect, but I am very impressed with the entire project. I hope that the loss of Intel does not hinder the good work happening here.
More Grading Thoughts
(I wrote this post last night and it apparently disappeared. If it shows up multiple times in your reader, I apologize.)
The Washington Post had an article recently on grading scales and weighted grades in various honors classes in different school districts in our area. This is frustrating to parents (and I assume to students, although that is not a focus of the article). This was a front page article in the Post which suggests a significant level of importance. I read the article with growing frustration. These parents are up in arms over this issue which has absolutely nothing to do with what their children are learning. The only thing that matters, apparently, is the grade on the transcript.
I found this to be a sad commentary on the state of education today. Our students are working to earn grades rather than to learn and their parents are encouraging this. Many teachers will say that one of their main goals is to encourage life-long learning. Grades are in direction opposition to this aim.
The Washington Post had an article recently on grading scales and weighted grades in various honors classes in different school districts in our area. This is frustrating to parents (and I assume to students, although that is not a focus of the article). This was a front page article in the Post which suggests a significant level of importance. I read the article with growing frustration. These parents are up in arms over this issue which has absolutely nothing to do with what their children are learning. The only thing that matters, apparently, is the grade on the transcript.
I found this to be a sad commentary on the state of education today. Our students are working to earn grades rather than to learn and their parents are encouraging this. Many teachers will say that one of their main goals is to encourage life-long learning. Grades are in direction opposition to this aim.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Brilliant Man (and small world)
My sister works with Gever Tully at his Tinkering School each summer. He is absolutely amazing in what he plans for those students and what they all do together. I'm looking forward to the point when my daughters are old enough to go. He recently presented a TED talk about dangerous things you should let your children do that is well worth the 10 minutes it takes to watch it. (Plus, there's a picture of my sister in the midst of his slideshow.)
The other piece of this that has fascinated me is how it is an example of the interconnectedness of our world. Doug Noon, blogging at Borderland, shared a blog post from Stephen's Web that linked to the TED talk. To recap, a blogger in Alaska shared a blog post from Canada with me in Virginia about a talk in California. I love it. I should also mention that Tim, in my own school district, also blogged about the TED talk. I'm thrilled to see Gever creating this sort of buzz.
The other piece of this that has fascinated me is how it is an example of the interconnectedness of our world. Doug Noon, blogging at Borderland, shared a blog post from Stephen's Web that linked to the TED talk. To recap, a blogger in Alaska shared a blog post from Canada with me in Virginia about a talk in California. I love it. I should also mention that Tim, in my own school district, also blogged about the TED talk. I'm thrilled to see Gever creating this sort of buzz.
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