STSD Curriculum & Technology Update

Regular updates and musings on curriculum and technology in the Salisbury Township School District in Allentown, PA.

Dembo Delivers the Goods

Cross-posted on my Salisbury High School Blog, DEN PA, and ChangingConnections.

If you missed Steve Dembo‘s (aka Teach 42) Discovery Education webinar, Something for Nothing: The Best of Web 2.0, then you might not know you no longer need to use your telephone to connect to a DiscoveryWebEx presentation. Nothing beats hearing Dembo direct, but if you missed the streaming--or you want to revisit a packed hour of great new tools--you can check out the Discovery Webinar Archives.  If you are new to the Discovery Educator Network, you really want to explore the wealth of resources available to you when become a STAR Discovery Educator, because the DEN takes social networking to the next level. Now would be the perfect time to pitch a plug for tomorrow’s history-in-the-making Virtual Conference National Event, ground-breaking with local break out sessions at 30 different sites. It’s not too late to register.  Thank you, Tracy Standhart, for a great blog. (I borrowed your image.)

Steve’s list of cool tools began with 6 photo-related sites. Want to capture your stories and save them permanently? Then you want OurStoryWidget, created by Word Press, the weblog platform Discovery uses. OurStory lets you save stories, photos, and videos on a collaborative timeline. And that notion--collaboration--was a theme running throughout most of what Steve shared, an indicator of how embedded social networking has become in our lives.

When Steve mentioned the K12 Online Conference, I connected, because I used a segment on social networking by Jeff Utecht in my Digital English class. K12 Online made a big splash when it premiered, but has since lost some of its buzz. You really might want to revisit this site, because it hold a wealth of 21st century learning we can all use in our classrooms.

Kerpoff is a great early childhood tool that takes digital storytelling into a different kind of venue. But don’t let the elementary school look-and-feel fool you; it’s just a great tool with lots of built-in elasticity for mindful yet playful super-doodling, helping kids to connect online and create together. For the children in your lives, or the child in you, this easy web 2.0 site will engage and delight!

We all know Flickr and most of us probably use it for photo sharing, but according to Steve, there are 3 new tools that will make Flickr your first choice for managing your photo world, if it isn’t already. Uploading and organizing was always easy because you could +Add Notes, but now you can edit your photos as well.  Flickr’s edit defaults to Picnik, one of Steve’s earlier blog best-of-the-week sites. What’s great about Picnik: edit in a click, no registration, education friendly (not blocked in most schools), adjusts red eye and colors. Got to love Picnik, which you can, of course, use independently of Flickr.

If Steve loves FlauntR, that’s good enough for me.  When he says, “incredibly robust,” he wasn’t kidding.  How about it integrates with facebook, Picasa, flickr, myspace, orkut, hi5, Windows Live Spaces, Word Press, Live Journal, Blogger, and iGoogle. Not enough reasons to love FlauntR yet? It can make images for mobile devices. Or your best ever Valentine’s Day card. This one’s just got to be my new favorite tool.

By invitation only (email Steve, but after tomorrow), you can browse collaboratively with others inside your own Photophlow room.  Interesting way to browse photos, however, because if you are online within your room (account), you see everyone else’s photo uploads. Despite a short browse through this site, it is definitely the most interesting social browsing I’ve seen yet. Definitely a network, because acceptance to the site, for now, is a very private by invitation only. Can you imagine the possibilities for collaborative learning with the CFF Mac laptops. We just had our one day Apple Out-of-the-Box training, and I can’t remember which application had the option to share with your wireless network your photos, but Photophlow and Mac should be a great combination.

The next 2 websites are not Web 2.0 tools, but neat.  The World Clock has an almost unlimited number of uses in any discipline. You have to check out the website, and if you are a math teacher who said you could not integrate technology into your classroom, here’s the easiest and best place to start, and the tool is user-friendly. You’ll want to bookmark the website, because googling world clock will likely not get you to this one easily.

Steve’s taught us to teach our students about their new permanent record.  We get to see the updated version at PETE&C, where Steve is Tuesday’s Keynote Speaker. So I think about my digital footprint, but now we can think about our eco footprint at the same time using Blackle, which is Google gone black. Same search engine, just black. Why? Because it’s environmentally friendly. Google is a white screen, and white uses the most wattage; black uses the least. If your eyes can tolerate the black screen and you life Firefox, there’s a Brackle plug-in waiting for you to install.  At the moment that I accessed Blackle, 438,890.943 Watt hours had been saved.

Back to Web 2.0.  Poll Everywhere.  Just like it sounds.  Free for 100 votes; after that, it’s a purchase, but the site is considering offering educators a package deal, making it your new best poll tool, and economically friendly as well. What makes this poll fun and different: online polling, text messaging polling, embedded into a website, PowerPoint; download results as a spreadsheet or RSS feed. I wish I knew about Poll Everywhere two weeks ago when I made my mid-term for my digital English class.  Yet another bona fide educational opportunity to legitimize cell phones in the classroom. And a better polling tool, by far.

‘Tis the conference season, so a timely reminder from Steve about David Warlick‘s hitchhikr, the virtual way to hitchhike onto a conference and blogs connected to it.  Hitchhikr for PETE&C: right here.  Back to Steve’s kindergarten teacher roots for his next pick: Kindersay. Is there a better way to learn to read? You see the word (or letter), image, and you hear a person say it. There’s a word bank of 300-400 and growing, but this site is hard to beat for first-level language as students learn to read and write, collaboratively.

Not just another social network chat, Twitter is a solid educational tool, or can be.  Steve’s Twitter group is a collection of educators almost without exception. Or they are technology integrators, or both. The learning that happens inside this group is off the charts. Steve said that he sent a twitter feed yesterday, asking his group if they could list their favorite Web 2.0 tools. That’s how he found World Clock and now we all have it. The value of this kind of collaborative learning: priceless.

Zamzar is one of my favorites. I use it so frequently that I cannot imagine life without it. A great converter, it is fast, free, educationally friendly. It converts almost anything to anything else you want it to be. The list is endless, so for one stop conversions, this is my pick as well. The last item, like Zamzar, is a converter. ConvertTube will allow you to convert online video like YouTube to more popular formats like wmv, mov, mp4,mp3, 3gp. If you haven’t joined us for a Discovery webinar, you really should. Discovery Education always brings you cutting edge technology, before the edge is cut.

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Life in the Making

Our tenth grade students participated in a MAGPI videoconference with Gerda Weissman Klein, a Holocaust survivor.  In the program, Stand Up, Speak Out, Lend a Hand, her message is simple: do good by creating a service to humanity.  Given 2 months to complete a service initiative, students then gather globally for a collage presentation, an interactive videoconference event.  This year students selected an online service project for teens, calling it Life in the Making.  After creating teams, students formed 6 groups: Career Planning, Financial Planning, Social Networking, Test Preparation and Grades, Vocational Schools, and College.  Their goal was to define and explore each main topic by dividing it into sub-sections for individual and team research.  Working individually and in teams, students created a wealth of multimedia information that will help students in their career choices and pathways.

The next step in the process is to create digital research papers.  Having piloted this approach last year, I found that students actually enjoy an online research paper, and while the world has ”flattened," neither my students nor I could easily write a flat, aka hard copy paper again.  Finishing the project is the videoconference presentation, when students stand and deliver to an authentic global audience.

If you are a teacher reading this blog, you are probably wondering about assessment, and I do build that into components as I go, but since the students collaborate on the components, they also create the rubrics collaboratively as well.  So, at mid-term last year, my pilot class wrote their exam on their blogs.  Wanting to try something different this year, I created a mid-term exam that asked students to begin 2 days before the exam to create appropriate accounts, take the exam, and then have 2 additional days to edit it before final assessment.  Here’s their exam, created on their wikis.

Mid-Term Exam Information

Rationale

21st century learning expectations for students entering the work force include being a team player with information literacy skills that can be parlayed into presentation formats for global audiences. To that end, your mid-term ask you to continue to use the team-building skills you have been using in class and take them into the mid-term. For some sections of the mid-term, you may elect to work with 2--3 members of your team. For other sections, you are asked to work independently. The work that you create during the mid-term will eventually have a global audience of readers and listeners, and possibly even viewers. More to come about viewers in the .

Mid-Term Schedule / Timetable

Your exam is the second exam, from 9:35--10:55 on Wednesday, January 16. Your proctor is Miss Cotugno.
I recommend that you begin the preparation for your exam immediately. Why? Because all of these Web 2.0 tools take time to import/export. For some of them, you need to create a free account using your Gaggle email. Your work may be saved to the team’s home page, if appropriate, or to one of your individual pages. The research component must be located on one of your individual pages. You may (and should) begin to:

• Survey: create an account with Freeonlinesurveys and begin drafting 5 questions for your survey [TEAM 2-3]
• Video: locate a video [possibly at home if you do not use DiscoveryStreaming] and convert it using Zamzarthen link to it [INDIVIDUAL]
• Research: research additional information, including 3 links and 1 image, about one of your pages/subtopics [INDIVIDUAL]
• Slide Show: locate 10 images that you insert into a slide show using Animoto, SlideShare, or PhotoStory [PhotoStory should be on computers in Lab 3 but if not, it’s a fast download] [TEAM 2-3]

The work you begin during the exam period may be edited, revised, and/or completed at home, but all work for the mid-term must be completed by Thursday, 1-17, by 5 PM.

Mid-Term Exam

The links below will take you to Lesson Plans on my website.  Select Grade 10 and then January to access the Exam and Rubric.

English 10 Midterm Exam 2008

English 10 Midterm Exam 2008 RUBRIC

Extra Credit Podcast

Please see the Mid-Term Exam document for information about this extra credit option.

Mid-Term Survey

This link will take you to a survey I made for you as a sample for the mid-term using a free Web 2.0 survey builder. It is an evaluation of me and this mid-term. Please take the survey after you have taken the mid-term.

Did You Notice...

that in constructing your directions, I took your mid-term.

Students are continuing to create their podcasts, and in them you can still hear their excitement and enjoyment they shared taking this exam.  You can listen to their podcasts on their Life in the Making Gcast channel. 

Discussion Forums in eSchool Builder

This is the third year that I have been using some form of blogging or discussion board as online journaling with my students, moving from traditional response journaling.  In the beginning, I used b2evolution to create a class blog where students could post responses to literature or other types of writing prompts.  That particular site was difficult for my students to navigate since it is a continuous roll of people blogging.  Students couldn’t find who commented to them about their responses.  Therefore they lost interest and writing quality diminished. 

An alternate avenue was used this year through a discussion forum making it easier for my students to navigate once they were able to enter the appropriate discussion area.  Through much conversation, we decided to try eSchool Builder.  My students originally had some difficulty, but we sat down, went through the steps to login and simultaneously typed the steps together making the procedure clear and concise.  This provided another hook in that my students felt responsible for their learning and felt they had a say in how things are accomplished in the classroom.

Why online journaling many others ask me?  There are several reasons why I use online journaling with my learning disabled students.  First and foremost, it goes back to engagement.  I firmly believe that without engagement no learning can happen.  Students look forward to getting on the computers and access the online discussion.  There are certain items they must complete prior to accessing the computers.  Not only does the work need to be done, but it needs to be completed with quality.  Learning doesn’t end when students exit the building at the end of the day or for the weekend. Students are accessing the site through our class wikispace to respond to prompts and classmates.  Sharing their writing with family and friends takes down the walls of our classroom, thus expanding learning to an unlimited area. 

The second reason is that it allows for collaboration.  Student responses are viewed by others and the teacher is not going over it with the traditional red pen.  They are writing for a real audience.  Teachers and students alike can comment on responses.  Students are able to provide peer feedback and not all feedback comes from the teacher.  Learning becomes collaborative and student directed.  When you see a student helping another student it is a true testament to the learning that has happened.  The best assessment of learning is the generalization and application of strategies and concepts. 

The third reason is how it improves student writing.  Students are not as fearful of writing when they are on the computer.  When they know a larger audience will see their work, they put more effort into each piece of writing. With a more global audience their learning expands beyond the classroom.  The writing also improves because of the ability to scaffold learning for my students.  Some students have gross and fine motor issues that make writing difficult for them and the use of the computer eliminates the mechanics of writing and allows the ideas to flow and be captured in print.  The built in supports of the spelling and grammar are a definite help to my students.

One of the last reasons is that it has made my students more reflective learners.  They reflect on their own learning and that of others.  Reflection leads to improvement which leads to more creativity.  Their personal accountability increases and their quality of work shows improvement.

The use of a tool like eSchool builder inherently provides for 21st Century skills to be addressed in the classroom.  By utilizing the technology for online journaling, it has provided many opportunities for my students to be creative, collaborative, and leaders. 

Diane Kasaczun - 5th Grade Learning Support - Harry S Truman Elementary School
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If you are interested in your own discussion board, please contact Randy.

Interactive Whiteboard in 6th Grade

Some days I find myself sitting back and reflecting on my current day’s lesson plans.  I can’t imagine teaching without an interactive whiteboard and laptop computers.  The student engagement level has increased tremendously since I have started integrating technology into my curriculum.  I use the interactive whiteboard in all aspects of my instruction from developing photo stories for vocabulary to creating interactive study guides for science.  This year, my students are excited to write!  They love being able to develop their thoughts on our classroom laptops.  I believe having an interactive whiteboard has improved my teaching and enhanced my ability to reflect on my practice.

Meghan Pruner - 6th Grade Learning Support - Salisbury Middle School

Technology is Alive and Well at Western!

As a third grade teacher, I integrate technology into my curriculum as often as possible.  Our classroom experiences are not confined to the computer lab.  Allow me to share with you one of my recent technology adventures.

On Tuesday, January 22, the entire 3rd grade at WSE traveled via technology to the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News, VA.  The purpose of this activity was to supplement our Language Arts curriculum.  Our current reading program explores several disasters and this particular program offered insight into the voyage of the Titanic.

Our third grade students were active participants throughout the hour.  They were engaged with the presenter and found bits and pieces of new information regarding this historic voyage.  This program was originally scheduled during the disaster unit of study, however, the museum encountered several personnel and equipment problems which forced a cancellation on the day of the online reservation.

As with any outside presentation, there are always positive and negative issues to address.  The last minute cancellation was only one issue I had to bear.  Prior to the original booking, I was sent information regarding the presentation.  Several concepts sent up a red flag for me; suicide aboard ship, socially unacceptable gestures and the memorable “car” scene from the movie.  All three of these items were not appropriate for this age group.  After several phone calls, we were assured that the content would be appropriate.

I have found with integrating technology into my classroom, up-front work is necessary and often time consuming.  I spent approximately four hours investigating and planning with this activity.  I realize that this may not have been the normal experience, and I will try again this spring to bring another program into our class.  I now know more specific questions to ask when inquiring about a program.

Our technology growth is a team effort.  Debbie Caldwell, our building computer technician, spent time and effort testing our equipment for both scheduled presentations.  Planning and preparation from both the sponsor of the event and the school are essential to a successful production. 

Kathy DeBona - Third Grade Teacher, Western Salisbury Elementary School