Learning Technologies: My Culminating Project and Experiences!

What an incredible journey this course has been!  Before I started module 1, I was a veteran teacher who, without realizing it, evaded technology out of fear.  Eight short weeks later I’m working with my principal (at my request!) to pilot the use of LiveBinders as a tool for creating professional portfolios and working with our technology director to coordinate the purchase of new netbooks/Chromebooks to replace the old laptop carts in my department members’ classrooms.  What an incredible transformation!  If changes like this can happen in this short amount of time, I am so excited to see what years of appropriately utilizing and learning about technology in the classroom can do!

My teaching world has literally been flipped upside down!  I am absolutely blown away by how much I’ve learned about how to effectively implement new learning technologies.  I’ve become incredibly familiar and increasingly adept at using a plethora of web 2.0 tools that I’d never even heard of before!  In addition, as I’ve learned about these technologies I’ve participated in effective collaboration (on a class and global level) and witnessed firsthand how beneficial it can be in today’s 21st century learning environment.  With the help of my classmates, I’ve been exposed to so many new tools (as well as awesome examples of how they can be used in the classroom!) that can be used to maximize learning in my classes.

The part that really amazes me is not only my newly acquired breadth of knowledge, but also the tremendous depth of knowledge that I’ve gained through course readings, postings, forum discussion, assignments, peer review and learning log entries.  I feel like I’ve been “shown the way” and that I have a newly found passion for incorporating 21st century technology and skills into my classroom.  In addition, I feel called to become an agent of change.  As a department chair and respected veteran teacher, it’s my professional and ethical responsibility to show students, teachers and administrators the importance of correctly integrating technology into daily activities in the classroom.

As an agent of change in my department and my building, it is my responsibility to familiarize people with the ISTE Student and Teacher Standards as well as the AASL Standards.  I must also model digital citizenship and foster the development of student and staff “digital bigfoot prints.”  I will advocate the use of PLN’s, webinars and collaborative tools like LiveBinders to facilitate professional development and growth.  I will model the appropriate use of social media like Twitter (On a side note, this course was the first time that I used Twitter but it was awesome!  This week multiple people tweeted my school’s prom and gave me a “mention”).  Through student projects and department activities I will show teachers and students how to use tools like Diigo, an awesome social bookmarking site, to their advantage.  My ultimate goal is to help students and teachers build their own professional library that they can access over their entire careers.

One of the main ideas that I’m taking away from this class is that technology is not something that can be ignored nor is it something that should be feared!  These emerging learning technologies are fabulous tools that will help us to transform our students into the 21st century thinkers, problem solvers and appliers of knowledge that will be successful in our ever changing world!  We need to embrace the use of technology in the classroom and start to use supporting technologies like screencasts to make implementation efficient and effective.

My final project, a LiveBinder unit entitled “The Vietnam War”, demonstrates how the elements we’ve covered in this course have come together for me.  This project incorporates a blended classroom approach with four main technology based activities including a collaborative digital storytelling project as the culminating project/performance based assessment. This unit embodies many of the core elements, topics and ideas that are essential components of this course.

As I continue my career in education, I am determined to increase the use of technology both in my classroom and in my school.  After completing this course, I finally feel like I have a toolbox that can help me!

Digital Storytelling

This VoiceThread provides information on the current status of digital storytelling in education and highlights both positive and negative implications.  Viewers will get a general overview of the storytelling process, how it aligns to ISTE and AASL standards and how it can help students and teachers.  As technology progresses and students continue to change, digital storytelling provides an opportunity for authentic and collaborative educational opportunities that bridge the expanse that sometimes exists between technology and content while focusing on 21st century critical thinking skills.

Fabulous digital storytelling resources!

 

 

  • Here’s an awesome YouTube clip that shows Oak Hill Elementary students’ journies into digital storytelling!
  • Joe Lambert, one of the founders of the Center for Digital Storytelling, presents a TED talk about digital storytelling.

 

Seeing the Civil Rights Movement through Animoto!

As a classroom teacher, I sometimes struggle to find new and exciting ways to launch units (a key part of the Learning Focused Schools model).  Animoto is an easy to use Web 2.0 tool that is perfect for creating “hook” videos!  This Animoto is designed to serve as the unit launch and hook activity for the Civil Rights Movement.  As students in my 10th grade U.S. History classes view the video, my hope is that they will identify the topic, recognize key figures, connect to prior knowledge, connect to their own life experiences, formulate questions, have an emotional reaction, draw local connections, have their interest piqued, and be ready to discuss and learn!

After viewing the video, students will share with their table partners and then participate in small group and full class discussion about the photographs contained in the Animoto.  Co-taught classes will complete a KWL chart in conjunction with the video.  Honors classes will also compose a three paragraph written response.  Subsequent classroom activities will build on, and reference, the photographs contained in the video.

 

This Animoto is aligned to the following unit essential question:

  • What causes societies to change?

 

This Animoto is aligned to the following Pennsylvania U.S. History standards:

  1. Historical Analysis:
  • 8.1.U.A. Evaluate patterns of continuity and change over time, applying context of events.
  • 8.1.U.B. Evaluate the interpretation of historical events and sources, considering the use of fact versus opinion, multiple perspectives, and cause and effect relationships.

 

 2. Pennsylvania History:

  • 8.2.U.A. Evaluate the role groups and individuals from Pennsylvania played in the social, political, cultural, and economic development of the U.S.
  • 8.2.U.B. Evaluate the importance of various historical documents, artifacts,and places in Pennsylvania which are critical to U.S.
  • 8.2.U.C. Evaluate continuity and change in Pennsylvania are interrelated to the U.S.
  • 8.2.U.D. Evaluate how conflict and cooperation among groups and organizations in Pennsylvania have influenced the growth and development of the U.S.             • Ethnicity and race

 

3.  U.S. History

  • 8.3.U.A. Compare the role groups and individuals played in the social, political, cultural, and economic development of the U.S.
  • 8.3.U.B. Compare the impact of historical documents, artifacts,and places which are critical to the U.S.
  • 8.3.U.C. Evaluate how continuity and change have impacted the United States.
  • 8.3.U.D. Evaluate how conflict and cooperation among groups and organizations have influenced the growth and development of the U.S.

 

Venturing Into Classroom Blogs

As a classroom teacher, I was so excited to visit classroom blogs this week!  Over the years I’ve considered incorporating blogging into my classes but I’ve never taken the plunge.  After reading these classroom blogs I can’t wait!

 

Blog #1

The first blog that knocked my socks off was the winner of a 2013 Edublog Award, the Cougar News Blog.  This blog is absolutely incredible!   At first glance, I assumed that this blog was created by teachers or high school students, but the students who collaborate and create this blog are in junior high!  I absolutely love that students in Cactus Canyon’s Journalism II elective, under the direction of Jason Davis, are have taken ownership and are responsible for submitting posts and maintaining this blog.

The Cougar News is clear with its purpose – its “written by, and for, CCJH” students.  The entire purpose is to keep Cactus Canyon students (and by default, parents) in the loop with what’s happening in the Cougar Nation.  Students have created well-organized categories and posts that make finding topics easy.  Main categories like Academics are broken into further subcategories like Social Studies, Book Wars and Electives.  I love how these journalism students provide posts on such an incredible variety of topics.  From Bullying to Student Accomplishments, these young journalists have it covered!

This blog is a testament to what a group of determined, well led and digitally responsible students are capable of achieving!  With audience appropriate formatting, meaningful and informative posts, awesome pictures of students in action and superb organization, the students of Cactus Canyon Journalism II have successfully put an exciting new spin on the traditional school newspaper!

 

Blog #2

As I continued searching through class blogs, I stumbled onto Mr. Lamshed’s Class blog.  I glanced at his page, didn’t love the formatting and I started to hit the back button, but then something caught my eye.  On the left side toward the bottom, there were thirty-one links to student learning blogs.  Instantly, I was intrigued!  As I explored, I quickly realized that Mr. Lamshed’s purpose for this blog was to interact with the students in his 6/7 year classroom, to encourage creativity and to provide his students with the resources that they need to successfully complete his class.  Although Mr. Lamshed’s formatting isn’t fancy, his blog is an incredible educational tool that is an invaluable asset to him and his students.

The thing that I absolutely love the most about this blog is the student learning blog section.  Students like Jai, Aaron (who, by the way, is “Like a Ninja”) and Robert B. each maintain their own learning blog.  Posts include assignments like spooky story, student biographies, practice editing sentences, etc.  The level of personalization, quality and abundance of entries clearly show that students have bought into, and enjoy, Mr. Lamshed’s use of blogging in the classroom. These learning blogs provide students with a unique experience to document their learning journey in a location easily accessible to their teacher.

Mr. Lamshed regularly posts pictures with prompts like Remember and The Night Watchman and students use the reply function to submit their written responses.  These prompts give students the opportunity to be creative and use their critical thinking skills.  Another fabulous feature of this blog is that Mr. Lamshed uses it to get important information to students.  Whether providing them with videos to use to practice for the spring concert or posting current work, students can find all needed materials in one easily accessible place.

Although Mr. Lamshed’s Class blog doesn’t appear to be much at first glance, it is an incredibly well thought out example of successful implementation of blogging in the classroom.  The interaction between Mr. Lamshed and his students is incredible!  The Cougar News and Mr. Lamdshed’s blog are both great examples of how student participation in classroom blogs is so powerful!

 

Blog #3

Mr. Avery and his two sixth grade classes have created The Avery Bunch to show the world all of the cool stuff they’ve been learning and doing in Massachusetts!  From beginning to end, this blog is all about what students are learning and how Mr. Avery is teaching.  When you first enter the Avery Bunch website, there are scrolling full screen pictures of these awesome sixth graders engaged in exciting activities.  The blog is simply formatted, easy to read and very straight forward.

One of the things that I really love about this blog is that it is full of posts that show collaboration, interaction and creativity.  The Math Movie Network post was one of my absolute favorites because it provides a link to the school’s existing Math Movie Network and it talks about the two adding decimals videos that Mr. Avery and his class created and added to the collection.  Another of my favorites is 1, 2, 3… Fore where he documents (with pictures and text) his class demonstrating their knowledge of math (perimeter, angles, etc.) as they construct a miniature golf course.  Mr. Avery also features new technologies like the 3D printer that he and his class worked to earn through the Donors Choice program.  He does a fabulous job incorporating pictures of students actually interacting with the printer and their finished projects.  Another fun feature on the blog is the map and traffic log located on the sidebar.

Overall, Mr. Avery’s blog does a great job highlighting what he and his students are doing in the classroom (from both a teaching and learning perspective).  However, unlike The Cougar News and Mr. Lamshed’s Blog, students don’t have much of a voice.  I am surprised at how much I really missed student posts, replies and links to their own blogs.

 

Blog #4

While I was searching specifically for Social Studies blogs, I found Mr. Tesler’s Regents US History Blog.  I chose this blog for my fourth review because it is completely different then the blog’s I’ve already reviewed.  The purpose of this blog is very straight forward – it is strictly to convey information to students.  While The Cougar News and Mr. Lamshed’s Class Blog are based heavily on student participation and interaction, Mr. Tesler’s blog does not have any.

When I first looked at this blog, my gut reaction was to judge it based on the blogs that I loved that incorporated lots of student involvement and teen friendly formatting.  However, when I thought about it, I realized that it wasn’t fair to evaluate the success of this blog based on criteria for a blog with a completely different purpose.  The purpose of this blog is to convey information to students and he does that extremely well!  Mr. Tesler does a fabulous job of posting detailed weekly homework assignments.  These posts include very specific instructions, links to documents, PowerPoints, video clips and detailed grading expectations.  In other posts he provides review notes, information regarding how to access online textbooks, study guides and more.  Another feature that I love about this blog is that there’s a focus on the Regent’s Exam.  On the sidebar, students see a countdown clock that shows how many days until the exam.  Tesler also provides students with a group of “cool links” like textbook review questions, Regents Prep and Mr. T’s Regents Review Page in an effort to prepare them for their high stakes assessment.

Despite the fact that Mr. Tesler’s blog isn’t fancy, it is an invaluable tool for students in his classroom.  The amount, and detail, of information that he provides students is absolutely incredible.  The material and resources are easy to navigate and Mr. Tesler’s expectations are crystal clear.  I am also blown away that Mr. Tesler has been maintaining this blog since 2006!  Mr. Tesler’s Regents US History Blog is a prime example of a successful blog with a specific purpose!

 

Classroom Blogs…

Throughout this assignment and the associated readings, my mind has been churning thinking about the endless possibilities for incorporating blogging into the classroom!  I’m still somewhat shocked that so many of us have been missing out on this incredible educational tool.  We, as educators, have been working harder and harder to teach students 21st century critical thinking skills that are so necessary in our ever changing world and blogging is one of the keys that can help us!  We need to stop using blogs soley to convey information to students and instead work to turn blogs into an avenue for interaction between students and teachers, students and their peers, and teachers and their colleagues.  In their article “Brain of the Blogger,” Doctors Fernette and Eide state that “our mental activities actually cause changes in the structures of our brains – not only what we think, but how we think as well.”  It is incredible that we have the power to actually help students become better thinkers!

Doctors Fernette and Eide provide five rock solid reasons why blogging is beneficial and each of the five reasons is linked to 21st century thinking skills and/or ISTE standards.  They contend that “bloggers must write and visitors must read (rather than passively view) the postings.”  This means that learners are actively engaged and interacting with the material rather than passively being given information.  Fernette and Eide also stress that “blogging combines the best of solitary reflection and social interaction.”  While blogging, students have the time to really process questions and comments, formulate their response, think again and then carefully articulate their answer.  Students who are hesitant to participate in classroom discussions may be more willing to actively participate in blogging activities because they feel less pressure.  Another key part of blogging is that students are given feedback from a variety of sources.  Often, this can become an awesome form of collaboration.

When I think about incorporating classroom blogs into my classroom, I can’t wait!  I plan to create a blog that incorporates parts of each of the blogs that I reviewed in class.  Although there will be a category where I convey information to students and parents, the bulk of the blog will be dedicated to interaction between all members of my class (me included!).  One thing that I noticed as I explored classroom blogs was that if blogs were disorganized, not categorized or lacked a specific purpose that I really struggled to use them.  I need to make a conscious effort to organize my blog so that students and parents can easily access the information and posts that they need.  My blog will be broken into categories that include U.S. History, Honors U.S. History, The Help, Unbroken, Homework, Current Events, Community Service, etc.  One of my main objectives is to have students use my blog for journaling activities, reading logs and literature circles.  Ideally, I will work to have students use create their own learning blogs like Mr. Lamshed’s class.

Overall, the possibilities for blogging in the classroom are literally endless!  Teachers can use blogs to reach classrooms a thousands of miles away or they can use them to allow two students who sit next to one another to communicate in a different way.  Blogs are only limited by student and teacher creativity!

 

Works Cited:

Eide, Fernette, and Brock Eide. “Brain of the Blogger.” Eide Neurolearning Blog.
N.p., 2 Mar. 2005. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
<http://eideneurolearningblog.blogspot.com/2005/03/brain-of-blogger.html&gt;.

Exploring Library Blogs

As a future library media specialist, I’ve enjoyed visiting tons of amazing library blogs over the past week!  These blogs clearly show that the scope of librarian’s job is tremendous!

 

Blog #1:

The first blog that really caught my attention was A Media Specialist’s Guide to the Internet.  Julie Greller, a self-proclaimed “cybriarian,” is clearly on a mission to help everyone!  Students, teachers, fellow media specialists, readers… Everyone can find something that can help them!  At first glance, I found Greller’s blog incredibly overwhelming!  However, I quickly realized that she’s done a fabulous job organizing her categories to allow readers to quickly reference posts most applicable to them.  Within a minute or two I could easily navigate the blog and find oodles of helpful information.

Since I am currently a U.S. History teacher I first focused on her History post.  This post provides Social Studies teachers with hundreds of links to a variety of sources (interactive game templates, School House Rock videos, current events resources and more!).  Organized by topic and genre, these links provide teachers with creative and innovative resources that are easy to reference and use in the classroom.  As department chair, I will encourage each of my teachers to regularly visit and interact with this blog.

The second area I focused on while I explored Greller’s blog was her Teacher-Librarian post.  This area provides librarians with information on “everything library!”  From how to repair books to upcoming conferences, she provides librarians with the resources they need!  I love how to she embeds helpful videos, links and graphics throughout her post.  The digital poster, “Who’s the Tech Leader at Your School” is especially powerful and really drives home the point that we, as library media specialists, are responsible for leading the charge into the digital age!

Overall, I’m very impressed with Greller’s blog.  Although the style is nothing flashy, she does a great job achieving her goal of providing readers with a plethora of resources.  Posts like Throwback Thursday add a little spice to her informative and serious style.  In addition, her sidebar contains awesome educational ideas and resources for teachers as well as resources for librarians like Books for Reluctant Readers.  Each of her categories (Authors, ESL, Grades K-5, New Teachers, etc.)  contain one large post where she lists links to helpful resources.  Although the links are presented in an organized manner, it would be helpful to have more of an explanation or summary of each one available for readers.  If you’re looking for an incredible compilation of resources, then Geller’s blog is a great place to start!

 

Blog #2

Although completely different then Geller’s A Media Specialist’s Guide to the Internet, Shawna Ford’s Curtis Elementary Library was another of my favorite blogs.  While Geller focuses mainly on internet resources, Ford focuses on what’s actually happening in her brick and mortar library.  Its clear that Ford wants the world to see the exciting things she and her students are doing!  In addition, she works to get students excited about the library and reading in general!

Ford’s layout is simple and straight forward – perfect for an elementary audience.  Her categories are extremely parent and student friendly (I love Library Happenings!).   Throughout her posts, she incorporates tons of pictures of her students working, Skyping with authors, their new MakerSpace and her donated charging station.  One of the best aspects of this blog is that students are able to contribute.  Posts like Student Review of the New MakerSpace by Sierra & Kayla and WRAD14 Week 2 Blogging Challenge give students the chance to become familiar and comfortable with blogging while learning important digital citizenship skills.  Ford gives parents, students and community members an incredible window into the Curtis Elementary Library.

Throughout her blog, Ford also does a great job conveying her love of reading.  Shawna’s bookshelf, featured on the bottom right of her sidebar displays the covers of her favorite books (the link for this will not work properly but you can see it on the main page on the bottom right).  I love her category of posts dedicated to New Books & Reviews where she provides her own summaries and reviews of new and exciting books.  It is clear that Ford’s students love her and her posts are sure to convince some non-readers that they should start!

Overall, this blog is fabulous in its simplicity!  Ford’s passion for her school and her students is clear and she conveys this love and dedication throughout her blog.  I will definitely model my YCST Library blog after Curtis Elementary!

 

Blog #3

While reviewing library blogs, Nikki Robertson’s The True Adventures of a High School Librarian grabbed my attention!  With a catchy name and bold style, her blog is an eye catcher for high school students.  However, unlike the blogs by Ford and Geller, Robertson’s purpose in blogging isn’t glaringly apparent.   My impression is that she’s using her blog to get information to students, parents, teachers and the community.  However, her blog also seems to be more of a journal of her experiences as a high school librarian (hence the name), a record of awards that she has won and a platform for her to address educational ideas.

Unfortunately, this blog isn’t as easy to navigate as many library blogs because posts aren’t categorized.  Despite this, Robertson does present new and interesting ideas.  I absolutely love her HHS March Madness Final Four Summer Reading idea!  The post features pictures of the bracket, the first face off and her library.  She also features weekly updates that highlight what she’s doing in the library.  One of my favorites features a “Readbox.”  Mixed in with her posts are resources for teachers like Flipping Your Class Easily with Google Hangouts on Air and articles/opinions about educational ideology and techniques.

Although Robertson’s blog is full of awesome information, her lack of organization makes it hard to follow and utilize to its full potential.  If Ford’s system of categories was applied to her blog, Robertson’s blog would be a magnet for high school students, teachers and media specialists!

 

Blog #4

The fourth blog that nabbed me is Jen Swan’s Reading Rants!  Out of the Ordinary Teen Booklists!  As this blog loaded it immediately grabbed my attention – clean, simple, bright and perfect for middle and high school students.  Swan is very direct with her purpose… She wants teens to read!

One of the things that I absolutely love about Swan’s blog is that she has catchy category titles for the different genres that she reviews.  Interested in vampire novels?  Click on Fanging Around.  Want to read a good old country story?  Then Home Fries is for you!  If you’re not sure what one of her creative categories means, just hover and a description will pop up.  Each post within these teen friendly categories contains one of her book reviews and links to like the story on Facebook, to Pin it and even to tweet about it!  Swan’s reviews are phenomenal, cover loads of genres and she’s not afraid to review books dealing with touchy topics like teenage sexuality.  In addition to posts by genre, she also provides readers with Jen’s Top Ten Books of ALL TIME and 2013 Top Ten (as well as previous years).  This blog also provides readers with links to other reading blogs for teens and young adults.

Jen Swan’s blog is a fabulous example of a blog with a clear purpose and clear success in achieving its goal!  Teens (and adults like me!) can’t help but want to read after they visit her blog and read her phenomenal reviews.  In addition, Swan also utilizes email updates to encourage teens to read.  She also welcomes comments from her teen followers and its clear that she’s created an environment that fosters sharing of opinions.  Her blog is an excellent example of how clear purpose, organization, appropriateness for audience and passion for the content is the perfect recipe for blogging success!

 

Blogging as a librarian…

Throughout my exploration of library blogs, I realized that blogging may be one of the most valuable tools that a school library media specialist can have!  However, I think it is incredibly important for media specialists to keep their blogs extremely well organized and user friendly.  In many schools, there is only one media specialist in the building, so keeping an active blog and visiting lots of other librarians’ blogs allows media specialists to stay connected with other professionals and to develop a strong professional learning community.  As Doctors Fernette and Eide point out, “blogging is a powerful medium for increasing access and exposure to quality information.”

When I think about my future as a school library media specialist, I think that I will try to incorporate parts of each of the types of blogs that I’ve reviewed.  However, I am committed to creating a blog modeled strongly after Jennifer Swan’s Reading Rants and Shawna Ford’s Curtis Elementary Library Blog.  I love how each of these blogs revolve around students and I am committed to creating some sort of a hybrid blog for my students at YCST.  This blog will include a category and discussion topics for the Tech book club that I would like to start.  In addition, I think that I will need to create a second blog to that is more teacher oriented to help teachers and staff members gain access to new technology, lesson plans, etc.

I think that one of the biggest responsibilities for media specialists, in terms of blogging, is to model good blogging and digital citizenship to administration, teachers and students in the building and around the world.  Media specialists also have to be willing to help teachers to create their own blogs.  As with classroom blogs, there are virtually no limits on what librarians can do with blogging!

 

Works Cited:

Eide, Fernette, and Brock Eide. “Brain of the Blogger.” Eide Neurolearning Blog.
N.p., 2 Mar. 2005. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
<http://eideneurolearningblog.blogspot.com/2005/03/brain-of-blogger.html&gt;.