Another June is upon our region, but this particular year will stand out as being peppered with moments of both great travail and change, and great possibility and promise. Within the Model Schools service the consortium has spoken and expressed ideas which will help us to maneuver our talents and advocacy on your behalf for the best possible outcomes. What follows are some of the ways we believe Model Schools can adapt to help you sustain a modern learning environment in your respective districts:
Facilitate and nurture true professional learning communities. Each member of a school community has a story to tell about how technology is changing the way they conduct their profession, from principal to director of technology to administrative assistant to faculty member. Model Schools will work diligently to use every possible tool to help connect the dots, build bridges, and foster a true sense of "e-community" during the next year.
Deliver more sustained professional development opportunities. The anchor of the Model Schools program has been the face to face session and while these sessions continue to play a role in the program, we realize the need to build in more sustainable structures so that the experience of learning can truly "stick" after a teacher leaves a Model Schools session. We will diversify our offerings in terms of locations (using host districts from within the region), time, and delivery method (look for more webinars and opportunities to participate via videoconference in next year's Core Catalog.) Provide strong curriculum correlations to Model Schools sessions. We know technology does not occur in a vacuum, but within the context of curriculum with specific learning objectives and goals. We will continue to design our courses and sessions with an eye on 21st Century Skills as well as core content competencies. Keep up the strand for building administrators. This past year was the first year we designed a strand specifically with the needs of building principals in mind, as the instructional leaders of their building. We will continue to develop and expand this series of sessions in a way that respects your specific feedback and increases the exposure and participation.Build and manage a robust online collaborative and informational environment. We have the tools to deliver, archive and redistribute content both synchronously and asynchronously. Look for a "Model Schools eLearning Center" to provide access to archived webinars and instructional sessions, podcasts, media clips highlighting what other districts are doing that's innovative, and a place to dialog and compare notes about common problems and accomplishments.
Thanks to each of you that participate in the service. No matter what the extent of your individual participation, your voice is valued as a component district that we serve. We'll be posting some periodic updates on the development of the Core Catalog for the next year and always welcome thoughts, feedback, and involvement.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
A Picture is Worth.....Well, You Know (authored by C. Calabrese, LHRIC)
Apparently that old adage is indeed true. In her presentation about Visual Literacy,, Dr. Lynell Burmark shared several facts that support the idea and how we as educators can use that information to shape our teaching. Several concepts really struck me as critical to education.
The brain can process images 60,000 times faster than text
In a school environment where educators are expected to impart more and more knowledge to students, one would think we would jump at the chance to speed up that process. We could spend weeks on a concept that could be represented and supported by pictures.
Brain ‘bandwidth’
Our eyes send information to our brain through two optic nerves, each consisting of 1,000,000 nerve fibers. By comparison our auditory nerve consists of 30,000 fibers. I can only think of Confucius’ quote "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."
“Words can only recall images we have already seen” – Lynell Burmark
At first glance I wasn’t sure about the truth of that statement. If someone were to describe lots of details of an image, surely I’d be able to have an image in my mind. Instead, what happens is that I bring my prior experiences to my image building and the person describing the image brings their experiences. What happens when those experiences are not similar? An example that Dr. Burmark gave was to say the word ‘flower’ and then ask what the participants had envisioned – how many ‘saw’ a daisy? a lilac? a rose? white baking flour? A simple word could be interpreted in many ways.
Start with the picture, but the picture itself doesn’t always tell the story
In her example, Dr. Burmark showed a photo of two women laughing and asked us to tell her who they were, why they were laughing, what was the event and what was their relationship. Needless to say we all came up with a different interpretation. So the photo itself does not necessarily stand alone.
Start from concrete tasks and move to abstract ideas
Using the photo above, ask students to write a story from the point of view of one of the characters. Only after the students have experienced the varied points of view would a teacher introduce the concept of point of view.
Dr. Burmark challenged and encouraged us to
- use pictures first, then text or audio
- put a projector in every classroom
- start lessons with a picture
- don’t assume that one person’s experience is the same as the next
- use humor
Visit her website is www.educatebetter.org for many resources for images and project ideas.
Friday, March 13, 2009
The Effective Use of a Wiki in a Classroom
Hedi Lappi 2:40 – 3:40
Heidi has some very practical uses of wikis in her classroom. I’m assuming everyone reading this blog understands the functionality of the wiki so I will jump to the important points.
Heidi teaches 9th grade Living Science and an Honors Marine Biology course for seniors. She purposes her wiki for the level she is teaching to.
I was impressed with Heidi's knowledge of learning styles. She has every student take a learning style quiz at the beginning of the year and the students reference their learning styles throughout the year (wow - sounds so simple, why didn't I think of that?).
How does she use the wiki in 9th Grade Regents Course?
Students have to create review questions and answer the questions on the wiki.. Students then use this as a learning tool and some use it as a review when studying for a test.
Throughout the year Heidi also has students, in groups, post science information/resources related to their learning styles. Students must add a digital resource; a description and what learning style this resource will meet. Heidi then uses the resources throughout her lessons that year and she tags them and adds them to delicious. As a teacher she now has 20+ students times 3 periods combing the Internet to find the best resources on a variety of topics in Science. She has the learners mining the Internet while simultaneously building her own database of resources to use in subsequent years. I couldn’t’ think of a better use of instruction.
This is Heidi’s second year using the wiki in her classroom. Last year she started it mid-year. This school year she implemented the wiki in September. She announced that she saw a 10% increase in her mid-term exams from last year. She believes it is because of the 100% participation she receives through the wiki.
12th Grade Science – Honors
Students select an environment to study. They are responsible for both individual and cooperative grades. She has a 5-page rubric (see resource links below) that she has created to structure the project so effective learning happens.
As students work on experiments she embeds data sheets into her wiki from Google spreadsheets so students can see the results of their data collected. Students get to see in real time the results of their experiments – sometimes without even being in the classroom.
She uses the historic data in wikis to see who is working when and to measure how much each team member has contributed to the project . She then uses the wiki history against their individual grade.
We should have given Heidi a 90-minute session; she had so much information to share. I felt while watching her that time was not on her side – probably why she embraces technology – she has so much to cover and assess that learning has to happen outside her classroom.
I measure a good teacher by a very simple filter – would I want this teacher to teach my own kids? The answer is an affirmative YES! She knows her content, she understands this generation and she embodies constructive learning. I think many of her students must walk out of her classroom and want to be biologists, researchers or scientists but most importantly they are excited about learning. Who knows, she may have taught the next “Google” creator or the next teacher but most importantly she has taught them to think, cooperate, share and manage their own time online. Kudos to Heidi!
So go visit her site SOON! She will only have the guest account access for a short period of time. And while you are there let us know what you found valuable and share with us how you are using wikis in your school. Remember the best teachers are thieves and in this era of social networking - thieves share their secrets!
Resources-
Wiki Site: https://lappi.wiki.ccsd.edu
ID: guest09
PW wiki2009
http://delicious.com/hlappi
www.google.com - google docs & spreadsheets
Flipcam – uses to record short video of student work and reflections.
Heidi has some very practical uses of wikis in her classroom. I’m assuming everyone reading this blog understands the functionality of the wiki so I will jump to the important points.
Heidi teaches 9th grade Living Science and an Honors Marine Biology course for seniors. She purposes her wiki for the level she is teaching to.
I was impressed with Heidi's knowledge of learning styles. She has every student take a learning style quiz at the beginning of the year and the students reference their learning styles throughout the year (wow - sounds so simple, why didn't I think of that?).
How does she use the wiki in 9th Grade Regents Course?
Students have to create review questions and answer the questions on the wiki.. Students then use this as a learning tool and some use it as a review when studying for a test.
Throughout the year Heidi also has students, in groups, post science information/resources related to their learning styles. Students must add a digital resource; a description and what learning style this resource will meet. Heidi then uses the resources throughout her lessons that year and she tags them and adds them to delicious. As a teacher she now has 20+ students times 3 periods combing the Internet to find the best resources on a variety of topics in Science. She has the learners mining the Internet while simultaneously building her own database of resources to use in subsequent years. I couldn’t’ think of a better use of instruction.
This is Heidi’s second year using the wiki in her classroom. Last year she started it mid-year. This school year she implemented the wiki in September. She announced that she saw a 10% increase in her mid-term exams from last year. She believes it is because of the 100% participation she receives through the wiki.
12th Grade Science – Honors
Students select an environment to study. They are responsible for both individual and cooperative grades. She has a 5-page rubric (see resource links below) that she has created to structure the project so effective learning happens.
As students work on experiments she embeds data sheets into her wiki from Google spreadsheets so students can see the results of their data collected. Students get to see in real time the results of their experiments – sometimes without even being in the classroom.
She uses the historic data in wikis to see who is working when and to measure how much each team member has contributed to the project . She then uses the wiki history against their individual grade.
We should have given Heidi a 90-minute session; she had so much information to share. I felt while watching her that time was not on her side – probably why she embraces technology – she has so much to cover and assess that learning has to happen outside her classroom.
I measure a good teacher by a very simple filter – would I want this teacher to teach my own kids? The answer is an affirmative YES! She knows her content, she understands this generation and she embodies constructive learning. I think many of her students must walk out of her classroom and want to be biologists, researchers or scientists but most importantly they are excited about learning. Who knows, she may have taught the next “Google” creator or the next teacher but most importantly she has taught them to think, cooperate, share and manage their own time online. Kudos to Heidi!
So go visit her site SOON! She will only have the guest account access for a short period of time. And while you are there let us know what you found valuable and share with us how you are using wikis in your school. Remember the best teachers are thieves and in this era of social networking - thieves share their secrets!
Resources-
Wiki Site: https://lappi.wiki.ccsd.edu
ID: guest09
PW wiki2009
http://delicious.com/hlappi
www.google.com - google docs & spreadsheets
Flipcam – uses to record short video of student work and reflections.
Breakout Session: Wikis, Webpages, and Winning Over Students (Authored by M. Romano, LHRIC)
As part of the Model Schools offers, we help educators learn the power of wikis, web pages and other digital media. Peter LaMoreaux of Brewster presented at Tech Expo today with several exemplars of student work. Their projects were both informative and engaging. Peter spoke about putting a “digital spin” on some classic student projects.
A primary example is a student Science Fair. Picture a traditional Science Fair. Lots of tri-fold poster boards with pictures glued to the surface. Perhaps the students use different size and color fonts for effect…now head up to Brewster. Their Science Fair includes videos, web pages and wiki spaces that are used to demonstrate knowledge of the concepts being explored. Students are not required to utilize technology but they are given the opportunity to express their learning in a way they deem appropriate.
The student projects are then posted to a Science Fair website for peer review and review by other Science teachers and administrators in the district. The audience is more far reaching than people who walk around the gym looking at the displays.
Peter also utilizes digital publishing opportunities for basic classroom assignments. A significant part of the Physics curriculum focuses on completion of labs. In his class, students are not limited to submitting a hand written lab. They can complete the lab and submit it as a wiki, web page, video or other digital media they are comfortable with.
Part of his success with digital expression is the willingness of the district to keep things open; to let the student’s publish their work for the larger audience to see. Participants of the session raised concerns of privacy and protection of the students. Peter’s response was that, if you teach the students responsible use of the tools, they wouldn’t abuse them. He has been working with students in the digital publishing world since 1999 and has not had any problems yet.
Kudos to Peter and his district for keeping an open mind and an open ability for students to reach out and share their work. Before posting this blog, I attended Marco Torres’ keynote. His story was the same and his outreach was to all educators. Empower the kids, provide them with the tools and learn to deal with those in your district who say “No Way”, Yes But” and let’s focus on the “Yes Ands”.
A primary example is a student Science Fair. Picture a traditional Science Fair. Lots of tri-fold poster boards with pictures glued to the surface. Perhaps the students use different size and color fonts for effect…now head up to Brewster. Their Science Fair includes videos, web pages and wiki spaces that are used to demonstrate knowledge of the concepts being explored. Students are not required to utilize technology but they are given the opportunity to express their learning in a way they deem appropriate.
The student projects are then posted to a Science Fair website for peer review and review by other Science teachers and administrators in the district. The audience is more far reaching than people who walk around the gym looking at the displays.
Peter also utilizes digital publishing opportunities for basic classroom assignments. A significant part of the Physics curriculum focuses on completion of labs. In his class, students are not limited to submitting a hand written lab. They can complete the lab and submit it as a wiki, web page, video or other digital media they are comfortable with.
Part of his success with digital expression is the willingness of the district to keep things open; to let the student’s publish their work for the larger audience to see. Participants of the session raised concerns of privacy and protection of the students. Peter’s response was that, if you teach the students responsible use of the tools, they wouldn’t abuse them. He has been working with students in the digital publishing world since 1999 and has not had any problems yet.
Kudos to Peter and his district for keeping an open mind and an open ability for students to reach out and share their work. Before posting this blog, I attended Marco Torres’ keynote. His story was the same and his outreach was to all educators. Empower the kids, provide them with the tools and learn to deal with those in your district who say “No Way”, Yes But” and let’s focus on the “Yes Ands”.
Breakout Session: Digital Video Across the Curriculum – Diane Nerwen (Authored by C. Calabrese from LHRIC)
I’ve never considered myself a ‘creative’ person by nature. I believed that creativity equaled art in the traditional sense. I didn’t like to paint, draw or sculpt. I took lots of photographs, but mostly for the purpose of recording events.In recent years I’ve found my creative side by creating digital videos. These videos typically honor a person or an event – retirement, special birthday, memorial. As I experience my final projects with others, I am always amazed at the emotions that my movie evokes and realize that it is true art. To some degree I was rearranging reality and telling a story.In Diane Nerwen’s presentation about Digital Video Across the Curriculum, she spoke about Daniel Pink and his book "A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future." Mr. Pink believes that the era of the ‘left brain’ dominance is giving way to ‘right brain’ qualities – inventiveness, empathy and meaning-predominate. As Ms. Nerwen detailed the process the students go through to complete their projects, I realized how much of that process lends itself to the ‘left brain’. In particular, the planning process includes storyboarding and organizing shot lists. Sounds like a logical, sequential, analytical – left-brain – process. Students have to use both sides of their brains to complete these projects or rely on a group member to balance out each side of the collective ‘brain’. Throughout her presentation, Ms. Nerwen shared examples of many different types of videos that her students create (poetry, music videos, documentaries, public service announcements, parodies). The preparation and planning phase was key to a successful video. For example, if you are going to make a PSA about gun violence, do you want to show guns? The discussions that follow go much beyond making a ‘cool’ video with the latest software. The products were phenomenal and the processes evident.Do you need to be ‘right brain’ dominant to rule the future? I believe we ‘left-brainers’ still have a place!
Do Kids Really Want to be Challenged?
Marco Torres Multi Media in the Classroom
Breakout Session 1:30 – 2:30
Enter Rosa, collaborating with Marco via live audio feed from California. Rosa a former student shared the presentation throughout the beginning of the presentation using a shared computer screen and audio. One to one collaboration and one to one professional development are effective and easily accomplished today.
Marco suggests that for him the digital storytelling process is about teaching kids to be effective communicators – technology is not the goal. Digital story telling is about writing through the framework of a story. Telling stories intrigues and engages kids – writing is part of the process not the end goal.
When Torres works on storytelling through the creation of movies, the first step is to craft a story. Kids need to think thematically and they use Inspiration software to organize and plan around thematic writing. Rosa takes control and demonstrates how she used an inspiration diagram a story on the idea of “stars”, people that are considered stars, to map out the movie making process. Using the inspiration mind mapping process allows students to focus on elements of the “story” that are interesting not simply talking heads. It also provides a place to map other roles that are necessary to the movie making process such as camera, sound etc. It also allows teachers to differentiate content and roles based on the story elements and strands based on their readiness and interest levels.
Photography and films have been a tool for liberation for decades. At the onset of the first proliferation of the color TV also was the Vietnam war. The color red had new meaning through the lens of a war, red…blood…emotion. Think of the civil rights movement and the images that come to mind. If we can capture that much emotion and memory via still images imagine what we can do with digital video.
Consider this – do kids love challenges? Look at your own behavior to find the answer. We love Iron Chef because we want to see how the overcome the challenges of the ingredients they are provided, make something from eel tails. We love “Myth Busters” because they are always finding ways to challenge themselves.
“Get kids to come back tomorrow by infecting them with curiosity today.”
What are the stories waiting to be told in your class?
Breakout Session 1:30 – 2:30
Enter Rosa, collaborating with Marco via live audio feed from California. Rosa a former student shared the presentation throughout the beginning of the presentation using a shared computer screen and audio. One to one collaboration and one to one professional development are effective and easily accomplished today.
Marco suggests that for him the digital storytelling process is about teaching kids to be effective communicators – technology is not the goal. Digital story telling is about writing through the framework of a story. Telling stories intrigues and engages kids – writing is part of the process not the end goal.
When Torres works on storytelling through the creation of movies, the first step is to craft a story. Kids need to think thematically and they use Inspiration software to organize and plan around thematic writing. Rosa takes control and demonstrates how she used an inspiration diagram a story on the idea of “stars”, people that are considered stars, to map out the movie making process. Using the inspiration mind mapping process allows students to focus on elements of the “story” that are interesting not simply talking heads. It also provides a place to map other roles that are necessary to the movie making process such as camera, sound etc. It also allows teachers to differentiate content and roles based on the story elements and strands based on their readiness and interest levels.
Photography and films have been a tool for liberation for decades. At the onset of the first proliferation of the color TV also was the Vietnam war. The color red had new meaning through the lens of a war, red…blood…emotion. Think of the civil rights movement and the images that come to mind. If we can capture that much emotion and memory via still images imagine what we can do with digital video.
Consider this – do kids love challenges? Look at your own behavior to find the answer. We love Iron Chef because we want to see how the overcome the challenges of the ingredients they are provided, make something from eel tails. We love “Myth Busters” because they are always finding ways to challenge themselves.
“Get kids to come back tomorrow by infecting them with curiosity today.”
What are the stories waiting to be told in your class?
Digital Storytelling: An Academic Process: Really!
Marcos Torres 11:20-12:20PM
This is my first time hearing Marcos – and in the first 5 minutes I’m enamored by his warmth and passion for life and what he does. Currently he is sharing with us a video of his children going to bed and as I look around the conference hall I see smiles as we all in the audience are reminded of why we do what we do. He does what he does so that they (students) come back tomorrow. “Kids love to learn, but school gets in the way-sometimes.”
He encourages teachers to start with “something” in technology and go with it. He related that George Lucas does not really use technology in fact he doesn’t email.
Problems with Digital Storytelling in Schools – they spend a lot of time editing video or they spend a great deal of time writing and little on the video end. Schools need to work on collaborating and integrating these programs more effectively.
4 P’s of Storytelling
• Plan – use mind maps, drawings, writing.; sometimes not digital. Students spend a majority of time in this part of storytelling.. Uses inspiration to brainstorm, categorize and organize the content and he believes this is the fundamental building block of movie making. Visually the students begin to see how they would write their story, song, poem,video, etc. They know how many sections, paragraphs, verses to produce and b/c the technology allows us to drag and drop students can then quantify the most important to least important.
• Produce – use something as simple as Power Point to movie making
• Present – to the class, the school, district, community possibly the world
• Pheedback
Have students write about what they are interested in. It makes the video capturing, editing that much more essential and real.
My reflection on Marcos – he inspires, he promotes, he is humble and he believes education is THE most important profession. He wants to be part of the change and he wants to move students toward a better tomorrow. So my questions to you – teachers, building administrators, superintendents, directors of technology, teachers – what is your story? How are you going to write and digitize your BOLD statement? Can these stories start with us first?
RESOURCES
http://www.marcostorres.com - presenter’s presentation
Inspiration – www.inspiration.com - concept mapping
Live Scribe – notebooks and pens for creation
Flickschool.com
Sfet.com
Alasmedia.net – website for teachers to ask questions about digital storytelling.
This is my first time hearing Marcos – and in the first 5 minutes I’m enamored by his warmth and passion for life and what he does. Currently he is sharing with us a video of his children going to bed and as I look around the conference hall I see smiles as we all in the audience are reminded of why we do what we do. He does what he does so that they (students) come back tomorrow. “Kids love to learn, but school gets in the way-sometimes.”
He encourages teachers to start with “something” in technology and go with it. He related that George Lucas does not really use technology in fact he doesn’t email.
Problems with Digital Storytelling in Schools – they spend a lot of time editing video or they spend a great deal of time writing and little on the video end. Schools need to work on collaborating and integrating these programs more effectively.
4 P’s of Storytelling
• Plan – use mind maps, drawings, writing.; sometimes not digital. Students spend a majority of time in this part of storytelling.. Uses inspiration to brainstorm, categorize and organize the content and he believes this is the fundamental building block of movie making. Visually the students begin to see how they would write their story, song, poem,video, etc. They know how many sections, paragraphs, verses to produce and b/c the technology allows us to drag and drop students can then quantify the most important to least important.
• Produce – use something as simple as Power Point to movie making
• Present – to the class, the school, district, community possibly the world
• Pheedback
Have students write about what they are interested in. It makes the video capturing, editing that much more essential and real.
My reflection on Marcos – he inspires, he promotes, he is humble and he believes education is THE most important profession. He wants to be part of the change and he wants to move students toward a better tomorrow. So my questions to you – teachers, building administrators, superintendents, directors of technology, teachers – what is your story? How are you going to write and digitize your BOLD statement? Can these stories start with us first?
RESOURCES
http://www.marcostorres.com - presenter’s presentation
Inspiration – www.inspiration.com - concept mapping
Live Scribe – notebooks and pens for creation
Flickschool.com
Sfet.com
Alasmedia.net – website for teachers to ask questions about digital storytelling.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)