My vlog is a random collection of facts about me: teaching career, hobbies, background, etc. Mainly I'm just proud of myself for finally getting this to work. For whatever reason, it took two actual tech guys and one self-proclaimed techie to figure out how to make the video and audio work together. But here it is!
I only have one idea of how I might include this technology in my classroom so far, but I'm looking for more. My CIS Composition class has a project halfway through the class to create a personal newsletter. In the past I've asked for it to be completed in a traditional newsletter format, though this year I also offered the option of a wiki "newsletter." I wasn't sure how many of the kids would take me up on that, but over half the class did. You're welcome to look at some of them by clicking here.
That assignment requires students include some of their writing for the term ("This I Believe" essay, a personal narrative, and a review), but also asks for a series of tributes. They can include tributes to favorite books, authors, movies, music, photos, quotations, etc.; anything that led them to becoming a literary person--an intellectual or artistic bon vivant. (They usually have to look that up.) I think adding a vlog component to the wiki newsletter (or other electronic format) might add a nice way for the students to be able to introduce themselves to their readers.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Bubbl.us for final project
Here's my bubbl.us map for my final project ideas.
I'd like to create a Literature project (specific work(s) TBD) and incorporate some of the technologies we've learned/will learn in this class. I'm not entirely sure exactly where I'll use each technology yet, but I'll find a way to bring them all in to one cohesive project with several steps.
I've also created a sample bubbl.us of the kind I would show my students. I've often used Inspiration in my classes, but we continually run out of time in class. bubbl.us as a site would alleviate this problem because students could access the site at home. This sample deals with the themes in Montana 1948 which I teach in the contemporary unit of American Literature. This kind of mind mapping is a great tool for regular-level students when composing their ideas for a literary analysis essay. It keeps their ideas more organized (and tidier than a hand-made version), plus if this is online, they can access it from anywhere!
I also use these mind-mapping tools to explain essay form to regular students. I love Inspiration because it has a feature to change a bubble map into a traditional outline form--this is a skill that many students have a hard time with. Inspiration makes it easy to show exactly how this transfer happens so the students can recreate it later in their own writing.
I'd like to create a Literature project (specific work(s) TBD) and incorporate some of the technologies we've learned/will learn in this class. I'm not entirely sure exactly where I'll use each technology yet, but I'll find a way to bring them all in to one cohesive project with several steps.
I've also created a sample bubbl.us of the kind I would show my students. I've often used Inspiration in my classes, but we continually run out of time in class. bubbl.us as a site would alleviate this problem because students could access the site at home. This sample deals with the themes in Montana 1948 which I teach in the contemporary unit of American Literature. This kind of mind mapping is a great tool for regular-level students when composing their ideas for a literary analysis essay. It keeps their ideas more organized (and tidier than a hand-made version), plus if this is online, they can access it from anywhere!
I also use these mind-mapping tools to explain essay form to regular students. I love Inspiration because it has a feature to change a bubble map into a traditional outline form--this is a skill that many students have a hard time with. Inspiration makes it easy to show exactly how this transfer happens so the students can recreate it later in their own writing.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Final Project ideas, etc.
I feel like the school year is just beginning, so thinking about a final project idea already is somewhat daunting. That being said, I would like to focus on a project that will adapt well to my English 11 (American Lit) classes. I also teach the CIS Literature and Composition classes at my school and typically my time and creative technology use is confined to those classes for one practical reason: I can't assume that my English 11 students will have the access to technology or take the time to use it outside of class. I try not to use entire class periods for work on projects that could have just as easily have been done outside of class or without my guidance. I'd like to create a project involving digital writing that will involve class time in a meaningful way and still be accessible to my regular, homework-avoiding students.
One major focus of English 11 is a research paper. I hope to develop some sort of project that will involve my students using multiple databases, wikis, blogs, delicious, and incorporates a video or audio component. We spend a lot of time in class talking about how solely using Google as a search engine for research is not necessarily reliable (or reputable), but that deepening knowledge using some of our library's resources is more helpful. When beginning projects for my regular students involving research, I tend to steer them towards Opposing Viewpoints first since it offers a nice brainstorming-type list for students who are having a difficult time developing a topic. For those who have already come up with a topic and are looking to refine their knowledge further, I also send them to eLibrary or CQ Researcher. There are a few other topic-specific resources available in our library, and our media specialist really enjoys working with the students to help them further their own research.
For my personal research (and in teaching my CIS classes), I tend to veer toward JSTOR and Education Full-Text. With these databases, I've had more luck finding reputable articles in their full-text versions; as much as I'd like to say I take full advantage of resources available at the physical library, there isn't always the time (or inclination) to drive there. Because of teaching the CIS Literature class, I've become much more deliberate in my own search techniques. The CIS Lit class requires students to locate and reference critical articles for the literature we're reading in class. They have access to the U's databases for the first time in this class, so many of the students are simply overwhelmed by the amount of information available to them. For the first two novels or so, I pull literary criticism for them to read so they get a good idea of what kinds of things they're looking for. During the third novel, I model for them on a projector how I go about searching for criticism in a database: advanced searches, a variety of search terms, different combinations, etc. High school seniors (and humans) tend to get frustrated when they can't quickly find the information they're looking for, so seeing me having to perform a search several times in order to find exactly what I want is valuable for them. I wish that a teacher had shown me these resources in high school instead of having college professors my freshman year say "go find sources" with no guidance.
This class has been my first experience with using blog readers, so I'm still determining how best I'll make them useful to me. I see the value of a project like the one described in Chapter 2 of Beach, Anson, Breuch, and Swiss ("Using Delicious Tagging in a Literature Class"), and I'm excited to spend some more time developing how best I can integrate this type of project/research into a class. I've had students perform basic Webquests in the past for some background research for a particular topic or author, but I do like the idea of integrating some of these other resources as well. Particularly in a class where a research focus is so prevalent, needing to determine the validity of a source or another person's tagging of that source is a really good exercise. The sooner that students develop the habit of being critical of sources they find on the web, the better. Too many of them are still willing to accept at face-value what they see in print.
One major focus of English 11 is a research paper. I hope to develop some sort of project that will involve my students using multiple databases, wikis, blogs, delicious, and incorporates a video or audio component. We spend a lot of time in class talking about how solely using Google as a search engine for research is not necessarily reliable (or reputable), but that deepening knowledge using some of our library's resources is more helpful. When beginning projects for my regular students involving research, I tend to steer them towards Opposing Viewpoints first since it offers a nice brainstorming-type list for students who are having a difficult time developing a topic. For those who have already come up with a topic and are looking to refine their knowledge further, I also send them to eLibrary or CQ Researcher. There are a few other topic-specific resources available in our library, and our media specialist really enjoys working with the students to help them further their own research.
For my personal research (and in teaching my CIS classes), I tend to veer toward JSTOR and Education Full-Text. With these databases, I've had more luck finding reputable articles in their full-text versions; as much as I'd like to say I take full advantage of resources available at the physical library, there isn't always the time (or inclination) to drive there. Because of teaching the CIS Literature class, I've become much more deliberate in my own search techniques. The CIS Lit class requires students to locate and reference critical articles for the literature we're reading in class. They have access to the U's databases for the first time in this class, so many of the students are simply overwhelmed by the amount of information available to them. For the first two novels or so, I pull literary criticism for them to read so they get a good idea of what kinds of things they're looking for. During the third novel, I model for them on a projector how I go about searching for criticism in a database: advanced searches, a variety of search terms, different combinations, etc. High school seniors (and humans) tend to get frustrated when they can't quickly find the information they're looking for, so seeing me having to perform a search several times in order to find exactly what I want is valuable for them. I wish that a teacher had shown me these resources in high school instead of having college professors my freshman year say "go find sources" with no guidance.
This class has been my first experience with using blog readers, so I'm still determining how best I'll make them useful to me. I see the value of a project like the one described in Chapter 2 of Beach, Anson, Breuch, and Swiss ("Using Delicious Tagging in a Literature Class"), and I'm excited to spend some more time developing how best I can integrate this type of project/research into a class. I've had students perform basic Webquests in the past for some background research for a particular topic or author, but I do like the idea of integrating some of these other resources as well. Particularly in a class where a research focus is so prevalent, needing to determine the validity of a source or another person's tagging of that source is a really good exercise. The sooner that students develop the habit of being critical of sources they find on the web, the better. Too many of them are still willing to accept at face-value what they see in print.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Thoughts on blogging...
I've never attempted to keep a blog in my daily life; I've never been good at keeping any sort of written record of daily thoughts or happenings, so I can't imagine that putting it online would make me any more successful.
I have attempted to use blogs in my teaching, however. I teach English and Theatre at Andover High School and have played around with blogging as a way to allow more students to become involved with a classroom discussion. At all levels I've taught, there are quiet students who are reluctant to participate in discussions in front of the whole class. I've attempted to have students blog their responses to discussion questions or post their own discussion questions in order to encourage their participation. In a few cases, this type of online discussion before class has encouraged the reluctant participants to talk in class. Knowing that they've already had a chance to get their voices and thoughts out can help students feel like they have a more viable entry in to discussion. Additionally, I've found that some of my more talkative students will help the quieter ones by inviting their participation in discussion once they've had a chance to see some of their thoughts online.
Another positive feature of having students respond to and interact with their classmates on a blog is that it necessarily requires them to hone their skills at argumentation and persuasion. In verbal discussions, students who feel more comfortable in front of the class can rely on their body language or tone to make their points. Similarly, if they're having trouble coming up with a specific word or phrase, one of their classmates is there to help. In an online discussion, students have none of these helps to fall back on; their skills alone must help them to make their points effectively. Students must find their own ways to effectively make and support their points. An online audience is quick to point out flaws in support or gaps in an argument.
One of my personal struggles with digital literacy is having the time to implement it effectively in the classroom. While I harbor no illusions that I'll continually know more or be more savvy than my students, I do hope that I can stay with them as we explore digital writing together. I also want to make sure that I'm using the most helpful tool for each task we're trying to accomplish. I don't want my knowledge gaps making an assignment more difficult for my students.
I have attempted to use blogs in my teaching, however. I teach English and Theatre at Andover High School and have played around with blogging as a way to allow more students to become involved with a classroom discussion. At all levels I've taught, there are quiet students who are reluctant to participate in discussions in front of the whole class. I've attempted to have students blog their responses to discussion questions or post their own discussion questions in order to encourage their participation. In a few cases, this type of online discussion before class has encouraged the reluctant participants to talk in class. Knowing that they've already had a chance to get their voices and thoughts out can help students feel like they have a more viable entry in to discussion. Additionally, I've found that some of my more talkative students will help the quieter ones by inviting their participation in discussion once they've had a chance to see some of their thoughts online.
Another positive feature of having students respond to and interact with their classmates on a blog is that it necessarily requires them to hone their skills at argumentation and persuasion. In verbal discussions, students who feel more comfortable in front of the class can rely on their body language or tone to make their points. Similarly, if they're having trouble coming up with a specific word or phrase, one of their classmates is there to help. In an online discussion, students have none of these helps to fall back on; their skills alone must help them to make their points effectively. Students must find their own ways to effectively make and support their points. An online audience is quick to point out flaws in support or gaps in an argument.
One of my personal struggles with digital literacy is having the time to implement it effectively in the classroom. While I harbor no illusions that I'll continually know more or be more savvy than my students, I do hope that I can stay with them as we explore digital writing together. I also want to make sure that I'm using the most helpful tool for each task we're trying to accomplish. I don't want my knowledge gaps making an assignment more difficult for my students.
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