Week 4 Blog 1 - You want me to what?

Above is a picture of me (ok, my ears are bigger than this high paid model), just before giving up the last of my fears and doubts. The PBS video made it hard to hold on to them anymore.
Doubt - Kids won't work on online assignments at home.
Answer - This recent wiki page activity showed that many would when it was optional. What if it required?
Doubt - The parents won't want them on the computer so much.
Answer - We can make time at school, or parents can limit all their screen time at home, or they can do the alternative assignments.

PTA Guidelines

Fear - Not many kids have internet access.
Answer - The wide majority do have internet and the others can do the alternate assignments.
Fear - Using Blogs for assignments will leave children unprotected online.
Answer - Safe Blogging Tips - Help parents through these fears by following these tips.

BTW - Does anyone know a secure place for kids to write and respond online? Something like Blogger, but more kid-friendly?

Doubt - There will be so many obstacles that it won't be worth.
Answer - Keep your eyes on the Prize.

From our classroom

Some Videos I might use to educate kids and parents.

Week 3 Blog 2 - Tito, Teambuilding, and VLCs

Chapter 2 has plenty of resonance for me. The Red Sox manager being fired because the team didn't care enough. I really admire Terry Francona for the class he exhibited as he left, consistently saying that he was responsible, if the team underachieved. Different classes and teams that I have worked with - never "came together". I have read several books and attended many workshops and conferences for teaching and coaching. I will lik to some of my favorites below. Some of the common threads about getting a group to reach its potential keep resurfacing. "Groups, or cohorts, are just collections of individuals. Learning communities happen when those groups transcend the normal boundaries of purpose and engagement. They become something special, something more, and this is at least partly due to recognizing a collective ownership of their learning." So how to transcend? Some qualities, listed below, are all valid and important. hospitable forgiveness authentic resilient multifaceted boundaries life cycles But the goal quality for any group that really wants to perform is:An Oldie, But a Goodie Trust If you have experienced a group with it, you always remember it. You feel stronger. You work harder. You are willing to sacrifice. Our VLC seems to be trustworthy. Teachers tend to be idealistic and "team players". Play ball!

Week 3 Blog 1 - Now that our evenings are freer...

That sound?...It is some heads rolling out of Fenway Park - at least I won't have to try to type and read/watch during playoff games... I like how Michael Wesch listed all those old axioms and shot them down one-by-one. We really need to change how learning is viewed. The genie is out of the bottle and nobody should want it back in. Experts who are good at memorizing facts should be grinding their teeth. Books and experts used to be sources of information. Now any bit can be accessed instantly. Amazing. My students (4 classes) haven't picked up a pencil in our class all week. We have been on computers every day. I am learning/experimenting with them on wikispaces. Take a look - http://frenchandindianwarwiki.wikispaces.com/ Interest is up, participation is up, a few are spending hours at home working on them, the quality is very high. As they view each other's pages, a funny thing happened. Some kids asked questions of others, looking for peer feed back. Some said, "That's great - I better step up and improve mine." Some gained prestige by teaching others what they had figured out. All said very worthwhile. I must not let the glitches bring me down. Actually, the kids are more patient with the "restarts" and "My whole page is gone!" headaches than me. I know there is another level. More collaboration - more transfer - more connections. Time (and experienced peers) will help me sort this out. I see the potential - Any ideas?

Week 2 Blog 2 - Dylan was right

Week 2 Blog 2 - Dylan was right...but his voice is still annoying




How to be prophetic and dated at the same time - the message is the same, but even the "cutting edge tech" near the end of the video seems dated. So the same messages keep coming back - teach thinking, teach creativity, teach collaboration - the technology will just be the means or tools.
Does that mean that I have to think, create, collaborate? Do you know a website that has worksheets for that? Just kidding.
It seems like we are jumping past the tests/curricula we have. I have already chosen to ignore the Geography standards. Next year we will ignore the map's legend and go right to the tools of Google Earth.  Yes, Linda, this is a reference to " the world is flat".
I remember finding a website on my classroom computer in the '90s that showed the contents of a library in China. It blew me away! My generation still thought of Asia as a very far away place. Now I could "be" there and in NH at the same time. Who knew the Jetsons would be here so soon. I always thought of modern times being half way between the Flintstones and the Jetsons.

So, I order our book from Amazon and, a couple days later, I open the package, smirking. I should have gotten this book on our kindle - there was something weird about reading about the latest in education tech in an old-fashioned book.
Chapter 1 has great ideas - really revolutionary and valuable. But John Stossel  and my own experience make me believe we need big changes in the way education is viewed in our country and who controls the money and the message. But do we have the will to change?  "Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life,son."
I feel like Rome is burning, and we won't even stand up to fiddle.

Kaleb's Aviation Adventure

There's reason that Kaleb's head is in the clouds...

Summer Reading Posters - 2011

 Great job!

Web 2.0 Week 2 - "I hate paper!"

Twenty-two years ago my classroom computer didn't have enough memory use to a dot-matrix printer. I had to save my documents to a floppy disk and find someone with a "super computer".The internet and  email hadn't made it to Belmont, New Hampshire. Tomorrow one of my classes will Skyping with a historian in New York about the French and Indian War on our Smart Board. How's that for time travel?

A few of us from our school braved the slippery weather last winter to attend a conference by Heidi Hayes Jacobs. It was eye-opening to say the least. Her presentation was well structured, while full of glimpses of her personality. She is so knowledgeable and her passion for school reform came through clearly every moment.

There were three take-aways that came home with me -
First, Heidi said, "I hate paper!" She thinks it is unnecessary and wasteful. It makes sense (for districts that are closer to the cutting edge of technology). Almost everything on paper can be used electronically. Before the conference I had a 2-drawer cabinet, a 3-drawer, and a dozen or so binders full of paper. All the papers were sent to the recycler.They are all saved electronically now.
Second, according to analysis of curricula around the country, we are preparing our students to be successful in 1985. Yikes! My lesson/unit that I will prepare for this class will totally ignore the Soc St standards of our district (and I'm the Soc St chair for our school). Gotta do what's right for the kids.
Lastly, my kids are given more choices to show what they know. When we do have independent projects, the kids can choose to make a prezi or website. I am always looking to add choices that involve technology.

Looking forward to the collaboration and learning!