Online Learning

I have chosen to use a screencast video presentation of my presentation. Enjoy!!
Click on my title to be taken directly to the presentation, through Jing and Screencast.

Reflection for REAL Technology

As this course draws to a close, I have found myself in a different train of thought then when we began. I have practiced the concepts of UDL in my classroom in prior years, but this year it has become mandatory for my students. I changed jobs this year, from 8^th grade science at a middle school to a self-contained 5^th grade at an elementary. Instead of working through portions of UDL for portions of students, I use it as an all-inclusive direction for my students.

This class of 5^th graders is behind the grade level requirements for most subjects. It is no fault of their own, but the tragedy that is poor teaching methodology and transient populations of low socio-economic status. I find myself covering concepts from 3^rd and 4^th grades for review, but many times it is the first introduction to the content. Students are struggling across the board, specifically in reading and math.

UDL has become the driving force for my instruction and classroom design. I have students working at individualized levels within similar content areas. I have immersed the class in Differentiated Instruction, with small groups and individual time given where needed. The two concepts of UDL and DI cannot be separated; without the DI, UDL does not work and the UDL is the stepping stone for the DI. My classroom is not at maximum capacity for visual aides, but seating and structural movement is. I know I am not done working towards my own goals for a UDL classroom, but this class has set my wheel in motion.

Also through this course, the Differentiation Station assignments were useful. I found multiple websites and scholarly research geared toward UDL and DI in the classroom. I compiled an extensive set of resources for my teacher toolbox and delicious.com favorites. It was through the co-op group discussion on Facebook that Victoria and Kristyl were able to help me sort out issues I was facing during week 3 and 4. I am eternally grateful!! I know I will not always have professional chats with peers through social media, but I happy I was given the opportunity to do so in this forum. Thanks, again, ladies!!!

A New Year

The time has come...the facts are facts...it belongs to them...let's get it back! ~Midnight Oil

For me, the "THEM" in this case is the administration. It seems the school year starts and I'm revved and ready to go, only to be paused or stopped by administration and bureaucracy that leads the school and district. I want to get the MEAP (Michigan's state assessment) up and reviewing, but I have no supplies, materials, or access to computers from my classroom. I have to create everything myself, but cannot print since the ONLY networked printer with toner is not available through my computer port! Tech support might make it in by Wednesday, but no sense holding my breath on that one...I routed it in through the data URL with port license number and call, but I do not have permission to do this, so I was denied! The laptop cart is under the "Guardian of the Keys" (aka, the principal in his own words!) and it is not on his priority list to get them up and running, and he won't allow me to help or do it. Hell, I cannot even laminate a poster, he does that too! And, all this with 33 active, non-stop talking, sponges at my charge. Calgon...take me away!!!!

Reflecting on my GAME face...

I have learned a LOT through this course! The Cennamo book stays with me, not just for quick class review, but solid, usable teaching. I found the simple steps of the GAME plan to be nothing but a new name for the same old trick, but this acronym works because it is easy to follow. I have found new ideas and different applications to use in achieving goals I have set for years. Using the GAME plan has put me on a time-line for completion, and for my 2 NETS-T goals for involving parents and community members with online collaboration, I am set. (Now, let's hope they are as excited to use and communicate with me through such easy means!)

Upon learning of my unrequested transfer from teaching 8th grade earth science to 5th grade self-contained, I have had my world turned around. I find I am now hopeful and entertained by the new minds I will be meeting, rather than boo-hoo'ing over those I am "losing". I have a very small classroom with little storage for this year which means cleaning out all those unused "rainy day" supplies I've held for so long. I will have Mac wireless notebooks in my classroom which will free me from keeping up with all the paperwork that "must be" submitted. I am eager to get their little fingers and minds working through the wonderful technology tools I am bringing to the classroom.

By far away the best tech tool I've acquired this term is the Digital Storytelling. I am so excited to use it, that I have lessons planned for the first week of school! Maybe catching the kids early will let them see the wonderful educational prospects that come with learning online...I know I have!

GAME plan for students

Using the GAME plan to work through and continually monitor and update goals is a simple process. Students also love to take the simplest possible means to completing tasks and are usually willing to work if those means are fast and easy to follow. Keeping that in mind, I believe it will be easy to use the GAME plan procedures with my 5th graders, IF I establish the process early on in the year.

Review of the NETS-S confirmed the work I have been doing on my content area plan and other assignments I have been constructing for the beginning of the year. My own GAME plan relates to the students' NETS for Communication and Collaboration. They will be using a blog page very early in the year and I plan to insert digital storytelling at the beginning of the year, also. The stories will work with the Creativity and Innovation. The other 4 NETS-S are integrated throughout my lessons. I believe I will be able to have my students modeling the NETS-S quite thoroughly without them even knowing what they are accomplishing. Of course, I will introduce them to the reasons behind the work we are completing, but I think I'll let them get comfortable first.

GAME on!

Revising the GAME plan

I just read back over my original goals and found I am moving forward rapidly towards success! This is surprising to me, since I thought I would be working much harder (and longer) to accomplish such short successes. My week is winding down now and I have a clearer mind to focus on my objectives. The goals for my focus, so you don't have to look back like I did, are the #3 goals of the NETS-T: online collaboration tools and digital formats for parents and students.

First off, I FINALLY retrieved the Mac (but it's wireless and my house is not) and look forward to using it for the next month. Thanks to some suggestions, I will be playing with GarageBand first.
I already mentioned setting up the communication links with parents and students (and if you read my initial discussion post for this week, you'll understand) which puts me in the right place for returning to school. I will now advance my focus to online-digital tools for students in the classroom. The blocks and filters in my district are very discouraging, but I have found some success when requesting released links through my principal. We will see...

on a side note...anyone else realize that in just 4 short weeks we will begin our FINAL semester????? WOO HOO!

Progress???

Well, defining progress towards such goals as I've listed could be borderline hazy. I did not yet pick up the Mac laptop, but have one waiting for me. Personal family medical craziness have put my brain in other places. Today I received news of my "aunt" passing unexpectedly and no longer have my head in the GAME. So, progress is not a good term for me this week.

With that said, I have concluded setting up my Google calendar, my Yahoo Group, yahoo email linked to the group, and a Facebook account for the Yahoo group. (Ok, right now, when I find time, I play Frontierville with it, but hey...it's still summer and I can delete all that!) I have made all the progress towards setting up information with my parents for next year that I can until I have a class list and know who to contact and inform.

I cannot remember my other goal at the moment and will look back to see what, if anything, needs to be or can be done prior to returning to the classroom.

Monitoring the GAME plan progess...

Well, I have officially created a Yahoo Group for my new classroom! I had to create a new Yahoo mail account, which I deemed necessary to keep work separate from my personal account. All the steps were easy to do, bar 1...naming the Group! I finally landed on The Olsen Outpost, which seems lame but efficent for the reason it was set up. I have not posted on the wall yet, since I am the only member, but I now have the email & group for my parents to receive at the opening of the school year! I am very excited to get this underway and hope to have enough participation that it will stay useful. Next step is to create another Google Calendar for links between the 2 and access for whichever they prefer. I guess I'm moving forward...

Carrying out my GAME plan...

I would love the think I am getting somewhere with my GAME plan, but I feel like I've only been playing games! Games of checkers, Yahtzee, and multiple card games, as well as ball & tag...games...you know, the ones 2- & 4-year-old little boys LOVE! So, truth be told, I haven't worked on my GAME plan, but I know where I am going to start.

Thanks to last weeks insights and suggestions, I will be starting with John's idea of a Yahoo Group for my parents and/or students. I did send an email requesting information about the availability of internet use for my parents without, but I have not received a response. I know my middle school always recommended the public library, and I'm sure the elementary I'm moving to will not be much different, but I have hope! I guess that means I have at least started thinking about my GAME plan...

As for resources, well, that seems an endless wish-list! I will need to have parental support, staff support & help (we have multiple teachers in the same grade level), and support from the IT department! I will be hoping to receive a Promethean board from a grant writing initiative and look to investigate all the wonders that would mean for a classroom, instead of a school-wide computer lab. Hey, in these economically challenging times, it pays to dream big!

Developing a GAME plan

I have been trying to follow and incorporate the NETS into my curriculum for the last 2 years. I have become very comfortable with most of the 5 NETS, but would still consider myself weak in the Modeling of Digital Material subset. I work in a school district that has very little technology at the teachers' disposal. I keep a school website, a classroom blog, and use email constantly to communicate with my parents; all of this does not mean I am fulfilling the requirements of the objectives set by the ISTE for this directive.

My GAME plan involves the "upgrade" of myself in the Modeling of Digital Material objectives. The primary focus will be of 3b "collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation" and 3c "communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats."

My Goals are to become more involved with communications in digital formats other than those used, and upgrading the use of those in place, for parents & community members. I will update and revisit my website much more often and post a blog discussion each week. I would like to have parents link to Google Calendar with me to see the lesson plans and other critical information I can add, such as field trips, paperwork due dates, and such. I will need to concentrate more efforts towards parental communications this next year, since I will be teaching elementary school after 10 years of middle school. HELP!

Reflection of Inquiry Online

The course has taught me so much about the invisible integration of web literacy within a curriculum unit. Whenever using the internet, students are challenged to verify information as credible and viable. It is not always an easy task to teach children of middle school age to investigate authors. I found my year to gain interest and respect of credible sources from the written word on the World Wide Web since implementing ideas presented from this course.
Personally, I learned how to recognize URL addresses as personal versus private, and how to use Boolean searches to narrow my information (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007). The use of these two tools has proven a valuable resource to pass along to my students. I found by providing a small amount of technique to already learning and searching minds, I was able to help my students focus their intent to a much narrower margin.

Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the Web: Strategies for Internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.

Screencasting

I reviewed the website for Save the Rennet. I have a screencast of my thoughts while viewing the website and showing my tour which will take you directly to my recording. When finished, please come back to view my personal thoughts. I tried to merge the files, but I have done something wrong...So, here are the expected screencasts for my week 4 application:

The Website review of the Rennet:
Rennet website

Reflections

Reflection is but the bouncing of waves on a surface to return in the direction from which they began. I have had my waves bounce off the information presented in this class and find I am close to a pure reflection of my initial theories from week one. The slight change I see is the types of technology I will implement for future assignments and projects. I have added the Voice Thread application and online concept maps to my bag, which reflects a bit larger than the original.

What has not changed are my instructional strategies; they are a complex mix of three proven theories practiced by leading teachers today: Gardner’s multiple intelligences, neuroscience, and social constructionism. Each of the studies allows me to incorporate my styles for delivery with student styles of learning. The brain must receive repetitious signals connected to emotions and feelings, if memory is to occur. It is my job to make that happen for each unique learner under my instructional care. I will continue to do my best, and incorporate further brain-based learning techniques when delivering course material.

Social Learning

I love Facebook, some (like my husband) might say I am addicted to it. Well, I might be, but I'm on a patch now, so it is getting better! Facebook, or FB, is great because I have met people from around the globe playing dumb, time-wasting farming games. The farming has lapsed (I've found treasure hunting much more appealing,) but I remain FB friends with some of those I met early on; one of those people is my friend Jan who lives in South Africa. Now, I've never been to SA, but I would love to go for many reasons; I have many more reasons to go now that I know Jan, she has opened the country to my eyes. Without social interactions through programs like Facebook, I would never have met Jan, nor would I know so much about South Africa!

Most of my 8th grade students have Facebook and/or MySpace accounts. Be clear, I do NOT friend my students, but do have former students in my friend base on FB. I do not post strange or inappropriate items or videos, so I feel comfortable with the 2 still left in high school in my circle. I have learned so much about places around the world, not just South Africa, but everywhere. I have met people from places I've never heard of and had to find on a map with guidance! I have been socially learning from this style of technology for about a year now, and as my husband says, I'm addicted.

How does this all apply to the learning theories for social constructivism and connectivism? Easy, socially the people involved make connections to others and pieces of information available. I do NOT agree with George Siemens (Laureate Education, Inc. 2009)is stating connectivism is the way for students to learn in the 21st century. I think he has made a case for himself by defining "Learning Theory" to match his own needs. I believe my students need interaction with something other than technology and computers; I believe in face-to-face instruction. I do not think all learning will go to the way of the computer, and if it does "connectivism" would surely DIS-connect the person from the Social Learning theory it is tied to in Siemen's eyes. To learn socially, one must interact with others, not just on Facebook or Second Life interactives, but real human interaction.

I think of the Disney/Pixar movie Wall-e. If you have seen it, the people become complete connectivists and speak to one another through holographic tv screens, even though they are sitting right next to one another. If you haven't seen the film, check it out. Lots of lessons to learn from a little robot!! If you have, meet me on the Lido Deck, there's a pool!!

Voicethread link

I believe this to be one of the lamest uploads I have ever done, but when you see it, it will all make sense. Cannot wait to read or hear your comments!!

If you don't read the comments, this was the original which had some problems. Fixed and embedded now, so all can see and jump to the lame voice thread I created.

"If you build it, they will come!"

I love that quote from Field of Dreams with Kevin Costner. I think it is true of anything. Living outside of Detroit is not such a bad thing. Our sports teams are legendary, just not all in the right direction. So, the owners of the Lions (NFL for you non-football folks) thought they should build a new stadium, Ford Field. If we build it, they will come (to learn how to play?). That didn’t work, but the Field is beautiful, see for yourself here.

The same is true about teaching in a constructionist classroom! If THEY build it, “it” will come (to them.) It is a great theory because the kids are immersed in the artifact they are building; but we have to get them to build it! I teach science, so building things is an easy way for me to teach, if you can call it that. I give instructions, over and over and over, and hand out the instructions, with plenty of additional copies for those lost, and then I coach and cheer for my team to build. More times then not, I get a decent turnout of the project artifacts being created. The other great thing about science is the hypothesis! I do not teach my kids the scientific method; I completely submerse them in it. I teach around inquiry (Pitler & Hubbell, 2001) which is a founding component of the hypothesis.

Now that January is on it’s way out (yeah, can you believe it!!), my students have finally figured out I will not be solving their problems or giving direct answers to every question. They must search and test their own theory and get back to me with the result. It is a nice feeling to round that base! Using technology to gain insight, gather information, and work towards the creation of artifacts and knowledge are a dream. Some days, that is a pipe dream because of the lack of computers and internet for my students, both at school and home, but I keep trying to round the bases. Some days we hit singles, but others we get the homer! And so, they build those artifacts and keep learning and connecting the dendrites into permanent long-term memory. Guess I believe in constructionism, for “If they build it, they will come (to know it.)”

Creative Cognitive Tools

Cognitive learning incorporates the short-term and long-term memory. Dr. Michael Orey (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009) discussed the “7 +/- 2” theory for short-term memory storage. This means at any given time, the short-term memory can hold only minimal bits of information; this is why further connections must be made and transfers of the information from short- to long-term memory. The best way to create long-term memory is to allow the brain to create more connections of neurons at the dendrite tips, as we learned from Dr. Pat Wolfe in week 1 of our course studies (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). Creating images of words and pictures related to one another is a strong way to create memory. When the visual aide ties the information together, the brain will create more connections and begin to make trigger marks, or tags, to recall the information.

Using cues, questions, and advanced organizers is a wonderful way to create the links and tags of memory; this is essential to the cognitive learning theory (Pitler & Hubbell, 2007) (Marzano, 2001). Cues and questions can be crossed referenced and used of advanced graphic organizers will give visual tags to the written or oral information. Students using technology programs, such as Inspiration (or Webspiration online) are able to manipulate and create an image rich concept maps for linking the new information. I have used the program for many classroom assignments and always have great success with the student output and outcomes. Kids love visuals, especially those they can create with instant feedback.

Summarizing and note taking is a whole other ballpark for me. I have spent countless class periods creating, leading, teaching, and handing out notes. I show various techniques and hand out my own set for the students to use as models. I walk systematically through the process of note taking and still, I cannot seem to get the concept across to my 8th graders. Sometimes I think the whole idea is too far above their heads for it to sink in, and other days I see lights shining from in front of me, and it is not the overhead! I instruct using Microsoft Word. I show the students how to easily fix the “squiggly lines” into correct grammar and spelling, but I still receive hard copies and final submissions with errors everywhere. I purposely spell incorrectly so they can see the problems and how to correct them, but still…what to do? Well, Pitler & Hubbell (p. 125) would suggest using non-linguistic notes, with written cues on the left margin and pictures on the right. I highly encourage doodles and drawings to help stimulate the information to long-term memory storage, but too often the drawings do not connect to the information and no memory of any kind are created. I am hoping for suggestions and assistance in this area. My district Assistant Superintendant of Curriculum is a Marzano Superfan, so this would be a great help for me!!

Reinforcing Effort towards Homework & Practice

The idea of Reinforcing Effort is an easy one for me to follow. I have conformed my teaching praise style the intrinsic style proposed by Carol Dweck (2007). Pitler & Hubbell (2007) reinforce this exact theory when stating the effort will reflect the attitudes and beliefs a student carries about his or her learning. I found the use of technology to introduce and use spreadsheets to collect, monitor, and graph student progress towards goals of effort to be enlightening; I will look into this further and try one myself. As for tying this idea of intrinsic praise of effort to a behaviorist theory, I can see some links. The entire idea of both is to praise and reinforce positive behavior; effort reinforcement does not give way to punishment or consequences, unless the individual chooses to change for their own personal satisfaction. I will have no problem adapting the technology ideas for reinforcing effort into my own classroom.

As for the Homework and Practice section of the Pitler & Hubbell text, I will most use some of the new websites I found listed in their publication. I will not mind subscribing to a site when I know it is kid/user friendly and allows for the instant feedback from quizzes. I already use computer-based homework, including online textbook assignments and computer generated projects, so this is the logical next step for me. I believe most homework is reinforcing the behaviorist theory, although only in the routine of the work. Teaching science leaves a multitude of various interpretations to completing an assignment to the rubric details; I prefer this to “robot” methods, as students tend not to retain the information.

Welcome, and welcome back!

To those of you new to my blog, welcome! To those of you already following, welcome back. That means we started the school year together with Judy Trask, who taught us all so much! I love posting our assignment information in this style because of the instant feedback, so I look forward to your comments. Read the side post "About me" for any additional info!

Happy blogging!