So many wikis!

Since my goal this school year is to incorporate much more technology into my classroom, I've been doing quite a bit of exploring online. I found this site which is a wiki full of great units from other English teachers. There is also other subjects included as we as many links. What else is out there?

Schools and online collaboration

This post by Louann Reid leads to an article that shows how many schools are still reluctant to utilize the online social networking in an educational venue. Since the vandalism on my wiki last week caused some strong reactions, I was concerned that I would not be able to utilize the wiki. However, my administration proved to be the exception to what the article states is the rule. My students are beginning their online collaboration journey again, and when I let them know about the new wiki they were elated. They have ownership and investment and acted like cheerleaders to others about posting intelligent information and making their site amazing. I'm looking forward to the outcome of their work.

New Lesson

On Thursday I introduced my students to their new wiki for the novel unit Great Expectations. The excitement that was traveling through the computer lab was amazing and inspirational. I noticed a few students who had not engaged in the class much this year become filled with motivation. I left school that day thinking how it was one of my best days of teaching.

Then, at nine that night, my principal called. He had just received a phone call from a parent who said that someone had put some racial and sexual comments on the wiki and signed her son's name to it. I closed off the site to public viewing and changed the password right away. I was crushed. I had taken all kinds of precautions to protect the safety of my students, and then someone in my class (or who someone who got the password from someone in my class) caused another student harm.

The next day in school students were talking in halls and many were as upset as I was. I spent the day working with my administrative staff looking at the histories of editing and listening to some students who had information on who might have committed the act.

I was upset all day and thought how I had learned a tough lesson about trusting my students. Then I started thinking more. By the time I had gotten to the website after my principal's call the night before, a few students had already "cleaned up" the site. As my students were talking about the vandalism they were demonstrating ownership of the site and let me know that they still wanted work with it.

I will have the site up again as soon as we upgrade to add more access control. One thing that my students were excited about was that their wiki could be read by many people around the world - I do not want one or two students to ruin that authentic writing opportunity for the rest.

A classroom experiment

Tomorrow I will venture into the world of using a wiki in my classroom. I've been excited as I set up my wiki and thought of assignments to incorporate. My students will be introduced to this tomorrow as we start Great Expectations. With patience and perseverance, we will figure this new frontier together. I hope that students enjoy the authentic writing that is involved and that they utilize the wiki as a study guide and a resource for their analysis of the novel. Please have a look at our site . I wanted to extend a special thanks to Dana Huff, whose blog post insipred this. Also another thanks to Mr. Bariexca's class wiki

student teacher

This semester I have had the privilege of working with a student teacher from Colorado State University. I have been filled with admiration for this pre-service teacher whose enthusiasm and work ethic is incredible.

I remember my pre-service work with various teachers and have been thinking a lot lately about their influence. So...here's a special thanks to a few teachers who inspired me to be the best teacher I can be! Thanks to Carol Hill, Gretchen Payne, and Shawnee Cowan - you have helped more students than you will ever know!

Without my mentors, I don't know how I could have survived the early years of teaching. Most important, though, was their willingness to always grow and learn. Those lessons are the ones that I remember. They taught me that there is never a perfect teacher - there is always more to learn and more ways to challenge myself and my students. I hope this is a lesson my student teacher will learn.

Summertime!

I've been taking a break from blogging but have still been reading other teacher blogs. I'm impressed that so many teachers keep up their blogs during the summer. I am starting my plans for next school, specifically how to incorporate more modes of literacy/literature into my classroom. I hope to continue to use this blog for my reflections. I look forward to reading more blogs and getting many more ideas on how to improve my practice.

Media, Technology, and Teaching

I was listening to NPR last week and was intrigued with a story on blogging - so much so that I have to blog on it. As someone who has found blogging (especially reading other teacher blogs) to be beneficial and as a student in Louann's Visual Texts Class I am curious about news stories focusing on new technologies and the integration of old and new. This story shows that it isn't always the old means of distributing information going to the new. An Icelandic based publication is piloting a newspaper in Boston that uses bloggers for some of thier news.

I am most interested in teaching implications. Take the idea of publishing student writing... Is blogging considered publishing? If so, why does a blogger in this story who focuses on her life's attempt to get publish comment on wanting to see her name in print? (Money is not a factor as the newspaper is not currently providing financial compensation) This lead me to thinking about the value of various media forms and how educators place value on a genre or writing form based on habit or history. Blogging may be a great step in a student's writing path, or, if the blogging newspaper catches on, maybe a step into a career.

Another thought that I've had with teaching and blogging is in the areana of cooperative learning. This is a new medium of encouraging cooperative learning. I'm wondering how blogging might level the playing field for students who are too shy to speak up in class or in small groups. Also, are there different leaders that emerge as a result of this type of discussion? I've been reading other blogs and perusing student blogs, but I'd like to know what changes, if any, teachers have noticed when adding blogs to the class discussion.

Wiki Help!?

I'm moving through the stages of fear in terms of incorporating more and more technology into my classroom this post by Dana Huff has inspired me to learn more about wikis. I like the classroom examples and ideas that she provided, and plan to use some of those in the future. What I need first is some guidance. I have found this site (PBWiki). Are there any other suggestions?

View of the future?

Many state that with all the new technology, we are always connected whether it is by phone, IM, email, blogging, etc. There are many who state the dangers involved in this. I read an interesting book last summer about the downfalls of this prospect. It is called Feed by M.T. Anderson. In his post, Troy Hicks gives an excellent summary and raises some questions. While I'm an advocate for the benefits of technology that we have, it is important to think about the downfalls. This book (hopefully) exaggerates the future of our society. While it was not an uplifting book, I felt better about only having to contend with cell phones and texting while I am teaching.

The Internet and Iraq

In my previous post, I mused on the use of the Internet to authentically explore cultures. As I was driving home from work today, I heard this NPR story.

Here's a link (that you can get to through the story) that I found particularly interesting.

Poetic Inspiration

It's been awhile since I've posted last...but the topic of this post has been calling to me for a few weeks now....

I say the poet Naomi Shihab Nye at the recent Colorado Language Arts Society Spring Conference. She was an inspiration - a humble one, which made her even more inspiring. Her poems were intriguing, heartbreaking, and amusing. And, while they were an important part of her presentation, I was more struck with her commentary on human beings. We are at the point in our lives where many cultures are being "forced" to get to know each other. However, we often get acquainted via news reports or word of mouth stereotypes. Poetry is one way, Nye suggested, that we get to really know our fellow humans. Many poems she read were about issues that were universal, even though they were based on people in the Middle East. With each poem, she inspired me to continue to promote beauty and creativity in the classroom. It is what we do as teachers, no matter the content area or age that we teach. Beauty and creativity are universal languages. She urged us, through her poems, to let our students know this.

It got me thinking as I left the reading, and much since then, about what I can do in my classroom. Technology has gifted us with a miraculous tool - the Internet. Nye mentioned how high schools in Australia are requiring their seniors to read and reflect on a blog from an Iraqi in order to graduate. I hear the debate about graduation requirements often, some of which include the requirement to perform some amount of volunteer work. But this idea has consumed me since I heard Nye speak three weeks ago. What a wonderful way to bring technology into the classroom, but to also spark some thought within the generation that we are educating. Knowledge is power - a cliche, I know, but a true one. Giving the gift of cultural knowledge is a powerful thing.

I'd like to hear about suggestions on blogs or other ideas so that I may begin to incorporate this into my own classroom.

Finally...an answer on how to teach grammar in context

For some reason, the idea of teaching grammar in context was a complete enigma. I heard much about it, and I knew I needed to do it. BUT, I just didn't get it. This relates quite well to my students who are studying grammar: they've heard about it (over and over and over again) and they knew they needed to do it. BUT, they just didn't get it.

This morning at the CLAS conference Jeff Anderson was the keynote speaker. He gave an enlightening and humorous speech on how to look at teaching grammar in a new light. These wonderful ideas are in his book Mechanically Inclined: Building Grammar, Usage, and Style into Writer's Workshop.

There were a few key parts of his speech that spoke to me and my needs in the classroom.

• Examine what the students reveal with their errors. The great its/it's struggle is one example. I need to ask myself a few questions: Why do students misunderstand this concept? How can I help them erase their misconceptions? By knowing why they think a certain way is correct (when it is actually wrong) can lead to authentic discussions on those pesky rules.
• Use correct sentences to teach instead of incorrect sentences. I abandoned the DOL idea a few years ago when I realized that it was only a way to get students working right off the bat (I've since discovered more useful strategies for this). I have never seen a replacement that works for me. Here's what Jeff suggested...Put up a "great" sentence from a published author and use inquiry to discover patterns. Students can notice why things are capitalized in the middle of the sentence, or why there are commas where they are. The beauty of this is that I can look at style as well. Students can emulate the sentence using the correct grammar, but also the style they were shown. The key to this is questioning and letting students figure out patterns and rules. Then...I love this part...students can go into their literature (independent reading or whole class assignments) and find "great" sentences of their own. As a class we can explore them together. So....this fits into reader's and writer's workshop, and it is a quick way to bring in grammar and style instruction more often.

I'd love to hear more grammar in context ideas.

Colorado Language Arts Society (CLAS) Conference

I'm at one of my favorite events - the CLAS regional spring conference and once again I am reminded of how proud I am to be a part of an organization and profession that continually works for improvement. When I was first exposed to this conference five years ago, I was a second year teacher and was uncertain about how a weekend could impact me. Now, five years later, this is an event I look forward to months ahead.

What this conference means to me:

• Chance to reconnect with colleagues - I have had the honor of visiting with a teacher who I knew at my first teaching job. It was wonderful to discuss what has happened in the few years that I have been gone. I love hearing that the principal who gave me a chance as a first year teacher was still thriving in her position. I also liked hearing that some teachers who I was inspired by were still teaching strong. Many of them probably do not realize their impact on me as a first and second year teacher. However, my standard of what a teacher who is also a coach should be was set high by teachers who cared deeply about both and never sacrificed teaching for coaching.
• Chance to learn from others - I have been to a few sessions today that have provided tools that I can use in my classroom within days or weeks. I learned how to refine my literature circles, how to inspire students with archetypes and the hero's quest, and how to help students revise their argumentative research thesis. This is my true inspiration. I love seeing how other teachers think and love being able to take their inspiration from their classroom to my own.
• Chance to learn from professional authors - Richard Peck and Nikki Grimes were two speakers that I heard today. Both inspired me to be a better teacher and a better writer. I love hearing their enthusiasm for telling stories through poetry and prose.
• Chance to spoil myself - As participants at this conference we get special rates at one of the most amazing hotels, The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. This is a chance for teachers to spoil themselves by staying in a place that many would not normally be able to afford. I'm looking around my room in amazement now because it is so much nicer than my condominium. I guess one thing that could define the room the best is the fact that I have a plasma TV in the bathroom. As I sit in the extra deep bathtub, I can watch channels that I don't subscribe to at home. I feel completely spoiled.

Most importantly....I feel a rush when I realize that each person who attends this conference will positively affect the lives of a hundred or more students. There is immense power in being a part of that energy.

Tomorrow I will experience more sessions and reflect more with newly met colleagues and old friends. I truly wish all English teachers from my state would be here to revive themselves and learn more ways to inspire their students. I will be posting some of my more specific learnings in the next few days.

Recharge Needed

I seem to fall into a little rut at this time of the year, and I notice that other teachers in my building feel this too. I have always made it through - though sometimes with more stress than I should experience. So, as I sit here in my favorite coffee shop I'm thinking about what I need to do to avoid getting too caught up in feeling burnt out. Here are some of my promises to myself. I'd also love to here what others do to keep their chins up at this time of the year.

• Promise 1 - Prioritize! Teaching is a passion of mine, but not my only passion. I need to think about and enjoy my other loves and spend time doing activities that refresh me. This is difficult time wise with teaching and working on my masters, but it is not only possible, but necessary. I need to spend time with my creative writing, my reading for pleasure, and being outdoors moving my body.
• Promise 2 - Be forgiving. One reason I'm feel frustrated is that I feel that I am not as far in my curriculum this year as in the past - I just don't feel like I've taught what I usually have by this point in the year. However, I've tried several new things this year and many have been successful. So, I need to see it as a fair trade.
• Promise 3 - Communicate. Talking positively with colleagues helps remind me that even if I'm going through a rough period, I am still part of an amazing profession. I'll be attending the CLAS spring conference this coming weekend, and this will be an opportunity to learn from other teachers and share time and space with others who want to improve themselves. Reading and commenting on teacher blogs has been a positive experience as well.

New Visual Element to AP exam

I wonder if getting more visual literature into the English classroom will become easier with the addition of the new visual element to the AP exam... If The College Board feels it is important enough to have on one of their essay questions, will districts be more willing to spend money on visual texts such as graphic novels?

Last Game in the Standardized Practice Series

I finished the last in my series of games gearing my students up to the extended written response question on the upcoming CSAP exams. (See my post on the third round). Both of my English 9 classes won (one just barely)their competition with SAP, and I was amused at how personally they had taken this four week battle. They came into class with a vengeance after losing last week and were ecstatic when they won. What I am more proud of are the students who have transferred their knowledge to their writing. I've given them some pushes here and there to apply what they have learned from each other in their own writing. I wish I could say that all have done this without prompting, but that is not the case; however, some students improved their writing with this being the only "formal" writing instruction on refining details. Next week I will urge the students to apply this to their standardized test answers.

While I started this activity with the intention of helping my students do better on the extended written response of CSAP (these being our "trouble" scores for our building), I have found this to be an effective teaching tool for writing in general. I'm going to work on incorporating more aspects of writing and the framework of the game.

I think that this was successful because of a few factors. I will do a quick survey in class to see what my students think, but here are my initial observations/perceptions:
1. There were two levels of competition - students were in small teams, but also were a part of the class team as a whole. This lead to more encouragement between teams.
2. Because the game became increasingly more difficult, students were not bored each week (which was my biggest fear) and needed to use what they did before, but take it to a higher level
3. They liked having a set, attainable goal to beat

I'd like to hear from other teachers on their comments on what I have done, their use of competition or unique ideas to practice for standardized tests.

Great database for Calvin and Hobbes fans

While exploring The Reflective Teacher I found this entry that includes a link to a searchable database for Calvin and Hobbes comics.

conversations on leadership

I've been thinking about the ways that blogging encourages communication. Louann's post brought this question into focus for me. As I continue to explore teacher blogs, I've been focusing on how people communicate with each other and how effective I feel these communications have been. I came across a few examples of what I thought were interesting conversations happening through a variety of blogs. Here's one. Here's another. Both posts deal with qualities of leadership. What I liked is that people "tag" others (not sure how this works yet - help anyone?) and have them create a list that shows how they are leaders. What other examples have people seen of successful (or unsuccessful) conversations?

Successful? Standardized Practice Part 3

I completed the third of four weeks of "Beat SAP" , and as I planned, I followed Gee's principles on video games and learning. This meant that today's round was more challenging than the last. Both classes lost today's game, meaning that they have to win next week. I was worried that they'd be discouraged after loosing, even though last week's win was by a smaller margin. They still came up with good answers and were on task 99% of the time, but they were unable to win due in part to more difficult prompts and to less time. They were eerily quiet at the end of the game, but one (usually cynical) student said, "We'll get him next time." Some others responded by stating something along the lines of "he'll go down" next week. This made me think of a few things - first, they are still motivated (at least some of them) and second, they personalized the "enemy" and are taking the mission to beat "him" seriously. Another student, who was the last left in class after the bell, stated "I still like Fridays in this class, but I wish we would have won." So, they do have some investment in this four part activity, and that investment (as far as I can tell) has not waned. The big question is: will they be motivated to use their creativity as strongly on the tests which are coming up in two weeks?

SSR and blogs!

I was exploring some teacher blogs and came across this post. I find it interesting to see SSR time spend reading blogs. The last comment (as of today) by rolandod mentioned seeing where students are lead as a result of viewing blogs. The idea of an endless text is interesting. It is equally interesting to me to think about how our interests intertwine and how they can be explored in thie medium.

...another thought...
It is great that blogging has lead me to these wonderful ideas, can't it do this for our students too? What kind of modeling, if any would they need?