Monthly Archives: September 2005

Skype in the Classroom

Wesley Fryer has written an article on Skype in the Classroom. It was published in TechEdge, the quarterly magazine of the Texas Computer Education. On his blog he notes his beginning and concluding thoughts:

Beginning thoughts:

Internet connectivity in educational settings provides opportunities

for interactive exchange and collaboration between students living on

other sides of town or the other side of the planet. These synchronous,

real-time discussions using free software like “Skype” can tangibly

expand the walls of the traditional classroom and engage students to

write, share, and communicate with an authentic audience inaccessible

just a few years ago. Educators interested in helping motivate students

to develop both traditional as well as twenty-first century literacy

skills in the classroom can and should use audio conferencing

technologies like Skype to literally plug their students into

collaborative exchanges with global partners on a variety of projects.

Concluding thoughts:

Be safe using Skype and any other type of Internet communication technology. Refer to the Staying Secure with Skype User Guide (www.skype.com/help/guides/staysecure.html) and Skype Privacy FAQ (www.skype.com/help/faq/privacy.html) for helpful suggestions about using Skype as well as other computer programs safely when online.

Skype

is an example of a potentially ≥disruptive≈ educational technology tool

because it can fundamentally change the teaching and learning

environment. As Wayne Morren, principal of Floydada High School noted

recently, teaching and learning in the 21st Century can no longer be a traditional experience of ≥sit and get.

Teachers as well as students must strive to creatively employ

technology tools to access, evaluate, synthesize and communicate

information. Only by engaging in this active process can ≥information≈

from the Internet be translated into knowledge in the minds of

learners. Classroom teachers can leverage the potential of disruptive

technologies like Skype, weblogs, podcasts, or one to one technology

immersion initiatives to increase student motivation to communicate

with authentic audiences, spend more time on assigned tasks, and

develop essential literacy skills needed for vocational and lifetime

success in the twenty-first century. Translated, this means increasing

student achievement, while simultaneously encouraging students as well

as teachers to engage in worthwhile and creative tasks. Twenty-first

century educators should aspire for nothing less.

It’s good to see articles like this coming out for educational use. If you’re not reading Wesley’s blog, Moving at the Speed of Creativity, add it to your list. Lots of insightful reading there.


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Grassroots power of reading, writing and commenting!

I came across this article in my referrals. It is from The Online Edge which is a column in a magazine for K-12 Education Leaders from District Administration. I really like the opening.

The use of Weblogs to share personal thoughts and opinions over the

Internet is capturing the interest of students across the world. But

because content can be irreverent and even offensive, administrators

are justifiably wary about using blogs in school. With the right

guidance, Weblogs can be one of the greatest online communications

vehicles in K-12 education.

And the closing:

Weblog technologies allow millions of people to share ideas, and

millions more to add additional thoughts, which makes blogs more like

conversations than libraries. As a result, the grassroots power of

reading, writing and commenting on blogs shifts the use of the Web

profoundly, from users being passive consumers of information to

becoming active participants.

It lists these resources:

The Write Weblog

EduBlog Insights

J.H. House Elementary

Green Meadow Elementary School

School Technology Leadership Blog

Weblogg-ed

http://www.weblogg-ed.com

The article highlights the blogs from last year at J. H. House, including a third grade teacher’s blog and the principal’s blog. 

This article might be a good one to share with administrators who are unsure about using blogs.

Time is a problem

I forget how busy the

semester beginnings are! Whew! I’ve been doing a lot of technology

workshops for the early ed group. I introduced them to blogs and they

have created one but there’s not enough time to really go over it with

them. At least not in the way I would like. I believe it takes

time to explore all the many possibilities and, more importantly, time

is needed for discussing the concept.  I

really hate this skill a day

mode we are living in in the world of education. I see it here and in

the schools. Aaaaarrrrrg! My dilemma is whether to introduce them to

blogs, knowing I have no time given for follow-up. Should I or

shouldn’t I? The agenda for these students is jam packed and the

professors need every moment for their classes. Then there is no time

for me to meet with the professors to open up the dialogue in a much

better way then just here and there when there are moments we can

catch.. They want to include this but other things

take over. Time is ever the problem, right?

Some students will continue blogging and some won’t but I’ve decided to

go ahead and introduce them to blogs. I’ve been reading their posts and thought

I’d share a few. .

Lots of good conversations could be initiated from these posts and others I’ve been reading……….


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ASCD Conference Blog

I ran across this on the ASCD Smart Brief. Here’s the link to the conference blog.  The Conference on Teaching & Learning

is October 23-25th in San Francisco. I always like following their

conference blogs. Here’s an except from the brief giving an overview:

With the

current emphasis on standardized tests and high-stakes consequences, is it still

possible for schools to pursue a holistic approach to education? This ASCD

Conference will explore school practices and programs that ensure all students

are knowledgeable, motivated, engaged, and healthy. That’s why we are blogging

on the experiences leading up to, during, and following the conference. Our

hopes are that this blog and this conference will be a forum for sharing and

exploring the questions, strategies, and needs of whole child educators.

A principal who gets it!

Friday afternoon I had the pleasure of talking to Dr. Tim Tyson, the principal of Mabry Middle School. I had blogged about his take on Friedman’s book, The World is Flat on an earlier post, He thinks it is essential

reading for every parent of every child at Mabry Middle School and

should even be required reading for most of the students, at least in

the 8th grade. Hear! Hear!

We had

connected through our blogs and exchanged a couple of emails but it was

really nice to talk to him about blogging and other aspects of

technology. If you have not taken a look at mabry online

you need to do so. Right at the top there is a link to Under the Hood

of Our Website….  One excerpt from this explanation:

One of the key features of the website is that the overwhelming majority of it is built from blogs. Additionally, each of the teachers at Mabry has his/her own blog

which links from our site through the top navigation bar. We strongly

encourage you to syndicate each of your student’s teachers’ blogs as

well as Dr. Tyson’s, the counselors, and the Media Center’s blogs.

Syndication is really very simple and brings the most currently posted

information directly to your computer rather than your having to go to

each blog to see if new information has been posted.

There’s even a printout that

readers can print that gives a flow chart of the organization. I love

how all this is explained for readers. Dr. Tyson is not only educating

his students but the public as well.

Podcast Central features

several podcasts from Dr. Tyson. His explanations are outstanding. He

explains everything they would need to know to understand this

technology. He has podcasts of his open house and challenges to students. The section I really love is  Kid Capacity. Voices from the students are heard. Stephen and Stephanie have

kicked it off and their podcasts are well worth hearing. Dr. Tyson is a

principal who gets it and is putting it in the hands of the students!

Even with all the many good things going on, Dr. Tyson is continually

thinking

ahead to other initiiatives…… a global collaborative, kids writing

their own textbook, and  other ideas to empower students in many

innovative and creative ways. We need more leaders like Dr. Tyson!

Blogs to note

Room 313

Derek Brandow teaches fourth grade in

NYC. His blog had a really nice look to it. He has created a turnstile

click effect that leads to these sections which are blogs -  home

room , fourth graders, parents, and teachers. Cool!  Derek also

jumped right in with commenting to my students at Getting Heard.

Some interesting conversations are going on with parents, he has blogs

ready to be used by students, and lots of interesting ways to help

children learn.

casa del bambino

Observations, ideas, teaching experiences and other thoughts by  a pre-school teacher in Malaysia. Her tagline reads ” Montessori-an at heart. Follow my thots as I journal thru the KL-ian education context”

Word 

This is a Weekly Reader online site. It caught my interest because of

the tagline. “A literary blog chock full of writing tips, book chats,

and whimsical word ramblings brought to you by the editors of READ and

WRITING magazines. It has just started this month so I thought I’d

follow it and see where it leads.

The Open Classroom: Using technology, transparency, and discussion to transform education

I had been reading Tom McHale’s blog for a while and enjoying the

reading and the thinking that came as a result.  Tom had an

article,  Portrait of a DIGITAL NATIVE, recently published in Technology & Learning.

The power of comments

I’ve been thinking about the comments my high school students received on their blogs. It is really awesome what a difference they make for the students. So I wanted to say thank you once again to all who commented. I also wanted to post just one sample of the many inspiring comments the kids received.

Here’s one line from Dennis’s first blog post:

I look really mean but I am actually very nice.

Enter the comment:

Dennis, When my two year old son and I walk in NYC, my son is always so eager to say hello to people. And he alway seems to find the scariest looking people to say hello to. I am fine with this. My son can tell a good heart a mile away. Every time he says hello to the scary looking people they alwas get a big smile on their face and say hello back. I bet my son would say hi to you. He can tell someone with a good heart a mile away.

Derek

To which Dennis replies:

Hey Derek,

I am glad that you read my blog. It is cool that your son looks at the heart of the scary looking people. Your son is a nice kid. He looks at the heart of the people so tell your son that he is the coolest kid I have ever heard of, Thank you

Dennis

That says it all, doesn’t it?

Back in High School

I arrived at the high school early this morning. I made my way to the Teacher Cadet

class only to discover that last minute scheduling changes were going

to make it necessary to reschedule this group. Too bad! OK,

regroup.  If I’ve learned nothing else I’ve learned flexibilty and

the knack to recover quickly and move on. So blogs for the teacher

cadet class have to wait until next week. Not to be deterred I headed

on down to the Getting Heard

group. I spent a great morning in Ms. Baros’ class. It was really

helpful for me to observe her teach and watch the way the students

interacted.  I’ll post a synopsis for the students on that blog

but I wanted to thank those of you who commented. It meant so much to these guys and to me. These guys were so

much fun to watch as they read their comments. All we got done today on

the blog was replying to the comments. They didn’t have the time they

wanted to say as much as they wanted but they were so eager to write.

It was very serious, a good serious. We decided we’d have to make some

posts later because they had much to say.  I did

chuckle when I heard one of them say to another – (No, I haven’t heard

from any girls yet)

Ahhh, the power of comments. I’ve written about it before but I am seeing it in a whole new light. A post is brewing….

Also, a post is brewing on high school. Lots of thoughts and observations. My head is spinning but what a good spin it is!


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We’re off and blogging!

This past Friday I traveled to the local high school and the blogging projects begin!

I have lots to talk about but time is short today. I just wanted to

point to the newly created class blogs (and a few student blogs!) I

return in the morning to continue the sessions so I hope to blog about

it shortly thereafter.

The English class is a group of “at-risk” students. I think I’m where

no one has blogged before (at least not publically). It is going to be

a challenge. I look forward to it but I am open to any and all

suggestions. If you get a chance, welcome the guys to the world of

blogging. They could use the encouragement and it will knock their

socks off to realize some one is reading what they write.

Here are the class weblogs:

Getting Heard

Teacher Cadets


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Just a thinking….

School reform – OK, I hope

to open up the discussion with a small group of at-risk students at a

local high school this Friday. I’ll be setting up their blogs and

getting to know them. I plan to tell them that they are the ones whose

voices we need to hear. They can help us learn how to improve the

learning.. We’ll be using

our blogs to write about issues that matter to them. We need their help

on how schools could improve. Tonight I’m working late so I’m thinking

about questions to ask.

  • Do you think schools need to change? If so, in what ways do you think schools need to change?
  • What is the school doing to help you be a successful learner? What could they do?

  • What is a successful learner?

  • What should the school be teaching to help you succeed in the future?
  • How could students help schools improve?

  • How do you know if you are successful?

  • What motivates you to learn?
  • What do you wish your teachers were doing to help you learn?
  • What makes a good school?
  • What makes a good teacher?
  • What helps you learn?
  • What hinders your learning?
  • Is school relevant to you? If not, how could it be relevant?

  • What would you change in your school? What needs to stay the same?

  • What does your school do really well? What does your school need to do better?

  • Is technology a part of your learning? Tell me about it.

  • Do you use technology outside of school? What technology do you use?

  • How would you like to use technology in school?
  • Do you get a chance to talk about your goals for learning? Would you like that?
  • How do you learn best?
  • What’s your favorite part about your daily routine? What’s your least favorite part?

Now I am just

thinking. I usually start with questions and many times the questions

lead me in different directions. I probably won’t even get to this on

Friday

but I thought I’d toss these ideas out. I’m open for any input or

suggestions. This is a group who have not always had good experiences

with learning. They could teach us a lot if I can gain their trust. I’m

in a whole new arena and know I have much to learn. I have some great

teachers I’ll be working with who will be my navigators as I start this

learning journey.  I’m looking forward to it.