Epiphany

Creating a professional portfolio is work. A lot of work. However, doing it online makes it fun! Today I started my own professional portfolio on Weebly. (Check it out by clicking on the link!) While I do think that online portfolios are useful for adults, today's class made me realize that online portfolios can be used in the classroom as well. Many classes require students to create portfolios of their work and this process is extremely time consuming and difficult to organize for students. I remember doing a portfolio my senior year of high school. I had so many pieces of paper to include in my portfolio (the actual work and then descriptions of the work, plus a table of contents and several sheets dividing categories) and it was a pain in the butt getting them in the right order. I'm sure that I'm not the only student who felt this way. In the interest of saving some trees and some time, I motion that we move to online portfolios. Instead of printing out copies of their writing or photocopying samples of work students can display electronic copies of work. Online sites like Weebly also offer more room to be creative. Rather than simply displaying their work in a book format where the reader flips through pages, students can use different themes and can edit the layout of their work. I know that if I had the chance to make my portfolio like this I would have been much more engaged, and I'm positive that my portfolio would have been better, both in quality and appearance. Giving students creative license can definitely increase motivation.

In a history class I might consider using an online tool like Weebly for a big project. For example, if students were doing a unit on World War II I would ask them to put different aspects of their project online. I might have students create page/tab for historical writing pieces (some short and some long) and one for reactions to/reflections on class readings. Even though I would be nervous that some students might feel uncomfortable with the idea of putting their work online I think using sites like this would be different because students wouldn't be forced to share their work/thinking with their peers. Instead, I'd like it to be online so their parents could see it. We've been talking a lot about the positive effects of parental involvement on student achievement. Unfortunately, we know that it decreases as students get older. Maybe using something like this in my classroom would promote parental involvement and increase communication between myself and my students' parents. When I was in school I didn't really want to go out of my way to talk to my parents about school, but if they knew what I was doing in a class and showed a genuine interest I probably would've been more inclined to involve them. Online portfolios and displays of student work could be effective tools in starting conversation between students and parents and increase motivation. How awesome is that? 

There are so many things that we could do with sites like this. Even though I was a bit skeptical before, I'm really starting to think that there are ways to bring technology into the classroom that will be meaningful in my discipline. Now I'm feeling excited about the technology's potential. I think I've really started to see the benefits of using technology in my classroom. I've had an epiphany: when it comes to technology, the possibilities are, in fact, endless!

Will Gamers Save the World?

Today I read a piece by James Gee on the parallels between gaming and learning, and how we can use gaming to motivate students and increase learning. It was interesting to see all the aspects of gaming parsed out and looked at in tandem with common school practices. Gee comes up with a lot of innovative ways to change classroom instruction to mirror game-play. I thought it was interesting to see the zone of proximal development come into play. Gee comments that people like video games because they are challenging, but not to the point of frustration. He says that kids are motivated to play games because of those challenges (among other reasons). We have been talking a lot about the zone of proximal development in classes so I definitely see the parallels, but I think Gee really oversimplifies it. I think a lot of teachers aim for instruction to be within students' ZPDs, but with all of their students at different levels of mental development and with different experiences/prior knowledge it isn't that simple.

After reading Gee's piece I watched a speech by Jane McGonigal about how gaming can solve the problems of the world. I have so many mixed feelings about this. I think it is an interesting concept, but I'm not sure how an idea like this would play out in real life. After watching the video I had so many questions--I wish she was here so I could ask her more about her theory and how she would implement that.

Do gamers actually think those games that appear more like real-life world problems are fun?

Would you support games moving into the educational setting? Can we implement games like this in our classroom? How? Are there games available for teachers to use (because I obviously couldn't make one myself).

What kind of reaction/response would we get from administrators and parents?

Would kids take the right things away from lessons involving games, or would they focus on the cool special effects and graphics? How would we formulate assessments to make sure that kids are getting things out of it?

After watching the McGonigal clip I went back to the Gee reading. At the very end I found a quote where he says "So the suggestion I leave you with is not 'use games in school'--though that's a good idea..." (pg. 11). This really got me thinking. Is it a good idea? Video games may hold the attention of their players and may promote intrinsic motivation to learn and continue on, but they are also associated with depression and lack of social skills, aren't they? I'm not saying that video games should never be played, nor am I saying that people who play video games are anti-social, depressed people (I do play video games too!), but excessive gaming is not necessarily a good thing. And if we tell kids that they can solve world problems by playing video games, isn't it possible that they interpret it to mean they have permission to game whenever they want? How can we bring the positives from video games into the educational setting and leave the negatives behind? Is that even possible?

In short, I'm not sold on the idea that gamers will save the world's problems...yet.

I've Got Love for Librarians

This week we had librarians come to class to work with us and I can honestly say I never realized how awesome librarians are! When I heard we were going to split into groups with one librarian in each group I thought it would be a waste of time. I imagined a stereotypical librarian--a soft-spoken lady with big glasses and an attachment to printed text (note: I just want to be clear that I do not have a problem with librarians, this is just the common stereotype of a librarian). I was so wrong, though.

The librarian that worked with my group was amazing. She gave my group really great ideas and steered our conversation in a helpful direction. She had so many resources to share with us, like wallwisher and my fake wall (which is no longer functional, but we found something else called fakebook that looks very similar). Wallwisher is basically a website where you can brainstorm as a group by putting stick notes on a virtual wall. My fake wall/fakebook is a place where teachers and students can create fake facebook profiles for historical figures and events. Sites like these are pretty much a history teacher's dream! The librarian also came up with really innovative ways that we could use technology for our lesson, like using twitter to show students what different perspectives were on issues (for example, the NYC sugary drink ban) by searching the issue and looking at what came up. Her ideas were not limited to making the lesson more engaging, though. She also suggested ways to use technology for formative assessments. We planned on having students use google docs while working in groups so that we (as the teacher) could see what the groups were doing and how their thinking progressed. I liked the way she thought outside of the box and encouraged us to do so as well. I'd say it was a pretty genius idea.

Aside from telling us about really useful websites, the librarian talked to us about things librarians can do for teachers. She said that librarians at our schools can create pathfinders for our students. Basically, if we were going to have students do a project the librarian could set up a website for the class to reference that would have links to databases and various other places students could look for sources. She said that librarians love to do this for kids. I guess I always thought of librarians as the people who checked out and checked in my books in grade school, so I didn't realize they did all of these other things too. Additionally, the librarian we worked with said that many librarians would be happy to co-teach a class related to finding resources, whether students were looking for hard copies or were searching online. I don't know very much about databases and searching for sources--or at least I don't know enough that I'd feel comfortable teaching students about it--so it would be great to take some of the pressure off of myself and get someone who is more informed to help.

I think it's safe to say that I have completely altered my view of librarians. They have wonderful ideas about teaching and lesson planning. They have a plethora of resources to share with us if we ask them for help. They are more than willing to share their expertise. Yes, librarians are fantastic. Aren't they?

I've got love for librarians. I hope you do too.

NYC Sugary Drink Ban & Lesson Plans?

While reading about how New York City is planning on banning the sale of sugary drinks (non-diet soda, energy drinks, and sugar tea for example) I kept thinking about how a ban like this relates to Prohibition. There are several similarities: the government telling people they cannot do something they once did, those enacting the law claim it is for the good of the people, and many people are upset about it. Though they are on different scales (and there are differences) the current event might be an interesting tool to help students think about Prohibition from another perspective.

If I were to use the NYC sugary drink ban in a lesson plan I would first have students read the article. After, I would ask them if they had ever heard of Prohibition. I would open up by telling students that Prohibition was similar to the sugary drink ban--that it was a time when the production and sale of alcohol was banned in an effort to get Americans to stop drinking, similarly to the way that NYC is banning the sale of large sugary drinks in an effort to get Americans to stop drinking things that contribute to obesity.

After giving an introduction I would delve into material, repeatedly going back to the analogy between Prohibition and the soda ban.

Once students had knowledge about the causes and effects of Prohibition I would work with them to compare and contrast it with the soda ban. I would write on the board and ask that they copy it down into their notebooks. This part of the lesson would look like a whole-class discussion where I scaffolded them by giving them hints about various similarities and differences and probed them for more detail and explanation of their answers.

After looking at the facts of Prohibition and the sugary drink ban I would shift to a discussion of the social aspect. I would ask students to think about how constituents who did enjoy Saloons and drinking in public probably felt, but considering how they would feel if they were told they could no longer have soda (I don't really want to use alcohol in the scenario because they will be under 21...I suppose soda does seem like the next "specialty" drink?). The discussion would turn to focus on civil liberties briefly.

For a homework assignment I would ask them to imagine they were living in the 1920s. I would ask them to write a journal entry that discussed Prohibition. What was it? How did they feel about it? How did they feel about the government telling them what they could drink? What did they do or not do because of it?

Obviously, this idea would have to be spread out over the course of several lessons (because there is a lot of material to cover), but you get the general idea...hopefully! I think one of the reasons I really enjoy history is because I like to try and put myself into other peoples' shoes. I hope that relating Prohibition to the NYC sugary drink ban will allow students to see Prohibition from the perspective of the people, rather than as a section in a textbook or set of facts they have to learn.

=]

Cost and Benefit

The idea of teaching with technology is so exciting! I love the idea of using technology to draw students in and get them engaging with content. I think technology is a great way to bridge the apparent gap between learning in a school environment and learning "for fun" that adolescents engage in daily. I think back to when I was in school--whenever we were given the chance to do a project involving technology, be it computers, digital cameras, or video cameras, I was always thrilled. My peers and I tried harder, and always performed better on assessments. That being said, incorporating technology into the classroom can be problematic.

The first issue I see with technology is how we use it. I think sometimes teachers are so excited about the prospect of incorporating some form of technology into their lesson that they don't think about whether or not the technology offers additional learning opportunities or if it is really applicable to their objectives. I have had classes where teachers try to use a video clip or song in class because they are excited about it, but the multimedia really has nothing to do with what we are doing in class or discussing. I don't want to be this teacher! I want to use technology, but be confident that the technology being used is adding to my students' learning experiences. It can be hard to use technology in a meaningful way though. I guess that's just something I'm waiting to learn.

Another issue that arises with the use of technology is the issue of exposure. In our class discussion someone said that they never wanted their peers to be able to read their work. Sometimes I can be like that too. Take this blog, for instance. I'm actually pretty nervous about other people reading it--Will you think what I'm saying makes sense? Am I smart enough to be blogging for other people to see? What if they don't like the way my blog looks? I'm sure I'm not the only one who is a little apprehensive about their writing being on display. I can see how for extroverts the use of blogs and wikis that classmates have access to can be a strong motivator, but I can also see how it could cause introverts to shut down. Some students who are scared of their peers seeing their work probably put a great deal of time and effort into their work, but that isn't the only possible outcome. Do other students get so consumed with discomfort that they stop trying? If they don't do the assignments or make it obvious that they didn't try, they won't ever feel like someone is judging their hard work. I suppose my point here is that we need to consider this when we are contemplating putting student work out for others to see.

Lastly, and probably most obviously, is the issue of cyber bullying. We touched on this briefly in class, but I think it is a pretty big deal. I'm sure that we will delve into this more deeply in the weeks to come. I definitely need to learn more about preventing any sort of discomfort or bullying that technology may cause for students. Honestly, I'm scared to use technology in my class because I don't want to be responsible for any cyber bullying that might go on as a result of online chats, blogs, or forums.

But life is all about accepting challenges and overcoming fears. Right?