Reflecting on our own school experiences.

I recently attended a conference in which Charlotte Danielson was the afternoon keynote. Charlotte discussed the details of her framework for teaching. She also discussed her views on the overall evaluation process. While the session had a number of key points that were shared there was one topic that I believe is worth sharing. 

The Danielson framework for teaching is made up of 4 domains.

Domain 1 - Planning and Preparation
Domain 2 - The Classroom Environment
Domain 3 -  Instruction
Domain 4 - Professional Responsibilities

Charlotte presented the following question to groups of teachers during professional development sessions. " If you were to walk into a classroom, what would you see or hear from students or the teacher that would make you say, this is good stuff. I would want my child in this class? "  When presenting teachers with this question almost all of them would provide examples from Domain 3, instruction. They would site things like engaged learning, discussion, collaboration and assessment.

She would then ask a group of teachers, "Think back to when you were in school.  Remember a teacher or class that had a positive impact on your. What is it about this teacher or class that had an impact on you? Why was it so great?". When presented with this question almost all of the teachers listed attributes that would fall under domain 2, classroom environment. They would list experiences such as respect and rapport, a positive learning environment, a teacher who cared and the overall relationship of the teacher with the students.

This simple exercise in reflection reveals a lot. In our pursuit of increasing student achievement we tend to focus on instructional strategies, interventions, curriculum, formative and summative assessments, and the lesson framework. While these are all important and essential, is it possible that we are not placing enough emphasis on the classroom environment? Should we be working with teachers and supporting teachers to be more supportive and caring. Should we be working to build better rapport with students? Does the rapport we have with staff and the culture we establish in our buildings have a direct impact on the classroom environment? Can a school or district wide initiative to improve the relationship between administration and faculty and faculty and students impact student achievement and move us to the level of success we are striving for?

My thoughts in this posting are general observations related to teaching and learning. While this is an excellent topic for reflection it is not necessarily specific to my current district. I believe this is an area that all schools can benefit from exploring.

Daily News Site for Teens and Tweens

Tween Tribune and Teen Tribune are bringing the worlds news and events to the classroom.  Every day they post the most compelling, relevant and interesting news for teens and tweens.  The stories are selected by teens and tweens working closely with professional journalists. Students are provided with the opportunity to comment on these stories. They can also submit their own stories and photos.  Teachers have the ability to create a class account. Once the class account is created the students can register with the site and join the class.

Safety Concerns

The site is fully compliant with COPPA. See Below

"TweenTribune and TeenTribune are in full compliance with COPPA - the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act – as outlined by the Federal Trade Commission. This means that:

• Students may not use their last names.


• Students may not use their email address anywhere on the site.


• We do not gather or store student email addresses.


• Teachers can moderate students' comments before they’re published.


• We only uses news stories from reputable news organizations, such as the Associated Press, and local newspapers and TV stations.


• Teachers' identities are independently verified before they are granted administrative privileges."

Teacher Pages - What does a class page provide

Teachers who create a class page that provides the teacher with the following access:

• View the stories your class has commented on.


• View individual comments by each student, on his or her own page


• View all comments by your students, in one report that can be sorted by students’ names, comments, or dates


• You can moderate, edit, or delete your students’ comments before they’re published.

 

Classroom Integration - Philosophy

Tween and Teen Tribune provides access to relevant and age appropriate news stories. Students are provided with the opportunity to read current news articles and comment on them. This type of activity provides  an authentic experience that can engage our students and promote the advantages of being aware of world and local news. This student-centered approach to current events and article review provides students with a forum to engage with a publication and engage in a meaningful task by reflecting or questioning through comments. The published comments are shared on each article which provides students with a global perspective and an audience for their own writing.

Classroom Integration - Ideas

Activities on Tween/Teen tribune meet class requirements for Reading, Writing and Computer Technology.

Students may be asked to pick a controversial story and post a comment that expresses their views on the topic. They may also be asked to select a comment that offers a view they disagree with. They can then be charged with writing a comment that refutes the comment with specific facts.

Assign topics based on the subject you teach. If you teach art have students read articles pertaining to art. If you teach science have them select science articles. The articles and responses can be conversation starters in the classroom. They may also be used to activate prior knowledge before a new lesson is introduced.

Students may publish their own stories, book reviews, newscasts, opinions or class news for the world to view and comment on. Remember, all comments are moderated by the teacher before going live.

Teen Tribune - http://teentribune.com

Tween Tribune - http://tweentribune.com

Create your class page here - http://tweentribune.com/content/tweentribune-classroom

Formative Assessments with Cell Phones

Those of you that read my blog or have attended my workshops you have heard me talk about or use Poll Everywhere. Poll Everywhere is a free service that allows you to collect responses from an audience via text messaging. Teachers can publish a question and students respond by texting their answers. The results are immediately available for viewing online.



This is a great tool for assessing student understanding without having to signal out who does not understand a topic in a class by asking students to raise their hands or respond out loud to  your question. As a teacher you receive immediate information regarding student comprehension and can adjust your instruction at that moment. In our district we will be allowing student owned devices in our classrooms this year. The use of these devices will be 100% at the teachers discretion. We will also have wireless internet in all of our schools. The barriers to entry for this type of technology use have greatly improved!

There is a feature in Poll Everywhere that was just brought to my attention in Richard Byrne's recent blog posting. If you collect open ended responses you can view those responses in one of the three most popular word cloud services. This is a really great feature that has a lot of benefits. Word clouds are a collection of words found in any text based document, site etc.. The words are organized in a variety of designs. The words that are used the most are largest in size.



This type of visualization offers a quick summary of results, a single visual of responses and a number of conversation starters. To learn more about ways to use word clouds in the classroom please visit my wiki page on the topic.

 

Enjoy!

 

Web Based Inquiry Science Resource

The Technology Enhanced Learning in Science Foundation (TELS) is a funded consortium of seven universities, a non profit educational organization and several public schools around the country.  They have released a web-based tool for science instruction called WISE (Web-Based Inquiry Science Environment.

Here is a snippet directly from their site:

"WISE is a free online learning environment supported by the National Science Foundation.  In WISE modules, students work on exciting inquiry projects on topics such as global climate change, population genetics, hybrid cars and recycling.  Students learn about and respond to contemporary scientific controversies through designing, debating, and critiquing solutions, all on the WISE system.

Students do most WISE activities on the computer, using a web browser. The WISE software guides students through evidence and information pages that provide content, films, and discussion tools that encourage students to reflect and collaborate, and other tools for data visualization, casual modeling, simulations and assessment."

Students typically work in pairs on WISE Projects. The site allows teachers to create a teacher account. From the teacher dashboard you can assign projects and generate an access code for your students. The students then access the site, provide the project code and create their own account. From the teacher dashboard a teacher can monitor and view student progress and results. WISE is web-based. Projects range from 3-8 days. The software is web-based which means students can work on the projects in school or at home.

Why use an inquiry approach to science instruction

Research has proven that inquiry based learning is an effective approach to science instruction.  This type of learning involves the students taking on the role of a scientist.  "When students are active participants in asking questions, designing procedures, carrying out investigations, and analyzing data, they take responsibility for their own learning, and begin to think like scientists." (Glencoe)

 

WISE  has released a new version called 4.0. It can be accessed here - http://wise4.berkeley.edu/webapp/index.html. The site is still in BETA. They are in the process of adding resources and cleaning it up.  I would recommend registering your account with the new site. To view a short flash presentation on the features of WISE you can visit their original site by following this link: http://wise.berkeley.edu/pages/intro/wiseFlashIntro.php

 

Enjoy!

A Technology Integration Matrix - Developing our K-12 Neo's

The University of South Florida has published a technology integration matrix that is quite impressive. The matrix is to be used as a guide to initiate a paradigm shift with regards to how we infuse technology in the classroom. The matrix is an excellent resource for all k-12 teachers to not only assess where their level of technology infusion stands, but it also provides inspiration and a road map as we look to expand our use of it in our classrooms.  The matrix provides examples for each level for each of the core subject areas. 

Here is an excerpt directly from their site:

"The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) illustrates how teachers can use technology to enhance learning for K-12 students. The TIM incorporates five interdependent characteristics of meaningful learning environments: active, constructive, goal directed (i.e., reflective), authentic, and collaborative (Jonassen, Howland, Moore, & Marra, 2003). The TIM associates five levels of technology integration (i.e., entry, adoption, adaptation, infusion, and transformation) with each of the five characteristics of meaningful learning environments. Together, the five levels of technology integration and the five characteristics of meaningful learning environments create a matrix of 25 cells".

This matrix is a valuable resource for all educators. In our district we are working to develop rubrics for classroom walk-throughs. This matrix will be useful as we develop the look-fors.  It is also a great point of reference to share with teachers as we assess and discuss technology use in our district.

Thank you University of South Florida and the department of instructional technology for developing and sharing such a wonderful resource.

First Annual Academy Awards

Our middle school hosted our first every digital story academy awards ceremony this month. This event was developed as a way to showcase and promote the wonderful digital stories and multimedia projects our students are creating in their classes.

I first introduced digital storytelling in the district two years ago. Teachers attended professional development courses that focused not only on the technology, but the pedagogy and planning that are necessary to implement this form of assessment in classrooms. Since then we have students in grades k-12 developing digital stories individually, in groups and as whole class projects.

For our academy awards ceremony we focused on the work of our middle school students. We had wonderful examples of stories developed in many of our core subject areas. We assembled a team of teachers who reviewed the work that had been developed. From that we created categories. (next year we plan on providing the teachers and students with the categories at the beginning of the year so they can develop projects that fit the categories and their curriculum). The categories we came up with are:

1. Best Personal Narrative

2. Best Adapted Screenplay

3. Best Historical Children's Story

4. Best Educational Video

5. Best Foreign Film

6. Best Public Service Announcement

7. Best Cinematography

8. Best Stop Motion Animation

For the event we ordered small academy awards for the winners, key chains for the nominees, a red carpet and a large blog up Oscar. We had a popcorn maker and juice for the students. The event was a huge success. It was very powerful to see the reaction of the students as we recognized their work. Next year we plan on offering this at a district level. Stay tuned for more information!

Celebrity Chef in the Classroom

I recently helped organize a video conference session for one of our grade 4 classes. The students were learning about the restaurant business.

The students in Mr. Rowe and Ms. Hollack's class in White Rock Elementary School had a special visit with Chef Jeffrey Steelman. Chef Steelman is the corporate chef for Todd English. Todd English is a celebrity chef who currently owns 26 restaurantsaround the world. Chef Steelman is in charge of the oversight and opening of all of these restaurants.

This was an interdisciplinary project in which the students learned about the restaurant business. They researched what is involved in the process of starting and opening a restaurant. Students were given the task of developing their own restaurant. They developed a theme, a menu and a slogan.  The next step was to write a descriptive essay about their restaurant. This included details about the foods they serve. The students used Microsoft Publisher to create menus for their restaurants during their time in the computer lab. They were also charged with the task of creating 'pizzas' as advertisements.  The students had to develop equivalent fractions for each slice. They then decorated their pizzas with toppings according to those fractions.

The final activities of the project included a video conference with Chef Steelman. The students prepared and asked the chef a number of questions about the restaurant business, cooking and the life of a chef. Following the video conference the students hosted a tasting in their classroom in which they all provided samples of foods from their restaurants.

A short video clip of the video conference can be found below.