My Heart Felt Appreciation

When I read Mark's Edtechblog just now, I decided to add my two cents. The Random Thoughts of Louis Schmier is a blog that I look forward to reading. I don't know how I came across his blog, but there it was one day. Louis Schmier is a college professor. He has such heart for his fellow students and shares it so eloquently.

One post back in early September spoke about a message "Clean" that he had been receiving for a whole week in his email inbox. After explaining the message, he finishes up the post by posing the question, "What is one thing you said or did today that made another person felt more special and appreciated?" He always makes me think.

If you've never made a stop at his blog, let me suggest you do so today. I'm always inspired and hope he's around for a very long time. I've already sent in my vote for him in the Best New Edublog category 2007. While I receive a lot of takeaways from Dy/Dan and get many chuckles from The Principal's Page.com Blog, my heart is always full after reading Louis Schmier.

If Wishes Were Horses...

There is a nursery rhyme: If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride; if turnips were watches, I'd wear one by my side. It feels that way when I work on the personal development side of the report card.

We used to give one personal development grade for each student. This year, each subject area teacher will give twelve marks to each student. The list is as follows:

• Works to ability
• Completes classwork
• Completes homework
• Follows directions
• Works well in groups
• Works well independently
• Respects the rights and property of others
• Demonstrates self-discipline
• Obeys school rules
• Shows a sense of responsibility
• Uses time constructively
• Exhibits positive attitude/ behavior

Sixth grade is a whole new ballgame for these students. They are used to having a mostly self-contained classroom up to fifth grade. They did switch for reading, social studies and science. Now they have a different teacher for almost every class: reading, English, Spanish, math, social studies, and science.

To help me keep track of everyone, I put together a Personal Responsibility Report. If they have a lapse in responsibility (a uniform untucked, nail polish, forgotten homework, missing signed quiz/ test, notebook forgotten) they fill out the form. It tells me who, what, when, and why something is awry. In my mind, it forces the student to be more responsible than just saying "I forgot".

If wishes were perfect responsibility, I wouldn't have to take time to go through so many forms. It has taken a good few hours and I'm almost done, but I'm seeing some holes. Next semester, I have to be more on top of some of the categories. I have good data tracking what they bring to class, but I need better data on how far they get with practice problems in class and when they drift from their independent work. I want less anecdotal evidence from my head and something more concrete on paper. I want to reward students who don't forget a single thing. Still, I don't want to drop a child from outstanding to satisfactory for forgetting something just one time.

Then there is the improvement needed and unsatisfactory categories. I wish every student did almost every assignment. I really only have a handful of students that need more phone calls home. I'm going to have to focus on those few children.

So, all in all, it's a good exercise to have to go through for each child...but I wish for the perfect world.

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Image Citation:
"200602 watch your step.” supercilliousness' Photostream. 18 Feb 2006. 25 Nov 2007. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/30/101377264_dc5d1e9449.jpg

Prepping for Sub

One of the least favorite aspects of my job is prepping for a sub. This year, Friday is a really tough day for me. So I pretty much decided in advance that I would not purposely take off on a Friday all year.

Well, I've purposely taken off on Friday this week to attend the Education 2.0 conference at Kean College down the road.

I have sixteen desktops and six laptops. Friday is my day of juggling. Sixth grade computers twice in a row. I just finished a big PowerPoint project with them, so I need to get them going on a project this Wednesday that they will be able to work on Friday.

At the end of the sixth grade periods, I set up the laptops for the fourth then third graders. I think the easiest thing to do will be to have them work on a writing project in Word. It's the last day of the marking period, so maybe a document telling me all the most important things we learned to date.

Next the lucky sub has a lunch period, then on to two periods of sixth grade math. The students have just completed the multiplication unit and are beginning the division unit, but I think I will have them get a start on the Chapter Closure problem. They can work alone for 15 minutes, in groups for 15 minutes, then get started on their write up.

Fifth grade computer class should actually be pretty straight forward. They are finishing up a KidPix welcome drawing for our Classroombraids project. Afterwards, I think I will have 15 images set up. I will have them select an image and write a paragraph of what they will say to their buddies around the world. We can then record the VoiceThread next week.

Finally, I end Friday with Kindergarten. They were going to create a project using the mixer. I think, instead, I will have them create an advent wreath in KidPix. I'll leave a sample that the sub can show the students. They can easily draw a wreath with the paintbrush or pencil tool and color one candle.

The good news is that now I'll have had the sub experience a Friday and if I need an emergency Friday, she'll have done it once. My sub is an aide in the Pre-K program, but she's great with the computer class. I was just tentative about her having to get laptops set up.

Now that I've talked this through with myself, I'm ready for the lesson plan book...and you've had a glimpse of my Friday. Thanks for listening!

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Image Citation:
Muir, David. "242/365: Lesson plans.” DavidDMuri's Photostream. 19 Sep 2007. 24 Nov 2007. http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1328/1410227652_e0f5cf7f0e.jpg?v=0

Twitter and Familiarity

I've been using Twitter for a while now. I signed up mid-July, but didn't really start using it in earnest until mid-September.

It's like most people say, until you use it, you won't understand it. I was at a Women of the Web 2 talk and wrote in the chat window that I was uncertain how to start following people. It didn't seem quite right to just start following people - seemed stalkerish in a way.

A few people said, you don't ask to follow people, you just start following them. So I did and here I am a few months later. I have learned SO much through the various tweets that I see. One of them led me to a post by JenW - 140 Characters Does Not a Friend Make...

I was going to write a comment, but there is more floating around in my head than a would put in a comment.

I do like Twitter. I have said before that it is like being in a office full of people that you would want to work with personally. It also has, in many ways, a different feel than a blog. Since people post the little things (like holiday prep, recipes, and iguanas being stalked by cats) I get more of a sense of the person.

I know these connections are not friendships, but they help build a working online relationship. As I "see" the person, I feel more of a pull to help out commenting on someone else's students blogs, voicethread, and other work. They seem more like colleagues.

That said, after reading some of the comments to Jen's posts, I decided to remove myself as a follower of those who are not following me. As I read tweets, I forgot that all those that I follow do not follow me and are therefore not reading my tweets. If I respond to something someone writes, they will see me as more of a stranger than a colleague.

I enjoy the back and forth comments. I look forward to seeing who is running a race and who is traveling to do a presentation to other teachers. At least now I will be certain that I am responding to people who are getting to know me through my tweets.

This is such a new medium. Everyone is getting their feet wet at the same time and we are learning new limits. Recently, there was another post by Wesley Fryer - Deciding Who To Follow on Twitter.

There are a lot of things to consider. A lot of what we teach about Internet safety, privacy, and the difference between face to face interactions where you can read body language and vocal intonations is starting to come to the surface in Twitter.

Overall, I hope it will continue to flourish. I know it is an important part of my newly formed personal learning network. Thank you JenW for giving everyone food for thought.

What I Learn From My Network

The sign above is courtsey of Clay's Beyond School blog entry. I've been thinking for days now how much my teaching is being enriched by so many wonderful people.

Yesterday, the principal's secretary had printing troubles. The principal asked me to come and fix things first period. She would watch the computer class once I got things rolling. It happened to be the class with her son. When she walked in, the class and I explained that they would be creating an image in KidPix to welcome kids from around the world to our class' Classroom Braids wiki project. I explained with the class that we would be learning about the similarities and differences of students in Georgia, Washington, Brazil, Maine, California, and Australia.

Today, she was asking me about a conference I'll be going to next week. She wanted to know more about the topics of Education 2.0 at the college down the street. I explained that one of the teachers I communicate with mentioned it and asked if I was going to be there. I didn't even know it was going on until I got a message on this blog a few days ago. The person happens to read Lisa's Lingo blog and found me. It ends up being Kevin Jarrett who presented the SecondLife: K-20 Educators Exploring Virtual Worlds at the K12 Online Conference. I listened to Kevin's whole presentation and learned a lot there, too.

I come back to Twitter again and again because there is always something there that interests me. SusanT just started following me this past week, and I found a great little VoiceThread ABC book with requests for drawings from one of her tweets. I also followed a link from MariaK to her KinderKids blog. Two great examples for me to share with the primary teachers.

Last year, I explored iMovie with the eighth grade. They created video Public Service Announcements about what you can do on the Internet. I never put them online because I never got around to permission slips from the parents. It was a spontaneous project because iLife came with the new iMacs I got last year. This week, I saw a great example from the Coolcatteacher blog. I only looked at two on the main blog page, but what great examples to show my students this year in addition to the samples from my students last year.

I still can't wait to get to Dean Shareski's tutorial on using the green screen. I am certain that I'll explore that by next year, if not this year.

I used to figure out great projects to do with my students. I have no apologies for what I've taught my students over the last five years. That said, my sixth year at this school will surpass all others simply because of the shared knowledge that I now have thanks to everyone named and unnamed who contribute their shared knowledge with the world.