Poetic License

I really like the palpable enthusiasm expressed in Viki Davis’ wiki Wiki Wiki teaching. She tried something new and achieved great success with her students, including garnering “screeching” students in the hallway, excited about learning through their wikis.  I’m facing my own trepidation with wikis as a fellow teacher has asked me to do a presentation with her at the upcoming NCTE  National Conference in San Antonio, TX this November. She’s already been approved, and I’m just now learning what WIKIS are.  Ok. I can be a quick learner, I think. I hear San Antonio is a cool city.

As part of this Thing #8 requirement, I explored a variety of educational Wikis. I began with the Discovering Utopia Wiki which would be a wonderful connection for the 7th grade teaching of The Giver by Lois Lowry. Although I no longer teach this novel, I’ll pass on the information to Kathryn who does.  This Wiki is designed for high school students and connects them to many novels which have a dystopian theme. The Wiki is teacher-created and requires students to invent their own version of a dystopia.  I wasn’t very impressed with the final projects posted and found them to use minimal rubric requirements. I did however think the questions for forming a dystopia were thought-provoking and higher level. The discussion requirements between students could have been stepped up if that was a learning outcome for the teacher. Wikis are about collaboration in the end.

I also viewed the Kindergarten Counting Book where I’m assuming students took pictures that represented certain numbers to 100.  This was an adventurous project for a kindergartner and could have been enhanced with student text (even if dictated) or video.  I’m not sure what the learning outcome was. I’m assuming it was to “count” a certain number of items and write the number representing it.

The most intreging wiki I viewed was the Flat Classroom Collaborative project inspired by Thomas Friedman’s book The World is Flat. ”The Flat Classroom Project is a global Hands-on working together project for middle and senior high school students.
It was founded by Vicki Davis (Westwood Schools, USA) and Julie Lindsay (Qatar Academy, Qatar) in 2006.” As I viewed this extensive Wiki, my mind was spinning about how I could use the concept in my classroom. 

I currently have a pen-pal project with a 6th grade English class in Herzelia, Israel. I’ve been working with Galit Saban, a 6th Grade English language teacher for the past four years and pair up individual students in our respective classes as pen-pals. Students learn “friendly letter format” in my class and pen letters to their Israeli pals who are just beginning to use the English language to communicate in an authentic way. Using a wiki for “getting to know you” or for “shared learning” activities could add a new dimension to this project. 

In addition, the Flat Classroom project could be implemented on a different level in 8th grade World Cultures classes. The point of the class, ultimately, is to connect students to the world outside their bubble, and this would be a perfect fit.

I also thought about using a Wiki to collaborate with a 6th Grade English Class at the Solomon Schechter school in Westchester, NY. My very good friend Dr. Jennifer Davids teaches The novel, The Watson’s go to Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis during the year like I do. For years we’ve been talking about collaborating on a project, with our students, and this may indeed be the year of the Wiki.

I just read a new article by Bam Bam Bigelow (Bill Ferriter) called “A Short-Sighted Sprint to Measurable Glory” in his Tempered RadicalBlog. FIrst, when required to search for new reading material to fill my “Reader”, this Blog’s name caught my eye. I like what Bam has to say, and it resonates a tremendous amount this week particularly.

I was recently at my brother and sister-in-law’s home for dinner. My sister-in -law was excited to show off my 3rd grade nephew’s CRTC scores. As a teacher in a private school, I don’t have to administer the CRTC and, unlike the IOWA, I had never seen an assessment sheet detailing the test.  Yes, Max scored incredibly high in all areas of the test, but it saddened me tremendously. Here is this bright, articulate, artistic, creative thinker who has been made to learn “canned” material only to regurgitate it on the final test at the end of the year. After moving back from England in December, Max is miserable in the public school system here. He hates everything about the school and appears incredibly board with what he has to learn. He spends long hours doing practice homework pages for this particular test and resents the fact that he has no time to play and be creative when he gets home, much less at school.  All of this in a “World Class” E. Cobb public elementary school.

Bigelow and I are on the same page because we both believe that public school kids in this country are taught that education has an end – a test to measure one’s worth. That’s it. It’s not about the learning or the excitement or the thrill of mastering new skills and opening vistas – it’s about the test. Bam Bam says, 

You see, I was looking out over a classroom of kids that I know as beautifully complex creatures.  They’re inquisitive and curious, embracing challenging questions about the inherent justice and injustice in the world.  They’ve wrestled with the idea of standing up to power and tried to explain the origins of hate.  They’ve had their thinking challenged and challenged the thinking of others time and again over the past 180 days.

They’ve explored music and art, seeing beauty and understanding the importance of design.  They’re humorous—and they tend to find joy even in the most challenging circumstances.  Almost all have personal passions, developing levels of mastery in areas ranging from dirt biking and skateboarding to writing and dance. They’ve shown compassion, demonstrated respect, and developed an attitude of exploration.

Each is learning about  himself, his friends and our world every day. 

But in the end, none of that “growth” will matter.  Instead, my students—and your children—will be defined by one mystical number generated from a collection of answers on one multiple choice exam given on one day in June.

I struggle with this same sad understanding. I feel for Max and can only suggest he get out of public school or get tested for the Gifted Program. It should offer him some vehicle for getting out the little box they’ve put him in.  Withouth a private school education or a change in school districts, he’s destined to spend his elementary years spitting back information for the test in June.  I can only work with him to enrich his learning outside the classroom and have begun doing so.  But why does it have to be this way?

Ultimately, it was the national testing trend and NCLB that ran me out of public school.  I feel thankful to be free to teach students real material that will have an impact on their true reading and writing lives in the future.

So, I found a new way to keep up with all the news I have no time to read…a very useful thing this RSS is.  I love the idea but wonder about the reality.  Anyway- one feed I now subscribe to is “This I Believe”, an NPR podcast.  In Colin Bates’ “Our Vulnerability is our Strength”, a young man talks about his new job as the “assistant” to two profoundly cognitively disabled men. He helps them wake up in the morning, get dressed, eat, work, go through their day and then retire at night to sleep.  The author says he does this work because he was living an unhealthy, unselfish life. He feels like just being with the two men, his “bosses”, and encouraging them, gives his life purpose. All for $9.00 an hour.  I love the “This I Believe” series on NPR and am constantly reaffirmed by people’s good morals and beliefs.

I just finished reading Noam Cohen’s excellent article in this Sunday’s New York Times  (Opinion/ p. 4) about Obama’s recent victory in obtaining the Democratic nomination. Cohen attributes Obama’s win partly to his ability to reach a web-savvy world and one which utilizes the Internet to garner support in a new and fresh way. What Obama seems to know is how to tap into a philosophy that isn’t about “top-down” leadership.  Yochai Benkler, a harvard law professor points out the differences between Barak Obama’s website and the McCain and Clinton websites, ” ‘On the McCain and Clinton Web sites, there is a transactional screen,’ Mr. Benkler said. ‘It is just about the money. Donate, then we can build the relationship. In Obama’s it’s inverted: build the relationship and then donate.’ ” The article goes on to talk about how Obama is “less leader than facilitator,” a role that resonates for me as a teacher.  I don’t see education as “teacher directed” but rather “teacher enriched.” I believe that students of any age have some responsibility in their own learning. Utilizing blogs and wikis is one tool to accomplish this.  Obama is having success and seems to know his audience.  Teachers should heed the lesson in his victory.

Ok..first off…after reading these other people’s interesting blogs, I find myself hardpressed to want to read my own. I know that this Web 2.0 class has required blog posts, but they just seem like such boring responses compared to what’s out there.  The following are my own musings on what I read. The blog on Brevity was the most thought provoking. For the sake of brevity,  I’m limiting my post to 10 minutes ’cause I’ve got to go pick up my daughter then.

“Why I don’t Assign Homework” makes me wonder what our prinicpal has up his sleeve for a homework policy next year. I haven’t been privy to the information, so I have no idea what’s coming. I know he’s a proponant of Alfie Cohen’s No Homework Policy and although I value less homework rather than more, in our time-constricted day, we must assign other work in order to make it through the prescribed curriculum.

“New Kind of SSR”  makes me wonder if book reading is going to take a dive. As an English teacher, this would sadden me because our students won’t be exposed to the great literature of the day, much less experience the worlds out there opened up by classic works of fiction. On the other hand – non-fiction reading is the type of reading that helps us become successful in our world.  It’s the type of reading that this teacher values by assigning ssr time reading blogs. Yes, this is a part of our kids’ and our own reality.

“Spies like Us” informed me about “happy slapping” which takes place in England mostly.  I’ll have to ask my son and daughter if they’ve ever heard of this.  Our kids do seem to have a fascination with reality shows and reality video. We must look at updating school policy (AUPs) to include what kids do out of school too with their phones and recording devices.  I’m not frightened of being recorded in the classroom doing something unethical (because I don’t) but am concerned about kids recording other kids as a way to bully them or provoke a response in them or others. I wonder what our school is doing to address the issues.

“Imagine Turning on the Faucet and Nothing Comes Out” is a cool blog that students really own.  I like how the teacher posted one question that the kids responded to. I like this framework for a homework assignment about a piece of literature or a class issue we must deal with.  This kind of blogging would be a “fun” assignment for most.

“The Art of Brevity” reminds me of a poster I have in my room: “Why use two words when only one will do?”  This student blog author raises some interesting questions about why teachers must assign a length requirement for most writing assignments instead of limiting the number of words a student must use. I am going to use this idea next year b/c it forces creative thinking and promotes word choice.  Length does not determine quality –  I do wonder what a Twitter is and assume I will find out in a future Web 2.0 Thinggy.  For the sake of brevity- That’s all today. Time’s up!

-Terri

     The other night, while trying to make a sound recording for Thing #2, I just about freaked out.  I consider myself to be somewhat tech savvy and definitely unafraid to play with a computer, but there’s so much missing from my tech paradigm. I couldn’t find a microphone in the house, I couldn’t figure out how to write my text and then record it because the program wouldn’t allow me enough time to read the text from what I had typed on the site. I had begun working at 7 pm and it was now 11 pm. This “Thing” was taking a really long time and I was getting increasingly perterbed.  In frustration,  I called my husband, the tech guru at home (PC) who was out of town and in a meeting and pissed of at me for calling. He couldn’t help me find the mic.  And then I called my 13 year old son.  He’s the one putting his tech savy to use.  He just bought a Mac and started a business doing bar and bat mitzvah montages for people. He’s making money and is has found many uses for and pleasures in his new computer.  Me?   I’m ready to throw the stupid computer to the floor.  ”Jonah, do you know if we have a %$#@ microphone in the house I can use?!!!!” Mom, just use my Mac was his reply. Oh yeh.  Duh. It’s got the built in mic…and camera…and video camera…and lots of other useful stuff.  Once I remembered this, it was an easy fix and the “Thing” was accomplished.  So…How can this story relate to Web 2.0 and its role in 21st Century Teaching and Learning? It relates because I’m behind the times and my students, who are the same age as my son, are way ahead of me.  

     A few years ago we told our kids they weren’t allowed to use MySpace. We felt like they were just too young. From another mom, I found out that my kids had a MySpace account but I couldn’t access it because they had turned on all the security features and only their friends could participate.  I needed to check out their site to make sure they weren’t giving away too much information, but I was locked out.  When I approached them and told them (both 13 years old now) that I knew they had a MySpace account and that they may keep it as long as I had their login and password, they were most definitely surprised but forked it over.  Recently, I just joined Facebook. It’s a newer social networking site that all the kids are on, and I joined to see if I could reconnect with old high school age friends.  In addition, I wanted to be able to “talk the talk” and “walk the walk” that my own children and students were involved in.  Facebook is simple. I have 49 friends already – many of them students who asked me to be their “friend” on the site.  There’s a lot to do on this site, and it’s really helpful to be able to keep up with what the students I teach are involved in.

    I’m hoping that Web 2.0 will help me stay current with my students’ virtual world.  They were raised with a mouse in their hand, but I wasn’t.  At times, it’s so frustrating to be behind them in my knowledge, and I often feel like I’m treading water just to keep up.  Web 2.0 will help me gain the tools needed so that I can develop lessons and activities that are about their world and in their comfort level.  I look forward to the ride.

I’ve always considered myself a life-long learner as books have always been my best friends.  Yes. I was the geeky language-loving kid who read a book even as I walked home from school. I used to read the encyclopedia for fun.  When the Internet came about, and I found every resource available to me at my fingertips, the world became my oyster.   As far as the Web 2.0 Lifelong Learning Habits go, Creating my Learning Toolbox is easiest for me because I know (or at least think I know) how to find information. I like researching. I enjoy putting ideas and information together for my own benefit or for others.  In addition, being a social person makes another aspect of utilizing the learning toolbox easy.  Talking to people allows me to network, to seek out answers to questions I have, and to utilize a social networking space and open up my world. The most challenging habit is using technology to my advantage. I think time is my biggest issue because I’d LIKE to learn more about technology, but finding the time to DO the learning in a hands-on way is the challenge. Mentoring others is the most important learning habit in my opinion as one must feel confident and competent in order to teach others what to do.  I get incredibly nervous if I have to teach something I don’t know and don’t feel prepared for.  If I do the research and feel comfortable with the information, it’s not a problem.