problem solving

Just now I observed an email exchange between a number of colleagues. One teacher is trying to put together a school store with a group of students, and to help them determine what to stock he set up an online survey. His email set off a flurry of responses - all from teachers complaining that when they clicked on the link it didn't work. He then apologized and sent out a new email. However, one teacher wrote back and pointed out that the link could work - all you had to do was copy/ paste it into your url. The interesting thing for me was that no one else who responded to the message seemed to have figured out this simple work around. It brought home something that I have observed with my students time and again - people know how to do all sorts of stuff with computers, but few of them are good at solving problems. If things don't work as they are supposed to, they tend to give up, rather than try to work around the issue. What we seem to have is a serious lack of problem solving skills.

I had an experience with this just this past Monday - a student came up to me and said that she didn't have her homework because her printer was broken. (Assuming that was true) I asked her why she didn't problem solve (I actually did use these words) - she could have emailed it to herself and printed it at school - she could have bounced it to a stick drive - she could have emailed it to me.

It seems obvious that we should think about teaching problem solving skills while we also teach specific computer applications. But then, if you start thinking about this seriously, you realize that problem solving on a computer is hard to directly teach. What do you do - show kids every possible problem that could occur with any given app, and then how to solve it? That would be an exercise in futility...

Therefore it seems more sensible to simply teach problem solving skills themselves - and not necessarily married to the computer. Kids don't need so much to have a battery of problems and fixes memorized in their heads as they need to learn to attack new problems and look for any possible solutions. Now that would a real skill worth developing....

REALLY Reluctant Writers

I am certain that I want to focus on the effects of digital writing on reluctant writers, but I may need to tweak my question. As it stands now, it's a little vague: How does digital writing affect reluctant writers? To be more specific, I certainly want to improve my students' attitudes toward writing, but I, of course, ultimately want to make them better writers. So, how about this: How can digital writing improve students' attitudes toward writing and improve the quality of the writing?

I have several plans in mind. First, I have established Moodle courses for each class and intend to become more Moodle savvy. In fact, I attended a workshop last week and have a group of colleagues at school who are meeting to help one another. Moodle became available to us last year, but I never used it to its full capacity.

So today I launched my first attempt to write digitally using the forum option on Moodle. As a reading activity, I had my students (the class I'm focusing on for this inquiry) read an article about banning books since it's Banned Books Week. I then posted a question and began a forum (online discussion) about what they believed about the issue. Every student pecked away fervently for what seemed like hours, but when responses were posted, I realized they were spending more time playing with fonts and text color than composing pithy statements. BUT, they were certainly engaged. Here's an example: i agree with what you say. i think banning books is stupid.

So, this is what I'm wondering: What kinds of parameters or expectations should I establish for online discussions? Should I allow the type of writing we use when texting? Does this eventually lead to better writing? The opportunities for digital writing seem endless, but it's still new, unchartered territory.

New Inquiry Question

New Inquiry Question:

How does the use of digital media foster students writing and motivation as they work to create a yearlong timeline of their learning?

My Vision (My Plan):

• I will create templates for each month on Impress that will be shared on each student’s computer.
• I will take pictures/video of students working in the classroom and upload them for students to choose from.
• Students will learn to open a saved file in Impress each lab session.
• Students will learn how to choose photos so they can write about one photo a month and tell what they learned/liked about that lesson.
• Students will learn how to keyboard well enough to tell a story. I will teach how to capitalize letters, how to punctuate sentences and how to spell check.
• I will document my work on my laptop. Entries will include lessons taught as well as problems and successes!

What Help do I Need at October Meeting:

• I need to learn how to use Impress well enough to teach it. I know it is similar to PowerPoint and I have a basic understanding of that.
• Is Impress the best program to use for this work?
• How do I create templates that can be sent to all kids’ computers?
• I don’t know how to download pictures onto our computers (Thin Clients). Hopefully someone is going to show me this week.
• I want to learn how to share movies on Impress so students can have the movies we create in their yearly timeline.
• I need to learn how to podcast so clips can be added to the timeline.
• These timelines will be shared with families-haven’t decided on the format yet.

Problems I may encounter:

• The server is often down. What will I do if I am not able to have the kids do this work because of the server??

Multimedia Help

I just came across the step-by-step narrated slideshow tutorial for iMovie users. I'm using it with my students, and of course driving home the point that everything comes down to the writing in the end.

And for those of you considering creating MP3s with kids for any kind of multimedia, this is an interesting - and quite cool - text to speech program.

http://vozme.com

The male voice is good for pretending you're a robot. The female voice is a little better.

Inquiry change,

I have changed my Inquiry from when to put down the pen to

How is digital media affecting the way preschool age children learn? I realize this is a broad question. I plan on narrowing it down to maybe the following.

As i interview teachers and get a better feel for what is currently being used in shcools i feel it will become more focused.

1. How does digital media affect the way preschool children learn to read?
2. What specific programs are local Maine schools using in their pre-k /kindergarten classrooms.
3. How much time is spent using digital media to teach preschool age students in local Maine Schools .
4. How do local teachers feel about digital media use in the preschool / kindergarten setting?

My Plan of Execution:


Read / Research books/articles written on this topic.

Observe and Document the time and different digital media programs my two daughters are using at home.

Interview local pre-school teachers. What digital media are they using, if any. How much time is spent per child/per digital media etc. How has teaching/learning changed when digital media is used. What are the benefits/detriments of digital media?

Interview parents of preschool age children, what type of digital media are they exposing their children to, if any.

What I need for help/October

Input of what fellow classmates know about what is being used in their schools and households.

Try out programs available, especially ones that are being used in local classrooms. Research these programs online.

*Discuss options with an early childhood Literacy Specialist/reading recovery person/ etc. One that is schooled in Early childhood literacy and would have information about how digital media effects preschool age children.

Inquiry Questions

Jonathan York’s Action Research Plan

Question: How can I explore, make use of, and learn about digital media options to enrich and expand my student’s experience with writing? I am at a place where I need to collect as many ideas as possible and see what can be done.

Plan of execution: The plan is to gather new ideas and implement as many as possible while simultaneously developing my own, and/ or synthesizing ideas from other sources. I have already spent the last several weeks with my Freshman preparing an autobiography assignment, which offered my students an array of options – some digital – some more traditional for them to explore. I heard my first class today as they read their work in small groups, and when several students read for the whole class. They were the best ones that I have received thus far, so I think I am getting better at supporting and facilitating this activity so that my students can be increasingly more successful.

With both my Freshman and Juniors I plan on expanding the research projects that I started last year. The project had students create web pages as a group. Students researched their topics in the traditional way, creating works cited pages etc. But instead of writing the standard research paper, they each wrote multiple articles for their web pages – covering different angles of their over arching topic. This year I want to expand this project to include more varied types of media presentation – such as video. I also will be searching for ideas to use and expand upon.

What I will need: More than anything I will need ideas, ideas, ideas! I also will need a good sounding board to bounce ideas off of. This forum has already provided that service, and I benefitted quite a bit from earlier discussion leading up to my Freshman’s autobiographies.

I also need ideas about creative ways to handle SAT prep, and boost scores/ readiness. I use the SAT online course with my students, but more is always required.

My Query - Reading: The other end of literacy

Questions:
How does a transition from carrying around paper and ink books to digital sources affect student engagement? How does this add to the mix of equity in terms of access to education? What specific skills do students need to work with electronic written work?

Rationale:
Literacy is clearly a thing of two parts: writing and reading. Everybody is extolling the virtues of going green and we hear a lot about paperless classrooms and workplaces. Most of the focus is on producing reports, memos, and data that never see ink. Many of these are probably printed out on local printers rather than printed and then mailed. Certainly paper is saved, but, I suspect, most of the saving is in ease of transporting the documents to the place they will be ultimately printed.

We heard about the reading side of paperless classrooms when Cushing Academy made news last year by announcing that it was replacing its stacks with a cappuccino machine and the books themselves with Kindles. Major text book companies are increasingly offering books online, or on CD. These certainly cut down on textbook loss, but they raise questions of equity of access. Do all students have computers and internet available to them? Is reading online the same as reading paper and ink? What are the issues around annotating digital text?

I agree with people who have commented that we seem to assume that today's youth live and breathe digital communication. It is cliche to say "Ask a teen" if you don't know how to do something with a computer. Kids are pretty good at communicating what they know, but are often pitiful when it comes to inferring information not explicit in instructions. Sometimes they don't even deal with instructions. Experience in the classroom suggests that editing skills are not consistent in terms of acquiring, manipulating, or creating digital text.

I would like to examine the skills and strategies used to deal with finding and reading digital texts. How are they different from those used with paper texts? What do students need to know in order to be successful readers of these texts? How is equity of access to education reflected in this debate?

My Question

Here is my question:

How will the move toward going paperless change my classroom environment and impact my students’ writing, particularly through the use of Google Docs?


Here is my plan of execution:

Recently I’ve had a couple of dreams where I panic because class is about to start and I discover that there is no chalk in my classroom. We now have to requisition supplies from our office and have them delivered and the dream has me in dread of appearing to be unprepared in front of my students!

I plan to become familiar with Google Docs and use its many tools with my students including the creation of documents to share, having students create and share all of their assignments through GoogleDocs, and using the Forms and Presentation features. A colleague has done this very successfully for a couple of years and claims that the lost work, broken printer and other excuses have all gone away. All of our students now have Netbooks and our paper and printer supplies budgets have of course been cut. Going paperless makes sense in 2010 and beyond.

My son and I set up accounts on Google Docs and wrote down directions for creating accounts.
I have watched YouTube tutorials about Google Docs.
I have received some support from colleagues in how Google Docs works, but have not had enough time to work with it and begin to feel comfortable. I hate to keep asking the same questions!
I will start to create documents which I plan to share with students on GoogleDocs.


Here is what I need for help at our next meeting (coaches, next meeting, etc.)

I need to learn how to use this tool effectively and some ways to make it work with all of my students from those with special needs to my Honors Challenge students. Before our next meeting I hope that all of my students will have accounts and will start becoming familiar with creating and sharing documents. I need someone to help me to organize my five classes (85 students total) and assignments in each of our standards: Writing, Reading/Interpretation of Literature, Presentation, Research and Behaviors That Support Learning.

Inquiry

I've decided to go with an inquiry involving poetry.
My questions is: How does the use of digital media affect student engagement in reading and writing poetry.

My plan is to have my students complete a survey of their feelings about poetry. I already have their initial responses to "Nothing Gold Can Stay" from our first few days together. I'll be using this as a baseline. As we work through this year together we will incorporate digital media in to our study of poetry. I envision some projects involving Garage Band and/or iMovie. We traditionally create poetry bags (a different take on a project done in the Naples area) for the Winter Concert put on buy the high school for senior citizens. A few years ago we created a disc of students reading their poems to add to the bags. While this was a nice idea, it turned out to be kind of a rush job. I'd like to give this another go, giving the students more responsibility for the mixing, etc. We have a school web site which could be a venue for students to share their work. We also have a morning broadcast where students can show case their work.

What I need is some help with Garage Band and iMovie. I've used both of these programs, but I use them so infrequently, I am always relearning them. I also need some ideas about websites where students can get free access to music and pictures. I'm open to other suggestions about digital media and poetry.

Living and Learning with new media...

Although this packet contains the views of many different individuals, for the most part all of these educators, researchers, and policy makers assume a common understanding: that digital media is THE way that youth communicate with the world, each other, and their learning. Obviously, the rise of digital media has changed much, and has opened new avenues of expression to today's youth (and adults..), but I always get uncomfortable anytime anyone - especially educators - make blanket generalizations. While many students do appear to engage with this technology on a daily basis, not all students prefer it. In my classes I always have a student or two who just isn't into computers. Last year I had a pair of girls who make their own clothes, didn't have facebook accounts, and vocally expressed their disdain for everything "computer." While in the midst of doing an online research project and creating their own webpages, one girl said to me," can't we just make a poster - what ever happened to paint, markers, and paper - something to touch..." Now, I'm not suggesting that a digital change is not taking place, I just believe in using caution, and listening to young people. Anytime any one suggests that "this, or that"is the answer for all students, I get skeptical.

OK - that said, one area in this packet the readings that fascinates me is the idea of new moral implications that have arisen thanks to digital media. The writer includes concerns for privacy, safety (think the myspace killer!!!), as well as new ideas concerning intellectual property rights. This becomes a weird issue for teachers as well. For the last two years, I have run a myspace group with my Academic Decathlon team. But then I started getting nervous, especially as other kids in my classes began "friending" me. Recently I decided to close my account, and transfer the group administration off to one of the team's top students. It just makes one think about how to balance the possibilities with the pitfalls of all this enhanced communication.

New Inquiry Idea

I've been thinking over my "paperless" idea and believe that Dave is right-- I already sort of know what will happen with this inquiry. I have been thinking in the last few days of differentiation and how digital media may help me differentiate more widely and across different sections of my ELA classes. I have little to no idea how this inquiry will "end up"...and I feel like that is how I should feel

For example, I recently set-up a blog for five of my "top" students to discuss Lord of the Flies while the rest of the 8th grade reads The Hunger Games. These 5 students are in 3 different sections of ELA and would never be able to get together to discuss the book in school hours. They all read The Hunger Games last year, and while they enjoyed it (who wouldn't??), they do need a challenge. I also failed my "top" student miserably last year....they just did not get the challenge they needed. Hence, the blog...we'll see how it works.

Anyway, this has all lead me to think that there has to be other ways that I can use digital resources to give all students what they need when they need it.

New tentative inquiry question: What happens when digital literacy/tech integration is used to differentiate in the 8th grade ELA classroom?...or something of the sort.

What I need from coaches and peers is: A) feedback on my question, B) ideas of other programs or applications out there that may contribute to this inquiry....C) anything else that anyone else can think of!

Inquiry Question

It’s been a great couple of weeks getting to know my new classroom community. I have a small class this year, only fifteen 3^rd graders who range in age from 7-8 years old. They have a wide variety of strengths and weaknesses, and I can already envision the growth that many of them will make, specifically in the area of literacy development.

I’ve made initial assessments, and have discovered that I have a number of reluctant writers, mostly boys. Our district is in its second year of implementing the Lucy Calkins Units of Study, which focuses on 90 minutes of targeted instruction and independent practice through the Writing Workshop five days a week. That’s a lot of writing for this age, which had led me to my inquiry question.

Here is my question:

How will incorporating a variety of digital media opportunities enhance a “canned curriculum” for 3rd grade writers?

Plan of Action/Execution:

I plan to begin by gathering data on my 3^rd grade writers including the amount of time they are able to sustain their own writing, (right now it’s about 4 minutes) collect mentor text in order for them to immerse themselves in quality writing, identify topics/genres that my 3^rd graders are interested in writing about, explore what types of digital media programs we can use with ease, with a focus on peer to peer learning, and development of digital skills. I would then share samples of programs with the students, allowing them to select the digital media that interests them. I envision students working collaboratively in a variety of programs, sharing with each other the possibilities for social destinations for their writing, as well as creating a kind of mentorship community as they share technical skills with each other.

My goal is to improve the core competencies of reading and writing through a supportive digital community in the classroom. I hope that with improved stamina for writing, these young author’s will be engaged and self motivated to improve their writer’s craft.

Here is what I need for help at our next meeting:

1. Suggestions/feedback maybe to help narrow my inquiry/action research.

2. What programs would we use in 3^rd grade( 7 and 8 year olds) to offer students the opportunity to become independent as they create a digital library of their writing to include movies, digital storytelling, picture collage, keynote/power point, with a focus on quality social destinations?

3. What is the best way to receive and share feedback in order to cultivate full participation and a community of writers?

Inquiry Question/ Assignment

It’s been a great couple of weeks getting to know my new classroom community. I have a small class this year, only fifteen 3^rd graders who range in age from 7-8 years old. They have a wide variety of strengths and weaknesses, and I can already envision the growth that many of them will make, specifically in the area of literacy development.

I’ve made initial assessments, and have discovered that I have a number of reluctant writers, mostly boys. Our district is in its second year of implementing the Lucy Calkins Units of Study, which focuses on 90 minutes of targeted instruction and independent practice through the Writing Workshop five days a week. That’s a lot of writing for this age, which had led me to my inquiry question.

Here is my question:

How will incorporating a variety of digital media opportunities enhance a “canned curriculum” for 3rd grade writers?

Plan of Action/Execution:

I plan to begin by gathering data on my 3^rd grade writers including the amount of time they are able to sustain their own writing, (right now it’s about 4 minutes) collect mentor text in order for them to immerse themselves in quality writing, identify topics/genres that my 3^rd graders are interested in writing about, explore what types of digital media programs we can use with ease, with a focus on peer to peer learning, and development of digital skills. I would then share samples of programs with the students, allowing them to select the digital media that interests them. I envision students working collaboratively in a variety of programs, sharing with each other the possibilities for social destinations for their writing, as well as creating a kind of mentorship community as they share technical skills with each other.

My goal is to improve the core competencies of reading and writing through a supportive digital community in the classroom. I hope that with improved stamina for writing, these young author’s will be engaged and self motivated to improve their writer’s craft.

Here is what I need for help at our next meeting:

1. Suggestions/feedback maybe to help narrow my inquiry/action research.

2. What programs would we use in 3^rd grade( 7 and 8 year olds) to offer students the opportunity to become independent as they create a digital library of their writing to include movies, digital storytelling, picture collage, keynote/power point, with a focus on quality social destinations?

3. What is the best way to receive and share feedback in order to cultivate full participation and a community of writers?

Reluctant Writers

Before committing to an inquiry question, I wanted to get a feel for my classes and frame my question in such a way that I would be meeting the needs of my students. This is an unusual year for me. For 13 years I have taught Grade 8 ELA, 2 accelerated classes and 3 heterogeneous classes. Due to an unusually small 8th grade class, we had an opportunity this year to target at-risk students by providing small classes with extended literacy instruction. I have two of these groups of students this year in addition to my 2 accelerated classes.

A word about our school, the James F. Doughty School in Bangor: We are one of two middle schools in the city, but our demographics are vastly different. Last year 68% of our students qualified for free or reduced lunch. This year we believe we'll surpass 70%. I'm sure many of you are teaching similar populations. BUT, we have a lot to be proud of. For the past 5 or 6 years we have worked hard to create a culture of literacy by instituting new programs to get kids reading. Our reading scores have climbed every year (and as an aside, we were just named last week one of 2 Blue Ribbon Schools in the state), but I feel that our writing curriculum has suffered as a result. Of the 15 students in my 2 "alternative" classes, I would label 12 of them as reluctant writers based on a survey about writing I had them complete as well as an initial writing assignment. (Ugh!) The good news is that they are nearly ALL readers, so my goal is to turn them onto writing. Some of my goals include using Moodle for e-journaling and blogging, allowing more collaborative writing (wikis), writing for an authentic audience, creating multi-media presentations, and allowing more student choice.

So, here's a stab at my question: HOW DOES DIGITAL WRITING AFFECT RELUCTANT WRITERS?

I have a lot to work on! I need to become more comfortable with Moodle (any experts out there?), investigate safe on-line publishing options for students (such as Fan Fiction), and learn much more about digital story telling, creating comics, podcasts, etc.

I'm really excited to be working with these 2 groups of students. They were carefully chosen and grouped so that they would feel safe and connected to school. They are trying to stay in school and do well against all odds. Any and all advice is welcomed!

Timeline

Here's my idea for my inquiry. Thanks for feedback!

Inquiry Question:

Can I learn to use Open Office software for word processing and presentations well enough to teach my second grade students so they can create a yearly timeline of their learning using Impress while uploading it to Google Docs for previewing and sharing with families. (I’m also considering tracking one student throughout. I have already noticed an unmotivated writer in my room and wonder if he will become more motivated if he’s composing on the computer).

Why would I want to learn to use Openoffice?

§ My school has completely changed over to a Linux operating system. I need to learn how to use the applications so I can effectively teach them to my students.

§ In the past, my students have kept a monthly time-line on paper, which ended up as a collection for an end of the year record of all they had learned. We create several movies each year, and it would be interesting to have all their learning in one place (Impress).

§ Students will be expected to learn to use Openoffice throughout their schooling in Orono. By learning the applications at a young age, they will be prepared for the future.

§ Some students are not motivated to write with a pencil/paper. Their motivation may increase as they compose on the computer.

§ This will make my teaching in the computer lab more focused as I usually plan a lesson from week to week that doesn’t teach them about the applications-usually we explore a website to learn about a concept in our current theme. It’s important for students to understand how to use the applications in Open Office.

My Vision (My Plan):

§ I will create templates for each month on Impress that will be shared on each student’s computer.

§ I will take pictures/video of students working in the classroom and upload them for students to choose from.

§ Students will learn to open a saved file in Impress each lab session.

§ Students will learn how to choose photos so they can write about one photo a month and tell what they learned/liked about that lesson.

§ Students will learn how to keyboard well enough to tell a story. I will teach how to capitalize letters, put one space after each word, how to punctuate sentences, and how to spell check.

§ I will document my work on my laptop. Entries will include lessons taught as well as problems and successes! I will also compare the one student's in-class writing with his computer work.

What Help do I Need at October Meeting:

§ I need to learn how to use Impress well enough to teach it. I know it is similar to PowerPoint and I have a basic understanding of that.

§ Is Impress the best program to use for this work?

§ How do I create templates that can be sent to all kids’ computers?

§ I don’t know how to download pictures onto our computers-where do I put them to make it easy for kids to access them? (Thin Clients).

§ I want to learn how to share movies on Impress so students can have the movies we create in their yearly timeline.

§ I need to learn how to podcast so clips can be added to the timeline.

§ I’m not sure if I will put these on Google Docs for parents. I don’t have the capability to burn discs on our computers, but I want parents to have access to their child’s work. If I do go with Google Docs, I need to learn how to use it. Maybe there’s a better application for this? I don’t know.

Problems I may encounter:

§ The server is often down. What will I do if I am not able to have the kids do this work because of the server??

§ I’m not sure how I will go about editing student work to make sure the pieces have correct spelling, punctuation, etc. I'm hoping because the writing is monthly, I can keep up with it.

When do we put down the pen?

Madelyn has started her preschool and with that this question becomes even more pressing/ interesting to me. While working with the my 3 and almost five year old on letter recognition /shapes etc. i noticed myself correcting the way they were holding the pencil. the grasp. the 5 year old almost has it, but has little control. and the 3 year old holds it so tightly that you would think the crayon/pen would snap.

*At what average age do children developmentally master the grasp of a pencil?
*Fine motor skills investigation?
*Therapy for fine motor skills?
*What programs are available to teach young children Word Processing Skills, typing?
* Interview an occupational therapist in the schools? What do "good" handwriting skills look like?
*Please let me know of any resources you are familiar with that could help me.

I plan on observing my own two children and visiting local pre-k and k classrooms to find out what other teachers are doing.

I sometimes wish...

Does anyone else ever wish that they could go and see another school - where things are done differently, or where the demographics are wildly different. For example, I'd love to see what teaching in Portland - with all its diversity - would be like, but short of taking the plunge and trying to get hired, that isn't easy. It would be cool (though impracticable I suppose) if schools did teacher swaps - like you go teach at another school for a semester or a year - or a week....

The first week of school is always exciting for me. This year I have 82 new students as I begin another 7/8 grade loop with a 7th grade. I like to begin our time together with "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost. It's interesting to see how many deep thinkers I have to begin the year. This has led me to think I would like to conduct my inquiry around poetry. I'm wondering how digital media can enhance students' engagement in both reading and writing poetry. I'm still working on the wording of my question and the steps I will take to do this.

Gina

Tentative Inquiry Question....Looking for Feedback

I am hoping there are people out there who are itching (!) to offer helpful criticism regarding our inquiry questions....so here goes....

I really appreciate any and all input. I am not entirely happy with how I worded the question, so suggestions on that would be helpful, too.


Inquiry: How and to what extent can my ELA classroom effectively go "paperless"?

Why paperless?

- I am on a cart and teach every class in a different room
- We now live in a paperless world and my students will be entering work fields that rely on technology to share information
- My students will be able to access and share information from anywhere (ex: hand in papers from home, access missed assignments in study hall, etc)
- Students can share work amongst themselves whenever they are
- Students can no longer use the “I lost it” excuse
- Access to extra copies of homework assignments are readily available so students won't fall behind
- Access to homework assignments is available for the special education team; instead of writing out and explaining any work that is missing, I can send them an email with titles of assignments that they can find online
- Hopefully students will be more engaged because of increased tech integration
- It’s my effort to be environmentally-friendly

Plan of execution:

1. Use Moodle to upload assignments, templates, graphic organizers, resources, etc
2. Use Google Docs and Pirate Pad (and perhaps other online document-sharing applications) to type, save, and share documents. Also use such applications for group projects.
3. Use Moodle or a similiar application for students to submit work for grading
4. Use NoteShare or similar application for students to have their ELA notebook on their computers.
5. Use Google “Forms” to complete student surveys and feedback forms


What do I need from the coaches?

1. Feedback….Suggestions….Redirection?!
2. Do the technology coaches know of any really easy and reliable programs to use for handing in material? I tried to use Moodle last year but it was unreliable at times. I will use it again if that’s my only option…
3. Are there any other interesting applications that may help me implement my inquiry?
4. Can anyone think of anything I am missing? As you are reading, did anyone find themselves saying, "Yeah, but what happens when..."?

Online and Starting School

Hi all,
Here are some thoughts on digital literacy:

1. It is no easier to keep track of all the pieces of digital "stuff" I have than it is the paper stuff. I continually come across some brilliant nugget I had salted away for school, writing, sharing that I had forgotten I'd even discovered. The big difference is that once remembered the power of the internet makes it easier to find. Case in point: I had lost my this blog, my login, and password and am now in possession of all three.

2. In preparing for school I am thinking that making use of Michelle's suggestion about having my AP students translate transform 19th Century English to 21st C language and contextual examples.  I’ll be getting the texts from http://www.archive.org and http://digital.library.upenn.edu – and having students find their own in those places as well.  I’ll have them use “oratory, public speaking, elocution, practice, humor, dramatic” as starter search terms.  What others pop to mind?

3. Cats and literacy do not mix well. They instinctively lie down in the middle of what ever reading or writing activity you've got going. The best that can be said is that in the winter they make fine neck warmers. You can also use them in place of a muff.

 

More later.

Susan