Inquiry Question

I am challenged by what to try to accomplish because I have students for ONE semester and then it changes. My thought is that I need to become proficient in the first semester, do some trial runs and then teach THEM to be proficient when I have a new group in January. I don't know...it is all I can dare to accomplish. My question is this:

Will the use of GOOGLE DOCS ultimately improve writing output by doing the following: allow greater ability to dialogue/conference about their writing, allow a chance to edit with them, make comments and help them to really zero in on their writing, thus allowing me to use the classrooom time for direct instruction?

WHAT DO I NEED? I need to learn Google Docs...I know nothing! I need a Docs Coach...desperately.

WHAT IS MY PLAN OF EXECUTION? First, I need to learn Google docs, then get my class set up with accounts to use it with me. My hope/goal would be to end THIS semester with using this format to edit/conference with them on at least ONE final paper and then determine if this has relieved me of classroom conferencing time to allow more direct instruction.

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??

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?

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?

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.