Talking with Other Teachers Around the Country

I talked with a middle school reading and writing teacher from Chicago, IL. His name is Mr. Hackmann and he teaches at Audubon Elementary School. He said by far the most frequent technology they use is word processing. This is not surprising considering all the papers and reports required in a reading and writing class. This is also not that groundbreaking but he did have some other very interesting things they had used or planned to in the future.
First off his class uses an online grading system that can be checked by all students and their parents. He said this allows for parents to keep up with their child's assignments and grades and it allows students to take responsibility for what they have due. He said this really helps rebut the excuse that they didn't know what to do if they weren't at class that day.
He talked about using digital audio recorders in the classroom. It sounded like they did a really fun project with them. He said they used the digital recorders to reproduce old-fashioned plays like they did in the '30s and '40s. He said they added sound effects and mixed it using Audacity.
He said that in the Spring they are going to be working on a multimedia project centered around social justice themes which sounded really interesting. They will be using Garageband and Imovie to create videos of the themes they find relevant in their own lives.
One of his future projects included producing some kind of web page that has daily updates from all teachers on homework, upcoming tests etc. This way students could have one site which would encompass all of their school information. He said he has not had time to tackle this yet but is hoping to soon.
I really enjoyed conversing with someone from another state about some of the ways they used technology in their classroom. Especially since he is teaching reading and writing (as I will be), he had several projects I found interesting and might one day use in my own classroom.

Blogging in the Classroom

I read my buddy Alison's blog and was really impressed with the way she wrote. After reading all of her posts and comparing them to my own I realized that she has a much more informal writing style when blogging as compared to me. I think her blog is a little more conversational and people might actually respond to it better than mine. She seems like she is just talking to you rather than trying to report something. I have a tendency to make my writing very formal (I guess it is all these college papers I am constantly writing!).
I also noticed that we had different views on a few things. Namely the 180 days of instruction. After watching the slide show I could see the point. Maybe our kids are wasting too much time. However, after reading Alison's blog I rethought my original idea. She has kids and knows a lot more about how much pressure kids are actually under in school these days. They do need something to look forward to other than just constant instruction. It is good to read others thought because they might show you things you haven't thought of.
I am not going to say that I chomping at the bit every week to write up my blog. I can say, though, that almost every time I have done one I have learned something I consider to be very valuable information. I have learned so many things about technology in education that I would have remained ignorant of had I not explored different sites and podcasts to blog about them.
I would love to use this technique in my classroom. Not only does it allow students to explore sites they might not otherwise but it also gives them an outlet to express themselves. Alison and I had very different writing styles and different ideas about what we watched. There is no right or wrong or certain way we had to write so we were able to express our own point of view however we wished. It is also such an easy way to gain access to others opinions. It would have been much more difficult if we would have had to write papers instead of blogs and found a classmate to trade with. All I had to do was click and I had full access to the entire class' blog. I think blogs are definitely going to be prominent in the future of education.

ACCESS Labs

I went to Mary G. Montgomery High School in Semmes and was fortunate enough to be able to view their ACCESS lab. The psychology teacher, and ACCESS instructor, Mr. Rose gave us a tour of the lab as well as let us talk to some other teachers who have had experience with it. I will admit I was a little skeptical of how well this would work but it actually seems like a very good setup. I wondered how well the students would be able to hear and see classes broadcast from other locations, and vice versa, but Mr. Rose showed us how clearly you are able to view all the other members of the class. With just one button click you can zoom into a certain part of the classroom to make sure a student is paying attention. He also showed us the state of the art microphones that are set up in the class to make the auditory as clear as it would be if the student was actually in the classroom. It was also very easy to connect with another classroom. He pulled up a menu on the computer, pushed the tab for Murphy High School and within seconds we were connected with their ACCESS lab.
We also got to see the students who were taking ACCESS courses come in and prepare for class. Each one has their own personal laptop, kept at school, which they retrieve and take to their desk. They knew exactly what they were supposed to do. They keep up with what they are supposed to be doing completely online. Much like online classes at South, the teachers post their assignments, lecture notes, etc. for the students and they take their tests online as well. Each class has an instructor and a facilitator who keeps the students on task. That is the one drawback (or asset depending on how you look at is) of ACCESS. Students have to be very self-disciplined to get all of their work done and not fall behind. I know many college students struggle with online classes because they are not structured like they are accustomed to, but this can also teach students responsibility.
Mr. Rose also told us how difficult it can be to break into teaching ACCESS courses. First of all, you have to teach something that is somewhat unique. Is is unlikely schools don't have English or History teachers, but when you get into Psychology and Physics you start finding schools that aren't able to provide all of those courses. You also have to make sure the teacher is well trained in all the aspects of using ACCESS. Not all teachers are familiar with this type of technology so you have to make sure the instructors are able to handle any technical difficulties that might arise. Dr. Rose told us that regardless of whether you teach using ACCESS or not, teachers today must learn how to teach with technology. Students are becoming more and more creatures of the electronic age and, as teachers, we must be able to relate to them. Using technology is a way to make teaching more interesting and it can open doors that chalkboards and paper and pencil never could.
Going to see the ACCESS labs was very informative and eye-opening. You realize that this will be what you are doing, maybe not in an ACCESS lab but in some form, in a very short time. I think it is exciting to be a prospective teacher during this time. There are so many possibilities and we are getting the opportunity to view them firsthand before we enter the classroom.

Podcasting

I have listened to many podcasts but I never thought I would actually be doing one myself. This semester proved this to be false. I was really nervous about doing a podcast since I have never done anything like it before. However, I really enjoyed it. I thought my group really did a good job and we covered our topic thoroughly, using our personal experiences at South.

After listening to my own podcast and several others I thought everyone did an excellent job, especially since I would imagine this was the first time for many of us. There are always things you can improve upon and I think the same applies here. I know for a couple of podcasts I had difficulty hearing certain individuals while others were very clear. I am not sure if this was because their voices were too soft or if they were too far from the microphone. Maybe those who have a weaker voice should sit closer to the microphone so the listener doesn't have to strain to hear it. Some also had a good bit of background noise which didn't really bother me but some might find it distracting.

A few other suggestions I thought about were not really problems with the podcasts but just additional techniques that could be attempted. All of the podcasts I listened to had three speakers. Some of my favorite radio and podcast programs have more people participating. Maybe a couple of groups could try using four or five individuals (more than that would probably be a little much). You could get more opinions and perhaps achieve more of a natural discussion if you have more voices. I also thought it might be interesting to get a little bit of constructive arguing going on some of the podcasts. Most of the groups seemed to be in complete agreement on their topic (which again is fine) but maybe you could pair up some people who had slightly different views and have them discuss it in a podcast. I know some people don't like confrontation, especially if it is taped for posterity, but some good-natured disagreement can make topics very interesting.

This was a really good project and I feel like I learned some things I would like to use in my classroom. Though I will admit I am relieved I will not be doing a video podcast, I would be interested to see them next semester. That would allow students the added element of being able to give their audience visuals of what they are talking about. I think podcasting is a great project and you should continue it with future students. It is always nerve-racking doing something new but it makes you more well-rounded and you are usually glad you did it when it is over.

Using Technology in Mathematics

These two podcasts consist of thoughts from Judy Chandler, a Technology Integration Specialist and Mathematics teacher as well as a math mentor trainer for the Maine Mentor Training Initiative. She is trying to explain the benefits, and really the necessity, of using technology in the math classroom. We tend to think of math as very structured and linear, and taught in the classroom using examples. Chandler explains that this leads to kids falling behind because they don't understand the material as well as some students merely memorizing steps only to forget them after they have have stopped using them. Chandler says we must reinforce what we teach our students and make connections for them. Technology is a great way to do this. It can use graphics and learning techniques that are difficult to use in the classroom due to logistics and time constraints. These techniques can help students gain understanding and learn to think critically about math rather than just memorizing steps.

As a lifetime hater of all things mathematics I think I would have really benefited from using technology in the classroom to help aid in my understanding. I simply memorized how the teacher worked the problem and as soon as I was done with the information, I promptly removed it from my memory. This total lack of understanding in mathematics is part of the reason I decided to throw myself into English, which was the catalyst for my decision to teach English. I think even though I am not planning on teaching math (and for your kid's sake you should hope I don't change my mind) the ideas presented in these podcasts are still very useful to all teachers.

Learning should not only take place in one venue. Since we now have available to use such great outside resources due to technology, there is no excuse for a student just learning in the four walls of a classroom. As teachers, we should help them learn to build upon what we teach them by using things such as the Internet. If a student has difficulty understanding something, no matter what the subject, he or she now has more to rely on for help than just the teacher. Of course, we want to always be available to provide help for our students but sometimes they might have more success from another source. Perhaps they can find something that explains it in a way that makes more sense to them. Through technology they might even find help from other students, who sometimes can explain things to their peers more effectively than teachers.

I thought Ms. Chandlers podcasts really highlighted how useful technology can be, even in places we might not expect it. The more sources an individual has for learning, the more reinforcement they gain and the more effective their learning. Thank to the great strides in technology, student learning is no longer just confined to the classroom.

Growth vs. Fixed Mindset

I found the video podcast about having a growth versus a fixed mindset to be very interesting. It was an interview given by a professor of psychology, Carol Dweck, about some research they conducted at Stanford University. They found that individuals have two ways of looking at learning: fixed of growth. With a fixed mindset, individuals generally only want to participate in things they are already familiar with in an effort to look intelligent and avoid looking 'stupid'. With a growth mindset, individuals look at new experiences as a way to exercise their mind, make it stronger, and continue to advance their intelligence beyond its current state.

Dweck and researcher conducted a two different workshops with a class. One half of the class just took a workshop that taught study skills while the other took a workshop that focused on study skills as well as learning about the growth mindset. The researchers found that the students taking the study skills workshop really got no benefits because they had to motivation. However, the other workshop which also discussed the growth mindset really influenced the kids performance. Their classroom teacher were able to tell who was taking which workshop just based on changes in the classroom.

This research study is very important because, as a classroom teacher, it is vital we focus on helping students achieve a growth mindset. Students are not always going to know how to do everything (if they did they would have no need for us). However, we must encourage them to go outside of their comfort zone and not be afraid of realizing they don't know how to do something. This is the way we learn and improve the way we think and how we react to different problems. Making mistakes is not a bad thing as long as we learn from those mistakes and keep testing until we get it right. We must help our students understand this concept. It can be difficult, especially in a school setting, to find you don't understand something, especially if others around you do. This could cause students to avoid these particular areas in an effort to not feel inferior. As teachers, we must combat the idea that lack of knowledge does not mean stupidity. We must make them understand that finding out what you don't know and making an effort to learn is what education is all about.