Stretch on wikis (thing # 8)

I searched Ecuador on wikipedia. I lived there for a while and wanted to check out this entry.

I had never noticed the history page on wikipedia! It was quite lengthy and dealt with some typical issues. There was discussion about the Peruvian/Ecuadorian war. There were also some interesting comments about the role tourism plays in the Ecuadorian economy.

I actually thought the history page was more interesting than the entry itself. It highlighted some grey area issues whereas the entry defines everything simply in black and white.

As a side note, I know wikipedia is a fact of life for our students these days. However, I still discourage them from relying on it. I will not accept it as a legitimate source on any type of research.  I haven’t changed my opinion. I may have them search the history page on a controversial topic. That could stimulate an interesting class discussion.

Reflection on wikis (thing # 8)

Wikis were brand new to me. I didn’t even know wikipedia was a wiki! Sad. Thank goodness I found Welker’s Wikinomics. I’m teaching IB economics for the first time this January and I need HELP.  I found a great resource page that I know will be useful next semester.

Speaking of economics, I’ve started compiling some blogs on my reader that will be of use. I’ll need anything I can get!

I was duly impressed with the Flat Classroom Project! I love these kinds of projects because they can open the kids world in ways we couldn’t do otherwise. I taught overseas  and actually recognized a kid from my Ecuador days in the Dhaka picture! The teachers were kind enough to leave lesson plans on their wiki so I can use their model and adapt it for my class. Campbell already has a relationship with a school in Kenya.

Another wiki I checked out was fhswolvesden. Many of their links were dead or blank. I don’t think I would organize my wiki this way, but it was good to see what high school history teachers are doing.

Overall, I do think I could incorporate wikis quite easily into my class. I like the idea of online collaboration for things like test reviews or paper outlines. Coolio.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Building a Reading Habit (Thing # 7)

I had fun with this assignment! It was fairly easy as I already have a modified Google reader as my homepage.  I’ll have to admit that I do have People and NYT crossword puzzle on my reader. Not so professional!

My new Google reader is A+ professional.  I think it’ll take some time to tweak it depending on which sites/blogs I end up truly using.

I did find myself vascillating between feeling optimistic & motivated to implement some new ideas and completely disheartened that we (in a typical public school) have been left behind.

On the positive side I found some great blogs from U.S. History teachers. Those blogs led me down many different paths. I ended up forgetting what I was originally searching! For example, while searching for History I found a video for my government class on the electoral college. I did finally come back around to a great post referring to the Jeffersonian Era in American History which we’re starting in class next week. Overall, surfing these blogs reinforced for me how much great, accessible information is out there for us to use. I’ve got some great ideas forming for my own class blog.

Unfortunately, I did read some entries which made us feel we are slipping behind. It feels the gap is widening between generations at such a furious pace that teachers have been left behind. For example, I read this post about innovation on student 2.0. How is a huge bureaucracy such as the public school system to stay afloat in this environment? We’re busy here worrying about the students passing basic Algebra, motivating them to pass the GHGST and breaking up fights.

I’m lucky as I teach in a magnet program (IB) so I truly can teach (though yesterday we did a webquest and I only had 9 functioning computers for a class of 30).

What’s the logical conclusion here for public education? Will we survive the “revolution”? How can I be a part of the movement? I’ve been giving this so much consideration and sadly I’m not sure the answer lies within public education.

Reflections on blogging Thing #4 take 2

Alright, I’ve already spent quite a bit of time on this post and then lost it. Aggh, the blunders of a rookie.  Here we go again!

I am very impressed with the conversation about water conservation on the extreme biology blog. The teacher has given me some great ideas. It seems blog writing allows for a much more in-depth discourse than we have time for in a typical class discussion. It also allows for students to reflect a bit longer before responding instead of coming up with an “on the spot” answer. I’ve always found that stream of consciousness writing promotes “epiphanies” I’ll bet I would learn a lot more about my students, especially the quiet ones, by employing this method. 

Some blogs seem to be just a typical editorial but others seem to be more reflective and direct. Blog writing is different in that it requires you to take responsibility for what you’ve said. You’ve announced it to the world! Some of the responses could be quite harsh. I find that it would have been much harder to say these things to someone’s face. Is that okay? It depends. While this can definitely promote learning and a healthy debate, teachers will have to be mindful of any possible bullying etc. taking place on the blog.

The style does seem to be more casual than what a student would generally turn into me. While I’m a stickler for grammatical errors, this free flow of ideas should be more casual.

Commenting on a particular thread keeps the conversation dynamic. Without the back and forth, the student may as well be writing in their journal. Speaking of, the blog from high school students wasn’t certainly insightful! Teacher directed commenting can lead students into a Socratic-style learning.

I’m not sure about blogging literacy yet. I’ll have to address that question later on in the course. My initial reaction is learning acronyms may take some time! I’m sure it has changed the way some students read and write because they’re now more accustomed to quick back/forth responses and constantly switching gears and topics with the amount of information and # of blogs out there.

Blogging can definitely facilitate learning! I’m quite sure that I haven’t even thought of all of the ways this could change my teaching. I really liked what was said in “The Ripe Environment” How can we get beyond all of the talk and create the environment he describes?

Thing # 2: Thoughts about Web 2.0

Wow! I guess my initial response after watching the video clips and reading the Warlick article is that I have a long way to go. I was proud b/c I already blog, use a smartboard and play podcasts (most of the teachers on my hall don’t do either) but now I feel I’ve really been put in my place! I have a lot of catch-up work to do.

I do wholeheartedly believe that education needs to be relevant to today’s learner. I guess we as educators have been blind to what today’s learner is capable of doing.

My first thought is about all the students at Campbell who aren’t connected at home and who rarely get on the computer. They and many like them are getting left behind! I do feel the technology gap will only exacerbate the disparity in education.

I see this course changing my teaching tremendously over time. I loved the idea of having students collaborate on test reviews and gaining more access to the wikis through a competition. I also love the idea of incorporating podcasts more into my curriculum. I also hope to teach online someday soon and know this course is essential to success there.

I guess the main point is that I could learn some of the technology with them. They’re not all tech saavy… And help add to their educational toolbox to be competitive in today’s world.

Thing #1 Reflections on Lifelong Learning

Alright, off and blogging!

The habit most challenging for me is  #3 to “view problems as challenges” While it can be stimulating to solve a problem in my personal life, I have found that it can complicate matters in the classroom. What I mean is that if I’m not confident a particular technological tool is up and running, I’d prefer to teach the old fashioned way. I know, I shouldn’t admit that but it’s true. Hopefully, this course will empower me to “fix” those challenges.

The habit that is easiest for me would be to teach or mentor others (#7). My explanation is pretty simple; that’s what I do all day long and it comes quite naturally.

Finally, the most important habit as I work through this course would have to be #5 or create your own toolbox. If I spend some real time getting organized, have some sort of system AND put into practice these new skills; I’m much more likely to start incorporating them into my reptoire naturally.

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