new “tech” additions to the room: analog and digital
So, call me a luddite for celebrating blackboards... I do, sometimes wish that I had those back instead of streaky, cloudy whiteboards. Nevertheless, I added a new whiteboard to my classroom as part of this semester's personal goal to revisit the driving questions that frame our projects. At Lowe's, I picked up a 4' by 8' sheet of "shower board" for $12 to hang above my students' heads. In order of importance, my students should now enter the room only to see a driving question (which is always floating around above their heads, physically and meta-cognitively now) as well as our word wall.
Second, and more exciting for the technophiles, is the Promethean Board addition. We ran some "norming" exercises today in class. I set up a direct relationship between students who completed their grammar homework and who actually got to play with the Promethean today. I'll keep a checklist now on a clipboard that I will reference any time someone volunteers to interact with the board. Surprisingly, students recognized the new (expensive) piece of equipment and figured out for themselves what some of our staff's reasonable expectations are before really starting to integrate it into teaching. For now at least, students know not to go writing on it with other implements; throwing their hands up with the bracket above; and, the best yet, putting their faces on it to give it a welcome hug (skin oils are not good for any surface!).
I'm excited to see where our new tool leads us, especially with regards to writing/grammar improvement. I'm just a little wary about using a (now smaller) display on just one "side" of our room that has a classroom capacity of 50+. This may take some creative agenda multi-tasking.
using Diigo to annotate poems & organize research
I recently moved over to Diigo (after suggestion from a colleague), which is a more interactive and community-discussion-friendly social bookmarking service. Mostly, I wanted to get more control and a fresh approach to using the countless bookmarks that I seemed to have archived over the years. You still tag, categorize and annotate, but the extension in Chrome allows a lot more while the website does some extra archiving work for you that Delicious or others may not.
Well, a couple days after making the move, I was helping a student annotate a poem, and thought, "Wait, I can be doing this online for any student to see; share the notes; start discussion; etc!" [I intentionally left the etc. in italics, because I still don't think I have unlocked.] Here's what I played with:
- I did go back and used the Chrome extension to color-categorize words that met rhyme patterns or a certain scheme.
- I added notes and questions with the sticky note tool.
- I then realized that discussion had already begun in the Diigo community on a bookmark I added, so bookmarking can go beyond the classroom (and into others?)
- I could create groups for my students that I follow (at a class, project group or other level) and then comment on.
- I also get a sense as to whether groups are on-track to meet deadlines, etc. without having to assign a grade or request materials during classtime (big time saver and not just for the instructor). Each post is roughly date-stamped.
- And the icing on the cake: pages are cached! That's right, they take a snapshot of the page in case it disappears(!@#$%) into the internets to never be seen again. (Big plus for archiving cool stuff you might want to use in the future!)
- Nice thing: you can use an OpenID, Google or Yahoo account to log in. They will also move over all of your Delicious links (saving your tags, etc) through the Delicious API.
Yum, links. Contact me with any ideas.
Check out what I'm reading on Diigo.
SPAM to show for the journey
I was exhausted today. And there was really nothing more to think about after school today. I had great cheers over a student teacher pizza outing. I have never seen so many smiles from a group of (well, I guess now former) student teachers.
Nevertheless, there are some weeks I have to make up for. I need to give back to my family who put up with my wide range of reactions to teaching. I need to rebuild the friendships I ghosted away from after entering the school system. In short, I have a whole new life to build. That much is exciting. I actually think I am in the most fit of shape entering into summer than I have been all of my college career. I have some career strategy to start weighing out.
And, oh damn, an electronic portfolio to mend/build/finish. Superactivity re-engage!
Thanks to all who have journeyed with me so far. To those who have been lost: I will find you all again shortly.
One story from my last day...
Fridays can a little testy. My students generally were (note the use of past now...) roudy and ready to breeze through to the weekend without taking their brains for any exercise. One of them really shocked me today. In the middle of class, the student burst out to say that the class had a gift for me. Not taking the bait for a classroom coup d'état, I tried to move forward, but I was already on my backup plan (thanks to technology faults on the last day). The time spent on backpedaling into another activity left an opening they felt they needed to fill. They wanted me to turn around so the gift might be presented. I stood firm against their demands. I refocused, handed out my backup plan activity and mistakenly turned halfway to close my laptop at my desk. The class had quieted down and they began taking a quick survey. When I faced the class again, there was a can of off-brand canned ham on the table.
t: "What is this?"
s1: "That's your going-away present."
t: "What is this?"
s2: "It's SPAM. Well, we thought it would be better than Ramen!"
t: (Chuckles) "Better than Ramen, but not by much... You guys realize that I could take this as a huge insult since I don't have a job, yet, right?"
s1: "Oh... well, at least you have something to eat other than Ramen!"
s2: "We are nourishing you!"
s1: "This canned ham is very nutritious!" (begins reading off the Sodium & Fat milligrams...)
s1: "Aren't you going to open it to see how it tastes?"
s1: "You are such a picky eater!"
The times that I don’t have something funny to say in class…
...or the times that I can't create an awkward moment to re-grab their attention are the times when my students come up with their own game. For example, groups in the class try to get away with having a giant blunt as the superior being who gives life to all... or have something that's called Jesús Juice that spawns life... as they are writing their own creation myths.
Cheers to squashing inappropriate creativity!
recent endeavors
1:1 laptops
+ project-based learning
+ student empowerment
+ authentic engagement
+ community outreach
= New Tech Network
don’t be a hater
This blog and accompanying online resources by Adam Babcock are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
- BlogPost\\ watching humble sophomores interview an acclaimed author/producer = my #eduwin http://t.co/BfB48pWv
- RT @j_allen: Life in an Inquiry Driven, Technology Embedded, Connected Classroom: English http://t.co/0JJhLUoU via @zite cc @lflahive
- Who says anymore that students should be using technology? Let's get them *making* technology!
- Good vibes keep rolling. I'm now a @newtechnetwork Certified (PBL Teacher http://t.co/2cH5qq5k
do you Diigo my bookmarks?
- Top Interview Questions - CareerBuilder.com
- Life in an Inquiry Driven, Technology Embedded, Connected Classroom: English | NWP Digital Is
- Number2.com :: Free Online Test Prep
- Learning Plot Structure with The Lion King - YouTube
- twelve angry men character trait chart flashcards | Quizlet
- Why Wireless Children Are More Successful in School | Psychology Today
- Facebook job behavior - chicagotribune.com
- Step 1: give every kid a laptop. Step 2: learning begins?