Leading From The Heart

by Tracy Rosen, teaching & consulting since 1996, blogging about it here since 2007. All views are my own and you should take them with a grain of salt, I do.

Category: Classroom

What does learning in a techy world look like in your classroom?

I can’t think of a different way to put it. For some reason I hate the phrases ‘learning with technology, learning with tech, technology based learning, even learning in a techy world’ and any other statement that puts an emphasis on the technology, as if it is something different from the tools of learning to begin with. In mine, it isn’t something added on but it’s pretty much the functioning of the class, tools that we have come used to using as we learn. I wrote about this one day last year, when I was late to class and the kids knew to hit up the blog and began doing their work – some at their tables, some in a quiet area so they could do video responses on their laptops, some alone, some talking together.

[Aha. laptops. We were very fortunate. We had a private donor give us 10 000 $ last year, a good sum of which was used to buy mini-laptops. (this leads to a whole other story about the validity of conversations on tech integration when we know there are many, many schools, students who have no tech to integrate into their learning across not only the world but North America as well.)]

That kind of integration did not happen over night. That scene happened about a month into the school year. It was a result of daily lessons on different ways to respond to query (conversation, video response, written response…), on how to read a blog entry (the whole thing, not just skimming through and then asking – so what do we do?), and on how to work independently. Oh, and I had taught English to the same group of students the previous year as well.

What does learning look like in your classroom? Do you use techy tools? Is it any different than any other kind of student-directed learning, just using different tools?

August 29, 2010
Thanks for your help: learning more about tech (digital storytelling) in secondary classrooms

I’ve received quite a bit of response from my plea for help in organizing a workshop I’ve been asked to give on integrating technology into secondary classrooms (2 workshops, one in English one in French) – Thank you :)

I’ll be using Teaching is a Verb – Enseigner, C’est Agir to share information with the workshop participants. The workshops will mainly be centred around digital storytelling in the content areas – I figured this was the easiest way to address the task I was given, “Can you put together a workshop on integrating technology in the High School Language Arts, History, and Science classes? Oh, and can you do a second one for French teachers? Thanks.”

At this point I have a whole slew of online resources to offer the teachers and to help organize my thoughts on the matter. I found a great Firefox add-on called Send Tab URLs that helped me to make a list of the resources I’ve collected so far.

There are a few examples of teaching and student practice among these links so far. I’d love to find more! The more I can show my teachers the better. The teachers who will be participating are already interested in the topic so theory will be kept to a bare minimum, though I’ll be able to direct anyone who is interested to the blog I am creating for any theory they want (I love theory :)

What they want is to see what it looks like in a classroom. I can show them final products, I can show them where to go to find different applications, but what I need to show them is what it looks like. If anyone has any resources for that, I’ll love you forever :)

From Send Tab URLs (38 links)

– The View From Here: Teaching the New Writing – Book

http://kentmanning.blogspot.com/2009/07/teaching-new-writing-book.html

– Confessions of an Aca/Fan: Archives: How New Media is Transforming Storytelling: A New Video Series

http://henryjenkins.org/2010/08/how_new_media_is_transforming.html

– How to create …. – Digital Storytelling – Resources for assignments at University of Wollongong Library

http://uow.libguides.com/content.php?pid=82573&sid=612645

– Secondary Cycle Two

http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/sections/programmeFormation/secondaire2/index_en.asp?page=math

– Technology Tools

http://livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=22880

– ecole

http://www.robertbibeau.ca/ecole.html

– Tutoriel pour créer un montage vidéo avec Windows Movie Maker – TIC@le: TIC, langues et formation des enseignant(e)s

http://ticale.canalblog.com/archives/2010/03/27/17379912.html

– Inuktic

http://inuktic.qc.ca/

– Carrefour éducation

http://carrefour-education.qc.ca/accueil_secondaire

– Voicethread – FrankTechCamp2010

http://sites.google.com/a/franklinvillecsd.org/franktechcamp2010/voicethread

– Web 2.0 @ School – DigitalStorytelling

http://mcneice.wikispaces.com/DigitalStorytelling

– CogDogRoo – 50 Ways

http://cogdogroo.wikispaces.com/50+Ways

– USTREAM, You’re On. Free LIVE VIDEO Streaming, Online Broadcasts. Create webcasts, video chat, stream videos on the Internet. Live streaming videos, TV shows

http://www.ustream.tv/

– Your Brain on Computers – Studying the Brain Off the Grid, Professors Find Clarity – NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/technology/16brain.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&ref=general&src=me

– Professional blog | davidwees.com

http://davidwees.com/content/using-google-forms-choose-your-own-adventure-style-story

– Digital_storytelling_Kirsty_McGeoch_IATEFL_2009.pdf (application/pdf Object)

http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2009/sites/iatefl/files/session/documents/Digital_storytelling_Kirsty_McGeoch_IATEFL_2009.pdf

– Center for Digital Storytelling

http://www.storycenter.org/index1.html

– Technology integration

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/6673

– What motivates us to do good?

https://leadingfromtheheart.org/2010/01/18/what-motivates-us-to-do-good/

– edbuzz.org » Teacher Resources

http://edbuzz.org/teacher-resources/

– Aberth Digital Storytelling — digital storytelling, participatory media and easing access to mass media for public expression

http://www.aberth.com/blog/

– Seven things to Avoid when making a digital story

http://www.aberth.com/blog/seven-things-to-avoid-when-making-a-digital-story.html

– YouTube – spmath’s Channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/spmath#g/a

– What does exemplary technology infused Math instruction look like? (Middle & High School) | Welcome to NCS-Tech!

http://www.ncs-tech.org/?p=5850&cpage=1#comment-27740

– Alternative Assessment with VoiceThread

http://alalearning.org/2010/08/26/alternative-assessment-with-voicethread/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20ALALearning%20(ALA%20Learning%20Round%20Table)

– Google Forms for Assessment, Evaluation, and Reflection

http://alalearning.org/2010/05/17/google-forms-for-assessment-evaluation-and-reflection/

– Technology

http://alalearning.org/category/technology/

– VoiceThread as a Digital Portfolio « TeachingSagittarian

http://teachingsagittarian.com/2009/03/voicethread-as-a-digital-portfolio/

– Lightning Bug – Storyboarding

http://www.lightningbug.com.au/storyboarding/storyboarding.htm

– The Digital Narrative – Find your story

http://www.thedigitalnarrative.com/communityhp.htm

– N°482 – Le Web 2.0 et l’école – Le Cercle de Recherche et d’Action Pédagogiques et les Cahiers pédagogiques

http://www.cahiers-pedagogiques.com/spip.php?page=numero&id_article=6882

– Free Technology for Teachers: 140 New Things Being Tried In Classrooms This Fall

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/08/140-new-things-being-tried-in.html

– Free Technology for Teachers: Free Downloads

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/p/free-downloads.html

– Edmodo | Secure Social Learning Network for Teachers and Students

http://www.edmodo.com/

– Storytelling — It’s News!

http://www.storynet-advocacy.org/news/

– digitalstorytelling – home

http://digitalstorytelling.iste.wikispaces.net/

– digitalstoryca’s Bookmarks on Delicious

http://www.delicious.com/digitalstoryca

– monarchlibrary – digitalstorytelling

http://monarchlibrary.wikispaces.com/digitalstorytelling

August 27, 2010
Stop talking about classrooms that don’t work

This morning I read a thoughtful post about what ADD may or may not be. Despite the timeliness and depth of thought present in the article, I was stricken by one paragraph about the perils of classrooms on our children. How our young children today, so rife with creative potential, are doomed to a future of diagnosis and boredom because they will be subjected to school.

I was not only stricken but insulted.

Does all of the work that I and many of my colleagues have done over the past years have no bearing on the future of education? Do all of those teachers out there in schools all over the world who care about their children not count?

I feel we need to get beyond the system is broken kind of thinking and focus on what is working. We see what we look for and if we keep focusing on a broken system we will only succeed in creating more broken system.

Instead of creating a doomsday effect by telling ominous stories of the proliferation of ‘traditional’ classrooms that stifle creativity and connectivity, I prefer to point towards learning that does the opposite, learning that works and educators who ‘get it’.

George Couros
Michael Doyle
Lori Centerbar
Kevin Hodgson
Glenn Moses
Linda Clinton
Elona Hartjes
Darren Kuropatwa
Kelly Hines
Karen S.
Dea Conrad-Curry
Zac Chase
Angela Maiers
Chris Lehmann
Jose Vilson
MRW
Damian Bariexca
J. M. Holland

.
.
.

You get the point. There are good educators who foster good learning in good classrooms in good schools. I keep this in mind as I work towards hope for the future within (and without) the walls of my own school.

August 21, 2010
How to get them to speak the language they are learning?

(cross-posted at Enseigner, c’est agir – en français)

How do you get your students to speak French (or whatever the 2nd language is that they are learning) in class?

I am not interested in offering rewards. I don’t want to raise a group of trained seals who will do anything for a candy.

click image to view source

I think the answer lies somewhere in here:

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

in creating learning situations where they must speak the 2nd language in order to participate and where they will want to participate…

Have you been able to do this? Tell me your story!

August 1, 2010
Being human and classroom management
We are just about coming to the end of the classroom management section of my summer course (Teaching French as a 2nd Language). The more I learn about classroom management the more I realize that most of it is about being human and doing the right thing.

Strategies that arose in relation to managing a 2nd language classroom in a way that stimulates learning weren’t much different than strategies for any class:
- Provide clear expectations with consistent consequences
- Ensure a lot of visual stimuli around the room
- Respect where the student is coming from (in terms of culture, readiness, needs…)
- Ensure the availability of (French) documents and resources (from posters to books to brochures to maps to dictionaries)
- Promote the French culture (this could be a culture of math, science, literature…)
- Provide authentic learning situations that keep students engaged
- Provide alternate work spaces for students who need to move during the lesson
The one thing I’d say is different has to do with the nature of the emotional climate in the room – learning a 2nd language can be scary and stressful. It’s very much about performance in front of our peers and worries about being laughed at and ridiculed will take precedence over learning.

“We now understand that higher-level thinking is more likely to occur in the brain of a student who is emotionally secure than in the brain of a student who is scared, upset, anxious, or stressed.” (p. 461)
— Mawhinney, T., & Sagan, L. (2007) The Power of Personal
Relationships. Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 88, No. 06, 460-464. (pdf)

I’d say, however, that each subject probably has its own emotional climate to deal with. There are times as teachers that we act as containers for the emotion in the room, in the sense that we manage and contain student emotion so that they can continue with their learning. No wonder we are often so tired at the end of the day!

Do you think that classroom management is about being human and can transcend subject matter? Or do you think it is about something completely different? Does your subject have a specific nature that calls for specific management strategies?
July 16, 2010