Privacy, Please

With all the other communication options out there, it's a wonder that blogging still exists.

In many ways, Twitter and Facebook have dominated the market for communication between us and our vast number of friends.  These tools allow us to express our feelings about the latest news in our lives and broadcast them to a huge audience of, theoretically, people who care about us.

Blogging differs only insomuch as there is an expectation that you will write more than a couple of sentences.  Also, it is a medium for which you can choose to be anonymous...although one could argue as to the effectiveness of this (since most of you reading this know who I am).  I think that blogging is the best (and maybe only) tool online that is most similar to keeping a journal.  My only huff is that I wouldn't want people snooping around in my journals...so why would I want them to read my blog?

Nevertheless, blogs, along with all the other technological fancies we've used this quarter, are yet another tool for us evaluate whether we want to pursue or not.  Certainly, as teachers, blogging does enable us to become one step closer to forming a professional community.  However, I think that there are more effective tools that we could use to form that professional alliance, maybe even wikis or a simple discussion forum platform.

Somehow, despite these months of writing publicly, I still feel that the words here ought to be more private.  I suppose that's why Blogger gives you the option of customizing your audience.

Solitude - Parachilna Gorge

Solitude - Parachilna Gorge
Originally uploaded by Georgie Sharp

Why are we stuck with using textbooks as our only classroom resource? Look at the vast amount of information in this photograph! Students could learn about a different country, weather, land formation, biology, and virtually anything else to do with the environment, not to mention how the exquisite artistic element of photography will most likely engage students so much more than a textbook.

Literacy Blog 5: Increasing Efficiency

Many of us have been blogging about time management.  It seems that there are not enough hours in the school day to accomplish all of the teaching and learning necessary!  I like Routman's suggestions in Chapter 9.  Conferencing is a wonderful tool to enhance learning and she has so many suggestions for ways to make conferencing time-efficient (see page 213).

One interesting point she makes is that we (teachers) should write suggestions for our students.  I've seen many teachers emphasize the need for students to copy work into their own journals.  I wonder if this is an effective way for the students to learn the material.  After all, if they aren't subsequently taught study strategies, then what are they going to do with the information they took precious time to copy down?

The expert teacher will apply Routman's recommendation that we teach and demonstrate on the spot.  I think that the swift and seamless integration of activities and being prepared to teach new concepts as they arise in discussion are very important skills to have.  I hope to have more time to practice this in my student teaching.

My favorite one of Routman's suggestions is to prepare students for the ensuing activity.  By preparing students for the task(s) ahead, they get to practice planning and organization skills.  They are held responsible for having the proper materials available (their pencil, journals, rough drafts, etc.) so that transition time between activities is minimized.  Also, students can spend their brainpower thinking about the day(s) ahead instead of moving through school task by task, disjointed lessons that may or may not seem to have a rhyme or reason.  I will definitely take this bit of advice to the classroom.  We need to give students the opportunity to practice preparing for the future!

What's even more fantastic about making processes time-efficient is that the students stay engaged because the process is less boring.  There is significantly less down time/wait time where we need to wait for the whole class to reach a checkpoint.  If we can expedite processes without detracting from the learning, shouldn't we do so?  Think of all the other engaging learning experiences we can bring to the classroom with all the time saved! 

Popularity

This is to all my girls who were singing songs from musicals earlier this week:



Ahhh, the middle school years can be so difficult!  Who doesn't want to be popular?  It's amazing the variety of extremes that adolescents will go to in order to gain this esteem.  As teachers, we need to be conscientious of the ways that our middle schoolers are trying to gain this "respect" from their peers.  From what I've seen, one of the most horrendous things a middle school teacher can do is embarrass a student in front of the rest of the class.  And the only way we're going to succeed in not embarrassing them is to know what each of our students values in their peer relations.

Making Decisions: Considering Legal Issues

The other night, I was listening to some Intelligence for Life on the radio.  They were talking about how we have  to be extra conscious about the photos that we post on the internet.  This may seem like a no-brainer, but the example they gave made me recalibrate my thinking. 

The radio program gave the example of a doting parent wanting to share pictures of their baby with their friends.  If they were to post a cute picture of their baby splashing in the tub on a site such as Picasa, they might find themselves faced with charges for distribution of child pornography.  Obviously, the doting parent had no intention of committing such a heinous act, but in this world of digital document distribution, we must rethink the way that others interpret our actions.

When we hear stories of teachers being charged for any sort of wrong action or behavior I wonder whether they were aware of the legal issues behind their choice.  Given, some of the messes that these teachers find themselves tangled in are probably regretted, blatant errors in judgment.  However, there must be many situations that do not present themselves as obvious, wrong choices...like sharing your cute baby pictures with friends on the internet!

Literacy Blog 4: The Right to Write

As I sit down to write my post, it strikes me as ironic that I feel completely uninspired by this week's readings.  Why, I ask myself over and over again, do I find Lamott so offensive?  Here's what I've deduced:

Lamott is obviously a strong writer.  Her book is a national bestseller, her advice is proven true, her examples are quirky anecdotes from her own life experience.  What else could a reader possibly ask for?  A writing style that the reader is aching to mimic, empathy that shows the reader that his or her life's challenges are understood and cared about, exemplar choices of words that challenge the reader's intellect, or simply a fantastical story that whisks the reader far from the mundanities of everyday life.  Is that so much to ask for?

Well, yes.  And I think that this may be one of the most important notions in teaching literature.  We teachers have been inspired by works of writing since...well...since before we can even remember.  The challenge we face is convincing our students that the literature we are having them read and analyze is worth their time and brainpower.  While one choice we could make is to find a way to translate our enthusiam into a convincing argument for studying the text, the other option we could take is to step out of our personal-opinion-box and see the literature with fresh eyes, from the view of our students.  In either case, we must find ourselves reevaluating our perception of good literature in order to provide our students with the rich boundlessness of literature that they deserve -- literature that is meaningful to them.

Speaking of which, how can we expect our students to grow into literate adults when they do not have access to materials that develop literacy?  Books are not cheap.  Although many are readily available at the library, have we taken into account other factors such as the cost and availability of transportation to get to the library? 

There is a website (and there are probably others, too) that is dedicated to donating money to promote literacy.  All we have to do is click a button once a day and sponsors will donate money to buy books or other literacy tools (such as computers).  You can visit the site by clicking here.  Isn't it astounding how little effort it takes each of us to provide such a wonderful gift to people across our nation?

So, back to Lamott.  Just as we want our students to write in a way that is purposeful for their own development as individuals, I must honor Lamott's choice to express herself in a way that brings meaning to her own consciousness.  Although I find none of the four admirable qualities stated above in her writing, I realize that it is my own pair of good-literature goggles that I am peering through, and I have yet to relieve myself of this filter which mars my ability to make her writing meaningful to me. 

I undeniably need to work on this.  I also know that this will be an arduous task, with perhaps only a small chance of success (due to my evident stubbornness on this particular subject).  How do we make sure our students do not wage the same war that I am fighting now?  Will their lack of an established stance on literature magnify the consequences for them?  While we are all developing as readers and writers, our students should be progressing through this at a far greater rate.  How do we make sure that they are studying meaningful literature that nurtures this growth?

Techie-Trekkies

Isn't it absolutely astounding how we, the young generation of tomorrow, are engulfed in the finite details of the modern technological age?  Where is the line drawn between gorging ourselves on the tools at our disposal and retaining our privacy?

Every new generation of technology makes older ones more accessible.  Example: the latest model of iPhone may be ghastly expensive, making one that is 1 generation older now affordable.

Everything is becoming digitized; which is probably a good thing.  But, is it entirely a good thing to not retain a hard copy of data?  What happens to businesses?  When will the internet, remote-servers, networks, hard-drives, etc. become so reliable that we switch entirely over to electronic record-safekeeping?

Key word: safekeeping.  How private are remote servers, or "cloud-computing" practices?  For me, this is one of the most intriguing tech topics that is emerging (alternately, if you're in the tech world, this is old news).  Do we trust that a third party will keep our secrets secret?  How can they?

Technology runs every aspect of our lives.  In fact, we have become so symbiotic with tech that we have no control over how it impacts our lives.  Think about the medical field (automation and tools) and engineering feats (drawings, structural calculations); there's no way we're ever going back to the days of guess-and-check and multiple assistants, blueprints and algebraic scrawls.

That's all been left in the dust.  Where do we stand now?

Literacy Week 3: Writing Woes and Wonders

Let’s employ some of Lamott’s teachings.  I am going to “throw” my thoughts onto this page as they arise.  I have never viewed writing the way that she is describing.  However, I am forced to admit that if I had been taught the tips and tribulations that she expresses about writing, I would probably have enjoyed the process significantly more.

The way I was taught to write was a very systematic process.  We were told to use the four-square method for developing stories, brainstorm webs to generate ideas, and include X number of sources in our reports.  We were graded on the entire process, our rough drafts always under critique.  I felt compelled to follow the rubrics precisely.  As a result, I failed to create reflective, thought-provoking pieces of writing.  I could not journal; since it did not involve a complex order of operations from start to finish.  I could not write the way my favorite authors wrote.  I wanted so desperately to burst out of this conformist shell and say the things I wanted to say.

Writer’s Workshop has many elements of Lamott’s writing philosophies incorporated into it; of course, they are presented in drastically different ways.  For example, in the unit on writing fiction, the Writer’s Workshop method dedicates the opening lessons to guided reflection on one’s own life and the little moments that we have experienced.  The emphasis is on how fiction is derived from our own experiences, and is not an entirely conjured-up story that we’ve pulled from thin air.  In this way, writers learn to use inspiration from all around them and make their characters, settings, dialogues, etc. as realistic, believable, and relatable as possible. 

I think this is a superb method, and aligns well with Lamott’s concept of looking through the 1-inch frame.  Writers should focus on the things right in front of them and paint (with words) the images that they see.  Then, they can compile all of these vivid snippets into a sequence and elaborate their story from there.  I enjoy Lamott’s analogy of the development of a story to the development of a Polaroid.  As authors, we unfold our stories from a single thought.  Gradually, we reveal more to the reader, taking them along on this journey of discovery with us.  There is no need to write everything into the introduction, as many students are wont to do.  We should develop our story piece by piece, with the anticipation and excitement of wanting to know what happens next.

A struggle that I am having with the Writer’s Workshop curriculum is the theory that no one except the author has the right to write on their own paper.  On one hand, this method develops a sense of ownership; making changes is at the author’s discretion, they do not have to abide by other people’s suggestions/edits/revisions.  However, a huge part of the writing process is being able to obtain critique from readers and put yourself in your reader’s shoes.  Given, you should never have to make a change to your writing that you vehemently do not believe in; however, you should value and take time to consider what others have to say.  The fact that Writer’s Workshop conducts peer reviews using wads of Post-it Notes turns valuable insight into discardable (recyclable?), haphazard comments.

Literacy Week 2: Viscose Vernacular

Being a complete beginner in the area of literacy teaching, I found this week’s reading incredibly informational.  Astoundingly, it’s not that I wasn’t aware of the concepts behind phonics teaching, but rather, the text provided explanations for the literacy teaching methods that I received in my own schooling. 

One of the most intriguing tidbits of literacy learning is how much is natural to us.  Fox says that literacy skills such as rhyming actually develop naturally in children.  However, she also says that the consciousness of rhyme is not as helpful in developing literacy as other phonemic skills.  If a development is “natural” because it originates from spoken words, then phonics education does indeed seem to be the best means to an end (literacy) because it translates spoken word into written.  Phonics assigns characters to sounds that we already know from speech.  Does the high exposure to rhyming words in children’s books aid in our phonemic development or detract us from developing other phonics skills?  I am very curious to conduct the Emergent Literacy Profile and see how the child’s skills link to the theories in this text.

Phonics education also begs the question as to the linear nature of literacy learning.  Fox notes that many states complete formal phonics education in 2^nd grade.  This means that those 3^rd-graders and up who don’t know phonics will not have the opportunity to formally learn the concepts.  She says that phonics is a tool for building reading fluency, which then leads to a stronger vocabulary and better comprehension.  For those who did not formally learn phonics, what is the impact (if any) of learning phonics, developing vocabulary, and practicing reading/writing out of order? 

(On a side note, I wonder if the linear nature of literacy education lends an explanation for the reason younger children learn new languages with ease.)

It is also interesting to review student’s work and figure out where they correspond with and diverge from the theories on literacy education.  How do teachers of older students figure out how to fill in the gaps in their students’ knowledge so that they can all become better readers, writers, and communicators? 

When I was in grade school, I never thought of phonics as a tool for building comprehension.  I always thought its sole purpose was to help us sound-out words for spelling.  Now that I am revisiting the concepts behind the use of phonics to develop word identification skills, I see how phonics lays a foundation for an entire chain of events leading to literacy.

Online Learning :-D

The Gate's Foundation is spending millions to conduct research surrounding online learning:

The Seattle Times: Gates Foundation launches $20M effort to improve online college instruction

Have you ever taken an online course?  What did you think about the experience?  How did you learn?

I'm curious because I've only taken a couple of online courses; one was simply OK, but the other was a fantastic learning experience!  What elements do you think separate tedious online courses from engaging ones?


Keep in mind that there is a "new" movement of K-12 online schooling that provides free, public education to students who want/register for it.  I know a few people who are in this program, and they think it resolves many of the issues (mostly social) that standard public schools have.

Literacy Week 1: Reviving Read-Aloud

I am puzzled with the unending dilemma of the effectiveness of curricula when taught by teachers who feel they are not trained to teach that curricula.  On one hand, teachers are required/encouraged to attend training sessions to learn how to effectively teach the given curriculum.  However, this training, which lasts 1 or 2 days, is never enough.  Not only do these training sessions usually only give a very broad overview of the curriculum materials and “how to use” the teacher’s guide, they often bore with information that teachers could readily find and learn themselves.  The trainings are not personal, since many teachers (from the whole district) receive training at the same time.  Most critically, though, many training sessions fail to give teachers a comprehensive understanding behind the theories of the method.  What happens when teachers leave the training session without the confidence to execute the curriculum effectively?  They end up trying the curriculum for the first time, in the classroom, and working the kinks out as they go.  This cannot be good for our students.

From the article we read for class, read aloud sounds like a wonderfully effective way for students to engage with their learning.  The read-aloud environment promotes inquiry and discussion of various topics.  It also is simply entertaining, drawing the students into the subject(s) being taught, and provides a different medium for students to learn.  Most uniquely, read aloud gives the teacher a chance to enhance the curriculum so that his/her students feel that their schooling is important and relevant in their lives.  Read-aloud is a tool that makes learning more meaningful.

So, how do we classify the various Language Arts curricula that include read-aloud texts?  Do these fall under the less-flexible category of “supplied curriculum”, or can they be modified such that students feel that they are invested in their learning?  For example, many writing curricula provide texts for teachers to read aloud as examples of elements of writing.  However, although these are good examples of the writing skills that we want students to learn, the texts are not chosen by the students (based on student-interest), the students may or may not be encouraged to interact with the text (inquiring before, during, and after the read-aloud), and the “modeling” approach to teaching writing may constrain many students (their voice, fluency, and creativity are stifled).  Thus, many of the foreseeable benefits to read-aloud disappear when the process becomes dictated by a given curriculum.  How can we modify these types of curricula so that read-aloud materials are transformed into effective tools that students become engaged in?  How can we make use of the curricula given to us and still ensure that students feel they have a personal investment in the texts and their learning?

I (heart) sing-along!

One of the great advantages of being literate:

Testing...1...2...3...!

This is a trial post to make sure all of my settings are sublime.