How do we help our students effectively gather, synthesize and transform information using digital resources?
Researching using the internet is hard for students, there is just too much information that is not at their reading level. Learning how to research, what key words or phrases to put into the search engines is a whole process in itself - let alone learning how to pull key facts from that information and not just copy and paste. I do a lot of modeling of how to pull important information. We start with me talking through my thinking process for the first activity and then during the second time do the process again as a whole class. Then the students work through an assignment on their own. If the project lends itself to it I post or link websites that I want the students to use.
Who owns the information on the web? - we all do but we need to cite our sources and not claim it as our own. Everyone 'owns' it, but how we use it is important and becomes part of the teaching process about digital citizenship. I have read some articles that specifically discuss Wikis and how people who create wikis and invite others to edit it have to come to terms with the idea that we all in a sense own it. But I will say it again - when we take something off the web we need to cite our sources, we cannot claim that we 'thought' up that information, like using a textbook. We see it as different though because it is so fluid, as opposed to a textbook which is set in stone - printed, published, etc. We do need to be responsible - we need to look at what we are finding, why it was posted - the purpose, and use it ethically.
What resources can I use and how can I use them in a wired classroom?
so many resources on the internet as well as using projectors, SmartBoard, cameras, etc.
What I am still looking for is great leveled material about one topic - material that my ESL students can understand, and material about the same topic that my students at grade level can understand and be challenged by.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
the unexpected
When I created my new website at the beginning of the school year on webs.com I never imagined some of the results. I set out to use the 'wiki' to have students not only collaborate, but also provide feedback on our writing to make us better writers. Well . . . because the wiki requires members, and the web site allows for comments, 'blogging', the students have created a classroom community on line. They not only communicate with each other, but have emailed me more and posted comments to me regarding homework, errors in the calendar or just to let me know if they are coming in early to work. Without prompting, they went to the Forums page and started to comment on a discussion I posted. I was just getting ready for the next week, and some students noticed it on the weekend and started to add their voice. I am loving the positive energy this website is creating. A safe place for my class to 'chat' with each other - about school, about other kid stuff. If you had asked me about this at the beginning of the year I would have said that I would discourage the use of the website for this use, but now after I see some of the results - what can I say. I don't think it would have work as well if I had tried to make this online community happen. Then again who knows.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Popular Culture in the Classroom?
Should we use popular culture in the classroom - why or why not?
For students to connect to what they are learning and engage in learning they need to be interested in the subject. So if it is relevant or can be made relevant I think that yes we should use popular culture in the classroom. Unfortunately my knowledge about what the students listen too or think is popular is limited and I would need to educate myself or have the students educate me before I could use it in the classroom. I find that students who say they don't remember information that has been taught, have no problem giving me a blow by blow account of the games they play on the computer or stats for sports players, or all the words of the songs they like. If teachers can tap and make what they are interested in relevant to the classroom - make learning meaningful - we should. This does mean throw out the curriculum - it means extend it. Of course we need to preview what we show the students and have a purpose behind it - to educate.
After - Katy Perry and Sesame Street
I still think using popular culture in the classroom can be educational and engaging - again what is the purpose for bringing it in, and yes we should teach students to think about what they see and read. The purpose behind the media - if it is a commercial - discuss the techniques of advertising, if it is a newspaper article discuss the reporters bias, the readers bias, etc. Teachable moments. They are exposed to a lot of information, our job is to educate them to think about the information. Even our textbooks are biased, from the writers point of view, websites are biased, we bring our life experiences into what we do. We need to teach the skills of being critical thinkers.
For students to connect to what they are learning and engage in learning they need to be interested in the subject. So if it is relevant or can be made relevant I think that yes we should use popular culture in the classroom. Unfortunately my knowledge about what the students listen too or think is popular is limited and I would need to educate myself or have the students educate me before I could use it in the classroom. I find that students who say they don't remember information that has been taught, have no problem giving me a blow by blow account of the games they play on the computer or stats for sports players, or all the words of the songs they like. If teachers can tap and make what they are interested in relevant to the classroom - make learning meaningful - we should. This does mean throw out the curriculum - it means extend it. Of course we need to preview what we show the students and have a purpose behind it - to educate.
After - Katy Perry and Sesame Street
I still think using popular culture in the classroom can be educational and engaging - again what is the purpose for bringing it in, and yes we should teach students to think about what they see and read. The purpose behind the media - if it is a commercial - discuss the techniques of advertising, if it is a newspaper article discuss the reporters bias, the readers bias, etc. Teachable moments. They are exposed to a lot of information, our job is to educate them to think about the information. Even our textbooks are biased, from the writers point of view, websites are biased, we bring our life experiences into what we do. We need to teach the skills of being critical thinkers.
Wiki, wiki, wiki
Today I had 13 of my students sign up to be apart of the classroom wiki. This was suppose to be a quick thing and then they were to move on to the next part of the assignment. But I forgot how much fun it is to play - adding a picture, chatting with friends via the members page - even though the friends are right next to you. The students who didn't yet have an email address to sign up were disappointed and felt left out.
Learning experience - next time I will make sure to get the district emails earlier so that all the students can sign up at the same time on the same day.
As to having to repeat the instructions 3, 4, 10 times - well kids are kids - even if I outlined it on a sheet or did it step by step I would still have some that do not fully listen:)
Learning experience - next time I will make sure to get the district emails earlier so that all the students can sign up at the same time on the same day.
As to having to repeat the instructions 3, 4, 10 times - well kids are kids - even if I outlined it on a sheet or did it step by step I would still have some that do not fully listen:)
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