Module 11 - Reflection of Learning

EDU642 M11

Reflection of Learning/Putting it into practice – Toolbox use

As this course comes to a close, I appreciate the conclusion focusing on the importance of reflection.  I don' think I had ever been introduced to the Peter Pappas reflective model prior to this module, but I see great value in this taxonomy, for all educators.  We usually ask our students to take time for reflection on their work, and it is important to create the same habit for our own.  Looking at Pappas work, I was struck by what a productive tool this could be for use in teacher observation, by combining with self-reflection.  

I am a great fan of the quote used in the module overview podcast lecture: "Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes." - John Dewey.  This is something I was always trying to impart on my students, especially those with learning struggles. Too often, we associate failure as a negative, while it can actually be a much more powerful and lasting learning experience.   I used to have a sign (one I found on Pintrest) that hung above my desk, FAIL: First Attempt In Learning.  It was a reminder for myself, and my students, that failure is not the end.  

9-4 Our flat world

9-4 BLOG - Thoughts to Ponder This Week

·       Can making a connection locally help to establish a global connection?

·       How would you create a global connection that would relate to necessary curriculum standards?

·       How will connecting globally lead to authentic learning experiences?

Local connections can lead to establishing powerful global connections.  In the small town of Wolfeboro, my husband and I were fans of a local artist, Peter Ferber.  At a town gathering, we met Peter and his wife, Jeannie.  It turns out, Jeannie was developing an amazing program, Access to Ideas, bridging small town New Hampshire to some small villages in Russia.  Through shared interests and a desire to expose students to the world, Jeannie arranged for Nikolai Arzhannikov to meet with and speak with students in my husbands' grade 9 World Civilizations class.  

There are so many options for global connections related to curriculum standards today.  Communication is occurring across time zones and countries, using blogs, wikis, email, and other tools.  

I spent many years teaching at a boarding school, so my children were constantly meeting students from all over the world.  Often, we would have students live in our home during school vacations, rather than try to send them home all over the globe for less than a week.  When my daughter was in Kindergarten, we had a wonderful young man from Taichung, Taiwan staying with us.  My daughter (Abby) wanted to bring him (Kenith) to school for show and tell!  At first I laughed, then realized that in a small New Hampshire town, there were many students that may have never met someone from Asia. Kenith and I spoke about this, and he wanted to visit the Kindergarten class as much as Abby wanted to bring him.  He was very interested to see more levels of American schooling.  We made arrangements for Kenith to visit.  The class was so excited to meet him, and ask questions, that he returned for two more days to teach and learn from the class.  

Digital Storytelling

8-1 Animoto

Create a digital storytelling project tied to National Technology Standards as well as Common Core Standards using Animoto. Your project should be a minimum of two minutes in length. Include a link to your finished product in your blog.

*** Note - due to ever changing free trials - 30 second videos are now the the free trial limits on this site. 



Back in July of 2012, I created  my first ever animoto video, used to simply show how learning tools and technology have changed over time.  Click here to see this first adventure.  I was struck by the possibilities of using Animoto, or other digital story telling technology, to provide new opportunities in the classroom. 

During part of my EDU641 class, I was able to revisit Animoto for a combination storytelling presentation, comparing brick and mortar libraries to digital ones.  Click here to see the progression made, as my photos, narrative, and music where more carefully planned with the use of an organizational story board.  

If I were active in the classroom today, I would love to try to utilize digital story telling to actively try to engage my students in reading.  (This would most likely be used for grades 5-8, but could easily be adapted to older students too.)  Digital book trailers are an exciting way to teach students how to hook each other into a new reading adventure. 

In an interesting blog post, PR Notes: Book Trailer Software Demonstrated,  author Darcy Pattison shares a great link to The Book Trailer Manual, as well as her personal examples for The Wayfinder using various software.  In the examples, it is interesting to see just how different the creations can be using different tools.  The first video uses Animoto, the second uses You Tube.

Visit the pages of Teacher Librarian Michelle Harclerode, she shares a great infographic and links to plans that show how Digital Book Trailers are a great method for integrating Common Core Standards in the classroom. 

My own little attempt at a Book Trailer.

Google Apps

7-4 Blog: Google Apps

In your Blogger blog, reflect on the use of Google Apps in schools with students as well as professional development with other educators.

Visit my Google Glog

I remember sitting in a faculty meeting when our IT support asked for faculty volunteers to participate in using Gmail, and some other "interesting new ways of publishing" in the classroom.  I volunteered, and  began switching from a classroom using Microsoft Word to Google Docs.  Many of my peers laughed, stating that there was no possibility that a freeware publishing platform was going to bypass the gold standard of Word.  I laughed a few years later as the school switched over to Gmail for the entire school and started to prepare the faculty and staff of the the plan to phase out Office and introduce Google Apps and Moodle as the new classroom standards.  

One of the more effective developments I have seen for teachers and students using Google Apps is the development of ePortfolios.  Google Apps have allowed learners of all ages and levels to utilize ePortfolios as storage, workplace, and showcase in one simple and free platform.  

The options for collaboration using different Google Apps is amazing.  I have seen teachers and students share Docs with commenting and editing privileges to provide feedback with highly effective and timely feedback.  I have watched students collaborate on slide show presentations in the classroom together, and then working separately but in real time together at home, because of the almost universal access.  Creating quick classroom quizzes with Forms can help teachers stay alert to the pulse of the classroom.  

For some new users, the concept of sharing and collaborating online with these and other tools is exciting and inspiring.  My son, age 9, started writing stories and building drawings with his friends using Google Docs and Drawings this winter, just because they thought it would be cool to start working together online.  To me, that is a great reflection on the future of young students embracing technology.   

As Google continues to strengthen, develop, and offer more tools, I hope that many more educators and schools systems invest time into these resources.  These tools, or ones similar in nature, are used for many small businesses, and personal use; it only make good sense to prepare our students for using these too. 

FYI - A quick search will help anyone to see new and fun ways to include the Apps daily.  Ask the Gooru shared some great tips back in October:

http://www.googlegooru.com/26-tips-for-teaching-with-google-apps/

M5 - Social Networking Tools and Social Media

5-4 Blog: Social Networking

In your Blogger blog, outline the pros and cons associated with allowing social networking in schools. 

The infographic shared in the Devon Glenn article is interesting, though it focuses on colleges, so I'm not quite sure how must it transfers to K-12 education.  

So, I hunted online to find something more applicable to my own area, focusing on K-12 and discovered these:

First I this Printable Guide to Social Media  at EDTECH, and while it is designed for small business, much of the information is easily transferable to the classroom. 

Adoption Rates of New Styles of K-12 Teaching [Infographic]was created using data from 255 responses to a 2012 Styles of Learning Survey conducted by Enterasys, suggesting that google +, facebook, and twitter are the leading social media platforms being used in the classroom.

What are some "pros" for integrating social networking in schools?

• Well, it's engaging, and if we are being honest, too many students are getting bored in the classrooms because we are pulling out all the exciting and new technology, because of fears.  Engaged students are more likely to work and achieve success.   
• It is also important to recognize that if we don't start to use these tools in the classroom, and model appropriate use, we take a huge risk of allowing students to wander the social networking world without guidance.  After all, wasn't it the first generation of facebook users that got caught up in the problems of social media effecting their college and career aspirations due to poor photo choices for posts?  We didn't know enough to educate those students in time.  Now that we know, aren't we obligated to prepare them to make wiser choices?  
• Social networking develops collaborative skills in a manner that many students will use in the future.

What are some "cons" for integrating social networking in schools?

• It can be a distraction in class.  True, but so can anything, in a boring class, I was fully able to distract myself with a pencil and paper for the full hour when I was in high school.  We need to develop better classroom management strategies, and more engaging classrooms, not just cut out social networking.  
• Less human interaction.  This is a problem, one that we need to think about, we need to help teach students to find a balance between the cyber world and the real world.  
• Inappropriate use, as stated earlier, it is our job to teach appropriate usage.  Someone has to, and we can't leave that up to just parents.  

Aimee Hosler shares some of these opinions in her article 6 Pros & Cons of Social Media in the Classroom.

This blog post started me thinking about how long a social networking platform might need to be around before it is "accepted" in a school.  I remember first trying to use blogs while teaching an ESL summer school class in 2008, and now it is still viewed as a newer technology by some educators.  I discovered this interesting infographic on cloudtweaks:
Infographic: Social Media Evolution provided by ProhibitionPR
I wonder what we will be using a few more years down the road?  

M2 - Digital Citizenship

2-2 In your Blogger blog, reflect on your own digital footprint and personal thoughts on digital citizenship, as well as the necessity of teaching students about digital citizenship in school. Also, discuss your thoughts on an appropriate age of introduction to digital citizenship.

"Kids are growing up on a digital playground and no one is on recess duty."  
-@ Kevin Honeycutt

This was a quote that made me stop in my tracks, when I saw it on a Pintrest board. I felt it was a startling, yet accurate description of students in our schools today.

Personally, I have struggled with thoughts about digital citizenship for a long time, stemming from my teaching background in a tech-savvy private school where I learned to post, text, and surf the net side-by-side with my students.  As a "in loco parentis" I was friends with students and their parents on Facebook when I first joined, and used it as a tool to monitor (and try to prevent) poor choices made by my high school students.  At first this was applauded by administrators, as time went on, friending students and parents grew to be a taboo.  I don't even want to think about how many images I "stole" online, with digital screen shots, before I learned that it was a copyright issue!  

With so many aspects of digital citizenship, we are all wandering in an unmonitored playground, hoping we are making the right choices as we all grow and develop. This experience made me feel that the digital citizenship of a teacher, like personal life, should be somewhat transparent: modeling acceptable, yet realistic, behavior, learning from our mistakes, and helping set positive expectations for the community.  Live, learn, and grow.  It is also important to be aware of what we post, and the misinformation that might be linked to us as posted by others.  

I found a great resource for digital citizens of all ages when visiting the Northern Gateway Digital Citizenship site, I liked that it was set up for students of various ages, parents, and teachers.  As the parent of a 9 year old, and an 11 year old, I want them to learn early, what the digital citizenship expectations are.  I always like the comment, "don't do anything that would make you embarrassed to show your Grammy" - that applies for sites visited, comments posted, and information shared. 

We are all growing and developing in an exciting, sometimes terrifying, information age.  We are learning to be responsible digital citizens as we shape this new frontier.