Many times I have come across somethings which makes me feel like a bad teacher. I just read Carl Anderson's Conference Are Conversations and his statement, "I spent almost all of that first year standing in front of my classroom talking at my sixth graders, not with them." The floodgates opened with memories of my first years teaching came rushing back. What a 'blah' feeling. There are times today I feel like this is still occurring in my classroom.
As I read on in Carl's article, I felt more and more encouraged about my growth as a teacher. My relationship with students have certainly deepened over the years, and I would say that conferencing with students has helped with this. There are some students where a relationship is immediately developed just because of an outgoing nature of a student, but other student sometimes don't have s whole lot they want to share with a teacher. Having conferences definitely provides opportunities to learn more about a student and what values they have. Even though I know I have grown since my first years of teaching, I would like to take more opportunities to confer and build relationships with students.
My favorite animal is a turtle and it is reflected in how I can operate. Sometimes I wish I could put life on hold for a little and go away to a peaceful cabin to process all of this. Various inspirations will strike at times, and I get excited to play with the ideas: see where curricular connections can be made, reflect on current teachings, write out units with clear scope and sequence. Currently, I am inspired by some of the things learned from this writing cohort. Establishing solid writing units for the year actually excites me. However, as soon as I leave class reality hits I feel all the other obligations take away from or complete deflate that excitement. I've thought about upcoming weekends, the next holiday weekend, or days off during the summer only to find myself at the end of a break wondering why I wasn't able to find time. I need to remember that I am human and where I spend my time is important. Even if I can't create a perfect scope and sequence, I need to remember to take away what I can, and that it's okay to let some things go. What I took away from today, and what I would like to make time to focus on are relationships.
Reflecting on Peer Conferences
Digital Writing Project
The digital writing project has gone well. Initially, I was running into issues with finding the right video editor. My original hopes to use Adobe Premiere were dashed since I have a machine running Windows 7 and my copy really only works on XP. I found a trial version of the updated Premiere, on to see a test production have "Adobe Premiere Trial" burned across a produced piece. Finally I came across Pinnacle Studio 14. Good stuff and it provided me with the bells and whistles I wanted.
Next was in finding the images I wanted. It took a lot longer than I expected, and when stitched together, it wasn't as long as I predicted. Also the timing of everything didn't seem to settle in until I recorded the narration and then played with outline of all the media. I also used Power Point as may main storyboard to plan the layout of everything. I would say the only thing I would add or change is live video to mix within the pictures to help keep things moving. It can a nice reflective piece to have a picture show for a little longer, but if too long it feel a little stale.
The most fun I had was with the avitar website and the interactive Youtube portion of the video. It was also great to incorporate a lot of things I've already done with my classroom. In a way, Camp Ranamok exists in room 31 at Highlands Elementary.
Overall, I like the flow of everything and it really captures how I feel about technology. What surprised me, was the amount of work for a little under 5 minutes of video.
Collaborative Writing
There may be a lot of different uses for a wiki with writing, but I’m on the fence as to whether I would really dive into wikis. The only use I ever saw to fruition was in creating a classroom contract. Students would begin with a sentence already posted by the teacher and then add beliefs they thought were important. Think worked so well, we were able to have both fifth grade rooms get involved a help author a belief statement. To fully utilize a wiki, I would see it as a complete collection of thoughts and works, including a place to store files/student works. When we saw Elizabeth Boeser’s example wiki’s, I thought it was a wonderful way to study a book and a wonderful use of a wiki. I’m hesitant to think elementary students could take on the management and analysis/synthesis of such as project, but I have been surprised with what students are capable of.
Maybe my past experiences with wikis have tainted my view of their use, but collaborative writing can also take place via Google Documents. This summer I was part of a class where 10 of us worked on a word, and later a spreadsheet, simultaneously. It was great to see what people were coming up with as they typed it. One possible use is to have students work in groups on a jigsaw activity and then enter their information simultaneously on a Google Doc. Wiki’s are limited to one person at a time, and could lead to possible waste of time. For my “elementary” needs, I’m a Google Docs convert.
“Early bird special” The Eleventh Hour Blogger strikes before midnight.
What is digital story telling and literature? After seeing some examples, it seems to be a documentary of sorts encompassing many things. My favorite definition comes from the Center for Digital Storytelling and how they put it as “Every community has a memory of itself. Neither an archive nor an authoritative record ...but a living history, an awareness of a collective identity woven of a thousand stories.”
Digital story telling and literature is live poetry. It tells a story on so many different levels and stimulated senses. Catchy visual effect, auditory combinations of a man sharing a story with the sounds of ticking in the background are just some of the elements found. The ability to zoom into features, show the just right picture, transitions in to surprising pieces, and more are elements enticing and pulling the viewer in even more. I’m reminded of underground poetry joints, where people reflected and interacted with each other, but with a 21st century spin on it.
Digital storytelling and literature can be far removed from how a typical person may think of as storytelling. By now the Youtube image below got your attention. This digital storytelling video won first prize from the the Remix/Appropriation website given to us by our instructor. So, before you judge it based on the inital picture, just know that it blew my mind with how creative people can get. What seems like a typical MTVmusic video, X-Mas in NY City is really a collection of works already produced and creatively woven together.
Digital storytelling and literature is engagement. I related my earlier reflection to an underground poetry joint where people reflected and interacted. At first, I felt this was an interaction of sorts, but nothing compared to true connections with live people in front of you. I was then reminded of my brother-in-law who created one such group, MNKINO, http://mnkino.com/. This group explores digital storytelling, but with the goal to meet people, in person. Once again, there is harmony between the digital and real world.
What is digital storytelling and literature? A real/unreal life experience captured digitally and likely much much more.
Zax Outbax
“Digital is just another language like English, Spanish, or French. But remember, keep it real”
The Voicethread Process
The Eleventh Hour Blogger here. GOOD NEWS! You should now be able to post a comment on my blog. A couple of test runs later and I was able to post a test comment from my wife's computer.
Speaking of my wife, the Voicethread project was a great way to include her. As a new dad I love talking about our new little girl and how special my wife is. The Voicethread below includes some comments about two adventures we've gone on as a family.
I really liked using this kind of digital media and think it could be a great tool in the classroom. We saw an example in the digital media class of a second grader describing his drawing of a monster. Seeing and hearing what his thoughts were was amazing and captured way more than he could possibly in writing it out. I think some of my students who need encouragement to expand their thinking could really excel with this tool.
I did have a little frustration with being limited on time. Recording throught a computer microphone didn't really constrain me, but I tried the phone feature and was surprise how quickly the time was used us. If I would want my grandma to add some comments via phone, she would need to purchase some minutes. I need to look further into it, but I wonder if there is a way to have others use your account. At least this way I could purchase some credits my grandmother could use.
Mostly though, the use is very easy and straight forward. I have no doubts my 5th graders could do something like this. I also like how anything that could be photographed could be included and commented on. This would be great for reflective thinking about a project, presentation, or even sharing their thinking about steps to a math problem. The possibilities could be endless. I think I'll look at the next math unit to see what I could have some of my more advance student explain via Voicethread that other students could access anytime, even at home.
That's all for now, and remember, “Digital is just another language like English, Spanish, or French. But remember, keep it real”
Online Role Playing Reflection
Reflect on your experience participating in the ORP. What was one highlight and one lowlight of your experience?
Highlight was being able to really dive into the character and the fictional situations they may actually incur. Even though I couldn't take credit for some of the great things I blogged about, like the camp itself or geo caching, I felt like I was helping spread the awareness while looking like I could share the credit.
Low point was feeling the tension in some discussions. How could people really feel like that, but they are out there and I need to deal with it. It felt like they were looking to pick an argument and really did even read my entry.
Also, what new digital learning practices did you take up through your ORP experience? See list below to probe your thinking (From Jenkins page 4).
I would say that there didn't really seem to be any negotiation. It was almost like it was one side versus the other side. I did feel a little connection with someone who wanted to know more about what my camp did.
The play, performance, simulations, and appropriation was great. I thought it was masterful being able to use media out there already to back up beliefs stated. When I read another persons entry that wasn't backed up with something, I felt like it was just them on their soap box. All the links to studies complete, expert analysis, or some kind of news coverage made it feel like I wanted to learn more and not just tune out someone ranting.
As Zax Outback I learned that they are already people and organizations already out there. I never realized such things, but it was really great to feel more connected and aware of the world around me.