Not as much a resource today, but thoughts on my mind. Something to "Think Twice" about. Social Networking is changing the landscape and nature of the average teenager and therefore is changing education. Social Networking is opening the door to more and more ideas, concepts, resources, people, and knowledge that educators SHOULD share with their students, and districts should allow their teachers to use. It seems as though Social Networking and Web 2.0 are stuck behind the dam that is fear, and those that want to inegrate the technology into their classrooms, are picking at the dam with a screw driver hoping for it to crack and flood schools with these valuable resources.
It seems in education we are always fighting for or against change. Change in how we teach, what we teach, when we teach, who we teach, and even why we teach. What is interesting is that you can respond to all this with one simple statement - "For The Students." It is why we do what we do. It is why we fight change we hate, and embrace change we love; because as educators we know what is best for our students in our schools. In my opinion what is best for our students right now, with this generation, is embracing Web 2.0 and Social Networking...as learning tools.
Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Social Bookmarking, Blogging, Wikis, etc. These are great Social tools. These are great Networking Tools. These are great Educational Tools. What they really are is the next phase in education..."Social Networking With Your Students"
I use Twitter to be educated and informed. Shouldn't students be using it for the same purposes? Sure they will use it socially, but part of our job is to get them to see how it can be used professionally and encourage the use in that manner. I use Facebook, in part to stay in contact with students who have graduated, but also be a professional reference for them as they grow older (I get messages monthly: "Hey Mr. Zimmer, I listed you as a reference on a job application - How would I know that without our professional student-teacher relationship on Facebook?). I always told my kids that when they are 35 I would still be Mr. Zimmer or Coach Zimmer.
Facebook at the same time could be used professionally by schools and districts; a place to share stories and announcements about your school or district. Parents generally feel out of the loop as their children get older through the educational system. I often wonder the percentage of parents that have Facebook...has to be over 50%...easily.
Facebook could be a place for students to share ideas. Just recently we had a student create a MacBeth Facebook Fan Page for her project. Imagine the possiblities....Fan Pages all over Facebook over historical people, events, places, books, etc...all created by high school students with an edcuational purpose. Imagine hundreds/thousands joining this page. Sure beats a posterboard!
MySpace started out as a place to share music...why not let it be that way for students. Encourage students to create and share music online. Quite a few famous musicians were discovered because of their MySpace page. Our students are creative. Many students want to share their own ideas and knowledge about the world and life. As educators we should be encouraging this free expression through blogging and Wiki's. We don't have to know how to use it. They will figure it out...but we need to share the idea and concept with them!
Integrating this technology will always fall back on the teachers. The handling of the technology will always fall back on the teachers. Teachers, Administrators, and myself get worried more about the 5% who will abuse the technology negatively, then the 95% that will use the technology positively. But I have glossed over vision. I see the positive before I see the negative. Part of the solution is to constently share the good that students do with the technology, so that when a student negatively does use the technology, schools and districts have way more positives to share and overshadow the negativity and that Social Networking With Your Students is worth the fear and "risk." Especially if your district can develop policies that encourage and enhance their use in safe and productive ways.
So "Think Twice" about Social Networking With Your Students. I know I am. What about you?
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Two Activities Ideas - One with Tech, One Without
Tech Activity
As part of the guidelines for teachers at my school to receive technology equipment they have to create a blog or message board for their students to respond too. The issue is trying to get teachers to not see this as "just another thing we have to do" but an opportunity to provide for them. You constantly hear teachers saying I don't have time. Well, our students do have time, and lets make them use that time to help us.
So I challeneged our Math teachers who I am working with this trimester to create a Blog Post or a Message Board and have their students find a website that has tutorials, resources, videos, blogs, wikis, lessons, and/or acitivites related to what THEY are teaching that they can use in their classroom. The catch was that no student could repeat any website already submitted. This requires students to HAVE to read other students post and view the webpages other students had submitted. It also will make students want to work on the assignment so that they are not last and having to search harder for material. Our Math teachers are always saying that a lot of what they find on the Internet deals with K-8 Math. If that is the case, let your students see what they can find.
The students assignment is to post the URL, describe the website, and then comment on a resource or aspect of the website that they have used or could use in their classroom. Our teachers then will have math resources at their finger tips, and our teachers did very little of the leg work!
Non Tech Activity - 5 Finger Discount
A big movement in education is the idea of Exit Slips. Have your students draw their hand and on the hand they write 5 things from that days lesson, or even 5 things from the unit that they have learned. The top 5 students with the best 5 fingers receive a discount on their test...meaning if they miss a question you don't count it against them. Of course you can change the number of questions they get credit for, or even per finger if you want. You could also keep a tally and give students bonus points at the end of the grading period. How you use it is up to you. But most teenagers are aware of the terminology of "5 Finger Discount" so just announcing it in the classroom will catch their attention and it will probably be something they end up looking forward too. It also creates competition.
You could even take the information from the hands to create a test, quiz or an assignment. Use it how you can adapt it to your classroom, but if by chance a student does not have 5 fingers, make a drawing of your own hand and have it "handy" just in case....you never know. You have to meet the individual needs of your students.
As part of the guidelines for teachers at my school to receive technology equipment they have to create a blog or message board for their students to respond too. The issue is trying to get teachers to not see this as "just another thing we have to do" but an opportunity to provide for them. You constantly hear teachers saying I don't have time. Well, our students do have time, and lets make them use that time to help us.
So I challeneged our Math teachers who I am working with this trimester to create a Blog Post or a Message Board and have their students find a website that has tutorials, resources, videos, blogs, wikis, lessons, and/or acitivites related to what THEY are teaching that they can use in their classroom. The catch was that no student could repeat any website already submitted. This requires students to HAVE to read other students post and view the webpages other students had submitted. It also will make students want to work on the assignment so that they are not last and having to search harder for material. Our Math teachers are always saying that a lot of what they find on the Internet deals with K-8 Math. If that is the case, let your students see what they can find.
The students assignment is to post the URL, describe the website, and then comment on a resource or aspect of the website that they have used or could use in their classroom. Our teachers then will have math resources at their finger tips, and our teachers did very little of the leg work!
Non Tech Activity - 5 Finger Discount
A big movement in education is the idea of Exit Slips. Have your students draw their hand and on the hand they write 5 things from that days lesson, or even 5 things from the unit that they have learned. The top 5 students with the best 5 fingers receive a discount on their test...meaning if they miss a question you don't count it against them. Of course you can change the number of questions they get credit for, or even per finger if you want. You could also keep a tally and give students bonus points at the end of the grading period. How you use it is up to you. But most teenagers are aware of the terminology of "5 Finger Discount" so just announcing it in the classroom will catch their attention and it will probably be something they end up looking forward too. It also creates competition.
You could even take the information from the hands to create a test, quiz or an assignment. Use it how you can adapt it to your classroom, but if by chance a student does not have 5 fingers, make a drawing of your own hand and have it "handy" just in case....you never know. You have to meet the individual needs of your students.
Wednesday Wiki #2 - Open Thinking Wiki
The Open Thinking Wiki is the creation of Dr. Alec Couros, who is the ICT Coordinator of the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina in Canada. The purpose of the Wiki is to compile resources for the courses that he teaches. There are categories that are useful to all educators: Digital Story Telling, CyberBullying, Digitial Citizenship, Videos, Emerging Technologies, etc.
I was introduced to the site via Twitter, but the site I was given a link to was the information on Digital Story Telling. A great resource for understanding the importance of DST in education, but also links to resources for using DST in your classroom as well as samples of other DST's that people and students have created. There are several that I thoroughly enjoyed watching, but I suggest that you look through and find the ones that interest you.
When trying to return to the home page for the Wiki, I was actually taken to another Wiki. It appears to be the Wiki for the course that he teaches at Regina University. It is worth looking at as well for information regarding Social Media and Open Education. The video on the front page is worth viewing....seems to be the feeling of a lot of teachers in education. Seems like an interesting course as well. Seeing the Syllabus on a Wiki like this provides me a great idea for trying to get teachers to do the same thing at our school. Creating on Word and uploading to a website is so 2008!
An informative Wiki, but also a Wiki that provides inspiration and ideas for how you could use a Wiki in your own classroom.
I found myself after school the other day watching many of the videos posted on this Wiki.
I was introduced to the site via Twitter, but the site I was given a link to was the information on Digital Story Telling. A great resource for understanding the importance of DST in education, but also links to resources for using DST in your classroom as well as samples of other DST's that people and students have created. There are several that I thoroughly enjoyed watching, but I suggest that you look through and find the ones that interest you.
When trying to return to the home page for the Wiki, I was actually taken to another Wiki. It appears to be the Wiki for the course that he teaches at Regina University. It is worth looking at as well for information regarding Social Media and Open Education. The video on the front page is worth viewing....seems to be the feeling of a lot of teachers in education. Seems like an interesting course as well. Seeing the Syllabus on a Wiki like this provides me a great idea for trying to get teachers to do the same thing at our school. Creating on Word and uploading to a website is so 2008!
An informative Wiki, but also a Wiki that provides inspiration and ideas for how you could use a Wiki in your own classroom.
I found myself after school the other day watching many of the videos posted on this Wiki.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
The Hero Factory
I was introduced to The Hero Factory by a fellow co-worker. It is a website where visitors can create their own version of a Super Hero. Now, my first thought was big deal. Then she told me that students could use the hero that they created to write a story about their hero. Not a bad idea. But lets not stop there...so I started brainstorming....
1. Choose whether your hero is male or female
2. Choose facial characteristics - Hair, Eyes, Facial Hair
3. Choose your Upper Body Look - Shirts, Arms, Accessories, Emblems
4. Choose your Lower Body - Legs and Belt
5 Choose your Colors - Skin, Hair, Primary, Secondary, Detail
6. Choose your Abilities - Skin and Weapons (I wish their was more here, but there is not)
Click Finish and it Generates a Front Page of a Comic Book and a Name for your hero (Mine was rather simple...lacked any flare). You can then Make Another, Print it, or Download it to a JPG....see mine below!
What ideas do you have for using The Hero Factory in your classroom?
- Write a Poem about their Hero
- Create a math word problem using the Hero in the problem and the solution
- History teachers could have students create a biography of the hero based on historical events
- Geography teachers could have students create a map of the where the hero travels
- Economics teachers could have students write about the impact a Super Hero might have on the Economy.
- Sociology Teachers could use this website when they discuss heros and who our heros our
- Science teachers could talk about the scientific probablities of certain super hero powers
- Foreign Lanugage teachers could create a Super Hero and then create a story line for their hero in the language they are studying
- Business and marketing teachers could have students create a resume for their hero
- Create a massive story within your class using the students hereos. You could use Storybird or think of it like the game of telephone, but each student has to use their hero in their line of the story.
1. Choose whether your hero is male or female
2. Choose facial characteristics - Hair, Eyes, Facial Hair
3. Choose your Upper Body Look - Shirts, Arms, Accessories, Emblems
4. Choose your Lower Body - Legs and Belt
5 Choose your Colors - Skin, Hair, Primary, Secondary, Detail
6. Choose your Abilities - Skin and Weapons (I wish their was more here, but there is not)
Click Finish and it Generates a Front Page of a Comic Book and a Name for your hero (Mine was rather simple...lacked any flare). You can then Make Another, Print it, or Download it to a JPG....see mine below!
What ideas do you have for using The Hero Factory in your classroom?
Twitter Tuesday #2 - Twitter Tools!
Ahhh Twitter....where would educators be without you? Joining Twitter has been like opening a treasure chest of educational technology gold! One of the neat things about Twitter has been the useful applications, webpages, and software that I have found that actually enhance your Twitter Experience. If you have a Smartphone...Twitter Apps can even greatly increase your Twitter experience! I use Twitbird, but there is Twitteriffic and others you might want to check out.
1.) TweetDeck - I downloaded and used TweetDeck for the first time today for the #Edchat on Twitter. I got to say that I thoroughly enjoyed using this platform. It made following the Tweets a lot easier. It is great to use for multiple accounts as well. You do have to download it and use it on your desktop, but it is worth it. I highly recommend you using this platform if you don't already. There is also Hootsuite, but I am not personally using it, so it is not right for me to tell you about it. If you are using it, tell me about it!
2.) Where You Tweet - Twaitter - Advertises itself as a business addition to Twitter, but I think it is definitely worth checking out...it has several features of good use...
6.) What is Your Twitter Karma? - See who is following you, see who you are following, and then see how the two groups follow each other. Don't like your Karma...then you could use their tools to completely wipe out your Twitter account and start all over...not sure why, but the option is there. I guess that is for those who feel bad Karma from their Twitter!
7.) Twitter List - I was fairly new to Twitter, and knew about the feature of List, but I had little understanding of how to use them, at least until I found this blog post about Twitter List and how they work. I am still fairly new to Twitter, and most of the people I follow would fall under one list anyway, so I don't see a need for list yet, but something tells me you do. Maybe this will help you out.
8.) TwitBlogs - I just found it and was having trouble getting it working. It seems promising so I thought I would share it and figured that I would just check back when the glitch is repaired. It is for when those 140 characters are not enough!
Remember, if you are not using Twitter, as an Educator, you should!. If you missed last weeks Twitter Tuesday edition, you can find it here!
What Twitter Software, Applications, or Websites are you using? Let me know of some that I have left off this list because I don't know about them!
1.) TweetDeck - I downloaded and used TweetDeck for the first time today for the #Edchat on Twitter. I got to say that I thoroughly enjoyed using this platform. It made following the Tweets a lot easier. It is great to use for multiple accounts as well. You do have to download it and use it on your desktop, but it is worth it. I highly recommend you using this platform if you don't already. There is also Hootsuite, but I am not personally using it, so it is not right for me to tell you about it. If you are using it, tell me about it!
2.) Where You Tweet - Twaitter - Advertises itself as a business addition to Twitter, but I think it is definitely worth checking out...it has several features of good use...
- Schedule: Schedule your twitter messages
- Recurring: Set your twitter messages to send on recurring basis: daily, weekly, monthly, yearly.
- Twitter Calendar: Manage your scheduled messages (Twaits) with our powerful calendar tool that works just like your Outlook calendar.
- Translation: Translate your tweets into any language with the click of a button. Do you follow tweeple that post in foreign languages? ...easily translate any tweet into a language you understand
- Feeds: Register your blog or business RSS feed with twaitter and have your new posts automatically sent to twitter. (coming soon)
- Schedule in Mass: Have a lot to say and a lot to schedule? Upload a file with your messages in our file format and we’ll be happy to schedule all the twaits for you. (Coming Soon) *subject to Twitter message sending limits
3.) What is your Twitter History? Twitter + History. A great way to log your Tweets so that you can track what you are saying in a calendar format. It would be a great way to track the Tweets that you are doing professionally and want to remember in the future. It is also a great tool to use if you have a Twitter account for your school or district. It looks very promising if you want to track your Tweets.
4.) Your Very Own Twitter Statisitics - Track your tweets, followers, and those following you and how often those occur. It evens provides estimates for your account in the future. It also allows you to compare your Twitter with other users. So...what are your stats....how do you "Twack" up with other users?
5.) Share Groups of Twitter Users - TweepML is a great way for you to track your #followfriday and #teachertuesday. I highly recommend that you check this tool out and see how you can use it. As they say "TweepML is an extensible, open standard format that allows you to manage and share groups of Twitter users"
6.) What is Your Twitter Karma? - See who is following you, see who you are following, and then see how the two groups follow each other. Don't like your Karma...then you could use their tools to completely wipe out your Twitter account and start all over...not sure why, but the option is there. I guess that is for those who feel bad Karma from their Twitter!
7.) Twitter List - I was fairly new to Twitter, and knew about the feature of List, but I had little understanding of how to use them, at least until I found this blog post about Twitter List and how they work. I am still fairly new to Twitter, and most of the people I follow would fall under one list anyway, so I don't see a need for list yet, but something tells me you do. Maybe this will help you out.
Remember, if you are not using Twitter, as an Educator, you should!. If you missed last weeks Twitter Tuesday edition, you can find it here!
What Twitter Software, Applications, or Websites are you using? Let me know of some that I have left off this list because I don't know about them!
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