The Name of the Game is GAME

     This week I have been asked to revisit my personal GAME plan to determine how I will move from wanting to use more technology to support my content in the class room (NETs, 2013) to actually making it happen.  Ironically I feel as if I am in a week at school that has been quite low tech.  We are close to the end of the school year and in the middle of HSA testing which tends to really scramble the schedule.  Granted the particular HSA test I proctored this week was administered solely online but all I had to be able to do was remember my password to enter the testing site from a URL link that my administrator sent me.  It only took me four tries.  My Research and Design students are busily engaged in collecting data for their projects and while some students are pecking away furiously on the keyboard, others are pouring water in coffee cans out in the dirt, some are counting wetland plants and digging roots up and a few others are hand razing a site to plant native bushes and trees to increase bio-diversity. I only got a little bit of poison ivy but they were engaged in real life, hands on inquiry and problem based- learning (Laureate Education, Inc., 2013), not a bad trade off. 

     I would love to spend a few days at the end of the school year to really learn about my interactive white board at the side of my more well trained room neighbors and I am confident that I probably have sufficient IQ to at least be able to turn it on and switch pen colors but in reality the last few days will most likely be spent frantically entering grades (online at least) and filing errant papers at least until I become so overwhelmed that I simply pick a filing cabinet drawer as a hiding place. (For the papers, not me) I figure they will be there when I come back in the fall or if I don’t come back, well then they will be my gift to the next educational martyr.  I must admit that I am hoping to be able to go through the labyrinth of electronic files and odds and ends with the purpose of better organizing them into self-contained units.  Frequently I find that I am out of sequence or forget to use a resource because it is not in the proper electronic file.  I also know that I have accumulated multiple copies of many files and clips and I have gaps in other areas that I would like to fill with resources such as web quests, animations and simulations, science songs and video clips.  If I can get my own technology resources in order then I hope to be able to better integrate new ones in the future.  One of my colleagues has an uncanny ability to organize a unit from first tease to final assessment and include every worksheet, web link, video and graphic in between. He has offered to share his units at the end of the year because he does not want me to be bored over the impending summer. Another colleague completes nearly every aspect of his curriculum on computers so he is a good resource for technical advice.  I feel as if each semester I get a little better and a bit more automatic with being able to find strategies to respond to the needs of my students but admittedly I am still gloriously under planned most days, much to the chagrin of my dutiful and by the book administrators.  Thinking content first, technology next will help me to streamline my timeline.

     Meanwhile I know that I must maintain the commitment to explore new technologies and to try to figure out how I could use them to support my content with a fresh start next semester.  The greatest resource I will need is time.  Much of my inability to develop my own personal technological growth stems from being constantly pulled in multiple directions.  My situation is not unique but it is currently mine.  I have to try to pick and choose what will truly work and what will just rob me of more time. I find that I am much more aware of the technology looking at it not so much for its bells and whistles but from how it can help me to focus on learning outcomes.  This will help me to customize instruction to meet the needs of all my learners (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010a). So far, as a result of tutoring several students who are out of the building I have been able to see projects and activities that other teachers are using in their class rooms.  This has allowed me to think about how I might use similar technologies such as a Prezi, voice thread or an Imovie to extend my own content in the future.  As far as monitoring my own progress I suppose that will come down to how long I can maintain a school mind set once released from the windowless room that is my learning environment but I do believe that I will pick it up again quickly in August.  Having online courses over the summer will hopefully afford me the luxury of exploring technology without the burden of external distractions.

I would like to use the computer as a tutor through animations and interactive websites, as a tour guide on web quests , a research tool via data bases and a communication tool both individually and collaboratively.  If I can get my students to connected computers on a regular basis then I say GAME on!

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010a). Meeting the Needs of Learners with Technology, Part 1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010b). Promoting Self-Directed       Learning with Technology.

NETS-t retrieved from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets_for_teachers_2000.pdf?sfvrsn=2 on 5-15-13. (2000).

It's all fun and games until I touch a computer

     In the early morning hours on the dairy farm I often ask the reticent Farmer, what he is thinking about. His universal response almost always includes that he is trying to get together a game plan for the day. Working with temperamental livestock, aging machinery, fleeting daylight and unpredictable weather makes even the most carefully laid plans precarious at best but within that framework is not only the initial goal and plan of action but some sort of monitoring and evaluation to determine whether the current course of action is still the best one for the situation at hand.  I have found that much of what I have learned on the farm has served me well in the class room as well.  As an educator it is important that each day I too have a GAME plan. Dr. Katherine Cennamo outlines this in the Self-directed Learner presented by Laureate Education (2010b) when she states that the goal setting and action phases take place when we create and teach our lesson plans and that the monitoring and evaluation phases revolve around not only student learning but teacher effectiveness.

     As our world and the learners in it change we are realizing the need for educators to be more digitally knowledgeable and that if these digital skills are to be incorporated into our content areas effectively teachers must not only have the knowledge of the technology but they must also be confident in how they are using it states Dr. Peggy Ertmer in the video resource, Content Area Learning also presented by Laureate Education (2010a).  If we are to prepare our students to be more digitally connected in a global society then educators must have resources with which to develop these skills and standards by which to measure them. Enter NETS or National Educational Technology Standards.  According to the International Society for Technology in Education or ISTE, using NETS improves higher order and critical thinking skills around student centered and project based learning. The result is students that are more prepared to be competitive in a changing global society. NETS for teachers revolves around the specific technology skills and knowledge that we should be using in our class rooms.

     Lest you have any questions as to the status of my own current technology skills I need only direct you to the title of this blog above.  With that in mind I am still committed to increasing the amount of technology I am using on my class room. I was encouraged by Biology teacher Tim Best that the use of technology should not be contrived but that it should fit the content we intended to deliver in the first place (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). That makes me feel like I have some choice in how, what and when I use technology.  Perhaps the greatest NETS challenge I have is in knowing how to effectively use the actual technology to develop students thinking skills ((Standard II, Indicator A). For example I am writing this blog entry but to date I am not sure how I could use this particular technology resource in an actual lesson plan or activity for my students. One goal is to incorporate some new technologies like a wiki page or student blog responses into already established content.  However not only am I unsure of the actual science content I would marry it with but I am not sure how to mechanically make it happen.  I think that I would benefit from looking for support from more knowledgeable colleagues and also seeing some lesson plan examples of exactly how other teachers used this type of technology.  There is the action part I suppose but if I am to turn this into a true GAME plan then I must monitor and evaluate student learning and since I cannot determine how I would do this then perhaps I am not ready to use this particular technology yet.

     Meanwhile I can try to find sources and resources that support the required content of my area while using technology ((Standard III, Indicators A and B)Standard III, Indicators A and B).  For Biology there are many interactive web sites as well as those that use animations, video and music to illustrate key concepts.  My goal is to include more of these and the action needed to make this happen will be a combination of planning and organization. I will need to look ahead in my lesson plans to know what sites and activities match which key concepts and follow up by making sure I have the technology resources such as computers, pre-loaded media and interactive white boards ready to be utilized.  Student engagement and feedback should be an indicator that learners are connecting with the content effectively which should be evidenced by improved test and quiz scores as well as higher pass rates on the HSA tests. Monitoring performance on these would lead me to be able to evaluate if the technology was helping to improve student learning.

Ultimately I understand the need to extend our own learning as educators if we are going to effectively model technology skills for our learners so I suppose the best first step is to let the GAME begin! Can I be the banker or at least the race car token?

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010a). Enriching Content Area Learning   Experiences with Technology, Part 1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010b). Promoting Self-Directed       Learning with Technology.

NETS-t retrieved from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets_for_teachers_2000.pdf?sfvrsn=2 on 5-15-13. (2000).

Teaching and Technology Philosophy or If My Computer Crashes in the Middle of a Forest, Will My Principal Still Hear Me Scream?

     When I was first interviewed to work in my school district, one of the questions that I was asked was what was my personal learning philosophy? My overall thought and response was that every child can learn. I still believe that to this day but as a result of furthering my own education, I am now more aware of the diverse ways that students learn.  As a result I have had to expand my own teaching strategies.  Coming from a world predominantly influenced by animals, pets and livestock I developed a strong sense of behaviorism. Nearly all animal behavior is rooted in the drive for food, safety, comfort or mates. I must admit that I still gauge many of my people interactions based off of what I have experienced with the hooved and furry but I have adapted my stance to include the tenet that human learners can and should be actively engaged in the world around them if they are to make sense out of or construct meaning from that world. Dr. Patricia Wolfe reflects that “for years, we have tried to teach brains that we have not understood” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011b).  Brain research now shows that behavior is not the only basis for learning. Sometimes there is a reason why a child can’t read or process certain information. As a result educators, me included, must strive to deliver content using diverse and multiple strategies.
    Already I find myself encouraging my students to rely on each other more to help build knowledge. Increasingly I will pose a question to my students than ask them to quickly turn to a seat mate and discuss the possibilities for just a few minutes. We then come together as a class to combine individual thoughts into a cohesive explanation using specific student input to fill in the scaffold I initially presented them with. In this way students not only use their own personal experiences and backgrounds to tie new knowledge to but they also benefit from the cooperative nature of interacting with their peers (Pitler et all, 2007). Another strategy that I am using in the class room more frequently is the use of non-linguistic representations.  Dr. Michael Orey states that this dual coding allows students to store the image as well as supporting text which in turn helps students to visualize concepts and ideas (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011a).  My Biology students may not recall the chemical reaction for photosynthesis right off the top of their heads but as soon as I ask them to tell me a story about a “plant named Bob”, they are able to construct it from the images they have built the equation around.  Using non-linguistic representations such as pictures, songs, diagrams and student movement is a strategy that I think fits really well for many different types of students. In addition to varying teaching strategies, using technology offers a wide and varied choice of tools to help reach learners at many levels.
     In the past seven or eight weeks, my brain has been undergoing a construction of its own as I have experimented and explored technologies that can be used to engage and teach students. Like any renovation, some pieces fit, some pieces don’t and some pieces are brought out only when the crazy old great-aunt who gave them to you visits.  I’m not overly thrilled with voice thread but Prezi holds promise to use with student constructed projects.  The wiki adds depth and interaction to the traditional teacher web page and I would like to continue developing this for my classes. Just recently I have encountered the idea of a non-linear power point that includes links and attachments rather than straight sequencing of slides. Using power point in this way will encourage students to research and assimilate multiple sources of information into one place supporting both creativity and scope.
     I feel as if I now understand that technology can support the delivery of my content, but it is unlikely that I will commit to any one in particular.  More importantly I feel as if I need to commit to continuing the development of my own technology skills. If I become more comfortable with looking at the possibilities of a new technology rather than only the challenges it may present, then I will be able to facilitate learning for my students no matter how quickly that technology may change. I want to continue to practice using technology as it suits both my time and curriculum and feel that the internet itself is a valuable source for searching and researching.  By networking with other educators in my school and across the internet, these technologies will be more accessible and less intimidating. Over time I hope to make my class room more accessible electronically through the use of a wiki that allows me to upload power points, class activities and notes as well as schedules, discussions and supplemental resources.  Better organization and communication with students and parents is a bonus that having such a site would offer which has been an ongoing goal of mine.  I grew up knowing how to swing my own hammer if I had to build something. What I am building now is the ability to show my students a different future for their education and as I am easily frustrated with electronics it’s probably best for my computer that I put my hammer away and pick up new tools instead.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011a). Program five: Cognitive learning theory [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011b). Program one: Understanding the brain [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Because that's the way it has always been done...until now

     A child watched her mother prepare a ham for an upcoming holiday dinner and asked her why she cut it in half before placing the two halves side by side in the pan. She explained that that is how she learned to cook it watching her own mother years ago. Later in the day, she asked her mother about the meal preparation to which she replied that she too had watched her own mother prepare the meat the same way.  Finally at the meal the two generations asked the matriarch of the family why she had prepared the holiday ham by cutting it in half first to which she replied, “ because I only had the one pan and it was the only way it would fit into it”.  Each successive generation followed the original model of preparing the meal without realizing where it had originated. They had learned within a social construct, but social learning today occurs within a much bigger construct, a global technology network

     As educators we have the opportunity to serve as models of learning for our students, thus using social learning but George Siemens suggests  that our role is changing due to advancements in technology and social networking. The traditional class room driven by preset objectives, assessments and learning outcomes becomes less effective as outside sources of supplemental information causes fragmentation of both content and conversations. Today’s educator of socially networked students becomes a curator of information; arranging key components of content for students to encounter. In addition teachers must help students to navigate the many sources of information, aggregate them into themes and filter the over-abundance of information rich sources. Siemen’s encourages educators to become a persistent presence for students via technology using tools such as wikis, blogs, podcasts and social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. Group collaboration supports both independence for the individual learner being accountable for their contribution as well as interdependence by meshing the varied skills of diverse learners into singular projects.

     We are by nature, social creatures. Many years ago learning from the group around you may have saved your life as you discovered which foods you could eat and which “foods” would eat you. Later social learning would be used to learn a trade or skill at the side of a parent or employer.  Social learning today is not necessarily out of necessity but out of opportunity and the cooperative group allows for learners to construct knowledge in conjunction with other learners. The youth of today are connected and networked in multiple ways and through multiple technologies. Connectivism is the combination of social learning theory  with the connections we are able to make socially and technologically to other learners and even teachers. Pitler et all explains the importance of the cooperative group in student learning through interactions with each other.  What is decidedly different are the types of activities that  corroborative groups can now accomplish using technologies such as wiki pages, Voice Thread, multimedia presentations, web site creation and even establishing connections with peers and content mentors from around the world. Ultimately the goal is the same as it has always been. We want our students to learn and if we realize the importance of using technology and networking to develop and maintain legitimate connections then our learners will never again be confined to only within the four walls of a traditional class room.

An aside:

The thread that binds us all....or not.

This is my attempt to create a voice thread about the issue of building a sense of community within a school building. Voice Thread could also be a good way to present an issue or topic to your students then have them make comments to develop an online class discussion.  Science lends itself well to asking a question that has no set answer. Students are encouraged to develop and support their stance and predictions.  My goal is to set up a voice thread for my Environmental Science students to have then discuss the impact of their activities on the environment and to propose and hopefully commit to, feasible solutions. Rest assured that there will most likely be a great deal of editing, mumbling under my breath and gnashing of teeth. You HAVE read the name of my blog, right?
voicethread.com/share/3752200/

Blah, blah, blah Ginger... blah blah Project Based Learning

Some time ago there was a Far Side Cartoon that suggested that what we say to dogs--sit, stay, don't do that on the carpet;  and what dogs actually hear; blah, blah, have a cookie,  are two totally different things and so it is not only with our students but with educators as well. Recently there has been yet ANOTHER term thrown into the soup that is educational jargon, Project Based Learning....dun dun dun...and then my eyes glassed over. Please not another psuedo research based, magic fairy dust and acronym laden, be all, end all, curriculum busting, life altering, just gotta do it and have it in your class room now, strategy. So for the sake of the future of all learners everywhere, I decided to take a look anyway.

SO...what does PBL look like? Let's see, it suggests that we start by asking a question that every student can answer. Well that seems reasonable.  Next...questions asked will direct students to encounter the principles and major concepts of the content through student driven inquiry......whoa, whoa, whoa....you mean without me standing rigidly in the front of the room delivering a mind numbing and behind blistering lecture? Let's see...students of different learning styles can learn and present material in a way that best suits that individual style. You mean we should want students to actually enjoy learning and coming to school just because it fits their learning style?  It continues...students will investigate real world problems while integrating genuine curriculum. Well that is just educational anarchy. And finally...PBL encourages students to explore abstract and intellectual tasks in order to make judgements and synthesize information meaningfully.  Well that is just crazy talk, after all I have curriculum I have to cover and I'm the teacher and they are the students so I am supposed to lead them to the fountain of knowledge......right? Hmmmm maybe we need to rethink the status quo a little.

Background on  project based learning or PBL can be found in multiple places but most echo the need to develop 21st century skills in our students. I am happy when my students remember to wear deodorant and bring their own pencil to class but let's just say that maybe, just maybe I might want them to pick up a few additional bonus skills in my class room like personal and social responsibility, strong communication skills, cultural understanding, decision making and knowing how to choose and use technology appropriately to accomplish a genuine task. Just saying, it might be nice if later in life my former students might actually contribute positively to the world situation. I suppose I could look at Problem Based Learning just a little more and sarcasm aside, it really does make sense. For years our students have been telling us that they learn best by doing hands on activities and they like to talk to each other. Sometimes they even cooperate with each other without me standing over them. It is easy to see that the engagement level goes up significantly when they can make some personal connection to the question and task. Perhaps it is best to try and teach how our students actually learn.  By doing so not only will they construct and build their own learning but we also just might construct and build better citizens that can stand up and deliver in our quickly changing world.

How Many Gargoyles are on Notre Dame Cathedral or why DID the Chicken Cross the Road?

     How many Gargoyles are on the Cathedral at Notre Dame?  I suppose if I wanted to be the center of attention at the holiday office party or were a contestant on Are You Smarter Than a 5^th Grader, then I might need this informational tidbit but according to author Jamie McKenzie on From Now On, The Educational Technology Journal, these are the kinds of meaningless questions that educators typically ask students to research when exploring with technology. McKenzie continues to insist that there is a difference between knowledge and understanding or insight. If we want our students to develop higher order thinking skills then we, as educators must ask them to search for the answers to essential questions. Rather than just engaging our students in a search for random information to accumulate shouldn’t we ask them to deliberate on why and how and what if?  Once they ponder these questions what kind of understanding can they build and what would that look like if you could actually map the thought patterns in the brain?

     When it comes to actual content, these essential questions should be at the center of any network or visual organizer. Thoughts can become actual words and pictures that support the construction of cognition. I don’t necessarily want my students to simply tell me the structure of DNA.   I want them to use their knowledge of that structure to infer what could happen to the traits of organisms if that structure would change and suggest what implications there could be for a species that has undergone those mutations. Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski suggest that if students are going to synthesize new meaning from what they have found then they must be able to sift and weigh all the accumulated bits of information in order to glean out the most important and supportive ideas. Learning to summarize is much like writing a traditional newspaper article. Who, what, where, when, why and how are merely guides to get the complete scoop and now even note taking and brain storming have entered the digital age with access to software that can assist students in this task. If we are to believe wiki answers then we could discover that there are 5000 Gargoyles on the Cathedral of Notre Dame but what was more enlightening for me as a learner was that Gargoyles were actually architectural rain gutters that had different spiritual and social meanings. Surely that is more essential than a simple head count.

     However, I still do not know exactly why the chicken actually crossed the road even though a Google search yields over three million hits in less than .15 seconds. That’s going to be a BIGGGGG graphic organizer. Oh the meaning we can construct.

Teaching the Animal in All of Us?

     I have always maintained that I like most animals better than some people but perhaps that is because the furry beasts just seem to make more sense to me than some of the almost as furry teen students that inhabit my class room.  Lately I was asked to consider the role of behaviorism and whether or not it had a place in the modern class room so I have pondered.  B.F. Skinner would tell us that learning is the result of a response to events or a stimulus depending upon how it was reinforced. My St Bernard has learned to associate the word "cookie" to mean that he is going to get some sort of treat. It can be a meatball, a goldfish cracker or even his pill coated in gooey peanut butter. It doesn't matter. Cookie means yummy and his leviathan head quickly lifts from his cozy den under the kitchen table on stilts at the mere whisper of the word. My students are not as quick to be molded. One I could not afford enough treats to feed hormonal, growing teens and the administration might frown upon me smearing the roofs of their mouths with peanut butter when they answered a question correctly. There are potential peanut allergies of course. No other reason I can think of other than that.

     Rewards may motivate some students to do well in school but motivation is a tricky beast. What motivates one student may not motivate another. I am amazed at the excitement shown even  by teenagers if I happen to put a sticker on their papers and they hold up the smiley face in  the nine of a good score as if they were Braveheart on the hillsides of Scotland. Some students HAVE to have the A. Some students are convinced that they will never GET the A.  What I find seems to be the biggest reward to many of my students is that I BELIEVE in them.  They get honest feedback from me about their challenges but more importantly I see strengths in each of them that perhaps no one else has taken the the time to notice. Is this recognition and expectation a positive reinforcement or a negative one? I suppose it depends on the student.

      Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski would have us  specifically reinforce effort in order to teach our students about the link between effort and achievement and for them to set goals for that to occur. Having students track these goals is a visual and tangible way for students to link their effort with a specific outcome. I agree that as educators we have a vision for our students that sees beyond their immediate situation but a sage will tell you that you just can't put an old head on young shoulders. Sometimes hard work just doesn't pay off with equal academic reward though and then we must help to guide our young students to the reflection that leads to personal growth or dare we say....learning? I think most kids just want to feel like they are doing okay and they look to our red pens, raised eye brows and smiles as gauges of where they are on that journey. Is this learned behavior or not? I believe that it is definitely a part of it and as educators we need to be aware of what behaviors we are rewarding. Do we want rote mastery or creativity and do we have to sacrifice one for the other?

     Meanwhile. Sit. Stay.  I'm going to get the jar of peanut butter.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.