the use of technology

So I have this kid. For lack of a better term, we shall just call him, "Handful." He definitely lives up to his name. He is only with me for one period a day, but that one period is...well...interesting. He basically refuses to do any work. Two days ago I had my kids working on a letter to President Obama. In half an hour he got as far as, "Dear President Ob" The administration knows him well, and even has a nckname for him: "Dr. Hands." (As in, he is constantly touching girls).

But yesterday, I brought my class over to the computer lab for them to type out their letters. "handful" suddenly became alive. He typed an entire letter out in about 20 minutes from scratch. It was mostly correct, even spelling. He then was going around the room helping other students write, spell, and format their letters. It was quite an amazing transformation to watch. All he needed was a computer.

On another note, I have just discovered that you can sign up and schedule an hour long video conference with one of the "Freedom Writers" (If you haven't seen Freedom Writers, you must check it out.) For $100 dollar donation, you get an hour with one of the students. Your students can ask them questions. They pair you up with a student who has a similar socio-economic background to your own students. Pick a day 3 weeks away, pick a couple other choices, and schedule it. There's an online form to do that: sign up for a video conference, and they do the rest. You must have access to skype in your classroom. And a webcam.

Check it out.

Help for first day

So if you haven't been following along...I had a rough few days before my kids arrived. First I found out I had a classroom with no supplies, no resources, no books, NO DESKS! But after some frantic searching I was finally able to get everything in there the day before kids arrived. So then I had to come up with a plan for the day. I have my kids all day, and had no resources yet, so I needed to find some activities pronto. I found a great webquest that gave me a ton of ideas. Here's the link:

Webquest for first day activities:

jeopardy

Hello fellow Project Impacters,

I found and used this really cool software last year. It's a way to set up a jeopardy game to be from a computer. You get to set up the board, the amounts, the questions, and the answers. And it's totally free. Here is where I found the software:

BUILD YOUR OWN JEOPARDY:

I generally use it at the end of a lot of information as a fun way to see who has retained what. I put the students into teams of like 2 to 3 students and give them a small white board slate and marker. Each team takes a turn picking a category and amount. When I click on that amount, a question appears on the board. I will read that question out loud. They then write down what they think is the answer and hold it up for me to read. The first team to hold up the correct answer wins those points. I keep track of points either on my own slate, or on the front board. At the end, whatever team had the most points gets a "homework pass" that can be used for one homework assignment.

Tough first day

So...today was our first day as teachers. Students come on Wednesday. I am a new teacher, in my first year as a Special Day Class teacher. I was unable to get into my room before today. But today I finally did, and I am totally overwhelmed. First, my key didn't work. I came to find out that it didn't work because the room numbers had been painted wrong on all the doors, and I was actually just in the wrong room. Then when I got into my room...there was NOTHING there. Nothing. No computers. No supplies. No closet or storage cabinet. No books. No curriculum. When I asked my principal about it, this person said that I just needed to to "get to know you" activities for the first couple weeks until they got all the stuff I might need. So I'm just venting a little here. I have kids coming in 2 days, and have nothing for them - no textbooks, no supplies.

It is especially hard because I am coming from a classroom last year that had everything in it, including several class copies of different books.

All my great technology infused lesson plans I have (including this first day survey), I have to now scrap and start over.

Anyone got any ideas for several weeks worth of stuff to do with no supplies?

First Day Survey

I am planning on using this with my students the first few days of school, when I find out how much computer access we have. It is an online survey I created in google docs.

Click below to view (or even take) this survey. I would appreciate any comments anyone might have.

first day survey

Let me know what you think.

My own little panic moment

So tonight, while driving home after our Thursday afternoon class, it hit me big time: I AM GOING TO HAVE STUDENTS NEXT WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, this in itself was a feeling of panic and anxiety. But I realized that it was an anxiety not because I don't know what I am going to do with them, but rather a realization that I don't know what I am NOT going to do with them. In Project IMPACT, even though we have been in classes for less than a week, I feel like we have been given so much good stuff, that I am really struggling with knowing where to begin to organize and synthesize it into my own teaching.

How will I use wordle? Can I do the cell phone poll as a first year teacher and with an Aid who has been there longer than me? Do I have enough time to get my syllabus done? Will I get to spend time with my wife and animals this year? Am I a constructivist or a behaviorist? How do I get to that online stop watch again?

So after fretting about this for some time, I had another realization. I don't have to have the answers to all these questions right now. And that I CAN do this.

And so can you.

more later...

--Greg

What I learned today...

I have taken many classes in my life, including several in education. I can't remember a class where I was given more practical tools than what Jason gave us today. I think I am a bit overwhelmed by it all. In many ways it was like trying to get a drink of water from a fire hydrant. I just took a look at my web history and saw all the web pages I looked at today. In many ways it would be easy to feel like I'm drowning.

But I actually came away from today more excited and inspired than anything. I've always heard that using technology in education is important. I have tended to think of myself as technologically fluent, or at the very least somewhat competent. I thought I had a general sense of the tools available, even though I knew I might not know how to USE them. But I realized today that not only are there tools I didn't know how to use, there were tools I didn't even know existed. I did not know there was a thing called a "wiki". I had no idea about the term "Web 2.0" and what that could mean to me as a teacher. I knew about blogging...but had never thought about how to use it in a classroom. "Social bookmarking"? Before today if I had been confronted with that phrase, I might have thought it was some type of dance I had never heard of before.

I am very excited about a moodle type of lesson organization, and am looking forward greatly to finding out how to use it more. What I like about it is the potential for differentiation within it. In many ways, setting up a moddle "class", even with my kids, allows me to specialize material to the students' strengths as well as grow those areas where they may not be as comfortable. There is much potential for self-pacing - moving ahead if a student already grasps something, as well as allowing time for students to catch up. I also REALLY like the interraction - both personally and virtually - that this type of set up seems to allow.

Finally, I have really enjoyed beginning to work with my classmates and instructors. I had considered several paths towards teaching credential, and I really can't imagine one that will work better for me.

More to come...

--Greg