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My New Interactive Whiteboard…an update

heather — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 05:17:02 +0000

OK, you know when you get a new puppy and you love it and you couldn’t live without it and then you find out it has hip dysplasia?

That’s a little of what my relationship is like with my new Interactive Whiteboard.

I wouldn’t give it up for the world. I have come to depend on the tools it provides me. I love it.

But I am consistently re-calibrating, re-starting, re-booting, and it so far won’t read the kids remotes. I have come to intimately know the board representative. We have each other’s cell phone numbers and my husband is starting to raise an eyebrow. I have also had tremendous support from our Director of Technology and the few other district pilot teachers.

But the bottom line is that the board has become a daily joy even while I have daily frustrations. And like that puppy that you automatically fall in love with because of the joy it brings you the minute it comes into your room, I am going to do everything I can to make it work.

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Post tags: blog, collaboration, computers, critical thinking, curriculum design, curriculum development, data, Ed Tech, education, ELA, integration, interactive whiteboards, internet literacy, k-12, k12, Title I, TLN, Writers Project, writing

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Find the Fib…First Day Activity (UPDATED)

heather — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:41:24 +0000

I learned a version of this activity from Erick Gordon this summer at the UCI institute. Basically, it’s a get-to-know activity where the students get to learn a little about me and then learn a little about each other. It also becomes a very easy springboard for teaching Narrative and Memoir.

First I shared a list of 11 statements about myself. Embedded in the list is one fib. The kids read the statements out loud and then I have kids volunteer guesses as to which is the fib. They also have to justify why they feel it’s the fib.

With each one they chose that is an actual fact, I do a quick one-minute oral narrative about that fact that makes them wanting more. When they hit the fib, well, then I do a little soapbox number.

Here was my list:

1. My father is the 1969 World Champion Jeopardy player.

2. I was kicked out of Brownies in 4^th grade.

3. When I was a child, I was a model on The Price is Right.

4. When I was 14 I went to Greece and dropped my coolest pair of sunglasses into a well of frogs.

5. My dad created Capt. Jack Sparrow.

6. When I studied at Oxford University in England, I ended up having an emergency appendectomy.

7. My husband and I met in 2^nd grade.

8. I am a certified OpenWater II scuba diver who goes diving with her mom.

9. When I was in school, I was a straight A student.

10. I once worked at a guest ranch, working in the stables, leading the kiddie rides across the Arizona desert.

11. One weekend, I was so bored that I went skydiving just to do something new.

Can you guess the fib? Answer: # 9. Yes, it’s true. I was NOT a straight A student. In fact, I didn’t find a joy in learning or in school until the occasional high school class or college class when I could actual point to classes I was actually interested in.

In other words, I not only didn’t have a passion in or for school, but I also remember what I didn’t like or understand. As a teacher, my recollections add to my ability to reach out to a diversity of learners. As a teacher, my willingness to share myself, my strengths, and my foibles adds to my ability to reach them as well.

Then I had the kids develop 4 truths and a fib. They partnered up and tried to guess each other’s fibs, giving little verbal narratives about each truth. Afterwards, their partners had to circle the story they would like to hear more about. We did a real quick review of sensory details and I modeled creating a bulleted list of details from one of the truths. The one I modeled was # 11. So here’s what I wrote:

*a free-fall out of a plane feels like you’re lying on a table. That’s how much pressure there is on your body.

*the plan ride up was so loud, we couldn’t hear each other yell our words across the aisle.

*When you jump, the only real idea of speed you have is the fact that the plane is getting smaller so quickly. When you level out, your hands flap, but the horizon stays the same for a long time. Otherwise, it’s almost like a loud hovering.

*when you pull the cord to let out the parachute, you get an intense wedgie.

*my feet fell asleep which drifting down to the ground

*my mouth was open during free-fall so when I landed, my teeth felt like they were wearing socks. They were that grimy.

Then the kids created their own bulleted list of sensory details. It began a potential narrative, should they chose to return to this concrete description brainstorm.

Share yourself, your experiences, and the themes of your life. You are the supplemental material. Share yourself and your students will learn more.

Hope your first day went as well as my own.

© heather for tweenteacher.com, 2008. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 2008, achievement gap, blog, computers, Curriculum, curriculum design, Ed Tech, education, education policy, ELA, Golden Lines, integration, interviewing, k-12, k12, learning, life long learners, middle school, new teachers, technology, writing

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Oh, the Wells Fargo Wagon is a’comin…

heather — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 21:12:38 +0000

So, in a move reminiscent of a 12-year old girl caught up in the riot mentality of rumors, I believed the whisper I heard about not getting my Whiteboard for 2 months. But I tell you now: it was false, dear readers! Yes, not only have I heard that the boards have shipped, but the company even came after hours this week and brought me a borrowed board to use in the meantime. Props for service and courtesy.

So I write to you today as a contrite tweenteacher. Lesson learned. Don’t listen to the gossip in the teacher’s lounge.

So, in an attempt to bring this post around to some actual advice for all you educators out there, I want to reiterate that point: do not waste one minute of your time this year in a toxic teacher environment. This is different than a Toxic Teaching Environment which can be defined as anything that gets in the way of you doing your job: under-funding, lack of school wide discipline, fractured classrooms, etc…

No, I’m talking about a specific breed of pollution that is meant to choke the enthusiasm out of you: the Toxic Teacher Environment. (...)
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Hurry up & Wait – My New Interactive Whiteboard: Part II

heather — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:30:20 +0000

So, I had my online training. I met the Whiteboard sales guy in my classroom to discuss where the board is to be mounted. I talked with my principal to develop an interactive whiteboard presentation during our first staff development in an attempt to drum up excitement amongst the somewhat less-than-tech-enthused staff. I spent time over my summer developing my own curriculum for the first quarter: pulling out my books, pacing my units, and choosing those individual static lessons that I will expand into Interactive board lessons.

It wasn’t long, however, that I began to suspect I had wasted my time. The odor of bullshit was in the air…

(...)
Read the rest of Hurry up & Wait – My New Interactive Whiteboard: Part II (737 words)

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Post tags: 2008, blog, carnival of education, computers, critical thinking, CUE, curriculum design, curriculum development, digital immigrants, integration, interactive whiteboards, internet literacy, teaching, technology, Title I, UCI, writing

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Collaboration…Blocked by a Firewall Near You

heather — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:02:15 +0000

You know, sometimes I wonder if I’m not a huge pain in the ass to present for, especially if I love what’s going on. I’m one of those audience members who has to verbally digest and implement what I am learning as it’s happening. I have to barble and pop as my Eureka moments are going on, and while it’s amazingly exciting for me, it must be hugely annoying to my presenter. I was in rare form this morning at the UCI Writers Project, for Doug Fisher, co-author of such works as Language Learners in the English Classroom, was in the house.(...)
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Post tags: 2008, achievement gap, assessments, blog, collaboration, computers, credential, critical thinking, CUE, Curriculum, curriculum design, curriculum development, differentiation, digital immigrants, digital natives, Ed Tech, education, education policy, ELA, equity, integration, internet literacy, jobs, k-12, k12, Language Arts, learning, matthew needleman, middle school, professional development, research, technology, test, test prep, Think Aloud, Title I, UCI, writing

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The Carnival #178 is in town!

heather — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:49:35 +0000

An (aspiring) Educator is hosting this week’s Carnival of Education #178. I’ve tweaked my How to Take Control of Your Teaching list and although it’s still in an evolving state, you can read it here. Enjoy the Carnival and the post.

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Post tags: 2008, achievement gap, assessments, blog, book review, btsa, budget, Careers, carnival of education, character, Character Education, classroom library, collaboration, computers, concrete, contract, CORE, credential, critical thinking, CUE, Curriculum, curriculum design, curriculum development, differentiation, Ed Tech, education policy, ELA, electives, essay, essay starters, jobs, k-12, k12, Language Arts, life long learners, merit pay, metacognition, middle school, NCLB, new teachers, online, peer teaching, performance pay, PI, podcasting, powerpoint, professional development, Proficiency, school accountability, school funding, speeches, standardized testing, technology, tenure, Title I, TLN, top 10, union, voice, websites, Writers Project, writing

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Surely Shakespeare has a sniglet for it?

heather — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 23:02:57 +0000

Remember Rich Hall in HBOs 1980s comedy, Not Necessary the News? He created sniglets, words that should have been in the dictionary, but weren’t. For example:

Foodgitives: The food on one side of a TV dinner tray that escapes to the other side. (Hall 1985a: 31)
Furnidents: The indentations left in carpet after moving heavy furniture (Hall 1983)
Sniffleridge: The groove running between the nose and the mouth (Hall 1984: 92).

Well, today I’m asking for help in creating our own.(...)
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Computer Literacy Support should not be Conditional: Joanne Jacobs comment

heather — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:00:24 +0000

In today’s Joanne Jacobs article, Computers Don’t Boots Poor Kids’ Grades,” I commented that they may not boost them now, but as we all know, our mission as educators is not just to increase test scores, but also to create life long learners. Look, I think that if we as educators are charged with preparing students with the strategies that are their future, we must make them computer literate. That means doing everything we can to promote safe and easy computer usage in the home.

Just as we as educators strive to make books accessible to those who are struggling readers, so too must we add computers to that list, for technology is not just for the elite anymore. The Home Ec and Shop classes of yesteryear are dwindling away and in their place needs to be classes and encouragement in those skills that will be our students’ future blue-collar skills…those in technology.

The statistics of what the kids do with a computer once it’s in the homes can’t derail us from our mission, to educate and prepare. Get those computers in the homes and in the schools. Then we’ll tackle responsible usage. But if we allowed the irresponsible to dictate every generation’s movement towards their future success, TV would have been banned long ago and books would still be in pyres. (...)
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Post tags: 2008, achievement gap, assessments, charity, computers, Ed Tech, education policy, free, fundraising, k-12, k12, school funding, teaching, Title I

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How To Get a Job in Education That You Love

heather — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:37:08 +0000

The Pre-First Step in How to Take Control of Your Teaching is actively seeking out the right school for you.

GOAL: To love where you work and enjoy what you are doing

Too many teachers are miserable. Some of that can be attributed to the difficulty of the job, but a lot can be blamed on the fact that many teachers take what they can get because they are so grateful to have a job. That’s no way to be happy, and that’s the teacher’s fault.

OK, kiddos, it’s not too early to start the process of looking for a job. Whether you are unhappy in your current position or you are a newbie looking at the world of education with wide-eyes and bushy tails, you are entitled to work in a place that “gets” you, and wants what you have to offer.

In fact, the springtime is perfect for those who are looking for the best positions out there. So if you’re interested in being the one in control of the interviewing situation, start now. Looking for a job in education in the spring signals to a potential employer that you are NOT the bottom of the barrel. Yes, there are great teachers out there who get hired two days before the start of the fall semester, but if you want choice yourself, get going now.

Here’s a step-by-step guide in how to get a job in education: (Note, this is not for the faint of heart or for those who need to follow the system set up by the districts. This guide is only for those maverick job-hunters out there.)

(...)
Read the rest of How To Get a Job in Education That You Love (1,455 words)

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Post tags: 2008, achievement gap, blog, btsa, budget, Careers, Character Education, competition, computers, credential, curriculum design, curriculum development, differentiation, Ed Tech, education, employment, firing, interviewing, jobs, teaching

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The New ELL? Teachers and Technology Part I

heather — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 04:35:50 +0000

Today I found myself staring red-eared-angry at a survey from my school’s Discipline Committee asking teachers what they believed to be the Top 5 crimes committed on campus and the varying degrees that they needed to be dealt with. On the list of choices were your typical offenders: vandalism, bullying, and that terrible crime against humanity…student electronic devices.

You know those teachers who seem to foam at the mouth in delight when they catch a student chewing gum? Well, they have a new cause…MP3 players and cell phones. (...)
Read the rest of The New ELL? Teachers and Technology Part I (622 words)

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Post tags: ASCD Brief, computers, digital immigrants, digital natives, education, iPods, Mark Prensky, MP3, teaching

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CUE Conference #2: Ted Lai

heather — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 04:25:15 +0000

I had the honor of meeting Ted Lai at the CUE Conference in Palm Springs this past weekend. I have been a fan for quite some time and I wasn’t disappointed. What a nice guy, open guy, and all-around game guy.

I actually have to attribute much of my technology curiosity to Ted’s 2005 and 2006 CUE conference presentations. In addition to learning about the sheer ease of podcasting, he has also inspired me with his support of iPods in Education.

Since attending a session some time ago, I have become a huge supporter of using iPods in my Language Arts classroom. Unfortunately, it is a battle that I seem to be losing in my district. I applied for a grant to have iPods in my classroom library only to be turned down with the reason that the district doesn’t trust their security. You know, it wasn’t like I was going to leave them on the shelf with a big sign that said, “Take me!” I had plans. I had procedures ready to go. It does not take Fort Knox to keep some handhelds safe at school.(...)
Read the rest of CUE Conference #2: Ted Lai (510 words)

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Post tags: computers, CUE, Ed Tech, education, Ilife, iPods, teaching, tech savvy girlz, Ted Lai

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Fundraising Stinks

heather — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 04:45:31 +0000

In response to a recent Washington Post article:
Obviously nobody has a problem with tackling the obesity problem in this country in any way we can. I remember the time when everyday for 10 months straight students would come up to me, carting a cardboard box, its cardboard handle cutting into their hands with the weight of the various evil, wicked, Wonkalicious treats inside. The student always said the same thing: “Mrs. W, would you like to buy a candy? It’s to support the .” Well, of course I want to support them, but have you ever taught hormonal middle schoolers jacked up on sugar how to write a thesis statement for a Response to Literature? It’s not easy, let me tell you. So, clearly, nobody is against the ratification of irradicating the candy on campus more than I am. But, it turns out, there was a down side to this decision. Yep, you guessed it, more work on the teachers; because now we have to fund our own programs and figure out how to do it as lucratively as we did before.

(...)
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