Chapter 5: Nonlinguistic Representation

Learning Styles immediately popped into my mind at the beginning of this chapter; by the end though I realized that these techniques and activities are beneficial to all students not just the visual learners. I like the idea that showing a movie or video is a good practice, but that having students create their own videos moves it into a higher level. Today’s programs, whether Photo Story 3 or Movie Maker makes this an easy and viable activity for students. In addition, adding an animation component adds motivation and excitement for students. Many years ago I had some students make an animated video. The procedure of cutting and placing each small piece, videoing it and then moving it slightly and videoing it again was tedious! The project gave life to a plant growing from seed and the students did a great job, but I can see how using today’s technology will make such a tedious job easier and more efficient.

I believe every classroom should be equipped with the microscopes and digital probes listed in this chapter. Many of the document cameras have microscope attachments that become beneficial in science classes and the document cameras have uses in all subject areas. As stated in this chapter, the naked eye and standard thermometers were “high-tech” at one time. I realize that many of us learned this way, but just as no one really expects to use a chalkboard anymore, we need to update our classroom technology beyond white boards. I do realize the major drawback to keeping updated equipment is cost but if we are preparing students for a technology driven future, we must find a way to update ALL classrooms.

Here is the picture of George Washington's teeth that I found on Creative Commons. Common stories say that his teeth were made of wood, well he actually had several pair of teeth most commonly made of hippo tusk.

Chapter 4: Cues, Questions, and Advanced Organizers

Love the ideas in this chapter that help students link current knowledge with new knowledge and in the process deepen what they will learn. We each have access to Word, Excel, Publisher, and Power Point for students so how easy is it to have the students create their own organizers. Not only do these organizers begin a study, but also serve as a guide through the unit. As a librarian, I especially like the idea of research prior to a field trip and then brochures to help guide the students and I hope to implement this idea. I know we often use technology to develop assessments or practice for a unit of study, but not as often prior to the unit. I have recently participated in the in-service provided by BISD Technology Department; Tech Café and was able to see how these simple activities could be used as described in this chapter in addition to using them as teacher created activities. KWL charts are important, but with these ideas, we can mix things up a bit!

What a wealth of multimedia presentations are available to aide us in whatever we are teaching. I remember my first introduction to Creative Commons when I discovered a picture of George Washington’s false teeth. I knew if I had such a reaction then students might also have an emotional reaction and would at least remember the book George Washington’s Teeth and have an interest in checking it out to read it independently. I began the lesson by showing the picture and asking the students what they thought it was, and then we discussed the common idea that George Washington had wooden teeth. The next time I do this same lesson, I will use the picture of the teeth as a graphic organizer and then utilize a video about Washington from Discovery Ed (United Streaming) as a narrative organizer before sharing the book.

Chapter 3: Providing Recognition

Using technology to recognize students seems to be a no brainer. Utilizing programs that enables a teacher to create certificates involves little time and some creativity; those challenged in the creativity department can use ready-made programs found on the web or purchased programs. Print Shop has been around for many years, teachers have been creating and giving stickers, and providing recognition long before computers became the norm. Time saving is a definite plus to using technology. A second benefit to using technology stated on page 60, “With technology, teachers can easily make exemplary work available for the appreciation of peers, parents, and professionals across the world.” The availability of technology then moves a common practice into new realm.

I noticed in several examples that technology began the process, but in the end, there was still the human aspect. For example, a teacher might collect information using the clickers, but follows up with giving students “bonus points coupons.” Even designing a recognition program where teachers spread good news via the internet or e-mail programs still depends on a people connection where Mom, Dad, Grandma or Grandpa verbally recognize the positive behavior. Technology alone seems to expedite the process, but human interaction is still necessary.

Chapter 2: Providing Feedback

One of my goals for this coming school year is to encourage teachers to use the e clicker student response systems. I had to chuckle when reading the teacher resources and your comment of them being “underutilized” and that you can find “one in a closet somewhere, dust it off and put it to use.” That is exactly where I found them complete with dust and extra pieces. At the end of the school year, I collected all that I could find and had discussions with teachers on whether they are being used and why. Most common comments were that no one really knows how to begin with the clickers. When the clickers were first purchased teachers were trained, but those teachers are now gone and no one has taken the time to learn the system. I also heard that the program is not user friendly so they did not begin to learn anything about them. I have only attended some beginning online tutorials so I do not profess to know everything but I have used them enough in the library to realize that this technology truly excites students and allows all to participate in class. Having them readily available to check out from the library gets them out of those closets and hopefully into the hands of teachers willing to use them. Teachers should see the benefit of “immediate and specific” feedback but also see the benefits of the time saving aspects of linking to GradeSpeed and printing off study guides etc.

The Web has a wealth of resources if one has the time to locate and weed through the tremendous wealth and poverty of material found on the web. Brain Pop was advertised strongly at the past Texas Library Association Conference and even though it is a subscription service, I will utilize their offer of a free trial to see if it would be of value to Velasco students. One of the positive aspects of Brain Pop includes purchasing Brain Pop Jr to meet the needs of elementary student and the availability of a Spanish version for our ESL students. Since we are talking about how to use technology in order to provide formative and summative assessments we should look to some of the programs already in use at Velasco that provides this information. Accelerated Reader, Study Island, Fast Math, iStation, and others do give students and teachers immediate feedback. In all these programs students receive immediate feedback. Even though the feedback is there for the elementary student, we must not forget to have a personal touch. Classes that see the most impact from these programs have teachers who check the progress, discuss the results, and let students know that they are not the only one looking at the results. Many of these programs provide a way to share the results with the parents that adds another layer of importance to the students. I know we are all strapped for time but what I see is the difficulty to fully utilize all aspects of programs and little time to learn how much more we can get out of some of these wonderful programs. Perhaps it is time to learn about what we have before we purchase additional programs.

Chapter 1: Setting Objectives

Chapter 1 deals with ways to use technology to set objectives and inform students what those objectives are. The first is utilizing a word processing program to create KWHL charts. I know of few teachers that do not use the computer to create these types of charts but generally, they then either run copies or use one with the overhead or document camera. The next step that I had not thought of and listed in the book are having students fill out these on the computer. This allows for better communication to parents and students and engages students in helping to create their own learning objectives. These sound like easy ideas to implement but do take some extra thought on the part of the teacher. First, where are these going to be stored when students have completed these charts but still need access? If saved to a desktop, will students have access to the same computer each time? In my library, I have 6 student computers, most classrooms 2 and access to laptop carts on a sporadic basis. Second teachers must decide how to manage the students when they are actually filling the forms out. Classrooms with limited computers have limited access. One other concern is a time management for students who have limited capacity for typing. Elementary students are just beginning the process of learning where the keys are located and are at times painfully slow in putting thoughts on paper. Each of these barriers can be solved but must be thought through before asking elementary students to use technology to fill out this common form.

The chapter also discussed the use of Blogs in the setting of goals and objectives. I spent some time on the 3rd grade class blog because I can generally find examples of middle and high school blogs, but rarely elementary school blogs. This example showed the myriad of useful things to use the blog for, but I felt it was difficult to navigate. This weekend I was discussing blog ideas with a friend (a school administrator from another district). Her students participate in a reading blog. The design created by her librarian and set up to encourage summer reading began a few weeks before school ended. Students were to post thoughts about books read, the administrator was to comment on their posts. This sounds like a simple concept and she said that it quickly became popular with students. The problem for the administrator was finding time to respond to the students so much so that they would meet her in the hall and ask why she had not been on the blog that day. For her the timing at the end of the school year was a huge barrier. I did tell her that I was stealing the idea and was going to try a book discussion during the next school year.

In the past I have used programs such as Kidspiration and generally like these types of programs. I have discussed the limitations of using technology earlier, but Kidspiration has another item for teachers to consider before assigning to students. I do feel teachers must take into account learning styles before using with entire classes. Students who are linear thinkers become frustrated easily with Kidspiration. These are tools to use, but may not be a correct fit for each student.

This chapter offered suggestions to tweak common activities utilizing simple to use programs that will encourage students technology use. Although I listed some barriers, I don't feel any will prevent me from trying these ideas but will use with some thought.

21st Century Learner

"What Kind of Education Do You Want Me to Have" is an interesting beginning for this discussion because we can't identify what types of jobs and careers will be available in our children's future. We can rest assured though that students need to adapt to a changing society. The verbs used in this video; think, create, analyze, consume, evaluate, apply, are not new and in many ways I feel we did a better job of this previous to the era of accountability and testing. Is it any wonder the number of students that dropout of school when we cannot seem to make learning and education relevant for them? I do find it interesting the number of teachers who feel it is not necessary to learn new technologies or to attempt to adapt to how students learn best. If adults are willing to stay stagnant then what types of examples are we setting for our learners?

I don't feel students are asking too much when they say "engage me" and they understand that technology is a tool that will help to engage them while we sit and create excuses. The introduction to Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works states that "technology can transform teaching and learning" what more can we want?