Classroom Results

Today I had the students turn in their podcast assignments. As expected several did not have theirs. Those that did were good. The only issue was that some students did theirs in Garage Band. The file is not compatible with the school system. I do not have quick time so I couldn't play them.

I was evaluated when I taught the intro to this lesson. My principal told me this was the first time that she could include technology into the evaluation. I guess my classwork is paying off.

Snow Away

My students spent most of the week eagerly awaiting the snow that was to come on Friday. Only a teenager would think a day off one week after a week long holiday and two weeks before a two week holiday is better than getting out for summer a day early. Logic deficiencies are just one battle I wage each day. I on the other hand do not like snow days. They mess up my plans.

One of the topics I researched for the MTT program is distance learning. When my peers ask me about what I am studying, I always bring up this topic. Most of them know very little about this topic. They look at me like I am crazy when I tell them this is the future and will be a way to be a fiscally responsible alternative.

With distance learning, snow days will be a thing of the past. When I ask my peers to imagine a time where we do not have snow days, their eyes get big and they look for an escape. I stand by this idea. Most of our students have computers and internet. Soon only handful of students will lack this technology. It would take a great deal of planning before hand, but teachers can create distance modules for students on snow day. Students would spend the day completing these modules. As technology increases, video conferencing will be used on snow days as well.

Why should we let snow keep our students from learning? Kids may lose this day they think they are entitled to, but schools need to seize the opportunity to show students that the world doesn't stop for weather, even in Texas.

Planning for the Future

The last few years I have been engrossed in academic study. While I have learned and discovered strategies to use, I really haven't put all of them into practice. I have been in information overload. With graduation approaching, I will finally have the time to digest the information, and put it into practice. I plan on rereading the Richardson book from the multimedia class. Two things I want to work on incorporating are blogs and wikis.

My students write in their journals everyday. I would like them to have publish some of their work. My plan is still in the initial stages. The basic framework is that students will choose one of their journals, polish it, and use it as a blog. All of this would need to be done by the fourth week of the six weeks. The last two weeks of the six weeks students would need to comment on a classmates blog. I have concerns I need to work through. I will probably need to go to the computer lab for the students to complete their assignments, since they show very little initiative. I also need to devise a system so that every student has someone comment on their blog post. I could have students choose a name. It seems very basic and there should be a better way. Also, too many of my students have long held animosity towards each other. The classroom is a big enough battle zone, I don't need it carrying over to the internet.

The other thing I would like to try is a Wiki for vocabulary. Students need to be held accountable to each other for helping make connections to vocabulary words. My interactive reviews did not go as well as I hoped, so I need someway for students to achieve success. There are 30 vocabulary units in our workbook. We cover two lessons at a time for a total of 15 quizzes. Tentatively, my plan is to assign each class two units to create a wiki for. I would create the first one and everyone would contribute to the last two. I need to practice with using Wikis to grow comfortable including them in class.

I want to my class to use more technology and prepare my students for how their college classes will operate. Blogs and Wikis will help. I know I will need to create a brochure or handout to give students who transfer into my class. One concern I have is that when students move in they already feel lost. Getting them caught up to speed may be a difficult job.

Cell Phones

As I have mentioned before, cell phones present a huge opportunity in the classroom. Our school policy is that cell phones must be turned off during school hours. This does not prevent students from using their phones. It take diligence to keep students from texting during class. The most common excuse I get is that they are checking the time. Never mind that I have two clocks in my room, and they aren't going anywhere until the bell rings. Cell phones have created a generation of people who can't tell time and don't wear watches.

Even though students aren't supposed to use their cell phones, I have my students use them. I guess I am a bad influence letting my students break the rules. But I think it is important that students learn to use their phones responsibly. I have students place reminders on their phones so they can keep track of tests, quizzes, and due dates.

Cell phones are not the only contraband - ipods and MP3 players are not allowed either. Recently teachers were asked for suggestions on updating the policy. The question teachers need to ask is "Does the motivation for using ipods out weigh the possible distractions ipods might create?" Also, what is acceptable for cell phones? Obviously, we cannot allow students to text at will, but what limits should we place on them? It will be interesting to see what policy the district develops and just how much impact the teachers in the trenches have.

Production into Practice

My vacation will be over in a few hours, and I will be heading back to the classroom. Before the Thanksgiving Break, I assigned my class a project incorporating technology. My students are creating a podcast for our study of Animal Farm. Each group will create a broadcast focusing on a different point of view.

I am excited to see what my students can create. I hope they like doing something creative for class. One of the expectations from my district is that students will be able to use the technology available. The district has Audacity for the students to use. The assignments uses the TEKS of point of view and teamwork.

I think this is a good assignment, but I am concerned about my students completing it. It isn't particularly difficult. However, students need to have read the book and meet to record the podcast. Expecting the kids to work on their own time is sometimes expecting too much. I'm worried that the technology aspect of the assignment will give the students an excuse not to do the assignment.

All I can do is to keep trying to incorporate technology. If I continue to incorporate technology, the students will eventually respond. I do have plans for bigger technology projects in the next semester.

Still Miles to Go

Thanksgiving Break is almost over, and I still haven't accomplished everything I needed to get completed. I think I will be in for some long nights over the next few days.

I saw this article on Yahoo! tonight.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20091127/ap_on_hi_te/us_schools_cell_phones

This article provides illustrations of how cell phones can be used in the classroom. Many of these activities are innovative. Teachers text instructions in a foreign language for the students to follow. Cell phones are used as calculators and voice recorders. The new capabilities of phones means that they can be used for research. Through special websites cell phones can be used to poll students.

Since cell phones are gaining a bigger role in our lives, schools need to teach students to use them responsibly. Incorporating them into school lessons is the start of this process. Because schools ban cell phones, students hide and evade the responsibility of having the technology. This carries over to places where cell phones aren't banned. I frequently see both kids and adults texting during church service. Responsible cell phone use needs to begin in our schools. Students should learn when to use their phones and when to put them aside.

Not Even the End of a Frustrating Day

I am sitting here waiting for a video to load for my Portfolio. The entire day I have had my laptop to my left and my desktop to my right trying to get my Portfolio finished. I had all the components ready to go this morning. Most of the content loaded pretty easily, once I figured out how to use the program. My problem has been loading the videos.

I tried to load from my laptop, then my desktop. I even left the desktop trying to load while I went to church in search of divine intervention. While at church the website "timed out" so no video loaded. After a bad connection to technical support, I went to school (9pm at night) to try to load the videos. Unfortunately, the cracker jack tech staff for AISD had my site blocked. So that was a waste of thirty minutes.

I came home to try loading again. I found the smallest video to load. It started loading. I waited and waited. Finally I got somewhere -- a dead end. I received a message that my video exceeded the 10MB limit. This left me with questions and more frustrations. I was under the impression that the limit was much higher. I could have gotten the same thing from a free google site and had less frustration. I already had a website with much of the content already loaded plus it is user friendly.

So as I end this I still have 30 more minutes waiting for a file to load to MediaFire so I can link it to my portfolio. And I still have to add a little bit more to the portfolio. So there is still time to build more frustration.