Link to my Social Bookmarking tool

http://www.delicious.com/karikracht4

Week 3 Reflection - Wikis

Having some experience with the Wiki, I can see it being used several ways.  As far as class projects go, I see it used to create picture dictionaries, newspapers, brochures, research projects, and to tell our understanding of different math skills. 

Picture Dictionaries – Some of my students have made these already in our class.  Basically, they find pictures and words from a magazine or newspaper that match their word study skill for the week (i.e. short vowels, long vowels, digraphs, prefixes, suffixes, etc.).   In a Wiki, they could do something similar.  We could have different pages for different skills (my students do not all have the same skill at the same time).  Then students can add to the different pages, pasting a picture and writing a word below it so that we can have a nice compiled list of words for each skill. 

Newspapers – I am lucky enough to have the help of a literacy coach in my district.  She has been coming into my room two days a week during my literacy block.  During that time, she helps my lowest students.  While working with them, she helped them to create a newspaper.  It was a big hit.   I could see taking the same idea but expanding on it by using a wiki.  Each student, or pair of students, could be assigned a “story”, or subject, in school.  Then, on their subject’s Wiki page, they would update pictures and write stories and captions for what they are working on in that subject.  You could even include art, music, Spanish, PE, or whatever subjects your school has.  This would serve as practice writing, typing and inform parents of what they are doing.  I would say this would be a project that is done monthly or bi-weekly.

Book Reports – Every year we do a book report with our students.  This would be a creative way to do it.  Each student would have to create his/her own Wiki.  Each page would represent a different part of the book report.  In our reports now, the students discuss main character, setting, problem, one event, and the solution.  They could create different pages for each section and include pictures and explanations. 

Brochures – In social studies, we study Michigan.  Last year, I had my students create a brochure for one of Michigan’s major cities.  They were to include the location, major attractions, products from the city, etc.  A Wiki would be nice in that they could include a real map to show location.  Plus, they could include links to pictures from the city and to some of the major attractions.  It would be nice for some of my students who do not travel much to have a chance to “experience” a place they’ve never been, even if it is only virtually.

Research Projects – One of our science units includes an animal report.  Our students must create a poster and write an essay that includes the animal’s physical characteristics, habitat, and behavioral characteristics.  Again, this could be done with a Wiki.  They would have four pages on their wiki.  One page would be an introduction, and then one for each section; physical characteristics, habitat, and behavioral characteristics.  On each of those pages, the students could include links to pictures, which they could then use to explain the animal’s physical and behavioral characteristics as well as their habitat in their class presentation.

Math – I could see a class Wiki for math.  Students could help create pages for each new concept we learn.  Each page would contain a description of the concept using key terms (which would be links to definitions of the terms).  Images would be included if necessary to help with explanations.  Plus, we would put links to helpful websites that they can then refer to at home.

I also see it useful for parent-teacher communications.  I can put up calendars, newsletters, useful websites, etc.  We could use it to plan class parties.  As parents decide what they would like to send, they can update the list so that it can be a working document.  It can also be useful for teacher-teacher communication.  We all have different planning and lunch times, so we can’t always communicate when we want to.  At my school we are currently trying to plan a literacy night for March.  We have no more scheduled meeting times before then, so we tried to delegate roles at our last meeting.  However, I recently spoke with another member of the groups putting this night on and was informed we may not have assigned all of our duties.  A Wiki would come in quite useful here.  Like the camping trip example on the youtube video, we could list the tasks that still need to be done and teachers can claim them.  This way we can be sure to be prepared. 

In my own life, I love the idea of planning parties or trips with friends and family.  Whenever we go to my Grandma’s house, my mom and aunts have to send email after email about the menu and who will bring what.  Using a Wiki, they eliminate many emails and get meals planned.  A Wiki sort of reminds me of Google documents (although there is more to it I know).

Websites to check out!

I've recently been involved in the creation of two websites.

Check them out:

BC Spring into Action - It's a 5K, 10K, and 1 mile run/walk right here in Battle Creek!  Come get active!

My Wiki - Check out the educational websites and more!

ENJOY!

Week 2 Reflection

          My feelings about my first blog were mixed.  I enjoyed picking the theme for the background and designing the page, but when it came to posting my reflection on the blog, I was a bit hesitant.  It’s so public and open.  I was putting my personal thoughts and writing out there for anyone to read.  I’ve never been a very public person, especially when it comes to my writing, so to put my writing out there for anyone to read was a little intimidating.   As for the RSS, it seemed too simple.  I just set it up and started adding feeds that interest me.  I thought, “there must be more to this…what am I forgetting to do?”  I’ve been checking in on it for the last couple of days and thinking about the question, “What does this solve and how is it “imaginative”?”  I’ve come to see how useful it can be because it is personalized.  I get to see what I want to see and keep up with news and information I’m interested in.  When you watch the news channel, you have to listen to all of their stories before you get to the one you really want to learn about.  With the RSS, I can check up on the news stories that interest me.  It is for that reason that I think it could be useful for my students.  They can learn about anything that interests them!  They can start to take an interest in things outside of our school and district. 

           

            How do the blog and RSS match up to Dale’s Cone?  When reading the article by Edgar Dale, I was struck by his quotes about how hands-on experience is the best experience anyone can have to truly learn a new concept.  I remember hearing the same things in college classes and workshops.  In addition to the hands-on experiences, he discusses “thought” and “symbolic experiences”.  Dale states, “Our experiences vary according to the degree in which they involve us physically or in thought. …And in our symbolic experiences, virtually all the manifest physical action has been removed; we deal with the experience through our thoughts, our general ideas.”  I like this quote because it reminded me that while physical, hands-on experiences are so important, it is also important to remember to stretch students’ minds and get them to problem solve for themselves.  Dale talks about how students learn to think critically and symbolically through their physical experiences.  This is where I think blogs and RSS feeds come in.  I think they are where students can become “creatively involved” and stimulate their minds to think critically, and symbolically.  When referring to video, radio, and other media forms, Dale says, “These materials provide experiences in which the student is an observer rather than a doer.  Preferably he is a thoughtful, critical witness to such experiences, but he has little direct responsibility for the way in which the learning event will develop.”  I see blogs and RSS feeds falling in with this quote as well with an exception.  In a blog, if writing your own blog, you do have responsibility for how it develops.  In addition, with RSS feeds, you choose which you subscribe to and which you want to explore.  Thus, you do have more control over the experience than you would in the case of a video or radio program.  For this reason, I see blogs and RSS feeds closer to the “Direct Purposeful Experiences” on the bottom of Dale’s Cone.  I see blogs and RSS feeds near demonstrations because students can manipulate what they want to see and read but they aren’t actually experiencing the learning first hand.  In addition, blogs allow for some communication about what is being learned and talking/communication is one way to manipulate and play with an idea.  There are so many times that simply talking about something aloud, helps to form deeper understanding of a concept or clear up misconceptions.  Furthermore, I think blogs and RSS feeds, like the Scenarios tool discussed in Siegel’s article will help students,  “grasp multiple perspectives, and develop judgment as well as strategic skill. Scenarios [and blogs and RSS feeds, I think] provide today’s learners with the power to become effective thinkers and doers.” 

As far as “computer imagination” and these two technologies go, I think they are quite imaginative.  According to Siegel’s article, in order for a website to be “imaginative” it must allow for, “Multiple people can access the same information and share ideas with no constraints on time or location.”  Furthermore, he says, “It can create a community of users: It can be easily updated: We can disseminate only the most up-to-date information.”  By these definitions, I find a blog to be incredibly “creative and imaginative”.  In addition to these abilities, a blog also allows for communication to a large audience quickly.  This too, makes a blog creative.  An RSS feed is creative in similar ways to the blog, but it has some added features. “It stores information in an ever-expanding, distributed, hyperlinked matrix: We can go wherever we want, following our interests. It can present information contingent on user input: We can control what we see and avoid having to wade through information we don't need.  It can create a community of users: Multiple people can access the same information and share ideas with no constraints on time or location.”  In conclusion, these two technologies are creative in my opinion, because they meet the definition of a creative website based on Seigel’s definition and they would be quite useful in the classroom.  While they don’t provide the hands-on experience that Dale says is the best form of learning, they do allow a somewhat interactive experience for students, which will allow them to think critically and build symbolic understandings of the topic at hand.

Week 1 Article reflection

What stood out the most to me while reading Postman’s article was his repetition of asking, “What problem does this solve?” regarding technology.  The only answer he seemed to get was that technology solves the problem of providing information and he rightly argues that it is not lack information that causes the problems in the world.  He says, “These things happen because we lack something else.  It is the “something else” that is now the business of schools.”  I agree that our schools today are asked to find a way to figure out what this “something else” is and to fix it.  However, I disagree that that is all we do in schools, I believe we are still in the business of providing information to students as well as opportunities for students to find information on their own.  This is one way that technology has become important in schools.  Technology provides opportunities for research and exploration.  According to Reigeluth and Joseph, these opportunities for student exploration in an area of interest to them will help them to become problem solvers in their field. 

Reigeluth and Joseph were a little before their time in saying, “In brief, it would require a learning-focused educational system that offers customization rather than standardization.”  This idea of “customization vs. standardization” and as we call it today, differentiation, is how teachers are now taught and expected to run their classrooms. Everywhere you turn there are workshops and conferences on differentiation to better meet the needs of ALL of your students. “How can a teacher help 30 children to all learn different things at different rates and in different ways utilizing authentic tasks?” (Reigeluth and Joseph).  While this is our job, it can be quite daunting and that is why I find technology to be so refreshing.  Technology helps us, as educators, to come closer to helping all of our students. 

I use technology everyday in my classroom.  As I prepare my weekly lessons, I am constantly using technology to find new and interesting ways to present a topic, ways that will appeal to all of my students and their unique learning styles.  Additionally, I use technology to help me differentiate lessons to fit my students’ different abilities. 

These are only a couple of the ways I use technology in my classroom, but one of the most important reasons for technology goes far beyond the classroom in my opinion.  If Postman were to ask me, “What problem does technology solve?”  I would say communication.  Thanks to technology, I can communicate with educators in other schools, districts, or even states to see what is working for them.  Thanks to technology, I can find ideas to help my struggling students and to challenge my high achieving students.  Thanks to technology, I can learn how to better serve the needs of my individual students.