Thoughts from G-Sauce

Class Reflection

2007-12-11T10:19:00.000-08:00

I am amazed at how much I have learned from this class! I am grateful I learned all of this now and am excited to share all of these ideas with other teachers in my school district. I have definitely become more aware of and engaged with technology resources that are available for teachers....I had no idea the potential for such creativity and unique learning opportunities existed! After having tried and having much success with the new technologies available, I am much more comfortable integrating these ideas into my curriculum. I now know the necessary steps and guidance needed to produce quality products, and I am ready to share that with my students. I am more knowledgeable on their uses within the classroom and realize the possibilities they offer me within my classroom. I find that Podcasts, wikis, blogs, and RSS feeds are technologies that could tremendously enhance the content of a Social Studies classroom, yet at the same time, foster writing skills and a sense of "collaboration" and discussion we strive for in Social Studies classes.

A couple of ideas have stuck with me during this semester: "Public Writing teaches Public Responsibility" and "Wikis....enable collaboration and teach us all something very important about what a true democracy is all about." These comments provide justification for the importance of utilizing these technologies within a Social Studies classroom, specifically a Government class. My Government class focuses on being an active participate in democracy and being a responsible citizen. Integrating these technology components can foster the sense of collaboration and contribute that idea of becoming a part of the classroom environment. Students need a place to showcase their ideas and engage in structured debate. Providing opportunities online to publish their work and share it with their classmates and the public makes their writing and ideas so much more valuable. They write to a public audience and within a civic dialogue, which teaches students to defend and explain themselves to others....something that cannot be fostered by simply turning writing in to a teacher. Developing writing skills for a public setting in the 9th grade could have the potential to lead to greater engagement and foster improved writing skills as they continue with their schooling.

(I am definitely interested in contributing to your new book, Rick, and will pass on things as I complete them next semester!)

With my students, I envision an online portfolio which includes: 1) two of their favorite online posts/replies 2) a reflection on a project 3) a digital concept-map which capture their learning from the class 4) a collection of political images which capture the main ideas they've learned from the class and 5) some links to their favorite websites. Perhaps I could have students focus their blog or portfolio on a theme that we have studied, a new viewpoint they now hold, or a concept they now embrace. Students are presented with new ways of thinking and different opinions throughout the year which shape their thinking. An online portfolio could help students self-reflect on the big ideas they have learned from the year as well as help them realize who they now are as a person. Not only could it help students realize their own growth, but it could help me assess their learning throughout the course of the year. Additionally, it could serve as a means of review for an end-of-the year assessment.

Online Feedback

2007-12-10T20:18:00.000-08:00

I have been using Moodle in my classroom on a regular basis, but I'm not sure what direction to take in regards to giving online feedback. It is still an area of uncertainty for me. In regards to my students' posts and replies, I have simply given completion points for answering a question. I have tried to be more diligent in reading my students' comments/debates and have come up with a 5-4-3 grading scale. 5 for excellent, thoughtful, at least 3 reasons or explanations/4 for good, could provide more justification, 2 reasons or explanations/ 3 for fair and needs more thought. This seems to be working for simple discussion posts. Honestly, I focus more on the process, thought-formation, and interaction online rather than the correct answers. My goals with Moodle have been to foster and encourage discussion and debates outside of class, allowing students to develop a "voice" online.

Here is a sample post from one of my students:

"...all men are created equal…..with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
I think that Abigail Adams response to this quote would be she would think it was true becasue she had been fighting for so long for equal rights for women and africian americans and this quote talks about equality for all, and how everyone is equal and should be treated like everyone else not matter who they are.
I think that Abigail Adams would have agreed with Thomas Jefferson because Abigail Adams thought that all men and women are equal. And no matter what their race is they should all be treated the same. Thomas Jefferson said that " among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" And i think that Abigail Adams and Thomas Jefferson both think that everyone should and needs to be treated with equality and have the same rights and freedom as everyone else.

I have found it be very time-consuming for myself to respond to every student's posts. Usually, I pick a class every couple weeks and provide comments to those students. I could explore the idea of using different fonts/italics/highlighting features to focus on points and ideas I like within students' work. Additionally, I need to become more familiar with Microsoft Word editing features and try these more to help my students. I haven't heard much negativity on my lack of comments; Students tend to understand the value and importance in commenting to each other.
As mentioned in chapter 8, "Students take pride in posting work and they are able to see authentic reader response to their writing." I hear many comments about discussions on my moodle. Many students are anxious to see if their post will receive any responses from their classmates. My students are no strangers to using text-talk, either. I come across many LOLs and TTYL and smilies in my students blogs. However, I don't frown upon this. I see it as students interacting and engaging with the content in an informal setting. To foster comments, I have students explain why they either agree or disagree with a students' posts. In the beginning of the year, I had student practice giving feedback to a couple of statements. Students still seem fearful of providing negative comments or disagreeing with their peers. They tend to simply agree and move on. Here is a sample response from one of my students:

I agree with Jason because the first time that i saw Trevor i thought that he was also just some kid who was week , shy , and couldn't do anything to change the world. But as the movie went on Trevors character started to grow more and more and you could see how he was changing into a stronger and more knowledgeable kid.
The first time i saw Eugene i also agree that he was a quiet and patient teacher who cared about his students and wanted to help them achieve in the world. And as the movie went on Eugenes personality opened up more and he showed more passion for teaching and helping society grow.

I did like some suggestions that were made in Chapter 8 and could possibly inter grate them into my classroom, especially for larger projects.

-Encourage students to highlight parts of a text they agree or disagree with.
-Use different fonts of italics to emphasize an idea
-Group my students on Moodle and have them share project ideas or papers (require a certain number of responses before turning in the final draft)
-Explore Tappenin or some IM program to encourage a more free-flow of ideas within a small group.

Readability of Websites: "Facebook versus Myspace?"

2007-12-10T19:40:00.000-08:00

After thinking about the topic of present ion and readability of a website, I'm compelled to respond to the competition between the online networking site of Facebook and Myspace. I've heard several comments from my students as well as my friends on their preferences for these networking sites. I read an article in Newsweek about the growing competition between these two sites and the different features they offer. Myspace used to the "place to be." However, Facebook is now the cool spot for teenagers and 20-somethings. Myspace allows you to upload interactive graphics and backgrounds as well as music to your virtual "space." I've heard several comments from people that this is rather annoying because it can up to five minutes to upload webpages and its difficult to read the font amongst all of the jewels and glams on the page. On the other hand, Facebook provides only a white background, website sections are sectioned off with one blue line and it's much "clearer" to read. Additionally, facebook Focuses more on the "interaction" and building of features rather than the fancy graphics and texts. The article commented "MySpace is glam, Facebook is geek." From what I have gathered, people prefer being a "geek" rather than "glam." Teenagers, in particular, like the simplicity of Facebook yet love the interactive features.

So...I'm drawn to a couple of non-scientific conclusions: 1. Teenagers love interaction and uploading pictures and writing on message boards. 2. Teenagers want easy access to information. The article entitled, "Usability of websites for Teenagers"stated, "To work for teens, websites must be simple -- but not childish -- and supply plenty of interactive features." Students get easily frustrated when they have a difficult time gaining information and finding answers. I have found that students are not as web-savy as we like to think. It took me several weeks to get them used to moodle and teach them to upload a single document to my moodle page. They are not as "researched-based" as we think, but rather, tend to like more easy-interactive features on websites. Just like research from books, students want information spoon-fed to them in an easy manner. They lack the patience needed to search broad topics in many databases.

It has taken me awhile to learn how to make an interesting and interactive powerpoint. There are numerous features of powerpoint that most students are not familiar with at all. I came across some really useful tips on how I can approve my powerpoint presentations:

-Use images to communicate ideas, rather than words

-Use images or single words on the screen to represent your ideas and speak the sentences with your voice

If I ever require students to create a powerpoint presentation or when I assign a technology-based assignment, I generated a few tips to pass on to students:

Place your outline on the powerpoint with 3 or 4 bullet points per slide. Students still need to talk through and expand on their slides. Students need to consider it a "speech" with the powerpoint only guiding them through their presentation.

Students should use 1 visual per slide to enhance their main point.

Podcast

2007-11-24T23:01:00.000-08:00

Success!

Gina's Podcast

Box Approach

2007-11-24T19:59:00.000-08:00

See my box topic here:

Portrayals of Homelessness

Script of podcast

2007-11-12T20:28:00.000-08:00

I decided to create a podcast that would be useful for my classroom. I plan on posting this on my website to inform parents of an upcoming project. I also included students in the podcat.

Dear parents,

Hello, this is Ms. Nelson and this podcast is to inform you of the 9th graders progress on their service-learning project. By now, each 9th grader has researched 3 different issues and should be deciding upon their final topic choice. We have spent some time in class discussing what genuine service means and trying to define ‘service’ as a class. I first asked students to write down their definition of service. Here are some responses from the 9th grade:

We then looked at a different scenarios, each about service, but helping students distuninguish between meeting genuine needs and simply “helping others” After reflecting on different ideas of serving others, each class created their own class definition of service. Most students have realized that service works both ways and creates a full circle, with both the giver learning just as much as the receiver. Moreover, how service is really about a circle of learning and connecting between two people. I invite you to look at the worksheet entitled “What do you mean by service—and what do you want “service’ to mean. Relating service to the idea of being part of democracy. Students should be working on their proposals with their groups. Each student will be submitting a “proposal” which outline a problem state, goals, a description of what they plan on doing, and some potential contacts. I am stressing to students the importance of taking care of finding an organization sooner rather than later. Additionally, each student will be conducting an interview with you so you as the parent are informed of their project. Finally, it is important to note that we require students to receive a signature from the organization they plan to volunteer at by January 10….we want to know they have been in contact with a volunteer organization. A more detailed listed of important due dates is located under service-learning sheets. Also, we are asking students to keep individual track of all the work they do for their project. I sign off upon completion of tasks to keep record of responsibilities. "Service-learning is a particularly fertile way of involving young people in community service, because it ties helping others to what they are learning in the classroom. It enables them to apply academic disciplines to practical, everyday problems. In the process, it provides a compelling answer to the adolescent's perennial question, 'Why do I need to learn this stuff?'""Civic behavior is the important issue for the country. Democracy requires its citizens to take responsibility and be involved in solving problems, not just during times of crisis, but all the time. Service-learning involves students in solving community problems, and at the same time, helps them learn and apply reading, writing, math, science, and social studies."Frank Newman, Visiting Professor of Public Policy and Sociology, The Futures Project, Brown University Member, National Commission on Service-Learning

Podcasting!

2007-11-11T17:00:00.000-08:00

I'm really amazed at the wide-variety of activities I can do with podcasting. Even more, I impressed at the potential to engage students in the process and help the analyze, evaluate, and re-create the content from our government class. Almost any lesson I do could incorporate podcasting. Kids love getting into groups to debate and discuss issues...which is what our class entails. I can envision my students taking on unique characters and different roles to act out historical debates in the form of a podcast....very powerful stuff. I've also been looking into the Celtx software and am pleased that there is software available to help my students organize their ideas. Half the battle of creating successful projects, such as podcasts, depends on the students' ability to organize their ideas and make their scripts.

I've listened to many podcasts before....interviews, Policast and Musicheads from MPR, the current song of the day, etc. While I haven't listened to anything much more exciting than simply reporting, I can see the potential to create some very dramatic podcasts. Garageband had such an endless array of sounds and music to choose from it was overwhelming. Podcasting can definitely allow the student to be creative, but I need to make sure to emphasize the content portion of a podcast...such as with any project. I do like when podcasts add some extra sounds...it keeps my attention.

For potential projects, I am going to have my students create a roundtable discussion on the debate between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. I'm going to have my students take on roles, such as Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, or George Mason, and have a discussion on the inclusion of the Bill of Rights in our Constitution. Students can decide where this will take place and add appropriate sounds.

For my own podcast, I'm going to provide parents with some instruction on our big service projects. Parents always have questions on these...so I'll put this up on my school webpage. Additionally, I might create a commentary as if I'm an Anti-Federalist to provide an example to my students.

Classroom Activities

2007-10-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

Ideas for using digital writing activities
1. Wikis/Googledocs
My students do a very in-depth, year-long research/service project in which wikis could really foster a greater sense of collaboration and communication. Students could post valuable web-sites, research information, interview questions, and edit there assignments.

2. Podcasting
My district is still in the process of working out the “kinks” of podcasting (apparently), but I think I could use podcasts in several ways with my classroom. There are numerous topics which invite students to either give their opinion, create a “public-service announcement,” or create an advertisement.

Specifically, I have thought about students creating a campaign speech for a candidate of their choice for next year’s election. Additionally, I think podcasting would allow students to explore different propaganda techniques and use propaganda or negative campaigning.

3. Online simulation
My students already posts responses on moodle forum. However, I would like to possibly try an online debate format. Some possible debate topics include: Electoral College, limit campaign spending, immigration, foreign policy options, Supreme Court Cases, or a bill for our unit on the Legislative Branch.

I think this would be most effective if students took on unique roles and could create a character with differing opinions, ideas, etc. Perhaps I would require students to research and develop strong arguments for their role.

4. Digital storytelling

I am very intrigued by the idea of using digital storytelling or flickr because many of my students are visual learners and thrive on different avenues for expressing their ideas. I have considered students finding media propaganda techniques within flickr and putting together a propaganda slideshow centered on a candidate.

I would also like students to highlight various time periods in voting history through use digital storytelling and perhaps use their own voice to tell a story to accompany the visuals.

5. Vlogs
I feel students could go Vlog crazy! This would be ideal to use during an election unit. Students could create advertisements using propaganda techniques to promote a candidate.

Flickr SlideShow of Southeast MN Floods

2007-10-14T18:43:00.000-07:00

After much deliberation and thought about a topic for my slideshow, I finally decided to create a compile photos that illustrate the flooding which happened in August in Southeastern MN. I grew up in La Crescent, MN and many of my family's friends were hit hard by the flooding, losing their farm land or their entire homes. These pictures represent the damage, but nothing can really capture the disaster as much as seeing it in person. However, I believe this images are extremely powerful in telling the story of the severity of the flood damage.

SouthEast MN Floods Slideshow

ABC News Article on MN Floods

I had the opportunity to visit some of the flood-damaged areas and was blown away at how much the landscape has changed and how much people's lives have been turned upside down from the flood damage. In particular, I former high school teacher of mine lost his entire house and has been repeatedly featured on major news networks for his loss. I've included a picture in this blog post.

In regards to using Flickr in my classroom....I was really captured by Selfe's idea of the use of a Visual Argument. I could definitely see myself using this in my government courses. It is difficult for teachers to turn to visual representations because so much concentration is made on improving writing for the MCA tests. Selfe commented, "Teachers continue to privilege alphabetic literacy over visual literacy, on other words, because they have already invested so heavily in writing, writing instruction, and writing programs..." Selfe draws a solid argument that teachers continue to invest time and energy into writing; however, so many of our students could benefit from the alternative forms of creating visual representations of a particular topic. Many of my students are visual learners and need the opportunity express themselves in ways other than writing. I like Selfe's idea of Visual Argument because it is highly organized and includes a rubric where the student has the opportunity to demonstrate his/her understanding as well as reflect on the his/her choice of visuals. I could potential use a visual essay or visual exhibit to analyze an issue or persuade an audience to accept a specific point of view. Furthermore, Selfe emphasizes having students showcase their visuals essays to an audience and reflecting on classmate's visual essay. I feel this is an important component in order for student's to learn from each other and demonstrate the ability to persuade other's opinions. Selfe commented that teachers feel a bit unsure how to teach a visual essay, but success comes when the teacher learns along with the student. It may take time for me and my students to become visual literacy experts, but the idea to express oneself in a visual form is becoming more and more mainstream given new technologies.

Selfe's rubric for a visual essay coincide with a written essay and could definitely be utilized in my government class. I could use this project for our Voting Unit in place of a persuasive campaign speech on an issue. I could also use this as part of our exploration of media propaganda. Additionally, I could use a visual essay in our Supreme Court Unit and have students persuade others to take a specific stance on an issue. There are a myriad of other places a visual essay could be used withing a history course as well.

Vlog on YouTube

2007-10-13T19:58:00.001-07:00

Magic Vlog

2007-10-13T19:52:00.001-07:00

Wikis and my Social Studies classes

2007-10-09T13:28:00.003-07:00

After reading Matt Barton's article titled, "Embrace the Wiki Way," I think I am about to embrace it to use in my government classes. I was really captured by his statement, "They will not help a writer develop a personal voice. They will, however, enable collaboration and teach us all something very important about what a true democracy is all about." Barton shed light on the idea that wikis illustrate the idea of a democracy and creating a sense of collaboration towards a unified goal. With this perspective in mind, I find that wikis could play a strong role in cultivating a sense of community and group collaboration I strive for in my social studies classes. With each student adding information and thoughts to the wiki, they are added to the class community of ideas. I instill the civic values of trust and dependence on each other in the class, which could be applied to wiki sites. The notion of wikis being created by a "community" rather than an individual really captures and illustrates the idea of democracy. As I often tell my students, "We are all in this together." I find that wikis take collaborative learning one step further by holding student accountable to their sub-topic. It is easy to identify who is contributing and who is not. Additionally, I like the idea of students having the opportunity to edit and refine each other's writing. Being able to see changes and progression of a group shows effort, thought, and critical analysis of the material.

I have used wikis before for professional development. Teachers at my school have created a wiki site which is dedicated to ESL teaching strategies. I think their are several uses for wikis in my classroom which I would like to explore. Students have an in-depth research project in which wikis would serve an excellent purpose to gather and share information. I plan on creating a wiki site on my moodle page for my students during their research process.

Vlogging, compressing, and media mill

2007-10-08T20:21:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtiAx45B02E

Here is my attempt at my 'pseudo-pro' vlog. I had a horrible time compressing it in media mill--it took forever!! So, the best I could do was post it on youtube with lousy, and I mean lousy, video quality.

My dad turned out to be a pretty good Vlog subject. He loves to entertain and was extremely comfortable in front of the camera. I told him what to do and he automatically did it. I think he was born to Vlog and showcase his talents to the world. Perhaps I'll have to pass these tools onto him so we can see more of his unique magic on YouTube.

Using Windows Movie Maker was easy to learn. However, the difficult part was compressing the file, as I mentioned above. As of now, I am still waiting for my video to finish compressing in Media Mill, so hopefully by tomorrow it will be finished. I tried downloading a free compressor online, but then the compressor title displayed over my vlog, which completely ruined the effect of the video.

Finding Creative Commons Music

2007-10-08T19:32:00.000-07:00

I went on an adventure to find "free" music on the internet. I was impressed with the wide selection of underground music that Creative Commons has to offer. However, it was difficult to figure out how to actually download it. In the end, I resorted to freesound.com and ccmixter.org. Although the music was short and mostly consisted of sounds, I found some fitting "music" for my VLOG. It is definitely some unique, electric music which is not heard in the mainstream....but this makes more VLOG more interesting, right? My students create a documentary at the end of the year and music always becomes an issue. Rather than battling with them about not being able to use the lastest pop song or arguing about respecting copywrite laws, I will turn their attention to these free music sites and Creative Commons in hopes of some shifting attitudes towards using copywrited material ;-)

Digital Note-Taking Tools

2007-10-01T21:23:00.001-07:00

When making my digital map, I discovered that there are many different avenues I could take with my final project. However, I need to still explore the feasibility of some of these topics with our technology at school. I think students will definitely be more engaged with the technology, and hopefully, this will improve their writing and understanding of the content. These potential projects could really foster more ownership of the end product, encoruage students to create high-quality products and improve their communication of ideas.

I've discovered that many of my students are visual learners, so I think using this inspiration program would be a big benefit for them. Exploring with all fo the different colors and fonts can be fun and at the same time, encourage students to be more creative with the ideas they brainstorm for a topic. I like inspiration because it makes the brainstorm/note-taking process more meaningful and involved. Students can feel like they have really accomplished a task when they see their ideas nealty organized in a visual organizer.

I have explored some other note-taking options and have found that some programs could be useful for our group projects. I especially like google docs. Many kids start work at school and finish at home, losing valuable information along the way. Google Docs allows kids to create word document/note page and access it from anywhere. Additionally, wikis could be used in so many different ways in my classroom. As soon as we start a group project, I am going to encoruage students to start a wiki page with their group members to foster better communication.

Thoughts on Search Methods

2007-09-16T16:03:00.001-07:00

As a social studies teacher, my students engage in many projects throughout the year that require the searching of information. Needless to say, I would like this to go beyond simple google searches. So many of my 9th graders automatically will use yahoo or google search engines, which is fine at first, but lack the skills to recognize uncredible or invalid sources. Furthermore, they lack the organization for these searches. I definitely want to see them go beyond the "cut and paste" of information into word documents, which so many of them do. My school has subscriptions to many valuable databases such as EBSCO, SIRS, and Proquest.

I think RSS Feeds to subscribe to newspaper feeds would be helpful to them in the search process. I also like the idea the Think Tank 4 Teachers website to help students pose and identify important questions to search for on their topic. Many students are clueless on what words or phrases to search for in search engines. ThinkTank4Teachers actually let students pick from a series of questions on their topic to help them search.

I'm also interested in using tagging. This is new to me, but allowing students to generate and share tags can add to a more collaborative feeling in the classroom and may get students more engaged in the search process.

Vlog Analysis

2007-09-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

Wow! A little creativty and imagination can go a long way in producing a fun vlog! "Your Dress Would Look Better than Mine" created a vlog which immediately captured my attention and curiosity. She took a common MN attraction and added a little "twist" to entertain both Minnesotan's and others. This vlog definitely provides a new way ot thinking of the famous cherry and spoon sculpture. If someone from outside of the Twin Cities viewed this vlog, they may be prompted to check out with the Sculpture Garden. Her creative use of editing skills was the essence of her vlog and kept me watching. This vlog uses a variety of angles and shots. In particular, she uses close-ups, placing herself several yards in front of objects. In doing so, the objects appear much smaller than they are and it appears that she can actually "eat" the cherry on the spoon.

This vlog inspires me to take the ordinary, everyday occurances and add a "spin" to them to make them creative. I believe I would focus on an autobiographical recollection, taking the audience through some aspect of my everyday life. I may find ordinary events or scenes that occur in my typical day and use some creative camera angles to shed some new light on the situation.

Hunger Strikes Courtney at the Walker Art Sculpture Garden

The Big LC....flooded!!

2007-09-10T20:32:00.001-07:00

I have been glued to the TV the entire month of August. First, the 35W Bridge collapse. And then 2 weeks later, my hometown is being flooded...La Crescent,MN. You have no idea how eerie it is to see both places you have lived on national news for some type of devastation.

One of my former high school teachers and friend of my parents was on all the major news networks because he lost his entire house. FEMA only paid him 28,000. How can you pick and rebuild off of that? They lost everything! They didn't even have time to get their toothbrushes! Then, my cousin lost his Great Uncle and Great Aunt to a road collapse due to the flood. Thankfully, my parents are ok because they live right in the city. SE MN is so small everyone knows everyone. I had no idea the extent of the SE floods until I went home and saw the devastaion myself.

Here are some pictures I took. I have also included links to my former high school teacher on Good Morning America.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3514280&page=1