Digital Writing: The First Six Weeks of School

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a few days of the Ohio Innovative Learning Environments Conference.  Every time I attend this conference, I feel so so lucky to have this opportunity so close to home. It is such an amazing week of brilliant speakers and lots of learning.

During the first day of the conference, I had the opportunity to hear Will Richardson. I've read his work and learned from his blog, articles, videos, etc. for years. I was so excited to finally get the chance to hear him in person. I ended up going to every one of his sessions so I pretty much spent the full day listening to him.  He helped me connect some things about digital writing workshop.   I have been thinking for years about what it means to be a writer today. And I struggle with how to make things work for elementary students. I believe strongly that any digital writing experiences need to be embedded in the things I believe about writing workshop in general.

Will Richardson helped me think through the whole connected piece of digital writing. He said several things that stuck with me about the networking that is so much a part of the digital writing experience. He helped me see that so much of life as a digital writer is in the behaviors and stances we have as writers, the expectation for participation, for changing our thinking, for conversation.  I know this about myself as a writer but I have struggled with making this work for kids.

One of the struggles of elementary age students is the safety and policy issues around social networking and young children. After hearing Will Richardson speak, I revisited the NCTE definition of 21st Century Literacies as well as the framework. He referred to this document in all of his sessions and listening to his thoughts around the document helped me solidify my own thoughts:

I thought about what had been missing in my thinking about digital writing in the classroom and I realized it was these connected behaviors of writers because of the tools available.  I realized that just as in any writing workshop, living your life as a writer is key. Building in routines to support children as they grow as writers and learn behaviors of writers is key. I believe our children are already digital writers in their lives outside of school and I want to authentically give them opportunities to bring that digital writing life to school too.

So, I thought through the routines outside of the possible genre or format studies we will do. I asked myself to think about the ways in which we as a class would build our digital footprint, how we would think about purpose and audience, and which routines I could put into place during the first six weeks of school to make that happen. I came up with a four-part plan that would give kids opportunities for many kinds of writing.  Below is the visual of the four types of writing that will hopefully become routine in our classroom:

And below is my thinking about the role of each of the four components:  

4 Components of Digital Literacy in 4th Grade Classroom

Public Relations--District Website/Teacher Webpage

This site will be the “face” of the classroom.  It will house weekly to biweekly posts with general news. Links to newsletters, information, other sites that we are using as a class will be part of this District Page. This will be the formal piece that I, as the teacher, create on my own, just updating community on what is happening.

Individual Opportunities--Social Networking/Connected Learning in Protected Environment

District ELGG

ELGG will give the 4th graders the opportunity to write in a networked environment that is safe and secure.  We will utilize individual blogs as a way to communicate information. Blog focus will be on personal interests with a focus on writer’s craft and audience. We will also utilize the Social Bookmarking tools, as readers/researchers, and the “wire” as a way to understand the difference between quick messages and actual posts. Use of ELGG will help 4th graders learn what it is to be networked, how to make sure they are creating quality work, and to think about purpose and audience.

Collaborative Communication--Dublin Wikispaces (internal district users)

As a way to create collaboratively, we will use the Dublin Wikispaces to share our story as learners.  This wikispaces wlll be focused on classroom learning and will grow as the year goes on. It will serve as parent/family communication as well as a way to review and reflect on learning.  We will build the site in a shared way during the first few weeks of school and then will move forward to everyone in the classroom adding content about our learning.  Because this is an internal site, we will make the pages “members only” so that we can be honest about learning, include photos and student work.  

Global Audience--Shared Experience/Teacher-Only (Moderated) Account

To help the students understand the importance of a more global audience, a class blog will be created to share our classroom with the world.  I will create a Blogspot blog in my name and set it up to be moderated by me. As the only person able to publish, I will oversee the blog, moderate comments, etc.  As a class, we will be able to learn about what is okay to be “out in the world” by having this as an option for sharing.   I will also create a class account for a Google Reader, Google Doc (For survey creation, etc.), a Twitter account (for news to families), and a Skype account (for expert visits when needed).  As the teacher, I will be the sole moderator of all of these accounts.  These tools will allow us to connect to other classrooms, authors, blogs, etc. in a safe way.

By having this variety of tools, students will not only grow as readers and writers, but they will learn technology skills as well as important online safety behaviors. Audience, purpose, and safety will be part of many discussions as we learn to be readers and writers who connect with others.

**The first 4-6 weeks will be dedicated to learning to use these tools and type of writing required for each of these tools well. Much of the experience early in the year will be modeled and shared so that students understand the purpose and role of each tool.  

I am hopeful that these routines will help me to teach the qualities of good writing with traditional and digital tools.  Below are the slides I created to share with some teachers at a district  conference this week.  It was a good time for me to think through how I can think through the first six weeks of school in a way that builds behaviors that will carry us through the year.  You can see Will Richardson's quotes that stuck with me spread throughout the slides. I would love feedback or thoughts on the plan and I'd love to hear other people's routines for launching a year of digital writing.

Digital Writing: First 6 Weeks from Franki22

I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN by Steve Moline

I have been thinking a lot about 21st Century Literacies over the last several years. I know that the definition of literacy has expanded and I have been trying to work through what this means for our work with kids in school. How do we help kids be successful with reading that is becoming more complex. And, with the Common Core, I have been thinking about how to really include more nonfiction into the classroom in a way that really supports deep reading. A book I read recently that helped me think more about both of these important issues was I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN: VISUAL LITERACY K-8 by Steve Moline. This is a Stenhouse book that was first published a long time ago--before anyone was really talking about Visual Literacy. It was a book I loved long ago and one I love again with Moline's fresh thinking.

This book seems even more important now than it was years ago when I first fell in love with it. I've been working
working with elementary children for years and have really been observing the ways they are approaching information that is both text and visual.  I have seen lots of skimming and scanning and a huge need for teaching around how to putting information together in a way that builds deep understanding.

This book really helped me think through how to better support students in their reading of all things visual.  On page 1, Moline states, "Visual literacy is not a cute new toy for children to play with; it is the means by which we manage in the every day world."

The book is organized into chapters based on the different kinds of visual texts that make the most sense in the classroom. It is by no means comprehensive but the way in which Moline talks about each one of these, helped me see a new way to look at visual texts as a whole. There are chapters on simple diagrams, maps, analytic diagrams, process diagrams, structure diagrams, graphs and graphic design. I learned a lot of important vocabulary that helped me learn about the differences in the way information is shared. Moline takes some time to help us see the difference between analytic diagrams and process diagrams. I'm not thinking that our kids need to understand these words but for us to understand visual texts in a deeper way, we will be better able to teach our students to read with meaning.

I love that there are whole chapters on things like maps and graphs. It was easy for me to dig in and to see where this teaching might fit in across content areas.  But even more than the specifics around the types of visual texts our students should be able to read and understand, Moline made big points that will really help me throughout all of my work in visual literacy.

One point that Moline makes over and over is the importance of creating visual texts.  He says, "There is a big difference between asking students to label a preexisting diagram (on a worksheet, for example) and asking them to draw the diagram themselves as well as to label it. This is because a large part of the understanding that students gain from these texts lies in reconstructing the pictorial elements of the diagram."

Moline also makes the point about purpose--what is the purpose of the visual. When do readers need to read the entire piece and when might they skim and scan for certain information.  Moline talks a lot about this understanding of the reader as a teaching point--if we want our students to be creators of visual texts, we must help them understand how the reader will make sense of it. He says, "Instead, by focusing students on matching form to purpose, we can show them that writing is above all communication with a reader who will expect our text to be accessible, memorable, concise and clear."

As I was reading, I was constantly jotting notes in the margins--ideas I could use in Social Studies, ways I could incorporate things like Google Maps, a good minilesson idea, etc. There are lots of clear examples throughout--published pieces as well as student samples. A website is also included that has color images of the images throughout the book.

One more point--Moline gives us clear guidelines about assessment, helping us to think about what it is we'd be looking for if we asked students to create their own map or diagram.  Each section helps us think through the visual texts, their purpose and possibilities for assessment.

This seems like a must read book and one that will cross lots of professional circles. It seems important for classroom teachers and librarians who are working on visual texts and thinking about 21st Century Learning. It seems important for people digging into the nonfiction components of Common Core. It would be a good read for content specialists and visual texts are so important to science, social studies and math. And I can see technology specialists wanting to read this book as there are huge implications for their work with children and teachers.

I am really excited about this book and plan to return to it over and over throughout the school year. I know that I need to make the visual piece of information more important in my teaching and this book has helped me think about how that will be possible.

Creating Ignite Presentations with 4th Graders

One of our big 4th grade projects was our MADE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE PROJECT. As part of this integrated project, each student created an Ignite presentation on a topic/cause they cared about.

I wrote a bit about this during the process but we wanted to capture the process and some samples as a reflective piece as teachers.  I used Kevin Hodgson as a mentor for the Wikispaces we ended up with. I had learned so much from his Video Game Design site and I loved how he captured so much for us to see. Often, especially with new technologies, the learning that leads to the final product is often not easily visible.  When I visited Kevin's site and learned all that went into the gaming unit he did with his 6th graders, the learning was so much easier to see.

Using his site as a type of mentor text, we worked to create a site that captured the 4th grade project. You can visit it here.  It is not quite finished but close enough that I felt that it was worth sharing.

I think as teachers, the messages we are getting from the standardized testing environment seem very different from the messages we are getting from the 21st Century Learning things out there. But if we can capture all that we do and the way that it relates to standards, if we can make the learning of the process more visible for students, community and ourselves, I think we can teach well and students will learn what is needed, no matter what standards we are responsible for.

One of the important things I learned is that putting a wiki or site together after the project is over is nearly impossible.  We were not able to collect and share all that we wanted to because we waited until the end to post and the task was overwhelming.  I think it would be a far better idea to involve kids not only in the project but also in creating a space like this where they can capture their own learning.  So much happened on a day to day basis, that it would be smarter next time, to post daily or every few days and then reorganize as needed.  This site is not exactly as we imagined but it is our first attempt at capturing some of the learning that led up to a final project.  For us, this is a site for us to reflect on the process and to revisit when we plan for future learning.

It is my hope that Kevin Hodgson started something--gave us, as teachers a way to capture the learning that our students do in long-term projects.  If we can all make it a point to share these projects--the learning rather than only the final products, we can help each other and ourselves to teach better. I know Kevin's gaming site helped me incredibly and I am hoping that sharing our Ignite project helps someone else.

3:15 APP LISTEN-READ-WATCH

If you have not made time to read Patrick Carman's multimedia books, I would highly suggest doing so. Patrick Carman is committed to creating multimedia books that hook readers and keep them reading. He has really done some amazing work and he has created some great stories that use so many types of media. The first book I read was SKELETON CREEK. I reviewed it on the blog right away and was excited to see how seamlessly Carman had integrated the various forms of media.  This series has been hugely popular in the library since its publication.  The newer series that Carman created is the TRACKERS series. This one was more of a spy novel and I reviewed the first book in the series on the blog last year.

Patrick Carman's new project is very exciting.  He has created a series of short stories called 3:15. These stories require that you LISTEN, READ AND WATCH.  This 3:15 series is published as an APP.    The first episode, "Buried Treasure" has been released.  There is a new episode due to be released every 2 weeks through summer.  Then Season 2 Begins with more episodes.  If you enjoyed Jon Scieszka's EXQUISITE CORPSE ADVENTURE creation, where you wait for a new online episode to be released, this follows  a similar idea.  One big difference in this and The Exquisite Corpse is that each episode in 3:15 is a stand alone story. The first episode is free and the second episode of 3:15 is due out tomorrow--March 29. It is called, "Reflecting Pool".  It sounds like all of the stories will be published in a book this coming fall from Scholastic.  Lots of ways for kids to discover these stories. I love that about Carman-he seems to be committed to giving kids many ways into reading.

A 20+ page text tells most of the story and
leads the reader to the video ending.

I spent some time with the first episode, "Buried Treasure" and really enjoyed it. I also handed it to my 11 year old daughter when I was finished it and she thoroughly enjoyed it and wondered when the next episode was due out.  Here is how it works.  When you get to the app on the ipod/iphone, you have 3 things to do. First, you LISTEN to the set up of the story told by a narrator.  Then you READ for about 10 minutes. The text is about 22 ipod size pages and this part tells the bulk of the story. When you are finished with the text, you go to WATCH and view the video that tells the ending to the story.  I love this.

When I first read SKELETON CREEK, the only part that bothered me was moving from book to computer.  I hated putting my book down to get to the computer. But Patrick Carman has perfected all of this and has figured out how to put all parts of the book into an app so you can experience each on the ipod or ipad.

These stories are a bit scary. Ghost stories.  I have had difficulty lately finding enough "Scary Stories" for kids in the library who love them. These will definitely appeal to kids who love the SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK series and authors like Mary Downing Hahn.

I think there are so many more possibilities for reading today and I am so glad that Patrick Carman has committed to this work with Multimedia. He has a great video on his website that better explains all of this called, How a Multimedia Book Works. He also has a great clip on his thinking about Books and Tech.

Patrick Carman really seems to have discovered new possibilities for storytelling.  Whether you are already a fan of his work or not (I am, can you tell?), check out his new series of apps, 3:15. I am already looking forward to Episode 2 which is available on March 29.

September Mosaic

I can't believe September is already over! 237 days have been marked off the 2009 calendar...

There are lots of signs of the end of summer in this mosaic. There are the literal signs announcing the last Catholic church festival of the summer and fresh produce for sale, and there are the more subtle signs -- the sunflowers and the mums, the art at the Upper Arlington Art Festival and the end-of-summer feast.

We spent time with dogs this month. The puppies from the puppy video were at the same event as the poof-head Briards and the scruffy farm dog, Buster (Bess' brother).

As Saturn owners, we enjoyed our first Saturn Day at the Columbus Zoo. The baby elephant, Beco, is six months old, but still cute as a bug's ear. (Check out this video of Beco at the Columbus Dispatch.) My other favorite site was the orangutan chewing and playing with a piece of bubble gum!

The month's pictures end with a couple from the Casting For Recovery retreat. You can see all the retreat photos here. Thanks again to the Central Ohio Bloggers for their generous contributions to CFR last summer during the 48-Hour Read.

Project 365 on Flickr is one way I'm thinking about my own 21st Century Literacies this year.

Composing Workshop

Franki's post, "How Did They Make That," has gotten several interesting comments. In the post, she tells about her students deconstructing the Scholastic Book Fair video, not in terms of content, as she expected, but in terms of how it might possibly have been made.

One responder declared the video a marketing failure because the students looked beyond the content. Others agreed with Franki's positive take on her students' point of view.

But the comment I want to respond to today, in light of the hour I just spent working in iMovie and GarageBand making a video I could upload to YouTube so that I can share some huggable puppies with my friends, is from takini8:

"I think this generation are creators and producers. They are moving beyond the viewing that I did as a child. I watched videos and enjoyed them, they view critically and with an eye to creating. I think that's because they can create and publish so easily. I think its a really exciting perspective and look forward to what they do in the future. My problem is what to call writing today. I originally started calling writing workshop, author workshop, because I was focusing on authoring but now... what do you call it when they are blogging, creating photo essays and music videos? It's so much more than authoring."

What do I call Writing Workshop now? I call it Composing Workshop.

It's that time in the day when we use a creative design process to make things we want to share with an audience for some purpose.

We get an idea, try it out, tweak it until we get it just right, look at it through as many lenses as we can, then share it out with an audience.

It might be paper and pencil, word processing, a music composition, a comic, a movie with narration or a sound track, a photo essay, or (insert project here).

Yes, there are times when my students attend to the genres of paper-pencil composing required by our district and the State Standards. But once my students have a firm traditional grasp on the standards as defined by the state, they are encouraged to work with the standards/genres in the media of their choice.

Another message I hope to be communicating with my "composing workshop" is that the processes and skills that my students are learning are not to be used solely within the walls of school. My students, too, can have a personal composing workshop on a rainy Sunday morning sitting at their very own kitchen table during which they put aside all their other work/chores to make a video and compose the music for its soundtrack.

And now, because I know you're dying to see it, here is the puppy video I made this morning:

"How did they make that?"

We learn so much when we listen to the little things kids say. We are getting ready for our Scholastic Book Fair in the library next week. Traditionally, we spend some time the week before book fair sharing the video that shares some of the books, shows clips of authors talking about their writing, etc. Today, when the DVD was over, I expected comments and questions about the books and the upcoming book fair. Instead, one of the kids raised her hand and said, "How do you think they made that video?" Then other kids jumped in and said things like, "Well, they had to do something with animation.", "I bet they used a video camera for the interviews and then put that in the computer.", "They must have had a green screen. Where do you get one of those?"

I loved this conversation for a lot of reasons. First of all, the kids are looking at things like DVDs and naturally wondering how they made it---realizing that they can "make" these things too. As a writing teacher, I know that so much of our work with young writers is helping them to see what authors do and teaching them to ask themselves, "How did the author DO that?" when they find some great element of writing. The fact is that with the new tools of technology, our kids are asking these questions on their own--really looking at something and thinking about how the creators DID that--how they might do something similar. They are so ready to jump in and create. So ready to look not only at the technical part of how these things are created. But soon they'll be ready to look at the craft of these pieces.

July Mosaic

July. I'm nostalgic for it already. Life was slow in July. The first half I was still at home in Colorado. I came back to garden, travel, friends, projects around the house, and leisurely hours at Cover to Cover.

Standing on the banks of July, it took nerves of steel to jump into the raging river of August which will carry me pell mell until a brief rest in mid-October for the Kidlitosphere Conference, a longer one in November for NCTE, and finally Christmas break, when I might actually be able to catch my breath again.

We've swum a week into August. My head is still well above water and my breathing is steady. I know it won't last, but it feels good for now. I'm going to try to hold onto this feeling.

Professional Development--21st Century Literacy

There are several of us who continue to do lots of thinking around the area of 21st Century Literacy. There is so much to think about and it is fun to learn and think together. How do we make these experiences authentic for our students? Especially at the elementary level?

This week, we had another great meeting. We met at my house and shared our learning and thinking. We spent about 3 hours together. We started off talking about the things we've learned this summer and the things we were hoping to learn more about. Then we spread out throughout the house and shared with each other. Some of us learned to do Voicethreads. others learned how to use the Flip Video camera and to edit film. We played with lots of tools and left with lots to think about. You can see that once the whole group chat was over, we spread around the house and learned from/taught each other. Everyone left with something new to think about.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A few blog posts connected to our professional development this week. We came together to learn from each other because we wanted to-because we trust the people we are learning with and we all have different goals and hopes for ways to use this new thinking in our teaching. Wesley Fryer wrote about professional development in his blog post TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CHOCOLATE CAKE. I think that there are so many ways for us to learn and summer provides time for some of this more intense learning.

I also thought David Warlick's post Technology and Teaching was very thought-provoking. He asks some hard questions. Definitely something to think about.

We are hoping to have one more of these sessions before school begins and then to meet throughout the school year. A great network of people to think and learn with!

June Mosaic

This month began with outdoor theater and the end of the school year.

There was an MG event and a fish-a-thon, and fun with "The Moniques."

Food seems to have featured strongly this month: fish and chips, omelet, chips and salsa, pastries, mutant strawberries, and Thai beef salad.

The yucca bloomed (those are little white moths to the right of the stamens!), and the prickly pear bloomed, and the lilies bloomed (and smelled positively heavenly). None of which were in my garden!

Willie Morris makes two appearances, as do mom's cats.

We were visited by two therapy dogs while mom was in the hospital -- this happy golden and a wheezy American Bulldog.

For me, meadowlarks are an iconic bird of the eastern high plains. It was a particular tragedy to find one dead in the gutter on Main Street. It likely fell off the grill of the vehicle it was not quick enough to fly away from.

There are now 180 photos in my Project 365 set.

The Best Kind of Professional Development

We had the best professional development yesterday. A group of us who teach in the same district, got together informally to share our thinking and to learn from each other about some of the new tech tools. It is a huge learning curve for all of us but it is such fun to think together about what technology means for our elementary literacy classrooms.

During the school year it is hard to find the time to sit around and learn from each other. So, we decided that we'd just spend a few days this summer hanging out at someone's house, sharing things we were learning, teaching each other new skills and processing about the things this means for the classroom. (This was our first meeting--thanks to Shelly for organizing and hosting!) We started talking and thinking about the Flip Video. Shelley shared a piece that they took on their vacation and then we looked at 39 Interesting Ways to Use Your Pocket Video Camera. A great reminder and a great conversation starter. We played a bit with video editing on iMovie. Some teachers shared their Wikis from the school year. Some shared projects that their students had done. There was not a tight agenda --but just an informal sharing. We chatted as a whole group and in small little clusters. We all left with lots to think about and new tools to try. I think all of us have spent today trying out some of the new things that we learned about last night.

This morning when I read Will Richardson's must-read article WHY SCHOOLS SHOULD BREAK THE WEB 2.0 BARRIER, I was reminded of the importance of what we are doing. He says:

"It's becoming more and more obvious that the longer we wait to embrace these shifts, the less prepared our children will be." He goes on to say, "As professionals, these shifts require us to be learners first and teachers second. If we are to fully appreciate the transformative connections that these technologies afford for our students, we must understand them for ourselves."

Will Richardson is someone who understands technology, someone who understands literacy, someone who understands learning and someone who understands authenticity. I think as literacy educators, we are looking for ways to make these new tools authentic in school settings. But we can't do that unless we are using them in authentic ways ourselves. And the learning is pretty fun! We are having a great time and our heads are often about to explode with all that we are finding is possible. We'll meet again in a few weeks-who knows what we will have each learned between now and then. But we are open to all that each of us learns and we are excited about learning from each other. Summer is a great time to dig in without the stress of time.

iPhone Apps-Are We Finding Ways to Go Beyond the Traditional

Matt really helped me out by posting this video at Creating Lifelong Learners. In my quest to find great apps for the iPod Touches that we are getting, I am not finding a huge number of schools that are using them yet. This clip is packed with apps that would be useful in a classroom setting. But, I am very worried that most of the apps being marketed to schools are pretty traditional applications. They do things like allow you to record lectures, give information about presidents, help you check your knowledge with premade flashcards. When looking at ISTE NETS and P21 and NCTE Frameworks, I worry that very few of the apps I am seeing for schools really have the ability to transform education. Doesn't seem to be the creativity piece in many of the apps-made-for-school that I am finding. Instead they are just a more high-tech way to do pretty traditional things. Creation, communication, global citizenship, critical and media literacy aren't present in many of the apps.

I did find an elementary school that is doing lots with podcasting. Nova Blanche Forman Elementary School in Florida has about 180 iPods (9 carts). Their website shows that they are using them in ways that go beyond traditional teaching. Kids are actually creating podcasts connected to field trips, sharing work with parents at home, running student-led conferences, and more. Several of the projects are posted on the school's website.

I think for these technologies to make a difference, we have to think hard about students creating and communicating in new ways. Students owning the creations. Expanding our definitions of literacy to include podcasts, public service announcements, etc. The questions I am asking myself are:

How can these tools support reading and writing?

What are the new mentor "texts"-pieces for kids to study to inform their own craft as writers?

How can we use these tools in ways to help students build relationships and to work collaboratively?

Can they use these tools to solve real problems and answer their own questions?

How can they synthesize the huge amount of information?

How can they use these tools to create new information or new forms of information?

This week, I am trying to think specifically about booktalks. How can these new iPhones support deeper conversations around books? I think for this to happen, I need to find apps that students can use to track ideas throughout a book--to answer questions they have. They may find evidence of a characters' changing as they read a book. They may highlight some text that helps them think through the theme of the book. The kids in elementary school get pretty savvy about reading with depth and supporting their thinking with evidence from the text. I am wondering if they can use iPod stickynotes and notebook apps to better record their thinking so that they can share it with others. I have played with Notebook and Stickies and both have the potential for students to record, sharing and synthesizing information and then create new information based on the collaboration. I envision kids creating separate notebooks for books they are thinking about and then creating separate notes to track that thinking. One note could record lines in the text that tell something about a character. Another note could track changes in thinking--how does my thinking change about theme or big idea and why? Instead of any form we would create for them, kids could use the tool to collect the thinking they have to make the booktalk authentic.

I am also thinking about the podcast aspect in terms of booktalk. Could recording thinking for others to listen to before the group gets together in person, elevate the level of talk--knowing where people are coming from?

Could entire booktalks be done via iPods in a way that expands the amount of time kids could have to ponder the meaning of a book? Would this type of communication allow more talk and learning for kids who aren't in the same classroom and don't have day-to-day contact?

Would love to hear from anyone who has used/seen used iPods to support quality book talks.

Saline, Michigan and some new iPhone Apps!

Well, the last 2 days were a great reminder of why I do what I do. I think those of us who do any kind of writing or presenting do it because it energizes us.  And the last two days in Saline, Michigan were definitely a reminder of that.  I was lucky to be presenting with an amazing group of women including Debbie Miller, Ann Marie Corgill, Kathy Collins, Cathy Mere and Mary Lee Hahn.  We also met some great teachers from Saline and other area schools as well as those attending all the way from Colorado. It is amazing that when people get together who believe the same things about children and literacy, the energy is contagious.  So much learning occurred at the conference and in conversations with each other.  

I had my antennae up for great new iPhone apps that I might want to try.  And because I wanted to learn how to use my new Flip Video camera and the new version of iMovie, my friends were great sports by demonstrating favorite apps while I videotaped them. (We are thinking that Apple may want to hire us to do their commercials from now on. See what you think...)

Debbie Miller shared her new favorite iPhone app, a musical instrument on the iPhone--Ocarina.  In the spirit of 21st Century Learning, the sharing definitely became social as others wanted to try.  Quite a fun app and, as you can see, we had fun learning about it.  Ann Marie Corgill learns the app from Debbie.  I imagine we have all downloaded it after getting home since Debbie sold it so well.  You may want to try it too.  

I also learned my new favorite app--Notebook. I was sitting in the audience, listening to Cathy Mere's inspiring keynote, watching Ann Marie write furiously in her notebook. I wanted to write down so much of what I was thinking because of Cathy's talk but my notes app was not really what I wanted. So in the first few minutes of the keynote, I figured there must be a better app. I searched the Apps store, found a great new app called Notebook, purchased it, learned to use it, took notes on Cathy's talk, showed it to Ann Marie who also purchased and used it. Don't you love that?  Finding what you need and being able to use it immediately.  I must say that that this is a great new app. So useful. It allows me to create new notebooks for different things--conference notes, my writing, books I want to read, etc. Within each of the notebooks, I can create notes and reorganize as needed. I can also search my notebooks.  It is such a great tool for keeping notes and things in a more organized way than other notes programs I've seen. I can see lots of implications of this for kids but right now am excited about using the app myself.

Other exciting things include Jenny's new blog. Jenny made us feel so welcome.  We know you'll love her new blog, Literacy Conversations.

Also, rumor has it that Cathy Mere may have a new avatar on Twitter soon!

iPhone App-a-Day All Summer

My iPhone App-A-Day mission is going well so far. My first app--100 Sounds has been quite a hit with friends. I think it could be a great app for kids to use when developing videos--so many sound effects at your fingertips. Thanks to Tod Bernhard, the developer of the app, I was able to see some of the apps used in videos. My favorites are the cartoons and stick figure animation. Great ones to show kids when sharing the possibilities. I am thinking that I have to learn lots of apps and then live with the idea and think about the possibilities as the summer goes on. This week I've found more great apps.

APP #2 of my App-A-Day learning. Today, I learned Sketches, a pretty simple draw program.  I spent a little bit of time learning the tools and reading the FAQs on the site. I figured most of it out.  My 9 year old learned it a bit faster than I did and produced a much better drawing. This program gives you the capability to save up to 30 drawings, to send them via email and to tweet them out on twitter.  It also can create a type of slide show.

Not sure yet how I might use this with kids. I am hoping that some need arises where I need to sketch something out this summer. So many times, I am in a conversation with someone and a sketch explains my thinking.  Instead of paper and pencil, I can just pull out my phone to sketch my thinking.  I can see kids doing similar things with their thinking--another tool to help them hold on to some of their thinking. Much quicker than a draw program on the computer if you are just saving thinking rather than creating a product. I can see a quick sketch to solve a math problem, etc.

APP #3 was a Sunday and I decided to choose something quick and easy to learn. And something that was marketed for education and younger children. I tried WHEELS ON THE BUS which is a great song/reading app for young kids. Last week, I was looking at our very old cassette players with headphones. I believe strongly in the use of audiotapes to go along with text for new readers. I see the impact they make on language and literacy development. But CDs, playaways, etc. are pretty expensive. This new app is simple and fun. A colorful version of WHEELS ON THE BUS with some interactive things that kids can do. My daughter and i had fun opening the doors, swishing the wipers, etc. Kids have control of when to go to the next frame, how long to listen to one page, etc. I am hoping to find more apps like this. A great way for kids to read and listen to text on the iPod touch.

APP #4 Kerry at whatchareading recommended Indiebound, an application that shares new books and has great booklists from Indie Booksellers. A great way to keep up with new books on my iphone. There are several monthly lists that share top 10 books.  I can see how this will come in handy as I keep up with new books. 

APP #5 I bought CameraBag this week. It is a simple app that lets you alter photos on your iPhone/iTouch. You pull up the picture and then have lots of options to change it visually--infared, instant, fisheye, 1962 and more. There are some other things you can do with photos using the apps too. I think with a focus on visual literacy and media literacy, this will be an easy way for kids to alter photos for any type of presentation they are doing--just enough to change the feel of the presentation.

I am finding that the apps are not hard to learn at all. That seems to be the easy part. What I am finding is that there are so many apps out there, that the research and decision-making is what is taking most of my time. So many great apps, so many versions of similar apps, so many possibilities. I am learning a lot just from searching.  

I think I am going to focus on some apps that might support booktalks and conversation next week. Look at a few of the apps that might work to help kids hold their thinking.  Right now, I am starting to think about tools that might be out there that would support deeper thinking and encourage creativity and authentic communication. Time to focus a bit on the apps I am learning.

SMARTBOARDS in the Reading/Writing Workshop-Thoughts and Questions

So, I have been thinking a lot about Smartboards/Interactive Whiteboards. They seem to be all the talk these days and I am loving learning about all of the new tools available. We have a Promethean Board at our school and I used it in the library for a week a while ago.  It was very fun and I loved lots about it.  The kids were totally engaged, of course! I could see so many possibilities after playing with it for a bit. I would love to have one for my classroom and for my family room--it is quite impressive. A little addicting, actually.  I can see why it is all the talk these days.

The thing is, I have spent lots of time online searching for great uses of the Interactive Whiteboard.  I think there are pretty amazing things that can be done with it to support literacy, especially in Reading/Writing Workshops.  I can also see huge possibilities for early literacy in general.  There must be people out there doing lots with interactive writing, shared reading, revision, etc.   But most of the samples and things that I am finding are pretty traditional things--a more interactive whole-class chalkboard, I guess.

So many literacy teachers have been looking for the same types of things--clips of Interactive Whiteboards being used in ways to support the way we know kids use reading and writing.

I visited a friend's classroom who did some great things with book previewing (She should  start her own blog so she can write about what she is doing with the board--hint, hint..).  Several teachers in our school are using it in very smart ways.  But the examples I find that really match what I understand about literacy development are not that easy to find.

When we visited our daughter's orthodontist a few weeks ago, I noticed that he has a very cool (small)  Smartboard in his office. He used it to show us our daughter's x-ray, to jot things down and play with the x-ray a bit.  It was very fun to see it being used. But I left there thinking hard about the size of the boards that I am seeing in schools. 

I loved the size of the Smartboard in the office--it was about the size of a 40 inch TV.  I started thinking about all that I could do with a board THAT size in class. I could use it as I do the easel--for minilessons, in small group work, kids could use it in booktalks, etc.  After seeing that small board in the orthodontist's office, I started to think of so many possibilities. I know that they are also possible with the larger board but a different size invites different work, I think.  The possibilities I imagined with the large interactive board focused more on whole group things and limited a bit of the way I thought about its uses.

So, here is what I am wondering--

Why aren't more of the Reading/Writing Workshop people out there writing about ways they use the boards to support literacy development?  How can we somehow collect great clips and posts of great uses of this tool in Reading/Writing Workshops?  I imagine it is out there but, why can't I find these samples easily? Am I looking in the wrong places?

Are Interactive Whiteboards for schools only available in the larger size? Has anyone invented a SMARTEASEL yet?  If so, where can I get one and how much are they? I have seen the tables but would love to find a SMARTEASEL.  Is there one out there?  

Does the size of the Interactive Whiteboard that I am seeing in most classrooms invite more whole class teaching because of the size? Or are lots of people using it with small groups, book talks, etc. I can see huge implications for student-led booktalks and am hoping to do more with that next year.

If anyone knows of sites or blogs that focus on Interactive Whiteboards in Reading/Writing Workshop or have answers to any (or all) of my questions, please let me know. I am fascinated with this tool and see huge possibilities. It seems that for people using this tool well, it is just embedded in all that they do, so they don't mention it much.  It is just an invisible part of their teaching just as all of the tools are.  But I am one who learns and thinks from seeing good teaching and I would love to find more clips/posts that show these possibilities in the Reading-Writing Workshop. I would love to find a place where Reading/Writing workshop teachers can go to see the ways in which people are using these.  (I know the National Writing Project is doing some great things with tech in general in lots of places.)  

Please share!

21st Century Thinking-My Blog Visits

The end of the year always seems crazy and  I haven't had much time lately to read, visit blogs, and reflect on my teaching.  As the year starts to wind down, things are slowing down a bit and I find myself thinking ahead to the next school year. Where do I want my thinking to go and what do I want to be thinking about over the summer?  This is my newest list of things that have me thinking in terms of 21st Century learning. So many smart people out there doing amazing things. So happy that they are all willing to share so much. 

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about the way that new tools are changing the Writing Workshop. What does it mean to be a writer today?  Kim at Always Learning has a great post where she shares their work in Reading/Writing Workshop.  How do we best meet the needs of today's students? She describes a unit focused on digital literacy. Such a smart way to expand our thinking about workshop.

As I continue to think about what it means to be a writer these days, I continue to search for great mentors for students.  Pieces to read, listen to and watch so that we can talk a bit about craft and creation in our minilessons. If you have not had a chance to visit the Parkway Digital Film Festival video page, it is filled with amazing projects by students of all ages.  The variety and quality are amazing.  I love the whole idea of a film festival as a way to get a community sharing student projects.  But even if you aren't interested in the idea of a film festival, the site is a great resource of pieces by students.  The other video that I LOVE from Parkway is one called "Behind the Scenes" which takes us behind the scenes of students getting ready for the film festival-creating the films that they will enter. This is such a great film about 21st Century Learning and the idea that it is all so much more than technology integration. A great piece that shares the process of the kids' work.

The Longfellow Ten is also a great resource that shares examples of stopmotion film--mostly related to literary terms and science concepts.  Great examples for students.

Another new favorite site for students is East K-8 Book Reporters. On this site, students do a great job of booktalking a variety of books on video. A great way to preview books and a great format for student creation. 

I need to spend lots more time with this great compilation of ways to use your pocket video cameras in the classroom called THIRTY-NINE INTERESTING WAYS TO USE YOUR POCKET VIDEO CAMERA IN THE CLASSROOM. With these small cameras being so reasonably priced, I am loving the ideas of all of the different ways to use them.  This slide show of ideas will keep me from getting in a rut--so many great ideas!

As always, Kim Cofino at Always Learning  gives us something to think about in her recent post, "It's Not Just a Tool:  Technology as Environment".  In this post, she invites us to think with her about the difference between tool and environment and how that might be different for our students.  A smart post worth thinking about.

"Eight Habits of Highly Effective 21st Century Teachers" by Andrew Churches was a good one to read.  An interesting list to look at and to use as a guide for reflection.  A great article sharing IDEO's Ten Tips for Creating a 21st Century Classroom Experience

includes tips like creating from relevance, creating an environment that raises lots of questions by students and more. 10 tips worth reflecting on.

I was fascinated by Jenny at Elementary, My Dear, or Far From It description of their new report cards and the inclusion of Patterns of Thinking as they think about student progress.  I think progress reports are always difficult as it is so hard to share all that we know about our students. But this seems like an exciting way to move forward in our communication with parents.

April Mosaic

I'm 120 days into the Project 365 challenge on Flickr, and I'm still having fun! 

In June, when I'm halfway through the year, I think it will be fun to pull together some of the small themes that have emerged: the cat, blooms, pictures out my classroom window, food pics.

Carrying my camera with me at all times has continued to change the way I look at and interact with the world. We stopped and watched the geese with their nest in the median of a shopping center parking lot, and I took pictures until Papa Goose came at me with his neck out, hissing. I didn't get a shot of Lynn's wine glass at our book club dinner because the waiter brought our food and the moment was gone, but I lost myself in the red of the wine and the way it was sparkling in the afternoon sun.

It may or may not be related to this photo project, but I'm starting to use my writer's notebook again -- capturing "snapshots" in words -- and it's good to get back to that.

  

Poetry Friday -- 21st Century Thinking

Earbud
by Bill Holm

Earbud--a tiny marble sheathed in foam
to wear like an interior earring so you
can enjoy private noises wherever you go,
protected from any sudden silence.

(the rest of the poem is here)


This poem got me thinking about all of the 21st Century gadgets we can't live without, but which create barriers that separate us from other real, live human beings.

The round up this week is at Allegro.

(Photo credit: "Earbud love 2" by Dano)

Mentor Texts--My goals for summer

As I have been working with K-5 students, I have been thinking about what it means when we think about creating in a 21st Century world?

I have always been committed to a Reading/Writing Workshop and know the power of books and text for readers and writers to grow. I know that having mentor texts when writing is critical.  But, with the new tools and the new formats for creation, finding mentor pieces for our students becomes a little bit of a challenge.

One of the things I know is that before we can ask kids to create a slide show or a video or a Public Service Announcement, they need lots of experience watching these.  And they also need to learn how to "watch like a writer".  To look at mentor clips and think about what makes them effective. What things did this writer/creator do that you might try?

I remember avoiding PowerPoint when working with teachers for a long time. I loved the flexibility of my transparencies and hadn't seen anyone use it in a way that worked for me.  Then I watched Katie Wood Ray use a PowerPoint in a talk and I was inspired.  She had created something that could work for me.  I used her as a mentor--thinking about what she had done as a PowerPoint creator, that was different from the others I'd seen. What had she done that I could learn from?  I had a vision that made the move to PowerPoint worth it.

As a writing teacher, I know the power of mentors and mentor texts, of keeping a writers' notebook and of writing myself.  If I am going to invite students to create videos, slide shows, etc. I know that having gone through the process myself will be critical. And I know that helping students find mentors that match their needs will be key.

So, my summer goals are two-fold. First, I want to create my own "notebook" of creations. I feel like I need to play with these new tools and collect samples of things I do authentically with the newer tools--What do I photograph and why? When do I send a video of the kids to my parents? How do I use Keynote when I work with teachers?  What am I interested in and how do different tools help me collect, create and communicate?

Second, I want to keep my eye out for quality mentor pieces.  When we expand our definition of author, the questions are the same. I want a collection of clips and pieces that I can use with students as they begin to think about their own creations.  These clips and pieces seem a bit more difficult to find than the books and writing pieces I share with students.  As a teacher, it is the same thinking but different tools. 

Whether my kids are creating poetry or a video Public Service Announcements, the questions are the same--they all revolve around looking at quality work and asking yourself:

 What decisions did this author make in order to create this piece? What makes it effective?

The specifics might be different but I imagine we'll still look at solid leads, word choice, organization--those traits of writing that we know so well. But we will also look at the tech decisions-which might be considered the craft. Why did the author decide on the background music? How does the length of transitions impact the meaning?

When I look at clips with this lens, it is interesting what I find.  The kids are discovering so many things about creation just by watching quality clips and thinking about the decisions made in the creation.

These are two clips I've found this week to begin my collection.  I don't know if I'll ever use them but they'll be in my toolbox:

In this Public Service Announcement encouraging people to get a flu shot, the camera work and the slow motion works to create the drama needed to get the message across. I can envision lots of talk about timing, persuasion, etc. after students watch this.

And I love this clip from Wesley Fryer--"Go Green! Go Electric!". A great clip to show kids that informs viewers--done by kids. The combination of narration and visuals works well and I want to make sure I have lots of examples of pieces by kids.  

I imagine, as with any inquiry, once I share a few of these, the students will find many in their worlds and begin to watch with the eyes of a creator.  These will just begin the conversation. As I continue to reflect on the goals for our students and the definitions of 21st Century Literacies, looking critically and learning from mentor pieces seems key in the process of creation.  

21st Century Visits

I am pretty addicted to great thoughts from people around the globe who are really embracing smart, authentic ways to engage 21st century students. Here is another round of what I've found. I feel so lucky to be able to learn from so many people.

Wesley Fryer shares the story of his son's Thursday Folder and the many, many worksheets that his son gets in a good school. A great read with some powerful photos to let us know just how much time some kids are spending on worksheets. I think, as teachers, we often justify this by knowing that most of our day is more authentic. But I think time is a factor. Why would we waste even 5 minutes of a child's time on a worksheet when they can be thinking, creating, and communicating. Every choice we make as teachers is a choice about how we spend our time in schools. For every worksheet that students don't do, they can do something meaningful.


I was excited to read about the "Just Write" Celebration at Georgetown Elementary School. The school is having a week long celebration of their writing and using lots of tools to get their writing out there. Each class is writing and using Lulu to sell published books to parents, etc. Many of the books filled with student writing can be downloaded free. The principal, Theresa Reagan, is behind this initiative. It is fun to spend time reading some of the student writing. A great school wide celebration!


Will Richardson has a great post entitled One School's Journey to Online Social Learning.. Embedded in the post is a great brochure about Web-Based Social and Collaborative Learning. It isn't a quick read because it is packed with the information on various tools and the ways they can be used. A valuable resource.

I have been doing a lot of thinking on the writing process of the 21st Century and was happy to see this post by Bill Bass.. In preparing for their own district Film Festival, Bill and colleagues visited Effingham, Illinois to see the 6th Annual AHA Film Festival. Sounds like the videos were amazing. Bill's reflections remind us that good teaching, no matter what the tool, is about process.

Tea for [Web] 2.0 (Don't you just LOVE the name of this blog??) has a great post on Professional Development, creating a buzz about new tools and more. A great read with great insights about how to move forward.

Wesley Fryer shared a great link on Twitter entitled What Makes a Good Project? It is a short article that will start lots of conversations. I think it is a good reminder that projects--whether they use new tools or not--have to be worthwhile.

Thinking a lot about new tools for writing and communicating, I am anxious to order and read this new book, co edited by Kevin at Kevin's Meandering Mind. The book TEACHING THE NEW WRITING, is due out in May. It is so nice to see writing experts taking on this topic.

I finished reading THE ELEMENT by Ken Robinson over spring break. I loved this review by Angela Maiers for several reasons. She hits the important things about the book and she has used a slide-show format to review the book. For as many book reviews we do on this site, maybe we need to play with some new formats!

There is a great post at Education Week called "What is Your Department Discussing and Doing?" . Ryan Bretag talks about how critical both conversations and action are to moving forward. He also gives us several links to content organizations' position statements that relate to 21st Century Learning. The links are an invaluable resource and can start some great conversations that can then move to action.

Another post at Education Week/LeaderTalk that really made me think ahead was "New Paradigms Needed" by Pete Reilly. In this post, he argues that we need a shift in the ways we envision classrooms and deploy technology to our students. He says, "That new paradigm is a classroom environment that allows each student to explore, communicate, collaborate, analyze, publish, and pursue their interests, passions, and curiosities. In order to do this they need to have “ubiquitous access” to technology."

Finally, the article "Science is Failing to Inspire Some" is a wake-up call to how testing and the current  skill/drill environment is is meaning that more kids are learning to hate science.  This is an interesting article from the science community.