Connecting kids and books with movies

The great difficulty with choice reading for students, especially non-readers, is how to choose a book. Finding a book that is interesting can be challenging. Today I want you to think about what movie you would go see at the local theater. Have it in your mind? Now let me share some books with you that are written in the same genre as the movie you find interesting. Happy reading!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : Heroes are not born, they are created!

 Mutant teenagers, banding together to fight evil, your thing? We have just the book (and it's a series!) for you! From James Patterson's official website: "Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel. Six kids who are pretty normal in most ways—except that they're 98 percent human, 2 percent bird. They grew up in a lab, living like rats in cages, but now they're free. Aside, of course, from the fact that they're prime prey for Erasers - wicked wolflike creatures with a taste for flying humans."

or

Young adult fiction trilogy set in alternative version of World War I, it has German Central Powers (Clankers) using mechanized war machines opposed by British Entente Powers (Darwinists) who fabricate living creatures genetically. The heroes are teens Aleksander, son of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and Deryn, Scottish girl with dreams of joining the British Air Service with her brother.

If I Stay : It's inconvenient to fall in love as a teenager, especially when it's the real thing.

Gayle Forman, author of the book If I Stay  takes the same formula of intense emotional connection and tragedy in the next series, which begins with Just One Day. Set in a Europe during a post-graduation trip, Allyson and Willem spend a life-changing 24 hours in Paris, France. 

When the Game Stands Tall: It's Never Just About Winning

Sports teams that transcend winning and losing are inspiring. When the stories are true, we learn much from the character of the people involved. One Shot at Forever, is the reverse of When the Game Stands Tall. Follow a small town baseball team, with an unlikely coach, through a magical baseball season.

or 

Follows the Fort Yukon Eages, winner of six regional championships in a row, through the course of an entire 28-game season, from their first day of practice to the Alaska State Championship Tournament.

The November Man  - This classic tail of espionage is sure to thrill!

Caution: this movie has a rating of "R". Under seventeen, you need your parents! But if you like spy stories, this book is sure to please.

In England in 1995, fifteen-year-old Tamar, grief-stricken by the puzzling death of her beloved grandfather, slowly begins to uncover the secrets of his life in the Dutch resistance during the last year of the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, and the climactic events that forever cast a shadow on his life and that of his family.

or

In 1943, a British fighter plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France and the survivor tells a tale of friendship, war, espionage, and great courage as she relates what she must to survive while keeping secret all that she can.

Lessons from 9/11

Last  year my first book talks of the year happened to fall on 9/11. It occurred to me that our high school students were too young when 9/11 happened to understand the changes that the tragedy brought. It is their reality. Because of this, there are many pre-conceived ideas that they have about Islam, Afghanistan and Iraq. The following was the digital media that I linked to books in the AHS collection to help students think beyond stereotypes and gain a greater understanding of the region, religion and conflict.

To Restore Faith in Humanity

September 11, 2001: FAA Closure of US Airspace from BC Lê on Vimeo.

Introduction to:

In the midst of tragedy, the town of Gander, Newfoundland responds in way to restore faith in humanity.

To understand the rich culture and history of Iraq.

Account of International effort, led by Marine Colonel Matthew Bogdanos, to recover valuable antiquities stolen form the National Museum of Iraq after the U.S. invasion.

Making connections

A california teen returns to his families roots in Afghanistan as he joins his father during summer breaks. Said kept an audio diary of his experience, which was later turned into this book. Listen to an NPR radio interview with the author: Link

In 2002, former British officer Rory Stewart embarked on a solo walk across Afghanistan. Using his understanding of the languages, dialects and culture, he recounts his experiences with the people living in the region.

The Role of Women in Islam

Bhutto served as Prime Minister twice for her country of Pakistan before being assassinated in 2007. Her book recounts her families political  history as well as how Islam is compatible with Demoncray.

Yes You Can! Implement Blended Instruction in your classroom this year.

Thank you for joining me for the Yes You Can! workshop at the 21st Century Symposium. This will be an interactive class, so please join in the activities and discussions. For those of you connecting only through the blog, feel free to follow the links and activities as an introduction.

Defining Blended Instruction

Let's begin by defining blended instruction. Post your personal definition of blended instruction in our TodaysMeet back channel room. You may join by scanning or clicking on the QR code below:

Click for link

Application:

Post one concern you have about implementing blended instruction this year to the Discussion Document.

The commonly agreed upon definition comes from the Innosight Institute (now Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation) white paper from 2012: Classifying K-12 blended instruction. While there is room for debate regarding the definition, using it provides a litmus for development of learning opportunities that move beyond tech-enabled instruction.

The Four Models

http://www.christenseninstitute.org/?publications=classifying-k-12-blended-learning-2

Application:

Take five minutes to review the definition of the blended learning models. Using our Today's Meet room, post the model that you have used, will be using or feel is the best fit for implementation for the coming school year.

In groups based upon model choice, review the examples of the blended learning models. After viewing please discuss the following:

• One answer the video provided
• One concern you hadn't considered
• How the model can work in your personal teaching assignment

Choosing a Platform

Please share the following using our Today's Meet room: Do you already have a platform that you use? What do you like about your platform? What are the benefits and limitations of your platform?

Possible choices include: Weebly Sites; Google Sites; Edmodo; Schoology, Haiku; Moodle

For consideration:

• Model drives platform
• Not a right/wrong; good/bad choice
• Benefits/limitations for your implementation model

Comparisons and Reviews:

Content Management Systems for Education

The Staffroom: Edmodo vs Schoology vs Moodle

Application:

Return to our Google Document discussion and complete the following activities:

• Respond to a concern that was posted at the beginning of training (either with encouragement, ideas, or commiseration)
• Post the platform you are leaning toward using and why you feel that is the best platform choice for your blended classroom.

Building Community

In our Today's Meet room please share the following:

• What do you do for opening day activities in you classroom?
• What do you use for and "ice-breaker"?
• How do you inform students of expectations and formal structures of the classroom?

Making Connections: Students need the same sense of community online

Setting Expectations: Video Introduction; including face in video and profile settings; practice assignments

As you view the introductory video, use our Today's Meet room to share what you notice.

Making connections:

•  Ice breakers: Ideas; Examples
•  online discussions: Edutopia; WriteWell

Moving Forward

Registration

SCCRESA Online and Blended Learning

Build a Professional Learning Network: Twitter (#blendchat; #blendedlearning; #MichEd)

Intro to Moodle

Teacher Tech Camp -SCCRESA 7/10/13

Welcome to this Intro to Moodle session. Teachers have expressed discomfort with creating Moodle classroom, but with some simple guidance, and access to resources, you can begin your Moodle adventure. Today we are focusing on the basics of creating a course, using examples and discussion to create a frame for you to work from. The most important part of any successful technology integration is a willingness to be "playful" in your approach. There isn't one way to create and deliver instruction, so your course will be a reflection of your teaching style. Please note: this is a hands-on workshop! Go to http://moodle.sccresa.org to begin creating your course.

Agenda:

Course Settings

• Format
• Appearance: Themes
• Files
• Completion Tracking

Basic Activities 

• Assignment
• Chat
• Choice
• Forum
• Lesson

Resources

• Book
• File
• Label
• Page
• URL

Hyperlinking

Strategies for Implementation

Setting Expectations and Objectives

Additional help resources:

YouTube (Watch platform!)

Professional Development opportunities

Moodle Docs

        

Creating an Online Presence

Today's Meet 

Many educational experts agree that the most essential tool for education today is an online presence. Edutechgeek, Ron Houtman, (@onhoutman; http://www.ronhoutman.com/)  has coined the acronym ATNAPFTS (All Teachers Need A Place For Their Stuff) to connect this concept to the old filing cabinet. 

Elizabeth Roy

In our training today, you will be introduced to some options for creating an online presence, or virtual place for your "stuff".  We will do this in three steps:

1. Start with the end in mind 
2. What tools are designed to meet your end goal? Which tools will grow with you?
3. Play time

Start with the end in mind

How are you using technology? You do you want to use technology? Do you want a place for students and parents to access class news, lessons, assignments and calendars? Are you ready to move to an interactive space? Do you want to start blending your lessons (maybe even have students access and submit some of their lessons and assignments online)? 

Activity: Use an App of your choice on your iPad to create a quick picture of what you envision with your online space. We will share out with the group in 10 minutes (you may use graphics, presentations, or quick notes; this is not a contest!)

Tool Options

Tool options will be influenced by the technology students have access to in your classroom and at home, including Internet access. We will explore the following:

Wiki

Blog

Sites: Weebly; Google Sites (webinar-1 hour!

Edmodo

Schoology or Haiku 

Moodle

Activity: Each group chooses a tool. Watch video of how tool operates. Create a brief presentation (preferably using iPad, but can be oral) that explains to the group how the tool works with at least one way that students could use the tool in the classroom.

Play Time  

• Examples of tools
• Compatibility with iPad
• Teacher use/vs. Student use

Wrapping It Up

• Advantages of Google Apps and Moodle as a district
• Utilize School webpage as point of entry
• Needs assessment for implementation (use Blog comment feature)

Twitter for Parents

As student engagement in social media continues to become a common activity, it is important that parents understand both how and why students and schools are engaging. Here is a quick guide for parents to begin the process of understanding the engagement, using Twitter as an example. Why Twitter? Many parents are already on Facebook. So the kids have "flown" away. To Twitter!

What is Twitter? 

 Twitter defines itself as " an information network made up of 140-character messages called Tweets. It's an easy way to discover the latest news related to subjects you care about."
The best way to obtain a basic understanding of a social media tool is to visit the help or FAQ page.

FAQ Link

On Twitter's FAQ page, there is a "Twitter 101: Getting Started with Twitter"   which provides such details as how to start using, what Twitter could be used for and tricks and tools to get started. Important concepts include the use of #hashtags and finding people you wish to follow. The Blog post "Mom, This is How Twitter Works" details how tweets appear visually based upon how the tweet is constructed.

How Twitter is being used in Education

Teachers, administrators and school board members are using Twitter to build Professional Learning Networks (PLN).  Some in the form of organized "chats" (see #MichEd); discussions and reactions to presentations and conferences (see #MACUL13); model best practices (@Miech25); conduct exam reviews in a trivia format (@MichaelCesaro);  send homework reminders (@msburnsAHSmath); praise students for work well done (@msburnsAHSmath, @kathybarraco); resource sharing (@AHSmuskrats); news and updates (@algonacsports) social connections and much more.

Here is a great presentation from Scott Kapala (@scott_kapla), Assistant Principal at St. Clair Shores Lakeview, regarding the use of Twitter as an tool in Education.

   

Twitter recommendations for high school parents

Twitter can be a great tool to help your high school student navigate through the college and career ready process. There are several blogs, organizations and education related Twitter feeds that may be useful. I suggest you start with the following:

@nytimescollege: New York Times journalist Tanya Abrams of The Choice Blog offers regular updates here on the college admissions process http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/

@caraleeadams: Free lance writer who writes a blog "College Bound" for Education Week.

@ahsmuskrats: daily announcements, sports updates, school points of pride 

Your Child's Digital Footprint

From the time your child begins to participate in social media they are creating a trail, or story, of their online self. From a developmental perspective, children, even many high school students, have not yet achieved the level of cognitive development that allows them to truly comprehend how current behavior has long term consequences. Why does this matter? Consider the following:

• According to the Wall Street Journal, some companies are asking applicants  to submit a "Tweet" in place of a traditional resume: The New Resume: It's 140 Characters
• College Admissions Using Social Media to Evaluate Applicants
• Want a Scholarship? Better Clean Up Your Facebook and Twitter.

Important points to remember: privacy settings are continuously being updated and changed by social media corporations. Failure to stay on top of the changes results in even the most locked down of accounts being open, at least for a while. And once it's posted, it doesn't go away because you have hit delete. Everything that posts has a "capture" in time.

What's Your Responsibility?

Every family needs to determine how they will handle minors engaged in social media but here are some suggestions:

1. Abide by the rules of the social media tool to enforce good digital citizenship. Right now most require 13 years of age. That is possibly changing in the near future, but in the meantime showing children how to operate within required limitations is an important concept.
2. Engage with your child. This can be accomplished either by requiring usernames and passwords be shared with you or by "friending" or "following" your child
3. Discuss posts, name choices that you see and why you are concerned. Often great conversations emerge from these learning moments.
4. For more information and ideas see the Educaton.com article A Parent's Guide to Twitter.

Conclusion

Your children are connected in a way that most of us never imagined at their age. Their tech-savvy nature can be intimidating. Have them help you as you travel this new path. They love being the "experts".  However, just because they're the "experts" doesn't make them the parent! Be brave. Join them.

Flipped Student Led Conference

In an effort to push myself as much as I push my fellow educators, I experimented with "going digital" during conference time. There were several issues that I wanted to address during conferences:

•  As an elective teacher of juniors and seniors, I am not a priority for even the best of parents. In fact, in a video of a student-led conference, a parent admits that he wouldn't be worried about my class, it's an elective and his student has an A. I understand that thinking. By the senior year, most students either have figured out school or they haven't. Elective courses are not a primary focus or concern. I don't believe that this is a reflection of apathetic parenting; rather, an effort at prioritizing tasks in a reality of being scheduled for more than can be accomplished in a day. The comment made transparent what many parents are thinking and how this thinking is different than how educators view conferences. There is as much a benefit to the student and parent to understanding what is going well and why as there is to identifying what isn't going well and what needs to change.

•  Students, especially in their senior year, need to become the owners of their education. Understanding course requirements, communication, assignments, etc and reflecting upon what is going well and what adjustments need to be made are college and career readiness skills, applicable to higher education and the work force. How do I, as their teacher, scaffold them through this new ownership?

•  For the reasons above, how do I make more school-to-home connections? I'll admit, this was the motivating factor that made me first consider shaking up my conference approach. And it may have to do with new evaluations that address this connection. But I like that detailed evaluations have me reflect upon my instructional practice in a way that connects my actions with student outcomes. And how I provide evidence to that end. 

The idea of making my students conduct their own conferences started rolling around in my head as I was reading articles and tweets about different ways to "flip" instruction. I sent a tweet out asking if anyone  had done anything like what I was imagining and received some interested replies, but no one who had tried this format. A Google search led to some detailed video examples of student-led conferences, but the conferences were a part of a well-developed strategy that combines mentoring and portfolio assessment. Obviously not applicable. So, with encouragement, I ventured into uncharted waters.

The first thing that I did was try to get the students excited about the process. That was fun. They don't seem to enjoy being the guinea pigs as much as I enjoy the mad scientist role. But I did involve them in the process from the very beginning. The first thing we had to discuss was how the conference could be recorded. Acknowledging that there may be technology issues and problem-solving before implementation was helpful. Solutions from iPads to webcams to Smartphones were identified. Next, I found several examples of rubrics for student-led conferences and  spent some time with my students evaluating the content from the perspective of what the students thought their parents wanted to know about a class when they attend a conference. Content was taken from two forms and added to the format the students thought was most user-friendly. The resulting document was comprehensive and served as a guide for the students to use while conducting their conference.

Yes, I accepted the "verbal" signature for points!

What I learned from this process was a confirmation that introducing new strategies, especially those that involve the use of technology, requires patience and flexibility. As an interesting aside, most of my students parents actually came to conferences this year! I think my students were trying to avoid the student-led conference. I made it as an assignment for points in order to encourage participation by parents and students. Technology difficulties included loss of wi-fi service and coordination of schedules. I remained patient, but firm, that the assignment needed to be completed. In the end all of my students (yes, all 8!) did complete the flipped conference. When I had received all of the links for completed conferences I sent hand-written thank you notes to the parents for participating. Including in the note was several ways to contact me with any questions or concerns.

In reflection, I believe that this project did address my concerns regarding conferences. I plan on doing this again, but am looking for input and suggestions from my colleagues more experienced with the "flipped" concept and/or student-led conferences. Unfortunately, the conferences that required the most flexibility and patience were the parents that I did not see during face-to-face conferences so there is still a bridge that needs to be built to connect to parents that don't traditionally attend conferences. Assigning points definitely helped.  Feel free to add your comments to this post or send me a tweet.