Brainstorm First, then Do Something

On Thursday of this past week my 21st Century Communication class presented their first projects. This project took only a few days and oriented them with the features and layout of the class. After the presentations took place we began discussing the concept behind the next project, which I cleverly call the Online Ethics, Etiquette & Bullying project. (Fascinating, right?) The thing that the previous classes have all liked about this project, however, is that I lecture very minimally and allow them to come up with the online behaviors they are most concerned with altering in the next generation. This semester, however, things went a little differently...

We started by considering the contrasting uses of social media between their generation and mine. They were shocked to learn that most of their social networks didn't even exist when social media rose to popularity, and it was interesting comparing uses. Best example:

My generation began using Twitter to share information, typically including a link, to some kind of news or pop culture event/item. Also, hashtags were almost isolated to being universal, widely-used, and searchable.

Their generation uses Twitter to have conversations with one another and to post random tidbits about their daily lives. Even they agreed - who care!? Their use of hashtags is primarily to comment on the words within the tweet. A perfect example we discussed was #sorrynotsorry.

However, before we could finish our comparison chart a few students began adamantly sharing concerns for the next generation that go much further and deeper than social media, though they apply there too. The farthest we got in our discussion, which extended through Friday's class, was how parents expect morals to occur naturally and lack of importance of education and faith/religion.

Color me shocked. And thrilled!

Sadly the bell rang before we could get too far, but I can honestly say I'm beyond excited to continue this discussion on Monday. Thankfully before the bell rang I was able to leave them with one thought:

I asked, "How many of you have a serious concern for the next generation?" Every hand but one or two went up.

I asked, "What are you doing about?" This question was met with silence.

Here's hoping we can come up with an action plan ASAP.

It's All in the Numbers

As I mentioned yesterday, I surveyed my freshmen for the details on how comfortable they really are with different Apple devices and how reliable their access to wifi is. I think the results are pretty interesting, and just so you know I have 69 freshmen.

Comfort with Apple devices like iPods, iPhones and iPads:
64% very comfortable               32% somewhat comfortable                4% not at all comfortable

Comfort with MacBooks or desktops:
13% very comfortable               42% somewhat comfortable               45% not at all comfortable

Reliable access to wifi
75% have it all the time            22% nearly always have access          3% have it none of the time

First of all, I think it's pretty interesting that so many of them are comfortable with Apple devices, but few are comfortable with Apple computers. I think the experience with mobile devices will give them a huge step up when learning about their new MacAirs. Additionally, I am very grateful that only two of my freshmen don't have easy access to internet at home. Yup, that's it! That will save me a lot of stress when accommodating for lack of access.

All this is just more evidence that this is a really, really great place to work with a lot of amazing things going on.

Testing the Waters

So today was the students' first day back from winter break. As a part of my easing them back into academic life process I thought we'd spend a little bit of time chatting about the pending laptops. After all, they could be here as soon as three weeks time!

I started by sharing the information with them about when things were voted on and how certain things were determined - though of course my knowledge of the details is minimal. They really tuned in to that whole thing though. It's amazing to see how much they care about this process. Then I opened the floor up to questions, not all of which I was able to answer unfortunately. I was very impressed with the quality of their questions. The students showed great concern for taking care of the devices and capability. Next, I got their feedback on how the devices will be used in the English classroom. For instance, how do they feel about digital textbooks, digital journals every day and digital note taking. The general consensus was pretty positive. The nice thing was that for almost every concern I was able to provide options. For example, every student writes in a spiral notebook for three minutes every day, and some said they would prefer to go digital with that process while others prefer to maintain their spiral. Another thing I found interesting was that a high number of students said they would definitely take more and better notes if they could type them instead. That's the answer I was hoping for, but honestly I doubted that they would say that. That's a good kind of surprise in my book though. We finished the discussion by having each student fill out a brief survey about their comfort with Macs and their home technology access. I'm eager to check them and see just how much access these kids really have when they leave these walls.

Apple Training with the 6-12 English Department

Today the entire 6-12 faculty broke into departments around the high school and had an Apple instructor per content area to share with us some resources, tips and tricks that fit specifically into what we teach. It was a great day and I'm so excited I decided to "live blog" it. It's obviously not live right now, but it's broken down throughout the day. Enjoy!

8:38 a.m.

After group introductions, including every teacher adding together their personal number of years teaching, we have reached a total of 217 years of teaching experience for 17 people. Our instructor, Cyndi Danner-Kuhn, seems very approachable and knowledgeable, and I’m eager to learn more from an Apple instructor with English as the focal point.

8:53 a.m.

Really enjoying hearing ideas from all teachers, regardless of the grade, to make assignments more technological. I didn’t expect to gather anything from the middle school level teachers, only because I assumed we did such similar things, but we don’t! I’m eager to visit with two teachers a little bit more about how they used Minecraft for an English assignment.

9:20 a.m.

Opening iBooks, here we go! Plus, Cyndi put up her personal site and it’s already obviously full of great stuff. Check it out here - http://theedtechplace.info/CDKs_ED_Tech_Place/Home.html. I found a super great iBook of “Romeo & Juliet” that had graphics for every single line that when clicked on will bring up a modern English translation for the entire book. How fun!

10:25 a.m.

Moving to iTunes! There are Apple Learning Series books intended to be read on the iPad so we can read on the iPad and execute on the Mac. Now, someone was thinking there!

Ooo! There’s a free audiobook of “Romeo & Juliet” broken down by act and scene so kids can listen to the book while they read. Now this could be a very useful and effective way to break up the monotony of reading as a class every - single - day.

11:05 a.m.

Now Cyndi is showing us her personal website, she has a ton of amazing resources. Plus, hello Pinterest! Now she’s speaking my language.

12:38 p.m.

Okay, back from a tasty lunch from HyVee (thank you adminstration) and ready to do some more practical work. Looks like we’re prepping to make a little video reflection. Better pay attention…

1:18 p.m.

So individually or in pairs we all made videos discussing our teaching objectives and/or how mastery is demonstrated and assessed, and now Cyndi is having us share them all. Some are totally hilarious and others are more straightforward, but I’m really struck with out allowing students to record speeches ahead of time will ensure a quality improvement. Now, when they give speeches, they never rehearse. I mean, they SAY they do, but I know better. This way there are no excuses for awesome speeches. They can record, view, revise, rehearse and re-record. I know this is a can, not a will but at least it’s a can. Plus, they will probably be less nervous about public speaking when they have this much more power over the situation. I do believe we’ll be doing some more speeches in English I once the Macs are delivered.

1:41 p.m.

Exploring the differences between making Bookmarks in Chrome and a Reading List in Safari. I would say we’ll stick with Bookmarking into a folder in Chrome, that way everything is still in a group, like for a research paper, but they have all the convenience and compatibility of working in Chrome. I really do like the idea of helping kids to decide that they should keep their reference sources all in one place for easy access. Of course there will be a few sites that update too regularly to make a bookmark of, but those will be relatively far and few between.

3 p.m.

Well, we all just made a Pages document that could kind of be used to advertise a unit. It might be a notebook cover or a poster for the whiteboard during the unit. I chose to make mine over “Romeo & Juliet,” and for only 30 minutes of work time I think it turned out pretty well! Others are over Digital Citizenship & Plagiarism, the Holocaust and Anne Frank, poetry, and others.

3:12 p.m.

I just shared my “Romeo & Juliet” poster and, like I said, I’m pleased with how much I got done and the group responded pretty well to it. Now we’re all sharing one thing that we’re really excited about from today and know we’ll use. A lot of today was repeat for me after having gone through four full days of Apple Vanguard training, but it was still a very nice refresher on what I learned during those days, and it was a fun day with the middle school English teachers who we almost never get to see. A big thank you to Apple, Cyndi, and our administration for everything the entire 6-12 faculty had the opportunity to learn today. I’m incredibly blessed to work in a district that keeps what’s coming up in their sights and does their best to roll with all those punches.

A New Year, a New Goal

I have too long neglected my educational technology blog, but I now have the inspiration required to make it actually happen - the amazing district I work for has approved 1:1 devices for all students grades 6-12. Though the questions are many and the risks possible, I firmly believe that the benefits far and above outweigh anything negative. Plus, it's going to be an amazing learning challenge for the educators.

Obviously, the aforementioned devices will be the inspiration for my re-vamped blog. Now all I have to do it keep it up!

We'll have to wait and see.

Social Media Links as of Late

So I've come across three share-worthy articles lately, and to make sure I share them all I'll just share them all together.

The first is 9 Excellent Facebook Pages You Should Like. Only one of them had a heard of before, so I'd say this article is doing its job of drawing out some of the better, yet ignored, Facebook pages. After all, it isn't just about who did what on Friday night anymore.

The second is What Social Media Can Really Tell You About Job Applicants. I've shared this one with quite a few students. It's so refreshing to see that a fun night out doesn't ruin your chances at a job anymore. Though it's a challenge to make sure my students understand that nothing is okay on social media if it's not legal in the first place.



The last link today is similar to number two. In College Admissions, Social Media Can Be a Double-Edged Sword is from the NYT. But it still has to do with the gap between having a life, being social, and being employable, when it seems like those things should all mesh pretty well..

On an unrelated note, I think some of my preferred news sources need a lesson in concise headline writing.

Trick or Tweet?!

So I have no sympathy for kids who whine about trick-or-treating, whether it's weather or lack of the "good candy," which, by the way, we definitely handed out the good candy this year. Anyway, I didn't get to trick-or-treat as a kid, one of the few downfalls to growing up in the country. We had costumes for school, and our parents drove us to our grandparents' homes that evening, but that was about it. Made me think a little extra then, about this 21st Century Kids Just Don't Get Trick-or-Treating article I read last night while waiting for the witches, Spidermen, and even Uncle Si's to knock on our front door. They're complaining virtually now! Suck it up kids, it's a night you're allowed to roam the neighborhoods in the dark, effectively begging at doors, knowing that a glowing porch light equals some kind of goodie. So be happy with what you get kids, or next year I'm passing out floss.

To Sleep, or To Be Sad?

Okay, now there's medical research being done all the time, but this particular study really got me thinking.

New study offers evidence of a link between staying up late and risk of depression 

So how many teenagers have been diagnosed with depression? Seems like most of them. However, they're staying up late pretty much every day. Sometimes voluntarily, sometimes because life requires it of them. But we're also dismissing it as average teen behavior. I've read many, many times about how the average circadian rhythm for a teen involves late nights and sleeping in, so how does this all figure together? They naturally stay up late and sleep late, but those same habits are increasing the risk of depression? I don't quite know what to think about all that, but I do think it's worth some serious consideration. 

So Much Information!

Okay, so wow. There has been a ton of interesting stuff in the news lately. I've been able to share it with  many of my students, but it's just impossible to go over everything with all of them. Therefore - on the blog it goes.

For Everyone
Sexting, Shame and Suicide was published in Rolling Stone just two days ago. It is incredibly long, but I read almost all of it. It's just terrible. Plus, it puts a new light on sexting. It's so commonly thought of as people intentionally sending provocative photos of themselves. But this article brings awareness to the risks of abuse being used for sexting. It tells the story of Audrie Pott, high school student, who drank until she passed out and was then abused by high school boys who photographed their acts and then shared them with their peers. As indicated by the headline, Pott committed suicide.

High School Binge Drinking was published in the Huffington Post on Sept. 16. It reveals that 20% of high school seniors have consumed five+ alcoholic beverages in a row, thus participating in binge drinking. Now, when I shared this, in my opinion shocking, fact with a colleague she said she thought the percent would be higher. But she misunderstood, that's not a stat for drinking, but for binge drinking! Five plus drinks in a row! So incredibly sad.

For Student Journalists
Me: "Guess who's on tour!"
Students: *crickets*
Me: "Someone I care about..."
Student 1: "The Backstreet Boys...?"
Me: *sigh* "No, Mary Beth Tinker!"
Students: *crickets*

Okay, so even if they've forgotten who she is, the remember her actions, and I'm so excited about her tour. Yay First Amendment! Plus, the tour ends at Blue Valley West High School. Talk about local!

Mary Beth Tinker, Plaintiff in School Speech Case, Going on Tour

Next up is an advertising switch that is affecting the livelihood of journalism. Watch out!
Storytelling Ads May Be Journalism's New Peril

Major update in the world - The New York Times updated their font.
The New Yorker Spruces Up a Stalwart of Print, Subtly

For 21st Century Communication Students
And you think you can't learn anything from the Internet! It's a lot more reliable than when I was growing up, and chock full of catty goodness.
50 Fascinating Facts We Learned from the Internet 

Amusement & Cursive Handwriting

Today I have two images I've recently come across that I'd love to share. The first is photographed out of Real Simple and is not only pretty, but justification for why I make my freshmen hand write for three minutes every academic day of their freshmen lives.

They never believe me about how basically and essentially good it is for their brains, but it is! So keep writing folks!

The second is just a beautiful mini-poster that came out the September YA Newsletter from Goodreads. Don't you just love those people over at Goodreads? I do.

I love that art, that sentiment and that author. Well done Goodreads people!

Miss Manners Goes Digital

The first major project my 21st Century Communication students complete regards online safety, bullying, etiquette, etc. So, even though this is a little late in the semester, I can't help when I find these awesome things!

The Complete Guide to Twitter Etiquette is exactly what is sounds like, and man do we need it! Thank you Mashable...again. I've been telling kids all year, and even last year, about the transformation of Twitter from 2007 to now. From sharing links to sharing what you're eating...doing...thinking...boring! From one generation to another. And can I just give a shout out to the decreasing gap between generations? I think it used to be 8-10 years, now it's more like 3. Whoa.

Then there's 20 Things Your Most Annoying Friends Do on Facebook. I think we've all seen these, hated/judged/been annoyed by these, and considered unfriending these. Or at the least removing them from your news feed. Isn't that a delightful option?

Here's to finding a little decorum wherever you go. Happy surfing friends!

When It All Comes Together

Quite awesomely, a few days after my student began researching innovations and inventions specific to certain time frames in history, I came across two great and relevant articles. Thank you Feedly!

10 Innovations Poised to Change Sustainable Industries is perfect for students researching things currently being researched but not yet released, which is their last category of research. 

The Right Ingredients for Innovation is an article dealing with motivating people and encouraging people to be more innovative. This is a specific area my students are expected to address in their opinion-based section of their project. I think it's the most challenge question I pose. I feel that way because every single teaching day of my life I struggle to help students solve their own problems and/or to create solutions with what they have. It's hard! On both sides!

In the meantime, here's an amusing cartoon about innovation I put on the board last week - 

Response to a Sandy Hook Parent's Letter

Though several months have passed since 18 children and six educators were slain in Connecticut, there are almost daily reminders of the tragedy. Without a doubt this incident hit home more deeply and permanently because of the loss of such young lives. One of our administrators shared this letter with us this week via e-mail, and I wanted to spread it further. For one it is incredibly well-written and moving, for another it hits home for me personally.

A Sandy Hook Parent's Letter to Teachers

By Nelba Marquez-Greene

This letter was published in Education Week and was promoted by a local radio station, 95.7. 

I want to thank this mother for her recognition of what all school employees can, and often, do. We do have a real power, a real opportunity. In fact, yesterday my husband said something about how he wouldn't mind teaching all day, and I responded with "I wish!" But I didn't mean it as negatively as it may sound. Yesterday I was a businesswoman for at least two hours, and many, many days I spend time feeling like a social worker. Other days I feel like a cat-herder, but there will always be those days. 

I also want to thank this mother for her strength and her ability to put her emotions into words. I am in awe of her faith of the school system, especially in terms of her putting her son back into school just a few weeks after his sister's untimely death.

This is the kind of woman who was a mom and a wife before her words were published. Now she is a hero. 

Two Classes = Twice the Fun (and Work!)

When the 2013-2014 school year rolled around I was pleased to see that the 21st Century Communication course enrollment had increased significantly. Though I am sad to have lost a section of English I, I am thrilled that the importance of this elective is being recognized by the student body. It's interesting, however to have the conversations I have with these students twice a day instead of once, and I'm really enjoying the different dynamics of each class period. I'm amazed at how two conversations guided similarly can end up in such different directions. Regardless, both groups have attacked the curriculum and projects with gusto, and I think blogs this year are going to be even more successful. Today they actually begin work on the Social Networking project and I was able to place a lot more emphasis on affecting a positive change via social networking this semester. I think their final products are going to be by-and-large outstanding.

Back to School - Part I

What an interesting inservice I attended today. Wait...did I just use those two words in the same sentence? Interesting and inservice? Why yes, yes I did. This is no dig on my district or educators in general, but let's face it, inservices are rarely bundles of fun.

Today we were given some concrete instruction on CCSS ( Common Core State Standards) and how to use them in our classrooms. I must admit, I'm actually pretty eager to use what I learned today, which is mostly due to how much use I see for CCSS skills in students' futures.

Details to come

Baby Steps with CCSS

CCSS, or Common Core State Standards, is proving to be a challenge for me even before they are officially implemented. I am grateful, however, that this is a positive challenge.

I hope to do my action research next year on literature circles with use of CCSS. The head of my department has been very helpful in helping me find and choose good YA literature to possibly work with. I knew though that I should figure out what I was going to do with these books before I started reading them.

You must understand how hard this has been for me. I have a lovely pile of brand new YA books waiting for me and I can't read them! Torture! But doing the research first has really paid off.

Shiny New Toy

So, iPads have been a big deal for more than a little while now. I've pretty much always had iPad envy. However, I just couldn't justify the expense. My laptop never quit, I had both a work and a home desktop, and when my mobile phone contract came up for renewal I upgraded to my pretty, pretty iPhone. With all at, what use does a high school teacher have for an iPad. Of course I would use and love it, but it was far from a need. So I always joked that I was waiting for someone to give me one. Guess what, folks? It finally happened. Last Friday, the faculty's last day before summer, the IT department handed out our district-provided iPads. It had been in the works for a while, but I was a skeptic on this particular promise. It was a huge purchase obviously. Their word was their bond however and Friday afternoon the high school library was buzzing with teachers from all generations finding their ways around their shiny new devices. I couldn't wait to spend the first few days of summer personalizing and playing. Then my home Internet gave up the ghost. Needless to say I didn't exactly handle this like a grown-up, but now that I'm at my wonderful boyfriend's apartment, where the Internet works just fine, I'm a much happier camper. My entire point here is two things: 1) I GOT AN IPAD!!! 2) I now have extra motivation, reason, and platform from which to be a better blogger.

Semester Two, Semester Anew

After last semester, I feel as though I've learned a lot about learning, teaching, and 21st century skills. Thus, even just the first three days of 21st CC this semester have gone smoother. Last semester I offered students a very open-ended project about this course, what they hoped to learn in it, and what 21st century skills are. The projects were as loose as my instructions. This semester, I introduced the students to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills right off the bat, and we began discussing and working with the related buzzwords. Students are creating a variety of projects now to discuss what they think those skills mean and might look like. The projects are due tomorrow and I can't wait to see and upload some of them.

Sites You Said Were Interesting (Class Post)

Dearest 21st Century Students,

I've finally looked through your website research and pulled out the websites you found and included on the lists you turned in to me. So, if you're struggling with your Social Bookmarking and Blogging project, you might want to turn to some of these sites for inspiration.

Organization Sites

Linkable - social bookmarking

Evernote - it's like an online notebook where anything of any medium can go

SpringPad - very similar to evernote

Chore Buster - create lists to organize your chores and other tasks

Hassle Me - this site will nag you until you complete the task it's nagging you to do

Trip It - useful for organizing travel plans

Interesting Sites

StumbleUpon - a random search engine that directs you to websites fitted to your interets

Youth Noise - where young people have a voice on world issues

Pinterest - photo sharing and organizing

Epicurious - food

Personal Sites

iGoogle - a personalized homepage

Tumblr - microblogging

Academically Useful Sites

EasyBib - use for creating bibliographies

My Favorite Websites (Example for Class)

To my faithful readers: Herein lie many of my favorite websites, ready for you to browse and enjoy. Even if you're familiar with them, maybe I've included some ideas of how that website can be useful to you that you haven't yet thought of.