Some Novel Ideas

Seen Art? The Clarice Smith National Teacher Institute

I owned a poster of John Scieszka's adorable Seen Art? before I'd ever read the book.  I think I picked up the poster at a bookstore in upstate New York while attending a teacher conference. The book is whimsical and, well, adorable, but that's not why I'm referencing it in this post.  I'm intrigued by the question brought up in the book's title.  Now, Scieszca's "Art" is an actual person, a boy being sought by his little friend who has lost sight of him and looks for him at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.  But, I want to ask you, your Uncle Art notwithstanding, have you seen art lately?  I mean, really seen art?

    I have.  A lot of it. A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to attend The Clarice Smith National Teacher Institute at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), in Washington, D.C.  For an entire week, I looked at art, talked about art, discussed how art can be incorporated into the curriculum at school, and dabbled in a little technology, too.  It was the week of my dreams. 

    The group consisted of about twenty teachers from the eastern half of the US, as far away as Ohio (me) and Alabama.  The goal of the Institute is to get teachers comfortable with art and technology together, and to find ways to use art seemlessly in the curriculum.  We started the week with a gallery walk and talk through SAAM with curators and education specialists from the museum.  They modeled for us the methodology that they wanted us to take from the experience, that is, how to talk about art with students, how to get them to slowly look and look and look again at art and articulate in words and on paper what they're seeing.  It's an inquiry-based discussion strategy that goes something like this:

    -What do you see? (a basic "What's going on in this piece?" question)

    -What do you see that makes you say that? (Grounding their observations in evidence)

    -What more can you find? (Guiding them to use precise language about a piece)

The facilitator's job is to acknowledge every comment, help build a collective vocabulary around the art, restate the kids' observations, and summarize their thoughts. The purpose for this technique is not for the sake of understanding art necessarily, but for the sake of having students reach inside themselves, climb the ladder of Bloom's Taxonomy, and party on the roof with the heavy hitters: synthesis and analysis. (Sorry that I'm mixing metaphors like a Cuisinart.)  Looking, thinking, and talking about the art can lead to any number of writing exercises- poetry, narratives, critiques.  The idea is to use art as an approach to learning and writing, not as enrichment.

    Over the course of the week, we really got the inside scoop on all things Smithsonian.  We visited the SAAM archives and learned about using primary sources in lesson planning.  The SAAM archives contain more material than I can fathom, and all of their digitized material is in the public domain and is therefore useable to anyone.  Their website is full of treasure waiting to be unearthed: www.aaa.si.edu.  We also visited the Luce Center, which houses 3300 works of art not currently on display at the museum but accessible to the public.  That was very cool.  Glass cases and drawers filled with pieces of this and bits of that and paintings and miniatures.  Stuff to make your eyes pop!

    The Institute theme was the American Landscape, and much of the art we saw was folded into that theme.  Our task by week's end was to create a lesson concept loosely related to that theme which would incorporate the Visual Thinking Strategy (the technique of conversing about art that I mentioned earlier) and a podacst about one of the works of art in SAAM.  Most people came to the Institute in teams, but those who didn't, like me, were paired up with other teachers to develop the lesson concept.  I was paired with a wonderful young art teacher from Maryland (Hi, Gayle!), and we created a very cool lesson based on Nam June Paik's Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii.  I'm going to place a picture of the piece here, but a little picture cannot do it justice.  It's 15 feet high and 40 feet wide in person:

    The piece really got my creative juices flowing.  Our lesson was about getting kids to think about how they'd represent themselves visually in this new American landscape that we call the electronic superhighway (a term which the artist Paik coined).  In the podcast, we described the piece, discussed its meaning, and read aloud some original poetry ("I am" poems). 

    To create the podcast, we were given iPod Touches and we used the app Voice Memo.  Using Voice Memo, you can record your podcast, then you can upload the recording to your computer.  We were given a lesson in using Audacity, a free, cross-platform sound editor, that's very easy to install and use.  I had just done a podcast project with my students in May using Garageband (described in this previous post), and for Mac people, I'd recommend it over Audacity.  PC users, Audacity is just fine.

    Our last hurrah was our presentation of the lesson concepts and podcasts to the rest of the group.  That was my favorite part of the lesson planning because it put me in front of a microphone, and that's when the Carol Burnett in me kicks in.  Supposedly, the video that was made of the presentations will be posted online soon. 

    When the time rolls around next year to apply for The Clarice Smith National Teacher Institute, I strongly suggest doing so, particularly if you are at all interested in art.  The experience was really enriching, and the education staff at SAAM made the whole week a pleasure. 

    One last thing: I might as well put in a plug for the Smithsonian's educational resources here.  They are VAST.  Go to www.americanart.si.edu and explore the online resources.  You can also set up virtual field trips, aka videoconferences, with Smithsonian staff based on your needs for your classroom. Videoconferences can cover virtually any topic, from art in your home state to Latino artists to themes that the museum has created.  Having participated in one while at the Institute, I can say that they are a great way to expose your students to pieces that they may never get to see in person.   

A Day with Author Lisa Klein

    A few weeks ago, our middle school was fortunate to spend the day with visiting author and local Columbus gal Lisa Klein.  Ms. Klein is the author of several critically acclaimed books for young adults, including Ophelia, Two Girls of Gettysburg, and Macbeth's Daughter.  In the fall of 2010, we'll be treated to her next historical novel, Cate of the Lost Colony.

    Lisa's writing career began when her college teaching career ended.  After teaching English at The Ohio State University for many years, she was denied tenure.  Lucky for us, because Ms. Klein was able to turn this bit of adversity into everyone's good fortune.  She'd taught Shakespeare at Ohio State and the idea for Ophelia, a sort of alternate history of Shakespeare's Hamlet, bubbled to the surface. As she explains on her website, Lisa found writing Ophelia to be so much fun that she happily moved onto Two Girls of Gettysburg, a Civil War story told in two voices.  While she has since published Macbeth's Daughter, another Shakespeare-with-a twist novel, Lisa spoke to our middle schoolers about the research and writing process she undertook for Two Girls of Gettysburg.

    Ms. Klein was undaunted by the fact that she was suddenly speaking to twice as many students as originally planned.  At first, we thought she'd only be speaking with the 7th and 8th graders, but when word of her impending visit spread, the 5th and 6th graders wanted to join in. In her presentation, Making History--Into Fiction, Ms. Klein shared all of the fascinating aspects of her research of the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg in particular.  She spoke about visiting the battle site and getting a real sense of the scene, and she enthusiastically shared the primary source document that became the basis for several of her book's characters and plot points.  Her wonderful slides brought the story to life, as did the selections from Two Girls of Gettysburg that she shared. It was an impressive presentation, conveying both her sense of wonder with history and her love of the writing process.  Hands flew up at the end of the session during Q&A. 

    After lunch, Ms. Klein ran a writing workshop for about twenty 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who had signed up in advance.  These are kids who are serious about writing and who wanted to immerse themselves in the the writer's world.  Ms. Klein spoke about how to build a story arc and how to create believable characters through conflict.  She engaged the students right away and had them writing for ninety minutes.  Afterward, kids crowded around her, showing her their work, shaking her hand, getting books signed, and asking more questions.  She was very accessible and open with the kids, and all of the students I spoke to thought the experience was extremely valuable.

    I have known Lisa Klein for several years now.  We met through a mutual friend and connected quickly through a shared passion for writing.  She's a very bright, approachable person who seems genuinely humbled by her success.  Her books are excellent- I am particularly smitten with Ophelia- and she connects with student writers in a way that I haven't seen with other visiting authors. I'm certain there will be a long line at the bookstore for Cate of the Lost Colony!   

My Personal Learning Network

    I have been working diligently on growing my PLN.  I'm so dedicated to the idea, in fact, that I did a short presentation about personal learning networks at a recent faculty meeting to get my colleagues pumped up about them. Here's the Zoho slideshow (short and sweet):

    I'm obviously not the first teacher to create her own PLN.  People have been doing it for years now.  But I hadn't.  Frankly, I'd never even heard of a personal learning network until a few months ago when I started to plunge wide-eyed into technology like a newbie SCUBA diver in the Caymans. 

    You should be doing this.

    There is no keynote speaker, break out session, or multi-day conference that can provide you with the kind of professional development that a PLN can provide every day. This is about real, practical learning and complex theoretical learning and the passionate interchange of ideas. There are plenty of people out there who are interested in the same things that you're interested in, who are devoted to educating themselves and teaching others.  The experts are out there, in the cloud (I term I both loathe and love simultaneously), discussing the future of education, innovations, and visions.  How can you not want to take advantage of that?

    Am I getting you pumped up?

    My PLN is still pretty narrow, but I'm out there every day looking to expand.  Here's how I started to shape my personal learning network:

1. I joined a few nings that speak to my specific interests.  I belong to Classroom 2.0, the Independent School Educators ning, and English Companion. Within each, I joined groups that promote discussions that seem tailor-made for me: the Teaching With Technology group on English Companion, the 7th grade teachers group on ISEnet. The nings are places for the free exchange of ideas and helpful advice from educators who are working every day to make their classrooms and schools better places for kids, just like you.

2. I found a number of blogs that I read regularly.  These include A Year of Reading, Weblogg-ed, the Fischbowl, Thinking in Mind, and many others. The posts always contain gems of wisdom from people who are in the trenches and at the forefront of education. Get to know these people.  And, of course, these blogs will lead you to other blogs and websites and resources. It's like the opening sequence of Get Smart (the old TV show, not the silly movie): different doors will just continue to open in front of you as you go deeper and deeper into the virtual vault. If you're reading this, chances are you probably visit a number of blogs already.  Keep it up.

3. I started utilizing diigo and Delicious. Not only do I bookmark sites I love, but I can see who else is interested in these sites and connect with them.  With diigo, I can highlight and save just the information that I want from an article or post, and I can read and respond to comments posted on public sticky notes all over the web.

4. I created this blog. It's the best thing I've ever done for myself professionally.  Because of Some Novel Ideas, I am now part of a community of bloggers, teachers, and learners who continually challenge me, help me, and understand me.  I've expanded my network of colleagues, friends, and collaborators.

I have yet to get into Facebook and Twitter, though my school has finally embraced social networking and joined up on these two sites.  I know, I know- they're really valuable and can open me up to even more professional possibilities.  I'd have to say that for the time being, I've got all that I can handle. After all, as much as I love, love, love my PLN, I do still have a life offline.  For now, for me, that's where the books are.

21st Century Learning Tools- Presentation Links

Below are the links to the individual websites discussed in my recent presentation.  You can also visit my glog, which provides links as well.  I encourage you to explore these and other Web 2.0 tools for your personal use or for use in your classroom.  As I emphasized in my session, these tools are all very user-friendly, and most require nothing more than an email address to sign up.  If you have any questions or comments, you can email me or leave a comment here on my blog.  If you'd like to explore some classroom collaboration projects, I'd love to talk to you about it. And if you use any of the tools successfully or find others you really like, please share!

My Web 2.0 tools glog:http://nockarock.edu.glogster.com/web-20-tools-/

Glogster (interactive posters):http://edu.glogster.com/

Voicethread (create presentations and comment):http://voicethread.com/?#home

Scriblink (online interactive whiteboard):http://www.scriblink.com/

Weebly (website creation tool):http://education.weebly.com/index.html

Ning (social network creator):http://www.ning.com/

Openzine (online magazine creator):http://www.openzine.com/aspx/UserPage.aspx

Springnote (online interactive notebook):http://www.springnote.com/en

Zoho (suite of online applications):http://www.zoho.com/

Jing (screen capture/video tool):http://www.jingproject.com/

Museumbox (easy presentation tool):http://museumbox.e2bn.org/

My email: [email protected]

Other tools for English/Language Arts teachers:

English Companion Ning:http://englishcompanion.ning.com/

Power Proofreading:http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hme/k_5/proofread/proof.htm

Spelling City:http://www.spellingcity.com/

When does a classic become irrelevant?

Ever heard of the book pictured at left?  It's The Good Master by Kate Seredy, a Newbery Honor Book from 1936. It's about a motherless young girl from Budapest who is sent to the countryside of Hungary to live with her uncle because she is just incorrigible.  Uncle is supposed to "break" her like a wild horse, apparently.  As a modern female, I found the book to be mawkish and antiquated. The heroine wound up barefoot in the kitchen, completely passive, at the end. She'd been tamed. I was disappointed. At least, that's the way I saw it when I was teaching this book to fourth grade girls at The Chapin School in NYC in the early 1990's.

I've read many of the customer reviews for The Good Master on Amazon. They're all positive reviews.  Almost every one that I read was written by someone remembering this book from back in his or her childhood days. There are a lot of "I loved this when I was in 5th grade" or "I read this aloud to my children" comments.  They're heartwarming little testimonials. But they left me wondering: Is The Good Master relevant anymore?  Though the customer critics at Amazon would most likely take umbrage with my assessment, I'd argue that it's not. Not anymore. The Good Master has passed over that very real but rarely discussed line between classic and inconsequential. If you want to teach a book about a girl learning the lessons of childhood, are you going to choose this book?  Probably not. Just like you're probably not going to choose Runaway Papoose (Newbery Honor Book from 1929) if you want to teach about Native Americans.

Now, I know there are a lot of people out there who are thinking: "The classics will always be relevant!  We'll always teach Laura Ingalls Wilder and E.L.Konigsburg and Jean Craighead George!"  And I know that's true.  But are we holding onto some of these books just because we loved them?  And while the themes and lessons learned in many of these books are still relevant, aren't there more modern books that are teaching the same lessons, books to which students today can more reasonably relate? Is there a point where a book seems dated?  A book that adults may find charming and moving may appear to students as cheesy, clunky, and just plain old. The girls at Chapin made it abundantly clear to me that that's how they felt about The Good Master.  

If you want to give your students a great dog story, would you use Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes, which won the Newbery in 1952, or Anne M. Martin's wonderful and much more recent A Dog's Life? If you want a story about slavery and courage in the face of brutality, would you use Elizabeth Yates's Amos Fortune, Free Man (from 1951) or Sharon Draper's Copper Sun (from 2006)? Which would your students rather read? Should we even consider that question when choosing books for the classroom?

I am NOT saying that we should just summarily dismiss all older books. Both my students and I adore The Outsiders, which was written around the time that I was born (certainly a long time ago)! But where is that line, the line between classic and irrelevant?  I'd love to hear what you think.

Having fun with technology

I am having so much fun!  My proposal was accepted for the SMART ed tech conference in Ohio in January, so I've thrown myself into creating a great presentation.  The title: English Alive! Using the Smartboard and Web 2.0 technology in the language arts classroom.  I've created a glog to use for the presentation, which, if you visit it, is obviously a work in progress.  But why not use the technology to teach the technology?  I'll keep you posted as to how this is coming along.  I think it should be an interesting session at the conference.  I use my Smartboard almost daily for all kinds of things, especially grammar lessons.  Now, as for the Web tools, I have no idea what the audience's levels of comfort and knowledge will be when I speak. Hopefully, they'll know less than me!!! More to come...

Focusing on Teaching With Purpose

I've read over my last post a few times.  I was a bit overwrought when I wrote it, frustrated with my own shortcomings as a "modern" teacher and annoyed that my school sometimes comes up short as a forward-thinking institution. Now, here I am, coming off my high horse on a Friday, the day I find I am always most contemplative.

I'm reading four books at once right now, two YA novels and two professional resources, which is ridiculous,isn't it? Truthfully, I don't always read professional books in a very linear fashion.  I do a lot of poking around, reading a chapter here and another there, until I've digested the whole book.  It works a lot of the time because these books are often written in a "find-what's-best-for-you" kind of way.  But driving into work today, something hit me: I'm doing exactly what I don't want my students to do.  I don't want them learning in a haphazard, chaotic way.  I don't want to present lessons that jump from topic to topic without settling on a true focus for forty minutes. So, why am I approaching my own professional development in that way?

Here I am, around two decades into my career as a teacher, and I still get so worked up by new, shiny stuff that I'm like my own dog.  Lily, my adorable but dim-witted Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, spends a lot of time barking at the ceiling of my house as she follows shifting light reflections from various objects. That's kind of what I do.  I find a new resource or come across a great idea, and I work myself into a frenzy over the fact that I'm not using it in my classroom yet! I'll skim a chapter in a great professional book, mining for ideas, ideas, ideas, without taking a close enough look at the why I want to use the ideas in the first place. Technology should not be used for technology's sake.  We should use it as a powerful, empowering tool to help students become motivated lifelong learners and leaders. I have to slow down, focus, and think about linking technology to effective teaching strategies.  This will lead to the kind of student learning that is lasting, not the kind that just chases the latest cool Web trends.

I recommend both of the following books, regardless of your level of comfort with technology integration:

Using Technology in the Classroom That Works by H. Pitler, E. Hubbell, M. Kuhn, and K. Malenowski: If you are at all familiar with Robert Marzano's work (or even if you're not!), you should consider checking out this book. It presents methodology for integrating Marzano's nine instructional strategies in the classroom through the use of technology.  The book contains both theory and application, pedagogy and practical resources, for teachers who want to use any number of tech tools to move learning forward.

The Socially Networked Classroom: Teaching in the New Media Age by William Kist: Kist takes the stance, with which I agree, that schools cannot shrink from the communication challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.  The book presents stories of teachers taking "the sometimes messy first steps" toward integrating social networking into their teaching practices.  These teachers are giving their students the new communication experiences that are necessary for literate citizenship in today's world while striving to keep the kids safe, too. Kist explores the "new literacies" in chapters that mirror the level of technology at the various schools, moving from low-tech environments to schools with unlimited technology situations.

Literature letters and productive SSR

The Fragonard painting pictured at left is a favorite of mine.  Not just because I love Rococo art, which I do, but also because I love the dignified repose of the young girl as she reads.  Who sits and reads like this anymore, blessedly alone, propped up by overstuffed cushions, captured by the pages of a book held aloft?  For many of us, reading is an on-the-fly pursuit now, a few precious pages in bed before sleep overcomes us, or a chapter stolen during a lunch period.  And what do we read?  What does reading mean now? It means staring at a screen as often as turning the smooth paper of a book page.  It means ebooks on our Kindles or navigating through digital text snippets on Twitter.

Oh, how lovely she is, this girl, her life so lacking in chaos and complexity that the simple joy of reading enfolds her.  No distracting background to speak of here.  She's lost in the world of her book.

I want my students to experience that joy, too.  And it's hard nowadays, for so many reasons, to keep them engaged in reading.  First of all, many of them have the attention span of fruit flies.  Second, a lot of kids today don't read much because they're watching, watching a TV or a computer screen. Not much is asked of them when they do this, and passivity has become their activity.  

Many schools have institution-wide SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) time. We used to have this time in our middle school: one advisory period a week, the whole middle school engaged in SSR. But it didn't really work as an advisory activity.  It's not an activity that's meant for advisory, is it? Other activities often took precedent over SSR during that time- an inter-advisory project, a birthday celebration, a make-up test.  We ditched SSR in favor of more flexible advisory time, and I think that was wise.  But then, there was no time devoted specifically to independent reading anymore.

I decided that language arts class was the place for SSR.  Revolutionary thought, huh?  Well, it was pretty progressive here at my school; no one else was doing it!  I began devoting 20-25 minutes of class time, one or two times a week to silent, independent reading.  At the beginning of the school year, I set it up for the students.  The expectation is that each of them will be reading a book independently at all times throughout the year.  The SSR book is one of their choosing, and it can be fiction, non-fiction, a graphic novel, a collection of short stories- anything that's NOT the book we're reading for class at the time. I remind them many times at the beginning of the year that SSR is sustained (meaning you don't stop) silent (meaning you don't talk) reading (meaning that's the only activity you're doing at the time). 

For the first couple of days, the kids didn't know what to do with themselves when I said it was SSR time. "You're really just giving us time to read on our own?" a particularly perplexed student asked.  I told them that they could find a place for themselves anywhere in the room, as long as they were not distracting others.  Kids nuzzled themselves into corners.  Kids flattened themselves out on the floor.  They took off their shoes. 

And they read.

I have a pretty good selection of books in my classroom library, and of course, they can always go to the middle school library to check something out.  Soon, SSR became time that they looked forward to, that they asked for and enjoyed. And I am convinced that part of what makes SSR so wonderful for them is that there's no reading log involved.  They don't have to read a certain amount each week.  They just read at their own pace. If they don't like the book they've picked up, they can put it back on the shelf and choose another.  If it takes them a whole semester to read one Harry Potter book, that's fine.  Many of them tell me that because of their incredibly hectic schedules, they don't have any time to read for pleasure outside of school, and SSR becomes the only fun reading outlet for them.

I am anticipating your questions and doubts.  How do you have time in your curriculum to devote to SSR? The answer: I make time. Nothing is more important in a language arts classroom than getting the kids engaged in reading. How do you keep them from talking? The answer: They keep themselves from talking! Well, that's not entirely true; sometimes there's some whispering here or there, but it's easy enough to put an end to that.  And your big question: How do you know they're actually reading anything?

This is where literature letters come in.  I wish I could recall the text that introduced me to lit letters.  It was long ago, that much I remember.  Literature letters are friendly letters that the students write to me once or twice a quarter, telling me about their independent reading book.  There is a very specific format that the students must adhere to: Download Lit letters. And I grade the letters on a rubric (Download Rubric- lit letters).  Yes, the letters do get grades, which means the kids are more invested in the writing. It's really the only time they get to be informal in their writing. In addition to grading them, I write a short comment on every letter, something that connects us through the book they've chosen.  

In the final paragraph of the lit letter, I ask students to tell me what I can help them with as far as their reading is concerned.  The answer that I receive 90% of the time: Can you give us more SSR time?

Notes from the ISACS conference

For those of you who don't know what ISACS is, it's the Independent School Association of the Central States.  Last week, they brought their annual conference to Columbus for the first time, and all of the teachers from my school attended for the day on Friday, Nov. 6. Independent school teachers and administrators came in from all over the midwest, and we were treated to a lot of wonderful speakers and useful information.

I attended some interesting sessions.  I came away with new information and ideas, which I have pounced upon already, and that's really the measure of a good conference, isn't it:  Did you come away with ideas you can put to use in your classroom? 

I always think I'm pretty up to speed on things until I attend these types of sessions.  The information below may be old news to many of you, but it was all new to me!

1. Google Docs: From the Google homepage, you can navigate to Google Docs, but you (and your students) need Google accounts to use it.  Google Docs is a collaborative writing platform, a kind of multi-user word processor.  You can create a document that other people can add to, alter, edit, and revise from their computers.  Google Docs would be great to use for class notetaking because more than one student can contribute notes to a single document, and that can then be shared with the whole class via email or an existing website or blog.  I believe that you need to invite people to access/share the document collaboratively.  To me, this seems like an amazing tool.  Kids can work on a project collaboratively from their own homes without having to send a document back and forth constantly.  No flash drives or home email accounts are needed!  The document is saved on Google, so you can gain access to it anytime, anywhere.  Google Docs could be used to gather notes for absent students, and they wouldn't have to wait until they returned to school to catch up.  I can also see it being used in a more global way: Your clasroom can share documents with a classroom anywhere in the world, as long as they have Google accounts!  Imagine the possibility of your students pairing up with students on another continent and creating documents together!

2. jing: Another cool tool.  With jing, you can create screencasts of yourself using applications on your own desktop.  Jing is a "capture" tool: With a mic, which most computers have built-in, you "capture"what you're doing on your desktop in a video that you can share through the jing projects site. This is great for all kinds of learners because it is a multimedia tool. Students can even make their own tutorials and other videos to show what they've learned.  Kids can access the jing you create to help with their homework so they don't flounder at home. You can capture your Smartboard lessons using jing and make them available to your students at any time, a great thing for students who aren't so good at taking notes and actively listening to a lesson simultaneously. Jing is free to download- they'll even provide you with a URL for your screencasts- but you can also get jingPro (Yes, it costs money!), which can allow you to do more sophisticated jing-y things. Go to: www.jingproject.com to get started.

3. Create a custom search engine: Also from Google homepage--> more--> even more-->Custom Search.  Here you can create your own search engine.  Students can find web resources at home (videos, tutorials, etc.) and put them into the class-created search engine. 

4. 1:1 laptop schools: Howard Levin came to the conference from The Urban School in San Francisco to talk about his school's 1:1 laptop program. The school makes good use of First Class to create shared folders, course conference folders, class bulletin boards, and teacher and student forums. The laptops are used for: organization (Inspiration software, Stickies on their desktops!), communication (audio files for language studies, collaborative homework experiences), information (archives of class notes, whole group analysis of passages/documents), and production (alternative ways of producing end products of learning).  Howard's website: www.howardlevin.com.  

5. Ning: Ning lets you set up a social network for people with the same interests as you. You can also join existing nings.  I jumped over to the Independent School Educators ning and joined right away! It's kind of like creating your own little Facebook world for people with whom you actually want to communicate! To get started with ning, go to: www.ning.com.

6. WolframAlpha: A good search engine for anything that has data.  Put in a math equation, and up comes a graph of that equation.  Put in a year or a month or a place, and WolframAlpha returns tons of information just for you! Go to: www.wolframalpha.com.  

A lot of good stuff for one day at a conference, don't you think?!

Using Guiding Questions in Your Classroom

    How many times have you heard one of the following questions in your classroom:

    "Why do we have to learn this?"   

    "Will I ever need to know this in my life?"  

    "Why should I care about this?"  

    Maybe you haven't heard these questions exactly, but almost every middle school teacher has been faced with some variation on them.

    When I design my curricular units, I think very hard about these questions.  It is so important that students be able to see the value in what they're learning.  Not everything you teach has an obvious purpose to your students. If they can't find purpose, they will not internalize what they're learning.  Meaningful learning can only happen when what students learn matters to them.

    One of the most effective ways to achieve meaningful learning is to design your curricular units around GUIDING QUESTIONS, also called ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS.  If you frame your activities, projects, and reading around these questions, the students will have something to anchor what they do in the real world.

WHAT IS A GUIDING QUESTION?

       In Jeffrey Wilhelm's excellent book, Engaging Readers and Writers with Inquiry,he writes:

                "Guiding questions create a clearly focused problem orientation for our studies that connects kids to socially significant material and learning.  This in turn leads to exciting conversations that bring together the students' lives, the course content, and the world in which we live as we consolidate major concepts, vocabulary, strategies, and ideas." (p.8)

Guiding questions are a framework for a topic.  Using them takes the onus off the teacher to convey all of the concepts and information and puts it on the students to investigate the questions and find answers that they can apply in their everyday lives.