E-motive Teaching

Harry is not Wong

Today, I got a much needed dose of Harry Wong.  This inspiring educational leader and author of The First Day of School with his wife Rosemary lists practical strategies and scenarios for the classroom to produce proven results. 

I am in day one of the New Teachers Institute for my district.  Three gals at my table are newly minted HS English teachers and I am starting my 19th year.  I will make double their salary but we all share apprehension and excitement for the upcoming school year. I am attending because two years teaching from my living room with a virtual school avails me the need to brush up on my classroom techniques. It is also a great way to network- I met two dynamite teacher-coaches from the district and several other new teachers to my school.

Facilitating a virtual class poses different challenges than traditional classroom teaching. In both situations, the teacher must be a motivator, an expert in content, and a savvy user of the resources available to everyone in the learning relationship. Most of my virtual students had a high degree of technological ability but there were a few whom I had to walk through uploading and attaching work, naming a file, and even word processing. Others showed me their Second Life characters or their personal blogs and MySpaces pages.  I don't yet know what technology is accessible to me in my new position. My goal is to apply Wong's basic principles of efficiency and organization to my teaching practice. With that in mind, here are some sites and programs that are easily accessible and that all teachers can use regardless of level or tech expertise or availability

--Electronic Grade book- My old district used Pinnacle and my new one will be institutionalizing Pinnacle as well.  For those who have never used an electronic grade book, Excelsior provides a free scaled down version of Pinnacle . Teachers who still keep a paper grade book are doing their students a grave disservice by wasting human power hours annotating and calculating. The program renders professional streamlined record keeping and the reports included --even in the free version-- allow students to track progress without confusion or mistrust.

--Del.icio.us-  There are several social book marking sites but del.icio.us seems to be the most widely available.  All those favorites saved in MS Explorer can now be entered into Del.icio.us to share with friends and like-minded colleagues all across the world. Each entry can include key words to categorize the link and to add detailed descriptions. I will be teaching Othello in the fall and already have 71 resource links saved. Below blog entries or news columns, one frequently sees del.icio.us and Digg icons (if you like something, you "digg" it and it moves up becoming more accessible to the Digg.com community.).  If MySpace intimidates you, what could be easier than saving and sharing your favorite resources and making them accessable from any computer.

--Mygradebook.com  or Blackboard.com- Need help grading? Both of these sites provide "shells" to build blended learning environments.  I have used Quizlab for years.  For about $49 per year, (cheaper if you can get a group), you can post a variety of assessments and keep a calendar. Assessments can be set for one time or unlimited tries.  Assignments can have start and expiration dates or can be posted for indefinite access. Teachers can create a quiz in their account and internally Email it to a colleague's library. There are more than 5000 quizzes in the shared library searchable by subject area and grade level. Parents and students can be E-mailed automatically when an assignment is posted.  Finally, each student has an individualized page with his or her assignments listed and grades computed.  Blackboard is a more corporate form of Quizlab widely used in colleges and virtual schools and is usually purchased and maintained on the school district level whereas one teacher can set up Quizlab for his or her own use. Blackboard can be used in the one computer classroom as a space to include resources and tools- much like a blog- or a teacher can post curriculum content and create an entire blended course. Blackboard contains additional tools like discussion board opportunities, auto-grade assessments, podcasting, a white board for synchronous and asynchronous teaching. Many features are at your disposal and each shell can be personalized for the teacher and students' needs.

An English Tweacher Using Twitter

The verdict is still out whether Twitter can be a useful tool in the traditional classroom. I would be interested in receiving some feedback on its application. However, I certainly am having fun with Twitter on a professional and personal level!

Here is how to get started. First, watch this excellent two-minute video from CommonCraft Video- How Twitter Works.While you are at this site, you might watch a few more of their videos about Wikis, Blogs, and Bookmarks. This duo is amazing and for teachers who are intimidated by the Web 2.0 Tidal Wave, they make some of these new "killer apps" understandable.

Here is how I am using Twitter.

Right now, according to Megan Casey on Squidblog Squidblog Article I am a "catcher". You probably are, too. A catcher is someone who consumes or "catches" web content. A "thrower" is one who throws some content out there with the hope that it will stick to or with someone. This is where I have wanted to be but I just couldn’t find the right venue. Twitter enables its members to "throw" 144 character comments out to the world answering the question, "What are you doing?"

How do you find people to follow?

When you first sign up, Twitter can import your Email address books and search to see if any of your friends are on. I bypassed this because, in catcher mode, I wanted to watch first and learn. You can view the public timeline, too. It is interesting to see what people all over the world are doing at any given moment.

I found my first Twitter friends via a blog. I subscribed to Teachers20 Teachers 2.0 Blog and then in the search button for Twitter, I found the Teacher2.0 Twitter. From there, Lindiop was my first friend. I live in Georgia and she is in England but we have a common interest!

Other friends came from my associations and interests. I searched for NBCT and found a friend. Another search of "English Teachers" led me to more interesting people. A third search found a fellow Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Another way of finding friends is by looking at whom your new friends follow. It is a bit like socially appropriate eaves dropping.

Famous People and Professional Sites- I follow the weather in my area, NPR updates, and a couple of the current presidential candidates. One of my favorite Slate Magazine writers (also an NPR correspondent), John Dickerson, is interesting. I regularly listen to the podcast "Slate Political Gabfest" Slate Political Gabfest Link so I know his on air personality. His tweets give me some back-story of what he is thinking and doing as he is filing his stories. It is as if I am privy to his drafting process- an art that is lost in today’s word-processed world.

A couple of people in the tech world with whom teachers might not be familiar are Merlin Mann, Leo Laporte, and Kevin Rose. Merlin Mann spent quite a bit of time in Florida, from where I hail, so when he mentions Tallahassee, New College, and New Port Richey I can relate. He is also an age peer so, as a side note, you might like his website Merlin Mann's 5's Lists as they are pop culturally memorable and hilarious to folks of my generation. Warning- some of his Tweets contain some rated R language but they are rather witty and sometimes profound. Leo Laporte is currently in Australia as I write this post. His tweets show me the world is truly flat! (Leo’s podcast This Week in Tech (TWIT) is great, too. You can subscribe to it in ITunes.) Kevin Rose is the guy behind www.digg.com ’s fame. If you really want to know what your students are doing technology-wise, listen to the Diggnation podcast. (Rated R warning for language and content but Kevin and co-host Alex will give you a window into sites, videos, music, hacks, software, gadgets, etc… oh, and beer.) I also follow the tweets of GetItDoneGuy and GrammarGirl from their podcasts. Grammar Girl reported an earthquake in Reno this evening. As the Olympic Torch protests in San Francisco were happening, several of my Twitter contacts were tweeting about it. (The verb "to tweet" means "to post an update.")

Teaching- The best reason teachers should participate in Twitter is its use as a living resource. Add Vicki Davis "coolcatteacher" to your friends. Here is her blog: Cool Cat Teacher's Blog. Each time I see her tweet with an interesting URL, I know I am going to learn something. Look at the mission statement WOW2 and you will see what I mean WoW2  AngelaMaiers is also very informative. She even reciprocated and added me as a friend!

My media is portable with an IPhone so I can check Twitter throughout the day, follow one of Coolcatteacher’s links, get a laugh from hotdogsladies (Merlin Mann’s Twitter name), or check to see if anyone new added me. I am following 50 right now and have 24 followers. Here is a directory of some of the top teachers being followed on twitter: Twitter Directory

Have fun and follow me on Twitter . My screen name is: Dlaughey

What are you doing right now?