Hello, and thank you for visiting! You are welcome to explore this website, but my blog has moved on to bigger and better things at mshayes.org. All of the information available on this site is also available on the new site.
I hope to see you there!
Only the cool kids are invited…
Like many people, I didn’t really feel the need to jump on the Pinterest bandwagon; but then I had to do a presentation on how to use social networking in the classroom. Pinterest is the third most popular social networking site behind Facebook and Twitter, and so, for the sake of research, I joined Pinterest. But here’s the thing: you can’t just join Pinterest because you want to join Pinterest. You have to be invited. I was slightly annoyed that I had to wait to start pinning stuff, especially because I had to wait only two weeks after requesting an invite. Good grief.
While setting up my Pinterest account I was pleased to see that I could link the account to either my Facebook or Twitter account. One less username and password combination to remember sounded great to me (although I usually use the same ones over and over again. Shh, don’t tell). I decided to go with my Facebook account since I am still getting used to Twitter, but Facebook and Pinterest must be in cahoots with one another, because that dang Pinterest tricked me into getting Facebook’s timeline profile. Grumble grumble.
Regardless of the initial inconveniences, Pinterest is my new addiction. Before joining Pinterest I had seen an eCard that mentioned drinking wine while looking at Pinterest all day, so for the sake of research, I decided to pour myself a glass of Pinot Noir before diving into the world of Pinterest. Two hours and three glasses of wine later, I realized I had to stop wasting time on Pinterest and take care of my big girl responsibilities like doing the dishes and feeding the cat.
How it works
Basically, Pinterest gives people the ability to “pin” things they find on the internet to different boards. Think of these Pinterest boards as being digital bulletin boards, and you can have multiple boards to help you to organize your pins. Initially, I didn’t know what the topics of my boards should be, but Pinterest is nice enough to give you some ideas as soon as you sign up.
My Pinterest Boards
I now have a board for classroom stuff, a board for workout ideas, a board for literary references (this is currently my largest board, full of entertaining images referring to Harry Potter, The Hunger Games Trilogy, and The Outlander Series. I also have a few random book covers in there for good measure), and a board that I call “Bumper Stickers”. You may or may not remember when Facebook had a bumper sticker application about three years ago; this is basically the same idea. The great thing about boards is that you can do whatever you want with them. Get creative!
My "Literary References" Board
Stalk me on Pinterest!
Like Twitter you “follow” people on Pinterest instead of “friend” them. I had no clue as to whom l should follow when I signed up, but Pinterest was nice enough to suggest people to follow based on what I marked as my interests. This made my initial pinning experience a bit worldlier since I could see the pins of people I had never met. Soon after, I learned that since my Pinterest account was linked with my Facebook account, I could automatically follow all of my Facebook friends who also had a Pinterest account.
Pinterest Home Screen
If you follow someone on Pinterest, their pins automatically pop up on your home screen, much like posts on a wall on Facebook. You can “like” someone’s pin, or you can leave a comment on someone’s pin, however I’ve noticed that simply re-pinning a pin is the most common method of recognition.
So…what’s the point?
The purpose of Pinterest is not to share witty thoughts about everyday occurrences, nor is its purpose to share photos and news articles to document the events of an individual’s life. Instead, Pinterest aims to share various types of media such as photos, videos, websites, infographics, and more, with people who have similar interests. And I wonder, sometimes, if Pinterest aims to take over the world by distracting its users from their personal responsibilities in life…kind of like this Hulu commercial.
TeachersCanUse Pinterest for the Classroom
While I just sold Pinterest as an entertaining way to spend uneventful evenings, it does hold some potential for education. Teachers are using it to find ideas for their classrooms, but students are also using it as an instructional scaffold or as a form of assessment. As a language arts teacher, I am particularly interested in using Pinterest while teaching a novel. I imagine my students creating boards for the protagonist and the antagonist(s) of a novel and a board for the setting. Perhaps we could have a class board for the different books my students are reading independently, or a board for atrocious grammar mistakes the students see around town. The possibilities are only as limited as your creativity. To help inspire some new ideas, I have included this great infographic about how other teachers are using Pinterest.
As you may already know, my school district has recently adopted a web-based program called My Big Campus, which is essentially a social networking site for the classroom. You can read more about in my earlier post, Teacher, Meet Technology. Since incorporating the program into my classroom, I’ve began to realize the value of social networking to education. Below are eleven quotes about social networking that I would like to share with fellow educators.
Why teachers need to embrace social networking in the classroom and why administrators should embrace social networking as a professional development tool
1) “More companies are discovering that an über-connected workplace is not just about implementing a new set of tools – it is also about embracing a cultural shift to create an open environment where employees are encouraged to share, innovate, and collaborate virtually.” – Karie Willyerd & Jeanne C. Meister, Harvardbusiness.org
2) “It’s natural online to go to the place where people are already consuming media. It’s less effort than to ask people to leave an environment they’re already in.” – Cheryl Calverley, U.K.’s Senior Global Manager for Axe Skin
3) “Social media is about sociology and psychology more than technology.” – Brian Solis, Principal of FutureWorks
4) “Innovation needs to be part of your culture. Consumers are transforming faster than we are, and if we don’t catch up, we’re in trouble.” – Ian Schafer, CEO of Deep Focus
5) “To ignore social networking would be like early man ignoring fire.” – Barry Ross
Social networking and professionalism
6) “You can be professional while also ‘keeping it real’ with your customers. By interacting with customers in a less formal way, you’ll build a strong human connection that helps build brand loyalty.” – David Hauser
7) “How can you squander even one more day not taking advantage of the greatest shifts of our generation? How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?” – Seth Godin, Seth’s Blog
How social networking can help you (and your students) succeed
8) “In the long history of humankind, those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.” – Charles Darwin
9) “Twitter represents a collective collaboration that manifests our ability to unconsciously connect kindred voices though the experiences that move us. As such, Twitter is a human seismograph.” – Brian Solis, Principal of FutureWorks
Why social networking isn’t a “quick fix” – you need to know how to use it
10) “Social Media can be an enabler and an accelerator of existing core capabilities, values, attributes, and plans. It can even be a catalyst for change. But it can’t magically create what doesn’t exist.” – Denise Zimmerman, President of NetPlus Marketing
11) “Social media is just a buzzword until you come up with a plan.” – Zach Dunn
I love YouTube. I am not the type of person who uses it every day or spends hours watching different videos, but I love how easy it is to find great videos and share them with my friends. Usually, I will get to YouTube videos through Facebook or Google, but once I am there I will watch a few of the recommended videos and post them to my Facebook page. I do, however, try to be selective with what I share.
According to Zwiers and Crawford in Academic Conversations, “popular modes of communication, such as video, podcasts, written texts, music, and images are mostly ‘one-way.’” (2011) They argue that these types of videos have a static message that cannot be adjusted after conversations, so to speak, with their viewers. I originally expressed my disagreement with this statement in my blog, which you can read here.
Needless to say, I was thrilled when I read Prensky’s article, which states “Perhaps the thing about You Tube that is least understood by people who do not use it regularly is that it is not just one way, or one-to-many, communication; it is designed to be, and very much is, two-way…Many users post ideas and opinions, looking for feedback, and many get large numbers of responses to their clips.”
Well, well, well! Take that Zwiers and Crawford!
One trendy video topic is Sh*t (Social Groups) Say. I first saw one of these videos, “Sh*t Girls Say”, when visiting a couple of my friends. They could not stop laughing and joking about it, so they showed me the video. I thought it was funny, but I wasn’t as amused by it as they were. I didn’t think about it again until earlier this week when a friend from college posted “Sh*t Burqueños Say” on her Facebook wall. As a “Burqueña” I decided to watch the video.
I watched the video on Tuesday, and I loved it – not only because my students say this stuff all the time, but because I say it too. I linked the video to my Facebook wall, and by the next day the video had over 150,000 hits and forty-eight pages of comments. When I had first watched the video, it had less than one hundred hits. Now, according to my super-secret source, part two is in the works.
I think that one of the fallacies in Zwiers and Crawford’s argument is that they are looking at communication as being between two or more people, with one of the communicators being the original creator of the content. Their argument, simply put, is that the person who created the video, podcast, or blog must be engaged in the subsequent conversations – but this isn’t actually what happens.
Instead, the subsequent conversations occur between completely different people. The content creator (or facilitator) may chime in occasionally by responding to comments or posting a follow-up video, but most of the communication happens between the viewers. In the world of YouTube, the viewer’s respond through published means such as comments, similar videos, Facebook and Twitter shares, blog mentions, and more, but they also respond through unpublished means such as face-to-face conversations with friends, family, and co-workers.
Isn’t this what we want to happen both in and out of the classroom? The students, sparked by the teacher, drive the conversations while the teacher sits back and listens and silently assesses, only intervening when beneficial to the students. The important thing is that the students are talking about and responding to information that is read, heard, and viewed (and yes, that is a direct quote from the New Mexico ELA Content Standards).
Perhaps now I need to make a video titled “Sh*t Teachers Say.”Oh, never-mind, it already exists.
*Disclaimer*
I am not suggesting that we show these particular videos in schools. I am merely thinking about the sociological and educational implications of these videos. That said, it would be interesting to have students create a video of this nature about what characters say in a novel or story as a lesson on characterization.
You can watch some of these videos below (but keep in mind, some of them are stereotypical and offensive).
Sh*t Brides Say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut8kwaKvZc0
Sh*t New Yorkers Say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRvJylbSg7o
Sh*t People Say on Facebook: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVQeB_LlmRI
Sh*t Burqueños Say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IucBp1yrr7A&feature=share
Sh*t New Mexicans Don’t Say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndbjEvN8AtM&feature=related
Sh*t Teachers Say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLXfwvaBXLc
One week has passed since the first My Big Campus Workshop, and the response from the staff has been encouraging – especially since it opened up new lines of communication. Several staff members have since raised valid questions, misconceptions, and concerns – some of which I was able to address right away, and others required more time.
One of the leading concerns was the absence of computers in other classrooms. My class is only one of two with the Building Blocks Grant. The other teachers only have between three and six computers for the students to use in class. Because of this, many teachers could not see the value of MBC (My Big Campus) to their instruction with limited computer access.
At first I was slightly annoyed by these concerns. I wanted to tell the teachers to be resourceful and get creative, but that probably wouldn’t have been a good sales pitch. Instead, I gave them a couple of ideas, but realized that I needed to find some teachers who were willing to experiment.
I decided to ask the other teachers on my team if they would be willing to help me. Both Ms. Newton and Ms. Galilei (the math teacher and science teacher on my team, respectively) were thrilled to help. The only person who would be difficult to convince was Mr. Lee, the social studies teacher.
Remember Mr. Lee? He was one of the leading characters in my first Teacher, Meet Technology post.
You may be wondering why I am so determined to get Mr. Lee to use My Big Campus. Perhaps it is because I am stubborn and he ticked me off, but I like to think that my determination comes from my passion for teaching and doing what’s best for the kids. Truthfully, I think it is a combination of both. But, before I jump into my story about Mr. Lee, I think you should know that I am naturally a very optimistic, albeit bossy, person. When combined, these two qualities can lead to bouts of passive aggressive manipulation – but this works for me. Sometimes.
The Plan
Mr. Lee’s attitude about My Big Campus was very negative. So, obviously I spent the rest of the week and the following weekend plotting my next move. Since I knew that the other two teachers on my team were sold on MBC, I decided to recruit them in my mission to get Mr. Lee to log on. They readily agreed.
Our plan was to meet as a team on Tuesday to discuss different ways to increase students’ agenda use. After throwing out a couple of ideas not related to technology, I would bring up MBC as a tool for posting our agendas all in one place. In order for this to be effective, we would need to have consistency across the team. Mr. Lee would have to agree…right?
The Meeting
We met informally on Tuesday in Ms. Newton’s room, and Mr. Lee was adamant that the plan to post our weekly agendas on MBC would not work. Our debate lasted for forty-five minutes, and tempers were hot. Mr. Lee just could not see the point in posting his weekly agenda online when it was already posted in his class.
He was also concerned that he would have to spend hours learning how to use MBC, just to have it taken away by the district in a year or two. Apparently this happens often, and, as a new teacher, it was an issue that had never crossed my mind. While he has a valid point, I doubt the district would take away the program if many teachers use it; especially since MBC doesn’t cost anything.
In the end, Mr. Lee agreed to post his agenda on MBC, but he made it clear that he did not see the point in doing so. I invited him to the second MBC workshop after school the next day, but he couldn’t attend that one. I agreed to work with him individually after school.
One on one with Mr. Lee
We met in his room after school, and I walked him through the program. Initially I planned to only show him how to log on, create groups, and post his weekly schedule, but he kept asking questions about the other features of MBC. Our meeting turned into a crash course on all things My Big Campus.
Working with Mr. Lee was an interesting experience. He argued with me every step of the way, but he also asked new questions. It was almost as if there are two different sides to Mr. Lee: the side that wants to learn more about how to use technology in his classroom, and the fearful side that is afraid to experiment with something new. While I appreciate his efforts, the two hours I spent trying to introduce him to MBC was exhausting.
I was right about Mr. Lee being a digital immigrant – but unlike most digital immigrants, Mr. Lee is fresh off the boat. He constantly second guessed whether or not he should click on something, as if the computer would explode if he clicked on the wrong button.
We played the “what if” game with every new thing that I showed him. Some of his “what ifs” were valid, but others were a bit far-fetched. You can see a few snippets of his what-ifs below:
Snippet Number One:
Me: So you just log in by using the same log in and password as your email.
Mr. Lee: But is that safe?
Me: What do you mean?
Mr. Lee: Once I put in that information, anybody from My Big Campus can see my information.
Me: No they can’t…
Mr. Lee: But they will have my password. I can get in trouble with the district for giving them this information.
Me: Well, the district set up the account for you. I don’t think you will get in trouble for using the account they set up for you.
Mr. Lee: Ok, but if I get in trouble I am telling them that you told me to do it this way.
Me: Of course, just send them my way.
Snippet Number Two:
Mr. Lee: What if I post my schedule on My Big Campus on Monday, but then I have to change it by Wednesday?
Me: Then you can easily log in and change it, like this.
Mr. Lee: But what if a parent sees it on Monday, and then questions why I had to change it on Wednesday?
Me: …Then you can explain to that parent why you had to change it.
Mr. Lee: But what if that parent gets angry because I changed it?
Me: Then we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
Snippet Number Three:
Mr. Lee: What if a student posts something inappropriate to My Big Campus?
Me: Oh, let me show you the reports button…
Mr. Lee: But what if a student posts something not nice about a teacher?
Me: Well, if it is inappropriate we can see it through the reports, and take action from there.
Mr. Lee: But then other students will see it, and think poorly of that teacher.
Me: Well…they do that anyway by talking to each other, so…
Needless to say, Mr. Lee depleted my patience jar for the week.
It was clear to me after our meeting just how much I take for granted. I have an inherent trust in many of these online programs (don’t worry, I am also cautious). Mr. Lee on the other hand is very nervous around something that he doesn’t understand, especially if his students understand it better than he does.
Regardless, I was very excited by the end of the meeting. Despite his hesitance, Mr. Lee actually posted a video for his students to watch on their own time, and he liked the fact that he could make his videos available to the students outside of class.
I don’t know how much Mr. Lee will actually use MBC, but I do know that he is now familiar with what it can offer – and that is a step in the right direction.
I completed my student teaching experience at a low-income inner city high school. The school had a bad reputation for having a high gang population and “bad” kids. So, when I first announced my student teaching placement on Facebook, I was not surprised that most of my friends’ comments revolved around the reputation. One friend even joked that I should buy a bullet proof vest.
They were wrong. That school had some of the nicest kids. When I walked down the hall carrying a heavy box of books, a student I didn’t know offered to carry it to class for me. This happened on multiple occasions, with multiple students.
Needless to say, I had a fabulous student teaching year. My CT (cooperating teacher) was excellent, and taught me a lot about the importance of setting high expectations for all students. Most of our kids were English Language Learners (a.k.a. ELL’s) and were of low socioeconomic backgrounds. There have been many studies done on students who grow up in a low-income household, which you can read about here.
We required the students to create a poetry portfolio early in the second semester. I expected the final draft of the portfolio to be typed, so we spent a week in the computer lab. Many of the students did not finish typing their portfolios during the allotted class time, and as a result the final scores for the portfolios were lower than I would have liked.
While reflecting on the unit in one of my seminar classes, one of my peers suggested that by requiring the portfolio to be typed, I set the students up for failure. He pointed out that because most of my students are of a low socioeconomic background, I should not expect them to use the computers at school – especially if they do not have computers at home. After all, how could they finish the assignment without a home computer?
His response reinforced my belief that bringing computers into the classroom is vital to student success. If the students do not have computers at home, then where else will they develop the technological skills they will need as adults?
The middle school I work at now has a very similar population to the high school I just described. While I have had to spend more time teaching basic computer skills (such as how to save files to a USB drive, how to copy and paste, and how to use Google), the students are much more motivated when using the computers.
Besides, the public library provides free internet access after school and on the weekends. Since when has it become inappropriate to expect students to do something or go somewhere educational outside of school?
I just read this article about no zero policies. Isn’t this just focusing on a short-term solution to a long-term problem? We learn best from our failures. If kids don’t experience failure in school when a support system is in place to help them overcome it, how will they succeed in adulthood?
What is your policy on zeros?
As an English Language Arts teacher one of the tools I rely on is my students’ ability to discuss writing and literature in an appropriate manner. I teach seventh grade. My students are professionals at inappropriate behavior.
When I try to facilitate class discussions, they usually do one of two things:
1) They clam up and suddenly become fascinated with whatever is under their grubby fingernails, or…
2) They all shout out ideas at once, competing with each other instead of bouncing ideas off of each other.
The first scenario is not as common as the second, which is a good thing. With the second, at least my students are excited and thinking about the topic. The thing is, I often feel like the basket in a game of basketball – but instead of the players working together, every player is trying to grab the ball (my attention and approval) and make a basket by sharing their ideas without any help from their teammates. In basketball this is catastrophic. It has similar results in the classroom.
My solution was to use My Big Campus’ discussion feature as a way to force the students to talk to each other instead of to me. Unfortunately, this did not work out as I had hoped. When planning the lesson I blissfully envisioned a discussion similar to those I have on Facebook with fellow teachers, or those that take place in a college environment. It wasn’t until after implementing the lesson that I realized how naïve my expectations were.
The students had no problems posting their ideas to the discussion. The hitch came when they started commenting on each other’s posts. Instead of questioning each other or adding to each other’s ideas, the students became very complimentary of one another. They also became grammar Nazis.
At first, I found it sweet when a student would post, “good idea” or “you did a good job.” I was ecstatic when I read, “make sure you capitalize your I’s” and “you used the wrong there – it is their not there.” However I soon realized that they weren’t thinking deeply about what the other students were saying. Instead, they were using the compliments as a cop-out to thinking critically about their responses.
Two hundred notifications later, I realized that I am still the basketball hoop, my students are still competing, but now they all have their own basketballs to shoot. Duck for cover!
This led me to the realization that I can’t expect my students to lead productive discussions in class or on the computer without first teaching them the appropriate skills. Whether typing or speaking, the students need to know how to bounce ideas off of each other without dominating and how to ask clarifying questions such as “can you elaborate on that” or “can you give me an example?” The skills are the same no matter what medium we use.
Time to hit the books (so to speak).
Expert Advice
I have a book called Academic Conversations by Jeff Zwiers and Marie Crawford (2011) which identifies five core conversation skills that students must have to be successful conversationalists in an academic setting:
1) Elaborate and clarify
2) Support ideas with examples
3) Build on and/or challenge a partner’s ideas
4) Paraphrase
5) Synthesize conversation points
It hadn’t occurred to me just how much academic conversations rely on the higher order thinking skills from Bloom’s Taxonomy until I read that chapter.
I continued to read, but was disturbed when the Zwiers and Crawford argued that technology was not a good tool for developing academic conversational skills. They argue that because of the lack of face-to-face communication with digital discussions, “exploration of a topic, the building of ideas, and emotional connections are often missing.” They also argue that “popular modes of communication…are mostly ‘one-way’ [and] do not adjust their messages or negotiate meanings with their viewers” (2011).
I stopped reading Academic Conversations. I disagree with their claims that the lack of face-to-face communication does more harm than good and that digital modes of communication have static meanings. Instead of fighting technology integration, the authors should be asking how students can use technology to explore topics and build ideas.
The toxic statements ate away at my brain for a few days until today, when I stumbled upon an article called “The Must Have Guide to Helping Technophobic Teachers” by Dr. Abir Qasem and Tanya Gupta. They argue that “using technology in education is about redesigning pedagogy by taking advantage of available technology, and not just substituting faculty time with technology.”
Qasem and Gupta go on to argue that technology actually facilitates productive conversations instead of hindering it. The reasoning behind this is two-fold:
1) Studies have found that face to face conversations lead people to instinctively mimic the opinions of others instead of fighting for their own
2) People tend to think more creatively and are more productive when working in solitude (read more about this in “The Rise of the New Groupthink”)
*Read these statements with caution*
Do not assume that all group work is bad. Group work is extremely effective when each member has time to individually develop his or her own ideas before coming together as a group.
UNM taught me that group work is a valuable strategy for encouraging all students to participate. Group work can also be a great tool for teaching students to think outside the box and value different perspectives.
But here is the thing: according to the “The Rise of the New Groupthink” by Susan Cain, brainstorming sessions stifle creativity instead of stimulating it. Woah.
Apparently, “when we take a stance [that is] different from the group’s, we activate the amygdala, a small organ in the brain associated with the fear of rejection.” (Cain, 2012)
This makes sense, considering what most of our students want most is to be accepted by their peers (want proof? Click here).
But how does all of this information apply to both spoken and typed class discussions? I am getting there, but first I will condense the information into a list of facts for your sanity and for mine:
So here is the whammy: Digital discussions enable students to think independently while also being socially rewarded by their peers.
But first, in order for them to be effective, I have to teach my students how to pick each other’s brains effectively…and because they use similar conversational skills as speaking when typing, I will once again pick up Academic Conversations (and ignore the technology bashing sections). Perhaps in doing so, my students will start to discuss as a team, bouncing ideas off of each other before shooting for the basketball hoop. Swoosh!
Wish me luck!
Works Cited
Cain, Susan. “The Rise of the New Groupthink.” The Sunday Review. The New York Times, 13 Jan. 2012. Web. 3 Feb. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/opinion/sunday/the-rise-of-the-new-groupthink.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all>.
Gopnik, Alison. “What’s Wrong With the Teenage Mind? – WSJ.com.” The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal, 28 Jan. 2012. Web. 04 Feb. 2012. <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203806504577181351486558984.html?fb_ref=wsj_share_FB>.
Quasem, Abir, and Tanya Gupta. “The Must-Have Guide To Helping Technophobic Teachers | Edudemic.” Edudemic. Edudemic, 3 Feb. 2012. Web. 04 Feb. 2012..
Zwiers, Jeff, and Marie Crawford. Academic Conversations: Classroom Talk That Fosters Critical Thinking and Content Understandings. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse, 2011. Print.
So, February 1st is Digital Literacy Day. It was also the day I led a My Big Campus workshop for the other teachers at my school. This was completely coincidental.
First, allow me to explain what My Big Campus is.
My Big Campus is a social networking site for school. It has all of the basic social networking features such as walls and profiles and private messaging, but it also allows teachers to create groups for each of their classes, assign quizzes, facilitate online discussions, and even more that I am not going to explain right now. While My Big Campus is a great motivational tool for the students, it will be most effective if every teacher uses it to some degree.
One of the reasons I love my school is because the staff is open to experimenting in the classroom…for the most part. If you have ever spent time in the education world you may know that it can be difficult to get teachers to adopt new methods into their classroom, especially if those teachers have been teaching for a long time. Now throw in computers and technology and it can be damn near impossible – depending on the teacher, that is.
So, because I am such an eager beaver teacher I wiggled my way into piloting My Big Campus for my school. I love My Big Campus, so naturally I think everyone else should too – but when I talked to other teachers about it I realized that they were not as eager to use it as I was. In fact, many of them were worried that they would get into trouble for using it given the recent headlines regarding teachers and Facebook. Others didn’t see how it could work in their classroom because they only have four or five computers, not thirty-two.
These are perfectly reasonable concerns. My solution: lead a My Big Campus workshop to clear up confusion and to help get teachers acquainted with the possibilities of the site. I talked to administration and they agreed that the February 1st early release day would be a good time to hold the workshop.
The workshop went well, but not as I had planned. First of all a handful of teachers were gone due to AVID responsibilities and the Special Ed. Department was pulled away for professional development. A few other teachers had to leave early for one reason or another, so I only had about sixteen show up.
Each teacher retrieved a netbook upon walking into the classroom. I showed them a Prezi on My Big Campus before launching into the details of the site. Most of the teachers were engaged, but one teacher, let’s call him Mr. Lee, was too busy writing on a post-it note to participate in the workshop. He did have a computer open in front of him though, so I just ignored him. A few minutes later I noticed that he hadn’t looked up from his post-it note, so I decided to look at his computer screen – perhaps he needed help.
The computer was turned off. This ticked me off a bit. I mean, I was volunteering my time and energy to help him out. He didn’t seem to notice my presence, so I got his attention.
Me: “Well, Mr. Lee, you won’t be able to set up My Big Campus if your computer is turned off!” I gave him a friendly smile and turned on his computer.
Mr. Lee: “Oh, well I was just working on this…”
Me: “Well we are working on My Big Campus.”
Mr. Lee: “Yes, I know, but we had talked about it already the other day so…”
Me: “So now we are setting it up!” I said with a smile. “Let me know when you’ve caught up.” I walked away.
I turned around and saw one of the other teachers shaking her head and laughing. She caught my eye and winked at me. Golly.
At first, I was annoyed with Mr. Lee for his rude behavior, but then I decided not to spend my energy dwelling on it. Instead, I decided to think about the reasons behind his actions and came up with the following ideas:
1. Mr. Lee has been teaching for about fifteen years(ish).
2. Mr. Lee is from a different cultural group than I am.
3. Mr. Lee is a digital immigrant.
Now, Mr. Lee’s behavior makes a bit more sense to me. When I think back to my job selling wedding dresses, I never liked it when a newer sales consultant tried to give me sales advice. I was meeting my sales goals perfectly fine on my own, thank you very much. I preferred to be the one doling out advice to the newbies.
Educational Psychology 310 pointed out that different cultural groups have different standards of socially acceptable behavior. Perhaps according to Mr. Lee’s culture he was giving support by simply showing up. Any participation thereafter was optional.
Finally, and I think this is the most important point, Mr. Lee is a digital immigrant (someone born before the cultural integration of modern technology). Digital immigrants are naturally more cautious and resistant towards new technology than digital natives (someone born after the cultural integration of modern technology), who embrace new technology and are able to master it much more efficiently.
I consider myself to be a digital native, even though some of my peers consider themselves to be digital immigrants. My family was always very up-to-date with new computers when I was growing up, and my dad now owns his own computer support business in North Carolina. My point is that I was given multiple digital learning opportunities during the critical period for language acquisition. Mr. Lee (I am assuming) was not.
So, the simple facts are: I am very comfortable with computers and the internet. Mr. Lee is not. I am a new teacher. Mr. Lee is not. I am excited about incorporating technology into my classroom. Mr. Lee is not.
Now I feel much better.
Monday. I have a love hate relationship with Monday. I love it because I get to teach again…but I hate it because I have to wake up at five after sleeping until ten on the weekends.
Yesterday was a particularly bad Monday for several reasons:
1) I didn’t feel well (I left school early today and I am typing this blog from home).
2) It was the day of our first annual magic show – a fundraiser for our renaissance program. Everybody was going nuts with last-minute plans.
3) I discovered that wordpress.com is blocked at school, which annoyed me. What does THAT say about our preëxisting notions of digital literacy?
4) I wasn’t fully prepared for the day because I spent the weekend obsessing over blog posts and reading education articles instead of planning my lessons (bad teacher!).
So there I was, at the beginning of the period, frantically finishing my SmartBoard presentation for my adjectives and adverbs mini-lesson. I killed a bit of time by having the kids copy down the agenda from the board, but it wasn’t quite enough. I decided to have them do a quick write on how they use technology in their lives.
Their responses varied from playing internet based games to fiddling with the GPS systems in their parents’ cars, which surprised me. The word “technology” automatically conjures up images of computers and smart phones – not cars and toenail clippers (one of the boys shared that thought, which I thought was very clever. After all, technology does not always involve sparks and wires).
Among the Facebook comments, YouTube videos, and video game cheat codes, one of the students said that he likes to use the internet to “look stuff up.” When I asked him what kind of stuff, he couldn’t (or perhaps wouldn’t) tell me. At the other end of the room one of the girls said that she likes to look up ways to solve math problems using YouTube because “the guy will solve it in the video and then it makes sense.” That comment then reminded another student that he likes to use the internet to clarify his understanding on a specific topic with sites such as Wikipedia.
These comments raise an interesting point about our students changing literacies: they use and think about technology on a different level than their parents and teachers. This is because they are considered “digital natives” and their parents and teachers are considered “digital immigrants.” Digital natives navigate digital waters effortlessly, and the comments above show that they use the internet to learn new material – such as how to solve algebraic equations or just “stuff” about life and the world – that may or may not be purely academic.
But who is to say that “academic” learning is the only important type of learning? To our students the new understandings they construct about life and the world outside of school may be more relevant than finding the theme of The Giver. How then, can we as educators make academic learning exciting and relevant to our students?
Now for a brief tangent…
Research has shown that a multilayered approach is most effective, and the layers I am referring to are as follows: 1) Construction of Knowledge 2) Disciplined Inquiry 3) Value Beyond School. Construction of knowledge requires students to use new knowledge gained from a variety of sources to create something original; and students can engage in disciplined inquiry by expressing their thoughts and ideas about new knowledge through “elaborated and extended communication;” but neither of these criteria will be effective without having some relevance to the real world (Gibbons, 2009).
Gibbons ideas closely follow the higher order thinking skills in Bloom’s Taxonomy. Construction of knowledge requires synthesis, evaluation, and creation while disciplined inquiry requires the students to analyze and evaluate information as well. So, in order to pull these theories (and this tangent) back into the digital age, I have included a link to a fabulous article that details the progression of Bloom’s Taxonomy through our changing society.
And, because I don’t like the bland graphic organizer the article has provided, I created a newer, prettier one. Take note of the list of verbs for each level of thinking. I’ve included the traditional verbs, but I’ve also added the digital verbs from the article. Enjoy!
Works Cited
Churches, Andrew. “TechLearning: Bloom’s Taxonomy Blooms Digitally.” Classroom Tech Learning, Education, PC, Mac, IPad, Bloomâs Taxonomy â Techlearning.com. Web. 31 Jan. 2012. <http://www.techlearning.com/article/44988>.
Gibbons, Pauline. English Learners, Academic Literacy, and Thinking: Learning in the Challenge Zone. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2009. Print.
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