The Final 7500 Post

So we've reached the summit of 7500. What a long wild ride it has been. It most certainly has has it's ups and downs but for the most part I have had two major breakthroughs that I didn't see coming.

The first was setting up and learning how to blog. I've seen people use the blogger website in some other classes and I was never that impressed with the layout that they used, they were just boring! So I never had any kind of inkling to do my own but for this course it was a requirement, and that prompted me to really shop around and find a layout that I liked, and it turned out that my author roommate had a really cool blog that I liked a ton and I copied his format on this blog here and I've been very happy with it.

The second major breakthrough that I had in this course was podcasting. I never figured that I would want to create my own podcasts or have any use for them until I virtually attended last years NECC Ed Tech Conferences. I watched two incredible podcasts on the benefits of podcasting in the classroom and became incredibly inspired. I used the idea for my Individual Integration Project as well as my part of the service project in 6200, and part of my final project in that course as well. I will use this skill basically until my computer breaks.

The course has had other great opportunities and assignments, but to sum it up, the two things that I learned in this course that I will use the rest of my career are blogs and podcasts. Learning and working on those two new ideas for me has been fantastic. It's been a pleasure everyone. Thanks for all the comments and feedback. Good luck with your projects, and your other life endeavors.

I Can Make a Copy, Right?

The Digital Citizenship Presentation Project was fun, I enjoyed working on my teams and seeing and hearing the work of others. Many of the projects had some similar talking points, and it was interesting to hear them discussed from the different perspectives.

I was very intrigued by the facts that were presented about copyright. Several of the points contained information that I was not aware of and it is nice to know what we ARE allowed to do. I think about all of the faculty meetings that I've attended and hear nothing but don't do this and don't do that. It was a bit of fresh air to hear that we can use up to a 30 second clip of a song, 3 minutes of video, up to 1,000 words in a book, and all types of government media.

It was also very refreshing to be reminded of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It's nice to know that if you are making a mistake and using something whether unintentionally or intentionally that you'll get a warning. Like many good school children, a stern warning is typically enough to correct behavior. I hope that the act stays in effect especially for all of us amateur instructional designers.

New Developments on the Water Conservation Project

I have had the opportunity to ask around a bit and try to find a teacher that will host me and allow me to work with her class. The same teacher that I'm using as a client in EDIT 6200 is going to allow me to come in two times for 30-45 minutes each in order to execute my project. My goal will be to introduce them to the spreadsheet that will be filling out one day on the amount of water their family consumes on an average day, and I'd also like to set up a Moodle site that will feature a discussion forum. This forum will have an initial post by me that asks a few questions having the students predict how much water their family uses, and think about some ways they may be able to cut back, or even if they think that they should. I would also go into detail about the presentation that I would like for them to create using their choice of Powerpoint, Front Page, or Movie Maker. My second visit would be all about them, and they would take that time to show me the findings that they collected and provide their short presentations. I may be putting some additional work on their teacher, and I hope that isn't the case.

The Importance of Thinking Critically

"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." ~Albert Einstein

In my honest opinion the importance of structure and political correctness trumps the necessity for students to think critically, however there is an enormous call for such reform. How can students use higher order thinking skills when today's teachers are becoming scripted robots, losing so much of there own creative control? That doesn't make a heck of a whole lot of sense to me but I will go on in this blog to explain the things that do.

As I teach my students, especially in the subjects of writing, science, and social studies, my goal is for them look at all possible sides of the issue. I want for them to seek reason with regards to their own passionate opinions, however I stress a huge importance in finding out why it is that the opposition chooses the alternative. Such understanding will enhance and grow and better defend prior notions, or perhaps shift the student into a fresh mindset. That requires me to work harder in planning so I can present multiple angles to each story, and then step back and allow for debate, and a demand for evidence.

My goals are to continue to have students inquire about the world and realize that everybody is very different from themselves and their families. I wish to encourage them to think fast and creatively in order to meet difficult challenges. I want to encourage intelligent dialogue between themselves and those of differing views, because it's conversation that creates change and better understanding.

Social Networking & Favorite Resources

This week we have learned about social networking which is a new concept to me. I really wish I had known about such a thing when I was a grade manager and trying to set up something similar for my group of eight teachers in fourth grade. I like Diigo and will certainly use it from now on and spread the knowledge.

As far as the assignment, it has been a little tedious finding over 60 sites. However I have come across some great resources in the process. I really, really like the sites that have countless links of games and activities for all subject areas. Specifically, Sheppard Software, and Enchanted Learning are my favorites. These links can be used by teacher, student, or parent. They have activities that are great for interactive white boards that can be displayed by the teacher to enhance lessons, as well as linked from school Intranet sites or a Moodle that can be accessed by the individual learner. I just really like the multi-functionality of these.

Water Conservation Project Modifications

I've spoken with our kind professor and we are going to have to work out a place for me to implement my project. She also mentioned that I would probably have to make some big modifications with regards to the amount of time that I can do it since I have to essentially borrow students.

One idea that I will certainly do is have the students work in groups for the presentation piece. For time purposes, that would eliminate having to use up an hour a day for an entire week in order for the students to make the presentations. Having about five groups could easily be knocked out in one hour of one day. This would also enhance the creativity and work of the project since it would require the students to synergize and collaborate ideas and research in order to come up with an insightful presentation.

This is a pretty tough posting this week. When and if I come up with any more ideas I'll add them to my comments, or piggy back off of any that I receive.

PBL and Assessment

I would imagine that one of the greatest challenges that faces the teacher that wants to begin using Project Based Learning (PBL) is trying to find a way to grade the students. I know from personal experience that the public schools are constantly breathing down teachers necks for lots and lots of grades. Give that teacher between 25-28 students and that means he or she will be spending every evening grading instead of using that time to come up with excellent lesson plans. Such is the dilemma.

I can't say that I have a solution to this but I do really like using rubrics to assess projects. I was introduced to rubistar.4teachers.org back during my college days and I continued to use this resource in my own class. This rubric generator is incredibly easy to use and has ready made rubrics for every imaginable subject and they can be altered however you see fit. You can add your own benchmarks and criteria, it's quite amazing.

I know that rubrics are what we talked about in class as being the best way to assess projects, but I was wondering what some of the other ways may be. I do recall some of my teachers that used to have grading sheets with lines of things that they'd be looking for:

3.) Science experiment display is appealing and well put together.

(10 points available) __8__

I remember sheets filled with lines like that and the teacher would just decide how many points the student should earn. Those didn't give enough information or reasoning behind the graders decision. Unlike this old method a rubric is clear, quick, and fair.