Show someone my work!

I've posted about my daughter a few times, but as a refresher, Rylee will be 7 this month and is in the first grade at Northeast Hamilton. I don't teach elementary, but so many of my experiences come from that level through my own children and the people I work with, that from time to time I feel that I have enough authority to make observations.

Rylee started blogging recently. She lives the life of a teacher's daughter and is often stuck at school with me for much longer than she'd like. The other day she was particularly chatty and I was particularly busy, so I asked her if she'd like to blog. She was intrigued, so I quickly created a new blog, put her name on it, and set her up to type. At 4:15 she was still typing and I was ready to go. I had to promise her we could save it and work on it the next day before she would consent to come home! We came to school early the next day so she could keep typing. Twenty minutes later I had to cut her off from her "proof-reading" (and proof read it myself) before I could get her to go down to class.

Later I showed her that I had shared her post on Twitter and Facebook and she was ecstatic to learn that 32 people had viewed her blog - her writing - her creation! In pro blogger world you can laugh at 32, but to a 6 year old girl from small town Iowa it might as well have been a million. She was back at it the next day, sharing it with my husband, sharing it with her teacher, and planning what her next post would be about. She wanted to know when we could stay at school again to work on the computer so she could write on her blog.

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 Her experience got me thinking about how important it is to give kids a public sphere for their work. She craved the attention and feedback that came with sharing something she had created. She wanted me to read it and make sure it was okay to post. She wanted to add pictures to make it more interesting. Is it perfect? No. But I showed her how to use the shift key to make capital letters, so it's improving. She wants it to be good before she publishes. She WANTS to produce quality work that she can be proud of. How often do we see that in students' work? They want to do well not because they'll get a good grade or their parents want them to, but because they want to produce something that other people will be impressed with and they can be proud of? Not often enough.

I was in a PD session a couple weeks ago where we had a similar discussion. Scott McLeod (@mcleod) was leading the discussion and he said when students produce work for teachers, they want it to be good enough. When they produce work for the public, they want it to be good. This is absolutely true of my students. How does this change your classroom? Your project expectations? Your outlook on student work?

I'm not looking for the minimum requirements, I'm sitting with students in small group meetings discussing what quality work looks like and helping them build their own rubrics for what "good" work looks like. We are connecting with people all over the globe to contribute to their work. Next week my 7th & 10th graders will discuss their projects with people from the World Food Prize, the Gates Foundation, and John Deere's South Africa branch.

Say what you will about the Common Core, but I'm excited about the push for literacy across content areas; about the emphasis on writing and producing. My students - and my children - are capable of greatness. Technology is going to offer them an opportunity to share that greatness with the world. I can't wait to be a small part of that.

Defining Globalization

Today as we were reading "The World is Flat" in Econ I asked my seniors to define/explain Friedman's levels of globalization in words and in sculpture. Here is what they came up with:

Globalization 1.0 (Top left): The countries of the world came together to make one globe and shrank it from large to medium. 

Globalization 2.0 (Top right): We created America because it was becoming part of the globalizing process, and its companies, along with other European countries' companies integrated to make their economy grow. The companies were able to control economies and expand overseas, working side by side.

Globalization 3:0 (Bottom right): Our sculpture was all the countries stacked on top of each other to resemble the world becoming flat and united. Our rainbow of colors shows all the different countries/ethnicities who will take part in 3.0. Since more countries are taking part in globalization and competing with one another, our world is becoming small and flatter. 

It actually worked out quite nicely that 1.0 and 3.0 made similar sculptures, but that 3.0 was much more flat than 1.0.

Collective Learning

In February the sophomores discussed language, art, communication, and collective learning in terms of how humans have advanced our society and culture over time. We defined collective learning as the advancements of human learning over an extended period of time (through generations) - building on the knowledge of previous groups and using it to adapt and change in new environments. 

Within a discussion of the similarities, differences, and lifestyles of Neanderthals, homo erectus, and modern humans we looked at the language and art forms of early people. Then, the students used finger painting (similar to early cave paintings) to define and express the idea of “collective learning” without using written language. They had the option of creating individual pieces or creating a collection as a group. This is the culmination of their work.

Senior World Is Flat Blogs

The rest of this semester my Econ students will be blogging while we read "The World is Flat 3.0" by Thomas Friedman. Below are the links to their blogs - feel free to follow along!

Sarah - http://sarahseconblog.blogspot.com
Trevor - http://trevorseconblog.blogspot.com
Jenn - http://jenniferwillems.blogspot.com
Steven - http://smithersecon.blogspot.com
Noah - http://econswag.blogspot.com
Katie - http://katieseconblog.blogspot.com
Molly - http://mollygreenfield.blogspot.com
JJ - http://jjeconblog.blogspot.com
Andy - http://AndrewsEcon.blogspot.com
Abby - http://abbyseconblog.blogspot.com
Nick - http://ecannonamy.blogspot.com
Kevin - http://sweeteconblog.blogspot.com
Matt - http://aglowfleablog.blogspot.com
Amanda - http://mandaseconblog.blogspot.com
Stephen - http://stephensecon.blogspot.com
Whitney - http://Whitneyseconblog.blogspot.com

ISU CI 426: My thoughts for future teachers

Last night I had the opportunity to be part of a panel that spoke to the Iowa State CI 426 class (principles of secondary ed). I have done this for several years now and definitely enjoy getting into the classroom in that capacity. After some early questions to the panel we broke into content groups and I had the opportunity to speak with about 20 history/social studies majors. I wanted to share some of what came out of our conversations.

*I cannot overstate the importance of Twitter in my educational world. Before I got there I sent out a tweet asking what future teachers NEED to know that I should share with the group. I got several responses from all over the country, but more than the messages, the students were impressed with the real-time responses and feedback. Twitter is my 24/7 PD.

*"When you're using so much technology how do you assess?" Writing! My kids write all the time. Whether it's an essay, a paragraph, a wiki post, a sticky note etc. they are constantly writing. Every project includes a writing component. Common Core essentially asks us all to be language teachers, so the writing and using text based prompts are important. You can even use the technology to find great primary resources. There are hundreds of great websites with excellent primary source materials - check Docs Teach, Library of Congress, presidential libraries, etc. The Truman Library website has a great collection.

*"What tech do you need to use?" Find something that you are comfortable with, learn it, and use it. You don't need to know everything. You cannot master everything. There are a hundred ways to video chat. I use Skype. There are 100 ways to share documents. I use Google Docs. Nobody will ever have enough time to learn it all, and when you need something new - Go to Twitter!

*"What if you don't have the funding?" Very few kids don't have cell phones these days - pair them up if it's an issue. Ask for donations from family and friends. I have done a lot with 2 old iPods my sisters didn't need anymore and my own personal computer. Kids can still create on a limited budget. Apply for grants, talk to school-parent/community groups - my Foundation gave me the money for a Wii. The Iowa Council for the Social Studies gave me a grant for the money to get more games and controllers to make it more classroom friendly. A lot can be done with free/cheap tech and even a basic computer lab or cell phone.

*"How do you fight the history teacher as boring lecturer stereotype?" My classroom is often what I like to "organized chaos". Get the kids up and moving, learning on their own. Be a facilitator of learning! Let students create their own learning opportunities. Don't waste precious time on things they can Google faster than you can ask the question. There is a time and a place for facts, names, dates, but don't get bogged down in being the center of attention. Feed their curiosity and they will remember it a lot longer than if they memorize for the test and move on. Today we're finger painting in my sophomore class - they have to define collective learning through finger painting (we have been discussing early humans and human ancestors and today we're discussing the early art forms & symbols of those groups).

*Not a knock against Iowa State, but maybe one against all colleges - you are NEVER prepared enough with Ed Tech courses (one course? with outdated technology by the time you get into the classroom?). Especially if you are planning to teach in Iowa with the number of schools that are going 1:1. Find a way to embrace it, learn it, and utilize it.

*Always be open to being a life-long learner. You will learn more in your first year of teaching than you did in the last 4-5 in college. What is expected of you "in the field" is not always what they ask of you in the classes you take. Embrace that there are always ways to improve your teaching. You will never know it all. Develop your own style, figure out what works for you and your kids, and always strive to improve.


Share your own advice for future teachers in the comments!

Geography Current Events

This is the map that I have my 7th graders creating as they report on current events during our study of Africa. The kids find an event, summarize it, locate it on the map, and publish it. Another way to practice literacy and global spatial awareness skills

Upcoming Presentations - Webster City, Feb 25

I am REALLY looking forward to our upcoming day of #edtech related PD at Webster City (Feb 25). I noticed they have some great speakers coming in and sharing from between the attending districts. I wanted to share my presentation descriptions! In addition to the 2 presentations below I'll be participating in an iPads in the Classroom panel. If you will be attending and there is anything you would like to see added or addressed in the below sessions, please feel free to leave a comment!

Gamification in the Classroom: aka Getting Kids to do Homework for Fun

Wikipedia defines “Gamification” as “the use of game mechanics and game design techniques in non-game contexts.” Apps like 4Square do this - you get points and earn badges and “mayorships” - and do this to compete against your friends. Session will address identifying appropriate content, organization, gaming, best practices, successes & struggles. Featured applications and resources will include Google Sites, Google Docs, HippoCampus, and more. Participants will be provided with access to  and examples of gamification examples in multiple settings including professional development, a secondary classroom, and a special education environment.

EdTech in the Social Studies Classroom

A showcase of categorized edtech resources focused around a Social Studies curriculum, but applicable to other coursework as well. Presentation will focus on representative web-based and app-based technology that falls into the categories of Collaboration, Creation, Organization, Student Interaction, and Content/Curriculum as they apply to the classroom. Format will include demonstrations, practice, and extension resources. Featured resources include: StoryKit, Edmodo, Student Cam, American History Time Line, and student examples of work using several different resources.


As usualy, outlines, links, and resources for my presentations can be found here:

http://pkpresentations.wikispaces.com/home