Final Project

Here is my final project, a podcast and a wiki. 

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As seems to be typical for me regarding technology, in the eleventh hour, things didn't go the way they were supposed to.  The good news is that every opportunity is a learning experience.  I'm going to publish this post since it is due for my class, but in the mean time, I'm going to find some answers...  For example, I've been having trouble changing the autoplay setting in the html code and publishing on the blog.  Strange.  I wanted to upload it as an audio file to this blog but was having trouble with the html being accepted.  I've also included my website http://www.readwriterun.com/ since the audio file is located on the Door in Wall page under Junior Great Books.  That way, it doesn't have to be downloaded to itunes - it can just be listened to.

In the past, when the students have read The Door in the Wall, I've had them act out a "crime" scene from the book.  I've had them act it out as though they were a newscast with interviewers on the scene interviewing the victims and others involved in the crime scene.  I thought that making it in to a podcast would be a terrific extension of the learning process.  The story takes place in the Middle Ages, so at first the students asked they had to speak in "thee's and thou's" like in the book.  Then we had to discuss how we could have a modern newscast when they didn't have that kind of technology.  I explained that doing a modern day type newscast would be our way of exploring and understanding the characters.

Our class is under certain time constraints so we had to work efficiently.  The students were each assigned a character.  They had to come up with their character's responses to questions they thought an interviewer might ask them.  Those who were assigned interviewer roles were asked to come up with questions for those they would interview.  Then we matched up the questions with the answers, filling in where necessary.  One student was assigned the role of news desk person - this person introduced and closed the program.   

For the actual production, I recorded the newscast on video, downloaded it to mediamill and made an audio only  podcast derivitive.  As usual I discovered a few things along the way.  One thing I discovered is that Microsoft Word and Google Docs are not necessarily always compatible.  The beauty of using Google Docs was that I could collate the scripts at work and then continue editing them at home.  I thought that I could simply cut and paste a word document into my google doc document but I could not.  I had to download my google doc document as a word document, then do my cutting and pasting on word.  It worked fine, I just found the process interesting.

I found that making a newscast that was made into a podcast really engaged the students.  They actually did more writing than I had been having them do in the past when I simply had them act it out.  And the writing didn't seem laborious.  They were imaginative and creative with their scripts.  The students were also creative with their characterizations.  Some of the characters in the story that they represented hadn't even been fully developed in the book, yet the students brought personality to the characaters through the process of making a podcast.  I will definately try to incorporate the use of podcasts in other novel studies that we do.  The other Junior Great Books novels that we study are included in the wiki I have made for them: http://waysmooth.pbworks.com/w/page/30814313/FrontPage

Reflection on learning technology

I think I can easily sum up my semester of learning in the digital writing class as a humbling experience of realizing how much I still need to learn!  I am worlds ahead of where I was just 6 months ago.  Six months ago I never would have believed I know what I know now.  My first graduate level course I jumped right in to Technology Tools for Educators.  Triple shock: the shock of incorporating school into my life and family life, the shock of a condensed summer school course and the shock of learning to use technology.   I enjoyed every minute of it though, and decided to continue with Teaching Digital Writing this fall semester.  More shock factor.  I had no idea what a wiki was and blogging was very foreign to me.  I vaguely knew about some of the techy stuff, but, as I've learned, I'm a digital immigrant and so for me, it's all new.  I am so very thankful for the opportunity I've had.  To have my knowledge expanded in this direction has been a delightful surprise and very practical.  I have been exposed to so much and now two of the greatest challenges for me going forward will be implementation and continual professional development.

My experience is that in many respects, there is a disconnect between what we have learned in class and everyday reality.  I have had opportunities to implement some of the technology we have learned: website development, Voicethread, podcasts, movie making, use of Google Docs, but some of the other Web 2.0 tools like Diigo, wikis, blogging, vlogs, comics, I have not had the immediate opportunity to implement.  Staying current with technology seems similar to learning a foreign language: use it or lose it.    So I think a great challenge for me will be conintually finding ways to implement technology in a purposeful way. 

My goal remains to teach English and now realize that my technological development is crucial to that goal.  When and if I do have that opportunity, my second challenge will be teaching the use of the same technology to others.

If I were to teach a class that required students to create a portfolio, I would have them include a variety of written work similar to what we have done in this class.  I think it would be important for students to showcase their best writing but also to demonstrate their own familiarity with the use of technology.  In other words, students should have opportunities to collaborate online and submit that written collaboration to their portfolio.  They should also be able to demonstrate writing in a variety of online genres: presenation, narrative, comic, audio and/or video presentation.

As far as students displaying their work, I think both the blog and wiki format have their advantages and disadvantages.   Wikis are wonderful for their collaboration aspect but are more limiting in their creativity appeal.  I think it would really depend on the situation - how many students, how many sessions of the same class, etc.  I think one criteria for evaluating would be written student reflections.  This is where a blog as part of the portfolio would be handy.

One reason I think a variety of genres in the portfolio is important is it aids in authenticity.   As we have learned in our digital writing class, some students will feel more free to reflect and write when they have an anonymous or character forum to participate in.  By giving students many means of reflection and participation, they will not only demonstrate ability in a variety  of areas but it will be easier to detect authenticity by comparing their various responses. 

Writing Assignment and Rubric

For my final project I'll be making a podcast with my 4th grade Junior Great Books students.  We will be making a newscast type news show from a chapter in the book The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli.  I have outlined the assignment instructions on my wiki http://waysmooth.pbworks.com/w/page/33156108/podcast-newscast-assignment-door-in-the-wall .  I have developed this wiki as a source for all the materials I use with the study of this novel in my Junior Great Books group.  My wiki links to my website http://www.readwriterun.com/.  Although the wiki can be used as a collaborative site, at this point I appreciate the organizational aspects of it.  This is especially helpful as my classses physically move from room to room and it is helpful to be able to locate and access all my material in one place.  I have developed a rubric to go along with this podcast assignment.  I used microsoft word table and found it quite user friendly.    I will post the podcast to both the wiki and website when we have completed it.  The students will not actually be editing the podcast on Garage Band or Audacity so I can't really include that as a multi-modality assessment aspect in the rubric.  Perhaps, however, to introduce reader based descriptive feedback, I will make a podcast assessment of the entire process for each student.  This would bring closure to the exercise and model reader based feedback.  Another aspect I might introduce is to have each student respond to the experience on the website blog.  This would introduce more multi-modality and interactivity, as they could also resond to each other's blog comments. 

Writing Rubric Fourth Grade Junior Great Books Podcast Script

	One		Two	Three
Topic and Details	Minimally addresses		Stays on topic.  Extends topic with support	Topic and details richly developed.  Uses elaboration.
Format		Weak questions	Simple questions.		Logical progression of questions. Brings closure
Word choice and sentence structure		Limited and inappropriate word choice.	Interesting vocabulary.  Simple sentence structure		Vivid language Variety of sentences/questions
Grammar, usage, and spelling		Errors impede communication	Generally follows use of correct mechanics, capitals, spelling		Excellent use of mechanics, capitals, spelling
Organization		Interview questions don’t follow natural progression	Interview questions lead listener and communicate story		Strong interview questions that capture attention of listener and convey message

Upload discovery

Many of my discoveries while learning new systems, have been related to what versions are acceptable or not.  The power point in my previous blog didn't fully upload because it is a pptx version, not ppt which Google Docs requires.  I could search for and download something that would convert it but at this point, it is not worth it.  At this point, it would make more sense to try using Google Docs presentation or Prezi, or something similar discussed in class.

Another First: Power Point

Here is the link to my Power Point.  I enjoyed making it.  This was the first time I have used PowerPoint.  It reminded me a lot of Movie Making.  At first I had a difficult time thinking of a subject.  My kids were so funny...they said just do it on anything, mom.  You know, like a comparison of something.  How about where you bargain shop?  They obviously found this whole thing very easy.  Now that  I have done one and understand how it works, I hope I will be able to make effective presentations.  Without a specific audience in mind, I find it harder to make one that is appropriately interactive. For the one I made, I used our soccer booster club.  I can tweek it next fall , as there are many things to add, like website address, facebook address, etc., when we actually have our meeting - if we meet in a room with projector access.

The second issue I'd like to address is analyzing readability of effective website/blog design.  What specific features contribute to readability?  Here is a website I find attractive.  It is the site for artist Mary Englebreit.  I think some of the features that contribute to readability are the easy menu bar across the top with few and simple choices.  The playing slide show offers information for those wanting more connections.  The information presented on each page is attractive, with nice colors yet not overwhelming.  If more information is wanted, it can be obtained by going to a tab.   The overall impact is that this site highlights this artist's work.  It also offers some links that might appeal to educators and/or crafters.  I think this is important because many of the people going to a site like this might actually be looking for downloads for personal use, not just product information.  So I think the creators were very insightful to realize this.  An example of a poorly constructed website is this one advertising taxi service.   I found this through Worst of the Web Winners.  The taxi site won the award on June 25th 2010.  I can understand why it won the award.  The site is crowded, flashy and attention grabbing in strange spots.  The eye does not know where to rest.  If I were looking for taxi service information, I would want the information as simple and straightforward as possible.

Successful youtube edit

Hey, I'm so excited.  My first ever Youtube edit worked.  Here is the soccer game I edited.  Wow, this whole experience has taken some effort.  A parent on my son's soccer team kindly made DVD's of the games but You tube would not accept the format.  I tried Microsoft editing software, that would not accept the format.  I tried Mediamill, it would not accept it.  So, I was left with using the video my husband had taken with his parents' video camera.  When it came to editing it on Youtube, the quality was poor so it was hard to recognize things.  The process was slow and didn't always accept the video.  So, at least I have this - whew!

Here is a poem I wrote as I sat, mesmerized by the beauty of the snowfall on Saturday.  The poem is entitled First November Snow.  Then I added the poem to poetry cube.

The Get Away Comic

Okay, I've done a little more experimenting with Comic Life and the more I use it, the more I like it.  I think this would be a fun way to give a book report.  Another use that comes to mind is a family Christmas card.  I like the abiity with the comic format of taking a larger chunk of material and reducing it to the main elements.  This could be used to explore story structures like plot, characterization, etc.  Or how about some writing pieces, like, how I spent my summer. It almost seems that you could take any traditional writing exercise and turn it into a comic.   My comic is made from photos that we took at the Disney Studios Park.  We watched a movie set production of the robbery, the get away car and the car blowing up.  Pretty cool stuff.  Here it is:

Comic Relief

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Here is a comic I made.  It's pretty fun.  I will have to get used to this.  The idea isn't necessarily to be funny or comical - it's a story telling mechanism - but I have to get used to this.  I think the more I use it, the more I will like it.  I do love being able to manipulate images and text.

Podcast Reflections

I read too fast and stumbled over my words when I made my own podcast.  But what a relief to know that a podcast doesn't have to be perfect. 

I've got several ideas brewing regarding the use of podcasts.  In my 4th grade Junior Great Books group we are studying the book A Door in the Wall.  In the book there is a fight/escape scene.  In the past, I have had the students set up a mock TV station; one person takes on the role of the interviewer and goes out and interviews the various characters and their reactions to the fight scene.  I plan to use the podcasting format to turn it into a podcast presentation.  I think I'll have the students write out their interview questions/answers but also allow for spontaneity in their responses.  I actually like this possibility of the podcast.  It is similar to Voicethread in the way that it allows for extemporaneous thinking and verbalizing.  This is important for what we do in Junior Great Books because our efforts are not about developing writing skills as much as they are about interacting with the literature.

One issue I continue to have with using technology in my school situation is publication.  I have set up a website for our class and have published some of their work on it but I am limited in file size.  As it is set up right now, I'm not sure if it would take a large podcast file.  So, other than directing parents/students to my blog, I'm not always sure where to publish our work.  And that is really part of the point, isn't it, publishing so that others can view and interact with?

I suppose that's another reason I like the idea of podcasts - they're more easily anonymous.  They don't have the same privacy issues associated with them as photos and video.

Other uses I've thought about for podcasts include poetry readings and sharing stories.  I think if a student  has written a piece, it becomes so much more meaningful when it is heard in the writer's voice.   I think my favorite use of the podcast for students, however, is intereviews.  Another book we read in Junior Great books is Call it Courage, by Armstrong Sperry.  Students could set up mock interviews with Mafatu, the main character.  This would help them personalize his experience.

Switching gears from literature, I wish I was more of a rapper.  I'm coaching our Math Masters group this year and am trying to come up with raps that help make sense of mathematical equations.  It would be pretty cool if the students could then make a podcast of our rap.

Why I Love my Cabin

Here is my podcast entitled Why I Love my Cabin. I keep a file of notes on things I'd like to write about...someday...  Someday never seems to arrive.  When I thought about making a podcast, I pulled out the "write someday" file and there were notes from long ago about Midwest Reflections.  So I chose to make my podcast on a midwestern reflection of our cabin.  It doesn't tell the whole story.  Maybe that would be the subject for additional podcasts. 

Video: Thank you soccer volunteers

Here is my video. I made this potentially for our soccer banquet but now I'm not so sure. Originally I had thought to make a general thank you video for those who have helped throughout the season Then, our team ended up going to state and some of those pictures haven't been included in the video someone else has made about the team for the bauquet. So, I might tweak this some more after I see how we do in state (the first game is Friday Oct. 29 by the way). So, it had been a while since I have made a MovieMaker movie and I'd forgotten a lot, so I spent some extra time on this to refresh my memory. I like many things about MovieMaker but some I still find frustrating. I find the audio frustrating. Also, to use audio, most itunes are MP4 whereas MovieMaker requires MP3, so you have to be willing to go through that hassle - which I am not always patientenough to do - so my music selection is sometimes simply based on what works at the time. Movie making has been the most difficult switch for me - to go from iMovie to MovieMaker. But I'm learning.

Online role play

I'm commenting on our class online roleplay experience.  Rick directed us to create a personnae and then argue the debate topic "public schools are failing American students and therefore should be dismantled."  We came up with the topic as a class - it was kind of a conglomeration of possible topics we listed.  We then listed possible roles.  I took the role of a "home school coop founder" and argued pro - yes, public schools should be dismantled.  I thought my role should be educated so I gave her a college degree but after that I wanted her experience to be pretty minimal - taking great pride in her own coop experience because that was really the only experience she had to draw upon.   But I didn't want her to be a complete hick. This person thought of themselves as rational and educated.  I then had my role play put up research backed opinions.  The research I tried to add was only to support her pro-position that public schools have failed American students and homeschool is terrific.  So I tried to argue that homeschool crosses economic levels and that homeschool students consistently perform better on tests and in general make better citizens. I found some pretty supportive data on the site for National Center for Education Statistics.  I also pointed out that most homeschoolers choose to homeschool for either religious or moral reasons. 

I think the roles that had the most power and sway were those that expressed more provocative opinions.  The opinions they expressed begged to be addressed and/or refuted.  Their strategy seemed to be to employ the most stereotyped roleplay possible and make strongly opinionated statements (whether backed by research or not).  I think my roleplay personality tried too hard to find the middle ground and not offend anyone.  I hadn't wanted her to be a rabid homeschooler, because I wanted her to be respected, but perhaps that would have been more successful.  I think those role plays that expressed strong opinions earned respect. 

My role was different than my personal beliefs.  I have never been homeschooled nor have I practiced homeschool.  I'm not sure my role play personality even convinced myself in the debate.  I'm glad we live in a society that allows the freedom for all options.  I thought one topic that came up that was difficult to refute was that of educating the underpriviledged.  In my homeschool role I had a difficult time argueing against that reality.

I thought the whole experience was fun and a great  learning opportunity for me.  In our post debate discussion/chat we talked about various ways to use this in the classroom.  I like the idea of combining it with a novel study and debate topic.  One example I like is that of the class that read the novel Montana 1948 and then used it as a launching pad to debate the topic of using American Indians as mascot figures for sports teams.  I like the idea of allowing students the opportunity to create a personality.  I think this requires some creativity and originality.  However, if the goal of the debate is to gain a greater understanding of the novel, then adopting the role of one of the characters might be more appropriate.  I think the post debate discussion and a response follow-up like this blog is equally important.  It helps the student process the experience and determine what they learned.  I see this role play online debate as a fabulous use of technology.

A start on wikis

Now that I've had a little more time to process the idea of a wiki and experiment a little, I think I finally understand and appreciate the tool they are.  I can definitely see the organizational value of a wiki.  For my own undestanding, I kind of had to think of a wiki as a tree map on it's side.  Or another visual image is a file cabinet with larger categories, then folders within those categories, and papers in the folders.  Once I had a visual image and began to organize my own ideas, I understood the educational value.  What a fantastic tool to allow collaboration.  First of all, for use in a classroom, they make sense because each student would be using/learning the same format.  I think they would be a very useful collaboration tool for other organizational strategies - groups, clubs, etc., but perhaps not everyone would be fully engaged with the collaborative nature of them. In other words, I think it would be a lot of fun, and very practical, for organizing recipes or family history with friends or family, but not all my friends or family would readily embrace learning to use a wiki. So for a classroom, I especially see them as a useful tool for building a collection - whatever that collection is.

For example, in a literature classroom, students could contribute definitions for vocabulary, they could research and contribute to a variety of aspects of the literature being studied - and that's part of the beauty of the wiki - it leaves room for a lot of choice in terms of what direction both the teacher and student want to go.  For example, I am developing http://www.waysmooth.pbworks.com/, a wiki about my Junior Great Books novels.  In one of these, The Door in the Wall, we could study castles, medieval time period, bubonic plague, London...all kinds of different directions.  I have begun making links with Youtube, etc., because it is pretty unlikely that in my situation my students will be actually doing much research and adding it, but I have set it up to demonstrate that potential.   So one strategy would be students providing background research to a novel. 

One thing I like about the wiki as opposed to a website, is the flexibility and ease with which things can be added and changed.  With websites, there is the whole publishing step to go through.  An example of this flexibility, is again on my wiki.  I found a Youtube video on the St. Mary le Bow bells in London.  Then I added a flickr slideshow of pictures of St. Mary le Bow. The opportunity for students to view these two together will have much greater impact than separately. 

So right now I guess I'm having a tendency to still think of my wiki in terms of "my" effort.  I'm still thinking through how I would involve younger students.  I think it would be much easier to engage and involve older students that have more freedom to use the web.  So initially, I think using the wiki would require more "set up" to involve younger students.  Or maybe not, maybe I could have them post any vocab words they're unfamiliar with along with the definition as they come across them in their reading.  That seems a little boring though, and that is precisely what I'm trying to avoid.  Obviously this will take some more thought, but it's a start.

My Lutin

In my first grade Junior Great Books class we read a story called The Black Hen's Egg.  It is about a magic egg that hatches a magic Lutin that does all kinds of chores for an old woman.  One of the questions we talk about after reading the story, is what we would like our Lutin to do for us if we had a Lutin of our own.  Invariably, the most common answer is "my chores," or "clean my room."  Well, I have decided that I would like a magic Lutin to help me with my technology issues and questions.  To some degree, my kids have served this purpose - helping me download to my MP3 player, helping me learn to use my cell phone... very crucial help at the time.  But I now find that there are applications I'm learning that they don't have the experience to help me with.  I need a Lutin.  Yes, I'm making great use of the help tabs, and they are a great help, but wouldn't it be nice to have a quick fix answer always at the ready?

So this week I have been experimenting with Google Docs and Wikis.  I have had success with Google Docs using the forms application.  I made an invitation for the soccer team banquet and embedded it in our website.  My next task is to make a template for a teacher feedback form for my Junior Greats Books classes.    One key discovery I made using the forms template, is that in order to embed or send an email so that the submit button works, I needed to use the template copy.

In thinking about wikis, I'm having a harder time wrapping my head around the best possible use for one right now.  The two words I think of when I think about the wiki are quick and collaboration.  My class professor mentioned even using one for recipes.  And yes, I can see that the value in having a recipe wiki.  So I could do that, but I'm also trying to think about how I might use one with Junior Great Books or whether I should come up with something else entirely - a literature based wiki for potential future use... Check out my next blog to check my progress.

Grand Marais Minnesota

Introducing Me

This is the beginning of my adventure into vlogging. One discovery I have already made, is that in using Windows Movie Maker, the video must be published, not just saved as a video. 

Reviewing a vlog

Vlogging. This will take me some practice, but the example I have attached here I think shows the value and possibilities for education purposes. Students can historically document an event. This one I found interesting from the 3minuteegg.org production by artists in the Twin Cities. What I found interesting, was the film angles and the sepia tones. This event was filmed in the recent past, yet the combination of the music and visual effects gives it a documentary style that appeals to the emotions and solidifies the historical importance. I think this vlog shows some of the possibilities of taking something from every day life and enhancing it. The audience appeal might be the 20-30's age group? What are they called, the x generation? I forget. It reveals in a visual way, far more powerful than written words, the author/creator's perspective on work and perhaps expatriotism.

A newbe (or wannabe) at blogging

My search methods and the databases I employ to collect information are pretty primitive right now. I am having a whole new world opened to me and I am beginning to understand the value of Diigo and google reader. I have had scraps of paper laying around and filed away where I have written down web addresses I've wanted to save. These organizational sites are going to be very helpful, as I begin to understand how to use them. Typicallly, I have used my public library's data bases for searches. In determining validity of a site, I have often tried to find state or federal historical society sites or sites that represent a state educational institution. Another check for validity I have used is if the site is endorsed by or representive of the author of the material I might be researching. I think in terms of teaching students to engage in effective searching, it is important to begin with a credible database. As far as podcasts, a starting place is the Education Podcasting Network and podcast.com. In the literature content area, www.learnoutloud.com has a pretty large collection of free materials. I think that's one of the questions - is there a budget or am I looking for free material. My current use of podcasting I am pretty excited about. I've used Audacity to record a book some students I'm working with were requested to read and made it into an MP3 file that they can download off my website. The book is not one that has likely been made into an audio book, nor is it one they'd likely go out and buy but I think it's worth listening to. Plus, it's good practice for me.

Mountain Biking

This looks fun. I tried Mt. biking for the first time this summer in Colorado and really enjoyed it. So when I saw this on the Sierra Trading Post blog, I wanted my son, an avid Mt. biker, to see it too.

Toy Story - A Technology Change Era

My son and I were eating frosted flakes together, looking at all the wonderful free stuff you could get by downloading codes that are inside the box. He asked me how old his older brother was when the first Toy Story movie came out. I recalled him being pretty little (the year was 1995 to be exact). My son said, well that makes sense because in Toy Story 3 the kid goes off to college - just what my son is about to do. Of course I couldn't help but reflect on the fact that when the first movie came out, we were digging the free toys out of the cereal box, compared to now, when we send kids to the computer to get their toy. Reading Will Richardson's book on web tools is proving to be a very helpful guide for me as an educator to understand the reponsibility associated with web use among students and the dramatic changes that computers continue to bring to bear on education. What a dynamic change in 15 years. If I can get to the empty box first, I'm going to take the code and eventually order the Alien Desk Light. It comes with a USB cable! What a perfect representation of the changes within this era.

Crazy Cat Game

Well, today's post is all about me learning how to link. So enjoy!

Thinking about digital writing

How I might use a blog?  I work with Junior Great Books at the private elementary school I work at.  I might start using a blog on the website I'll have the students use so we can interact about the literature we're reading.  I can see that as being really fun because the stories we read can be pretty crazy.  And the kids have the most profound things to say, not only about the literature, but about life in general.  I am also one of the recess "teachers."  That's what the kids call me, anyway.  Sometimes, over the years I've thought that I should record some of my observations/interactions at recess.  They can be pretty funny.  I've thought I'd call it "The Secret Life of the Recess Teacher."  I've never done it because I  didn't have an outlet.  Well, blogging seems like the perfect outlet.  Why didn't I think of that before?  It would be perfect.  Kind of an "Art Linkletter" approach.  The kids really are delightful and I have always thought that some of our delightful interactions should be shared somehow.  So definintely, blogging would enhance communication in both these instances.  Also, my daughter is away at school and this way I could vicariously communicate our family dinnertime conversation with her.  In otherwords, I usually tell my family what transpired during my school day during our dinner conversation.  I can have my daughter check my blog and she'll be right up to spead but I won't have to repeat everything through email.  What I want to learn in this course?  Everything possible about blogging, twittering, etc., and all the possibilities of interacting that goes on with all these elements.  My goal in entering the MEd program is to be the best possible Lang. Arts teacher I can be and I think learning all these elements is a step in that direction.