Good-bye?

This blog was created for a 1 credit class. This class ended on Friday. Will I continue? I am not sure. How much does having an audience matter? Writing thoughts to think about as I have moved over to a wiki that I created to facilitate my group on reading a book about individual teacher-student conferencing in writing instruction.

If you want to come observe that one, it is angersonbookgroup.pbworks.com.

Thanks for reading!

Ambivalence with digital storytelling

I am ambivalent about digital stories. As we watched the examples from previous graduate students, I was wondering if all the technological bells-n-whistles of digital stories was sufficiently valuable to use it in my classroom-to-be. Then, I saw the examples of students using it to illustrate a concept they had learned and the excitement and interest in their voice seemed worth it. I was immediately thinking about how it would be useful for students to explore reading fluency using this technique, what drama it would add to readers theater, and other literacy lessons.

Then, I attempted it myself. Because I was doing a personal project from my own ancient (i.e. non-digital photography) archives, my frequent experience with technology was echoed again in this project. "Scanning is easy in the GMU lab. They have everything set up." So I go to scan my non-digital images and it does not work. First I call a fairly expert classmate over (thank you, expert again for your time) and he can not figure it out. Then, I go to the tech lab staff. And they mutter things like, "This is not supposed to do that. Why is it not responsive?" I thanked them for the time they put in to resolve whatever myriad of issues they solved finally to make it work.

Already as I watch the staff do the things I tried and so much more, I am scrapping ideas I had of having students incorporate their illustrations into their digital stories because getting the tech staff at our school to have time to problem-solve such issues takes longer at my field placement school than at in the GMU computer lab. So many teachers are not only taking advantage of the lessons the tech staff teaches, but they are having the tech staff solve the difficulties that arise with each component of all the technology that is used in their classrooms. It would be easier to find the tech staff if they had homing beacons or something. Once you find them, you must get on their calendar. I think Moses had an easier time parting the Red Sea.

Yes, eventually, the GMU tech staff are able to solve the problem. It just takes time and their expertise. Yet I am already keenly aware that time is a precious commodity in a teacher's day.

I finally get my images scanned and loaded into the software that we are using and import the music with the help of Dr. Weinberg. Again, a surge of optimism has me thinking that if I just scaled back the ideas I had for the classroom use, I would have students try a digital story or two.

Then, my classmates start to present their digital stories. I marveled at their problem-solving flexibility as colleague after colleague got up to play copies of their hard work and their copies did not want to play on the computer in the front of the classroom. While my classmates handled this situation with grace and creativity, I was thinking that I would need to be familiar with even more technology to create back-ups so my students would not experience this level of frustration at the end of the project. I somehow feel more confident that I could coach them through frustration during the project than at the end. More questions popped into my head. Would I be violating students privacy by putting their work on YouTube if I wanted this as my back-up for showing their work? Or can you set privacy settings like you can on Facebook (whose validity gets questioned fairly regularly). Another set of issues to be investigated and resolved on top of me needing to practice my fluency with this technology.

I mentioned the digital storytelling assignment to my eternally cheerful "base" teacher at my field placement school. Her Master's was not in Curriculum and Instruction, but Educational Technology and she has sworn to me that by December, she will have me feeling comfortable on the Smartboard and the other technology she uses with ease and speed. Of course, she loves digital stories, has the software loaded on her laptop and it is loaded on the school laptops (and probably down in the tech lab). This would allow me to skip having to re-read the helpful classmate's e-mail about troubleshooting loading the software on my version of Windows (oh fun, more problems to solve). Her laptop has a built-in microphone to make it easier to record. But, she borrows mikes from the tech staff when she has her students do it. Do I want to see some examples? She goes to show me and can not locate them immediately (another problem to be solved...), but will show me tomorrow. She assures me that the 25 painful, exhausting minutes it took to get 19 students to log on to Blackboard, just to look only at the buttons available for their grade and then log off with the help of no fewer than four staff members will soon become shortened to mere minutes. Then, she will teach the students projects like digital storytelling.

So I am still sitting with my ambivalence. Tomorrow, which is now today, I will try using the software we have used in our GMU class in my base teacher's laptop and using the microphone built-in to her laptop (while bringing another mike along that I borrowed). If it goes well, maybe her enthusiasm and my increasing comfort will encourage me to try it with my classroom-to-be.  Especially, as I look at websites that have lesson plans and more lesson plans.

Or maybe, my classroom-to-be will go with the low tech version of storyboards they illustrate themselves and narration just done live.

Teachable Moments

Ms. H glanced at the clock and said, "Please pack up to go home. Once you are finished, if you maintain quiet, you may read anywhere in the room you want to." Grins and thumbs up all over the classroom, as this freedom of movement is a special treat, even if many feel ambivalent about what they are supposed to do after they move around.
"Mrs. MandM, afer what we talked about in [guided] reading today, I have the words now to explain to you what I have been trying to explain to you these days!"
"What do you want to explain, William*?" I asked (*The names have been changed to protect the innocent).
"These books that I have been reading," flashing the latest The 39 Clues book he was reading and continuing, "these books are supposed to be mysteries, right? And I now know how to tell you that these books are supposed to have problems and have some solutions --some right and some wrong, that's the trick for us. I also know there are supposed to clues along the way about the problem. Well, Mrs. MandM, that's the problem. I have gotten Book One back out to read because I figured out that I did not understand what the clues are. I don't know if I even understand the problem. So these books are driving me crazy!" William said frantically, as if he were announcing his hair was on fire.
"William, what a great idea to go back to where you first felt like you missed some clues! I have another idea and I don't know if Ms. H will let us, but I have a suggestion. Do you want to hear it? If you like it, we could then ask Ms. H if she would let you proceed, or go through with, the idea."
"Oh yes, because I am dying about these clues!"
"You have many friends in here who have also read or are reading the books in this series. I wonder if they have the same question about the clues that you have? I wonder if you talked about what the problem is together, would you have the same ideas?"
"That would totally help, like in reading group! Can we ask? Please? I got to start figuring out these books better!" bouncing now on his toes as he tried to get the words out as fast in English as he speaks in Spanish. "You ask for me because Ms. H will listen to you quickly."
I nodded, "Ms. H, may William gather his friends who are reading the same series as he is and ask them a question about the book that he is grappling with?"
"Ok, but William, you must still remain quiet so that our other friends may continue reading."
William looked at me with pleading eyes. Usually, I would coach him to gather his friends, but we only had a few precious moments before buses would be silently announced on the Smartboard.
"Give me 5. William has a really good question about The 39 Clues books he has been reading. If anyone who has read any of The 39 Clues books would like to talk with William about his question, please meet with us at the back table. His question is so good, it made me want to start reading these books tonight!" This last part was painfully true.
A few boys who have been reading these books grabbed their books and raced to the back table. William looked at me expectantly. I repeated that he had a really good question and I asked him to repeat it to his friends. As he did, most of the other readers nodded their heads. Now, I should pause to explain that if anyone had surveyed the students surrounding the table, I think only one of them might have defined himself as "a reader." They started raising their hands and I encouraged them to treat this like reading group (one of the times in their day when they were allowed to discuss educational things without raising their hands). So they began to share common confusion or their ideas about what the problem and the clues were.
"Wow. There are so many ideas about what the problem is that it does sound confusing. Maybe I don't want to read these books," I said grinning.
"No, no, no, Mrs. MandM! The books are really good, even if they are sort of confusing. Hey, guys, I think we should talk about what the problem is in the first book. Then, she'll understand."
"The problem has to do with these kids searching for bones."
"Why are these kids searching for bones?" I asked, as one friend who had painfully discovered that these are "someday" books quietly came and hovered by my side.  All the 39 Clue readers began to talk. "Will this work if everyone shares at the same time?" They looked at each other and nodded toward the boy who had started answering first.
"You see, there's this person name Grace who died and the kids have to go look for her bones. All over the world, I think..."
"Yes, because this book goes to Egypt and"
"and this one goes somewhere in the Amazon, I think it is, or maybe some other rain forest thing or"
"or what about the clues of the bones?"
The discussion continued and one of the boys suggested that the cover of the book offered visual clues to the problem of finding Grace's bones. Another suggested they should put the books in the series order (a math and science happening too!) and see if that idea was true for all the books. Frantic, excited agreement as they fanned out across the room. Ms. H briefly reminded them to not strong arm books out of classmates hands, but invite them to the table with their books.
Soon, well more than half the class was gathered at the back table with many hands ordering the books. The students continued to take turns discussing the validity of whether the author provided picture clues on the art "stuff" on the cover of the books. Another kid announced, "This series feels like a puzzle to be solved! The clues are the pieces that go out of one book and into another book in the series. We should do the puzzle together! Can we stay after school, Mrs. MandM?"
Both secretly rejoicing that these children, these children, would spontaneously ask to stay after school to discuss books and also mourning that they could not, I said, "I am afraid that you have to go home the regular way at dissmissal time. But, I too think it would be awesome if you could work on this puzzle together. I think you should talk with Ms. H about whether this is feasible, whether this can be done."
They stormed poor Ms. H's desk. She said they would try to figure out a way. The kids, now girls and boys, streamed back to the table with me and continued their discussion for a few more seconds before silent dismissal began. They were talking excitedly with each other about the "clues" and the "puzzle pieces" of the series as they walked out of the class in small groups for the different buses, walkers and car riders.
Does it get any better than this?

Two biggest things I am wondering about ...

While my head is swimming these days with things I am noticing and questions I want to ask, I have noticed two things that I keep wondering about/mulling over/mucking about (a favorite phrase at Westlawn Elementary, especially of the math specialists). One of these is pacing and the other is intentionality.

In terms of pacing, I see the impact of students and teachers being rushed in everything from during a lesson, across the day, across the week and beyond. Right from trying to think about the pacing issue, I see intentionality enter my thoughts. As a teacher, I need to take responsibility for trying to improve the pacing in order to establish more effective learning relationships with students. While I accept that I will struggle with pacing, I hope that I can find the energy to continally evaluate how I could pace better in leading learning opportunities with students. Somewhere I read this week (probably in a class reading?) that teaching is one profession that allows for the greatest opportunity for "do-overs" -- if you did not think you taught something as effectively as you would like, you will have an opportunity to do the lesson over and try to make it better.

I hope that I will be in a collaborative school like Westlawn where my colleagues will spend time talking about this common problem. I have seen small genius ideas that we have discussed in some of our classes put into action (hand signals for common behavior issues, scrutination of routines for efficiency, etc) and providing me with their genius ideas for tweaking the schedules for maximum efficiency. Like Pat mentions in his blog, sometimes it is the little organizational ideas that will buy you several more minutes of instructional time. Sometimes, like Heather mentions in her blog, it is the larger issues of establishing community.

In terms of establishing community, pacing and the other issues that so many of my cohort mentioned, I think much of it boils down to intentionality. What do I intend with my words (I really connected with Helai's blog in that respect), the physical space of the classroom, the procedures, or the way I structure the lesson?  Prioritizing what I intend to intentionally target first may be almost as hard as breaking myself of some habits that go against the grain of my intentions and research on best practice (again, praise comes to mind). At first, it will be hard to get all I intend refined into this multi-layered environment.
But one day... one day.... maybe? A girl can dream, can't she?