This week was a fun and busy week. I didn't even touch on Parent Teacher conferences because of the other cool things that were happening. I broke up a fight, went to my state conference, and my class had the best discussion of the year and I wasn't there. I really need to sit and think about the way I run class discussion. I have always let the kids take the lead, but I guess I need to do even more of it based on how the students responded to using Google Classroom while I was out. Any stories on how you run class discussion would be appreciated as I rethink my practice.
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Friday, March 20, 2015
The @BlackboardK12 BITS Learning Sessions #26 #BbK12Live
The @BlackboardK12 BITS Learning Sessions #26 #BbK12Live
I've partnered with BlackboardK12 to share out the awesome sessions they are having this Fall. Educators can sign up to attend and share with other great educators what they have learned. I'll featurae the session and the description on my blog each week and on my Twitter account. If you have questions, feel free to shoot a tweet to @BlackboardK12. Have fun learning and sharing!
Building a Digital District
Our session will focus on the process that Cecil County Public Schools used to implement Blackboard Learn™ in our K-12 school district. In less than two years, we have leveraged the content collection to house our entire curriculum electronically and we have over 4000 students participating in hybrid courses and other blended learning activities. In addition, the majority of our county professional development is delivered through Blackboard Learn™ in an online or a hybrid format. We will show how we did it and examples of courses designed for both students and teachers.
Kyle Rickansrud - Instructional Coordinator for Educational Technology and Media Services
Terry Politi - Technology Instructional Coach
Kyle is in his 8th year as the Coordinator of Educational Technology and is responsible for technology, curriculum, and integration for Cecil County Public Schools
Twitter: @BlackboardK12
When: Monday, March 23, 2015 3:30 PM EST
Sign Up
Don't forget to check out the Blackboard Live App. It has all of the sessions you might have missed and much much more. Here is the playlist where you can watch this recorded session and other sessions you might have missed.
I've partnered with BlackboardK12 to share out the awesome sessions they are having this Fall. Educators can sign up to attend and share with other great educators what they have learned. I'll featurae the session and the description on my blog each week and on my Twitter account. If you have questions, feel free to shoot a tweet to @BlackboardK12. Have fun learning and sharing!
Building a Digital District
Our session will focus on the process that Cecil County Public Schools used to implement Blackboard Learn™ in our K-12 school district. In less than two years, we have leveraged the content collection to house our entire curriculum electronically and we have over 4000 students participating in hybrid courses and other blended learning activities. In addition, the majority of our county professional development is delivered through Blackboard Learn™ in an online or a hybrid format. We will show how we did it and examples of courses designed for both students and teachers.
Kyle Rickansrud - Instructional Coordinator for Educational Technology and Media Services
Terry Politi - Technology Instructional Coach
Kyle is in his 8th year as the Coordinator of Educational Technology and is responsible for technology, curriculum, and integration for Cecil County Public Schools
Twitter: @BlackboardK12
When: Monday, March 23, 2015 3:30 PM EST
Sign Up
Don't forget to check out the Blackboard Live App. It has all of the sessions you might have missed and much much more. Here is the playlist where you can watch this recorded session and other sessions you might have missed.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Poetry and Phineas and Ferb #EngChat
"Poetry Stinks"
That's how I start my Poetry unit with my Freshmen. I know that there are many students that have a nasty view of all poetry. I feel that it is easy to just embrace it and see where it goes. I spend the first half of class asking kids why they do not like poetry and I will agree with them. There are some kids that are poetry fans and I will push back or encourage them to convince me that poetry is important.
After the first half of class, I ask the kids if we can just discuss music instead of doing the poetry unit. Kids tend to get very excited about this and shout out tons of suggestions. I say I've got some options I'd like to play for them. I like to start with "Keep Ya Head Up" or "Changes" by Tupac. I love these songs for their messages and I think they are very poetic. From there, I will play something else that is pretty popular. Taylor Swift or Katy Perry work pretty well. After a few songs, a student will always say that music is poetry.
I will then push those students to prove to me that songs are poetry because that statement is ridiculous. The students proceed to look up the definition of poetry and argue about different songs and whether they meet the criteria established by the definition the agreed. It is a fun debate where students spend time trying to convince me that music is poetry and it always ends with me asking them if they like music, how can they claim to hate poetry? It's a fun moment where the kids really need to think about what they think they know about poetry and how it is ok for them to explore the concept a but more. One student said that music is art and so poetry is art. It is awesome moments like that that make teaching amazing.
As for Phinea and Ferb, I start each class in the poetry unit with a song and we look at the lyrics and discuss the poetic elements found in them. I will let kids select songs and we can look at them as well. For one class, I thought I would post the theme to Phineas and Ferb and play the song for the kids and have them annotate it on the Smartboard.
That's how I start my Poetry unit with my Freshmen. I know that there are many students that have a nasty view of all poetry. I feel that it is easy to just embrace it and see where it goes. I spend the first half of class asking kids why they do not like poetry and I will agree with them. There are some kids that are poetry fans and I will push back or encourage them to convince me that poetry is important.
After the first half of class, I ask the kids if we can just discuss music instead of doing the poetry unit. Kids tend to get very excited about this and shout out tons of suggestions. I say I've got some options I'd like to play for them. I like to start with "Keep Ya Head Up" or "Changes" by Tupac. I love these songs for their messages and I think they are very poetic. From there, I will play something else that is pretty popular. Taylor Swift or Katy Perry work pretty well. After a few songs, a student will always say that music is poetry.
I will then push those students to prove to me that songs are poetry because that statement is ridiculous. The students proceed to look up the definition of poetry and argue about different songs and whether they meet the criteria established by the definition the agreed. It is a fun debate where students spend time trying to convince me that music is poetry and it always ends with me asking them if they like music, how can they claim to hate poetry? It's a fun moment where the kids really need to think about what they think they know about poetry and how it is ok for them to explore the concept a but more. One student said that music is art and so poetry is art. It is awesome moments like that that make teaching amazing.
As for Phinea and Ferb, I start each class in the poetry unit with a song and we look at the lyrics and discuss the poetic elements found in them. I will let kids select songs and we can look at them as well. For one class, I thought I would post the theme to Phineas and Ferb and play the song for the kids and have them annotate it on the Smartboard.
I snapped this photo and tweeted it out to share what was going on in class that day and I decided to tag the creators in the tweet. I was blown away when they both responded. Here is a response from Dan Povenmire pointing out the rhyme scheme for the first stanza.
It was so excited to see the response that I immediately screen-captured the response and added it to my SMART amp page so the other classes could see it while we worked on the theme song. The other fun part of using the theme song was that students knew the song and could sing along and try to identify the exact and slant rhymes. It is a fun way to start a class and dive in to more traditional poetry.
It is so important to keep all type of writing interesting and accessible to students. Playing the Devil's Advocate at the start of the poetry unit and using modern music to spur student interest in poetry is just part of the average teacher's day lesson planning. Feel free to borrow and tweak this for your classroom. Any suggestions you might have for teaching poetry is always appreciated.
BONUS:
Here I am singing the Phineas and Ferb theme song at ISTE.
Monday, March 16, 2015
Week 24 #NerdyCast Reflections - Suspending Students
In my video for this week, I talk about using music to connect my students with poetic elements and I share my thoughts on suspending students. I do not have an answer to this, but it is making me think about the reason for suspending students and removing them from the classroom. If they are already struggling, how does removing them from the learning environment help them. What if the reason they act out has something to do with their home life and they are now being sent back there for multiple days? I don't have an answer, but this is on my mind and that is what the #NerdyCast Reflections are all about.
Share your thoughts in the comments section if you have an idea about suspensions or poetry.
Share your thoughts in the comments section if you have an idea about suspensions or poetry.
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