Treasure Chest of Thoughts

Today I read Web 2.0 in the Classroom’s blog…and learned about Microsoft’s offering scholarships to five teachers to attend NECC this summer.  Just another reason to appreciate this giant in software! 

This came on the heels of a peer telling me…just this afternoon…that our request to attend this conference was not going to be approved by our district.  Never one to bypass an opportunity, I further investigated this chance in a lifetime and discovered that through a random drawing and by answering the following question, I once again might have hope in this dream…

Thus, in response to Microsoft’s questions:  How can Microsoft help you teach better?

• Through the use of Microsoft office, I better prepare my students for success in the 21st Century.    Within my district, I applied for and was approved to receive a class set of laptops for my classroom next fall.  Throughout this process, I read much on what will be expected of our students in the 21st Century:  use of spreadsheets, databases, letters, presentations, these are still the skills that employers expect their employees to possess.  Through the creation of such documents and presentations, employers further learn that these employees have the ability to think critically, to analyze, and to lead; these employees can work together to solve the challenges of this ever-evolving learning base.
• I also appreciate Microsoft’s support of education through its website, not just for teachers, but also for the many links and support it gives to students and parents, alike.  What this further tells me is that Microsoft understands the life of a teacher, the life of a very busy teacher, and, thus, is willing to provide free resources for us to use, saving on that natural resource called time!
• Through the use of Microsoft, we conserve our natural resources in another important way as we continue to encourage our students to Go Green; going more and more paperless saves money for our districts and teaches our students responsibility to and appreciation for our planet also.
• Microsoft actually might help me “teach” less and guide/facilitate more.  If one listens to the students and believes the research, our students need less lecture and more hands-on/project-based learning.  This is achievable through utilizing the resources provided by Microsoft.
• Finally, Microsoft can help five teachers be better at what they do everyday by sending them to such conferences as NECC, by providing some of the best professional development that one can receive:  spending time with the leaders in their chosen career and with peers from around our country and world and learning the latest in the fields of education and technology, thereby, ensuring our students’ success in the 21st Century.

Thanks, Microsoft!

Tomorrow our Classroom Redesign team meets to dream:  what should a 21st Century Classroom look like?  We wish we knew!  As fast as technology is evolving, we realize that within just a few short years that our “modern” rooms will soon be out-of-date.

In yesterday’s Scientific American e-newsletter, it’s primary article headlined “How Room Designs Affect Your Work and Mood.”  Thinking I might have stumbled upon part of our answer to our class redesign, I read on…and then took a trip down memory lane, as the article reiterated the need for light, windows, and carpet…that was my first classroom, the one with light blue wall!

In their analysis of more than 10,000 fifth-grade students in 71 Georgia elementary schools, Tanner and his colleagues found that students in classrooms with unrestricted views of at least 50 feet outside the window, including gardens, mountains and other natural elements, had higher scores on tests of vocabulary, language arts and math than did students without such expansive vistas or whose classrooms primarily overlooked roads, parking lots and other urban fixtures.

In one school district—Capistrano, Calif.—students in the sunniest classrooms advanced 26 percent faster in reading and 20 percent faster in math in one year than did those with the least daylight in their classrooms. In the other two districts, ample light boosted scores between 7 and 18 percent.

I find this so interesting…while I am more excited than I can express (not sure the reality of this “dream” has really sunk in!), this article reminds us of other elements to further consider in this redesign of our classrooms for the 21st Century.

Special thanks to Ms. Carla at Web English Teacher for responding to my Twitter request for thoughts on designs for a 21st Century classroom…have shared those notes already!

Remember that classroom set of laptops (and other tech goodies) that I have been hoping that I might receive?  It’s definite!

I keep hearing that this process will involve a lot of work.  Every day I come to work, and I enjoy my work, for I am blessed to have a career of my choosing, the career in which I was destined to be.

Have I mentioned yet how excited I am?

On April 22, 2008, I began blogging…one year old.

This creation has been quite the enjoyable journey, an outlet for frustrations, a brag-board for accomplishments, a learning process.

Thank you, Lisa Huff, for inspiring and mentoring me!

Happy Birthday!

Our Earth Club is very active this week…giving away shirts to those who recycle old cell phones and batteries, pencils to those who clean out their lockers and backpacks.

So what can I do to celebrate as I wear my “Go Green” t-shirt tomorrow?  I can incorporate this day with National Poetry Month!  Here are some sites that I may share with my students:

• Tooter4Kids
• CanTeach
• Apples 4 the Teacher
• Associated Content
• Teacher Vision

Choices, choices! 

Clipart:  http://webclipart.about.com/library/weekly/aa031805.htm

You are cordially invited to peruse my students’ blogs and read their latest poetic creations in honor of National Poetry Month and our current thematic units.  (Poems should be posted by Friday!)

• English 11:  Click here to go to a list of this class’s blogs.  Their latest poetic posting is a haiku commemorating the Holocaust and what they have learned thus far in our Courage to Be Responsible thematic unit.  By the way, Holocaust Remembrance Day is today April 21.  Tomorrow, this class will learn about fate of the butterflies each has created in memory of a child who was a part of the Terezin Concentration Camp…(will post tomorrow about this…with pictures of fluttering creations).  Each student’s butterfly is based on a poem taken from I Never Saw Another Butterfly. These butterflies will now migrate to the Holocaust Museum in Houston, TX, where they are attempting to collect 1,500,000 butterfliesto commemorate the children killed in the Holocaust.
• Again…thanks to Dr. Pezz for inspiring this project through a blog post of his.
• Pre-AP English 10:  Click here to access this class’s blogs.  Today we discussed William Carlos Williams’ poem “The Little Red Wheelbarrow” and how this poem aptly fits into our Utopia vs. Dystopia unit.  Then, to my delight, I assigned each to write a poem using this one as a model.  (Please click here if interested in reading this poem and checking out my PowerPoint I used with this discussion.)  Such a powerful poem!

Happy National Poetry Month!

What a week!  Let me think…can I even remember back to last Monday?

Monday:

Chest did that weird fluttering one too many times, so I called the doctor.  They thought I should be seen…on Tuesday. 

Tuesday:  This day gets a little busier…

Went to the doctor (had an EKG …results “pretty good”; didn’t think to ask what that exactly meant, for then the doc wanted me to have some blood work and to wear a heart monitor).  Decided heart monitors will never become the latest fashion; something about those sticky stickers that really itch!).

Went back to school and finished the day; met for our final meeting with our NBCT Support Group to answer questions about the online testing part of this process; then as I was finally going home about 8 PM, I received a phone call that my stepson had broken his ankle; remained in the hospital until 1 AM with Nathan; then went home for some sleep while dad stayed…wait, it’s Wednesday…

Wednesday:

Back to the hospital, where we learned no surgery today because the ankle was too swollen; taught my afternoon classes.  Decided if anything is wrong with my heart that surely the previous 24 hours would show it on the monitor that I returned after school…right?  Thump…thump…flutter…

Here’s where God intervened in the form of my two friends Glenda and Glenda (really!).  Glenda R calls me and asks if we had considered moving Nathan to Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

Well…..no. 

Then, I immediately felt like a horrible step-mother!  Is it true…we really are wicked?!  You see…my daughter has had three open-heart surgeries (due to a congenital heart/lung defect), so this broken ankle had seemed just a little minor to me.  Then as she talked, I realized the more seriousness of this break…in the growth plate.  So there began God’s intervening through caring friends (maybe angels in disguise?) and myself as I then called my husband who talked to Nathan’s mother….

It’s still Wednesday…we all met with Nathan’s doctor at @8:30 who agreed to Nathan’s moving (ever seen fracture blisters…not pleasant!).  Thus, Nathan’ adventure continues as he now gets to ride in an ambulance to Arkansas Children’s Hospital.  Oh, the tales that boy will one day get to tell…and no thanks to my helping him embellish his ride on that horse that he jumped off…just before breaking that ankle!

Thursday:

I think…not real clear about this…think it is @1:30 AM…ACH doctors in ER tell us that they cannot do anything to his leg….too swollen and those fracture blisters I mentioned cause him to be at risk for infection.   They “loosely” cast his leg, and we return home (two hour ride for us) at 4:00 AM…I take a few moments to email some lesson plans…then sleep.

At @9:30 Jay receives a phone call from surgeon; due to the break being in the growth plate, Nathan needs surgery on Friday…not that next Monday.

With about 3 1/2 hours of sleep, I completed my application for a class set of laptop computers.  Shhhh…I am hoping the committee never learns that about my submission! I also spend some time working on a Praxis III assessment and send more lesson plans.

Friday:

Surgery day…they take Nathan in early, surgery takes less time than they had thought it would, and he comes out of recovery sooner than planned. We returned home that evening…back to normalcy…and family waiting to see Nathan.  Good to have these kind of people as neighbors also! 

And Holly, our daughter…remember that intervening God?  Over the years, He has placed people in mine and Holly’s lives to take the place of those who could not  (or would not) always be present….a caring Gran-Gran and Papa, best friends, aunts, a dad, and a brother.

Holly, who had spent several nights with some of these people during this week, of course, wanted to come home.  I picked her up from Gran-Gran where they had spent the evening at our Mini-Relay for Life helping raise $10,000+ for the American Cancer Society.

Holly came home and promptly became the nurse…or the maid as she called herself.  Another realization that came out of this week?  Brothers and sisters do not have to be related by blood either to truly care about each other.

Saturday:

A day at home.  We all waited and pampered Nathan.  I completed that Praxis III assessment and sent it off.  Lights were out by 9:30.  This was one tired bunch!

Sunday:

Today dad went to work; Nathan spent time with his mom;  Holly and I went to church.

Then…Holly played on an extra pair of crutches, propped her leg on pillows because she has a hurt ankle, and is attempting to convince me to let her take them to school. Oh, to be an innocent nine-year-old and be blessed with all the above people in her life.

Yes, we are all blessed.  Shhhh…are you listening?  Angels may be speaking…in the form of your friends…

An opportunity…a sad opportunity…but one I could not let pass.

This past week, as we read “Mirror” for our Utopia vs. Dystopia unit, I further introduced my students to Sylvia Plath, who ended her own life, and then I introduced them to a former student of mine who committed suicide this past Wednesday.

During this discussion, I paused and remembered this student and friend…and expressed with them my anger at his selfishness.  (Still cannot get past that emotion.  Oh, if I could just talk to him…just one more time…)

While I had their attention, I reminded them that suicide is just never the answer.  Never.  Not ever.  Then I reminded them that we can never stop listening.  In this super-busy world we live in, listening is the often the last thing we have time for, and that within itself is sad.

As teachers, we cannot afford to not listen.  Consider this:

“Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), surpassed only by accidents and homicide.” (Click here for more information at Kids Health.)

This evening I attended Randy’s visitation and remembered being his English teacher during my first four years as a English teacher…a very bright young man who became quite the successful business man and family man.  While I do not agree with his decision, I cannot help but take a moment to appreciate the memories I had of him, of the man he became.  The man who bought a car for a lady who had no car.  The man who sent a Christmas card every year to a 74 year-old-woman just because he remembered who she was.  The man who recently purchased my sister’s business in a very fair deal.  The man who thought of others…I just wish he had thought more of himself.

Tonight, while standing in the very long, tightly-packed visitation line, my sister commented, “Randy would have really appreciated this.”

My reply?  “I would have rather thrown him a party to show my appreciation!”

With this, I return to my main point, please remind your students to listen, to care enough for each other that when they see someone slipping to the total depth of depression that only one contemplating suicide must be dwelling to tell someone.  Tell a teacher.  Tell a friend.  Just tell someone. 

Are you listening?

Just received word today….the first Conference for English Teachers for our part of the state is no longer just a dream!

This is, in part, thanks to working with such leaders in professional development as Pam Brooks, the Teacher Center Coordinator for our educational coop.  When I approached her with this idea, while upfront with her questions, she was also very supportive.

Thanks, Mrs. Pam!  Grand to know that dreams still do come true!

I introduced two of my classes to the Think Tank yesterday.  They may have just begun to understand the word collaboration (which just happened to be on our vocabulary words while reading Animal Farm, as one student noted!).

EXAMPLE #1

These two sections of Pre-AP English 10 are preparing to debate two topics upon conclusion of our Utopia v. Dystopia Thematic Unit.  One team will debate censorship, while the team judges and prepares to debate idealogical systems (this topic the teams will narrow next week).

In the Think Tank, each team has its own page on which to gather evidence and plan the team’s argument.  As I commented to them, part of the beauty of this format is that they also have access to their opponents’ online thoughts.

Steps Taken

1. Each student requested access to the Think Tank wiki.
2. I granted them access as a writer.
3. Students reviewed the pro-con pages for the two topics.

Steps to Take

1. Review how to hyperlink to sources that support the team’s angle, so each team member can all be on the “same page.”
2. Teach how to add pages and link to those pages should their info/database become too congested.

Purpose of the Project?

• To increase my students’ awareness that communication in the 21st Century will only go more digital.
• To add to their repertoire of technological tools.

Not a bad goal as Earth Day approaches, and we are pondering even more:  Go Green!

EXAMPLE #2

English 11 posted their introductory paragraphs to my class wiki (they completed the above steps also), but then I realized they could make changes to this database of class information.  At the time, this seemed a natural place to copy/paste the introductions.  To keep all such assignments in a consistent place, we will move these paragraphs to the Think Tank next week.

This is an amazing teaching tool.  In one lesson, we reviewed the placement of commas and periods within quotations, verb usage, and plagurism!  Plus, two students found misspelled words on their own. 

Effective!