Treasure Chest of Thoughts

Did you know that in 2012 “tech literacy” will be added to the Nation’s Report Card?

eSchool News has an interesting article “Get an ’A’ on Your Report Card:  Maximize Your Tech Investment” with several articles embedded.

Questions I am pondering…

• What is your district planning in preparation for The Test?
• Does testing the use of technology take some of the fun and excitement out of these tools?
• Is technology a tool?  Or a curriculum?

My Plans…

1. To keep learning…often self-teaching myself.
2. Train for use of a class set of laptops and with my peers in our project entitled Classroom Redesign 21.
3. Actively participate in the Professional Learning Network entitled 21 CLC within my school.
4. Learn more about how technology will be tested on the NAEP, including the following from this article:

The National Assessment Governing Board has awarded a $1.86 million contract to WestEd—a nonprofit educational research, development, and service agency based in San Francisco—to develop the 2012 NAEP Technological Literacy Framework.
 
Under this new contract, awarded through a competitive bidding process, WestEd will recommend the framework and specifications for the 2012 NAEP Technological Literacy Assessment. Ultimately, WestEd’s work will lead to ways to define and measure students’ knowledge and skills in understanding important technological tools, the Governing Board said. Board members then will decide which grade level—fourth, eighth, or 12th—will be tested in 2012…

The Governing Board is slated to review and approve the technological literacy framework in late 2009.

So much to learn!

This week I noticed a copy of Learning & Leading with Technology  lying in very plain sight in another teacher’s mailbox in the teacher’s lounge.  This magazine caught my attention for a couple of reasons:

1. I’m nosey (…but not to the point that I would snoop!  Seriously!  It really was in plain sight!).
2. I am very interested in learning the latest of the latest in technology…not that I will use it all!  Just do not want to have the deer-in-the-headlights look when my students mention tech tools/jargon of which I have never heard!
3. Did I mention I like to learn?

Later that day, I Googled the title, and I just have to share what I discovered!  Every educator interested in technology should check out this magazine/site!  Published by the International Sociey for Technology in Education, this magazine is published eight times a year, costs $7.75 per issue, and includes very interesting articles, articles that can be accessed for free!

Please check this out…what do you think?  Do you agree with me?  If you do, then please share this…best kept secrets should not be allowed in the land of education!

Now if summer would just hurry and get here so that I can spend time reading some past issues!

In a recent post, I discussed the Ladder of Questioning method.  Since then, I have presented a PowerPoint and short story “Marigolds” explaining this to my Pre-AP English 10 students.

Today during Writer’s Notebook time, each student developed sample questions for each level of questioning using John Keat’s poem “A Song About Myself” as a the source.

Now for the fun!  Within each lit circle group, I appointed a discussion director to whom I extended an invitation through Google Docs to share and collaborate on a graphic organizer these three levels of questions.

Not a single moan and groan!

The heavy is now on the discussion director (who had to obtain each club member’s gmail) to quickly invite the other clubbers so that the whole group can go to work.  The discussion director may either invite/share with me or email me this document when the group’s work is completed.

The assignment?  Each club member is to add two questions to each level…and, of course, no question may be repeated.  As soon as the student hits the “save” button, all the other club members will be able to view his/her question selections.  Instantaneous interaction!

Yes, we now have online lit circles…at the convenience of each club member, just as long as each student inputs his/her questions by Monday morning!

I really, really (yes, to be redundant!) like this tool!  Very much, I like this technology!

Thanks to Mr. Kevin at  NCS-Tech for the tip that Bullying Awareness Week is Nov. 16-22. 

How timely!  My English 11 is right in the middle of The Bullying Mentality thematic unit.  Next week we begin The Crucible.

Next year, I would like for my students to create Podcasts/videos that we could show during Channel 1.  Just do not think I can pull this together in a week.  Maybe we could colloborate with our broadcasting class…brainstorming!

We can script announcements for the daily announcements.  We can study cyberbulling (a topic on which I want to discuss more).  We can wear blue one day to symbolize peace.

The beauty of creating units?  A unit is never complete.  New sources.  New contacts.  Evolving.  Learning.  Sharing.

Not bullying.

Diggin’ deeper?  Thinkin’ more critically?  Climbin’ the ladder?

Let’s dig, let’s think, let’s climb to a greater understanding of the texts we are about to read.

First, let’s give credit where credit is due.  The source for this concept is The AP Vertical Teams Guide for English.  For the past two summers, I have attended Pre-AP English training, first a two-day workshop and then a five-day workshop this past summer on the campus of ASU, at which this book served as our mentor text.

How will we utilize this within the classroom?  First,  we will develop questions for each step on the below three-rung ladder about a text that we will read together entitled “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier. 

Three-Rung Ladder of Questioning

1. Literal Level
   * Factual
   * Address key elements
   Answers found directly in text.
2. Interpretive Level
   * Inferential
   * Motive of author or a character
   * Answers found by following patterns and seeing relationships amongst parts of the text.
3. Experienced-Based Level
   * Connecting
   * Link text to prior knowledge, other texts, or experiences
   * Answers found by testing the ideas of a text against readers’ schema.

Next, we will analyze John Keats’ poem “A Song about Myself.”  You may also find a copy of this poem on our class wiki at Mrs G Info.  Using this poem as our mentor text, your lit circle group will meet online via Google Docs as you share collaboration on a form that I will email the discussion director within your group.

Why are we studying this poem?  Yes, to continue our study of our thematic unit Who Am I?

Then what?  As we read Julius Caesar, each of you will be required to develop questions for each level for each act of the play.  Why?  The development of these skills are not intended to just fill sheets of paper and “kill another tree.”  The reality is this:  these skills will greatly enhance your success in your AP courses, your score on your AP exams, which ultimately will result in your being a step-up on the college ladder of success!

This post may also be found at Writing Right, my Pre-AP English 10 class blog.

I simply love Google Docs, and I have barely even tapped into its potential. 

This is all thanks to Google Docs‘ and the National Writing Project’s co-sponsoring the Letters to the Next President, which required our utlizing a template and sharing/collaborating (student and teacher)…this part has inspired me!  Online lit circles.  A new way to conduct ”group work.”  Unnamed, unthought of potential.  I really like it.  Yes, I love it!

Here’s my plan:

1. Discuss the “Ladders of Questioning.”
2. “Write beside them” and model this format of question layers.
3. Assign groups, log in to Google Docs, and “share” a worksheet where the groups will develop questions online for a text that supports our current theme.  For example, in Pre-AP English 10’s theme of Who Am I?, they will study John Keat’s poem “A Song About Myself” and in English 11’s theme The Bullying Mentality,  Robert Browning’s poem “My Last Duchess.”
4. During the next class, students will share answers online to self-selected questions.
5. Then?  Not sure…yet!

Know of another interesting feature to Google Docs?  Please share!