Category Archives: Blogging

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Student Blogging Limbo

I’m not sure I would say we are going about this the wrong way, but we are trying to do many new things this school year. I have used technology with students since the early 80’s – but usually that has been limited – one or two classroom computers. I have had access to 30 wireless laptops for 7 years, but I was sharing them with the entire staff. Now this year comes along and I’m swimming in technology. Those 30 laptops, though old, live in my classroom, I have access to 3 digital video cameras, multiple digital cameras, scanners, and also a new Promethean Activboard. More importantly I have “PERMISSION” to use them with my students.

We are doing many tech/web 2.0 goodies, but we are introducing many of them at once. Again I’m not sure that is “wrong” – just that we are in early adoption mode in many things instead of learning things one at a time – becoming somewhat proficient and then moving on to the next.

Because of that approach we are aware of many things but still require lots of teacher support in almost everything we do.

Blogging is one of those areas. We have done some (along with, a 1:1 laptop pilot, digital video, word processing, internet research and applications (Wiki, Flickr, Skype, downloading video and images) but if you visit our blog you will note that 1) the posts we have done are not polished, we haven’t even agreed on a name (so Name To Be Decided graces it now) and therefore we have zero comments outside of our own to each other.

On the other hand as we learn we are seeing how these different pieces integrate – and as we do things and see the importance of analyzing what and why we are doing that work, we have come back to earlier work and come to terms with the shortcomings. Also contributing to that is how fourth graders mature – some students “grow-up” from one week to the next. An “its good enough” attitude one week becomes an “I didn’t see those mistakes? – I’d better fix that,” attitude the next.

So earlier work will become fodder for future learning and that can’t be bad. Look for us to come out of our “Blogging Limbo” in the next few weeks.

Also we have been working very hard on long pieces of writing that may become future blog pieces – although many of these stories are 2 to 6 typed pages … is that too long for a blog post for a 4th grader? These are pieces we started before we had laptops. They are stories about “Being Your Shoes” for a day and tell about a day in your life from the perspective of your shoes (this lesson is my best contribution on the Nevada Writing Project’s fantastic “Writing Fix” web site – Corbett Harrison has designed maybe the best web site to support writing instruction out there – with a little help from his friends).

It will continue to be an adventure to see how we progress – especially since I still hope to roll this class to fifth grade to continue our pilot and build on this year’s learning.

Learning is messy!

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So Our Goal Was To Make A Difference With Web 2.0 – Will We Succeed?

As someone who embraced technology as a learning tool early on (my first classroom computer was a 64K Apple ll – not even a lle) I’m right there with many in the edblogosphere that have come to the conclusion that the snails pace of adoption by many in education would be enhanced if we had many examples of it truly making a difference in schools. My class has now successfully included a student that cannot attend school because of her leukemia twice using FREE video Skype software (see here and here). Our plan is to do it as many days as she feels up to it. And beyond the obvious implications of that, what needs to be pointed out is that it was EASY. Beyond getting her a DSL line and computer, which took the better part of 2 months, setting up the Skype connection literally took less than half an hour at her house and our classroom combined. My fourth graders that came into this year having close to zero experience with technology beyond video games and phones, hook up the laptop and web cam we use easily after we did it ONE TIME (we’ve done it twice more since).

Will this make a difference in Celest’s life? The rest of my students’ lives? Others’ lives? Does this project have implications for web 2.0 beyond what we are trying to accomplish here (including someone)? Besides using Skype my students have already used Flickr, blogged, used email, word processed, used digital still and video cameras and planned a video about this experience – and we have only been doing it for 3 days. The exciting thing is we will experience the answers to these questions. More as it unfolds.

Learning is messy!

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Skyping Celest – Day One – The Whole Story

Wednesday

We couldn’t begin first thing in the morning because we had the NAEP test to do – one last obstacle to get over before we could try our grand experiment. The plan was to wait until after lunch and then connect-up (Skype-up?) for the first time. Fortunately, I had Celest ring us up as soon as the class went to lunch – this turned out to be one smart move because when we clicked on our video buttons our image came up right away but the image from her end was black. I tried the few things I could think of, all the time repeating to myself, – but it worked flawlessly twice last night!!!?

I had 25 minutes before eager students would return from lunch, so after checking out with administration I zipped over to her house. The problem? There were at least ten applications open. Windows – their only experience was with Windows – and I hadn’t had a chance to brief them about everything the night before. They closed applications by clicking the windows closed not realizing that that did not close the application on a Mac. I restarted the computer and made the return trip.

At 12:30 video cameras were revved up to catch the event from 2 angles. Students tried hard to settle, but most were on their knees in their chairs hardly able to contain themselves. To begin I projected the image onto our Whiteboard. A ring sounded, I clicked the green phone icon and then the video button and in a matter of seconds Celest, who had shown up on my daily attendance since October, entered our classroom for the first time.

Hellos and waves were exchanged all around – I pivoted the web cam around to each table in the room so all could be introduced. Faces beamed. Now what?

I disconnected the laptop from the Activboard and moved it and the web cam I had taped to the top of a tripod to the front table – the students there gladly made room for their new classmate. I pointed the web cam at the board and had paper distributed all around (including Celest) – Yes I know – why are we using paper when we have laptops and Celest obviously has a computer to work on? Composing on a computer takes some getting used to, we will get there, but we’re not there yet.

I connected my Mac to the ActivBoard and started a pre-write brainstorm about our experience. I adjusted the camera angle once so Celest could see clearly and she followed along with the session easily. After the brainstorm we all wrote a rough draft and then word processed them on our computers. At one point Celest got my attention and wondered if it was OK if she went to the bathroom – how cool is that, she felt like she was at school! I reluctantly allowed her to go (couldn’t she have done that during lunch? : ) Our school counselor, Ann Marlow, who made most of the calls that made this happen – including making the connection that got us the new iMac, walked through and said her hellos and noted the writing everyone was doing – she was both relieved and thrilled this was finally happening.

1st-day

When Celest let me know she was done typing I talked her through spell checking and some other editing pieces, and then led her through emailing her file to me at school. This became her first post on our blog.

About then it was time for us to go to the library, so we said goodbye to Celest since library would take us to the end of the day. And, after many goodbyes of course, our first Video Skype experience was over.

Thursday, Celest attended for a bit more than an hour – she practiced her multiplication facts online with the rest of us and did some reading before she went off for chemo. She paid us a quick visit on her way home just before dismissal – mask on, no wig – she couldn’t make it today – we understand why. Monday will be a fresh day – except that we have ITBS testing all morning – all week, so it will be afternoons only.

We storyboarded our video about our experience today using the Flipchart software in ActivStudio, we will try to finish shooting it and editing it next week with Celest’s help – if so I will post the video for all to see. The students came up with some great ideas.

Learning is messy!

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If I have Limited Access to Computers, How Do I Have My Students Blog?

A third grade teacher in my district emailed me the following queries about blogging with her third graders:

“I established the blog with blogger.com and have been using it as part of my students 30 minutes/week in the computer lab. Unfortunately, I do not have access to the computers any other time during the week. If I did the students would be using the computer much more than they are. I have posted two items each week on the blog. One is related to the current HM story and it asks them to respond to the question that is posed. I have been using this for the students to get used to typing on the computer and being able to form reasonable sentences

I am having trouble with blogger, the computer assistant maintaining the computer lab says that it is their server that is causing the problem. The students try to post and it won’t accept their post, very frustrating. I hoped to move the students into having their own blog and then writing to each other in January. Third grade standards indicate that students need to know how to write a friendly letter and I thought this would be a fun way to write to each other and practice the skill. Any suggestions?

Also, do you have any other suggestions about how to use the blog in an entertaining/educational way since my students have limited access to computers?”

I have some ideas … but thought it would help to ask the experts. Any ideas?

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Top 5 of the Year

The top 5 most read posts in my first 10 months blogging at Learning Is Messy: . . .

1) Paper, Pencils and Books May Not Boost Student Achievement 

2) Too Much Time For Change To Happen? 

3) Hoping To Make a “Web 2.0” Difference In A Child’s Life – Part 2 

4) Working, Breathing, Reproducible, Intriguing Models 

5) Society May Be Willing To Invest In Children If They Are Seen As An Immediate Value To Society 

Learing Is Messy

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Online Inclusion Project Update

Originally uploaded by brnzwngs.

Well we got a computer for our “Inclusion Project” – a brand new 17 inch iMac that I picked up Thursday night – but we ran out of time to get it hooked up before break – and we are still waiting for the DSL connection. I have already set up a Skype account on the computer and I have to install a few other pieces of software. I must say that our new Apple Store was very helpful – imagine going into a tech/electronics store and the people there to help actually know something about what they are selling!

On the one hand I am a bit bummed that we are not already up and going, it has been almost 2 months since the inception of this idea, but as I said in an earlier post “beggars can’t be demanders,” and since we are asking for much to be donated …

In the spirit of this time of year, as usual, people come through – and they have truly come through on this project. Now all we have to do is make it work. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

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5 Things You Wish You Did Or Didn’t Know About Me Meme

Doug at Borderland sucked me into this:

1. I was going to be a professional photographer – I had been accepted to a photography school when I was asked by a friend to shoot publicity photos at the Outdoor Education camp he ran for 6 to 16 year olds. I went planning on staying for 2 days – I stayed for 4 weeks and the next 2 summers – hiking, rock climbing, rope swinging, rope bridge building, survival training, nature interpretation – changed schools – became a teacher.

2. My last name is Crosby and I actually am related to Bing Crosby. Not a very close relation – my Dad’s grandfather and Bing’s grandfather were brothers. My dad and Bing worked at the same logging camps owned by their uncle Lloyd in Washington and Oregon during the depression – Bing didn’t last long, found something else he liked better.

3. I like doing projects around the house – building a deck, landscaping (not necessarily good at it, just like it) – I also like visiting national parks – so last summer when we “inherited” a large number of redwood boards I combined these 2 interests and built a boardwalk around one side of my house like you see in national parks. Have some overdue landscaping projects to do this summer after a trip to the East Coast.

4. I have taught now for 26 years, starting in Oregon, then California and now Nevada. I’ve taught in private religious schools and public schools – both in very high socio-economic schools and very low socio-economic schools. I use technology a lot with my students, but if I had to make a choice I’d rather have the money for a bus and take field trips about once a week to places like a grocery store and a farm and a large office building and the house around the corner where someone has a vegetable garden they are proud enough of to talk to the kids about, and on a boat in the middle of Lake Tahoe and to the top of a mountain peak and to a big city, and a sandy-hot desert and a redwood forest when it is dripping wet from a heavy fog (and lick banana slugs) and a ball game and more. But then I’d want the technology for the photos and video and journals and audio recordings and a way to share them and my students’ learning.

5. I have always dreamed of visiting Antarctica – fell in love with it when I saw a TV special about the race to the South Pole when I was about 10 years old. I even applied to go there through the “Teachers Experiencing Antarctica“ program the last year they had the program – I still haven’t been : ( – but I have walked on glaciers in Alaska, Montana, California and Canada.

But, enough about me … tell us about you.

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We’ve Finally Joined The School Blogosphere!!!

I got a Blogmeister account set up and had my students upload their first posts today (Thanks again Dave!). We have several finished pieces already, so hopefully by the end of the week we will have several posts going. I’m hoping to get them to finish writing posts about our “cutting edge” project to include a student that is assigned to our class, but has leukemia and can’t come to school, via a Skype audio and video feed. They are SO excited about being part of this and making a difference in someone’s life.

I had hoped we would have that up and going by now but we are still waiting for our donor to deliver a computer (and beggars can’t be “demanders”), so that won’t happen until after Christmas. That will give me time to load Skype and other software and maybe install the DSL in her apartment and teach her how to use it so when we return from the Holidays we are up and running.

So three-and-a-half weeks into our 1:1 laptop project we have learned how to log-on, open Appleworks, save, log-onto Flickr, add a photo to our written document, print, log-onto our blog, paste our writing into a blog document and post to our blog. We’ve also used several interactive web sites to practice math, learn about analogies and practice making them and do a bit of research about our state. And that’s just what we have done using tech!.

Learning is messy!