NOTE: This is a post from this last spring that seems timely now with schools being closed due to the swine flu. Note that because I have a new group of students, and we have not been able to access our laptops yet (and 19 of them have been rendered moot) I could not do this … YET!.

Think of all the learning time being lost by those students already on leave because of the H1N1 flu issue. What if this did become more widespread and we did have many students out of school for a week or more? My school district has already informed us that if even 1 student is diagnosed at our school with H1N1 then they would close that school for 5 to 7 days AND those days don’t have to be made up at the end of the school year. That’s a lot of lost learning time AND lots of free time on the hands of kids that may lead to other issues.

My students are at a bit of a disadvantage over others simply because not all of them are connected at home, but if I had time I could probably make this work for 60 to 80% of them if they were sent home due to a flu outbreak or other reason in the future. My wife’s students are 100% online at home, so think of this in terms of whatever your situation might be.

What could I make work? I could make school happen for my students from home. How?

Well first all my students blog, so I could leave them assignments on our class blog for them to research, write about and then submit to me to check and even comment back to them about. In fact just using their blog I could carry on a conversation about their work on almost any topic. I could even post math problems for them to do, science, social studies … really almost any subject. I could post photos on our Flickr account (and elsewhere), videos for them to watch, links to web pages of all kinds on any subject for them to read or interact with and then report to me about their learning in a way where I can interact with them about it. Oh, and they could do the same, posting video or photos they’ve taken (maybe just with their or a parents cell phone), to demonstrate learning or to build content to present online to the rest of us. And “US” doesn’t just have to be our class, others could join in or at least view and comment on our work.

I could even provide a field trip or guest speaker from anywhere in the world via Ustream or Mogulus and they could interact about it in the chat – ask questions, and then write about it afterwards and even have discussions.

Using Google Docs I could even enter a document with a student or even a group of students to work on or ask questions about or get feedback about.

Also we could collaborate on any of the above activities along with other students anywhere in the world.

Using the links we already have on our class wiki page I can have them visit different free online math, language, science, social studies activities and more … and add new ones as needed.

All for free, using tools students already know how to use. And understand, we could do this easily – including collaborating with other students because we already do this, we already have the contacts and network with other students and teachers set-up. We already blog and use Google Docs and Skype and wikis and more with students all over the world. We are ready to go.

Now I have just scratched the surface here, applications like Ning,  Moodle, Elluminate and so many more could further facilitate what I described above.

So time spent at home instead of school could be just about as productive as being in school – I assume I’d still be getting paid even if school has been closed for the flu (or other reason), students have something productive to do, aren’t spreading germs, do you see a downside? – I’m not.

I hope others will further elaborate how they see this working  as comments. I really held back on ALL that is possible here so have at it!

Too bad school couldn’t be more like this all the time!

Learning is messy!

Tags: SwineFlu,

I’m sure that you have heard that to integrate technology into your classroom and then continue to do what you have always done, just with technology, is a mistake. It is what has time and again led to failure in 1:1 programs and other tech integration programs. You have to change what you do, change what your day looks like.

One change I have made to how I teach, is that I take time to have students process many of the activities and projects we do. I found over the years that if I questioned students about a project we were far along on, or had finished, they often would be at a loss to remember much of it.

This really came to our attention once when they were going to be interviewed by a local TV station about a community service project they completed. I thought it would be a good idea to have them practice answering questions the day before. We began with me asking questions about the project and the students jotting down notes about what they remembered. It was ugly! They really struggled and were very inarticulate about it – embarrassingly so, which was good because they noticed and were very eager then to review what we had done.

At first I was astonished by how little they seemed to remember. I would even have to remind them of a few things, but once you get started it suddenly comes back and then they finally can remember it faster than anyone can write it down. I remember when I was in my first year teaching we were trained to have a period at the end of the day to “debrief” the class about what they did that day. I really found it valuable, but have unfortunately gotten out of the habit mainly because we are so pushed on time anymore. This does not only pertain to projects involving tech, or even just projects, having your students discuss all that went into an activity helps them process their thinking and helps bring clarity to what they learned. Also, it does not always occur to students that they were supposed to be learning anything. It is a great opportunity too for you to listen for inconsistencies and outright misinformation that may have been picked up along the way.

We often Skype with other classrooms, and it is not unusual for me to have the class explain an ongoing or finished project to the other students. During preparation these same kinds of lapses occur and we get to clarify for each other. It is very powerful and shows how students “mis-learn” things sometimes, or have difficulty exppresing themselves.

This is also a reason I have all my students blogging. It is a great way to have them share learning and clarify for each other, and since they are sharing with an audience that is worldwide, it gives them more motivation to “get it right.”

So build in time to talk about, discuss and review what is happening in class. It takes time, and you’ll have to make changes in your day to accommodate it, but it is an important part in making change that truly impacts learning. And I haven’t even discussed how it promotes language skills and builds confidence in speaking up and defending your thinking, … well there, now I did. : )

Learning is messy!

Tags: debrief, project, learning

One of the benefits of being part of a 1:1 program the last 3 years has been how language intense the experience has been. This is valuable no matter who your students are, but for my second language elementary school students, it has been even more than I could have hoped for them. Between blogging, designing wiki pages, Skyping, doing general research and reading and writing about topics of their choice, my students are constantly immersed in language.

All types of literacy – speaking, writing, reading … just what they need. Early on if we were going to Skype with someone, we would practice expressing ourselves about whatever our topic was, only to freeze up when the connection  was made. This led to some fantastic conversations in class about public speaking, and over time my students blossomed as presenters (getting a new class of 9 year olds has reminded me just how much my last class grew).

Our blog posts, really all our written work, went from needing 5 or more (usually more) re-writes, to publishing right away. If you check out our class blog you won’t notice a huge shift, because you only see finished products – not all the work that went into them. When we first started students would take a week and, as mentioned before, numerous drafts to get to a publishable product. Eventually they were publishing right away (with a few exceptions). One of my biggest takeaways from this experience was how even though we blogged and blogged and wrote stories constantly and wrote about what we were learning in science and social studies and other areas, my students didn’t burn out.  I learned so much, and as with any experience now I feel like I’ve just scratched the surface as to getting the most out of a 1:1 program, but I also feel very good about what my students learned and experienced.

There is much more to say about the value of a 1:1 program, but one of the most valuable aspects I’ve found is the language intensity involved, It is powerful for all involved.

Learning is messy!

Tags: 1:1

Well we just finished the second week of school. I got a brand new set of 4th graders and they are raring to go. My 50 year old school got a complete overhaul this summer. The walls of each classroom that were concrete block are now covered in a material that allows you to staple things to any wall surface in the room. I have 2 new whiteboards (the kind you write on with markers), and a brand new Promethean ActivBoard, the kind with the built in projector. The bathrooms have new toilets, everything has been painted fresh and I now have 8 ethernet drops in my room instead of 2. There is a white dome in the ceiling ready to accept a wireless router … but alas none has been installed yet. The laptop carts that contain eleven 1year old Macbooks and over twenty 9 year old iBook computers are still sealed shut with duct tape.

The IT department informs me (as I have mentioned here before) that our old iBooks won’t be able to connect to the new wireless system because they won’t take a 20+ digit access code (they are running OS 10.3). I’m hoping I can induce someone to help us out, otherwise our 1:1 program will die, but I can’t move on that until I can officially say we can’t access the new wireless system. So we sit and wait. I’ve been trying to induce businesses and the like to help us out, but no one wants to move until the iBooks are officially dead.

So here we sit hoping and waiting for IT to have the time during an extremely busy season for them to install our wireless system. I’ll let you know how it goes. In the meantime we are learning how to “do Mr. Crosby’s Class” and work together and support each other and work on a project. My old students come by and visit almost everyday (since the middle school is less than 100 yards away), and keep me updated on how they are doing. The other shoe set to drop is that my school and my school district did not make AYP …  and so we are under the gun to raise test scores. We have a new superintendent here to orchestrate just that, so guess what we are hearing that means (test prep and data driven to the max (which is fine to a point, but much of the data is time consuming and bogus … but I’m staying positive : ) ) so I am a bit on edge.

Learning is messy!

Tags: education

And then you see this:

Surge in Homeless Pupils Strains Schools

By ERIK ECKHOLM
Published: September 5, 2009
The New York Times

Sheesh!!!

Learning is messy!!!

Tags: homelesness, public schools

9/7/09 UPDATE: Here is a link to the Speech.

In light of the response to President Obama’s upcoming speech to schoolchildren about doing well in school. Schools here have been getting very angry calls from parents demanding that the speech not be shown, using words like Hitler and Nazi and brainwashed. I wondered if our media had given as much coverage to pundits and fringe groups before past presidential speeches what may have happened.

I do not want my children to watch President Kennedy’s speech about going to the Moon. He is a Democrat and therefore a Socialist, Marxist and I do not want my children exposed to his ideas.

I don’t want my kids to be brainwashed by that “anything for the rich” President Bush and why he thinks we should go to war in Iraq. He might make my son or daughter want to join the military, so I don’t want my child to watch the president’s speech and participate in the discussion afterwards.

I will take my child out of school for the day if you allow his teacher to show FDR’s “The only thing we have to fear … is fear itself .” speech. Roosevelt is a closet Communist, and I don’t want my child exposed to this propaganda.

I don’t want my kid to be forced into watching the Gettysburg Address because it’s just an attempt by Republicans to brainwash my child into believing that he should be a Republican and a greedy mega-capitalist!

I do not want my child exposed to watching that war-mongering President Reagan giving his “Tear Down This Wall” speech at the Berlin Wall.

Actually this whole uproar might lead to a messy discussion about the open discussion of ideas. Well I can hope!
Add your ideas to the above in comments if you are so inclined.

Learning is messy!

Tags: democracy

I decided to do this quick assessment piece with my students this year to get a sense of what resources they have, (I asked the blogging question because we will be blogging this year again and wondered if anyone knew about them), and their general knowledge of surroundings. These are 4th grade students most are 9 years old or about to be. 18 of 24 are second language learners, 90% receive free lunch. Here are the questions and results. How would your students do?

1) Do you have internet at home right now?   YES – 13          NO – 11

2) Do you have your own cell phone?  YES – 4          NO – 20

3) Do you have your own email account?    YES – 4        NO – 20

4) Do you blog?     YES – 0          NO – 24

5) Do you have a Facebook, Bebo, or Myspace account?

YES – 4      NO – 20 (I’ll be questioning these 4 students.)

6) What city do you live in?   Out of 24 students 9 had the correct answer, 5 said they didn’t know, 10 had incorrect answers.

7) What state do you live in?   12 correct answers (so half of class)

8/ What country do you live in?  3 correct answers

9) Where were you born?  Have to find out if their answers are correct or not. 1 student said they didn’t know.

10) What is your address?   7 students knew their address out of 24.

11) Home phone number? 4 correct, 7 students don’t have a land line phone at home, 13  didn’t know.

12) Name as many other cities in Nevada as you can. Answers mostly all over, 1 student named 10 cities in Nevada.

Our social studies curriculum is learning about our state so the next time we take this evaluation there will be big changes.

Learning is messy!

Tags: education

Today was the 1st day of school. How can it be that I’m already 3 weeks behind?! I mean really, that’s what teaching is like too often these days! How do we explain that?

Learning is messy!

Tags: education

From the “Who da Thunk”  department: U.S. Department of Education Study Finds that Good Teaching can be Enhanced with New Technology.

From the press release:

And:

Check it out.

Learning is messy!

Tags: technology

Prediction: Obama’s and Arne Duncan’s “Race To The Top” $4.5 billion funding race with it’s focus on testing and charter schools (which is supposed to be innovative, but is just NCLB reborn and repackaged – the same thing that hasn’t worked for the last decade plus), will result in states and schools and school boards focusing on how to get the money for our schools and our area and lose focus on REAL innovation and what is best for our children. Let the race begin!

BTW … if to “be innovative” you are restricted to plans that require testing and charters … doesn’t that totally stifle real innovation? Or innovation that might not rely on testing to prove success at least?

I hope I’m wrong … really I do.

Learning is messy!

Tags: RaceTo The Top