A Shift in Mindset; Storytelling as a Learning Tool in Science

I need to admit that I used to be a skeptic. I've heard about digital storytelling before and anytime anyone has suggested it as a useful tool in the classroom I've kind of stuck my nose up in the air. I know it's fairly close-minded of me, but I hear the word "story-telling" and immediately associate anything that follows with a elementary school or younger curriculum. Well, after this weeks readings, however, I have concluded that my skepticism was solely a result of ignorance. I am not afraid to scream it from the roof tops now; I am a believer!

As a read through this week's assignments and started to mess around with a few of the recommended tools, so many applications started streaming through my brain. The possibilities are truly endless!

Looking over some of the timeline applications I was thinking how useful they might become when taking on a topic such as the history of the atom. In the past I have completed these units in lecture format followed by an assessment of sorts. Very dry, I realize...... How much more engaging would it be to take on the same material and ask the kids to create an interactive timeline with videos embedded?!?

Another thought is using this application as a replacement for a lab write-up. What if students had to video record a lab taking place and then go back and add a voice thread explaining what is occurring during the lab on a molecular level? This could also serve as a great resource to students who missed a lab due to an absence.

I am very excited about the possibilities that this weeks info has cultivated. Now I can't wait to spend the rest of the week putting of some of these ideas into action.....

Twitter and blog lurking as resources.

I woke up this morning, had my daily cup of coffee, took a few deep breaths and let the morning unfold as I watched my daughter make beautiful music with a few of her favorite pots and pants. I put her down for her morning nap (as making beautiful music is exhausting....) and then went to my computer to catch up on emails, news, etc. Checking out my twitter page I noticed a post from a user I connected with during the #sciscat earlier this week. The tweet read: "Using glogster in the classroom:useful helpsheet and ideas" and was followed by a link. Since this was one of the tools I've been playing with this week, I thought I'd give it a look. The page I was sent to was a blog of a teacher that had used glogster in his classroom of 7th graders. A helpful "how to guide" was included in the write-up; this set of guidelines is definitely a clear and easy explanation of the tool for middle school students. I continued to "lurk" through his posts, which included a few opinion pieces as well as some write-ups on useful web tools, gadgets, and widgets (what the heck is the difference between a gadget and a widget anyway!?!?!) Anyhow, Russel Tarr's most recent post recommended a widget called Feedjit that could track all blog visits with quite a bit of detail. I want to play around with this widget a little more, but I was thinking that it might be a nice way to track views of a class blog. I just set it up on my own blog and see how it goes. Check it out in the bottom right corner of my blog. What do you think?

Google Docs

I was just on twitter and found a link to a blog outlining the most recent google doc updates. I love the real time update function. That was one of the issues that I had with it when I tried to incorporate it into my curriculum last year. You had to keep hitting refresh if 2 or more people were working on the document at once.

A few of my colleagues and I have to re-work our 8th grade curriculum over the summer because we are changing textbooks this coming fall. I'm going to suggest we attempt most of this collaboration in google docs and give this tool a try. I will let people know how it goes......

Information overload......but in a good way!

I just sat in on my first #scichat on twitter. I must admit, I had no idea what to expect. At first I was totally overwhelmed. Way too much information coming at me way too quickly. Once I sat back and just watched it happen for a bit, though, the pace became more comfortable and eventually I felt like I could keep up with the dialogue. I even got brave enough to chime in a few times.....

In summary, this is an AMAZING resource. I tagged and bookmarked so much info that I now need to go through and organize/synthesize. I will use all of this new material as motivation to take on my next web tool....Delicious. More on that soon.....

Not just your average poster....

I've spent the last little while playing with a cool web tool called Glogster. It's a way to make posters more interactive (and paperless!) You can combine text, images, and even embed video and audio. I haven't been brave enough to take on my own creation yet, but here's an example of what is possible. I feel like students might really get into this....

Glogster

Guiding Principles for Technology Use

Here is a list of the principles that I hope to incorporate into my teaching. This is still a work in progress…..

1. Make sure technology is fully understood before incorporating it into the classroom.

2. Make sure this technology is standardized (i.e. compatible on all types of machines).

3. Students must be given clear directions, goals, and expectations for all projects incorporating new technology.

4. Technology use should enrich material being covered, and not just be incorporated because it’s available.

5. Use technology to help better explain processes/material (videos and simulations can be highly affective).

6. Technology use should be interactive and allow for creative thought.

7. Technology should be used to supply data sets and incorporate a real-world/current events component to material being covered.

8. Technology should be used to make material covered more “relatable” or “relevant” to students.

Note on #8: A history teacher at my school created an assignment where students had to create a hypothetical facebook page for an assigned historical Chinese Emperor. How cool is that?!?! And talk about relevant....

Setting the Stage

So much of what I just finished reading excites me. In the same breath I must admit, I am totally overwhelmed.

I would like to think of myself as fairly technologically savvy. For the past two years I have attempted to create paperless classrooms for my 8th and 9th grade students. Homework, as well as class notes and power-points are posted on a website and assignments as emailed back and forth. Last year my 9th grader biology students each built their own wikis based on research they collected on a current topic in genetics. All that being said, I can honestly state as of now, I love the idea of using web 2.0 techniques much more than I enjoy the actual implementation. Since I have gone paperless, there is not an assignment that I collect that does not- at least for a second- make me cringe. Sometimes I cringe at the thought of all of the emails clogging my in-box; other times I cringe at the thought of organizing all of my collected, most-likely improperly titled, assignments; or sometimes I just cringe at the thought of having to edit them (that is if I can open them all....), re-save, and then email them back. I continue to push this, however, because I believe a paperless approach is the most sustainable way to run a classroom; and it is important to me that the footprint my students and I leave behind is small. That being said, I realize there must be an easier way than my current practice which would allow me to obtain the same results; and I greatly look forward to learning about and implementing some of these "tricks".

As I read through the excerpt from "A New Challenge for 21st Century Science Education Leaders" one line stuck out:

"Effective leadership includes a compliment to the vision".

This really hit a chord for me. Reading over this week's assignments, I got so excited looking over the list of 21st Century Skills. Immediately the wheels in my head started turning, thinking about the various ways to make my class more interactive, more dynamic between teacher and student. That being said, when I have tried to incorporate some of these components into my curriculum and put an emphasis on "complex communication", it has taken away from the actual content of the assignment. My students (like me in setting up this blog) become more interested in the aesthetics and the "bells and whistles"of the task than the depth and critical thought components. I am eager in this class to learn how to teach beyond all of this and use the web 2.0 tools in a way that expands the knowledge of my students, promotes self-development, and integrates current research and data sets into the curriculum. I guess I have the vision, but I'm desperately in search of that above-mentioned "compliment".....

Trying to get started.....

I am embarrassed to say that I attempted to start my blog about an hour and a half ago. I've been completely engulfed in playing with all different templates, backgrounds, and layouts. Courier or Times New Roman? White writing or light blue? What gadgets to include? And should they be on the left or the right? Wow, who knew I'd have to make so many decisions.......and even worse, who knew that I would care so much!?!?!

I do acknowledge that my thoughts won't be any wittier or hold any more insight whether they are posted in blue size 10 Courier font or a classic size 12 Ariel, but I really just can't help myself.

That being said, 1.5 hours and all I have to show for it is a picture and a 3 sentence bio. This could get ugly.

I'm excited to throw myself into the world of web 2.0, but I guess I'm going to have to prioritize my time a little bit better.......