How to Carve a Pumpkin

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How to carve a pumpkin

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Since it was Halloween, my Slideshare presentation focused on the steps involved in carving a pumpkin. I thought it might be fun to create and share with students. However, the creation of slide show presentations connects to a variety of learning outcomes. In the English Language Arts curriculum, grade four students are expected to, “create meaningful visual representations that communicate personal response, information, and ideas relevant to (a) topic” (BC Ministry of Education, 2006). In addition, students are expected, in all their written and oral responses, to create, “an organization that is meaningful, logical, and effective” (BC Ministry of Education, 2006). Slide shows offer a unique opportunity for students to focus on creating organization within their presentations because of the linear nature of the medium.

Vuvox and Comics

On Thursday, October 28, my school watched a play called Zero Heroes, presented by Dreamrider Theatre. The play was aimed at getting students to produce less garbage by recycling, composting and not buying items that create unnecessary garbage through excess packaging. One of the scenes takes place in the dump and the actors put up a background picture full of garbage. Students call out to say what they see in the picture that didn't have to end up at the dump. As a follow up to the play, I'm planning to have my students go through the school and take pictures of garbage, then create collages, like the one above. Included in the collage will be text explaining what didn't need to be thrown away. While this project fits with the grade four science learning outcome of, “determine(ing) how personal choices and actions have environmental consequences,” (BC Ministry of Education, 2006) it also furthers our social responsibility goals of being globally responsible individuals.

In Health and Career Education, we are working on, “describe(ing) choices (students) can make for healthy eating, based on Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating” BC Ministry of Education, 2006). After discussing each food group, I often assign a comic strip activity to assess learning.  The comic below is an example of what students might create, although I’ve made it fairly general. I would expect specific serving amounts and suggested meals.

Make Belief Comicx
http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/?comix_id=39865829C333572 

Rapidamente Mario! Wiki Kristie!

            “Honey, what are we doing Saturday at 3?” Hand cupped over the telephone, my husband looked expectantly at me.

            I searched quickly through my memory – what are we doing? Nothing and everything, as usual. Grocery shopping, laundry, fix the outside blinds. The car needs an oil change and one of our sons has a soccer game earlier in the day. But nothing, technically, scheduled for 3 pm. Feeling a bit put on the spot by the question, I went with the shoulder shrug answer and listened while my husband rang off.

         

So, what are we doing at 3…?

The Wii at three and wikis anytime

            When Nintendo came out with their Wii game, who knew that it would be so interactive? It wasn’t long after I picked up the game that my husband and his co-workers organized their first interactive Wii Mario Kart challenge. All players logged in at the same time and played a game against each other from the comfort of their own homes. Soon, my sons picked up the idea, and were playing games against people from around the world. Never again would there be one person left with no one to play against.

            Wikis offer the same collaborative effort. Never again does a teacher need to create curriculum resources or assignments in isolation. Never again does one person need to do all the work on a collaborative assignment because schedules don’t mesh. All you need to do is set up the Wiki and let the collaboration commence.

I know what a Wii is, but what’s a Wiki?

         

            A wiki is a website designed to enhance “knowledge management and group collaboration” (Malaga, 2010) by offering a platform that allows “anyone to add or change content, anytime” (Borja, 2006). Created by Ward Cunningham in 1995, wikis were intended to be an “easy authoring tool that might spur people to publish” (Richardson, 2010). Typically, a wiki is set up by single or small groups of users who create a site to host information on a topic. This includes a home page, related pages and links to related material, etc. What makes a wiki unique is that all people who are interested can log on and create or edit content. This way, “a very democratic process of knowledge creation” (Richardson, 2010) takes place, as contributors come to a consensus on what material to include or omit. Information on wikis may seem insecure, but functions such as the history button, which allows the creator to revert to a previously saved page, and user settings, which allow a wiki creator to decide who can and can’t add information, allow wikis to function with a safety net.

I thought wiki was just the short form of Wikipedia!

            Just as I thought that the Wii was just another video game console, meant to help users pass time in solitude, so, too, did I think that Wikipedia was the only type of wiki. While wrong, Wikipedia does deserve special mention among wikis. Just like traditional encyclopedias, Wikipedia contains information on just about everything. Unlike encyclopedias, Wikipedia is created by average people posting on topics they know about, with others adding or correcting information over time. Very unlike encyclopedias, Wikipedia contains current information on a variety of events, sometimes within hours of them happening (Richardson, 2010). Some educators have difficulty accepting Wikipedia as a valid source of information; while they question Wikipedia’s “reliability, completeness, accuracy, and the intellectual rigor” (Head &Eisenberg, 2010) it is undoubtedly a preferred source of information by many.

Wikis for me

            I confess that the Wii has not become a large part of my life. I’ve never had the time to really commit to a game. Sure, Mario Kart was fun, and the invention of the steering wheel holder for the remote made it a little easier to play, but the Wii remains an untapped medium of entertainment at present. Sorry, Mario, but go ahead and toss a banana peel for me anyway.

            Wikis, on the other hand, are becoming a larger part of my life. For anything I need to know, there’s a wiki. If I have a question about something, there’s a wiki. If I have a burning desire to discuss something or contribute information, there’s a wiki. I love horror movies. Always have. I spent a good deal of my younger years watching horror movies late into the night with my friends at sleepovers. I don’t get to watch them much anymore, as my children still a little young and, frankly, my younger son will never share my passion for these movies, but I do make an effort to watch some in October.  Recently I found the site Horror Film Wiki (http://horror-movies.wikia.com/wiki/Horror_Film_Wiki), where I can read about the old school horror movies and vote on a fun ‘Who would win…” poll. I can search for content, log in and edit facts and suggest future content. Using the talk function, I could even discuss films, like the disastrous remake of the original Nightmare on

Elm Street

movie.

            Other wikis of note, at least for me, are Recipes-Wiki (http://www.recipeswiki.org/wiki/Main_Page), where I can find and add recipes. My favorite cookbook of all time was the one I bought from a school fundraiser. The school had students submit their favorite family recipes, which were all compiled into the cookbook. What I LOVE about the recipes is that each is a tried-and-true, tested recipe used by normal people, which means using ordinary ingredients I usually have on hand and success every time. Recipes-Wiki allows me to access such recipes on a large scale, as well as some more exotic or difficult recipes, if I’m feeling adventurous. Music wikis, like Metal Wiki, hosted by Wikia, provide information about new bands. Metal Wiki (http://metal.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_heavy_metal_bands) provides a list of heavy metal bands which can be used as a starting point when searching for new music. This may seem funny, but think about it. How did we learn about music being created and distributed in the past? We were confined to radio and television. These venues generally only played or promoted bands that were backed by major distributers and whose music conformed to a set of guidelines. A large amount of really great, edgy music never made it to a wider audience that might have been interested. Differences also occur geographically. One of my favorite bands is played frequently by a radio station out of Seattle, but never played here in B.C. Sites created by music fans for music fans offer a chance to promote and share great music. If you see a concert and the band is selling a CD, add their name to the Wiki.

            As for the creation of Wikis, I can only say, “Wiki, where were you last year?” The video Wikis in Plain English (Common Craft, 2008) demonstrates the power of the wiki to allow users to collaborate towards a common goal by giving the example of planning for a hike. One person sets up the wiki and starts a list of items already acquired and items that are needed. Everyone else logs on and amends the list by editing the page. Other pages are added as needed. No need to send an email. No need to get a sitter, meet at a coffee shop and discuss what needs to be done. No need to schedule two more face to face meetings because everyone involved has to go home and check what they have and what their spouses are willing to make before they commit to anything. Last year I was a Cub leader for my son’s Cub troop, and the year before I was just an active parent volunteer. By far, the most difficult task was getting everyone together to discuss the biyearly camping trips plus all the other outings and hikes we wanted to go on. Inevitably, someone wouldn’t be able to come to a meeting (keep in mind that everyone’s busy and everyone’s a volunteer) and emails were hard to keep track of. A wiki would have been the perfect solution.

          Learning to use wikis in the classroom

There are countless ideas on using the wiki in the classroom. Students can “collaborate on study guides, a manual, an encyclopedia or a glossary” (Imperatore, 2009). Wikis can be set up to showcase student’s research projects (Borja, 2006) and experts from around the world can be invited to comment on the projects (Brunsell &Horejsi, 2010). Information can be shared between parents, teachers and administrators by posting information on the wiki and making use of the editing and discussion features (Ullman, 2010).  Problems usually associated with collaboration are ameliorated by the fact that everyone can access the wiki from anywhere. For example, a biology student noted that when working on a traditional poster project, “only one person can take it home, but with the wiki we were able to work equally. Not one person was stuck doing all the work (Brunsell &Horejsi, 2010).

I decided to create wikis for my classroom to deliver part of the Space unit I’ll be teaching this term in Science. First, I had to choose a wiki platform and there are several options out there. Malaga, in an article on wikis used for group projects in an adult educational setting, looks at Schtuff.com, Jotspot.com and Wetpaint.com. Upon review, Schtuff.com same up as a photography site and Jotspot.com was not retrievable. I was not impressed with the initial look of Wetpaint.com. The front page of the site displays a list of popular T.V. shows and the top bar of links includes things like gossip. While this look may prove a positive with older students, it just didn’t look right for elementary school.

            Next, I turned to Wikispaces.com, and decided to use it to create a pathfinder on constellations. You can view this wiki by visiting it at http://divisionfourconstellations.wikispaces.com/.  Wikispaces is the first wiki I ever worked with, and I found it easy to use. Since I already have an account set up and a previous wiki created, I simply pulled up my old wiki, logged in and selected the ‘create a new wiki’ option. The rest was as easy as plugging information onto the different pages.

            Next I decided to explore PBWorks.com. To set up a wiki using PBWorks, you need to sign up by creating a url name and providing your own name and email address. PBWORKS sends a notification to your email with a link back to their site. Once there, you need to choose between free access or two other account options, one costing $99/year and the other $799/year. I’m sure there are many great option offered for the costs, including the ability to use the wiki for commercial purposes, but since I have neither $99 to $799 dollars to spend nor the intent to sell anything, I opted for the free wiki.

            Once my wiki was set up, I was directed to the front page. By clicking edit, I was able to add content as easily as creating a document on a word processing program. To create new pages, I just clicked on the ‘create page’ located to the upper right. I was also able to embed links to other pages by clicking on the page listed to the left. The page, written in blue, appeared on the current page. Once the content was saved, I could click on the links and visit the other pages. When editing a page, a tool bar similar to the one at the top of a word document appears at the top of the page. One very useful tool on the tool bar is the ‘insert’ tool. When you click on insert, a drop down box appears. Among other items, this box lets you insert a video. If the video is from YouTube, the insert function lets you imbed the video. Students can click the arrow on the video and watch right from the page. I know my students will be thrilled to create these kinds of links.

            I decide to use PBWorks to create a pathfinder for an inquiry project that would result in students creating Spaceology books. Having created an entire pathfinder for my students for the constellations project, I opted to have the students collaborate to create the Spaceology pathfinder themselves. To visit this project, go to http://divisionfour.pbworks.com/.

Professional Development Wiki-style

            When I first got our Wii Fit game, someone facetiously suggested that I bring it in and present it at a professional development day. While I admit that Wii Fit seminars are not in my future, Wiki applications for educational professional development are confined only by imagination. If seen as a way of recording and making public professional development efforts, I can’t actually think of any activity that couldn’t benefit from the inclusion of a wiki. For example:

Professional Development Activity	Wiki use
English Language Arts	Create a wiki that includes unit/lesson plans and enrichment activities for a variety of novels. Correspondence between experts or even the author could also be set up (Bowllan, 2008).
Math	Create a wiki that provides links to great math stories, worksheets, games, etc., as well as places to obtain resources.
Science and Social Studies	Use a wiki to create a virtual fieldtrip, a webquest/pathfinder, a repository of experiments or grade specific, content specific sites or texts and invite teachers world wide to use it or contribute their own ideas.
Delivery of mandatory 30 DPA (daily physical activity)	Create a resource of DPA activities that take 30 minutes or less, require little or no equipment and can be done in a variety of environments outside the gym.
Fine Arts	Upload (with permission) famous photos, examples of various artistic techniques, sheet music, drama ideas, dance steps, etc., to share with colleagues. Invite experts to contribute ideas.

These are just a few of the applications. As a teacher-librarian or contributor to my district professional development efforts, I could easily facilitate the start of such efforts. The beauty of a wiki lies not in what I could create alone, however, but in its collaborative nature. I had a discussion about wikis with a colleague recently. I was explaining to her my intention to create a pathfinder for a project on constellations using a wiki to house my links. We got talking about finding information suitable to students of specific ages on the internet. My colleague very quickly offered me access to her files containing sites that she’s used with her class in the past. She even told me how to access them using any computer in the district. This spirit of sharing and collaboration is what wikis are meant to serve. Imagine all such files stored on a wiki, sorted according to curriculum content, grade level, and reading ability.  Now imagine each teacher having access to this site so that they may use it with their students. How useful would that be? The really great thing about creating such a resource using a wiki is that it doesn’t have to be an epic responsibility placed on the shoulders of one individual. Once the wiki is set up, each teacher could add links with a few clicks of the mouse. Five minutes a day could create a dynamic, truly useful resource. The public nature of the wiki also means that we might reap the benefits of other educators contributing to the effort. Parents, too, could contribute or simply have access to what their students might learn, and more informed parents means improved communication and increased opportunities for students to pursue enrichment activities outside the classroom.

References

Borja, R.  (2006, April). Educators Experiment With Student-Written 'Wikis'. Education Week, 25(30), 10.  Retrieved October 23, 2010, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1017773191).

Bowllan, Amy.  (2008, September). A Wiki Gives a Worthy Book New Life. School Library Journal, 54(9), 20.  Retrieved from http://www.trailfire.com/joannedegroot/marks/236936

Brunsell, E., & Horejsi, M.. (2010). Wiki, Wiki! The Science Teacher, 77(4), 12.  Retrieved October 24, 2010, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 2064628691).

Common Craft. (2007). Wikis in Plain English. Retrieved from http://www.trailfire.com/joannedegroot/marks/217495

Imperatore, C.. (2009, March). Wikis and Blogs: Your Keys to Student Collaboration & Engagement. Techniques, 84(3), 30-31.  Retrieved October 23, 2010, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1667558511).

Malaga, R.. (2010). Choosing A Wiki Platform For Student Projects - Lessons Learned. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 3(2), 49-54.  Retrieved October 23, 2010, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1981675671).

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, Ca: Corwin.

Ullman, E.. (2010, August). Working Wikis. Tech & Learning, 31(1), 18.  Retrieved October 24, 2010, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 2112838461).

Golden Compass podcast

Podcasts

          I was instantly excited by the possibilities of using podcasts in my classroom, as well as for personal learning. From a consumption point of view, I would be able to find audio recorded by others, subscribe to it using my Google Reader RSS account and download it to my MP3 player. I can then listen to the podcasts during my morning run or in my car (if I ever finally get around to switching from CDs to an MP3 compatible stereo) or share them with my class. As for creating podcasts, I immediately knew my students would be excited to create their own podcasts on all manner of subjects.

          As an application to my personal life, podcasts open up a new realm of delivery of personally relevant information. The website http://www.runningpodcasts.org/ , for example, has podcasts that can help me with my running performance. I am currently stalled out in my running efforts. I can jog 5 km in about 32 minutes, but can’t seem to go on any longer. Podcasts with running tips or motivational messages would be a welcome source of help. My older son has recently attended Free the Children’s We Day 2010 at Roger’s Arena. The event is described by the organizers as:

          more than just one day of celebration and inspiration. It’s a one-of-a-kind event and part of an innovative year-long program created to celebrate the power of young people to create positive change in the world. The event kicks off a year-long program of action, called We Schools in Action. We Day is free of charge and open to any school that wants to be part of the experience. In exchange, each school group that attends is asked to make a commitment to follow the We Schools in Action program, which includes taking local and global action throughout the year.

Retrieved from http://weday.freethechildren.com/about/

Speakers at the event included Al Gore, Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr., Rick Hanson and the co-founders of Free the Children, Craig and Marc Kielburger. My son was so excited about the day that it was contagious! Searching with him for podcasts by some of the presenters or other speakers on similar subjects would be a great connection. Encouraging him to record a podcast as an eye witness would also be very powerful and authentic activity. Unfortunately, he is currently at Scout camp, so we won’t be able to do this until next week.

          I have always been an auditory learner. One of the most powerful ways for me to learn something is to listen. I discovered this in high school. One of my history teachers would lecture for most of the period and I loved listening to him. I found that I could remember most of what he said and would only occasionally have to look up a date or statistic from my notes. Podcasts, through their auditory nature, have the potential to deliver information that I can personally access, understand and remember. As a teacher who strives to deliver information in a variety of ways for a variety of learners, podcasts could be another tool, offering accessible lessons for auditory learners.

          One thing that I’m really excited about is the application of podcasts to the teaching of English Language Arts (ELA) skills. As part of the ELA curriculum, students are expected, “to understand and use information and communications technology for a variety of purposes.” Podcasts certainly fall within the use of communications technology. In addition, in 2006, the B.C. Ministry of Education changed the ELA curriculum to better represent listening and speaking skills. While previous documents focused heavily on reading and writing skills, the new curriculum states that listening and speaking skills need to be just as developed. Yet, teaching students how to be effective oral communicators has proven to be a challenge in my career, and teaching students how to be effective listeners is like trying to catch smoke. Assessing these skills has often come down to assigning debates and assessing how often a child appears clueless after instructions have been given. Apparently, I am not alone in this. Over the past couple of years, our school has invested time and money in providing professional development opportunities to develop the listening and speaking parts of our ELA curriculum. While the strategies provided during these professional development days have proved useful, podcasts are a natural extension. By recording various lessons or delivering content using podcasts, I am providing my students with opportunities to relisten to material and to reflect on listening skills. By allowing students to record themselves, I can listen to many students and have time to respond to their efforts, providing specific links to saved oral material. Students can also listen to themselves, thereby developing a critical ear for oral language. Currently, no teachers on staff are using podcasts to deliver content; neither are students being offered the opportunity to use podcasts as a product option. As a member of my staff or, eventually, as a teacher-librarian, I believe I can make a powerful contribution to continued professional development in the ELA listening and speaking categories by showing my staff how accessible podcasting is and starting a conversation around the possible uses for podcasting in the classroom.

Podcast Creation

          I created my first Podcast using Audioboo.fm, a site recommended by Joanne DeGroot. Audioboo is a site that enables people to record audio using portable devices, like an IPhone, and upload them to their computers, as well as social networking sites. Audioboo also allows users to create audio recordings right to the site. After signing up for an account, I needed to install a Java update to my computer, which took under five minutes. With Java updated, I then clicked on the green ‘recording’ button. I was given the option to record right to Audioboo or to download a file. I chose to record straight to Audioboo. Recording was as simple as speaking into the microphone attached to my computer. I did need to re-record once, however, as I did not initially speak close enough to the microphone and the first recording was too quiet to hear. After each recording, I was able to preview my podcast by hitting the preview button. Once satisfied, I was able to add a title and tags to my recording and save to the site. Unfortunately, saving to the site took many minutes. Once the saving was completed, it was stored under “my boos.” To attach the podcast to my blog, I went to ‘my boos’ and clicked on the heart icon next to the podcast I wanted. The podcast came up larger on another screen with an ‘embed’ icon next to it. I clicked on the ‘embed’ icon and got the html code, which I copied and pasted onto the ‘edit html’ space offered when adding a post to my blog. The process was similar to embedding a video.

          Overall, I think I will use Audioboo in my classroom. The process was simple and for the cost of a microphone, I can have my students creating podcasts immediately. The one downside is portability. I would love to be able to bring a portable device, like an IPod, on a fieldtrip and record real-time reactions to exhibits. As I currently do not have an IPod, IPhone or similar device, nor do I or the school have a budget for one, podcasting from the classroom will have to suffice for now. 

          An added bonus of Audioboo is that it functions like a social networking site. It allows users to find and follow other peoples recordings or ‘boos.’ I can use the search function to type in key words. Typing in constellations, for example, led me to Skyponderer and his podcast on constellations. Clicking on the RSS feed button allowed me to subscribe to his podcasts, which means that his new pod casts will be routed to my ‘favorites’ in Audioboo. There is also a function that allows users to search what was recorded by remote audio devices near one another, which would be handy when researching reactions to an event, like an Olympic event.

An Example of Podcasting my Classroom

          There are many who are passionate about podcasting in the classroom. Apple, creator of the iPod and iPhone, states that, “when students create a podcast for class, they not only learn the content in a creative way, they learn 21^st century communications skills at the same time” (Anonymous, 2008).  A related article poses the question, “What sorts of new ways of engaging as literate learners do new technologies offer with regard to connectivity… access to information, and diverse ways of understanding and participating in the world?” (Vasquez, 2010).  The challenge here is to stop thinking about ways to use technology to jazz up old assignments and to think about what is valid for learners in our new, connected world.

          In learning about podcasting, I was directed to two wonderful sites; the March 5, 2008 update to the website educating alice which contained podcasts of children reading from the book Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! by Laura Amy Schlitz and the site Just One More Book (http://www.justonemorebook.com/) which is a collection of book reviews and author interviews. In exploring the two sites, I was reminded of this year’s round of parent teacher interviews. Quite a few parents had made comments about wanting their children to write book reports. But what does the book report look like in the 21^st century? Below is the outline of a book report assignment. The podcast attached to the blog is an example of what the students might create. And yes, for those of you who guessed, the questions are a lead up to an activity in which we try to find the author or an expert on a particular subject and conduct an interview.

Book Report Assignment

Your assignment is to create a book review that can be added to the class website. Your assignment will be done in 4 parts.

Part 1

Choose a novel to review. You need to clear your choice with me or our teacher-librarian.

Once you have chosen your novel, copy the following into your Smart Reading duotang and fill it in before reading:

Goal:	Connections:
Predictions:	Questions:

Think carefully about your goal, as it will be your goal throughout the novel. Show your pre-reading work to me before you start to read.

Part 2

Read your novel in chunks. You have 2 weeks to finish the novel, with 1 hour chunks of time in class on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Flip through your novel and think about how you will break it up and how much time you will need at home to complete the assignment. Write out your plan and share it with me or with the teacher-librarian. As you read, you need to take notes. Copy the following onto a lined piece of paper and fill it in each time you read:

Evidence of meeting your reading goal:	Images/Important ideas/important passages (think about the author’s message):
Questions for the author or about the story or subject content:	Reflection on your reading or learning:

 

Bring your work to school daily and be prepared to show your progress!

Part 3:

When you have finished reading your novel, you need to prepare your report. It needs to include:

  a written statement about the novel that relates to your goal (for example, if your goal was to create images in your mind as your read, you would write about 3-5 powerful images, including as much sensory detail as possible)

  a written statement about the author’s message in the novel, including specific justification (There might be many messages. You just need to choose one.)

  a piece of original artwork with captions explaining the sensory details and emotion

  a podcast of you reading a passage from the text and an explanation of why you chose this passage

  a podcast or written statement outlining your top three questions for the author or for an expert on the content covered by the novel

You will have one additional week to complete part 3. You will be given our Language Arts blocks during this week to work on the assignment (this works out to be about 6 hours). Anything not finished in class will be assigned for homework. The Podcasts will be recorded at school during Language Arts or Library time.

Part 4:

With my help, be prepared to upload your book review onto the class website on _______________ (Due Date).

(See the page marked Marking for the marking rubric for this assignment.)

One final thought…

Will Richardson describes podcasting as the “creation and distribution of amateur radio, plain and simple,” (2010) and discusses the use of radio in schools. In searching for information and inspiration on podcasting, I came across the site World News for Children (http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/wnc), which is a site full of news podcasts for children created by the BBC. I was excited about these podcasts, as it is difficult to find quality, accessible news for younger children. However, what is more exciting is using the site to inspire students to create radio newscasts for the school. Perhaps a good collaborative project for a classroom teacher and teacher-librarian...

 References

Anonymous, . Podcasting in the Classroom. (2008, March). Techniques,

83(3), 7-8.  Retrieved October 14, 2010, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1436580321).

BBC. World News for Children. Retrieved from

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/wnc

Edinger, M. In the Classroom: Kid Podcasts of Good Masters! Sweet

Ladies! (March, 2008). Retrieved from http://medinger.wordpress.com/2008/03/05/in-the-classroom-kid-podcasts-of-good-masters-sweet-ladies/

Free the Children. (2010). Retrieved from

http://weday.freethechildren.com/about/

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other

Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, Ca: Corwin.

Ross, A. & Blevis, M. Just One More Book. Retrieved from

http://www.justonemorebook.com/

Vasquez, V.. (2010, January). iPods, Puppy Dogs, and Podcasts: Imagining

Literacy Instruction for the 21st Century. School Talk, 15(2), 1-2.  Retrieved October 14, 2010, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1938474901).

Why did Mario cross the road?

To save the kidnapped princess, of course!

Every level in a Mario Brothers game had a goal. Players could collect points or extra lives or veer off to explore the virtual terrain, but ultimately, there was a final goal. My big epiphany while working with social bookmarking: search with a goal in mind! I know that this seems obvious, yet many a wasted hour has passed while I search through content with only a vague notion of what I’m looking for. Sometimes, this is fun. Other times, the stress mounts as I realize hours of precious work time has passed. I see this problem with my students. In the excitement of the search, they become very proficient at entering search terms into the search engine, finding materials and asking to print them off. For some students, this turns into days of searching with little to show for their efforts (I’m sure their parents watch them search for materials on the home computer and think I’ve assigned Master’s level thesis work). By the time the student gets to the synthesis and creation stages, he or she is worn out or very close to the due date. Before introducing social bookmarking or any other research this year, I plan to really focus on teaching students how to narrow their scope and to read and search with a question in mind. I’d rather see social bookmarking used in our classroom to collect a small sampling of relevant sites than pages of information that leads to student overload.

Social Bookmarking

            Social bookmarking refers to the act of bookmarking online content using an online site rather than the ‘Favorites’ tool bar attached to the internet browser. There are various social bookmarking sites, but essentially they all offer the ability to access bookmarked sites from any computer and share bookmarked items with others.

            Previous to this past summer, I had never heard of a social bookmarking site. Diigo was the first social bookmarking site that I explored as a result of being asked to look at it for a course I was taking. Setting up the site was simple. All I had to do was provide a little personal information. Diigo provides a tool bar that needs to be downloaded. All I had to do was click on a couple of buttons and the tool bar was downloaded in well under 5 minutes. I was up and running with Diigo in less than half and hour.

            Bookmarking with Diigo is as simple as clicking the word ‘bookmark’ on the tool bar. An image appears that records the URL and the title of the website. It also allows the user to add a description and tags. Very quickly, I was bookmarking site after site, collecting valuable information to use later. I also very quickly began to enjoy the fact that I could bookmark sites at home and view them at school, and vice versa. Previously, I would email myself sites of interest.

            One cool thing about Diigo, and social bookmarking in general, is the ability to apply tags to your sites so that they can be searched later. Tags are key word identifiers that can be added to any bookmark which allow the user to search for sites when needed. This allows the user to organize his or her work. In addition, if the user chooses to share his or her bookmarks, tags can allow others to see what subject the new bookmark connects to. To share a bookmark, all the user has to do is click on the word ‘share,’ then click on ‘link to the meta page.’ When searching for content through shared bookmarks, tags allow a user to find other pertinent information. In my initial use of Diigo, I did not consider sharing tags with others, nor did I search tagged sites. I simply used Diigo to bookmark the sites that I found using various search engines and tagged them with what I found personal relevant. Upon reading about social bookmarking, I realized the scope of the tagging process. Tags create a way of searching a database, like a social bookmarking site, in the same way that professionals apply terms to journals or other items when adding them to a database connected to a library or other such institution. The amateur version of such a taxonomy is called a ‘folksonomy’ which is “the process by which many users add metadata in the form of keywords to shared content (Wikipedia, 2010).” Knowing this has made me rethink some of the bookmarks I apply to the sites that I collect. Drawbacks to the creation and use of such a folksonomy include:

no standard set of keywords (i.e., a folksonomy instead of a controlled vocabulary), no standard for the structure of such tags (e.g., singular vs. plural, capitalization), mistagging due to spelling errors, tags that can have more than one meaning, (and) unclear tags due to synonym/antonym confusion

(Wikipedia, 2010)

I dislike thinking that I am adding to a problem of “inconsistent or otherwise poor use of tags (Educause Learning Initiative, 2005).” Knowing this, I am much more likely to use the tags suggested by Diigo when bookmarking a site, and then add a personally relevant tag as well.

Upon first signing up for Diigo, the video tutorial stated that I would be able to perform a variety of functions that I was enthusiastic to try. Unfortunately, many of these functions I still haven’t been able to manage. First, the ‘capture’ function of Diigo, which allows users to capture a picture of a website and record it on Diigo, has never worked right. The site seems to use the capture feature indiscriminately, capturing some sites and not others. I have had limited success purposefully capturing a page, and the function doesn’t seem to work at all on the computer in the classroom. Adding sticky notes has not proven useful, either, nor has the highlighting function, because to refer back to highlights and sticky notes I believe I need to have captured a page. I had grand plans for using Diigo. I wanted to be able to capture a text-based informational site that connects to a content area, apply sticky notes to explain or expand upon ideas and make it available for students to look at. Students could then read the site fairly independently, highlight important passages and respond via email. I haven’t been able to do any of this. Perhaps it’s due to my free membership status. I’ve considered paying for the premium service so that I can capture as many sites as I like each month, however, I am reluctant to pay for something that I don’t really know how to use.

            I was feeling a little dejected about my inability to use Diigo in a classroom-relevant way until I read the article Social Bookmarking on Teaching Today, which suggests that not only can social bookmarking sites can be used as an alternative to search engines such as Google, that they likely yield more relevant search results as they, “provide links to sites that other people have found valuable (Teaching Today).” In addition students “can move from one computer to another and still have full access to their bookmarks,” and they can “share their bookmarks with their classmates (Teaching Today).” While the suggestions were meant for students in grades 6-12, I can certainly see the applications for fourth grade students.

            With this in mind, I decided it was time to check out the social bookmarking site Delicious. To sign in to Delicious, I needed a yahoo email account. In order to sign up for yahoo email, you need to be over 18 or have parental permission. So, setting up my students with individual accounts, while not impossible, would be difficult. We will probably use my account only this year, just like with Flickr.

            Searching for sites tagged by others released a treasure trove of materials. I easily spent an hour searching and bookmarking. While bookmarking, I focused on tagging sites with terms that would set up a list that connected to the grade four curricular areas and that I could share with my students. Knowing that these sites are already tagged by others in a useful manner made me feel that my tags could be a little more self-serving.

            In the future, I can see using Delicious with my students to search for information when working on inquiry projects. I’m not sure that it will replace our current search engine, but it could be one more tool at our disposal. I think that the most useful application of either Delicious or Diigo will be the ability for the class to create our own lists of valuable sites to look at while researching various topics. Once the class has agreed upon its own ‘folksonomy’ of tag terms, students could search for and bookmark sites, all of which is available for future use.

References

Educause Leaning Initiative. (2005) Seven things you should know about… social

bookmarking. Retrieved from http://www.trailfire.com/joannedegroot/marks/199340

Teaching Today. Social bookmarking. Retrieved from

http://www.trailfire.com/joannedegroot/marks/199326

Wikipedia. (2010). Social bookmarking. Retrieved from

http://www.trailfire.com/joannedegroot/marks/199324

Video Sharing Assignment For Fourth Graders

Here's an assignment I'm considering giving my students in the Spring when we study Habitats and Communities. I'd love to hear anyone's comments.

Animal Habitats and Adaptations Inquiry and Video Assignment

Your assignment is to choose an animal from the Greater Vancouver Zoo and complete an inquiry project on that animal, including video uploaded to our class blog. You can view a list of animals at our zoo by going to http://www.gvzoo.com/node/14 and scrolling to the list at the bottom of the page.

Inquiry projects start with questions that need to be answered. Normally, I let you come up with your own questions, however, this time I have questions for you. The first 2 questions that must be answered with this project are:

• What is your animal’s natural habitat?
• What adaptations has your animal developed to make it suited to this habitat?

Step 1:

• Prepare a list of questions that you will need to answer within these main two. For example, under the first question, I might write, “Where in the world does this animal live?” and under the second question “Why can’t this animal live outside the water?” if the animal I chose was a salmon.
• Decide where you are going to look for the answers to these questions. Fill out an inquiry research plan and discuss it with me.
• Gather your materials and begin your research. Remember to:
• use one of the note taking organization sheets you’ve found useful in the past
• record where you found your information
• consult at least 3 (but likely more) sites for information.

Step 2:

• When you have completed the research, you need to decide how to display your findings. Your final product needs to clearly show the 2 main questions, your sub-questions and your answers. The sources you consulted for information can be recorded on a separate sheet and submitted. You may consult our poster on ways to show what you know for ideas. I suggest you consider creating a:
• poster using paper or Glogster
• booklet
• power point presentation

Step 3:

• The third question you need to answer with this assignment is, “What is your animal’s habitat at the zoo like and why do you think the staff created the habitat in this way?”
• During our field trip to the zoo, you will record a video (under 5 minutes) of your animal in its habitat.
• Once we are back at school, you will use your footage to create a video that compares your animal’s artificial zoo habitat to the animal’s natural habitat. You will:
• view your raw footage
• write out a script that outlines the similarities and differences between the real habitat and the artificial habitat, as well as how the animal’s adaptations make it suitable for both
• record audio based on your script
• use Jaycut.com to edit together the video and audio, as well as any text you might like to add
• upload the video to the class blog

* I will show you an example of a video before the trip to the zoo, so that you will have a better idea of what’s expected in this assignment.

The following rubric outlines how you will be marked.

Inquiry Skills:

1	2	3	4
·          student is unable to come up with questions and relies on the teacher to do this ·          student can not identify sources of information and has to be given information by the teacher ·          student does not know how to read the information and record important facts ·          student doesn’t bother to record bibliographic information ·          final product doesn’t contain the student’s questions ·          many answers are incorrect because the student made them up; others are correct but lack details, are vague or contain only one word ·          final product has so many errors that the entire product is difficult to understand ·          final product is messy and looks thrown together at the last minute	·          student asks basic questions ·          student can identify limited sources of information for his or her topic ·          student need assistance performing research ·          student forgets to records bibliographic information and needs to return to sources to record it after the product is done ·          final product is missing some of the student’s questions ·          some answers are incorrect because they have not been researched; others are correct but answered with few details ·          final product has errors that make it difficult to understand at parts or appears hastily thrown together	·          student asks logical questions that show some prior knowledge of animal habitats and adaptations ·          student can identify some sources of information for his or her topic and is beginning to see how some sources are better than others ·          student performs research well, but may need help to finding some information in books or online ·          student usually records bibliographic information as he or she is researching but is still unsure why this is important ·          final product outlines the student’s questions ·          answers are correct ·          final product has only minor errors or lapses in aesthetic appeal	·          student asks logical, deep questions that show prior knowledge of animal habitats and adaptations ·          student can identify the best sources of information for his or her topic and can clearly state why these are the best sources ·          student performs research efficiently, making full use of text or online aids such as links or indices, in order to find relevant information ·          student records bibliographic information as he or she is researching and can explain why this is important ·          final product effectively illustrates the student’s questions ·          answers are correct and show depth and original thought ·          final product is free of errors, interesting and aesthetically pleasing

video:

1	2	3	4
·          footage of animal and habitat is short or unfocused and contains inappropriate elements ·          similarities and differences between the artificial and natural habitats are not discussed; neither are the animal’s adaptations ·          voice on audio is impossible to understand	·          footage of animal and habitat is short or unfocused (i.e., video of friends or other items is included) ·          few similarities and differences between the artificial and natural habitats described and few or no links to the animal’s adaptations ·          voice on audio is difficult to understand or contains significant pauses or errors due to lack of rehearsal	·          well shot and edited footage of animal and habitat that shows some adaptations or important parts of the habitat ·          some description of the similarities and differences between the artificial and natural habitats and links to the animal’s adaptations ·          some effort is made to make the audio recording easy to understand	·          well shot and edited footage of animal and habitat that highlights animal’s adaptations and key elements of the animal’s habitat ·          clear, concise description of the similarities and differences between the artificial and natural habitats and links to the animal’s adaptations ·          voice on audio is appropriate in volume, tone and pacing, making it easy for the viewer to understand