Whirlwind Holiday Weekend

This last few days rather than basking in the idea of having an extra day off with a long holiday weekend, I have been going non-stop. Friday evening and Saturday I went to my once a month writing course. Early Sunday morning I caught a flight with five of my colleagues to attend a technology conference. What a weekend of discoveries!

Though draining, I got a lot out of my writing class. It has been great to see ways to improve my workshop approach and different pieces are clicking in place. It has provided an avenue for additional reflection and to analyze what is working, what needs improved, and where to focus my energy next.

On the technology side, my colleagues and I are all exhilerated with all of the possibilities and debriefing on the best way to spend our technology funds. The area that we are most excited about now is iTouch capabilities. We had originally been planning on iTouch labs as more of a long term goal; however, this weekend we are realizing that they can do what our planned short term technologies can do plus so much more. It is always so beneficial to figure out how to best utilize technology without having a plethora of different gadgets if there is one that is all-encompassing. The confrence is changing the way we view technology and what will be the best fit for our classrooms.

Later today I will be going to a Google presentation that I am also really looking forward to. Lately I have been experimenting with Google Docs, and I will be posting about why I love it later. This week my students will be setting up their Google accounts (Gmail, Blogger, etc.). I am excited to see what I will learn this afternoon that I haven't already discovered on my own.

The Digital Writing Workshop

I recently posted about buying four new books from Heinemann, including The Digital Writing Workshop by Troy Hicks, and I mentioned that I was excited to read each one for different reasons. Although I have not mentioned it at all on my blog yet, I am in the process of applying to a Ed.D. program that would allow me to continue teaching while pursuing my dream of continuing my education. When I met with the program coordinator, he mentioned that it is great if students start out the program knowing what they would like to be the topic of their dissertation because then assignments for different classes can contribute toward the dissertation or provide some initial research. After considering many different options, a few weeks ago I decided that I would like to focus on technology in reading and/or writing workshops. One week later I learned about Hicks' book, and I knew I had to order it right then!

When I received my books this week, I immediately started reading Hicks' book. It fueled my excitement for the topic. I had already been planning on starting up student blogs with a small group of students after winter break, so the book was an excellent resource to consider different ways that I can prepare in order to make the endeavor successful. Blogging is a technology that I feel comfortable and confident with, and this is my first year having a whole class blog. Mentoring students as bloggers is a natural next step.

He also opened me up to so many more digital possibilities that I am not familiar with, such as wikis and collaborative word processors, and reminded me that it is also time to layer in technologies that I am vaguely familiar with and have wanted to incorporate, such as podcasting. Best of all the book provides a wealth of links - sites (mostly free) that provide the digital tools he discusses, tutorials to understand the ins and outs of the tools, and example classroom projects. In addition Hicks has a blog, as well as a companion site for the book.

Other components of the book that I was very excited about were:
*Sample permission letter to parents about using Google Docs (49)
*MAPS heuristic to always remind students that as digital writers they need to consider mode, media, audience, purpose, situation for the writer and situation of the writing (57-58)
*Traits for effective and ineffective digital writers to share with students (110-113)
*Ideas for applying the six traits to summative assessment of digital writing (115-116)
*Be a Blogger! matrix that will help guide me in creating clear expectations and provide support for my students (118-123)
*Questions from a variety of categories to consider as I set up my digital writing workshop (129-133)

I appreciate that Hicks emphasized throughout that it is important to not just have students do the same paper/pencil assignments with technology but to really know digital tools and appropriate ways to incorporate them into the classroom in authentic ways. While my workshop will definitely change as I integrate these pieces, all of his suggestions still aligned with my concept of quality writing instruction. Pedagogically it is an excellent fit. He even organized his book around core principals of the writing workshop approach, facilitating this sense of alignment.

I was already headed in the direction of layering in more technology to my workshop, and Hicks resource came at a perfect time. His expertise and knowledge in the field makes me feel more confident by having sufficient resources and support to successfully infuse my classroom with digital literacies. I will be frequently referring to Hicks book and joining his Ning group because I know that he will serve as a great mentor for effectively utilizing digital tools in the classroom.

Celebrations

I have so many posts rolling around in my head and just need to find the time to type them up! Until then, here is a quick glimpse into reasons for excitement this week...

1) I started weekly book response letters. It was a great feeling to respond to my students and to have that individualized interaction with them. It is going to be a great record of their growth as readers. At first I found the idea of responding to all 50 of my students on a weekly basis daunting. However, I figured out a system that works for me.
*I looked at my 6th and 7th grade class lists side by side and figured out how I could break up the alphabet in order to have a manageable amount of students hand in their reader's notebooks. Looking at the lists helped me to tailer it specifically to my students this year, rather than choosing arbitrary points in the alphabet.
*Rather than writing my responses to my students, I decided to type them notes. This is not only more time efficient but it also helps students to understand my comments better. They have often said that they can not read my handwriting since they are not as familiar with cursive writing. I have tried printing before, but it is hard to print for an extended length. Typing the responses will work out great. I staple them to their letter page.
*If students are participating in a book club for the week, they will not write me a book response letter. The letters are the same format as their book club book responses, so I will give them credit for their weekly response letters based on their book club response. This is both fair for students and again helps it to be manageable time-wise for me.

2) I am quickly gaining confidence with conferring. I will be posting a lot more about this with my Conferring Walk-Aways posts. The mixture of conferring and book response letters is going to provide me with such valuable information about my students as readers, in order to better communicate to parents and help move them along to the next level to extend their reading abilities.

3) I started my first ever on-line book club this week. Everything went fairly smoothly, and I am excited about the possibilities with this new piece. I will be relflecting on this in more detail later as well.

My First Podcast

Here is my first attempt at podcasting. It is very basic, but I will start experimenting with different options as I go along. Originally I thought I could use Garage Band by itself, so I chose that option since it is already on my Mac. However, once I created my podcast I realized that I had to use an Internet provider to host the audio before I could put it into Blogger, so I decided to go ahead and set up my Yodio account where I then uploaded my file that I switched from Garage Band to iTunes. With my students I am planning on having them use Audacity and then upload it to Yodio so that they will not have to use phones to record their podcasts.

YouTube Book Trailers

I always have loved watching movie previews, and YouTube book trailers has been a really fun, new way to market books. I did not incorporate them in my classroom at all this year, but for next year I have been thinking of using some rather than traditional book talks at times. I also thought it would be fun to have as another option for students to respond to books. They could write out and plan how they would market the book as a trailer. If I was able to get a little more tech savvy they could even create a book trailer. Another option to utilize the trailers would be to have students view them after reading books and analyze areas such as whether or not they are accurate representations of the book and whether or not they would hook readers.

Here's some examples of book trailers that I thought would be appropriate to show my middle schoolers. They are all from Class of 2k8 books and are listed on the Great Scavenger Hunt Contest.

Samantha Hansen Has Rocks in Her Head


I So Don't Do Mysteries


http://mrsvsreviews.blogspot.com/2008/10/emerald-tablet-arc.html