Podcasts for Preparation

There are several ways to get students ready to engage in new activities in class. One of my favorite methods is to jump into a unit with little or no preparation to give the students a feel for what is to come. There is no grading during this "introduction," but it can be very entertaining... and fun.

Now, there are some students who just do not do well with surprises. These students need more preparation to get used to the idea of what is to come.

And, students will not respond well to the same approach being used time and time again!

Public Speaking was one of the most difficult units to get into for the students. They need to "hear" from other voices. They need to know about debates and publically speaking from multiple sources. The guidelines will come from the teacher, but hearing another voice will give added perspective. There are several short and helpful podcasts at the Education Podcast Network. One such podcast gives an overview of public speaking. Click here to access Public Speaking Overview. This would be a great way to get the students started before the unit began in class. It will get them thinking and training their minds on what needs to be done, and what should not be done. They will remember important tidbits such as use your hands, but do not use props.

Creating a Classroom out of a Chorus from Continents

It cannot be argued that there are many cultures around the world, and that many of us know very little about those who are different than us. Perception is everything... and therefore it is imperative that we learn more about those with different beliefs and cultures so we can create a better conception of what life is and what it can mean for all of us.

The best way to implement a healthy global environment with a rich community atmosphere of cooperation is communication. Thus, it is necessary to foster relationships with those around the globe. If these relationships are started with the youth in society, they will create strong bonds between cultures and groups that will not diminish or disappear with time.

A great way to implement this "PenPal" plan is Voxopop. This is a audio message board. Students from different countries can talk to each other about similarities and differences. They can find the things they have in common, and also discover differences that can be shared with one another. This message board can also be used to establish creative activities that can benefit community life and the individual's life.

Epals and Me

The idea of being interconnected in this great world we live in has never been more important.

"The Way We Are" could be a great way for the students not only to understand more about those who are different than they are, but help them understand why they do what they do. Self-exploration is imperative to a well-balanced and well-rounded education. It is definitely a good place to start off the year with a class full of freshmen who are in the midst of self-discovery and awakening.

I would also use "Digital Storytelling" as an English teacher. It is a means to get the students involved in cultural pieces where they can build on the visual and create a story. These stories can then be shared with others in the class and with those around the world.




Photograph by GORDON WILTSIE

Photo from

Using Flickr in the Classroom

There are many practical ways to use the resource that is Flickr. For one thing, there are few "references" that can be used to visually represent or depict a topic that could be at the center of a class discussion. Sometimes the easiest way to get students involved in a topic is by incorporating different modes of teaching the same idea. Some students are visual learners, some perfer auditory guidance. Flickr can incorporate both.

By using Bubblr, a connected site to Flickr, one can make art from the visual representations accumulated by others. The intent is to build comic strips, but the idea of creating "literature" from a picture can vastly improve students' abilities at any level in an English class. The abilities to think, incorporate, and create are not honed enough at the middle and high school levels... this site allows for students to work on their own as much as they want... and it is fun!

I would be remiss if I didn't also say that it is a great opportunity for teachers. It is a great way to do a five to ten minute writing based on a visual comic strip or scene put on the front board at the beginning or end of class. The students can respond to the teacher's "art" or finish a story that has been started. They can find significance that others might not see and then share it with each other. The following link is my attempt at starting a story that the students can finish or comment on.
click here: My Example
It didn't take long to make, and it could start a great discussion in class about social norms.

Bubblr goes a long way to infusing excitement back into the classroom!

Flickr: Recreating the Copyright

The internet has revolutionized much of what we have done over the last few years. We are a generation of "now," not we'll get to it "later." In that spirit, Flickr (a website where one can "acquire" art throught photos on just about anything) has created the means to share material without infringing on the author's rights. It has been dubbed "creative commons."

There are several kinds of "creative commons" and the author of the photos gets to choose how they want to share. The types are:

Attribution means:
You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work - and derivative works based upon it - but only if they give you credit.

Noncommercial means:
You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work - and derivative works based upon it - but for noncommercial purposes only.

No Derivative Works means:
You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it.

Share Alike means:
You allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs your work.

Now, it is very important that one always credits a source. Even though the pictures can be used, they must be used properly. It's bad karma when one doesn't follow the rules... sort of like being around for lightning to strike the same place twice.

A Broad New World...

I am a skeptical person by nature, and when I first heard of Twitter, I cringed. I thought that it was just another way for athletes and actors to complain about what is wrong with what they have to deal with. Then I was told to look a little deeper by a teacher mentor of mine. She happens to be one of the most conservative teachers I have ever encountered, but she said something I will never forget. When I was complaining about how the students just weren't getting it, she said, "It's about them..." As simple as it sounds, it has become iconic in my teaching strategies. If the students don't want to learn, they will find ways not to.

Twitter is another avenue to explore growing potential in a shrinking world. Technology has made it possible for one to be connected to whatever or whomever they wish... and Twitter is one such way of doing so. Now, what better forum is there to start showing off this new avenue than in the classroom? Students already know and use the medium; it should be incorporated into how they learn. A fellow teacher, when talking about using Twitter as a "hook," said that even the simplest "tweets" can do incredible things in the classroom. He argues that "we're living in a world where even throw-away questions can produce stunning by-products." to see more, click here TeachPaperless

Another article discussed the potential of Twitter in teaching foreign languages. Much like asking and answering questions in one's own language, Twitter can open a whole new realm for those seeking to learn more about other cultures or languages. to see more, click here ICT into the MFL

Getting the conversation started in the classroom is half the battle. If students come to class having already "tweeted" and texted each other about a topic, a much stronger discussion or debate can occur in the classroom. Instead of establishing a text, it can be experienced.

Shelly, on his blog, also says:
"For we are living in an age in which questions themselves -- questions of all varieties and supposed levels -- are capable of tapping into links far beyond whatever our initial thought or intention of the question originally was."

Getting students to ask questions and not just find answers is paramount to effective teaching and learning. Take a chance; be creative; be daring!

Educational Wherewithal: Our Current Crisis

I was reading an article called "I'm Just Asking... Is Our Education Plan The Best We Can Do?" and was struck by how poignant the author portrayed his argument. We continue to look back into the past instead of looking toward the future. We teach in the same ways we always have... and seem to fear finding innovative ways to educate. The author asks the President to research new ways of creating a fresh perspective about the classroom environment.

This is extremely important. While America is still considered the only remaining superpower, our status in the world community is slipping due to archaic standards and subpar administration. Multiple choice exams are supposed to sum up the knowledge and synthesis of a student and proclaim whether or not he or she is proficient in a given task. This asinine way of running a classroom is quickly bankrupting our society, both monetarily and mentally. Our students are not challenged to think for themselves, but rather regurgitate information that has been placed before them. It is an appalling breach of the ethical trust handed down to us by those who taught us. We will be judged by how we leave society, and must instill a brighter future with limitless possiblities. This can be accomplished through shucking yesterday's methodologies and donning new technological strategies wrapped in creativity.

Ning: An Opportunity for Exploration

Ning is a great way to share your thoughts and get ideas from other people on a subject you are familiar with, or that you might be interested in. One can look up other people's research, or respond to what others have said.

As a teacher, there are many opportunities to explore the eduactional field and find out new methods, tools, and thoughts about what to do in the classroom. School 2.0 is such a site. It allows you to look at current topics faced on the national level, but also explore educational theory in an ever-changing political environment. Adaptability is essential to the learner's growth, and this is a site that fosters both.

click here to go to School 2.0

A Learner is Like a Virus...

Now many may associate a virus has something negative, but it has the ability to spread beyond itself with amazing speed and ferocity. A learner has the capability to be a wildfire in the dried out forest of tediousness. The individual cannot be undervalued for what he or she can achieve. Each person's hopes and dreams can drive a society in innovative and creative ways. Society cannot flourish without individuals and the talents they possess.

"Connectivism is the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization theories" (The Changing Nature of Knowledge) cannot be more evident than when talking about a virus. There is an organization, a flow to the chaotic process of infecting at an exponential rate. This is the hope of educational theory: that an idea of an individual will explode beyond him or herself and change the surrounding social context.

It is true that a virus is ineffective without spreading throughout the body. An individual is also useless to the educational process if he or she does not comprehend for him or herself, and then share in the process of productivity.

Individual should spur collectivity, and the collective society should encourage individuality.

Socialism in Education

One of the reasons I became a teacher was to help the individual. The individual student exists to better himself or herself through means of productivity. Now, this productivity can be measured in many different ways, but it is fundamental to the learning paradigm that the individual remain central.

"The Changing Nature of Knowledge" video discusses the idea that there are two kinds of learning going on today: internal and external. There are "networks" within the individual's head and within his or her sphere of influence. The video emphasized that since the external network is more able to be "learner controlled," it should be the focus of education in the future. This is absurd. Both are extremely relevant, but the individual is of paramount importance. There is no society without the unique qualities and traits the individual relays to those around him or her.

Socialism in School

On paper, there is no reason to doubt ideologies of pluralism over the singular; however, there is cause for concern. When one seeks to downplay the role of the individual, there is a potential infection brewing in society. Since society is made up of individuals, it is important to put the "pieces" of the puzzle as primary to the "puzzle" as a whole. The picture may be a beautiful work of art, but with missing pieces, it ceases to be what it aspires towards, and becomes just a burden and blemish of incompleteness.

This idea of "collectivism" is not new... and it has not achieved more than mixed success in the past. In fact, a burden that is unseen until it is too great to effectively handle causes a cancer to fester where a process leading to productivity should be.

The following quotations identify pause for thought:
"Collectivism means the subjugation of the individual to a group -- whether to a race, class or state does not matter. Collectivism holds that man must be chained to collective action and collective thought for the sake of what is called 'the common good'." -- Ayn Rand click here for more on collective thought

"collectivism ... treats society as if it were a super-organism existing over and above its individual members, and which takes the collective in some form (e.g., tribe, race, or state) to be the primary unit of reality and standard of value." -- Prof. Fred D. Miller click here for more on collectivism

Can we in the educational community reject our oaths as inspirational mentors to those students who need us for their personal success, in order to follow a business model of modernity which has failed?

The article on Connectivism says that "the pipe is more important than the content within the pipe." There is no argument that the construct for learning is more important and long-lasting than the information being learned at any given time. However, without the individual pieces, a pipeline cannot be formed. Each section of pipe is fundamental to the survival of the whole. click here to read more on "Connectivism"

Let us hold to what is sacred. If we cherish our students, there will be societal rewards. Allowing the individual to "melt" into the stew of uniformity does not and will not help a society built on the crucial characteristics of bravery and nobility inherently found in individuality.

When Are We Going To Do Something?

Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod do an excellent job putting the world in a community perspective. Our interconnectivity is fundamental to understanding what we as the human race are shooting for... and what we are up against. It is not good enough to settle for the mediocrity that pervades our educational system... and even our society. We need to take back control of our lives and our world. We need to do it for our future and for those generations waiting in the wings.

Did You Know? click here to visit Did You Know? video.

There are updated versions of this video available, but the 2006 version still creates an eerie sensation when watching it. As we come closer to the time when the predictions of the video indicate, it is a little disheartening to see how little has been done to keep up with what our generation is demanding from us. As educators, we need to be in the forefront of the fight for enlightenment, and every time we settle for less (such as Sustained Silent Reading in the classroom), we are letting down so many minds seeking for knowledge that will be turned into wisdom.

By 2010, according to the video, new information that did not exist was supposed to double every 10 hours! We are supposed to have twice the amount of information that had been on planet Earth less than half a day before.



By 2013, a computer should have the capability to exceed the capacity and ability of the human brain. We cannot even fathom much of how the brain works... or use more than 12 percent of it, but now a brain machine will exist that does more than its biochemical counterpart ever could.

This video is a call to action for teachers everywhere. We have an awesome responsibility that cannot be taken lightly. We need to embrace our gifts and abilities to help our charges prepare for a brighter future.

6 Steps of Learning: Changing the Way We Think.

Bloom's Taxonomy was introduced to me quite a while ago... and I'm sure that it is very common to see the steps being used in the classroom. The problem I always ran into was not what was being done in the classroom, but did students understand why they were doing what they were doing. Learning is not about grasping after ideas, but rather conveying methodology for conceptual enlightenment. This being the case, I considered it my job... obligation to inform my students about the "why" behind the "you will learn!"

Bloom's Taxonomy, when broken down and explained as steps, allows a student to begin to take charge of his or her learning. I must admit that I first introduced Bloom as a five minute "filler" at the end of a class one day, but it turned out to be something much better than staving off a mutiny. Letting students see what the process looks like from the teacher point of view shows them that there is a respect for them as scholars. They will enjoy the trust and dividends will be noticed!

These are 6 fundamental steps to being successful as a student or teacher. They are:

1. Gaining Knowledge

- Gather information from sources.

2. Comprehension

- Make sure that what you're learning makes sense.

3. Analyzing the Importance of what you are Learning

- Investigate and think about the knowledge you are learning.

4. Applying this Knowledge

- Make sure it has a connection to something you're working on.

5. Synthesize

- Create "art" from what you have been studying. Make a product!

6. Evaluate

- Go back and look at the process. See what you did well and think about how it could be better!

Personal Professional Development - Be Honest, Be Reflective, Be Open

Being Honest

It is important to be honest when you are creating a means to evaluate your professional developement. It might even be more difficult to do this online when others can view your growth as a teacher, but it is a great opportunity as well. When one is honest with him or herself, one can learn much more than if one is delving into a world of half truths in order to prop oneself up in other's eyes.

Being Reflective

I have to give credit to my classmate for this one... I read her blog before coming up with this post. She had the idea of reflective journaling as a teacher.


This is a wonderful idea. It will update the system I used when I was student teaching... scribling down thoughts and ideas in a notebook and then throwing it in the backseat of my car. Making one's thoughts available to colleagues would be very helpful and beneficial. Criticism should be looked on as a positive, even if the one critiquing is not as "careful" as he or she should be with his or her words. Even if there are comments that might be considered "harsh," they could very well help in the long term.

Being Open

For many, myself included, being open is a struggle. Letting others view, critique, and comment on what you do and who you are is difficult; however, taking their advice is exponentially more challenging. No teacher - regardless of degrees or years in the classroom - has it all figured out. It is important to be open to new possibilities. Be thankful for the ideas... and the sources!

Safely Blogging

It is important to stay safe when blogging! Here is a list of things you should do... and some things you should stay away from.

Things To Do
- Have passwords that make sense, but are hard for others to come up with. Always make passwords with letters and numbers.
- Make sure you check your own blog and do not let any links post without your approval and research.
- Have fun, but stay professional; this is a learning environment.
- Give reminders about blog safety.
- Always get consent from administrators and parents before blogging!

Things Not To Do
- Passwords should not be birthdates, or names of people close to you.
- Do not treat a blog as a social connection group.
- Do not post addresses, phone numbers or any other means to identify who you are. You can share with those you trust in another format.

Incorporating Blogging in the Classroom

There are many ways to make blogging useful for the teacher!


Sharing Ideas with One Another

Getting new perspectives on subjects and issues is very important to the educational process. Students should want to explore their world, and in doing so, they can post information and ideas that they have discovered. Once these thoughts have been posted, students can not only learn from their own exploration, but also from the exploration of their fellow classmates!

Asking Questions

There is nothing more fundamental to learning than asking questions. Every discovery started with a question. Asking "why" is quintessential to growing as a teacher, a student, or a general human. When we ask questions, we get others to think about the situation, possible answers, and if there are other questions that need to be asked. We also challenge ourselves to find our own responses to queries.

Debating / Theorizing

Sometimes there are times when I want to ask questions by creating a debate or by putting forth a theory. I did this a lot in the classroom and it worked very well. Having a blog where students could come to debate important (or sometimes not so important points) would really help them grow as individuals and as colleagues.

Of course, when using blogs as with any other form of writing, there are standards to adhere to. Blogging is another form of writing and there are important standards that need to be met. It is important to meet ELA standards when using a blog. It is more professional and it makes the message more clear. Without standards, there is no uniformity of a scholastic nature. Students would meet standards of creativity, editing, formal writing, as well as other important facets necessary to be successful in an English class. Click here to go to ELA standards.