Look how far we've come

Check out this video to see how far we've come in technology - you will have a little laugh while you watch.

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How Far We've Come!

All Teachers are Reading Teachers

All too often I hear content area teachers say, "I don't teach reading, I teach ....." As a reading teacher, this is just heartbreaking. I know that I can not reach all of the struggling readers, but they all need to be reached. So in an effort to encourage us all to be reading teachers, I thought I would share a few facts from an article I recently read. The article is called, "Not Just a Content Specialist-The Secondary Mentor Role in Teaching Literacy."

"An estimated eight million students in fourth to eighth grade cannot read at grade level, and more than 50% of these students are not likely to graduate from high school. Most often they are poor and members of minority groups.” Sounds like they are talking about our school directly! So what do we do about it?

“Teachers find that increased focus on text, vocabulary development tasks, and daily links to key themes result in improvement in students’ understanding and use of academic language.” Simple strategies like the vocabulary matrix, question tree and record reduce reflect make a big difference. I understand that sometimes they seem tedious or unnecessary, but they truly are helpful. We need to explicitly teach reading strategies and there is no other option.

Explicit instruction teaches students how to approach the text. One example is that students should utilize pictures, captions, headings and sub headings to help them understand the text. Without explicit instruction in this strategy students might never learn this skill. A few key strategies, Guided Interaction and Modeling and Graphic Organizers & Visuals can be combined to help students understand through examples, guidance and organization. Whenever possible, teachers should model appropriate responses, and strategies. Through universal themes students begin the unit with an understanding of the focus and can then relate the information to that theme. Meta-cognitive reading activities encourage students to dig more deeply into text. All of these techniques will allow teachers to help their students and witness the growth in cognitive ability of their students.

“Content-specific academic language is indeed a second lan­guage for native speakers and a third language for English learn­ers.” I think this says it all. Academic language is new to all of our students. Don't be fooled by well developed BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills). Just because a student can carry on a conversation in a social situation, they may not have developed their CALPS (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency Skills). Even non EL students must develop their CALPS and this is where we must set our standard for mastery.

Our students will only develop these skills through a well rounded program that focuses on Literacy. So please join me in working to use reading strategies to help our students access content and develop their CALPS.

Here is a link to the article: www.newteachercenter.org/newsletters/ReflectionsF05.pdf

How do you Get In the GAME?

I just read an article by Ryan Bretag called Get Off the Sidelines and Into the Game where he suggests that we as educators should try or have intimate experience in an activities before we ask our students to participate in a project or assignment. How often do we say to students do as I say, “not as I do”, create this project – “that I have never done myself”, read this paper / chapter / article “that I have only skimmed” . . . I know that throughout my earlier career I have been guilty of this. I know that when I do ask students to do things that have never experienced before I run into trouble – trouble with timeframes, project management, student learning, student frustration, even behavior and class management issues. The biggest problem I run across is the quality of student work and the relationship of the student product to my expectations and the ability for me to see that the student has mastered the standard being assessed through the project

If we as educators are going to use new Web 2.0 technologies and activities we must have experience using these technologies. Bretag’s bottom line (and I whole heartedly agree) is: if you want your students to BLOG then BLOG yourself – if you want to create a WIKI and collaboratively create an idea or project then get involved in the WIKI yourself – If Pod Casting is your thing then make sure you have some Pod Casts posted for student’s to listen to your voice and your ideas.

Let’s all Get Off the Sidelines and Into the Game!

This is my 2nd BLOG and by no means the quality that I aspire to – but an attempt all the same. My 1st was part of a technology training I participated in online over the summer (Library Evolution). I still have questions and fears about putting my written word to BLOG for all to see. However, I have always been a big believer in taking risks and stepping outside my comfort zone. This is how I learn - through trial and error. It was Thomas Edison who said, “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” Thomas A. Edison (1847 - 1931). It sometimes takes me a few more tries than Edison, but I find that persistence is the key to success.

AVATARs – The Pseudo Character

Do you want to be recognized on-line but really don’t want a photograph of your face plastered all over the web? Here is a great way for people to have “face recognition” without the photograph. Create an Avatar that reflects you - your personality – your likes and / or personal characteristics.

• http://dookyweb.com/avatars.swf - create - print screen and crop to use the Avatar (the email link does not work)


• http://www.weeworld.com/ - account needed


• http://uk.avatars.yahoo.com/ - account needed

WIKI What?

A Wiki is computer software that allows users to easily create, edit and link web pages. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites, power community websites, and are increasingly being installed by businesses to provide affordable and effective Intranets or for use in Knowledge Management. One of the best-known wikis is Wikipedia. Taken from Wikipedia

http://napkincommunications.pbwiki.com/

Here is a place where you can easily add – delete – edit and share information and ideas through a collaborative effort to create our plan for technology in Alternative Education.

What you need to know: How to read, type and edit typed information.

What you need to do: Follow the link below to sign up with MY PBwiki Identity – You will be sent an email with further directions. This is not immediate (about 10 – 15 minutes) so plan to come back to this project once you sign up.

https://my.pbwiki.com/new.php

All that you need is an email address and a password that you create!

How to use PB wiki: http://blog.pbwiki.com/2007/06/26/latest-features-roundup-spreadsheets-voice-chat-event-planning-calendars-video-upload/

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Another place to create a FREE Wiki: http://www.wikispaces.com/

Check out this article and video by AL (Atomic Learning)

Gcast- what's that?

In my endless searching for new ideas and information, I came across an article about a site called Gcast. I have heard of audiocast and podcast, but never Gcast, so I had to check it out. I am so glad that I did because I think this is an excellent resource for our students.

Basically a Gcast is a podcast recorded and sent by telephone. The purpose is to allow a person to contribute a cast without a computer. I have created a site for my students to utilize. All of my students don't have computers, but all have access to a telephone. They can now answer questions, participate in discussions, interview and host a broadcoast directly from their phones.

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If you want more information or to setup your own Gcast site simply follow the directions below.

1. Go to the site: http://www.gcast.com
2. Click on the sign up now link in the top right corner of the page.
3. Complete the form and be sure to click on accept terms
(Keep in mind that your username does not have to be the name of your site- you can edit that on the next page.)
4. Enter your 10 digit phone (Your students will need this number- so make one up if you don't want them to have your number)
5. Create your 4 digit pin- (Your students will need this number to post so keep it simple)

You are done!

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To call in your Gcast simply call the toll free number and follow the prompts:
(888)65G-cast

Happy posting!!

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Here's a sample of a Gcast that I did from my phone:

Subscribe Free  Add to my Page

RSS Feeds

RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication

"Also called web feeds, RSS is a content delivery vehicle. It is the format used when you want to syndicate news and other web content. When it distributes the content it is called a feed. You could think of RSS as your own personal wire service."

The photo on the right is a sample of my feed for this page. It keeps me informed of changes to this blog.

A really simple explination is that it is a free service that monitors blogs, websites, etc., for updated information. The latest news, a new blog, or new home page content. It is kind of like the ticker on the bottom of a news screen, as information is updated it shares the info.

Check out the following website for more detailed information:

http://www.press-feed.com/howitworks/rss_tutorial.php