The Trouble with Technology (and Teaching)

I just finished reading a blog entry by Denise Krebs called "What Does Technology Have to Do With It?" and it made me want to write an entry of my own. (At the start of each school year I always vow to do this more and never succeed in doing so...it takes inspiration, and I guess I don't see the inspiration to share in my every day "teaching".)

Here is what I see as a problem with the every day technology in our classroom:
We have yet to change the way we teach. Period.

Too many of us are looking to use technology to change the way we teach instead of changing the way we teach and then adding technology. Yes, it is cool when your colleague who is a few years from retirement wants to add a doc cam to his classroom and then uses it and tries to explore it. But really it's no different than when an overhead projector was used.

Unfortunately I am just as guilty of this phenomenon. And I am in my fourth year of teaching.

I grew up with teachers who taught us concepts and then asked us to practice them. It is easy for me to now do the same. Don't get me wrong. I am making efforts to change and am trying new things, but it is extremely overwhelming. There is so much out there and there are so many great educators that I am now connected to (through blogging, voiced, smarter science, and the verity of educators and education technology folk on my twitter account).

I give smarter science (and my colleague that first went to the work shop with me and got equally excited about it) the credit for the start of my changes. I am a math teacher at heart and have been teaching science exclusively since my second year on the job - so it has been great to be motivated about the subject and the job despite it really being a "second" love. It has shown me that we can use ways to motivate our kids to learn and it has given me the first few opportunities to stop "teaching" and start "coaching" (this is what I see as ultimately the change that most of our classrooms need - and I think would be a huge challenge when I get back into math).

So here I am. Excited. Motivated. Hopeful. But I still find myself teaching. And using the doc cam as a fancy overhead projector. And being scared to even begin to find something tech related to start with. because here's the truth - I may be seen as a "tech" teacher at school (people like to come to me to "fix" things when they are not working) but the REAL tech (the new apps, ideas, etc) has a learning curve that frightens me.

Hopefully we are able to end up with class sets of tablets at our school in the near future. Hopefully this encourages me to tackle something new. Because I still want to try.

I just worry that the technology will never be the motivator [of students] we are wishing for.

((I am realizing this entry is a little all over the map. For that I apologize.))

Or maybe I am doing this all better than I think. We are our best critics after all. And every time I go to any PD hoping to come out with a new tech idea, I feel less behind the curve.

Teaching 1P ESL Science

This semester I am teaching a Grade 9 Applied Science class that is designated for ESL students. This means that I have students in ESL levels A to E in the class that also have a varying Science level. It poses some interesting challenges.

Before the semester began I sought advice from colleagues who had taught an ESL subject class (and regular ESL classes) in the past. Here are some of the things I was told that seemed helpful:
- routine
- start with lots of evaluation of speaking, writing, reading and listening (without the science)
- speak slowly
- use graphic organizers
- use glossaries/word walls

I have used most of it but it has not been an easy adjustment. I have, luckily, taught 1P Science before so the curriculum is not something I have to grapple with. The adjustment for me has been more about determining what parts of the curriculum can be (for lack of a better word) ignored and how to adjust things well for students with limited English.

I have our 1P textbooks in a cupboard in my classroom so that the students who finish work more quickly than others can do added reading/questions to advance their English vocabulary and science understanding. This has helped me manage the classroom a little better as students are less likely to get up to socialize while I am still trying to help the weaker students.

My seating plan has the newest English speakers sitting with someone else who speaks the same first language to allow them to help with translation when necessary. It also sits a group of 4 students together with varying first languages where possible to encourage English speaking in class. These 4 students also have varying science understanding to encourage them to help/seek help from others.

We are having quizzes often to encourage students to review their glossary and science concepts on a regular basis. Generally speaking each segment that I am teaching them involves
1) Adding words to their glossary and coming up with examples
2) Teaching the concept
3) Practicing
4) Sometimes a video
5) Handing in some practice that is marked and returned
6) Quizzing - usually involves some fill in the blanks with a word bank

The part of the routine that I haven't used yet is having an agenda on the board for that days work. But I have never been good at that, in any of my classes. In fact I am not even good at updating the date on the board!

In any event it has been and will continue to be a learning experience.
On that note, I am going to adjust my seating plans and have a relaxing evening.

Any advice, comments, questions, concerns are appreciated!

P.S. Teaching the lab process to them with the correct vocabulary is a challenge and a half!

Let the Technology Shine!

Here we are one week into the new school year and semester. I have the opportunity to teach more or less the same semester as last (with the exception of an applied section becoming an applied ESL) so I am trying to try some new things. Here are some of the ones I am excited about:

1. A new blended e-learning website for two of my classes
- Now I have a password protected site
- I can have my students complete online quizzes
- I can create discussion boards
- Contains a messaging feature (student to student and teacher to student)
- Is board approved, etc
- I can choose to monitor their use/access to things on the site

2. My department's new technology
- We were previously the most behind department in technology at the school
- We were able make use of our renovated rooms that include ceiling mounts for projectors, I no longer have to bring a cart into my science classroom to use a projector - great time/effort saver
- We have 4 document cameras to share within the department
- I have used the projector with my laptop at least once every day so far

3. Using Tweetups with my 3U Physics class from the start of the semester
- Last year I began this part way through the semester
- I will be able to start with more organization
- Students will be introduced to the tweetchat.com webapp a colleague pointed me to that refreshes quickly and inserts the hashtag into it automatically
- Students will continue to have a say in the dates and times of the Tweetups

I am sure there are others. I am excited to see where these things take me and to reflect on their use and helpful nature (I hope).

Any comments, questions, concerns/feedback about any of the above from the ed world would be greatly appreciated.

Happy teaching!

Future of Financial Intelligence

Over the last couple of years I have been thinking about two things
1. That I would love to help students start up a club or group of some kind
2. That I fear for the financial intelligence of many of the young people out there

I know some people who have gone through high school and University successfully and are only now really learning about some of the key financial tidbits they wish someone had told them sooner. I also know that the Ontario Curriculum allows our students to get through the required courses without ever learning about these things (OK, so there is a chapter on interest and mortgages in Grade 11...but most classes don't put this information into a context that makes it matter).

The above has led me to think that I should consider running "stuff you should know" type sessions for students who are looking to enter the "real world" (which may involve post secondary education, the work force, travel, etc). Here are some of the things I have thought about addressing:

- Keeping in touch with family
- Keeping in touch with friends
- Maintaining a work-life balance (job, school, social)
- Making friends in your "new" life
- Credit cards - what are they and should I get one
- Tips on saving (how and where)
- Perspective on the financial costs of education
- Student loans, Line of credit
- Bursaries, awards and scholarships
- Do I need a laptop? How to survive note-taking
- Services at post-secondary schools
- Etiquette at the theatre
- Basics cleaning for student housing
- Dealing with landlords
- Basic car knowledge
- Paying and organizing bills, etc
- Do people really change after high school? Life and other things

Now I definitely see some overlap here with things that the guidance department at my school already addresses, but I think there could be a benefit to a separate small group setting that would be set up for discussions and questions more than generic info. I am not sure how well attended this kind of thing would be though, and that is the reason that I would much prefer to set up a club that students already express interest in. If it comes from them it is more likely to draw the interest of other students and keep the word spreading without a huge advertising effort.

Those are my musings on the topic for now. I don't have a concrete idea on how to go about getting this started, but at least the thoughts are there, and now there is record of it. Who knows what next year will bring.

A Tweetups Reflection

I reflected on the first TweetUp that I did with my SPH 3U0 class a few months ago (you can read it here) and have neglected to come back to talking about it since, mostly out of not finding the time and inspiration to write. The end of the school year often does that. I decided I should come back to it and help myself reflect on where the decision to use TweetUps led me.

After the initial chat and then feedback from my students I decided that I was not going to allow the negative feedback to deter the idea. I wanted to give it a chance starting in a new unit and including multiple TweetUps to allow us to spread out the topics and have more focused conversations. So at the start of the unit we decided on three chats (they had to participate in at least one contributing at least 3 questions and/or answers to collect communication marks that would be integrated into their test, an alternate assignment was offered to the few who could not (or would not) participate) which also allowed us to lay out the unit and decide (roughly) on quiz and test dates.

This time around the "I wish" feedback I received from the class was more to the effect of wanting more questions answered, more people to participate, etc instead of finding it disorganized or confusing. They liked that it was more frequent and was review before quizzes but some did not like that they last one was the night before the test.

Overall it felt beneficial. It gave a chance for the more introverted student to ask thoughtful questions (and one in particular asked some great ones) and provided an outlet for a large senior class (29 students) to ask individual questions and find the misconceptions in their learning.

There were a number of students that participated above and beyond the requirement for their communication marks, which indicates that they found it helpful and enjoyed participating. There were also some that lacked the responsibility to remember when the chats were and claimed they really wanted to be there.

I continued to use the chats with the class in the energy unit, but it was more difficult to fit three in based on the structure of the unit (mini seminars involving research). The last chat was supposed to be a debate about energy sources (based on some of the seminar topics) but most of the class forgot about it - which was unfortunate considering they sparked the start of an interesting conversation in class right before the bell.

I did not use them in the waves/electromagnetics units, mostly out of getting busy and feeling that the waves unit would not lend itself as well to a TweetUp as Motion, Forces or Energy did. Perhaps I was wrong, but with our stellar week of raising money for Camp Oochigeas as a school in there and all of their classes being busy I felt it was for the best.

I would definitely try this again for this class. Next semester it appears that I have a much smaller class so I am not sure of the use I will make of it. I will have to see how the semester starts. I may use the hashtag within class for students to pose questions or comments during lessons that can be addressed within the class instead (or try an app I heard about that allows for this anonymously instead). The decision is still to be made. Any thoughts, ideas or opinions on this would be more than welcome!

Happy summer everyone!
And Happy Canada Day!!!