Another thing they never told me in teacher college

Some day someone will tell you how great teachers have it because you have summers off and they will be wrong.

So here I am 15 years into my teaching career, 13 face-to-face, 2 full time online and at the beginning of my children and student's Winter vacation period.  I can honestly say that in all of this time, I have never taken a summer vacation off.

Seriously dude, you can take 

bathroom breaks

I was always active in professional development in my "off" time before.  But now with rolling enrollment models I have realized that I never get an entire day off again. This fact is punctuated as I work now pretty much everywhere - poolside at my child's swimming lesson, in the lobby of the gym where my child is having basketball practice, in the car while parked outside the movie theater picking up my older child from a date, and once in the deep North Woods on a wi-fi card and a prayer.

Dad, get off the phone!

E teachers like me have to develop extraction strategies so that we can cope with our daily lives outside of work.  The constant connectivity can be both a joy and a burden.  Efficiency has its price in exhaustion and burn out.

We need to think about ourselves somewhere in this equation.  A colleague of mine recently told me that she turned off her data plan so that she can only work while physically at the computer.  Otherwise she found herself emailing at Disney when she should have been enjoying her kids.

Some Tips:

• Schedule at least 5 hours per day with activities that do not include work.
• Take vacation days (you are allowed) which are completely offline.
• Post office hours-even if you intend to be available at other times, this can cluster the work so that it lessens the off hours time you are spending.
• Give yourself a break
• Chew your food without your cell phone
• Let the cat take his nap on the keyboard like he wants to...

Only a Gen S Kid...

Sent today by a student...

Thank you very much. I have no technical abilities so this online course is hard for me to navigate.

Sent from my iPod


OH the irony!

Generation S

Generation S

Every few years someone comes along and tried to define the current generation.  My Generation was Gen X.  There have been several generations since then to be sure.  Today I would like to define the current generation of my students. 
Generation S.

Why S?
The generation I am referring to covers the late 90's to today.  They have never lived without an internet.  The result is that they are defined by the fact that they have never lived without Social Media, Streaming Video, or Satellite Television.  They are unlikely to ever know or have to deal with Social Security.  They do not phone they SMS or Skype.  When they want information, music, reading material, homework help, or pizza they don't need to ask anyone, they Search.  



What Gen S means to teachers...
Gen S will...

• post, tweet, or otherwise publicly discuss their lives and you.
• ignore the books which you hand out in favor of a searchable, easily manipulable, media rich multiple source website.
• read more in a day than most adults.
• read and write in fragmented but interwoven short prose.
• read at a complexity level far higher than our current testing procedures cover.
• think in webs and linkages, as thought thoughts "friend" other thoughts.
• expect instant relevant feedback.

 Gen S will not...

• handle the frustration of waiting with grace.
• have native exposure to grammar and spelling through their sources of reading.
• feel secure and safe when limited media sources or cell service are available.

In the dawn of electricity, we feared the dark.  In the dawn of information, we fear disconnection.

• be held back.

How to Cope with Gen S
The Good News is that good teaching really hasn't changed much, only the tools of delivery.

1. The local fourth grade assigns reading for 15 minutes a day and then asks students to make a concept web of what they read-
• Gen S version-Read Social Media or RSS Feeds for 15 minutes, then turn the web of what you read into prose.
2. A high school teacher assigns a timeline
• Gen S version-Assign a Twhistory
3. A Teacher posts work to a website
• Gen S version-post to a twitter or other RSS feed.

Wanna assign a vocab list-do it

Wanna assign a book-do it, and make the e version available.

How NOT to Cope with Gen S


A) Don't tell them to put their cell phones away, disconnection is one of their biggest turn offs (if not THE biggest).  Tell them to keep them out.  How many times do I hear teachers lament the lack of computer access in their schools when a large number of their students have handheld computing devices set to silent or cricket mode as they pretend not to use them.If they don't have phones, no problem.  Put students in to groups and have the ones without phones be the recorders and reporters who have to turn what the phone wielders find into deliverable material.


Example-Bell ringer assignment:
Describe the relationship between Genghis Khan and yogurt in 3 sentences.  Provide sources for your answer.

B) Don't give too many fixed ended assignments. The answers can be easily looked up.  Instead temper fixed assignments with choice assignments which have connections.

Example-Math problem set:
Choose 6 of the 10 problems to do, then write four similar new problems and solve them. Finally write a single sentence description of the key idea you have been practicing in this problem set.

C) Don't completely go high tech.  Create opportunities to go old school.

Example-Form an arguement
Tell students there is a debate on bringing faster better internet service to your area.  The city council will accept written arguments only.    Choose a side and write an argument.

Example-Reasons to see the world
Take 10 pictures of your school, town or surrounding area. Create a print collage for display.

Good Luck Teacher's with our Gen S friends.

 

Legends of the Fall

Welcome to a new school year.  As the fall begins and the course-load grows, have no fear Mrs E is once again here to brighten your online teaching and learning perspective.

How to get your students on Day 1:
A mom and dad were worried about their son not wanting to learn math at the school he was in, so they decided to send him to an online Christian school. After the first day of school, their son quickly closes his laptop, goes straight into his room and slams the door shut. Mom and dad are a little worried about this and go to his room to see if he is okay. They find him sitting at his desk doing his homework. The boy keeps doing that for the rest of the year. At the end of the year the songets report card and gives it to his mom and dad. Looking at it they see under math an A+.
Mom and dad are very happy and ask the son, "What changed your mind about learning math?"
The son looked at mom and dad and said, "Well, on the first day when I logged into the classroom, I saw a guy nailed to the plus sign on the homepage next to the teacher's pic and I knew they meant business."

Keep em working:
Child logs out from his first day of online class.
Mother asks, "What did you learn today?"
Child replies, "Not enough. I have to login again tomorrow." 

Make sure they know their tech skills:
Teacher: How do you spell "dog"?
Pupil: d, o, g, enter.

Reach out to your struggling readers:

Make sure they have a great internet connection:  

Physics Teacher: "Isaac Newton was sitting under a tree when an apple fell on his head and he discovered gravity. Isn't that wonderful?"
Student: "Yes sir, that's why I always use my mifi card and study outside, otherwise I might not discover anything."

Give them transcripts with the videos:
TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD: H I J K L M N O.
TEACHER: What are you talking about?
DONALD: The video said it’s H to O.

Curb Cheating:
TEACHER: Clyde , your composition on ‘My Dog’ is exactly the same as your brother’s. Did you copy his from last semester?
CLYDE : No, sir. It’s the same dog

Stay accessible:
After a long IM session trying to explain a challenging topic the teacher types,"do you follow?"
Student types back, "NO! old people talking to kids on twitter are gross!"





 

The rolling sands of time

Today a student pointed out no less than five broken links in a single area of my school.

I diligently investigated and determined that they worked for me, yes, BUT they were not working when I was logged in as her.  Confused, as this is a rolling enrollment course I reached out to a former student to ask if she had had any problems.  She had not.

I was baffled, having changed nothing.  What was different about this student?  why HER?

Then suddenly it hit me.  Her rolling enrollment is not set to start until July 1.  She was trapped in time between a time when her login works and a time where the course is operational, and I was so deep in the weeds with my current course load that I had failed to connect the name with a student who was not yet fully enrolled.

It felt like an episode of the Science Channel series "Through the Wormhole."  I am still waiting for a Morgan Freeman voice-over to tell me that what is really wrong is my perception of the student is not as the student actually is, and some physicist will explain that we are all just grains of sand existing in mutually co-existant multi-verses or something like that.

Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman

This rolling enrollment model might yet roll me into a fetal position from which I can never return.

The Existential Extension Policy

Due dates?

It would seem, dear readers that our lives have become lost and the meaning of due has been blurred to the extent that the concept of due may diminish and cease to exist.

It is an interesting pondering really given that due dates themselves only became established in the last half of the last century.  Historically dues dates were not only not necessarily dates, but they most certainly did not involve a time stamp.

Consider the conscripted soldier of the US civil war. In 1862 the President called for the raising of 300,000 more troops.  However a year later, in 1863, Wisconsin districts were given a number of men by the state and "urged to meet their quota."  So after a year, these men still had not reported.  But at the time to be fair, this was not an official draft, just a call to arms. Out of the 19 thousand some requested at the federal level from Wisconsin, only 4,537 men were actually further requested by the governor, of these 19 deserted and 1,622 just didn't come.  Many sited the statement about arrival time which read "as field and traveling conditions allow."  That was it for a timeline
[Source: THE CIVIL WAR DRAFT IN PLOVER AND STEVENS POINT: A STUDY IN EFFORTS, ATTITUDES, FRUSTRATIONS, AND RESULTS By David Ellison (UWSP)]  In other words, by gubernatorial order, you could show up when and if you could.


Now let us consider the baby due date, nominally considered until quite recently to be nine months after conception.  However, more recently stated as 40 weeks after conception, 280 days from the last menstrual period, and 266 days from conception. World health organizations made an attempt for a universal lunar months method to measure pregnancy length i.e. 28 days = 1 month x 10 = 10 months pregnant but this was not accepted world-wide. This has just made the confusion worse, with some health care providers using the 10 lunar months method now, while others do not. [Source: WHO]

Once timekeeping in the country was limited to dates punctuated by the common time frames of  dawn, noon and dusk but the advent of industrial transportation (train schedules), radio, and television systematically began to inform the public.  The final hurdle is often proclaimed to be the space race which demanded an ever more delineated time schedule for implementation.  Business is now timed to the minute and second.

But....BUT

have all of these deadlines really helped anything?

Enter the decline of the due.  In education the trend would seem to show that due dates are on the decline in favor of extension policies, IEP's, 504 and plain old good sense.

Is it important that a 4th grade know his times tables?  YES.  That is a fundamental skill which other ideas build upon.

Is it important that a 4th grade know his multiplication tables on Tuesday? 

or can he know them on Friday?  

Does it matter if the next skill is not yet being taught?

What lesson are we teaching? Multiplication tables or schedule tables?

To be fair, I understand the inconvenience factor for the face-to face teachers of the world.  But having taught now in online rolling enrollment, I have to say it is time to give it up.   Due dates are a thing of the past.  The ultimate deadlines that still exist are related to course end and beginning of teaching the next school alone.  So all of you lesson planners out there...sorry...but you need to relax.

Twitter with a brain.

OK as much as I enjoy Ms. Lohan and Mr. Sheen's tragically twisted exploits for their entertainment value, I cannot help but feel a bit dumber for having seen them.  Twitter, and other social posting options, give us up to the minute detailed exploits, some of which probably should have been kept private if only the poster had thought about it first.  But, lest you think I am maligning the medium, I would like to take a moment to discuss the merits of social media in education.

Take TwHistory for Example:

TwHistory from Marion Jensen on Vimeo.

You can get in on TwHistory by going to  http://twhistory.org/

If you aren't using social media to teach, you probably should be.

Graduation time!

I no longer don my cap and gown and accompany my students forth in their face-2-face graduation.  But this year was rewarding in that a number of my students and former students called me to say that my courses had made a difference in their high school experience.  Thanks kids!  You are the reason I do what I do.

Congratulations to:

Michale, Jessica, Jennifer, Jenn, Tyler, Kote, Chris, Emily, David, Sabie, Amy, Jessica, Meghan, and Lily  !

Good Luck in all you do.

Tools for Better Online Submissions 4-Digital Story Telling/Slide Shows

Story Jumper http://www.storyjumper.com/
Gives simple user friendly wizard driven instructions.  Free electronic sharing, cost print sharing.
Grades: 1) A 2)B 3)A


Animoto  http://www.animoto.com/
Also Simple and user friendly.  Free version is limited to 30 seconds.
Grades 1)B+ 2)A 3)B


Storybird - http://www.storybird.com
Cute and very accessible.  Limited to their images, cannot use user images.  Very good library of art images and themes a student can use.
Grades: 1)A 2)C 3)A

VoiceThread for Education - http://ed.voicethread.com
Includes images, text and documents.  Closest to powerpoint operability for those without powerpoint.

Tools for Better Online Submissions 3-Maps

In part 3 of this  focus on tools for students to use to generate better products in electronic format for their work submissions I am focusing on maps. With each tool I graded on 3 points you can use when you evaluate it
1) is it easy to use?
2)does it allow students to showcase all types of information?
3)educationally appropriate material or uncontrolled?

Google Earth http://www.google.com/earth/index.html

OK who doesn't love this?  as a viewing tool.  However as a building tool for maps of student design it lacks simplicity.  Also its a download rather than in browser.  You can preload KMZ files but be aware that they are user created and pretty uncontrolled.
Grades 1)B 2)A 3)C

Google Map Maker http://www.google.com/mapmaker
This allows students to be cartographers filling in the blanks on google maps.  It's very cool and students can print or send you a link.  Caviat, students really must be taught what is safe to share via internet, because all placemarks are 100% public view.
Grades 1)B 2)A 3)C

Do it Yourself State Maps http://monarch.tamu.edu/~maps2/
Kinda my favorite for simple stuff.  Students create a color coded map which can be an individual state broken down by county, or the entire US broken down by state.  Great for placing in presentations.  Students can create a series of maps and place them in a slideshow to show things like: the progression of a disease, the colonization of the US, species ranges, democrat vs republican.  Really simple, NSTASciLink choice
Grades 1) A 2) B 3) A

iMap online-interactive Map Builder http://www.imapbuilder.com/interactive-map-online/
Wow, imagine the simple map above, in the DIY map maker.  Now add flash rollover with popup/call-out details, spin-able and manipulation and can include imagery not just color and there you have iMap.  Runs via wizard online, can also be purchased and installed.  This is my winner for the most that you can do in the simplest format.
Grades 1) A 2)A 3) B

Thank you Dr, Suess (I mean Mr. Ziegler)

Dr. Seuss explains why computers crash

Theodor Seuss Geisel surrounded by his literary works.

 

If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port,
and the bus is Interrupted at a very last resort,
and the access of the memory makes your floppy disk abort,
Then the socket packet pocket has an error to report.

If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash,
And the double-clicking icon puts your window in the trash,
And your data is corrupted cause the index doesn't hash,
Then your situation's hopeless and your systems gonna crash!

If the label on the cable on the table at your house
says the network is connected to the button on the mouse,
but your packets want to tunnel to another protocol,
that's repeatedly rejected by the printer down the hall,
and your screen is all distorted by the side effects of gauss,
till your icons in the windows are as wavy as a souse,
then you may as well reboot and go out with a bang,
'cuz sure as I'm a poet the suckers gonna hang!

When the copy of your floppy's getting sloppy in the disk,
And the macrocode instructions cause unnecessary risk,
Then you'll have to flash the memory and you'll want to RAM your ROM,
Quickly turn off the computer and be sure to tell your Mom! 

While found in various internet sources the poem was actually written by Gene Ziegler, not Dr. Seuss and is an abridged and plagiarized version of the original.  That said, it is well worth the props no matter the source.
For the full version check out Ziegler's site at http://www.geneziegler.com/clocktower/DrSeuss.html

Tools for Online Submissions 2- Graphs

In part 2 of this  focus on tools for students to use to generate better products in electronic format for their work submissions I am focusing on graphs.  While there are many free downloadable spreadsheet programs this edition of my blog is dedicated to true online tools which work in the browser making them more appropriate when you are working with students in a setting where they have limited permissions to download.

With each tool I graded on 3 points you can use when you evaluate it
1) is it easy to use?
2)does it allow students to showcase all types of information?
3)educationally appropriate material or uncontrolled?

NCES Create a Graph http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/
Creates Bar, Line, Area, Circle, and XY scatter plots in a web browser which kids can save as an image or print. While not the most user friendly I like this one because unlike some programs it requires the kids to actually think about what they are graphing and make conscious choices with what to fill in, and is less wizard and magicy than many programs.
1) B 2)C 3)A

Chart Tool http://www.onlinecharttool.com/graph.php
Creates a much more dynamic set of graphs than create a graph including Radar, Meter and Line/Bar combos.  Trade off is so many options on the page that a low reading level student may get lost.  Good tutorial use might help.  Adds are targeted, but not guaranteed educationally appropriate.
1)C 2)B 3)D

Graph Tools http://www.graphtools.com/
Only does two graph types Line and Bar, presents you with five columns in which to enter data a simple set of just a few options to manipulate exports as a simple image file.  What it lacks in sophistication makes it simple to use.  If you don't need much from your graph except a graph this is your friend.  Better for math than science as labeling options such as titles are minimal.
1)B 2)B 3)A

Cool Math http://www.coolmath.com/graphit/
This is a graphing calculator and it works like a TI.  So great features if your kids are savvy enough to use a graphing calculator then this is a nice tool.  However, print screen is the only export option and because this site has a lot else to offer student might get distracted.
1)B 2)B 3)A

WebGraphiing http://webgraphing.com/ 
Winner! Winner! Chicken dinner!  This site offers a variety of options in graphing including simple number lines to 3d function manipulatable graphing.  There is something for every mathematical graph you might need.  This site gets a A+ for cool graphing and computation ability.  What it lacks is simplicity, as a teacher I recommend finding the exact applet you want kids to use and embedding or linking directly to it.  Sending kids to the mains site without a lot of directions may make for real confusion. Requires a subscription
1)B (A if you do as I suggested) 2)A 3)A

Tools for Better Submissions 1 Timelines

For the next little while I am going to focus on tools for students to use to generate better products in electronic format for their work submissions.  With each tool I graded on 3 points you can use when you evaluate it
1) is it easy to use?
2)does it allow students to showcase all types of information?
3)educationally appropriate material or uncontrolled?

Timeline Makers

Free interactive timeline text only generator http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/timeline/
Grades 1)A 2)D 3)A

Free,allows pictures and links in information, but requires sign up and has advertisers  http://www.timetoast.com

Grades 1)A 2)A 3)C

Free, allows pictures and links in information, cool flash interface with drop down tiles of info
requires sign up and has advertisers  http://www.xtimeline.com
Grades 1)A 2)A 3)B

Free Trial download, best product quality overall, http://www.timelinemaker.com
Grades 1)B 2)A 3)A

Free Text only with horizontal and vertical layouts http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/materials/timelines/
Grades 1)A 2)D 3)A


Free social interactive life story timeline, interesting and fun, but you have to have the right assignment for it http://Ourstory.com
Grades 1)B 2)B 3)A

Internet Safety and the E Teacher

I think sometimes that when I teach online learners, they are already online, so we can skip the web tutorial.  But it seems that many students today are having elearning thrust upon them an e resources used quickly without a pause for safe practices.  Never was this more obvious to me than at a recent inservice.

A police officer did the following demo.  He asked those at hand to name 3 schools.


He then announced that he was going to pose as an internet predator and would have enough information to take 3 children from those schools before the next speaker was done.  The next speaker was only introducing the schedule and was done is 5 minutes.  At that point the officer stood up and read the names of 3 children and then told us exactly where they would be at 3:15, 4:00 and 4:45 respectively and then held up their pictures.

In 5 minutes...
so that said what can we do to encourage safe usage?
One suggestion my e friends is to have students go through the following  e safety tutorial (slightly dated, but good)
http://www.webwise.ie/lessons/chatwise/flash.html

also the following videos are funny enough to keep kids engaged.
http://www.nsteens.org/Videos

Happy Single Tasking Day

In honor of April 2 Single Tasking Day here is a list of tasks sure to take a minute and slow your roll, while really boosting your ability to go forward with renewed speed and efficiency.

On April 2 you should

1. run a complete virus scan
2. remove unused programs
3. do a disk cleanup
4. run all of the updates you have been putting off followed by a complete restart
5. defrag your hard drive
6. open windows explorer and arrange all of the files into folders that make sense
7. do a complete backup of your system

In case you are not yet on the second of the month single tasking day bandwagon, you may want to check out this post from Feb 2, Groundhog's day and the first official single tasking day.

• The E Teacher: Multitasking is not always a good thing: "The main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing. -- German 

A little SIS/LMS/CSV humor

What makes good [E-]teachers?

I have sat with this concept often in my career, what makes Great teachers?  I have to admit a prejudice in my answer.  I believe the answer is Great teachers are born not made.

Born teachers possess several characteristics :

1. they enjoy learning
2. they have a servant attitude
3. they can deconstruct complex information

 However, not all born teacher's are in the teaching profession, and not all teaching professionals are born teachers.  Just as many talented musicians never play anywhere but their garage, and not everyone in the music biz is really all that talented.

So what do you do if you weren't born for this?  If teaching is not as natural as breathing?  Or if it was, but you've experienced a set-back, burn out, or other loss of teaching hootspa?

Short of finding another profession my answer is find mentors.  Mentors can be face to face colleagues, online colleagues or authors, or bloggers, or anyone who is willing to share what works for them.  Find them, seek them out.  Mentors can be formal, as is suggested in many teacher development programs, or informal.

The next step to getting better is finding the nuggets of gold in what each mentor has to offer.  Distill what they are offering and try to find 2 things from each minimum which are useful to you.  Take them for a test run, and keep only what works for you and your students.

If you can find three nuggets a year to add to your teaching bag of tricks, then you are doing well.

E teaching is not different in this respect, but finding online mentors can be more challenging if your school does not offer great professional development.  So how do you find those people in the isolated work from home world?

1. iNacol This is the professional organization that all e teachers should reach out to for professional growth.
2. your lms provider.  Most LMS's offer webinars and growth opportunities.
3. your faculty-even if your school isn't organizing you it is perfectly ok to reach out and contact other online faculty to see who is doing what.
4. never underestimate the power of a good search engine.  by finding blogs and other online teacher venues you can not only read what they have, but email and interact with the authors.

This comic made my day. Hope it makes yours

Be brave. Try the new stuff!!!!

OK fellow E teacher's, so your browser just changed to version 6 billion point twelve.  Your life is now consumed by hours of revising what used to work in your online class, and your four year old twins have started talking to you via skype because its the only way to get to you.  Sound familiar?

How can we solve this problem?

Some Tips:
1) Just because its called an upgrade does not mean its an improvement.
2) You can often preview upgrades by becoming a Beta tester.  If it screws up, drop back a level and no harm no foul.
3) treat Beta tests like scientists if you have time. But if you are a normal person, remember that updates can often wait.  If you were in a face to face class you wouldn't generally start a new textbook curriculum series on March 12.  So don't feel the need to accept the upgrade.

Hey you're on the "Wrong Mountain!"

Hey so yea, my last post or two have a few people wondering- 

What's wrong with Mrs E?

I would say nothing...that is to say nothing but the usual, or what I have come to know as usual mid winter funk.  Now in the past when I was a brick and mortar gal I experienced the funk, but the truth is I did not give my administrators enough credit for what they shielded me from.  It turns out that modern public education is not about what is best for students.  This was a pie-eyed belief that I held for years.  Turns out that in fact modern public education is a lot about politics, history, relationships, nepotism, and a little about making ourselves feel better that we are doing what is the currently acceptable best for kids.

I feel naive for not having noticed before, but I really didn't.  I mean how did I miss that "new math" was less about teaching math and more about making it seem like our government was making our kids better.  "Whole Language" was just English as a second language retooled for native slang speakers because they just don't speak the way their elders did.  I think I missed it because I believe.  Notice I didn't add a "d".  No past tense for me baby!  I believe that kids deserve my best every day.

So funny thing about realizing that education is about fashion as surely as kitten heels and the next "it" bag.  Turns out that like fashion, it all gets reused, whats old is new again, And earnest individuals like myself are not wasting our time when we collect our bag of tricks. 

E teaching is no exception.  Man it is a roller coaster of funding debates and politics, fads and fancies, fashion dos and don'ts.  I am happier and more fulfilled in this job even dealing with the same struggles.  I fight the good fight FOR KIDS with more success and less entrenchment.  And wow is that marvelous.  So I am happily climbing a new mountain of learning.

Perhaps Chuck Lorre said it best in vanity placard #62 

 

Poor Dave, who like so many teachers balks at the advent of the online ed era,  I understand your plight.  I once stood at the top of your mountain, and I can now say without a shadow of a doubt that no sir, it is you who is on the "wrong mountain" for me.  

wishing you find your mountain

~E

seriously I am now torn by whether to play the sound of music soundtrack or miley cyrus :(

From Servant to Service..leaving the public sector to join the service industry

Story Time

Once upon a time there was a Public Servant.  She went to work everyday with the mindset that she could help the Common Good, and that through the powers of her Servant attitude she served the Common Good.

Now Common Good is a fickle taskmaster who was constantly trying to get in bed with Public Opinion.  The ever faithful Public Servant became a master of navigating the moods of Public Opinion.  But Public Servant one day grew to have her own opinions about Common Good.  In fact Public Servant was convinced that she, and not Public Opinion. was the best match for Common Good. Common Good said that he no longer knew the truth.


Thus, Public Servant began the quest for truth which would lead her into the arms of Common Good. Meanwhile back at the ivory tower Public Opinion did her best to undermine Public Servant's position with Common Good. 


Public Opinion's evil plan worked for a while, throwing such pitfalls before Public Servant that Public Servant was forced to compete for her own survival and Public Opinion became so busy with the attacks on Public Servant and her quest that Common Good was abandoned.

Until finally Public Servant dejected and defeated landed near  Rock Bottom.   Rock Bottom had a motto which he shared with Public Servant "Rock bottom is good solid ground, and a dead end street is just a place to turn around." And so Public Servant did, she turned around and there she saw her poor beloved and dejected Common Good,  and realized that Public Opinion had brought them both so low, that she could no longer serve Common Good.

So she left the public for the private, and in becoming Private Servant learned that she could work for the common good with less whim, and more vigor.  Public Opinion was thwarted and reduced to considering only the money, and Private Servant could make it worth their while.  This in the end became the model that was followed and they all lived happily ever after.

Is this the fate of all Public Servants? 

Where computer ends and mobile device begins

In the beginning there was the abacus (circa. 500 B.C.) now there is the android and the atrix.

Where does the computer begin and the mobile device begin?  when is it not the right plan for students to complete homework on?
Is it ok to dropbox from your xbox?
Is it a good idea to view video lecture on a blackberry?
does screen size matter when it comes to learning?


I have friends trying iPads who have been very disappointed when they found out that the software manufacturers consider it "not a computer" and so could not enjoy full functionality that they had with laptops.  Is it reasonable to tell a kid, that you wish them luck, but you cannot provide technical support when they try to use a device in an off label manner?

To me the answer is yes.  I want to be helpful and make you as comfortable as I can with using the course, but I wouldn't use an abacus to cook.  You may be able to do it, and good luck on figuring that out.  I would appreciate the information of how it was done.  But I don't think I can justify taking the time out of my day and away from teaching to trouble shoot the process for you.

So test away, beta test, and push the boundaries.  I applaud that.  But if you want to be sure you are successful and not constantly cutting your teeth on untried options, may I recommend the tried and true. (or at least tried and help available) technologies of the modern era.  A lightweight laptop (or notebook) OS of your choice is STILL the best bet for teachers and students alike.

Missing Bulletin Boards

Its beginning to feel like spring and today I am lamenting a practice I used to have in my face-2-face classroom.

Bulletin Boards

See bulletin boards were my way of getting my geek out informally.  I could build displays and showcase something that people would peruse at their leisure.  I could teach without teaching, create conversation without leading discussion, be artsy or creative or crazy.  I was getting my educational geek out.  

But I no longer have a bulletin board, I have course news.  Students have to make a conscious choice to look at the page, they don't just walk by.  I no longer get the satisfaction. I know that widgets and feeds are all the thing, but I still argue that the reader has to consciously look it isn't just there, part art - part function.

So can someone give me my bulletin boards back?

Disembodied Voice

I called a student today to assist because my emails and IM's were not seeming to get through and I was getting no responses.

Student-Why are you all jumping on me?
Me- all who?
Student-well there is the lady on the emails, the man who keeps IMing me, and now you.
Me-Those were all from me
Student-well would you tell them to stop bothering me so you and I can just talk about it and I'll get to it?
Me-ok so phone works best for you.  so how can I help you get started now that we are on the phone.
Student-like I said just get the other two teachers off my back and I will do fine.



????????

Anarchy of order

Do students need to build knowledge in an order?

I am having a pedagogical crisis of thought.  Based on years of having taught both face to face and online I want my kids to proceed in order more or less.  I don't particularly care if they complete the homework or the discussion board first within a unit, but I don't care for the results when they unit hop.  However, in a world where people flit through information via a collection of links which may or may not fall in a line, am I missing the boat?

I consider a recent web experience in which I was purchasing tickets, watched a video, clicked a "related video" link which lead me to an ezine, read commentary which then linked me to a recipe which sounded great and I never purchased the tickets....

But pedagogically, I know that brains think that way.  The concept map/brain map side of me says that connections are richer when created through rich pathways.  My favorite go to websites for math and science info are hypermath or hyperphysics because of that interconnectedness.  So why is is that when I want to present content to a class, I cannot myself present that way?  To me teaching that way feels like pedagogical anarchy.

Why do I continue to follow the module lesson assessment order of things?  Why can I not abandon to the bacchanal excesses of the unfettered brain?

Oh yea-there is a test at the end.  I knew there was a reason.

Consider this
a world where we explore and are not assessed?  where latent learning is by design.

http://www.ratbehavior.org/RatsAndMazes.htm

"Do rats learn a maze by choosing the corridors that lead to a reward, or do they generate an internal map of the maze even without a reward (called latent learning)? To answer this question, researchers placed a rat in a maze and let it explore the maze with no reward. The rat simply wandered about. Then the researchers started placing food in the reward corner. Rats who were already familiar with the maze learned to solve the maze more quickly and acheived better scores than rats who had never been given exploration time. Their proficiency indicated that the rats had generated a cognitive map of the maze during their explorations (Tolman and Honzik 1930)."

Can we abandon the old way and do for our students what the maze men did for the rats?  Would this be a better way?  

And yet part of my job is assessing...how can I assess exploration?

What is a rat to do in a cheese driven society?

Sundays with Students

On Sundays, as I near the end of my weekly grading  cycle, I try to take the time to say encouraging things.  Why make such a point?  well its the

red pen perception.

RPP happens when all students ever see of you for a sustained period of time is red ink.  Whether a digital pen and actually red digital ink is employed may vary, but we are all at risk of falling into RPP from time to time.  Because one of our primary contact points with students is grading and evaluating.  Unlike face-2-face teachers who also see the kid in the hallway, lunchroom, bus duty; Or who form human connections through sports, coaching, sponsoring a club or even monitoring a detention, we online folks have to create human moments.  They are not organic.

So to combat RPP head on, I take Sunday to check in on kids through phone, email or IM and just say Hi.  Its a good day to google some of the things they wrote about in their initial getting to know you moments.  Personally I always ask for their favorite music.  Then I Pandora it.  I don't always like their music, but at least I can recognize it.

I also try not to belabor the point.  I don't create a social contact with every kid every Sunday, but I contact every kid at some point each month. 

Some of my best relationships with adults during my formative years were with my teachers, probably a large part of why I became one.  So, in combating RPP I feel like I am enriching the experience for all of us.

Real?

Dear students,

I am real.  I am here. I want to teach you and I am glad you are here!

I have recently been struck by the perception of my students that I am somehow not real.  They do things like apologize for calling or emailing.  Do students in brick and mortar classes apologize for raising their hands?

They also seem surprised when they learn I have kids, pets, and hobbies.  I know brick and mortar schools can create the same surprise when a kid sees their teacher out to dinner, but not so surprised that they actually doubt what they just saw.  And yet a student this week posted to a discussion "you actually grocery shop?"  ( we were talking about consumer messages about product safety)  Um...how did they think I got food and toilet paper?  mail order?  online shopping and delivery?


So kids, yes I am real.  I am here and I want to teach you!

Turns out my students are not alone.  Innosight Institute recently blogged about this unreal teacher feeling are-online-learning-teachers-real-teachers?

So in a world where some of my students most real friendships are carried out online via social networking how can I improve my reality perception?  I think therefore I am???? But computers have logic ...are they?
So I reached out to friends (well discussion boards friends) on the subject and they had the following thoughts on the subject:

-You are right that in order to think a thinker must exist (anything that "does" or manifests is proof the thing exists). However, often this debate is about whether thinking itself is what defines existence, and that is definitely not true because if it were, then one would cease to exist if one stopped thinking. It is quite possible to learn to stop thinking, and when one does one becomes more aware of one's existence, not less aware. In terms of existence, all thinking makes one aware of is the existence of thinking.

-I exist, the rest of you are just computer simulations created for my amusement. Prove me wrong.

-I think therefore I am" is wrong, it should be… “I believe therefore I am”...

-If I run up to you on the street and (in a fit of rage) I bite off your little finger, how much more real is it if you think I bit off your finger vs. you believe I bit off your finger?

-"If I run up to you on the street and (in a fit of rage) I bite off your little finger... "Is this something we should be worried about? How often does this impulse come over you?

Seeing that as unproductive I am left wondering does it matter if I am real? 

And I have concluded that what matters is if the learning is real.  I happen to believe that I have a direct impact on student success and perseverance in learning subject matter.  So, if I am unreal and effective then I am OK with that.

They use me to accomplish real learning therefore I am content with my own dubious existence really  I am....

Draft dodgers are us

I am guilty of losing my drafts.


Today has been one of those days when I realize that all of that beautiful work  I had been doing.  All of that blood sweat and tears was not meeting with results for the simplest of reasons.  I forgot to turn it from draft mode into visible to all.  Sigh.  Lots of clarifying to do now.

I personally waffle between two schools of thought--Avoid the draft and embrace the draft

Avoiding the Draft--This perilous act means that I use live pages every time I make an edit.  It's not a terrible thing except when dealing with difficult to modify pages, or overachieving students who are looking at the live before you make your edit and after.  Another pit fall of avoiding drafts and working live is that if you break something in your page, you may have difficulty backtracking.  I've been doing this long enough that I have backups of everything, but my backups are not always backups of the most recent draft-so some repairs can be lost in the shuffle.

Embracing the Draft-  By editing in draft mode I avoid the pitfalls above, but darned if I don't screw up and do what I did this week more often than I'd care to.  In my particular LMS I can have a variety of hidden working drafts at any given time, and depending on what event side tracks my over stimulated brain these drafts can be lost in limbo in perpetuity until I suddenly recall (a day late and a dollar short) what I was intending to go live with .

So which is better a bad plan which I execute cautiously with variable results, 

or a good plan which I variably fail to execute?

 

Introducing the recommended readings

Check out E Teacher's new recommended readings page.

A guide to email Tone

THIS IS YELLING- Please reserve for moments when extreme volume or emphasis.  Such as YAHOO! you completed that test with 100% accuracy!

This is conversational-Best for most email

do not make assumptions --"well its easy, you just..."  can be really rude if it is something the other person is struggling with.  Easy is relative.

Say exactly what you mean, be implicit --"I'm sure" verbalized can mean both that you are sure and that you are not sure depending on inflection, but "I'm sure" in an email always means you are sure.

Punctuate don't annihilate your meaning- "You have been absent from class for a week." as opposed to "You have been absent from class for a week!!!!!!!"

Be bold-don't bold, unless you are punctuating a list.

American idol uses online video assessment.

I love it.  This year American Idol included video auditions via YouTube.  I have previously had student upload student educational presentations to you tube.  I love using that tool because it gives me a different opportunity to know my kids and I get some cool free educational content.  Just remind them about identity safety at the same time and youtube can be a great companion tool for online presenting by students.


Go Idol!  I already have my faves!

Whomever said "It is always darkest before the dawn" clearly did not have a blackberry with a too short auto dim setting.  I would argue that there is nothing darker than after texting for a while or perusing my email when I have a long read at 1 am and the screen dims to black

Teaching new dog old tricks

Ahh newbies!  They bring fresh excitement, fresh perspective and are a great way to build a fresh experience...but there is a fine line between energetic new teacher's implementing new ideas, and screwing everything up!  Newbies can learn some tricks from the experienced, just as the experienced can be rejuvenated by newbies.

Some examples of old tricks which new dogs should be taught asap!

1. Copy before you create. Many a newbie has lost forever great content that they wish they could have back, but in a digital word, 1 save overwrites the past often irrevocably.
2. Keep records.  yes it is great that IM can be used to reach out to digital students, but we live in a litigious world where anything you say can and will be used against you.  It is a bad practice to get in the habit of using IM's without first creating some archive-ability of that medium.
3. Email has tone.  Tone is a literary concept that is often overlooked, but you have to be aware of it as an online teacher.  Conveying the right tone is the difference between helping students and hurting them.
4. Love your support staff. All schools, virtual and brick and mortar, have a group of dedicated individuals behind the scenes.  Secretaries, Network administrators, Librarians, Aides, Lunch Room staff, crossing guards  these people are the unsung lifeblood of schools.  They often know more about what works and what fails than anyone else around.  Treat them like the gems they are.

Sites to support new teachers: Web resources equip new teachers for success. (the online edge).(Directory): An article from: District Administration

Tools of the trade

Today's entry highlights some fun things you can use to spruce up your website and keep up with the fact that Content is King.

Netvibes:  a site which creates an rss feed or widget based on your selections of topics.http://www.netvibes.com/en



Voki for Education:  Makes playable characters to which you can add custom messages http://www.voki.com/Voki_for_education.php

Taxes are taxing

Today I took time out of my otherwise crammed schedule to do that thing that comes every year.  Yep, time to talk to the government and determine who overpaid whom and who will get a check them or me.

So yea, home offices.  Seems obvious, every e-teacher has one in some way shape or form. Phones, internet and a portion of utilities too make sense.

But here's a few things I didn't think about and now have to go find records for:

• For brick and mortar meetings.  I kept mileage and gas receipts, but I didn't realize I also needed my car interest payments, and car insurance for the year because apparently a percentage of those can be added based on the mileage.
• Cell phone breakdown-while somehow crazy to me instead of just knowing my business cell phone bill amount, there is a difference in where you put down cell phone data usage and cell phone phone charges.
• Last year's depreciated assets.  Whenever possible I tend to 179 the suckers just so I don't have to keep track of what was done when.  I prefer the straightforward version-I paid for it this year therefore my taxes should be dealt with this year.  But the pesky government likes to sneak in things like computers under a no 179 rule, so I have to remember them.  Thank god for last year's records.
• BTW-the govt now claims you only need to keep these suckers for 3 years, but if an item is forces to be depreciated over 5 years, how does that work?

I'm really glad I only have to do this once a year.

Fun things to do with the computer when the power is out.

This message brought to you by the Blizzard of 2011.

1) Use it as a model for your greatest snow sculpture
Now that's a frozen screen.

2) Remove the old guts of the floppy drive and make a toilet paper dispenser.
yes I am fascinated by bathroom computer use.
 

3) Get out the emergency kit foil "blanket" and keep your computer warm.

while you are at it keep the peripherals and chairs warm too.




 

 
4) Finally clean out your little buddy since this is the first time he's been off in 6 months. Be sure to unplug anyway as there is no telling when that emergency crew might just restore your power.

5) Finally take that warm vacation you two have been dreaming of. Please take precautions-sand and water are terrible on hardware.

Multitasking is not always a good thing

The main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing.
-- German Proverb


Have you ever noticed how quickly we turn to multitasking as our excuse for not giving our full attention to any one detail?  I have noticed that multitasking is not personally synonymous with bettertasking. Since when did a multitude of I'm-working-on-its become more valid that 2 I-completed-its and 75 waiting in the queque?

From the article

It’s Official – Multitasking Dumbs Down the Brain

How to Be Smarter and Happier: Pay Attention!

I humbly submit that the second day of each month be declared "One at a time" day and we commit to single-tasking with verve!  Let us chew our food before we swallow. Let us put down the keyboard while we answer the phone. Let Laundry be done with intent and purposed rather than hurry and disdain (de-stain?). Let us prioritize and work one bit at a time until completion is accomplished.


Let us be like the ground hog before he got famous and just look out and ponder the existence of our own shadow.

8 Big Mistakes Online teachers make

In a world that moves at the speed of instant messaging, it pays to think first.
Common mistakes
1) not checking out the student. Do you get to know the kids and their learning environment?  Do you ask them when and where they will work? do you know if they've taken classes before?  and were they successful?  Getting to know your student can make getting them to complete a much easier task.
2) not lesson planning.  teaching 101 right?  I am amazed at the number of teachers who let the course teach for them, and do not actually read the materials let alone plan their lessons and share the plan with students.  Basically good teaching requires teachers to think through what they will be teaching and how it will be assessed and how and when they expect a student to complete it.  Asynchronous or semi-synchronous teachers may scoff and say they don't care how and when- but they do need to know how long it will take and communicate that to students.  This project will take you a minimum of 10 hours to complete including 3 for research, 2 for writing, 2 for reading peer papers, 1 for writing critiques of peer papers, and 1 for reading the critiques you receive and 1 hour for rewriting based on critical analysis.  Let em know up front and you get a better result.
3) being unrealistic about how students learn best.  Online learning and learning in general are not one size fits all,  when was the last time you surveyed your class for the percent of lessons based on lecture vs reading, hands on vs video.  Its ok to have duplicate lessons for learners with different styles.
4) commiting to teaching an online course without first looking at best practices for tech. how many times has a student had incompatible software to turn in work to you?  You need to stay on top of software that allows saving and opening in multiple formats or commit to using nearly universal formats like pdf or txt.
5) not checking out the school. Institutions are not created equal.  Make sure you are putting your reputation in the hands of someone who does it well.
6) taking on too much too soon. If you have not taught online or blended before ask your employers to limit class size or number of sections, and ask them to provide faculty mentors.  If they don't do this already, you probably don't want to work for them.  Remember the time commitment for you the first time will be similar to your first year of teaching.  It will all be new.  There are new keywords and acronyms (LMS, SCORM, CID,.....) and you will benefit if you get help.
7) Thinking that since it is an online course, it is OK to "copy and paste." Teachers fall under the education standard of fair reproduction for one time use in many cases, however if you ever plan to reteach that course that is now not one time use.  Good site for more info on fair use
8) Being unprepared or unwilling to cooperate with a virtual team. Depending on your institution you will have all of the people you had in brick and mortar schools.  Principals, curriculum directors, tech people, department heads, and co-workers.  So think through what you did to build relationships with people IRL and think how will that be interpreted online.  Remember emails have tone and context, even if you didn't mean them to.  So be careful.  Does it need to be put in writing?  Should you call and chat or have a live meeting?  Because once you text it, IM it, myspace it, blog it or email it its out there on record and you can never get it back.

Today's topic was inspired by The US news and World Report 8 Big mistakes online learners make article of March 25, 2010.


Read the article at
8 Big Mistakes Online Students Make - US News and World Report

I wanted to follow it up with 8 common mistakes online teacher's make.

Hmmm...I don't think so

Old habits are hard to break.

And parents and educators are amongst the biggest resistors to change.  During my weekly follow ups with students and parents this became awfully evident. 


Parent: When will my child get their book, they have been in the course a month already?

Me: As we discussed when I called before this course does not have a print textbook, the materials are all online.
Parent: So I have to order it online?  I thought I paid for the class already.
Me:. No ma'am, its online in the course, your daughter can read it on the screen or download and print it if she chooses
Parent: how can I get a copy?
Me: well she can save a copy for you too, if you want to have your own.
Parent: well that's different.
Me: yes, online textbooks are pretty convenient, better for the environment and they save on shipping or returning the book.
Parent: well I know education is costing lost of money and I have heard that you all don't have enough books for students.  Perhaps after I print my copy I should send it back to you so you have one
Me: Hmmm....That's sweet of you to offer, but I don't think so.  I have my online version too.
Parent: OK, you let me know if you change your mind.  I know teacher's don't make much and you probably can't afford your own.

Now wasn't that sweet?

Racing my students

“Inspirations never go in for long engagements; they demand immediate marriage to action.”~Brendan Francis Behan


The race is on, the new term is afoot, and I am once again in third place.  Student A is on chapter 3 and student B is still not taking my calls.  Online has the capacity to excite, but excitement lasts about as long as a google rating for a page without content changes.  Constantly we E folk must provide new, more, different stimuli, or we lose our student quarry and must hunt them again.





Other people have a different approach, more of a correspondence course attitude-work is the student's responsibility.  I guess I'm just a spoonful of sugar kinda gal.   That said, my racing shoes are all laced up, and I am running and running.   

Gee I wish I had a magic umbrella.