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.

 

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.

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

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

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?