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TIS & THAT Volume 6 Issue II
“Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together & motivating them, the teacher is the most important.”
September 11th By Brenna Pase Every September, teachers all over the United States incorporate the history from September 11, 2001 into their classrooms. Now students have no memory of this event, because it was right after or even before their birth. Those of us who lived through that, have vivid memories, and it is a relevant piece of history in our lives. Those who are too young to remember need to experience the history in a way that they understand how detrimental this event was to the United States. Technology can aid in making this a valuable learning experience. Many students enjoy learning better when technology is involved. Again, why not use this fact to benefit teachers? One of the most beneficial ways to help students experience historical events is through the use of virtual tours/field trips. The following link provides a field trip of the 9/11 Memorial Museum: https://www.911memorial.org/blog/take-virtualtour-911-memorial-museum. Many of our students will not be able to make the trip to New York to see this place, but now with the help of technology they can experience the museum. Additionally, New York wasn’t the only place in the United States that experienced this tragedy. A resource to experience Flight 93 is found at: www.tinyurl.com/learn93. If you wish to teach your own lessons on 9/11 but need help preparing lessons, the following websites
offer ample information and lessons to use, free of charge: www.tinyurl.com/lesson224 www.tinyurl.com/understand911 Celebrate Freedom Week September 11th-15th 2017
Websites Worth a Look www.smithsonianeducation.org www.freetech4teachers.com www.educationworld.com www.teachersfirst.com
Homework without the Internet By Christine Sherman Digital inequities continue to exist in communities across West Virginia and the country. Approximately 30% of West Virginia population is underserved with access to broadband coverage and is ranked 45th most connected state in the country. The digital divide has become a hot topic in education and politics. Keith Krueger, CEO of the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), is concerned that “technology will be one more way to expand inequities rather than a bridge to narrow.” Efforts have been made to provide access to new technology and internet access in schools across the country. Millions of dollars have been invested into building adequate infrastructure throughout the country. Students who do not have access to technology or the internet face barriers when completing homework, working on projects, working on shared documents and connecting with others on discussion boards. So how can students complete and/or use technology in meaningful ways at home, regardless of internet service at home? It has been suggested that students can access the internet at the library or through public free Wi-Fi to complete assignments. But that is not always practical or an option since many students do not have transportation. In the future we could see the digital divide narrowed with the Short Message Service (SMS). The SMS will create a Mesh Networks to transfer information without data plans or Wi-Fi. Mesh Networks work by creating a fluid network where the smart phone itself becomes the cell tower. It is a
growing trend and could go a long way to improving access for students. Until then, here are a few practical suggestions to help you incorporate the use of technology with homework assignments and possibly inspire you to transform how you view homework. Most devices we have in schools or that students bring have some type of application that requires typing. Putting an emphasis on keyboarding skills is important and many applications are accessible without internet connection. Students can type a report, practice letter writing or create a digital journal. When connected to the internet at school, students can download digital books or articles to read later at home without being connected. There are many applications for digitally formatted books. Since technology isn’t going away students, need to learn to read, bookmark and take notes while reading digitally. The sky’s the limit when we start thinking about creativity and the buzz of Project Based Learning with homework. Many applications that feed the creative process can give a student the opportunity to create and show what they know in ways we never would have imagined just a decade ago. Students can keep digital journals, not just with words, but drawing and adding pictures. Students with little or no musical background can explore how to create original music and the sounds of instruments they might not otherwise experience. We need to rethink technology based homework from a substitution of paper and pencil to redefining what students can create. The possibilities are endless. References Krueger, Keith, and Jayne James . “National Association of Elementary School Principals: Serving All Elementary and Middle-Level Principals.” NAESP, 1 Apr. 2017, www.naesp.org/principal-marchapril-2017-technologyall/digital-equity-civil-rights-issue-our-time.
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Digital Literature Circles By: Teena Hine Literature Circles, the classroom’s version of a book club, have been a trend since 1982 when an elementary school teacher in Arizona coined the term for group novel discussions in her classroom. They consist of book discussion, student response, free choice and collaboration within the reading block of time. Whether you teach elementary or high school AP literature, this collaborative learning theory can apply.
In a traditional literature circle, students will assume roles within the group that assist them in their group discussion of the text. Popular roles in a typical elementary classroom are, Discussion Director, Literary Luminary, Vocabulary Enricher, and Checker. As students progress through a novel, they can change roles after each discussion to ensure everyone has the opportunity to respond to the text in different ways. Typically, students are completing their role assignments via a printed packet that serves as an organizer and text response. This is then brought to the literature discussion to help students stay on task and ensure everyone has completed their part. Teachers often collect these packets and the completed pages are given a grade. While the literature circle method gives students more free choice and less monotony in assignments, the overall trend hasn’t completely caught up with the 21st Century Learning skills. As stated in
Comprehension Collaboration (2015) “these role sheets quickly become mechanical, hindering rather than empowering lively, spontaneous talk.” Teachers who use literature circles want their students to foster “thick” questions that provoke deeper more meaningful conversations, but tend to see some students get behind in the required packet work, or stuck in a scripted group meeting. To give students a rich meaningful experience we must infuse technology into our methods of instruction. If you are looking for a way to go paperless with literature circles, there are a multitude of resources already created by teachers that one can purchase, or use them as a means to gather ideas to create your own. Teachers Pay Teachers is a popular search site in which digital literature circle publications can be found. One example is Lit with Lyns, who has a fully created Google Doc Ready Literature Circle for purchase, as well as a blog with information on how she has implemented it in her classroom. You can find it at http://tinyurl.com/litwithlyns. In addition, a simple search on Pinterest will yield numerous results when looking to substitute
paper packets, for digital. Looking to keep literature circles semi-traditional, but incorporate more online collaboration? How about creating a Notebook in
Office 365 where students can collaborate on assignments, in addition to the face-to-face meetings? Using an LMS, such as Schoology or Edmodo enables students to respond online to discussion starters, in order to get the conversation going. This type of conversation can get even your most introverted student involved in more meaningful discussions as well. And last, we can take digital literature circles just one step further. Do you have a teammate or know of another teacher who incorporates literature circles? What would the outcome be if we allowed our students the freedom to collaborate outside of their own classroom on a text? Students from different classes could pair up, chose the same text, or plan out a text for students to cross collaborate on digitally. The possibilities are endless when we allow ourselves to step outside of the classroom box and begin to think globally. While literature circles remain a highly incorporated method of instruction, it’s time we re-evaluate what we really want our students to be able to accomplish with it. How will you incorporate the 21st Century learning skills into your literature circle groups, so that you can foster a deeper text connection, using a digitally collaborative approach as a meaningful connection with others?
Digital Journaling By Brenna Pase What is the purpose of journaling? Why would teachers use this tool in the classroom? According to Edutopia (2010), teachers all over believe that journaling is one of the best ways to see and understand student thinking. A downfall, of course, would be time needed to grade these journals. Another tip from Edutopia (2010) is to have the students edit their own journals.
(The Importance of Student Journals and How to Respond Efficiently, 2010) Now, we are in a digital age and in 2017 should students be writing strictly in journals? Some will argue yes, but others will send a resounding NO! Many would argue this is the time to use technology to make journaling even more vigorous. Additionally, using technology is expected in school systems now. Why not meet technology standards while using something that teachers find useful in the classroom? Digital journaling may be the solution to meet these needs. What is digital journaling? Digital journaling is simply journaling using some sort of technology. Why use digital journaling? Pytash (2014) states that “while only 50 percent of teens say they are required to write every day, 82 percent of young adults feel more in class writing would improve their abilities. When it comes to technology, 78 percent of young adults think their writing would improve if technologybased writing tools were integrated into their classroom.” (Pytash, 2014) Students believe journaling, especially writing that is technology-based, will increase their abilities and they are likely to have a more relevant learning experience. Pytash (2014) recommends trying the following programs if you would like to incorporate digital journaling into your classroom: Penzu, Little Memory, and Penmia. All of these are online tools for journaling. (Pytash, 2014) Another useful tool for teachers may be Seesaw. This is more of a digital portfolio, which includes a journal component. This tool gives students the ability to add pictures, video, PDFs and more into their writing. Explore this tool out at http://web.seesaw.me/learn-more. Julia at “The Techie Teacher” website gives 5 reasons to
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digital journaling, especially using “Google Slides”. Those reasons are: the teacher can check work anywhere, the teacher doesn’t have to “mark up” the students’ work, it’s easier to edit, reference materials are just a click away, and it’s paperless. The BEST part of this website seems to be the added Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT) resources that she has already created and has linked to the article. Why reinvent the wheel? Check out her support of digital journaling at: http://www.thetechieteacher.net/2016/02/digitalwriting-journals-freebie.html.
About the Authors
Finally, a resource most teachers in West Virginia are familiar with is Common Sense Media. The following site, gives many different apps that can be used for digital journaling, for those classrooms that have tablets available. Many of them are Apple components, but there are a few Android suggestions as well. For a complete list visit: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/journalapps-online# References
Pytash, K. E. (2014, November 4). Using Digital Notebooks for Modern Writing Students . Retrieved from Literacy Daily: https://www.literacyworldwide.org/blog/liter acy-daily/2014/11/07/using-digitalnotebooks-for-modern-writing-students The Importance of Student Journals and How to Respond Efficiently. (2010, September 1). Retrieved from Edutopia: The Importance of Student Journals and How to Respond Efficiently
Brenna Pase: TIS Candidate/Lead Teacher at Burlington Center School, Office of Diversion and Transition Programs Christine Sherman: TIS Candidate/3rd Grade Teacher Mountain Ridge Intermediate School
Teena Hine: TIS Candidate/3rd Grade Teacher Tomahawk Intermediate School
What’s Your Digital Footprint? If you haven’t been talking to students about their digital footprint, now is a great time to get started. As an adult it is hard to think years into the future when posting to social media. Now, imagine your 13-year-old self with the responsibility of caring for your online presence that would have followed you into adulthood. Colleges and future employers will have access to more personal information than ever imagined. Students need to know that every keystroke or post to Facebook and Twitter will forever be a part of the digital world. Here is just one of many sites to start you on your path to teaching students about the mark they are leaving in the digital world. http://www.teachinctrl.org/lessons/yourdigitalfootprint.php