Peifer's Place

Books I Teach

2009-01-23T18:48:00.002-06:00

9 Quest:

Catcher in the Rye
Lord of the Flies
Of Mice and Men
The Piano Lesson
Death of a Salesman
My Antonia
Joy Luck Club
Our Town
House on Mango Street

Advanced Placement Literature and Composition (12)

Invisible Man
Crime and Punishment
short stories by Faulkner, Hemingway, Chopin, Ellison, Wright, Gogol, etc.
poetry, poetry, poetry
As I Lay Dying
In the Time of the Butterflies
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Hamlet

Perspectives in Language and Literature (World Lit 12)

excerpts from The Iliad, The Odyssey, Sundiata
The Journey of Ibn Fattouma
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
Macbeth
Things Fall Apart
All Quiet on the Western Front
A Place Where the Sea Remembers

CIS Modern Fiction

Green Grass, Running Water
Going After Cacciato
Dreaming in Cuban
As I Lay Dying
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Sula
The God of Small Things
Dubliners
Servants of the Map

10 IB

The Iliad
The Odyssey
The Aenead
Flood Myths
Creation Myths
Sundiata
Antigone
Beowulf
The Inferno
The Canterbury Tales
Decameron
Dr. Faustus
Everyman
Macbeth
As You Like It
excerpts from The Tale of Genji
The Importance of Being Earnest
various poems throughout course

Bloglines

2008-05-13T20:10:00.004-05:00

I don't know if I have said this before, but I love bloglines. I think it is great that I can follow so many of my favorite on-line things at the same time. One of my favorite blogs is gadling found at: http://www.gadling.com/. It is a travel blog and I love reading the funny traveling stories as well as it has a lot of great travel tips and since I am now planning my trip to Europe this summer, this blog has been essential reading. Plus, it has amazing pictures from around the world that inspire me to dream of traveling to other places as well.

Another favorite blog I follow is serious eats: http://www.seriouseats.com/. As anyone who knows me would tell you--I never cook. This is not a hyperbole, which is probably why my mom almost always says, "Don't forget to eat" before she hangs up the phone. I heat food in the microwave periodically and I eat cereal (Kashi is my favorite) a lot. I like to cook, don't get me wrong, but I never do. Twice a year I bake: sweet potato pies for Thanksgiving and a rhubarb merengue dessert whenever the rhubarb from the garden is ready. This is the only time the oven is turned on. Now, having said that, I love food (and hardly ever forget to eat). I love going to the grocery store to look at all the options. I love eating out and I love cruises where you can eat all the food that you want whenever you want. Serious eats has great recipes, great food stories, and they often have pictures of delicious looking cupcakes. They even make brussel sprouts sound and look delicious! (Don't believe me? Look at this picture: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2008/05/dinner-tonight-dan-barbers-brussels-sprouts.html). I loved this story too that has ice trays that look like Han Solo has been frozen in them: http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating/2008/05/the-most-awesome-star-wars-han-solo-ice-cube-tray.html. Sadly, they said they were removed from the website they were originally found on, but it would be great to try to find. The article also had the suggestion of using the tray for chocolate molds.

I do follow BBC World News too, so I am not just dreaming of foreign countries and food. :)

Anyway, RSS feeds are really cool. Love it!

Sadly, not something new...

2008-05-04T22:25:00.003-05:00

Grading research papers is always a daunting task for me. I want to make sure that I am assessing them fairly and give them appropriate feedback, but I also want to finish grading them in a timely fashion as well. It becomes completely demoralizing when I find plagiarized papers. Everything that I have done in teaching the research paper process, and yet, two of the papers are plagiarized. I wish I didn't take it so personally, but yet, I do. I am offended and defeated at the same time. WHY do they cheat? Why do they think they can get away with it? Why didn't they learn how to cite their sources? Why didn't they learn the process? Why, why, why?

Post Test

2008-05-03T23:10:00.002-05:00

Happily, I am finished with the Post test. I was really worried about getting computer access since we don't really have a working lab at Central, but Leslie Yoder saved the day and loaned me some laptops. My students really seemed to like taking the test online, versus the paper copy we used in the fall. I am looking forward to seeing the results!

My new website

2008-04-23T21:10:00.004-05:00

I just "finished" my website on Franz Kafka and the trip I am taking this summer following Kafka's footsteps after reading all his works. I have spent a lot of time on it, which is how I missed my blogging session for last week. I have been slightly monomaniacal about it spending 6 to 8 hours on it each night after work. Every free moment was spent on programming this site. There is a lot more content to add, which is why, I suppose, no website is ever truly finished, but it is complete enough for me to take a step back for a moment and breathe. Check it out if you have time: http://vader.lib.umn.edu/lis753/peifer/ParistoPrague.html (no www). P.S. It doesn't look good in safari (I don't know why) so please use Firefox or Internet Explorer for full effect.

Google Documents

2008-04-23T20:54:00.002-05:00

Google documents are so cool! We are in the process of choosing our Link Crew leaders for next year. We have to post the names of our applicants (over a hundred names) so they can sign up for an interview, but we keep all this information for next year as well. Anyway--my colleague Megan and I have to type in the data so we did it at the same time on the same spreadsheet on google docs. We could see what the other person was doing instantly and where we need to fill in information. It was fun and fast. Additionally, our colleague Annette can access the information as well so she can do some last minute tracking of a few students who will then be referred to Megan tomorrow so she can finalize the list to be posted tomorrow. Google documents have allowed us to streamline this process. When we go through the interview process, we will be able to take notes online and be able to see what we all thought even thought the interviews will take place in four different rooms. How great is that! Honestly, I love google docs!

Another new thing

2008-04-07T19:46:00.002-05:00

I created a new wiki using wetpaint, which is supposedly more popular with users than pb.wiki. It is not as easy to use, but it is isn't that different from pb.wiki. It has more templates that make it more aesthetically pleasing, but it does use ads which is a negative--although, if it is for educational use, you can ask wetpaint to remove the ads so it is just one additional step. My wiki is to plan my dad's retirement party with my sister and mom so the educational part doesn't apply for this one. It has our to do list, our invite list, invite ideas, and our menu. It also automatically adds the pages to the side table of contents so you don't have to link the pages like one has to on the sidebar with pb.wiki.

It has been great fun using the wiki with my mom and sister. My sister and I were at Paper Source in Uptown buying paper for the invites. I created three different invites that were very different on wetpaint based on preliminary discussions with my mom and sister. Each has a different theme, so I was a little unsure of what paper to buy for our invitations. Courtnay, my twin, and I had pulled out about thirty different color combinations trying to figure out which would go with each idea. We each had our arms filled with beautiful different packages of papers from linen vellum to margarita inspired stationary with ribbons to match. My mom calls me while we were at the store. She had shown the wiki to my dad and they were able to tell me which idea they liked the best for the invites, which really helped in choosing the correct paper. How fun is that!

Google Documents

2008-03-28T22:23:00.002-05:00

I taught my students about Google documents this week, sharing my story about the computer not working and having my power point presentation inaccessible then and how Google documents helped me. I also created a few more power point presentations on Google documents and had a lot of fun doing it. I have a presentation for my grad class on Tuesday all ready on Google documents.

Anyway, on Thursday, seemingly out of the blue, one of my students said that she really appreciated all the information about wikis and blogs and google documents. She said it was really helpful and she thought it would really help her in college next year. Other students then chimed in and agreed that they really thought it would help them in college as well. It is pretty amazing to actually have students thank you because they see the value of the lesson--and not only for today, but how it will affect them in the future. Pretty awesome!

Happy Spring Break everyone!

Collaboration

2008-03-23T19:06:00.002-05:00

Technology is fun! I worked with another English teacher for an hour this week teaching her how to set up a blog, a wiki, and how to attach a site meter to her blog. We also talked about google documents. She was really excited and it was fun for me to share this information about technology that I have learned.

Also, I brought my projector and laptop with me to our annual Link Crew planning session that occurred on Thursday. It was really great to be able to use this technology instead of writing things out on pieces of paper scattered around the room only to have to type it up later. We could all work together on the same document and the planning session went smoothly and efficiently--and of course, it was fun too! We were able to download the school calendar and attach to the icalendar as well, which made planning next year's events that much easier.

Lastly, does anyone know how to download data from a jvc digital camcorder onto imovies? This has been the latest link crew frustration so if anyone knows anything about this particular camcorder, I would love your advice.

Overdue library book

2008-03-17T21:45:00.000-05:00

I love this story by Anna Brones
"If you have a tendency to rack up late fees at your local library, you might want to consider moving to Finland. In the southern town of Vaanta, a library-goer recently returned a book that had been checked out for over 100 years. The person who returned it chose to remain anonymous -- possibly deterred by the note on the book which stated there was a 10 penny per week charge for late returns. The library did not state whether it would have charged a fine or not. The book was a bound copy of a 1902 volume of Vartija, a religious monthly periodical" (http://www.gadling.com/2008/03/12/you-want-to-return-what-finnish-library-book-checked-out-over-1/)

Video Streaming

2008-03-09T19:47:00.001-05:00

I thought this was an interesting article about using video streaming in the classroom. The article is called "Streaming Technology Improves Student Achievement." http://thejournal.com/articles/16269

Research Papers

2008-03-08T22:11:00.003-06:00

I introduced the research paper process to my ninth graders this week. They really liked the research paper calculator! I hope they use it. It was great to walk them through the different features of the databases using my laptop and projector so they could all ask questions at one time and then could directly use the instruction on their own in the library. I love that when I watched them on their individual computers that they all knew how to access the databases and knew how to start their research. I felt like this is the a victory in itself. I know their information will be so much better because of this. The process of them choosing their topics is also better informed since they all have to find initial articles before they make the decision and their research on the databases have encouraged many of them to choose one topic over another.

On a side note, I got so sick of telling my students over and over that wikipedia is not a reliable source that I wrote it on the board a couple of weeks ago. This has created conversation in all my classes so I know they have all really heard it this time...I am not saying that I'll never see wikipedia on a works cited again, of course; I am not that naive. It even got my advisory students talking and I was really proud of the students that could, and willingly did, explain it to the other students who didn't understand this.

A Wiki World

2008-02-29T13:55:00.002-06:00

I live in a wiki world as of late. There is something so appealing in knowing that people can contribute to a shared idea, have a shared voice, but that everyone can choose to work on it in her/his own time and in her/his own space. The feminist literature students seem to use our wiki really well; the Cool Trip wiki paid off big when my friend and I won the travel grant! We are now using it as a planning space for both our research for the trip and our personal thoughts about what to pack.

My latest wiki is for the entire Central staff and I am both excited and apprehensive about it. This wiki is designed as a space for the staff to continue our discussion on the book Courageous Conversations About Race. There is, again, the possibility that no one will find it useful or meaningful to use this wiki. Because this topic is so personal for me, I am more fearful of this reaction, as if it is a direct rejection of me if people choose not to participate--a choice I cannot make when it comes to discussions about race. In any case, I hope that my confession here will allow me to not take the coming reaction personally.

Stumbling Behind...

2008-02-25T17:43:00.002-06:00

Somehow I forgot to write on my blog last week. Monitoring so many different wikis and blogs might be catching up with me because I completely forgot to write on this one! I was a little shocked with me when I discovered this. I had to write my resume in xhtml for my Internet class too last week so that took a lot of my attention as well. Anyway, what I discovered last week is StumbleUpon. It is this fun free toolbar you can download that allows you to stumble upon different websites tailored to the interests that you set. It is like browsing through the library stacks! It is really addicting!

Check it out:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/

Web 2.0 New Things

2008-02-07T21:31:00.001-06:00

This week I learned about two great Web 2.0 things: WuFoo and PEERtrainer. WuFoo (named because the site founders like WuTang Clan and Foo Fighters) has online resources to create forms like interlibrary loan forms, customer satisfaction forms, even invitations. It seems as easy to use as blogs and wikis and all the forms can be edited to one's needs. You can run statistics and export the information to excel as well. It seems really useful for many different things. http://www.wufoo.com

PEERtrainer is an online site to get in shape and lose weight. You can join a group of 2-4 or an unlimited sized team. You can join chatrooms to get support and read health articles too. You can join groups that have shared common interests. They can see what you are journaling about and offer support, feedback, and/or advice. It won the Web 2.0 award in 2007 in the health category. http://www.peertrainer.com

Wiki fever

2008-01-28T07:48:00.000-06:00

I am currently on a ship sailing to Aruba. I have taken a week off of school for this family reunion that I am at, which is exciting, but it also makes me very nervous to be gone from school--especially for the first full week of Semester Two. I started teaching Feminist Literature Quest and the beginning part of the semester is very note-heavy so I was particularly nervous to leave them. I knew I could not expect my sub, wonderful as he is, to figure out how to use the projector and present my power point presentations for the notes the students need. So, to manage my fear of leaving them without correct instruction, I created a blog for them and a wiki. On the wiki, I was able to post their notes in different sections. I showed the students before I left how to use the wiki and assigned them their homework of getting the notes from the wiki and the due dates for doing so. I can then update the wiki while I am gone and check the blog if they have questions on the notes. I can then monitor their questions from this remote access site. Of course, they can also leave questions on the wiki and via email. It sets me at ease to do this and allows me to relax and enjoy this vacation! Technology is so great!

A New Thing: Squidoo

2008-01-24T19:17:00.000-06:00

This week I learned about Sguidoo in one of my graduate school classes where you can have your own web page on whatever you want.

* http://www.squidoo.com

There are three levels:
* g--everyone can look at it
* R--restricted
* X--sign in

General facts about Squidoo
* live 2006
* free
* Dec 2007 Google will compete with squidoo
* no spam
* can use different widgets
* can add modules (building blocks) to your lens (lens is what they call a page)
* you add tags on it for people to find it--or not
* can have an RSS feed, email that you can add to the lens
* point people to the correct place
* can track statistics of who visits squidoo site

British teachers voice concerns about plagiarism

2008-01-21T00:35:00.000-06:00

I thought this was an interesting article about plagiarism on BBC world news:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7194772.stm

The article opens with this quote:
"The 58% of 278 teachers who identified it as a problem said they thought 25% of work returned by pupils included material copied from internet sites." I wonder what the statistics would be for teachers in St. Paul.

Podcasting

2008-01-14T18:33:00.000-06:00

I thought this was a helpful article about podcasting:

http://radio.about.com/od/podcastin1/a/aa030805a.htm

I hope to learn how to podcast soon. I'd love to have a session walking us through it!

Blog update

2008-01-14T18:30:00.000-06:00

It is exciting to see that students are now asking me to post certain things to our class blogs. Although the blog isn't used everyday, it is nice to know they do look to it for information, which also reminds me to update it. I post their major assignments on to the blog and it is a nice way to have them ask questions about the assignments on the blog--it is reassuring to know they really are thinking about the homework!

More wikis...

2008-01-14T18:24:00.000-06:00

Yes, as you all know already, I am wiki obsessed. I have created two more wikis, one for me personally so I can keep my notes organized and centralized for graduate school and one for my AP Lit and Comp class. For AP Lit and Comp, we are just finishing reading Oedipus the King and were discussing the Oedipus Complex. I have information about Freud on powerpoint, but we ran out of time in class to go through it, so one of my students asked if I could add it to our class blog. I tried to figure this out, but I couldn't find a place to do this--so I created a wiki. I knew I would be able to add it to a wiki, so I set one up quickly while they were working on some questions on a poem related to Oedipus and when they were finished with their questions, I showed them how to use a wiki--on our awesome projector! Only two people in the class had used a wiki before so I walked them through the wiki process and also how to set one up themselves in case they wanted to create their own. It is really basic right now, but they can now view the powerpoint presentation on Freud whenever they have time. Also, it is great to have set up since second semester they have a group project for Crime and Punishment. Since we all know everyone is so busy, I hope they will use this wiki to work online on their projects and hopefully this will enable them to collaborate better. I showed them one of my other wikis as well so they can see the potential of all that the wiki can do. We'll see how it goes.

Another challenge

2008-01-11T21:39:00.000-06:00

I don't know if anybody else is having this problem, but I haven't been able to connect to bloglines for a couple of days. I feel like I am behind on reading everyone else's blogs. I don't know why I cannot connect to it. I have tried at school and at home. Any thoughts anybody?

Another Wiki

2008-01-07T12:24:00.000-06:00

I created another wiki for a colleague and me who are writing a grant together. It has been a fantastic tool! My colleague and friend is also a part of two of the other wikis I have created, but didn't get interested in them. For this project though, she has become as obessed with the wiki as I was this fall. It is like a shiny new toy on Christmas morning. It has been exciting for me to have actually influenced someone else into using this new technology of their own accord--as well as to be able to collaborate using technology. Third time's the charm. :)

Starting the New Year Out Right

2008-01-03T17:31:00.000-06:00

I prepared a keynote presentation for my ninth graders for the Wednesday we returned from break--two actually, one on August Wilson and one on drama. I also found an interesting video to watch on United Streaming, or Discovery Streaming (you know what I mean) on August Wilson that was 22 minutes long. I set up the projector first thing when I got to school and thankfully there were no hidden obstacles to overcome this time; Wednesday's lesson was so smooth! Practice makes perfect.

The Last December Posting...

2007-12-28T20:49:00.000-06:00

I don't have much news, but I do have to say that I have learned so much already being a part of this program. I had an interesting conversation about technology with my best friend today and how there is such a difference now in terms of accessing information between the years we were growing up and going to school and today's youth. The fact that his eleven year old daughter asked for a macbook for Christmas was insane to me, but that might be how ingrained technology has become for those who have grown up with it versus those of us who have learned as adults. I have loved being able to use my computer to read BBC news and keep up with information that I wouldn't be able to get without the computer! I think the frustrations that I have with technology is just showing me that I am stretching myself in ways that aren't natural to me but necessary growth if I want to be a part of this new technology and teach students how to responsibly access information. I think about my dance classes and the fact that I don't get frustrated while dancing because I can keep repeating steps until I get it right; I have patience for it and if I get it wrong, my dance teacher can fix me the next week, but the realignment of steps is always small because I am familiar with the basics. This support is necessary to get it right, which is why I have enjoyed our last two hands on meetings so much. I feel like I understand the basics now with blogging and so my patience with technology has grown leaps and bounds this semester.

Anyway, this post might not be very interesting to read, but thank you to all who are a part of this program--I have learned a lot!

A Fun New Thing...

2007-12-23T21:48:00.000-06:00

Here is an article about a hotel in NYC for all of us that love libraries...a library themed hotel using the Dewey Decimal system...with corresponding books in each room! I'd love to check this out!

Here is the link: http://www.gadling.com/2007/12/23/library-themed-hotel-in-nyc/

Wikipedia

2007-12-12T21:06:00.000-06:00

I thought this article was interesting. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales says that teachers who ban the use of wikipedia is like trying ban rock and roll--and says that teachers who ban students from reading wikipedia are bad teachers. My favorite quote is as follows: "We are the Red Cross for information. We won't sell out to Google."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7130325.stm

Research Calculator

2007-12-12T20:24:00.001-06:00

I enjoyed reviewing the research calculator today--especially applying it to another subject, which isn't intuitive for me. I enjoyed thinking about how this applies to, in this case, math--which honestly, and embarrassingly, I don't think much about. It makes me think that I can learn how to assign an English project or paper that is outside my regular line of thinking. I try to be creative and thoughtful, but how does one know one is successful at this, if the creative project that used to be creative is not longer so insightful the tenth time one assigns it. Anyway, I appreciated the lesson immensely despite the appearance that I was antsy--that was just my back injury talking.

Thing 14. Reliable Online Resources

2007-12-10T18:56:00.000-06:00

* How could you introduce these resources to your students? I think when I introduce each research paper to each class, all of these resources need to be readdressed. I did this once with my AP lit and comp students. I will walk through this process again in the spring when the ninth graders go through the research process.

* Have you dealt with the impatience of students waiting for that instant answer? How do you handle that? I think everyone wants an instant answer. I am lucky, though, to have advanced level classes so most of the students are quite conscientious and really want to find accurate information. I think they are really good at understanding that google might be a place to start, but they need to use this information as a spring board. I think it is nice to validate the use of google, but to teach them how to find reliable resources. Also, it seems students do like to know where to go to find reliable resources. I know one person in this group talked about how the students seemed relieved to know where to look--that the question of where to go was answered. I agree with this. If students are directed to the right place--and a place that information can be found--they are relieved. I cannot blame them if they get frustrated when they search and search for information and still find nothing, so I think it is important to direct students to sources that will be most appropriate for them.

* What other reliable online resources do you rely on? I like Smithsonian myself as well as Internet Public Library, but I don't know if my students would like these sources too. I will introduce it to them in the spring. I would love to bring all my ninth graders to the Minneapolis Public Library downtown, but I cannot imagine bringing 80 ninth graders anywhere on my own--and really, who at school would want to chaperone that trip? But, it would be great to show them all of the resources there! Of course, that is a digression since this is about ONLINE resources--sorry.

Building Libraries

2007-12-08T22:34:00.000-06:00

I thought that this article on gadling's blog, this article written by Neil Woodburn, was really interesting:

http://www.gadling.com/2007/12/08/don-t-tip-the-locals-build-them-a-library-instead/

It gives information on Room to Read, a non-profit organization that has built 3,600 libraries in developing countries. Woodburn writes, "For just $3,000 a sponsor can fill an entire room full of books and convert it into a library in Nepal, or a handful of other countries the organization works with. Naturally, smaller donations will help as well.... So pull on that Santa hat and start giving." I don't know if anyone has a service project going on in their schools, but I thought it was something great to think about!

Thing 10. Copyright & Plagiarism

2007-12-08T22:03:00.000-06:00

As many times as I talk to my students about copyright, proper citations, and discuss plagiarism, there are still too many times that I run into improper citations and plagiarism. It is so disappointing. I think that the amount of information on the Internet allows students more access to sources they can copy and paste from--without citing their sources. I discuss MLA format for almost every assignment students turn in because I require every assignment to have the MLA format heading. I discuss proper citations for every journal assignment because they are required to imbed quotes into their journals to support their ideas, which also have to be done in MLA format. I review MLA format for every paper, which for the freshman is six per semester. For my power point presentations for each unit, I also discuss where I got the information I am giving them and cite them in the power point. How does one get students to internalize this information to the point where they understand that it has to do with integrity and academic honesty? This I haven't come to an understanding of. I do think that I have run into it less this year than I have in the past, but that doesn't take the disappointment out of it when I do run into it, which has been twice this semester. The worst, I think, is when I find they have copied each other's work, which I found in one set of journals this year. When I asked the two students, one remained completely quiet while the other student tried to rationalize it.

I guess, I just have to keep addressing it. I have created a link to all the class blogs to MLA. Maybe I can add a place on my website too that discusses the importance of citing sources correctly and the reasons why--a combination of resources like Como's website, but with an additional personal analysis on why plagiarism is wrong and how it could effect them after they plagiarize. I suppose kids are kids and sometimes they make mistakes. It doesn't take the disappointment out of the discovery of plagiarism though and the loss of trust it creates. I guess I have to keep drilling the importance of proper citations into their minds--until every single one of them understands this. The problem, of course, with this theory is that I believe they all know plagiarism is wrong. They also all know what plagiarism is. They have been taught this all through middle school as well so this discussion is not new to them. Maybe there is a way to personalize this topic so they understand this issue enough to link it to their integrity. I don't know what that lesson looks like, but I will keep thinking about this.

Cool On-line Photo Tool

2007-12-05T17:17:00.000-06:00

I just read about the tourist remover...an on-line tool that removes images from photos. You have to take a few images of the same thing though, 7-10 I think, and then the on-line tool will remove anything that only appears in one of the photos--like cars driving by, etc. It sounds like a fun tool for people with digital cameras. I am staying strong with my film camera so I cannot image taking 7-10 of the same image so I could remove a random person, but if I ever cave to the digital camera, I would love to check this out. The article can be found at:

http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/002089.php

Thing 5. Create a Teacher Web Page

2007-11-29T18:15:00.000-06:00

Yes, it is 6:15 pm. Yes, I am still at work. I have been working on my webpage since about 3:00 today after Leslie Yoder explained the fundamentals. I think it is so fun to create this, probably because there is something orderly about being able to collate all essential information in one page (it is the aspiring librarian in me that needs things ordered and labeled). Since Leslie Erickson provided some yummy treats, I have been quite content to sit and work uninterupted while the building is calm. Thank you Leslie Yoder and Leslie Erickson!

check out my webpage:
http://central2.spps.org/peifer

Thing 12. Other Search Engines

2007-11-28T19:36:00.000-06:00

Wow! I had no idea how many search engines and metasearch engines there are. I could spend an eternity checking this all out. I really liked dogpile.com and then I found that it won the Best Meta Data Search Engine award in 2003 on the search engine watch website:

http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=2156241

This provides links to over 30 meta data search engines, which I thought was great. I don't know how much new information any of these searches actually find, but there is some comfort knowing that these search engines are compiling the sites for me. For example, I searched Going After Cacciato in dogpile and then searched the web results and the image, audio, and video results. There wasn't anything very relevant in the image, audio, or video results, but I don't know what I was searching for either. I was just testing the search engine.

I also liked customsearchengine.com, because it allows a more limited, customized, search. I found the Liszen site which is a Library and Information Science search engine that I found mildly interesting. I entered National Geographic Library Services since this is what my project is focusing on for my Special Libraries class in grad school. I found some interesting blogs about NGL that I would not have found otherwise, but they weren't particularly useful either.

All this searching just reaffirms that the web is a beastly project to try to understand. I am happy to spend more time getting used to it--and then I get information overload and have to stop searching. I hope that each time I search my patience stretches--as well as my knowledge, of course.

Technology Update

2007-11-28T18:49:00.000-06:00

I used United Streaming again yesterday in my Modern Fiction class. I am teaching Going After Cacciato and I wanted to show them a little background info on the Vietnam War. I found a five minute video, which was perfect. I also was able to use the laptop and projector in this lesson. I updated the Modern Fiction blog and then I linked a photo of Dali's "Persistence of Memory" to the term surreal that I wanted to discuss with the students. I also was able to go to a definition of it after we discussed the term and how it relates to the book--very fun!

I have been trying to keep up on all the blogs that I have created. I have been updating the 9 Quest blog with what we do every day for students who are absent. It is a short summary of the class and it makes it really easy when students come back to tell them to look at the blog.

As for the wikis I have created, the one for my small group work for graduate school seems very helpful. One person had never used a wiki before so I was glad to have helped her get more familiar with the wiki process. The English department wiki seems at a stand still. The ninth grade academy wiki seems helpful because I post the minutes from the meetings on it. I think the teachers like knowing where to find the information when they miss a meeting. It makes life easier for those of us who run the committee as well so we don't have to chase after absent staff. One teacher asked me about how to add pages to the wiki at the meeting so I know he is at least interested in learning more about it.

I also, finally, picked up some library card applications from the Rondo library. The librarian was really helpful and said that I could bring in class lists if I wanted and she would get everyone signed up. Since some students already have a library card, I didn't do this, but what a great option!

I am looking forward to the Urban Planet workshop at school tomorrow. I am anxious to get my web page up. I am excited that the workshop will be hands on and I will have the web page up tomorrow...or at least have a good handle on it.

Another BBC News Article on Technology

2007-11-23T22:13:00.001-06:00

This article warns young people to protect their personal details over social websites stating that "Millions of young people could damage their future careers with the details about themselves they post on social networking websites" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7108627.stm).

The quote that I found most interesting is: "The commission said the young needed to be aware of their electronic footprint," something we should all be aware of. I think that adults who did not grow up in the Internet age are a little more weary of posting personal information all over the web, but I think it is a good statement to keep in mind--and to tell our students.

Thing 11. All About Google

2007-11-21T20:04:00.000-06:00

After reading LMC Lady's post about Google, I decided to check it out. I read through the handout that she added a link to--fantastic reference! I subscribed to Web 2.0-- the educator social network that I found through this source. Google has a lot of different handouts that you can download from their site as well. I also looked through the infinite thinking site that LMC Lady wrote about.

I had this feeling while wandering through all of these google references that I had discovered myself to be on the edge of a brand new world, and with every new trip into an unknown destination, it is both daunting and exciting. Should I step into this new world? How will I ever find the time to explore these new things that I have discovered? Since I have walked this far, I might as well keep walking and see what exploring will uncover :)

Moodle

2007-11-21T19:36:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Leslie Yoder, I was able to attend the Moodle workshop on Monday. It was really educational and very interesting; I enjoyed the workshop immensely. I think that if I can get it up and running, it will be a great resource for students. It takes a lot more work than creating a blog or a wiki, but I think in the long run, it will be easier to maintain.

Thing 8. Dribbling Lessons for Information Literacy

2007-11-18T19:44:00.001-06:00

I reviewed the dribbling lessons and although there is a lot of great information there, I cannot think of how I would integrate these particular lessons into my curriculum without really stretching to hammer it in where it doesn't belong. I did email some other English teachers about the information where I thought the lessons would fit more naturally. I thought that I might have missed something the first time I reviewed the lessons, so I looked again and again. There are a few pictures that would be fun to show students though. I'll keep looking through the information to see if I can use anything. I still feel like I must have missed something.

Social Networking article

2007-11-16T20:52:00.000-06:00

On Wired Top Stories, another blog that I have been following, there was an article that the teacher's union in Columbus, Ohio, believe that teachers should not use social networking like facebook or my space. The article stated that "the state's teacher's unions recommend that teachers not post profiles on social networking or online dating sites because it could lead to the appearance of improper relationships with students." The article's author then followed that up by saying, "Holding teachers up to a 'higher standard' -- symbols of an 'ideal purity' that the rest of us are relieved we don't have to attain -- is not only impossible, it works against our goal of helping young people mature into responsible adults." I thought the article was interesting. It can be found: http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/commentary/sexdrive/2007/11/sexdrive_1116

Teaching the Research Process

2007-11-16T20:43:00.000-06:00

I spent the hour showing my AP Literature and Composition students about the subscription databases, MNLink, WorldCat, MLA, Research Calculator--and anything else I could think of to show them about researching. They are working on a 7-10 page paper related to Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man that is due on December 3rd. I am very glad to have taken the hour to show them all of this because it seemed that a lot of this information was new to them. I also showed them how to use these resources by using some of their topics. I think they were really impressed by how much information is out there that they didn't know about--and how fast it was to find. Showing them how to use these resources was fun. I hope that they are excited about it as well--and that they start using these resources this weekend! They seemed really excited about the research calculator and how it would break the steps of the research process down--and how each section would be emailed to them. It made me think--if my AP students don't know about these resources, what are the odds that my ninth graders know about them? Very slim odds indeed. We won't cover the research process until second semester for the ninth graders, but I am excited to see what they think.

Thing 9. Streaming Video

2007-11-16T11:23:00.000-06:00

Usually the first time I try something new, I end up being very awkward and feeling disorganized. Streaming video was no exception. I thought that it would be easy. I thought that I would be smooth. I thought that since I had prepped everything on my desk top, hooked up my projector to my laptop, borrowed speakers to project the sound, streaming would be fun and the kids would love it. I wanted to show an eight minute video on characters in fiction before the students started writing their character papers on Lord of the Flies. Here is how it really turned out:

Hour One: my laptop needed something downloaded in order for the streaming to work. "How can this be?" I wondered for this laptop is much newer than my desktop. I tried downloading it, but it still didn't work. I passed out the paper assignment, explained the assignment, and had them work on it while I tried to figure it out. I downloaded the wrong plug-in, I didn't hit the right link to open the download onto my computer--the whole process was messy so I gave up and skipped the video for this hour.

Hour Three: Now, I think I am all set up. I figured out the downloading business during second hour. I play the video, but how to I get it to be full screened? I saw the icon a minute ago, but where is it now? It must be somewhere? I ended up clicking on several (maybe 10) wrong buttons while the students were dutifully trying to watch the video. After apologizing about the screens I was opening over the video, etc, I gave up and allowed them to peacefully watch the small screen version of the video. They actually seemed really receptive to the video and the paper intro went smoothly after that.

Hour Five: A student knew how to make the screen bigger, but it did something strange to the computer as well. It was alright, but overall--I don't know if I would use streaming very often after all this fuss. Is an eight minute video worth all the running? On the other hand, if the papers turn out better, it is worth it. I'll have to wait and see how the paper writing goes.

Thing 20. Podcasts, Downloadable Audio Books and More

2007-11-14T22:14:00.000-06:00

I was really glad to have Leslie share information on podcasting. It reminded me that I once was really interested in this and had since then, I had completely forgotten where to start. I am excited to play around with this again and find downloadable audio books as well. I browsed through itunes tonight and browsed the audio books that are available. I have never actually listened to any book on tape. As an English teacher, I suppose this is no suprise; I love language, the words that create images, the physical artifact that is the book. As I look through the list of books that can be downloaded, I start imagining how much more productive I could be, how much more information I could get into my brain if I downloaded information to listen to on my ipod versus listening to the same music over and over as I run, which is usually the only consistent time I listen to my ipod; I have literally not changed the music on my itunes for two years. That is embarrassing to admit.

Social Networking

2007-11-13T21:42:00.001-06:00

There was a post about social networking and the risk of identity theft in the UK posted on BBC news at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7090096.stm

I am always worried for people that post such personal information online; I don't actually think about identity theft, but, of course, I know that it is a problem. I wonder how to use social networking without placing oneself at risk. Maybe the answer is using a "closed" invitation only kind of social networking. Anyway, I thought the article was interesting and it has tips on making oneself safer too.

Thing 26. Digital Image Collections

2007-11-12T09:04:00.000-06:00

This is by far one of my favorite things to research! I found so many collections that it is hard to pick a few favorites to share so please forgive me, as always, if this gets to be a bit wordy...

1. http://artstor.wordpress.com/2005/01/10/major-art-museums-to-share-digital-image-collections-with-artstor/
“ARTstor has announced that sixteen art museums have committed to share digital image collections and associated data through ARTstor. Image and data from these collections will enhance ARTstor’s ability to provide broad-based access to art images for educational and scholarly use in museums, colleges and universities, and the K-12 sector”
This is such a great site, which includes links to some amazing museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, The British Library, British Museum, The Minneapolis Museum of ARt--and so many more!

2. steve.museum
This site is a social tagging project so you can participate and add tags to pieces of art.

3. http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/index.cfm
This in New York Public Library's site which has 550,000 images.

4. http://content.lib.washington.edu/
The University of Washington...

5. powerhousemuseum.com
This is located in Sydney, and it has a teacher's guide section which is fun.

I haven't actually figured out how to use these images in blogs, but they are great resources to add to a powerpoint presentation or to show students on the projector during lectures, etc.

Projector usage

2007-11-09T21:46:00.000-06:00

Two of my colleagues and I are trying to organize a trip of students to go to England, Wales, and Ireland this summer. It has been great having the computer and the projector for projects and this is no exception. We had a parent meeting and I created a keynote presentation for it. We then got together and practiced our presentation and it was really fun! It felt really great to collaborate with other teachers on this as well as share the technology. I think I have also paved the way for them to learn about keynote. For me, it was great to have other people to trouble shoot with as well about this technology. There were a few things that I couldn't figure out and although they don't know about keynote, they know a lot about trouble shooting so we were able to solve some problems together, which also felt really good. This technology made the presentation so seamless.

On the other hand, during the staff development day today, I was amused at my desire to take the presenters overheads and turn them into a power point presentation. I was almost bothered by how awkward flipping overheads seemed and how they had to use a piece of paper to block out pieces of this cartoon they were using to cover the punchline--and how the punchline was ruined when the overhead slid off and then they put it back on upside down...anyway, I remembered how lucky I am to have this technology and know how to use it.

In both cases, I was struck by how technology creates an impression of professionalism that outdated technology does not. In both cases, the content of the presentation would have been the same but the audience's reception of it is completely different. I know that students like the power point presentations I provide them, but I wonder if they are more receptive to the information in this format as well. Is there any research on the impact of technology in terms of learning and retention of information?

Thing13. Subscription Databases

2007-11-09T21:37:00.000-06:00

I wish I knew how to get my students to use subscription databases more and google searches less. Leslie gave a great presentation about the databases when she talked to my classes, but now what? I have given the students the information and created a pathfinder for one of my classes last year on where to start in using the databases for one of the research projects I assign, but I don't give that out until second semester. Maybe I need to do that for all my classes earlier on so they know where to start. We have a hard time at Central due to our lack of a computer lab that could hold all of the students in a class, but thankfully Leslie is working on that. Until then, I might try to create a scavenger hunt assignment using the databases to find the information that they can do either in school or as homework. This would be great to do this all together off campus, but how do I get three classes of ninth graders to the public library? If I could set that up, that would allow them to get library cards if they do not have on--as well as make sure they know how to use the databases in both locations. I will try to get this together.

UPDATE FROM NOVEMBER MEETING: It was really great to have the time to work with different databases and have others show the way. Often I use trial and error to get to know a database; searching for hours trying to find information in my first year of graduate school was frustrating--how great it would have been to have had this session before I started graduate school. I hope to transfer this information to my students so they don't have to go through the frustrations that I did. After reading one of the other participant's updated blog posting about the meeting, I also added a link to my class blogs to the resources we explored today. Now--if I can find the time to show each class how to navigate each one...

Social Networking

2007-10-31T20:31:00.001-05:00

It seems there is social networking going around everywhere! I ran across this article on BBC world news, which is a site that I follow on my bloglines about social networking that I found interesting:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7070815.stm

Then, I ran across this article about how Kylie Minogue has created her own social network called KylieKonnect for her fans to communicate with each other. The article can also be found on BBC World News:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7078581.stm

Another social network I ran across on gadling's blog is called dopplr which is a social networking cite for travelers. It is also a closed site which means one has to be invited into it, but you can read more about it on their blog:
http://blog.dopplr.com/

Blog thoughts

2007-10-31T20:17:00.001-05:00

My CIS Modern Fiction students are starting to use the blog more. It is exciting to see them logging on and asking questions. I love that I have a place to post information for them as well, especially about things associated with the U and college applications that they might need, but don't need daily.

My AP Lit and Comp students don't use the blog very much. I still post information on it though and I will continue to monitor their usage of the blog.

My ninth graders are in the middle of the road. I wonder if a website would be more useful for all my students, but I do like the idea that they can have an ongoing conversation. I think I will have this information for parents at conferences so they know they can also use these blogs as a resource.

Other thoughts on technology--I love being able to present information on Power Point! Love it, love it, LOVE IT!

Teacher usage of the wikis...the jury is still out...

P.S. I found this info about Iraqis blogging, which I thought was interesting: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/7069943.stm

Thing 36: Social Networking

2007-10-25T18:56:00.000-05:00

I remembered how shocked I was to learn about MySpace and how much information students were willing to share on it--personal information that I would never want shared in such an open forum. My students were talking abut Facebook recently and were telling me how much better this was for social networking. This is just beyond my grasp right now; I don't think I will be creating an account with either social networks any time soon.

On the other hand, I know a lot of people in library school with me have accounts on facebook. I know some teachers have profiles on MySpace. I am not sure why I have such a hang up about it, but maybe it is because I haven't tried it out yet; maybe it is just my techniphobia coming out.

Anyway, I learned about linkedin: relationships matter in class one day. This is social networking on a professional level, which I thought was really interesting. After you have set up a profile, you can network with other people that are either in your business or that you went to school with (you need a preexisting relationship with them). You can ask them to be linked to you and then you can share questions with each other through the first three rungs of connections. The answers can be rated then so you can see how other people view the advice that is given. You can also recommend people like an online reference which is good for job searching or if you are hiring, good for networking, and good for quick leads to find more information. It seems businesses are using social networking and the technology out there to their benefit while my first instinct is to bury my head in the sand...I see how the inner circle could be shifted based on how much technology one knows about. It is like a secret handshake or password. I imagine that libraries could also use a system like this to ask each other reference questions and the like. I can imagine teachers connecting to other teachers to ask questions about curriculum, etc. This could be really cool!

The website can be found at:
http://www.linkedin.com/

Think 6 and 7: Get to Know RPC/teacher page

2007-10-25T18:29:00.000-05:00

I just assigned a seven to ten page research paper to my AP Literature and Composition class on Wednesday. This made me think that I should review the RPC so that I can share this information with my students. I plugged in the appropriate data into the RPC and it quickly gave me the project broken down into five parts. I really like this feature as well as the questions the RPC asks in order to keep students going through the process. It occurred to me when I was grading the CIS Modern Fiction journals for The Dubliners that sometimes students don't even know they don't know something so how can they ask the questions to answer these unknown problems. Then I thought, how can I answer questions that I don't anticipate? It is easy for me to answer questions after the project is finished, but then it is almost too late for students to get the greatest benefit from the answer. Anyway, this made me think that the RPC questions are very valuable. I am going to introduce this resource to my students tomorrow--and of course, I have already created a link to it from the AP Lit and Comp blog.

I really like the links on the teacher resource page. The checklist is really nice as well as the rubric programs that are linked. It is nice to have resources so teachers don't have to reinvent any wheels. All of this technology and researching these new things are just more reminders that I am bringing authentic lessons to students, which I think is really great.

Thing 16: MnLINK

2007-10-25T16:58:00.001-05:00

I just reviewed MnLINK and what a resource it is! I am going to tell all my students about it and have already created a link to it on all my class blogs. I think this will be a great resource for them if they have a library card, which reminds me that I need to make sure they all have a library card! The fact that you can do an advanced search, request the search to limit it based on the format of information one is looking for--DVD, book, VHS, etc--but search all the library databases at the same time, and then you can request this information through interlibrary loan, is really amazing. I just assigned a research paper in my AP Literature and Composition class so I will make sure that I tell them about this resource ASAP. I am also going to post the information on the English department wiki so all the English teachers know about this resource.

The Wonders of Wikis

2007-10-24T11:28:00.000-05:00

Finally, we have actually "launched" the 9th grade academy wiki and the ninth grade advisors were really excited! I presented the information with my projector and laptop and walked them through how to use the wiki. Two people have already gotten on the wiki and edited pages. One advisor that has already edited pages was actually absent from the meeting, but since I posted the minutes from the last two meetings on the wiki she knew what to do--and she was excited to know where to go as well (I passed out a hard copy of the agenda into advisors mailboxes to let them know about the wiki.) I hope this is a valuable resource for all the teachers. Since we have 23 people in our academy, I think the wiki will be great to keep us all connected.

P.S. The wiki was received so well that one person brought me flowers the day after our wiki launch. It makes all this hard work really worth it!

Blog presentation

2007-10-22T18:55:00.000-05:00

I gave four presentations today after school for four out of the five blogs I created for link crew; one of the other coordinators has a projector and is familiar with blogs so he could lead his own group through the presentation. I am very optimistic. The students seemed excited; a few of the link leaders are in some of my classes so they are familiar with my blog usage already, but a lot of the students seemed excited that they could use a blog for a school related activity.

Tomorrow the ninth grade academy will present the ninth grade academy wiki to the advisors. We'll see if teachers are as enthusiastic about new technology as the students seem to be.

Another Wiki

2007-10-21T19:11:00.000-05:00

I just created a new wiki for a small group I am working with in library school. We are focusing our project on the National Geographic Library, which is very exciting. This library has so many resources and we hope to be better adept at working with technology so we decided to create a wiki not only to share ideas with each other but to ensure we know how to use the technology ourselves. I was happy to know how to set up a wiki to be helpful to my group--and it just gets easier and easier to work with technology the more I do so!

Seriously, I need to go grade some papers!

Blog blog blog blog...blog

2007-10-21T10:58:00.001-05:00

Here I go again--procrastinating on my grading for technology. I created five new blogs yesterday for our Link Crew program. After talking to the other coordinators and hearing how they thought the blog concept would be great but their overwhelming emotion was stress since they have never created their own blog, I decided to make the blog for them. This way, we--the program--get the benefits of the blog with no stress.

For the link crew program, we have divided our over 100 leaders into five coordinators to monitor them and answer any questions. We have a "link crew review" one a month where the link leaders meet with their coordinator and process the activities of the previous month. This is not a mandatory session, but most of the students attend. Because it is not a mandatory meeting, it has been hard keeping track of who was not there and what to do with their "reflection journal" after they hand it in and how to incorporate them within the discussion held at the meeting. Additionally, we wanted a place for them to talk to each other, a central location where they can find resources, let us know when they are having problems, etc--a central headquarters if you will. We have tried having this as a physical space in the building but it is hard to maintain and we were dealing with a lot of different pieces of paper, notes they would leave us (and then we would wonder who took care of the problem) and stuffing mailboxes to alert them of any communications, etc.

The blog seemed to be the answer--a virtual headquarters where one coordinator would be able to talk to a small group of link leaders. In order to cut down on any stress that might come from integrating technology for the other coordinators, I can monitor the blogs and they just need to check it once a month--like the link leaders. I hope that by checking their own blogs, they will start feeling more familiar with the technology and take their blog's ownership on. If not, we still have a great resource for the students. I'll let you know how the process goes.

A New Thing

2007-10-19T09:21:00.000-05:00

This really isn't about one of the "things" we need to do, but having the new computer has really inspired me to try out new technologies. Two of my colleagues and I are planning to take a group of students to England and Ireland this summer but we want it to be very literary and offer an independent study for it. We are in the advertising stage so we thought we should make a movie to play on the morning news--so I made one. I am super excited about it--my first ever imovie! I also made all kinds of cool flyers with "pages," which was also very easy to work with. I am used to working with Microsoft Publisher to make flyers and brochures so it was fun to work with apple's version of this. I made some fun flyers through comic life as well. There are so many fun templates to work with!

Additionally, for this independent study travel class this summer, I hope to implement the use of blogs as we travel as one of the class components. It will be a great way for parents to keep up with the travels as well as a great place for students to reflect on their experience. We'll see how it all pans out.

Thing 15: Collaboration--Take Two

2007-10-12T18:03:00.001-05:00

I am really excited about how the wikis I have created are being used. I now have updated them both to be more useful. For example, for the ninth grade academy wiki, I have finished attaching the Wednesday lesson plans and have attached the minutes from the last meeting. I also created a "Frequently Asked Questions" link and answered some questions that I anticipated people might ask.

The newest thing that I added was that for each advisor I have included on their own page a list of their advisees with the link leader that is mentoring the advisee. This will cut down on a lot of paperwork and paper-chasing. This way, advisors can edit their lists as new students are added or leave the advisory when they need to versus in past years when we (the ninth grade academy coordinators) generate a paper list twice a year. Then each advisor edits the list and hopefully returns the list to us, which doesn't always happen so then we have to chase the advisors around until we get all of them turned in again. Then we take the paper copy and adjust our records. Then, we pass out the lists to the link leaders so they know who is added/subtracted from their list (...and we have expected them to be mentoring those students who they/we didn't know about...ridiculous!). This will allow advisors to have control of this process and it will allow the records to be updated when they see fit and everyone can see the records as well. I love that each time the wiki is updated, I will get an email about it which means I don't have to check the wiki unless I get notified of a change--and that no one else needs to get these notifications if they don't want them because unwanted emails are the last thing we are trying to generate. Link leaders will be able to mentor their ninth graders more effectively and efficiently as well which is the goal!

On top of all those benefits, it introduces the wiki concept to so many teachers. One teacher has already gotten on their page and updated their list of students and formatted the page the way she wanted. She was really excited about it too, which really is the end goal. The ninth grade academy coordinators have prided ourselves on creating a user friendly program that is effective. I am happy to add this new technology to enhancing this mission. (This wiki has not been publicized yet. We will introduce it to the advisors at our next meeting October 23rd. The people that are testing it out are the other ninth grade academy coordinators).

The other new feature I added to the English department wiki is for each individual English teacher's page I have typed their room number and schedule so we have easy access to when people are teaching which subject and when their prep is. I also started to add links to the curriculum I have created so that people can use it when they want to. It gives new teachers some additional support as well as gives them insights on the expectations we have as a department. The department is currently reorganizing our books and once we have this data available, I am going to add the book list for each class. This way we can see who teaches what and which books belong in which class.

It also gives administration another resource as well. If a parent wants to know what the curriculum is for each class, the administration will have a place to go. Currently, the administrator has to track down who teaches the class and then ask them to print out their lessons which is time absorbing. The parent may or may not pick it up, which creates waste of time and resources. Lastly, we all know of those teachers who are not quite following the prescribed curriculum and say they didn't know any better. Despite the fact that they should know better, this gives everyone another place where she/he can take responsibility to look at what the curriculum is for each course.

The greatest thing, though, is we can really collaborate with each other and share best practices. We can actually support each other on a common mission instead of recreating the wheel over and over. Each person can add things and collaborate when he/she has the time, a seemingly decreasing resource, and can find answers to questions when they have them. The opportunity to really share best practices is really exciting! I imagine that instead of taking the time to reinvent something someone else has, we can use that time to make everything that much better.

Thing 33: Some other thing

2007-10-12T07:04:00.000-05:00

I have been trying to change the template of my blog. I have grown bored of it and wanted to freshen it up; maybe if its skin was changed, it would allow me to find more creative things to write about as well. The remaining things on the list don't intrigue me presently so I have procrastinated tackling any of those things to change the appearance of my blog instead, which is neither a mandatory task or an efficient one--and as it turns out, an ineffective one to boot.

I tried some of the templates that blogger offers and grew tired of them even faster. I went to some of the sites that blogger recommends to find a new skin and searched these sites for what seemed like hours. Well, it actually was hours...There are so many to choose from, but now I cannot figure out how to attach it to my blog. I tried changing my blog's html to classic to see if that would make the new skin attach, but that did not work either. I have run out of ideas and so my blog has returned to its old skin; sadly, it did not evolve into something new and beautiful. I have nothing to show for my hours of labor, but I do have thoughts ruminating so although I have lost this battle, I have not given up the war.

Projector usage

2007-10-09T21:06:00.000-05:00

Today I used my projector to give a power point presentation on T. S. Eliot for my AP Literature and Composition class. It was easy and it really kept the students' attention. They really liked the transition effects from slide to slide. It was also really fast to shift my previous notes into a power point presentation since they were already typed; I did it over my lunch break on a whim since I have all of these great resources available to me. I hope to create a power point presentation for each major lecture. It will make things easier in the long run and more digestible for the students. I love my projector!

Thing 15: Collaboration

2007-10-08T20:36:00.000-05:00

I brought my students to the library the second week of school to start the collaboration process, which is the usual procedure for me. I love being able to bring my students to the library and have Leslie give them an introduction to the library and the research process. The students watch attentively and they get a bookmark that Leslie makes with the passwords to the databases so they can access them from home. The next week we return to the library to check out books and get these great handouts Leslie has available in the library giving students the correct way to cite different sources using MLA format.

What was really interesting to me is that because of the MILP surveys, which were given after the two different trips to the library, I get to see how much work I need to do to get them to understand research. I don't know if any of the information Leslie presented on when into their heads based on an initial glance through the surveys. It was really eye-opening that we can go through all of the correct steps and the students may not absorb anything. The collaboration process has just begun! More on this later as we go through the research process.

Thing 4: Get to know your public library

2007-10-08T20:23:00.001-05:00

The busiest public library in the state, the Roseville branch of the Ramsey County Library, is very close to my house. I would never guess it is the busiest library in the state since every time I am there, it is peaceful, it has the feeling that there is a lot of room to wander without being interrupted by other people, there is never a long line at the check out desk. Being a library student at St. Kate's, I have researched a few public libraries, special libraries, and I have access to the library at St. Kate's and the U of M. This is how I discovered it is the busiest library in the state.

Anyway, I obviously believe in using libraries. I tell all my friends to go to libraries for resources, to study, to get a cup of coffee even. I think that I spend a lot of time at various libraries studying a variety of subjects depending on the library I am at. When I arrived at the public library on Sunday, I remembered why I am not the best library patron. I had not returned one of the books I had checked out last time and I had already created a $7 fee--on one book. I could have just purchased the book at half price books and had all the time to read it (I didn't get to read that book that created that fee). On top of that, I checked out another book--despite the fact that I didn't get to read the last book I checked out. It is like netflix. I let the movies sit in my house for weeks and then half the time I return them without watching them. I returned home thinking, "Are you an idiot? Do you not have enough to do that you must check out a book that you will not read and have to pay for anyway?" I feel guilty already.

In any case, most of my students have a public library card just based on a show of hands in an informal class survey. I meant to get some applications on Sunday, but I was thrown by my $7 fee. I will have to return soon to get them for the students who do not have a library card--which might get me to return my latest check out before a fee is earned.

Sitemeter

2007-10-08T20:19:00.001-05:00

I thought that I had attached my sitemeter to my blog the first day I set up my blog. A few weeks later, after getting two weeks of 0 visits to my blog, I continued to live in denial that I had attached it. Then I got an email, thank goodness, from the sitemeter people who said I hadn't finished the process and they gave me a step by step video to watch online. Now, I hope that I have attached it correctly. I am not sure really since I haven't had a chance to watch the whole video so I watched the first few seconds and guessed from there. It now says I have had one visitor to my blog, so that is better than nothing; one is always better than none.

P. S. Now that I know how to attach the sitemeter to the blog, I have added a sitemeter to all of the blogs I have. It is really cool! I love being able to see how many people visited the blog and where they are visiting from. I attached one to one of the wikis I created as a trial run. I wonder if anyone knows if this can be attached to the wiki because right now I just have the html on the wiki, but the icon doesn't appear anywhere. If anyone knows if this can be done, please let me know!

Blog usage--homework for parents

2007-10-05T19:44:00.000-05:00

Another English teacher sent me this link to a New York Times article about an English teacher in New Jersey who requires the parents to log onto the class blog and comment on different pieces of literature. The teacher states that if the parent does not respond, the student's grade could be effected. Can you imagine how this would work in St. Paul? The idea is that students will do better if their parents are involved. The parents comment on different excerpts that the students are studying. If the parent states in a letter that they would not participate in the assignment, the student was not penalized. If the parent wanted to email or call their response in, the teacher would also accept this. Fascinating idea...

Here is the address of the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/education/04homework.html

Thing 32--Take Three: Wikis

2007-10-03T14:58:00.000-05:00

After creating the English Department wiki, I presented it to the department today. I was actually surprised about how warmly it was received. One never knows how technology in general will be received--if it will be interpreted as more work or not. I am optimistic that it will be used. A few teachers seemed to have the same vision for its potential as I had when creating it. Using technology is great, but being able to share the excitement is so much more powerful.

On a side note, the other wiki I created is being temperamental. I created an avatar for each of my coworkers that co-coordinate the ninth grade committee with me. That was great fun! I called another teacher that is one of the co-coordinators and we had such a great laugh at the first four that I had created--one of them being her. She really liked them and so I thought that it would be fun to have her help create the last avatar with me. This way, I had to walk her through the necessary steps in using the wiki and also how to create an avatar. The likelihood of her using the two wikis I created is much higher now (she is also an English teacher). If everyone had the opportunity to have a one-on-one mentor to coach them through the process, one would never get frustrated with using new technology. (Of course, it is time consuming and an unrealistic idea, but a gal can dream!) Now, when I log into the wiki, one of the avatars have dropped off the page and when I try to reload it by entering the edit page, it gives me the whole page in html. I don't know what to do!

Thing 32--Take Two: Wikis

2007-10-01T19:32:00.000-05:00

As I suspected, I have could not stop at creating just one wiki and have now created a second one. I keep seeing ways that technology would be helpful all around me. I also think I am postponing my grading by playing with technology--so this one will be the last wiki I create for a while.

This second wiki is for my English department. I keep thinking that if I can introduce new technology to even one other teacher, I could reach so many more students--it could have an exponential effect. I created a page for each teacher and for each course we offer in the department, which currently is 30. This way people can collaborate easier for the subjects they teach. The wiki can be used as a kind of server--as well as a great resource for new teachers teaching a course. I don't know if the other people in my department will use it, but I did talk to two people who seem interested in at least trying it out.

Thing 21: YouTube and More

2007-09-29T23:10:00.000-05:00

I just watched a video on TeacherTube by Rachel Boyd from Nelson, New Zealand on why we should let our students blog. My first reaction when watching this was--these students look like they are in first grade; they are just lil'uns! How do they know how to type or write yet, let alone blog? If they are blogging, well, there is a lot of learning going on in that classroom.

I wonder how much technology is too much technology in the classroom? How much use of it will take away from the basic core of what I want my students to learn? Everything takes time to teach and that is something that seems to be eaten away at all the time, with unexpected pep rallies, state testing that seems to multiple, more, more, more, which leaves classroom teachers with less, less, less.

Yes, I want my students to have the skills to negotiate the turns of technology. I also want them to be able to write beautiful and eloquent essays, read literature that will change their perspectives of the world, and be critical thinkers. How do you pick and choose what you'll throw out of the curriculum to add new pieces while teaching time seems to be ebbing every year?

Now, on a lighter note--TeacherTube has many interesting features. One of them is called BrainPOP, which is a curriculum-based site focused on students from third to twelfth grade featuring movies (more than 600) and then has activities that go along with them. I don't think I would use this enough to warrant the fee, but I think it is interesting that it is searchable based state standards tools.

Another video I watched on TeacherTube was one called "Have you been paying attention?" It talks about the value of using technology to teach keeping their learning styles in mind. It asks the question "How much richness does your curriculum provide?" I watched this video twice actually. The statistics are interesting, the ideas were definitely out of the normal teaching framework. I am left with these questions: Can teachers that are not as technologically savvy as their students improve the "richness" of the curriculum by using technology? Doesn't one have to be an expert? How does one become an expert when one is not a native speaker of that language, a wanderer in that world, and you don't have language brain?

The last video I will address here is called "Did you know? 2.0" The video states that "In ten years, it is predicted that the country that will be the number one speaker of English will be China" and "there were more than 2.7 billion searches on Google--this month." That is a lot of information (that might not be reliable) to have been accessed. How about the fact "that if MySpace was a country, it would be the 8th largest in the world"? That is a lot of social networking! It must be working though, since the video also stated that 1 in 8 marriages in 2005 started by meeting on the Internet.

This video then directed the viewer to go to the wiki: shifthappens.wikispaces.com to join the conversation for "everyone must be involved in the conversation if we are to come up with a system of education for our children that prepares them for the 21st century" (shifthappens.wikispaces.com). The video really made me think about how I teach students. I don't know how I will be able to change my teaching, how much I will be able to change, or how fast, but at least I am thinking about it. The video also quoted Albert Einstein, which is how I will end this entry tonight: "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."

Thing 17: One New Thing

2007-09-29T22:53:00.000-05:00

Today in my special library class I discovered a thing called librarything.com. I am sure many librarians and tech savvy adventurers have heard of this before, but I had not. I have to wonder, having said that, if I had heard about it in another class before but hadn't had enough tech savvyness then to even recognize that I should check it out. Today, however, I logged on. How exciting it is!

This is a website where you can catalog all the books in your personal collection. From there, the options are endless. You can meet other people who have similar book interests, you can import cataloging records from anywhere including Library of Congress, you can get recommendations and reviews, give recommendations and reviews, join book clubs, add your books onto your blog--really, what can't you do once you get on this site? Seriously though, as an English teacher and library science student, I couldn't be more intrigued with a website! Check it out and see for yourselves!

Things 32: Wikis

2007-09-29T22:33:00.000-05:00

I am torn between labeling this blog entry "Wikis" or "Collaboration " since it is both--but since I am using a Wiki, I have named this thing--Thing 32: Wikis. I have used wikis in some of my library school graduate courses, but had never heard of them before. They were used as a way for the teacher and students to have one place to share information and post questions. One professor used a wiki as her syllabus. All the assignments for the class had to be uploaded into her wiki. She then gave us her comments and the grades for the assignments via email. Talk about using technology in education! It was frustrating sometimes though when the wiki was down and then we all scrambled on what to do to get our assignments turned in on time--resorting to emailing her individually, which was not an ideal situation for her.

As I shared this experience with other teachers, I realized that many didn't know what I was talking about when I said wiki. I thought, "Is this library jargon?" and worried if I was being rude talking about these things called wikis. It isn't library jargon though; it is technology jargon, which made me think that I should create a wiki for teachers to use so they could become familiar with them and then they could possibly use it with their students. I am going to create one for one of my English classes as well, but I cannot decide which one I will choose. I am slightly worried that once I create one, I'll become obsessed and create one for every class. In theory, this would be great; in reality, many things would get neglected in my life if I sat around all day creating wikis--but I digress.

I decided to create a wiki for the Ninth Grade Academy at Central, one of the committees I co-coordinate. I have never created one before and it took me a while to figure out what I wanted it to do. I ended up spending a lot of time setting this up, but now I know how to do it and I feel really proud of that.

One of the co-coordinators for Ninth Grade Academy is also familiar with wikis, but not enough to create one for us. The other three co-coordinators are not familiar at all with wikis. I plan to show them what I created at our next meeting (this Tuesday) so they can get familiar with it and then launch the wiki at our next Ninth Grade Academy meeting, which isn't until October 23rd. This will give me a chance to add all the lesson plans onto the wiki and add any other features I can think of before then too. I am excited to introduce the wiki as a collaborative tool; I have high hopes for it, but only time will tell if others will find it useful.

Adding Personal Pictures

2007-09-28T20:10:00.001-05:00

I have enjoyed adding pictures to the four blogs I am now maintaining. It adds a piece of my perspective of the world without having to add too much personal information. I did add a picture of myself per Ballroom Queen's Blog of 23's request. I know it is kind of hard to see me in it, but that is why I picked that particular picture. I think my newness to online posting leaves me feeling slightly uncomfortable posting a picture of myself in such an open forum. I hope this picture gives enough detail so you can recognize this picture is me while not giving enough information for just anyone to see me. This might seem strange, but I don't like having my picture taken in general so it probably follows that I wouldn't want people looking at the ones that are taken of me. If I could have my twin sister pose as me in all pictures, I would do it. I do love to take photos though so I have a lot of pictures of trees, oceans, mountains, and doorways (some of my favorite subjects) that I love to share with others.

Blogging observation for the week

2007-09-28T20:06:00.000-05:00

An interesting thing happened today as I went to monitor my Bloglines. Next to four of the feeds was a red exclamation point. When I clicked on this added feature, the following message popped up: “Bloglines has encountered an error trying to fetch the latest version of this feed. Bloglines handles errors automatically, no action is required by you. The error was:

The feed does not appear to exist. This can be caused by the feed URL being incorrect, or it can be caused by a configuration issue with the server hosting the feed. If this error continues, you should check the feed URL and, if it is wrong, subscribe to the correct URL.”

This baffles me. How can these blogs not exist when I have had these blogs in this feed since I created by RSS feed—and they are four blogs from the MILP? Additionally, how can the message simultaneously state no action is required by me AND you should check the feed URL and…subscribe to the correct URL? I don’t know what to make of it. I suppose I could delete them and then re-subscribe. This makes me think of Robert Burn’s poem “To A Mouse…”—“The best laid plans of mice and men…” When it comes to technology, despite trying to plow ahead—possibly because one is trying to plow ahead—one never know when one will unknowingly run into a mouse’s house. I think I am all set up and then the error button pops up and I am at a loss. I imagine for those who have grown up with this technology it is solving this problem is intuitive, but for me—I have to stop, sigh, and then breathe deeply to rally myself to jump back in for possibly hours in order to fix the unexpected problem.

Online Information Literacy Learning Activity

2007-09-21T20:25:00.001-05:00

Today, I had my AP Literature and Composition students go into the computer lab. With everyone on a computer (it is a very small class), I could walk them through using the databases to research their poetry papers. After the students did some preliminary research, each student had to choose three poets they are going to research. They then had to post their selected poets on the class blog. This created a competition between them because none of the students can research the same poet. There was such a flurry of typing and researching--and a little bit of negotiating too.

I also went online at the same time and found some useful websites they could use besides the databases. When I found an interesting one, I would tell them about it so we could all look at it together. This helped them in their selection of poets because some of them had no idea who and where they should research. I posted this list on the blog as well so they can return to them throughout their research.

It was interesting to learn that seniors in AP aren't all as fluent with technology as I had assumed. It was nice to get everyone on the same page and know they all know how to access databases, reliable websites, and the blog for the class.

Someday, when Central has a bigger computer lab, I could bring all my classes in and do activities like this. It was really fun! I couldn't believe how fast the class flew by and all the students were truly engaged in research the whole time--very exciting!

Online learning

2007-09-21T20:16:00.001-05:00

I created a blog for each subject I teach. I have been having a lot of fun creating each one to have its own personality--just like the class. I have posted the major assignments for each class. For my AP Literature and Composition class, I have added some useful websites for them to explore as well.

I have already had two blogs used, which already makes me think it is a worthwhile thing to have created. It is really interesting to me to see how much more of my personality I can show through words and images in the blogs that I might not feel comfortable doing in class--or don't have time to do in class. I can include my own favorite poems and phrases and show more examples of the work I am asking them to do. This really will be another resource for students and I am really proud of using more technology. I think it also makes me a more dynamic teacher, which is rewarding in itself.

I hope that I will be able to maintain these blogs now. We'll see what happens!

Avatar notes

2007-09-17T22:44:00.000-05:00

Here is my avatar and after the struggle I had adding her, I feel victorious that she is here. She was stubborn, but that is because I don't know the rules in fighting technology. I have to read directions and I had to search these out on the avatar.yahoo website. It ended up being very easy, but I had to read about it first before I discovered that. Now that I have done it once, I am sure that I will be able to add avatars to blogs again and again without any frustration. I wonder how my students deal with confusing assignments; if they give up before they finish simply because they do not have the tools to find the correct answer to succeed--while attaching avatars to blogs might be intuitive them. How do I empower them to keep trying until they accomplish the task at hand?

Avatar

2007-09-17T21:55:00.000-05:00

Thing 3: RSS

2007-09-17T11:59:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning I was in my Special Library class for my Library and Information Science program. The guest speaker this chilly morning was a special librarian from Target. One thing she spoke about was RSS feeds, something that she creates for many of her users at Target. Everyone in the class seemed familiar with this concept, shaking their heads and agreeing at how useful RSS feeds are. Most people in the class already work in libraries and they are fluent in the technology that is so common in the world outside of the little cocoon of education. For some reason, as educators, we aren't in the same technological loop. I don't know why since we should be inovative and thinking about future trends.

I left class after the guest speaker to arrive at the MILP meeting where RSS feeds come up again. How wonderful to have a tutorial on this the very day I discovered I needed to know about it. I am always a little fearful when I hear about new technology--wondering if I will be able to figure it out, but it turns out it is very easy to create an RSS feed. I told an English teacher friend of mine and she hadn't ever heard of an RSS feed before. I think that this program is such a great opportunity for me because I am slightly below the curve when it comes to my MLIS program in technology, slightly above of the curve as an English teacher; I believe MILP will bridge the gap by forcing me to initiate the conversation about technology and to use technology that I would never do on my own.

Thing 2: Blog

2007-09-17T11:48:00.000-05:00

Creating and maintaining a blog seems to be pretty simple--once I can get over my initial hesitation on using one in the first place. My personal connotation of blog makes me think "open and available"--rants left unedited, personal thoughts exposed--where my writing is usually kept private and personal. Since this is an assigment, it gives me a rational to create a blog, which probably brings me into the 21st Century.

Now, I begin to imagine all of the ways blogs could be used--beyond the personal journaling definition that is now archaic. It would be fun to create a blog for each class, each committee I am a part of, so that people could be constantly sharing, collaborating, networking--and from the convenience of their own time and place too. I wonder though how often these kinds of blogs would be used. How many people my age or older feel the way I do/did about blogging. It might be useful for certain classes, but I cannot imagine that committee work will start blogging any time soon.

Thing 1: Understanding Information Literacy

2007-09-15T22:57:00.000-05:00

The articles on information literacy brought several things to mind. First of all, the first article posted by ACRL states that information literacy "extends beyond technical skills and is conceived as one's critical reflection on the nature of information itself, its technical infrastructure and its social, cultural, and even philosophical context and impact." I wonder how I will be able to not only teach this "critical reflection on the nature of information itself," but how I will know that I have successfully taught this, especially when I am still teaching things so much more basic to many of my students. I wonder if knowing more about brain development theory would be useful in knowing how much to expect from my students, how to teach them critical thinking skills more appropriately in order to evaluate and synthesize information--and when and where I can find this information, which leads me into my own quest for information literacy.

Also, the idea of collaboration with other staff members is both exciting and daunting to think about. When will there ever be enough time to collaborate in the way we would need to in order to successfully integrate all the things necessary to create the supportive atmosphere that the articles speak of. If there were a day to work on technology integration, how many people would welcome that versus a day to get caught up with grading papers? Where does the reality of the pressures of teaching end and the practical opportunities for cooperation among staff to "promote a vision of liberal education as an empowering and transforming endeavor that develops students as skilled independent learners" begin? How can we realistically create this in our staff first?

Lastly, "21st Century Skills Information Literacy" article made me think that I need to find out more about the information seeking behavior of my students and the 21st Century teen--generation y--in order to better understand how to facilitate their information literacy. This could then lead me to create more appropriate pathfinders to initiate their searches. I believe that they seek information in a vastly different way than I do and this must be understood first.