Creating Lifelong Learners

It happens to everyone and it happened to me last year…my laptop hard drive died.  The Apple Store replaced it, of course, but along with it I lost all of my data.  I do regularly back up my data but if I back up every month or so, I lost a month or two of data.

Since that time I use one of my favorite free applications, Dropbox which solves two problems for me at once. Dropbox gives you remote storage that is accessible on every computer you use.  This means your data is constantly backed up and that you can work on the same files from multiple computers.

So, for example, I am enrolled in graduate school and there are several papers I need to be writing at any given time.  I keep those files as either Word documents or Pages files in my dropbox folder and I can sit down at either my desktop, my laptop, or even a friend’s computer, login to dropbox and work on those same files.  Once I save the file, the changes are instantly reflected on every computer and, of course, there are multiple backups to the file available on each of those computers after syncing. There’s even an iPhone app which provides access to your files on the go.

I have a paid MobileMe service which does the same but it costs money and though it pains me to say it, I have had trouble syncing folders via MobileMe whereas Dropbox works reliably and seamlessly.  Check it out.

With approximately 30,000 combined views from a variety of video sharing sites, Mr. Winkle Wakes, has had the largest audience of any movie I’ve made.  What’s cool about having a mini-viral video is that from time to time, the movie is rediscovered and its popularity spontaneously increases.

Recently, thanks to Google Alerts, I found out that the movie was being used in Dr. Strange’s teacher education course in Alabama.  Students were asked to watch the movie and comment about it on their blog.  I had the privilege of Skyping in to say hello to some of his students.

I read most of the students’ posts on Mr. Winkle and commented on a few.  While most of the students put a rubber stamp of approval on the movie (probably thinking this is what their professor wanted them to do), I was most impressed, frustrated, and flattered by the students who decided to disagree with my point of view in the movie.

The movie, for those who haven’t seen it comes form a story that I didn’t write, imagining (Rip Van) Winkle waking up after a hundred years to find the world has changed in all places except the local schoolhouse.

Staci, a student in the class, writes:

I thought what was being said was simply not completely true.

Schools today are steadily increasing the amount of technology they use with the children. When I went to LSU, I tutored at a local public school, and it was full of computers for the teachers and children to use, as well as SMART Boards for the teachers to use to teach the children. Schools are realizing that students’ need much more stimulation that a chalkboard to get and keep their attention.

I know more schools would use technology if they had the funding…overall, I was not thrilled with the video Mr. Winkle Wakes.

The movie, of course, uses humor to make its point and is an example of hyperbole (some of the students’ misreadings of the movie make the case for better media literacy teaching in schools since in some cases they simply misunderstood the tone of the film).  Certainly there are some newer technologies in schools.  While we once could only photocopy in blue and white, now we can photocopy in black and white, for example.

Yes, some schools have SMARTBoards.  But Staci still sees the use of technology as teacher centered.  In focusing on how teachers need to use technology to “keep their attention.”  Staci misses the point of the movie.  In the movie, technology is shown as a tool to connect people to other parts of the world and venture outside of the walls of the classroom.

Yes, SMARTBoards are nice but installing them in a classroom does not necessarily change the structure of education.

What we need is for students to create, to discuss, to lead classrooms.  And while funding is an easy excuse, how is it that I was able to have my students create their own films using a single Mac computer but some schools that have entire computer labs use their computers only to provide students with electronic flashcards?

The problem of integrating technology goes beyond funding.  It’s a question of teachers first giving up some control and stepping off the stage for a moment.  Then it’s a matter of providing training and support since things do go wrong with technology now and then.  But most importantly, it’s about a re-imagining of the classroom, not simply replicating classrooms we once attended.

How do we change teacher education programs to address this?

For those teachers in the Los Angeles area, you may wish to attend the CUELA
(Computer Using Educators: Los Angeles) Tech Fair which is being held on
November 14th at Mulholland Middle School.

I am not presenting this year, but I am on the board of directors for the
organization. We have compiled a fantastic list of presenters and workshop
topics in the field of educational technology for a full day of learning and exploration.  Registration includes lunch, breakfast, and the possibility of winning some fantastic door prizes, including a Flip Video camera.

Sign up here: http://tinyurl.com/yzldmrz

One of Google’s less popular and most useful tools is Google Alerts.

Google Alerts allows you sign-up for e-mail notifications related to any search term.  I use it, for example, to track any mentions of “Mathew Needleman” (my name) or “Matthew Needleman” (the popular mispelling of my name).  It’s a narcissist’s dream.  But aside from the big head it may give you, it’s a good idea for any teacher to track their public persona, check for fake Myspace pages, etc.

Bloggers should also set alerts for their blogs (I find it’s more reliable than technorati for finding incoming links) and presenters should set up alerts for their presos to find out when they’re being talked about.

Knowing how to use Google well can also allow you to customize your searchers.  For example, when searching for Paradigm speakers, I set an alert to search for:

paradigm site:craigslist.com

to alert me whenever Paradigm speakers were listed on Craigslist (hence the “site:” part of the search term.

In the classroom, you could use this to search for particular topics related to your curriculum.  For example, searching for any timely references to fossils, physics, or medicine that may show up in particular news sources.

The alternative is to continually launch google and keep searching for this or that.  Google alerts allows you to find this information instantaneously and never miss out.

For more information, see Google’s Alert’s Support Info. and Google Cheat Sheet to learn to search smarter.

What do you use Google Alerts for?

Update:  Google Alerts sent me an alert about this post within 2 hours of me writing it:

Google Alerts « Creating Lifelong Learners
By Mathew Needleman
I use it, for example, to track any mentions of “Mathew Needleman” (my name) or “Matthew Needleman” (the popular mispelling of my name). It’s a narcissist’s dream. But aside from the big head it may give you, it’s a good idea for any …
Creating Lifelong Learners - http://www.needleworkspictures.com/ocr/blog/

Sorry for the short notice but if you have 30 minutes to spare today I’ll be a guest on Ed Tech Talk to promote the upcoming free K12 Online Conference 2009.

They will be showing a selection of some of the best previous K12 Conference presentations (but they’ve also included mine : ).  After the presentation, I’ll be there live to answer questions and talk about the project.

My preso is the first one up.  I’ll be there at 11:00 Pacific Time.  You go to http://www.edtechtalk.com to see it/hear it.  Here’s a link for more information.

Here are a few tools to use when assessing students at the beginning of the year:

The Basic Phonics Skills Test (BPST)
This is helpful in identifying specific areas of phonics need (short vowels, long vowels, digraphs, etc.)

San Diego Quick Assessment
It’s also important to know students’ knowledge of sight words which is an almost completely separate skill from decoding and an almost equal predictor of reading success.

Yopp-Singer
Test of phoneme segmentation

DIBELS
provides several free fluency passages as well as comprehension assessments

What pre-assessments do you use?

Independent Work Time, a time when students are working on their own while the teacher works with small groups.  It’s an official part of our reading curriculum but should really be a part of every teacher’s day in some form or other since it is one of the few times you can differentiate your teaching.  It also pays off in dividends if you’re able to teach your students to work independently.

I’ve answered some questions about Independent Work Time before:

IWT FAQ

What Do I Do During IWT?

Additional Articles on Independent Work Time

Here’s a new question about debriefing, those few minutes of wrapping up loose ends at the end of IWT:

Hi Mathew!
I am a 2nd grade teacher in AZ and I purchased your CD and have followed it for 3 weeks now. So far, it is working wonderfully for me. However, I haven’t been very faithful about the debriefing time after IWT is over mainly because when our IWT is done then it’s time to go out for recess and the kids (and myself) are in a hurry usually.  Should I continue to do the debriefing all year?  If you consider it important, I will try to do it more consistently.  I guess I need to allow a 5-10 min. time before recess to debrief the kids.  Also, we are mandated to have literacy centers that cover the “big 4″:  Comprehension, Phonics, Fluency, and Vocabulary. How would I work that in with the Must Dos and May Dos?  Thanks in advance.

I do feel that debriefing is important.  However, if behavior is not a problem, it would less important and in the real world there will be days you don’t get to it.

Invariably there will be small problems that come up and get bigger over time and if you don’t debrief, it’s difficult to address them.  Also, debriefing is the time when you can talk about the work itself and hold students accountable to having finished it.  For example, asking “Who found out something new in their research today?”  “Who revised their writing and how did you make it better?”  If you never debrief then students might get the message that there aren’t specific skills they’re working on.

In terms of your mandated centers, they can be either must dos or may dos.  Certainly there are more engaging ways and boring ways to address the same skills.  Your creativity will go a long way in planning those centers.  Good luck.  -Mathew

How about you, how is debriefing working in your classroom?