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iTeach180 Project Day 22

Yesterday I introduced the concept of digital citizenship. I presented digital and social media in a positive light rather than explaining the negative elements that usually sensationalized and over dramatized by the news. However, every teacher should present the negative, dark side of social media and empower their students with lessons to prevent these abuses from happening.

Today we will be doing just that. Depending on your class time from yesterday, your presentations on social and digital media tools may have leaked over into two class periods. If this is the case simply push back one day. Today’s lesson will similarly model yesterday’s lesson, but focus on the negative side of technology use.

Objectives:
Students will be able to define the negative impact of digital and social media
Students will be able to demonstrate the negative impact of digital and social media
Process:
1. Have students arrange in groups of 2-3 (depending on your class size and structure)
2. Present each group a social and digital media tool
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Skype
  • Flickr
  • iPhone or iPod Touch
  • YouTube
3. Once each group has their tool, briefly explain what each tool is and its function. Most of the tools are common knowledge, but provide some background information in case students are unaware. 
4. Have students work together on a Google Doc that is shared with you. In their groups, they must address the following questions when they present their findings to each other and on their blogs: 
  • How can my tool be used to distract or impede learning in my high school classes? 
  • How can my tool hurt my image and my talents to a college admissions board?
  • How can my tool hurt my chances of landing a job?
  • How can my tool hurt the reputation of one of my peers? 
Once you have presented these questions, allow students some time to work together researching the tool they have been given and developing their ideas. Depending on your class time you may wish to have them work on this project for more than one day or if you have the luxury of a block schedule, you can easily finish this task in one period. Again, this lesson is simply the antithesis of yesterday’s lesson on positive impacts of social and digital media. You may chose a different method of presenting these contrasting ideas, but make sure you cover both sides of these new learning tools and platforms. Allow your students to see different perspectives on how these tools can be used to both empower and hurt themselves and their peers. 
5. The final part of this project will be to have students present their tool to the class. They may use any method or form of presentation. As an exit slip or homework assignment, have students write a reflection blog on the tool they presented and one of the tools that was presented by another group. 
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iTeach180 Project Day 18

Today’s lesson, students will continue working on their classroom redesign projects and TED talk presentations. At this point in the project (depending on your class time) students should start thinking about their presentation. If students are working in groups remind them that all members must present. They want to be confident and knowledgeable about what they are saying. It might be a good idea to revisit the TED talk presented by Dan Meyer or present another TED talk to give them ideas.

What I will be doing for today’s warmup is presenting this TED talk by David Eggers. Have students write a reflection blog post on this talk and ask them to focus on the process of innovation and seeing an idea through to completion and beyond. Remind students that this project is not just for a great but for an exchange of ideas. In the realm of school, students are the customer. We need to make sure their appetite for knowledge is satisfied. Also remind them that their TED talk videos will be presented at a faculty meeting and on the web. They should now have an understanding that their audience is not a letter grade, but real people who may choose to incorporate their idea into their own classroom.

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iTeach180 Project Day 17

Yesterday, students started working on their classroom model redesign after watching the TED talk by Dan Meyer. Their objective is to take one of their current classes and redesign it. They will eventually present their new model to the class in the style of a TED talk.
Today students will continue their collaboration and classroom redesign. Check in on each group’s redesign or better yet, have each group share a Google doc with you and monitor their progress as they go forward. By the end of class today they should complete the following items:
1.     The basic outline for the classroom redesign
a.     What is the structure?
b.     How is the content presented?
c.      How will students be assessed?
d.     What collaborative tools will you use in your class
e.     How long is your class period?
2.     Students may expand on the above questions, but remind them to focus on the questions above and what they envision one class day to look like.
3.     Each group should create a shared Google Doc, Folder, and feedback form for this project.            
a.     The Google Doc must be shared with all group members for collaboration and shared with the teacher.
b.     Students should create a shared folder via Google Docs. All group members and teacher should be invited.
c.      Students will create a feedback form using Google Forms to post after their presentation. This form must include the following items:
                                               i.     What did you like about our new classroom design?
                                              ii.     What problems do you foresee with this design?
1.     What suggestions can you offer for these problems?
                                            iii.     Did the presentation effectively accomplish the intended task?
Depending on your class time, this seems like a fair amount of tasks for students to complete today. For homework you can have them write a reflection blog on their groups’ progress. This can be structured as a journal entry or you can give them guiding questions. 

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iTeach180 Project Day 15

The past three weeks have been a lot of setting up and introducing blended with independent practice. Students may become irritated, cranky, and anxious about using all of these tools on their own. And, hopefully they are starting to use them in other classes as well. Today we are going to send them on an search for information using the skills and tools we introduced this week: Diigo and Evernote.

Objectives:
Students will be able to compile information on given subject
Students will be able to organize information on a given subject using tags
Students will be able to present information

Process:

If you are presenting this lesson in a Web 2.0 class you will have many directions in which you can take this lesson. If you are integrating these tools and this lesson into a content area classroom, you will want to focus your lesson around what you want your students to find.

1. Have students respond to this prompt: Social Networks are closing us off from the rest of the world and creating a society of selfish, ego driven individuals. They are wasting time in workplace and are a constant disruption to a student’s learning. 


2. Explain that students would normally respond to this type of response in a written essay, however, that will not be the case today. Have students seek out information to either defend or challenge this prompt. Instruct students that they have the entire class period today to work in groups or individually and find clippings that support or challenge this prompt.

NOTE: You may want to provide a list of sites that you suggest they use and explain that they must cite everything when clipping. Again, depending on what content area you teach in, you may want to cover web citations. I constantly think of this since I am an English Teacher. 


3. Allow students to present in any way they want but require them to use one of the web clipping tools you just introduced.

NOTE: You could have students write a blog reflection post on the positives and negatives of the web clipping tool they used to find, clip, and organize information. 


And that’s it. Tell students that they will be presenting in class on Monday (unless you have a block period than you could do this in one day). You may wish to present a rubric for presentation guidelines. This lesson is a fun way of using some of the tools you have been covering for the past three weeks. Plus, they are covering a topic that they are surrounded by daily. This topic will also preview our next three units on collaborative learning, social networking, and digital citizenship.

Have a great weekend!

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iTeach180 Project Day 14

Yesterday students posted reflections on their blogs about the last two weeks of learning. I challenged students with questions that prompted them to defend or challenge the technology integration we were
Today I will be beginning my two part series on Evernote.  These two lessons will help you reduce paper usage in your classroom, library, and school building, while educating your students with great web tools for research and presentation.
Like Diigo, Evernote allows you to clip sections of the web while you are browsing for information. Diigo will let you highlight and clip links, but Evernote allows you to clip a variety of web content including pictures. While the objective of both tools is to clip, organize, and filter personal web content, they remain different in their functionality.
Evernote can be downloaded on to MAC and Windows operating systems and is completely free. This can also be used on smart phones and the iPhone.
Objectives:
Students will be able to use Evernote
Students will be able to demonstrate Evernote
Students will be able to apply Evernote
Process:
This lesson is simply an overview of using Evernote. You can access the videos below to show your students or faculty how to use this great web-clipping program. You may want to have students follow your lead while you are demonstrating Evernote on the projector or you can have them simply watch and take notes on what you are doing. Again, I find it best to model it first and then allow them to organize in groups and have some time to mess around with the program.
For homework you could give them a subject individually that they have to research tonight online. Have each student find information pertaining to the topic you provide and the next day, have students present their findings.

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iTeach180 Project Day 13

The past two weeks we have been setting up our classroom infrastructure. Today I want to allot some time for student reflection. I always feel my best observations and critiques come from my students. Not to say all my past Administrators have been poor on giving feedback, but I find my students understand the daily classroom dynamic better. Therefore, today’s lesson will be a reflective piece for the students.

Objectives:
Students will be able to compose a blog post

Students will be able to comment on a blog post

Students will be able to access a blog post through an RSS Reader

Process:
Start the class by reflecting on all of the learning tools you have been incorporating for the past two weeks. Provide your own reflection verbally and explain briefly why we are integrating these types of tools. And then give them a few guiding questions to provoke their writing.

1. Technology simply slows down the learning process. Challenge or Defend this statement.

2. Why should we integrate technology when students have been learning without it for decades?

3. How does a networked classroom promote student learning?

You may choose to select different questions, but for this assignment, I want them to take on the negative side of technology integration. I want students to put their energy into writing a post that defends what we are doing in the class with technology and get them to provide specific examples from the work we have been doing for the past two weeks. Why are we doing it? Is it all necessary? Get your students to drive home this point, however, accept the fact that you may have students challenge this notion as well. The purpose is not to get all students nodding their heads in agreement, but to provoke their thinking in the direction of forming an opinion and defending it.

Depending on your class time you can have students write this blog post as an in class assignment and for homework have them comment on their peers’ blogs. Make sure to remind them that grammar, spelling, and language structures count. Use the rubric I provided in Day 8.

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iTeach180 Project Day 12

Yesterday I introduced Diigo. Today we will be exploring more features of Diigo beyond the basic setup and networking. There are many features Diigo offers for web browsing, collecting, and organizing. Today I will be covering highlighting tool, The Stickies tool, and how you can set up a group for your class or department.
Objectives:
Students will be able to create a group on Diigo
Students will be able to use the highlighting tool on Diigo
Students will be able to share links via Diigo
Process:
Today’s lesson is more of an instructor overview of what students can do with Diigo tools. As an instructor there are a variety of ways in which you can incorporate this type of tool into any content area classroom. A few examples:
English – This is great for student research and gathering secondary sources. Students have the ability to highlight chunks of text within an article and make note of it with a sticky note as well. Students can also find information on authors you are reading and save them all under one tag.
History – Like English, this is a great tool for research collections. If you are covering a specific period of history, students find news sources that connect of reflect that period. They can then add sticky notes and write their connections of the two time periods.
Science – Students can conduct research on a specific scientific principle and find an example online of how that principle is being used in everyday life. They can highlight information and refer back to it as they scan the web.
Math – Have students bookmark and highlight Dan Meyers blog. This is a must! Students can find a word problem that reflects a specific math equation and highlight an example of that in an article they find on the online. Or, students can collect data to create their own word problems by highlight information from a newspapers’ business section.
Art – Students can find artist and then set out on a web quest to find and highlight information pertaining to that artist’s work and life.
Again, most of the above examples fall under the category of web quest or research. You may want to start exploring Diigo by using one of the options above or you can invent your own.
The videos below explain how students can bookmark, share, highlight, and create groups within Diigo for easy project collaboration.
1. Installing a Diigolet in your browser

2. Using the highlighting and sticky tools.


3. Creating a Diigo Group
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iTeach180 Project Day 11

The past two weeks my hypothetical technology class has been setting up their classroom infrastructure. At this point, they are connected in many ways: RSS, iGoogle, Blogs, etc. It is always a good idea to take the time to set up and make sure students understand these collaborative tools. Once they have these tools understood and in place, you can easily incorporate dynamic lessons and projects throughout the year. Plus, these “infrastructure” tools are applicable in any content area class.

This week we are going to move in the direction of web organization and content sharing. In the next few days I will be presenting lessons on Diigo and Evernote. Both tools allow anyone to set up a free or premium account and share and organize web content.

Objectives:
Students will be able to demonstrate Diigo
Students will be able to use Diigo effectively
Students will be able to bookmark with Diigo

Process:
Today we are going to setup a Diigo account. It is best to show your students how to do this on the overhead projector with their laptop screens down. Model the basic setup and navigation of Diigo and explain various ways in which they can use this tool. There is also an instructional video on the main page at Diigo.com that will give students and teachers an overview of what Diigo is and what Diigo can do for you.

I created two videos below to further illustrate the basic setup and navigation of Diigo. Tomorrow I will get into web highlighting, sticky notes, and groups. There are a number of ways in which Diigo can be incorporated into the classroom and faculty vocabulary.

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iTeach180 Project Day 8

Today’s lesson may vary depending on what homework you assigned last night. If you assigned a blog post to your students you had the opportunity to check them over remotely. Today we will focus on the responsibility of writing and publishing online and how we can add RSS feeds to our iGoogle page.

Objectives:
Students will be able to write responsibility and effectively online
Students will be able to add an RSS feed to an iGoogle page

Process:
Today’s lesson should start be reviewing the blogging process that happened last night for homework. Have students recall any problems they encountered and how they felt when the hit the “publish post” button.

NOTE: In the past, I have used my PLN or a small group of teachers online to read and comment on my students’ posts. This task will reinforce the presence of an audience and how important and powerful writing is when you are publishing to the world.

As you present the responsibility of being an author online, you may want to incorporate a writing rubric for your blogging assignments. You can easily create your own of there are plenty of rubric online (see below). Tell students that this rubric will be used on every blog post and that students still need to proofread their work that is being published.

Blog Scoring Rubric

Another good exercise might be to find blogs that you know are ill worded or grammatical incorrect and have students rate the blogs appeal with these errors. What does it do to the bloggers credibility? Would you read this blog again?

The next phase of this lesson will be how students can access their blogs in different forums.

1. Have students return to their iGoogle page. (NOTE: You might want to do a random check in of all their iGoogle pages to see how they are using them after a week and a half of school).

2. Have them open up another tab and return to their blog home page they created yesterday. Once they have these two tabs open watch the video below. The video will show you how to add a RSS link to your iGoogle homepage.


For homework, you might want to have your students subscribe to the classroom blogs or have them select one blog that they really enjoy reading that they can add to their iGoogle page.

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iTeach180 Project Day 6

Day 6 Classroom Wikispace
Last week we worked with setting up our classroom infrastructure using an iGoogle Page and Google Docs, forms, and folders. This week we will be incorporating all of those skill sets into a website that we will use throughout the year. I am choosing to use a wikispace over Google Sits because I have always found wikispaces to be the most user-friendly site for the classroom, it allows for sustainability of resources and assignments, and allows students to take ownership of the site. Plus, until Google hires me full time, I can only pitch their product in moderation (call me!).
Objectives: 
Students will be able to navigate a wikispace
Students will be able to edit a wikispace
Anytime I introduce a wikispace I like to show Lee LeFever’s CommonCraft video of “Wikis in Plain English”. CommonCraft videos have a simply, easy way of presenting tools in a very simple way. Plus, they are laced with subtle humor.
Once I have shown the video, I will prompt students with a few simple questions:
1. What is a wiki?
2. How can we use a wiki for class?
3. How will a wiki assist in our learning process?
You may want to add more questions of your own, but make sure you generate a brief discussion around student responses and comments.
There are many ways that you can begin teaching students about wikispaces, but in the beginning you want to keep it short and sweet. What usually do with students is give them a demonstration on our smart board of how to navigate the wikispace and how a wikispace can be manipulated. I also tell them that this site will be a collaborative forum. Their parents and administration will be viewing what goes on this page and it must be governed responsibly.
I also take the time to go over Acceptable Use Policies and the tech rules that I drafted for my class. Here is my letter to parents explaining our classroom dynamic and inviting them to join the wikispace. Following the letter are rules we created as a class. Each student must agree to the rules of the classroom for technology use and the schools AUP in order to continue using technology.
To Whom It May Concern:
This trimester in English Literature and Composition, my class will be taking a new approach to learning. We will be utilizing various technology resources to communicate, collaborate, and differentiate instruction within our classroom.
Each student will be setting up his or her own free e-mail account for my classroom. We are utilizing the G-Mail platform through Google Applications. This e-mail will only be used for our class. I told each student that they will have the opportunity to communicate with me through this e-mail and I ask you to do the same regarding any questions or suggestions you have for this venture.
Secondly, I have created a classroom website that will only be used for my class. It is a completely separate platform from the school’s webpage, but serves many of the same functions. Our website is created through a wikispace. A wikispace is a site where we will communicate, collaborate and engage in a variety of classroom activities. The wikispace is a private platform and can only be accessed when the organizer invites you. I briefly showed the students how to use this site and informed them that they now will have 24-7 access to their classroom. If students miss class or are absent for some time, they can keep up with their work simply by accessing this site. All that is needed is a computer and an Internet connection.
We have created classroom rules for this venture and on Wednesday, I had the students come up with their own rules for technology use in our classroom. They know these rules will be enforced and you can view our rules on the reverse of this page.
Finally, one of my primary goals for this venture is to include everyone in the learning process. I invite you to join our wikispace and become a part of the learning process. If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me or call me (e-mail and number to follow). If you would like to be a part of our wikispace learning community, please provide me with your primary e-mail address so I can send you an invitation to our page. Please provide your name, signature and e-mail at the bottom of this page.
Sincerely,
Mr. Andrew P. Marcinek
Phone: 484-416-0424
Parent/Guardian Name (Printed):__________________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian Signature: ______________________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian e-mail:_________________________________________________________________
ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY FOR TECHNOLOGY – MARCINEK
The Following Rules were designed by periods 1 and 2.
No social network sites in school unless they are being used specifically for class.
No games
Laptops are not to be used for notes
When teacher is talking, laptops are down
Notes can be written and transferred to computer
No Youtube unless it is being used for a presentation or reference
No inappropriate searches for images
Background must be a solid color
Consequences
First policy offense – cannot use laptop for the rest of the day. Parents and Administration notified
Second policy offense – cannot use laptop for the week and assignments will be done through another platform (i.e. pen and paper). Parents and Administration will be notified. Student will also have an after school detention.
Third policy offense – student will lose laptop privileges. Parents, Administration, teacher and student will have a conference. Student will have to earn his laptop back by completing the following:
Write a laptop reinstatement letter to teacher and administration detailing why they broke policy and why we should let them have their laptop back. **
**If student has his laptop reinstated and break a policy rule again, the laptop will not be used for the rest of the year.**