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Day one

“This school year I want you all to fail. I want you to mess up, break something, and fall down. I don’t want you to get it right the first time. I want you to listen to Robert Frost. I want you to leave your comfort zone. Every day you will talk in class. Every day you will learn something new. Every day you will question. Every day you will intellectually challenge your teacher. This school year should be unlike anything you have ever done. This school year will break molds and defy status quo. We will learn together and you will leave here in June hungry to learn more.”


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Meet The Parents

Last week on #edchat we discussed the myths of social media and how it gets a bad reputation. The conversation was scattered in many directions, but most came back to one simple solution: transparency.

Social networking is nothing new, just like incorporating tools into content driven curriculum, the technology has evolved the game while maintaining the fundamentals. When I was in High school we were all part of a social network. We made fun of each other (wall posts), passed notes (private messages/DM), snuck out of our houses to meet up with

girls/boys (texting), got in fights (cyber-bullying), talked about sex (sexting) , drugs, and tried to keep ALL OF IT from our parents (facebook privacy settings).

Social media is nothing new. Sometimes we act as if we were all home schooled in the past and we never socialized. And now with the ease and accessibility of communication we want to say it’s taboo and too private. I can assure you the generations growing up prior to the Internet age were just as mischievous and private. In fact, now parents can at least summon a status update to know (pending it is true and their son or daughter has allowed them in to this realm) where their precious child is.

No matter the decade there has always been one common goal among adolescents: “Don’t let Mom and Dad find out.” I always found it funny to hear my Dad reveal stories of his youth to me in front of my Grandparents. We would always laugh about it and it seemed completely innocent.

In education technology is simply a new tool that is helping drive the content. Teachers are, and will always be necessary. Classrooms are still a good place to provide direct instruction. And yes, direct instruction is STILL relevant and necessary, however, there should be a balance between DI and independent…(insert the newest buzzword here).

My solution to all of this…invite the parents to the social networking in your classroom. Let them be a part of the process, the analysis, and the reflection. Use social networking in your classroom to your advantage. Make it completely transparent and allow parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to participate in the learning. Before this can happen, you need to train them.

One of my initiatives for this upcoming year is to take two nights per month and hold free workshops for Parents, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Teachers, etc. and show them how to access all these cleverly named tools that we are consistently using in school.

In the past I have seen districts provide workshops to parents on how to use the school website or to access the parent portal. While this is a great idea, it is only scratching the surface of how we can include parents in the game. School websites are great for information and updates, but are very static in nature. They are usually non participatory and serve as an overpriced message board.

Here are some of the workshops I am suggesting that you provide to parents. I plan on implementing this bi-monthly, but depending on your schedule and you may want to create your own schedule.

1. Google Docs and Applications

Even before you pitch the idea of twitter to them, show them a basic web tool that is easy to use and will allow parents the opportunity to see student work throughout the year. Incorporate a Google Calendar into your classroom website and show them how they can track student homework and see daily and weekly agendas.

For my AP students I invited all students and parents to our classroom wikispace and embedded a Google Calendar that housed weekly assignments and updates. Parents and students subscribed to this calendar and most students and parents could receive text or email updates when the calendar was updated. At the end of the year last year I showed all parents and students how to set up their own Google Calendar and then showed them how they could receive update via their phone and via email.

In Google Docs show parents the basic functionally of the site. Explain to them that his is just like MS Office, but you can access it from any computer that is connected (Do we even need to say this anymore?). Show them the chat window, how to access a documents history, and how they can collaborate on a document at the same time.

Some of my parents were awestruck by this type of tool and had no idea it was even out there. Some asked how much it cost or what’s the catch. Overall this presentation went fairly well and after about a 90-minute session on these tools, I had most of my parents using Google Docs and exploring new applications.

2. The Classroom Website

Most teachers are now required or choose to maintain their own website that houses information about their specific class. There are various platforms that teachers use depending on what your school offers. Some are using Moodle, Edmodo, Wikis, Google Sites, Schoology etc. Whatever the platform, give them a basic overview of what the site can offer. Encourage them to check in daily or set a time throughout the week that they check in with their son or daughter. This is your opportunity to really get the parents involved. Plus, this type of classroom structure will allow for easier parent teacher conferences throughout the year.

A wikispace has always been my tool of choice when it comes to class pages. The collaborative nature of the page has always been one of the top selling points for me as a teacher. I like that students and parents can take ownership of the page and really make it theirs.

Start by showing Lee LeFever’s Common Craft Video on “Wikispaces in Plain English”. Review the video and ask them, “What is a wiki?”, “How can we use this in the classroom?”, etc. The combination of this short, simply stated video combined with a few simple questions will allow parents to understand the relevance of this tool and why we are using it.

Follow this up by creating a dummy wiki that all parents can access (or you can simply use your classroom wiki). Show them the basic functionality of the page and explain that every page – pending it is not locked – can be edited like a word document. Hold off on showing them how to embed photos or videos initially, but focus on navigation of the page and accessing the page.

There are many other tools out there that you may want to show parents in order to bring them into your classroom. Introduce them to the positive attributes of social networking in the classroom and explain that it is not cutting them off, but simply bringing everyone together. Show them it is safe and private. Students will not be exposed on the Internet and all work will be safe. I assure you, the social networked classroom is something you do not want to keep from Mom and Dad.

*Photo courtesy of CC image by Erica_Marshall via Flickr

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What can a PLN do for you?


I’d first like to acknowledge UPS for this great slogan. Secondly, I would like to express my humble thanks to my personal learning network. Last Monday I lost my job due to budget constraints at my former charter school. It was both shocking and humbling. I was going into this school year with more enthusiasm than I can remember. I was going to teach AP English Language and Composition for the first time in my career and had assembled a stellar group of students that were working hard over the summer within the summer reading network I created. I was also assuming the duties of instructional technology coordinator for the school. This position was several years in the making and really came to fruition as a result of my experience working with Joyce Valenza, Ken Rodoff, and developing a blog and a presence on twitter. All of these components, plus the evolution of #edchat and so many great people in my PLN, provided me with the tools and know-how essential to integrating technology into a curriculum in a positive way.

And in the matter of a twelve minute conversation it was gone.

I struggled with breaking the news to anyone on the eve of the conference I was organizing, ntcamp, and wanted to enjoy that event as much as possible. Two days ago I wrote about my situation and put it out there to the world. The results were truly amazing and demonstrated the power and support of a personal learning network.

In the span of one day I received so many kind comments on my blog and via twitter. I also received job offers, and leads to positions. Just this morning I spoke with a principal who is on twitter. We discussed the possibility of me working for his district. This is the power of social media. This is the power of the Personal Learning Network.

We no longer live in a static, closed off society. Many think that engaging in social networks will cut you off from society and some just simply like it the “old fashioned way”. And that is fine, but to dispel the myths and connotations that social media is cutting oneself off from society is just simply ignorant. Social networks are positive environments that promote and provoking thinking about a plethora of subjects. In education, I have found more substantive professional development than I have ever received at any district or school that I have been a part of. I look forward to the day when we can receive credit, as educators, for participating in various twitter chats and forums.

However, I know my students have greatly benefited first hand from my presence on social networks. I have learned about great resources and websites that I can immediately implement into my classroom or can simply ask for an interesting writing prompt from my PLN. Our students drive social media and networks. They are a product of this generation just as much as some of us were a part of the radio generation, the TV generation, and the MTV generation. At one time even the post office was a new concept that connected people and took time, social networks are no different.

I really hope the myths and taboos can be removed from social networking and we can start to value the positive merits it offers. I can honestly say that I have gained so much from my PLN and will continue to grow and evolve with this medium until the next generation comes about.

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Creating a Summer Reading Network

NOTE: The following post will be cross referenced with a future post at Edutopia.


This summer I created a summer reading network that allowed me to monitor the progress of my AP English Language students. They are reading 1 Dead in Attic by Chris Rose and I have asked them to read and annotate the text very closely. I also wanted to monitor their progress by questioning them throughout the summer at varying intervals and compose a response journal. This is all standard, but how could I provide oversight and seamless communication with my students who are scattered around Philadelphia, the Jersey Shore, and Senegal?

I used these tools:

Google Voice
Google Calendar
Blogger
Wikispaces

Process

I first created a wikispace for our summer reading assignments and communication. This forum has always worked well for me and allows for transparency and ease of use. Plus, students can take ownership over the site and can make the site theirs. The wikispace is also a great starting point for students to post external links to their blogs.

Once the wikispace was up and running I introduced all of my AP students to the website after school. I spent 30 minutes covering the basics of a wikispace – edits, posting, linking, etc. – and also showed them how I could see every edit they made. Yes, big brother will always be watching. Any time you use a wikispace, stress the history tool and how you can see everything that is edited.

After I set up the wikispace, I had the students create a blogger account and give it a title. Their title could be anything they wanted as long as it was appropriate. Once they had their blog created they copied the link to our blog roll on the wikispace and created an external link on their name.

I embedded a Google Calendar on the wikispace and would post new assignments via our calendar and post handouts using attached Google Documents. All of my students carry cell phones and probably check them more than my parents check the weather. I can easily type up a mass text message to my students via Google Voice and remind them to look for assignments and also any updates I have to convey. This allows for ease of communication and I can always be reached if they have a question. For those who like to be left alone in the summer, you may just want to stick to email communication or pigeons.

The Results

My students are reading weekly and responding to the assignments on their blogs. We are in constant communication via Google Voice and they check the Google Calendar embedded on the wikispace every Monday for assignments. They have are genuinely interested in reading each others blogs weekly and commenting on what their peers are writing. And remember, this is all happening during the summer months. My students are basically learning year round, only the classroom structure is missing. I feel confident and excited coming into the beginning of the school year knowing that my students were engaged readers and writers all summer.

This type of assignment can easily be incorporated during the school year and it may be something you want to set up and have ready for the beginning of the school year. The setup is the most work for the teacher, but once you have the elements mentioned in the above process set up you can easily manage your class room in the summer and during the school months.

This is the way I like to set up my classroom. You may want to explore other platforms for classroom social networking such as moodle, edmodo, schoology, facebook, etc. However, the wikispace has always been a platform that allows for seamless student participation and classroom transparency. Please provide comments if you have tried this type of assignment. I am interested to hear positive and negative feedback concerning your experience with building a classroom social network. Maybe you used twitter in conjunction or one of the aforementioned platforms for housing your student work.

If you would like more information on this assignment and future assignments, please feel free to contact me.

Image courtesy of http://www.ewriting.pamil-visions.com/img/community.jpg
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My Agenda

Last spring I became the Instructional Technology Coordinator at The Boys’ Latin Charter School in Philadelphia. I have outlined my action plan and presented my faculty with a comprehensive survey that posed a variety of questions concerning technology and education. Here is the list I presented:

1. What is your comfort level when it comes to using technology to drive lessons and projects? (5 being the highest)

2. What is your knowledge level of Web 2.0 resources (5 being the highest)

3. What open source or Web 2.0 programs are you currently using or have used in the past?

4. How often do you use your smart board per week beyond projecting notes on to the board?

5. Beyond projecting your desktop screen and PowerPoints, how have you used your Smart board this year?

6. Are you familiar with using Google Docs? If yes, describe what you know or ways in which you have used Google Docs in the classroom.

7. What is your comfort level using Google Docs? (5 being the highest)

8. What types of technology would you like to use more of in your classroom? List 3

9. How would you use an instructional technology specialist in your classroom? Planning?

10. What kind of technology PD sessions would you like to see presented in August and throughout the school year? List 3

I received a variety of responses from my colleagues and was able to gauge what kind of professional development to implement this summer. Below is a list of items that I will be covering with my faculty this summer and into the fall.

1. Google Docs
I figure I would start with a tool that most teachers are familiar with and is rather easy to grasp and integrate. I hope to focus on the magic, yes the magic, of google forms and how they can be used to collect data, discussion prompts, and warm up sets.

The other great feature of Google Docs that I will be presenting will be shared folders. We currently have a server at our school that houses all of our data but can be a pain when collaborating on a document. I plan on showing teachers how they can share folders via Google Docs within their departments and in their classrooms.


2. Podcasts
Many of my colleagues listed podcasts as something they wanted to learn about and immediately integrate into their curriculum. I have used podcasts before as public service announcements for vocabulary words, learning foreign language vocabulary, and phrases. There are so many possibilities when incorporating podcasts into the classroom and it creates a working functioning working environment when done correctly. Every student is part of the process and they are working towards producing something that they will deliver and present to the class or possibly publish on the web. The task is student driven and everyone is an active participant in the process. In short, students create their own product for learning that they can use themselves and pass on, present, and teach to younger students.

Podcasts are simple and easy to integrate. Kids love them and the output is media that they can use on any device that has the ability to sync with a computer and play audio files. Not to mention this media becomes sustainable and easily modeled and incorporated for future teachers of this particular class and students that take this course.


3. Blogs
I hope I can get all of my faculty blogging on a consistent basis. I really feel this is a great way to reflect on your own practice and learn from others within your school. Some of my students already have their own blogs that they have been writing for years. They understand the power of the digital world and it’s importance in their education. My goal is to get all of my colleagues blogging and writing about their classroom. Their focus does not have to be technology focused, but simply a way to reflect and share on best practices used from year to year.

There are numerous ways students and teachers can use blogs for learning purpose. I could begin listing, but would most likely run out of space. In my classroom last year I introduced my 10th grade English class to wikis and blogs. One of the best outcomes of this process was that students could see the power of the written word when you give it a vast audience. They also focused on their writing, spelling, and grammar a lot more when they knew they were presenting their work to a broad audience. Blogs can also serve as discussion spring boards within a classroom and provide transparency for parents and administration who would like to look in on the classroom occasionally.

These are just three of the tools I want my colleagues to explore, master, and integrate into their classrooms this year. I figure keeping it simple initially is a great way to create buy in and also give them practical tools that will save them time and create sustainable material that they can incorporate for years.

I will also be presenting the same professional development sessions either once or twice a month in the evenings to Parents, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, etc. that would like to join in the learning process of their students. This is another way to create buy in from home and provide lasting relevance at school.

I look forward to your comments, ideas, and suggestions on this post. If you are an Instructional Technology specialist, coach, coordinator, director, etc. please leave your feedback and ways in which you incorporated technology into your curriculum.

**photo courtesy of http://blogs.bcbe.org/blogit/files/2010/03/Professional-Development.jpg

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The Grassroots PD Movement

There is a movement happening in Philadelphia Education. In case you were asleep for the first half of 2010 you might have missed some amazing conferences in the city of brotherly love.

In the past 6 months, the city of Philadelphia has played host to two great conferences: Educon 2.2 and EDCAMP Philly. Although different in style, both conferences – edcamp falling in the unconference model – displayed contagious passion for education and how we can make it better. In July, NTCAMP will take place at The Boys’ Latin
Charter School in Philadelphia. This event will follow the unconference model and focus on bringing new and veteran teachers together for a day of impromptu professional development. All three conferences will be annual events and next summer Philadelphia will welcome ISTE2011. This makes Philadelphia a must attend city when it comes to education.

So why is this such a big deal? Great, Philadelphia has a few Education conferences every year, why should I care? So does every other city in the country.

What’s unique about Philadelphia is that teachers are banding together and creating conferences specifically for teachers that are run by teachers. We are not aiming to bring in the big keynote speaker or major vendors, but simply create a dialogue about the current state of education. Philadelphia is creating a grassroots professional development movement.

This movement is bringing teachers together from all over for one day – usually a Saturday – or maybe more, for an engaging discourse on everything from IEPs to information literacy. Everyone has the opportunity to present and the sessions never feel like lecture halls. After attending edcamp Philly twitter began to illuminate with #edcamp ideas across the nation. edcamp Boston, edcamp Detroit, etc. began surfacing all over the country. There are currently 10 cities in the US that will be holding edcamp events and ntcamp which will take place in Philadelphia on July 24th. The word is spreading and things look bright in the world of educational professional development.

Teachers across the country should pay attention to Philadelphia this summer and next. The movement to create worthwhile professional development for teacher by teachers is happening. Teachers are tired of sitting through the lecture model of professional development just as much as our students. We don’t want to sit in front of a vendor pitchperson and attempt to take something away from a man or woman who recently got into pitching educational software because the economy was bad and figures it’s hard to outsource classrooms. In short, teachers need to learn from each other.

If you haven’t looked into starting an edcamp in your city, you should. Bring your administration in on the plan, in fact, bring your entire district in on the plan. Show them the value of this event and prove to them that it will produce better classrooms. I learned so much about my classroom practices and new ways in which I can incorporate technology and 21st century learning skills and assessments. I walked away from edcamp Philly with so many great resources and ideas that I could immediately implement into my classroom. I also gained a wealth of knowledge about my new position at Instructional Technology Coordinator.

At edcamp Philly I decided to run my own session not because I wanted to present, but simply, I wanted to have a conversation about my new position as an ITC and hopefully bring together other ITCs for this discourse. In short, it was a success and I walked away with a better understanding of my new position and a lot of great educators who I could now incorporate into my network.

This summer as you spend time basking in the sun at the beach or climbing up a mountain, think about what you want to learn in your practice and what questions do you have about how you teach. Could you be better? Of course. Think about attending an edcamp in your area or creating one if there are none available. Attend ntcamp in Philadelphia if you are a new teacher or an experienced teacher who thinks they could share some experience or learn something new from the kids. Think about professional development that YOU want. Don’t settle for the pitch.
*image courtesy of http://tn4th.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/grassroots.jpg
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My EdTech Letter


Below is an e-mail I am sending to my entire faculty to explain my new position as the Instructional Technology Specialist next fall. I have also included a link to the survey I am sending to gather information about technology use in the school. I am hoping to clarify any confusion with my role next year and to gauge the comfort levels of my colleagues. Please leave your feedback, comments, and suggestions about this post. Also, if you are currently an ITS or have worked as a Tech Coach, please share your experience.

NOTE: Please feel free to access the survey, but do not submit any responses. Thank you!

Dear Faculty and Staff,

Next year you will have an Instructional Technology Specialist in the building. Wait…we have a what-now? You heard it right. Next fall I will become – not physically transform – the Instructional Technology Specialist for the entire school. So, what does that look like? What can I do for you? What is my role at Boys’ Latin? Marcinek is a Specialist? These are all valid questions and I am writing this memo – sorry for lack of TPS cover page – to answer your queries about this position and explain what my position entails.

In short, Help me, Help you

I am not the technology czar. I am your technology integration friend, your resident nerd. It is my goal to help you integrate technology with the content you are already teaching and not force you to try anything you don’t feel comfortable trying. I will develop a technology integration plan for each teacher and each department. We will work together to develop new ways to use technology to present rich content to our students. By no means am I asking you to change your way of teaching, simply rethink lessons and assessments.

For those that exclusively teach freshmen, this does not exclude you from the fun. In fact, I could still manage this position without any technology in the classroom. As I said before, it will be one of my goals to take rich content and put a new spin on the way you present and assess it. Also, we have access to two COWs (Computers On Wheels) that we can integrate into your classes for various projects and assignments. No smartboard? No problem.

Starting in August, I will meet with each department team and each individual teacher. We will work together to develop a technology (or 21st century skills and assessments) plan. Each plan will have three year long goals that focus on technology and 21st century skills and assessment integration. I will help maintain those year long goals and assist both inside and outside of your classroom.

If you have any questions about my new position or would like to brainstorm some ideas for next year please don’t hesitate to ask. In the next few days I will be following up with a quick survey to gain a clearer understanding of your needs and wants for technology. I will also be sending out a regular EdTech newsletter that focuses on new educational platforms, websites, links, blogs, student work, etc. I will be revising my website to focus on my new position,this page will have a calendar in which you can sign up throughout the course of a week to schedule time for me to work on a project with you and your class or to schedule time outside of class to design a project or unit plan. I am here to support your teaching in any way possible.

Again, if you have any questions concerning my new position or how I can support your classroom, please ask. Let’s start the conversation and see what we can build for next year.

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Professional Development Menu


Last night edchat convened for another riveting discussion as it does every Tuesday at 12pm and 7pm EST. The topic last evening was, If we were to create a best practices PD program, what are the elements that we should see? The conversation was rich and chalk full of progressive ideas. One of my early suggestions was to take the Edcamp model and mimicking the same style in faculty PD sessions. PDs should be a conversation and allow everyone to lead and present ideas for best practices.

As the conversation progressed, I wanted to hear specifically what everyone was thinking for a PD session and what PD sessions others have already incorporated. I proposed that we extend the edchat topic to a Google Doc. I set up the document and within minutes my inbox was overflowing with requests and the Doc was filling up with excellent ideas for PD sessions. I want to share what the list we generated and I will list it at the end of this post. If you would like to be a part of this ongoing collaborative, please email me at [email protected]

This is the true essence of edchat. Edchat allows us to rapidly generate ideas in an organized and focused manner. However, the true merit of edchat is what follows. Last week I left edchat writing a blog post on Reinventing Assessment in the 21st Century. And tonight we created a Google Doc that generated a useful list of professional development ideas that any administrator, teacher, or tech coach can use at any time next year.

Edchat is a collaborative community that generates stimulating, thought provoking discussion on a weekly basis. We should not limit edchat to 1 hour. Edchat should continue on and generate ideas and provoke thought within our classrooms and our schools.

Below is the list that was generated from our Google Doc. 1. My first PD will cover The brilliance of Google forms and the ability for teachers to track data and maintain a digital record of student work. I will use my wikispace as an example http://blenglish.wikispaces.com/ by @andycinek

2. Using Twitter to develop a Personal Learning network @davidwees

3. How to manage a 1 to 1 program in your classroom @davidwees

4. Teaching paperless @davidwees

5. using digital audio editing software to enhance storytelling. @eliza_peterson 6. Effective blogging for students @eliza_peterson 7. Making Google Sites your classroom’s 5th wall @21stcenturychem

8. Clickers and Formative Assessment in classrooms of all sizes @21stcenturychem 9. How to create online learning content with Moodle @Mr_Lister 10. Integrating technology in the classroom – examples for non-tech savvy educators @Mr_Lister

11. Student-centered learning in the science classroom @21stcenturychem

12. Responsible use of online resources in the secondary classroom @21stcenturychem

13. Beyond Powerpoint… ’nuff said @21stcenturychem

14. Bypassing MS Office: Using Google Docs to facilitate a paperless classroom. @21stcenturychem 15. Using Google Docs to collaborate with other teachers for lesson planning and committee work. @RjWassink 16. Using google docs for faculty collaboration JUST LIKE THIS! 🙂 @andycinek 17. using ustream (or equivilent) for live streaming exciting classroom / school events @RjWassink

18. Creating an Authentic Based Classroom through the use of PBL @daylynn

19. Using http://www.jingproject.com/ to help teachers provide better feedback on student work (verbal comments & screencast) @michelleleandra

20. Service Learning Online? Blogs as a way to connect classrooms globally (and locally) @21stcenturychem 21. Using students to help teach teachers how to use tech tools in their classrooms @missbartel
@jkokladas is doing this in her district next fall for more info 22. Developing reliability and validity in differentiated assessment @DrTimony

23. Creating Personal Learning Networks @actionhero
Outline/handout http://docs.google.com/View?id=ajb789gvf6sk_147gbn5s3gx

24. Be Social With Your Bookmarks @actionhero
Outline/handout http://tinyurl.com/socialbookmarkingclass

25. RSS: The Killer App @actionhero
Outline/handout http://tinyurl.com/rsskillerapp

26. Media literacy–critical reading and deconstructing of ads for our kids. Information, not prohibition! @DrTimony
http://medialit.org/
http://www.medialiteracy.com/
https://www.adbusters.org/
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/teachers/media_literacy/what_is_media_literacy.cfm
http://www.medialiteracy.net/

27. Using student & teacher blogs as a means of achieving transparency in classroom instruction @arosey

28. Best ways to collaborate @cybraryman1
Collaboration Page

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21st Century Learning and Assessment Example


Yesterday I wrote a guest blog post for Edutopia on 21st Century Assessment and learning. In order to keep things concise, I only provided a brief example of how to incorporate this type of learning into the classroom. However, today I am going to share my wikispace and show you one of my assignments that I am starting today with the novel The Kite Runner. The assignment covers a variety of skills and objectives and asks students to seek out information, think critically, and answer a question. This question does not have one solution and is open to interpretation. I am asking students to present their findings using any method they see fit. In order to keep track of progress each student will be sharing a Google Doc with me and are required to update their daily progress and provide a summarized brief of tasks, roles, and what they accomplished for the day. I have found this method is essential when using group work forums. Students can easily get lost or skim by in a group, therefore, it is essential to track their progress and have them assess each other.

Here is the assignment. You can also access my wikispace with this assignment and other ways in which I have been using this platform and incorporating various learning tools.

Today’s Focus: The Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan: Symbolism in Chapter 10


1. Go to the Springfield Township Library Search page. Use Google “News Timeline” to research the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Remember, this occupation started on December 24, 1979 and lasted until February 1989.
2. Find some information on the Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan during this span of ten years and answer one of the following questions:

  • How is the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan representative of what is happening in The Kite Runner thus far?
  • What effect does this occupation have on family and traditions in Afghanistan?

3. Organize your information and be prepared to present this to the class. This will be your test grade for chapters 1-10. Your presentation may be done individually or within a group. Everyone must take an active role and each group member must organize their information on a Google Doc and share it with me. The Google Doc must include:

  • Group members names
  • The Question you are covering
  • Links to any information, images, or music that you plan on using. All of this information must be cited properly
  • Tasks you accomplished and everyone’s role in the group (i.e. creating the presentation, organizing information, etc.)
  • A daily brief summarizing what you accomplished for the entire day.

You will be graded on the following criteria:

  • Did you answer your question? When you are doing your research you must always refer back to your question. I’m not looking for a concrete solution, but I’m seeking you to think critically about the subject and follow through with supported opinion and a logically constructed answer.
  • Did you play an active role in the group? What role did you play in your group and did you participate actively and equally with all group members? If you and your group can answer yes to both, then you will receive full credit for this component.
  • Did you present well? Is your presentation method creative and interesting to the class? Did you think “outside the box” and move beyond a powerpoint or create a dynamic powerpoint that serves as a backdrop rather than a slide inundated with bullet points?
  • Knowledge of content? Did you discover the symbolic meaning of this invasion as it is related to Kite Runner? Did you present the material in a way in which you know and understand what you are talking about, rather than letting the powerpoint talk for you (i.e. DON’T KILL US WITH BULLET POINTS!).

NOTE: A special thanks to Joyce Valenza (@joycevalenza) for creating an amazing student research start page at Springfield Township HS Library.

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My edcamp


I was the first camper through the door. I entered to cheers and raised arms by the wonderful edcamp team. My initial thought, “I’m never early. I’m always late and hardly ever on time.” I met everyone – some for the second or third time – and received the inaugural t-shirt from Hadley Ferguson (@hadleyjf). I was set.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from an “unconference”. It was my first time attending one and I was anxious to experience the forum. I decided to sign up and lead a session. I had something in mind that I had been discussing with Mary Beth (@mbteach) for some time. I never led a session, but felt that I really wanted to start a conversation. Recently, I had been hired as the Instructional Technology Specialist (ITS) at the Boys’ Latin Charter School of Philadelphia. I proposed the idea for this position in October of 2009 and had seen the proposal all the way through to my new position. Now I am stuck. I’m not clueless, but I want to do this job well. I am the pilot of this position. No one came before me. There is no precedent.

What does an Instructional Technology Specialist look like? This is what I called my session. I fixed my index card to the bright, yellow board and worked my way into the main conference room. I met with a few old friends and some new ones at a round table. I met up with Yoon (@doremigirl), Rich (@rkiker), and David (@DrTimony) for some coffee and discussion. Rich and I traded small talk and soon found out he had my position for three years. He offered to co-present and I gladly accepted. Our session would RULE! We began tweeting our session around edcamp and offered door prizes. But before we get to the door prizes, let me reflect on my first two sessions at edcamp.

The first session I attended featured Joyce V. (@joycevalenza) and David J. (@djakes) I worked with Joyce at Springfield Township and she turned me on to many new trends in education. One of our first assignments together was visualizing vocabulary. Students took pictures of their vocab words, uploaded them to flickr, and suddenly senior vocabulary was cool again. Joyce and David led a session on “The Future of Student Research”. This session was not only informative, but presented many great questions and hurdles that we all face in conducting student research in schools, restricting access being the most common.

More and more, IT and Administrators are filtering the internet and restricting access to what students can see while on the school’s server. I still don’t understand how we expect our students to seek out information when half of the pages of the book are torn out. Didn’t Ray Bradbury warn us against this once? Didn’t George Orwell live this nightmare? The consensus in the room was that there are a lot of good resources out there for our kids to access information. On the same token, there are a lot of “crappy” resources out there that kids are actually using for research and getting good marks for it. We need to teach our kids to filter through the jungle of information on the internet. They have access to more information than any generation in history. Our responsibility, as teachers, is to give them the tools to get to the most credible and legitimate information out there. Moreover, IT and Administrators cannot limit that scope. They need to ensure our students are browsing and searching responsibly, but on the same hand, having access to all available sources.

My next session talked about two sites that I plan on incorporating into the Boys’ Latin project based learning units next fall. The session was delivered by Mike (@mritzius) and Nicolae (@nborota). They shared their experiences as classroom teachers using Project Foundry and Moodle. I left this session and edcamp very impressed with the comprehensive nature of Project Foundry. Until today, I had never really heard much about it, but I found myself modeling a similar, free application in my own classroom: A wikispace. However, the one element that I really enjoyed about Project Foundry is its ability to catalogue everything a student does throughout the course of high school, and at the end of their senior year, they have a digital portfolio to take with them on a DVD. Plus, this program puts the student in the driver seat and places the onus on the student to get their work done in a timely manner. I plan on looking into this program further and hopefully integrating it into our PBL units next year.

And now, back to door prizes.

After lunch and a brief stroll in the rain, Rich and I entered our classroom for our unconference session on what an Instructional Technology Specialist looks like. We entered the dated classroom and noticed desks in rows, a chalkboard, and an overhead projector. Somewhere the gods of Irony were laughing out loud. Rich found a lost expo marker and a CFF keychain light. We decided to give them away as door prizes and began tweeting to the masses to promote our wonderful session:

“#EDCAMP giving away a sweet CFF pocket flashlight in our session. You want to be in 305 at 1:30.”

“#edcamp 1:30 in 305-being an effective Instructional Technologist and make real change- @andycinek & I would love to have you in discussion!”

“ #edcamp 1:30 in 305-being an effective Instructional Technologist and make real change w/ @andycinek Come join the convo”

“#edcamp Also if no one shows up at 1:30 in 305 I’ll cut the power. Just kidding. No but seriously…”

Our session started with my plans and fears as I move into this new position. I started by giving my background and my visions for the position. I relayed my plan to start with a survey monkey. Not actually a monkey that goes around soliciting answers for coins (although this would be awesome), but an actual website that is great for free surveys. I expressed my idea of wanting the faculty to tell me what they wanted to do with technology rather than telling them they have to use a wiki or have to use Google Docs. I’ve seen this before and it never takes off. Plus, one will always encounter uncooperative faculty when it comes to trying anything new. They have been doing it the same way for years and there is no way they will be changing now. And that is fine. Be an Edu-saur. Enjoy it.

We discussed many great ideas in our session, from Acceptable Use Policies (AUP) to unblocking websites, and finishing with some great insights on Google Apps from Michelle (@michelleleandra). I provided many questions about starting out as an ITS and Rich provided clarity and experience to what he has been doing as an ITS for the past three years. In the end, we could have spent days talking in our session. We left fulfilled and we were still talking as we went through the hallways towards our next session. This got me thinking “This is what I want my students to emulate, this is how I want my faculty and Administration to converse, these conversations need to happen!”

The final session I attended focused on the wonderful world of Google Apps. Again, this was another lively session that could have lasted for days, if not weeks. This session was led by Rita (@rchuchran) Frank (@Fronk2000), Karen (@SpecialKRB), and Kristen (@kristenswanson). This session involved a lot of collaboration and sharing of ideas. We all spoke up and disclosed our best use of Google Apps. Everyone said something completely different and we all agreed that Google Forms rule.

This was a fulfilling day in many ways. I left wanting more. I wanted edcamp to last for a week, maybe more. The conversations were rich and thought provoking. I left better than when I entered as the first camper that morning. I think I speak for all attendants when I say this is the model we want all of our schools to emulate. These conversations need to fill our halls and trickle down to our students. I want my students to leave my classroom like I left an edcamp session; I want them continuing the dialogue far beyond the parameters of school. Edcamp provided all of this along with a really cool t-shirt. Thank you edcamp. I plan on being first every year.