My "+ 1" Post
Though this experience has been at times difficult (e.g. frustration over new technology not working like I'd want, an extra meeting a month I had to make time for), it has ultimately been worth it without any question. Not only have I gotten some rad new equipment, but I also feel fairly strong in an area I was admittedly weak in before. Last year, I barely touched on research. This wasn't because I didn't want to teach it, nor because I felt uncomfortable about research itself, but I wasn't sure how to teach the skills that came pretty naturally to me to a bunch of students who couldn't fathom spending dozens of hours with microfiche trying to find an old news article. I was also concerned that my participation in MILI would find me with a regimented, rigid series of lesson plans with which to teach students research. Not at all. Instead, I found dozens, maybe hundreds, of tools to use and tailor to my own particular style. This has worked marvelously in my classroom so far and allowed me to create an extremely ambitious project for my students. These tools also aided in differentiation - though they have different assignments, both my intermediate and pre-AP students are getting sufficiently challenged, I think. I am extremely glad Ms. Mauritz duped me into joining the initiative :) as I surely would never have heard of it otherwise.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Thing Two
Thing Two - Create a Blog and Post About It
I'm pretty sure my other thirty-one blogs confirmed this one being completed, but jsut in case... Here it is! My personal experience with blogs isn't terribly extensive, but I do keep a personal one and have on and off for a few years now at least. It's a nice way to give periodic updates to friends. We all have each other's blogs set up on an RSS feed, so anytime anyone posts, we get it imeediately. A nice, undemanding way of staying in touch with each other.
I'm pretty sure my other thirty-one blogs confirmed this one being completed, but jsut in case... Here it is! My personal experience with blogs isn't terribly extensive, but I do keep a personal one and have on and off for a few years now at least. It's a nice way to give periodic updates to friends. We all have each other's blogs set up on an RSS feed, so anytime anyone posts, we get it imeediately. A nice, undemanding way of staying in touch with each other.
Thing Twenty-Nine
Thing Twenty-Nine – Online Learning
I actually have quite a bit of experience with online learning. I took a correspondence course through the University of Wisconsin that was primarily online (well, to be fair, it was primarily me reading about 70 books for adolescents and younger, but it had some online components). However, for my last part-time job, Best Buy, I was eligible for a rewards program through several of our vendors. The most memorable one was Microsoft.
Microsoft paid employees in points to complete online learning modules. These points could then be spent on anything Microsoft (including portable devices, Xbox, and many other products). What I found was that I was actually learning quite a bit from these modules that I would, at best, skim. Microsoft no doubt knew that people would generally do as little work as possible, so they made sure the questions at the end of each of these online training things were geared directly to what they wanted the test taker to take away from the test (say that ten times fast!). I found that, even though I spent very little time with these modules comparatively, I absorbed much of the knowledge they were trying to instill. I don’t really have any conclusions to draw past that, but it is interesting. I think there is definitely a place for online learning. I don’t know that that place is high school, but who knows? If it could be refined and made as thoroughly “skip-proof” as the Microsoft stuff was, perhaps it could be a very useful tool.
I actually have quite a bit of experience with online learning. I took a correspondence course through the University of Wisconsin that was primarily online (well, to be fair, it was primarily me reading about 70 books for adolescents and younger, but it had some online components). However, for my last part-time job, Best Buy, I was eligible for a rewards program through several of our vendors. The most memorable one was Microsoft.
Microsoft paid employees in points to complete online learning modules. These points could then be spent on anything Microsoft (including portable devices, Xbox, and many other products). What I found was that I was actually learning quite a bit from these modules that I would, at best, skim. Microsoft no doubt knew that people would generally do as little work as possible, so they made sure the questions at the end of each of these online training things were geared directly to what they wanted the test taker to take away from the test (say that ten times fast!). I found that, even though I spent very little time with these modules comparatively, I absorbed much of the knowledge they were trying to instill. I don’t really have any conclusions to draw past that, but it is interesting. I think there is definitely a place for online learning. I don’t know that that place is high school, but who knows? If it could be refined and made as thoroughly “skip-proof” as the Microsoft stuff was, perhaps it could be a very useful tool.
Thing Twenty-Six
Thing Twenty-Six – Digital Image Collections
After checking out some online art sites, specifically WebMuseum, I have thought about using artistic inspiration in the classroom. Perhaps spend a day where the students are able to browse these online art exhibits and select one or two paintings (or sculptures, drawings, etc.), and create a story or poem or something else inspired by the image. I can’t think of how I could fit it in this year, since we only have novels and research left, but perhaps for next year…
After checking out some online art sites, specifically WebMuseum, I have thought about using artistic inspiration in the classroom. Perhaps spend a day where the students are able to browse these online art exhibits and select one or two paintings (or sculptures, drawings, etc.), and create a story or poem or something else inspired by the image. I can’t think of how I could fit it in this year, since we only have novels and research left, but perhaps for next year…
Thing Twenty-Four
Thing Twenty-Four – Online Gaming
I was hoping to not have to admit this in a public forum, but I suppose it does let me check another “Thing” off of my list, but I have played online games for over a decade. I actually started casually back in college playing MUDs (Multiple User Domains) which were basically text-based role-playing games. I graduated to EverQuest in the late 90’s, which was like a dream come true at the time growing up a fantasy nerd like myself. It was still a very casual (play once a week, maybe, for an hour or two) until I turned my brother on to it as well. Since he and I weren’t particularly close at the time, this love of nerdy gaming was a great excuse for us to talk more often. This is actually a trend that continues today. We can’t play as often as we used to (at our height, I suppose we played ten to fifteen hours per week), but we still try to log on occasionally and game out a bit. It’s still a great excuse to keep in touch with him, and every time you log on, it’s a different experience, which never gets old either.
I was hoping to not have to admit this in a public forum, but I suppose it does let me check another “Thing” off of my list, but I have played online games for over a decade. I actually started casually back in college playing MUDs (Multiple User Domains) which were basically text-based role-playing games. I graduated to EverQuest in the late 90’s, which was like a dream come true at the time growing up a fantasy nerd like myself. It was still a very casual (play once a week, maybe, for an hour or two) until I turned my brother on to it as well. Since he and I weren’t particularly close at the time, this love of nerdy gaming was a great excuse for us to talk more often. This is actually a trend that continues today. We can’t play as often as we used to (at our height, I suppose we played ten to fifteen hours per week), but we still try to log on occasionally and game out a bit. It’s still a great excuse to keep in touch with him, and every time you log on, it’s a different experience, which never gets old either.
Thing Twenty-Two
Thing Twenty-Two – Ebooks and NetLibrary
I have actually been using EBooks for years now. I think the first time was, I hate to say it, downloading the Cliff Notes to Much Ado About Nothing, which I was in, back in 1995 or 96. I, of course, knew the play well, but needed help getting some of the finer points of comedy. Since then, I have downloaded dozens of EBooks. There are a few that, when I was doing a major research paper on Constantine the Great, were so rare that they were only available via scans. I spent quite a bit of time in front of computer screens translating old Latin. It would have been great to actually hold the books or manuscripts and work off of those, but I felt lucky to have any kind of access to some of the oldest texts in the world, all through download. Granted, those weren’t from some NetLibrary, they were essentially e-mailed directly to one of my professors, but I see it as nearly the same thing. I see both as a great tool, especially for hard to find or out of print books.
I have actually been using EBooks for years now. I think the first time was, I hate to say it, downloading the Cliff Notes to Much Ado About Nothing, which I was in, back in 1995 or 96. I, of course, knew the play well, but needed help getting some of the finer points of comedy. Since then, I have downloaded dozens of EBooks. There are a few that, when I was doing a major research paper on Constantine the Great, were so rare that they were only available via scans. I spent quite a bit of time in front of computer screens translating old Latin. It would have been great to actually hold the books or manuscripts and work off of those, but I felt lucky to have any kind of access to some of the oldest texts in the world, all through download. Granted, those weren’t from some NetLibrary, they were essentially e-mailed directly to one of my professors, but I see it as nearly the same thing. I see both as a great tool, especially for hard to find or out of print books.
Thing Seventeen
Thing Seventeen – One New Thing
I thought I was being revolutionary with my research paper meets memoir idea, but I came to find out that it’s been done many times before under the name “I-Search.” So, I had to come up with another new thing. I think my use of the sixteen plagiarism proofing ideas from Doug Johnson has been novel and new. I had the students rank their top five most important things from this list and ended up tailoring their assignment around the five that, after tallying, ended up being the highest rated. I think that this, my lofty expectations of self-discipline and self-motivation, and the students’ ability to select their own topics have made them more invested in this assignment than any other we have done this year. They are also considerably out of their comfort zone, but I personally see that as a good thing.
I thought I was being revolutionary with my research paper meets memoir idea, but I came to find out that it’s been done many times before under the name “I-Search.” So, I had to come up with another new thing. I think my use of the sixteen plagiarism proofing ideas from Doug Johnson has been novel and new. I had the students rank their top five most important things from this list and ended up tailoring their assignment around the five that, after tallying, ended up being the highest rated. I think that this, my lofty expectations of self-discipline and self-motivation, and the students’ ability to select their own topics have made them more invested in this assignment than any other we have done this year. They are also considerably out of their comfort zone, but I personally see that as a good thing.
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