English learning area students had the privilege of hearing from Sylvia Guidara earlier this year. She spoke to us about the digital revolution, the way in which it impacts upon our students, and how we need to adapt our teaching in response to all of this. Her positivism about the affordances of digital technology was quite inspiring. Her site, Digimuve, contains slides, notes, and resources from other presentations she has given for teacher audiences. Her slideshow on "engaging students with digital writing" is a great resource for English teachers. Check it out: http://www.slideshare.net/guidars/engaging-students-with-digital-writing
This is especially relevant given a National Commission for Writing survey reveals teens believe school writing instruction could be improved.
Digital writing could change the way students approach writing tasks in our classroom - when they are aware that their work will be published for a significant audience, commented upon, and worked on collaboratively, the task becomes much more meaningful and engaging.
Thursday, 17 November 2011
Telling tales with Storybird
As part of our final English assignment this year, we were required to present our work multimodally. This was a great opportunity to explore some of the platforms available on the web to present work and ideas. I explored Storybird - a community which provides visual prompts (artwork) to stimulate creative writing. It's an excellent site and one which I would definitely use for creative writing tasks in French or English classes. I did, however, feel constrained by having to use their artwork.
The other fantastic aspect of Storybird is that you can read already created stories. Check some out: http://storybird.com/books/
This could be really engaging for reluctant readers. Students can also participate in Storybird challenges and potentially take home the glory of being ranked a semi-finalist or finalist. This is more than just creative writing: it's community writing and that is much more powerful for the student than the audience of one: the teacher.
As I already had a narrative in mind and the images did not correspond with my ideas, I ditched Storybird in favour of another platform. As a teacher I find I have a preference for media which serves solely to communicate or illustrate ideas in an engaging way - I think this is a reason teachers so often resort to Power Point presentations.
When I think about those first anxious weeks with a new class (next year, hopefully) I sense in myself a reluctance to try and use anything a bit "unpredictable" in the classroom. What if the interactive whiteboard stops working? What if the Internet fails and all my activities are "wasted." Under stress, it's easy to play it safe. With this self-knowledge, however, I've made a few decisions about next year:
1. I will go to any PD available on ICT.
2. I am going to make friends with the ICT department.
3. I am not going to panic if the technology fails me.
4. I will draw on student knowledge to resolve a situation.
5. I will talk to students about what technologies they use, what they enjoy, and see if I can incorporate them into my classroom practice.
6. I will try new things!
The other fantastic aspect of Storybird is that you can read already created stories. Check some out: http://storybird.com/books/
This could be really engaging for reluctant readers. Students can also participate in Storybird challenges and potentially take home the glory of being ranked a semi-finalist or finalist. This is more than just creative writing: it's community writing and that is much more powerful for the student than the audience of one: the teacher.
As I already had a narrative in mind and the images did not correspond with my ideas, I ditched Storybird in favour of another platform. As a teacher I find I have a preference for media which serves solely to communicate or illustrate ideas in an engaging way - I think this is a reason teachers so often resort to Power Point presentations.
When I think about those first anxious weeks with a new class (next year, hopefully) I sense in myself a reluctance to try and use anything a bit "unpredictable" in the classroom. What if the interactive whiteboard stops working? What if the Internet fails and all my activities are "wasted." Under stress, it's easy to play it safe. With this self-knowledge, however, I've made a few decisions about next year:
1. I will go to any PD available on ICT.
2. I am going to make friends with the ICT department.
3. I am not going to panic if the technology fails me.
4. I will draw on student knowledge to resolve a situation.
5. I will talk to students about what technologies they use, what they enjoy, and see if I can incorporate them into my classroom practice.
6. I will try new things!
Monday, 7 November 2011
Cybersafety
This morning we saw an excellent presentation on Cyber safety in our ICT tutorial. Cyber safety is not an issue I have consciously addressed with any of my classes but one I believe needs to be discussed in depth with students. At my previous placement school, a police officer spoke to the student cohort about the laws regarding 'sexting' and cyber bullying. This was definitely useful but needed to be followed up and explored. Students may change their behaviour in light of the law but they probably doubt they will be caught. Given the powerful nature of peer influences, a discussion of cyber bullying in light of its broader social consequences would also be helpful.
What I appreciated about this morning's presentation was the gamut of resources suggested to help students and teachers explore the issues. I expect that the short films on cyber bullying would be particularly effective with students as they are engaging, feature people of their own age, and explore the emotional and social repercussions of cyber bullying.
What I appreciated about this morning's presentation was the gamut of resources suggested to help students and teachers explore the issues. I expect that the short films on cyber bullying would be particularly effective with students as they are engaging, feature people of their own age, and explore the emotional and social repercussions of cyber bullying.
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