More NMSA09 Session Notes

This morning, Shawn McGirr shared his NMSA09 Session Notes with the MiddleTalk listserv. Here’s a link to the notes he took during the conference:

Shawn McGirr’s NMSA09 Session Notes

According to the Notes, Shawn attended the following sessions:

• Robert Balfanz: Why Middle School Matters
• Debbie Silver
• Dr. Monte Tatum: Differentiated Instruction and Technology
• Todd Johnson: Classroom Discipline “Establishing Respect and Responsibility”
• John Collins Writing: Four Essential Writing Assignments to Improve Student Achievement
• Rick Wormeli Keynote

Thanks for sharing your notes with the larger community Shawn!

8 (or more) Tech Tools to Blend into Your Classroom

Presenter: Todd Williamson

Session Description: 21st Century Classroom (Convention Center – Exhibit Hall)
This session will focus on web-based tools that allow your students to
collaborate, communicate, and create. Join us for a fast-paced (possibly
lightning fast) look at eight (or more) tech tools that you can use to
enhance your teaching and student learning. Oh, and they’re free too!

Prezi Presentation
MY NOTES…Wait, these are all my notes…

8 (or more) Tech Tools to Blend into Your Classroom

http://www.sharetabs.com/?8techtools

The focus of my session is to present 8 tools that can easily be integrated into your classroom that help students do one of the following three things:

-Create
-Connect
-Collaborate/Communicate

As we get a more firm grasp on the skills necessary for success in the 21st Century, these are three things that we should look for in a tool for student use.  All the tools presented in this session are designed to be used by students to facilitate one of the above goals. Students should be using the Web as a platform for the creation of content in various modes that will engage their multiple intelligences. The ease of connection due to the Web means we should be serving as connection guides, or “network sherpas” as it was so wonderfully put in a video about Connectivism. And finally we should be looking at tools that allow our students to easily collaborate and connect around the content we are sharing in our classrooms.  These three things help make sure that tools are meaningful, and not just a way for students to get more “screen time”…many are getting tons of screen time as it is, we need to channel the purposes of that screen time.

Though this session focuses on Tools, we need to recognize that the real importance is shifting our pedagogy in a way that allows us to use these tools to effectively do the 3Cs above. If certain tools are blocked in your district, find ways to use them in your own life, and then help build a case for their unblocking within your district.

The Tools
*ShareTabs
*WallWisher
*Chatzy
*Edmodo
*Animoto
*XtraNormal
*MakeBeliefsComix
*Netvibes

APOLOGIES TO FOLKS THAT ATTENDED THE SESSION FOR THE NEARLY INSANE PACE…THE TOOLS I TRIED TO CRAM INTO A 55 MINUTE SESSION WOULD HAVE BEEN TOUGH ENOUGH, BUT WHEN THE SESSION STARTED LATE DUE TO LIMITED TIME BETWEEN SESSIONS THE PACE BECAME EVEN MORE INCREDIBLE

ShareTabs

• http://www.sharetabs.com
• Take multiple webpages and “package” them into a single URL
• The ShareTabs site gives you thumbnail images of the sites, allows you to open them all at once, and gives you individual tabs despite the browser you are using.
• It is unfortunately not possible to add sites after the ShareTab has been created
• Classroom uses?
• Teacher has multiple sites for students to visit…give them one URL that makes all sites available to them
• Students doing a research project…If there are multiple web resources that need to be checked, students can create a ShareTab to submit to the teacher for checking sources

OVERALL A RIDICULOUSLY SIMPLE TOOL THAT SOLVES THE PROBLEM OF STUDENTS HAVING TO ENTER/WRITE DOWN NUMEROUS URLs

WallWisher

• http://www.wallwisher.com
• Allows you to create an online “wall” where virtual “sticky notes” can be placed
• Notes can include links to images, files, or websites
• Notes can have up to 140 characters of text
• Notes can be moved around by each student, but the teacher has final control of the placement of the notes
• Great as a Graphic Organizer…could be used for cross-curricular vocabulary (create notes for terms in all classes, students organize terms together for each class)…great for collecting questions from multiple students (in our room we used a wall to collect about 80 weather related questions prior to our weather unit)
• http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/8techtools

The above link is for a Wall that was created for this session. Participants were allowed to post any of their favorite web-based tools for classroom use. This is where the (or more) part of the presentation comes in.

Chatzy

• http://www.chatzy.com
• Private, disposable chat rooms
• No account creation necessary
• Great for a backchannel chat about some curricular topics
• I have used Chatzy for a chat during videos, allowing students to ask and respond to questions they have about the video in real time
• This type of web usage for real-time chat, does require you to set up a climate within your classroom where students understand that inappropriate use will lead to their loss of priviledge to use the tools in future discussions. This is a management issue, not an issue particular to the tools.

Edmodo

• http://www.edmodo.com
• Private, Twitter-style network
• Allows for group creation
• No email addresses necessary for students
• Teachers and students can send messages directly to each other
• Students cannot send individual messages to other students…only to the entire group
• Student can receive Assignments and Alerts from teacher as a text message
• Assignments can be posted, completed, and graded within Edmodo.
• Good, basic, FREE, course management system.

Animoto

• http://www.animoto.com
• http://www.animoto.com/education
• Animoto lets students create videos from a set of still images
• Creative Commons licensed music
• Free education accounts give access to full length videos instead of 30 second videos with a standard free account
• Great for vocabulary or anything where a large selection of images are available or easily created

XtraNormal

• http://www.xtranormal.com
• If you can type, you can make movies
• Free accounts allow you to create 1 or 2 character animated movies
• Type in the script and select expressions and camera angles to make a short movie clip
• Great for teaching punctuation, as dialogue doesn’t sound natural without proper punctuation.
• A download is now available called State, which I have not yet tried out.

Make Beliefs Comix

• http://www.makebeliefscomix.com
• No account required
• No email required
• Free online comic strip generator
• 15 characters, 4 expressions each
• Thought bubbles or Talk bubbles
• Comics can be printed or emailed
• My students began printing the comics and drawing in their own background images

Netvibes

• http://www.netvibes.com
• Netvibes is an RSS feed aggregator
• It allows you to make a public page of RSS feeds
• I have set up one for my students that includes Science and Social Studies feeds culled from national and international sources
• I also have pages for the feeds of each our student blogs organized by classes
• This way students can have one place to go and get information with international perspectives on the topics we are covering in class
• http://www.netvibes.com/sunfishscience

I DID ATTEMPT TO RECORD THIS SESSION VIA JUSTIN.TV…HOWEVER IT DOES NOT APPEAR TO HAVE RECORDED PROPERLY…I WILL CONTACT THE ADMINS AT JUSTIN.TV AND SEE IF I’M JUST MISSING THE ARCHIVE SOMEWHERE.  IF IT CAN BE LOCATED/RECOVERED I WILL POST THE VIDEOS OF THE SESSION HERE, ASSUMING IT’S ALSO POSSIBLE TO HEAR OVER THE NOISE OF THE EXHIBIT HALL IN THE BACKGROUND.

THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO CAME OUT SATURDAY MORNING FOR MY SESSION, FEEL FREE TO LEAVE A COMMENT IF YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS OR QUESTIONS ABOUT ANY OF THE TOOLS!

NMSA09: Rick Wormeli Keynote

THE CONFERENCE HAS BEEN FANTASTIC SO FAR!!  THE FOCUS OF RICK’S KEYNOTE WILL BE ON TEACHING IN 4-D…I’M READY TO FLOOD THIS POST WITH TONS OF INFORMATION…HOPE YOU ALL CAN FOLLOW IT…APOLOGIES IF IT DOESN’T COME THROUGH AS SUCCESSFULLY AS I’D LIKE!

Here we go…

We’re caught up in a swirl of great ideas…we’ll rededicate ourselves, look beyond education vistas, we will trun profoundly to each other and change teaching…but very soon reality will return

Our realities inspire our best efforts…never enough time, effort, or resources…but we do it anyway!

Looking at things 2 or 3 dimensionally mires us in mediocrity!

We should propose candid questions about what we do…1 note on a guitar doesn’t motivate, but multiple notes together can inspire.

Expertise

• Showing before and after pictures of his son across 15 months…
• How much of “This We Believe” runs through every decision we make?
• Some meat of what we know must be in every lesson
• Cognitive science…nothing goes into long-term memory until it is attached to something important
• Teach in ways students best learn, not the ways we best learn
• We must be experts in subjects we teach…so we can unpack our standards
• We have our own secret code middle school kids can’t figure out to combat text messaging: cursive
• 80% is abstract while 80% of middle school kids are concrete
• Middle school kids are into their bodies…use it for good, not evil…using hand gestures for showing learning,
• Kid says “I don’t know?” you say “What would you say if you DID know?”
• Outdoor education is vital to their success

Creativity

• Aristotle – ethos, logos, pathos…students show each by juggling a single ball…then begin juggling with each other to show that they can’t be separated from each other
• He was worried he might get toothpick and gumdrop triangles…what if he had limited them to his imagination?
• What if our students could only learn what we know?
• Margaret Wheatley…are you willing to be confused?
• Major inventions usually come form someone who’s just a little out on the edge…we want creativity
• Do our kids know how to ask good questions? If not this, will take us down the wrong path..
• Whoever asks the questions, does the learning…teachers tend to ask about 80 questions for every 2 from the children…

Failure

• Get over the idea of looking silly in front of others
• David Warlick – Interaction WITH the technology is how tech actually helps out YES YES YES YES YES…THANK YOU RICK!! GREAT TO HEAR SOMEONE OUTSIDE OF EDTECHWORLD SHARING THIS!
• If we’re teaching a product, it’s difficult to differentiate…If we’re teaching Persuasive Essay then that’s the only product…if we’re teaching Persuasion, then we can do Essays, Scripts, Dioramas, etc…
• Expert in any field is the one who made the most mistakes…The person who makes no mistakes is the one who takes orders from the one who does.
• Don’t stand on the edge of the pit your kids have dug and wag your finger…jump in and help them out
• Young adolescents are undergoing the second fastest growth and development period after ages 0-2…we don’t label 9 months old who don’t walk and say they’ll never amount to much…
• LSAT, MCAT, Praxis, any test that we use to “determine what someone’s life will be” can be taken multiple times…why can’t an 8th grade math test?
• For a teacher to change a behavior…he/she must first admit what they are doing is wrong, or there is a better way

Collaboration

• There’s a huge amount of information out there…do we teach kids how to critique Wikipedia
• Are lectures launching points or just a way to fill kids heads?
• I Don’t have to know it all!!! YES YES YES!!!
• TALKING ABOUT SHARING LESSONS, COLLABORATING, LEARNING FROM OTHER TEACHERS
• IF WE LIMIT KIDS ACCESS THEY”LL NEVER LEARN HOW TO CRITIQUE SITES THEMSELVES!!! (Rick said this…just can’t say it in small letters it’s so important)
• YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!
• MiddleTalk: one of the greatest professional development experiences that exists
• Plugging Listservs…talking about building a PLN…MIGHT NOT BE THE BEST FORMAT, THOUGH I LOVE MIDDLETALK (YES SHAWN I’M REALLY TYPING THIS) BUT MAN IS IT GOOD TO HEAR SOMEONE OUTSIDE OF EDTECH COMMUNITY SAYING THIS
• Write down all you’ve learned at this conference and ask someone to mail it to you in 6 months
• We must break out of the echo chamber
• Doubt gives richness to faith

Get out there and ask questions and inspire the next generation.

Sound of Music video about Differentiation

THANKS RICK! GREAT AS ALWAYS…VERY NICE TO HEAR OTHERS SPEAKING ABOUT THE POWER OF BUILDING A LEARNING NETWORK…DESPITE THE TOOL, TWITTER, LISTSERV, OR OTHERWISE, WE NEED MORE PEOPLE TO RECOGNIZE WE DON’T HAVE TO KNOW IT ALL. NO NEED TO REINVENT THE WHEEL EACH TIME…LOOK FORWARD TO USING WHAT I’VE LEARNED THIS WEEK AND SEEING MANY FOLKS AGAIN NEXT YEAR IN BALTIMORE!!!

Web 2.0 in Your Middle School Classroom

Presenter: Erica Roberts

Session Description: Are you ready for a breath of new technology in your classroom? Web 2.0, also known as the “Read/Write Web,” provides online collaboration tools like wikis and podcasts to engage students and transform classrooms. How can you use these new technologies to enhance and support student learning? This session will focus on specific, middle school curriculum-connected sample projects as well as a resource list you can use to get started with Web 2.0 on Monday morning!

MY THOUGHTS IN ALL CAPS

ERICA AND I HAVE HAD SOME PHENOMENAL CONVERSATIONS ALREADY SO FAR DURING THE CONFERENCE SO I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO GREAT THINGS IN THIS SESSION.  NICE GROUP IN THE ROOM FOR THIS TO BE THE LAST SESSION BEFORE THE KEYNOTE…ABOUT 40 PEOPLE IN HERE RIGHT NOW.

Erica is a computer apps teacher in Woodridge, IL.  Came into teaching from the computer software/consulting world. “Business has no soul” so she came into teaching.

Lots of presentations on tools: this session will focus on how teachers are USING them.  THIS IS GOLDEN…THAT’S WHAT I HOPE TO DO WITH MY SESSIONS, PROVIDING USES ALONG WITH TOOLS.

http://www.go2web20.net

http://iteachyoucomputers.wikispaces.com

Discussing differences in Web now instaed of then. Showing The Machine is Us/ing Us

Good teachers overplan…the video stopped midstream…Erica’s ready to roll with other stuff.

Content Creation not consumption gives students more buy-in.

Social Networking

“Social Networking makes my brain bigger” – crowdsourcing allows you get more information than you can know on your own.  Plugging Twitter, “some of the smartest educators I’ve ever met, are folks I met on Twitter.”

Look at who “smart people” are following, then follow them yourself

Plurk – Like Twitter…but where Twitter goes vertically, Plurk goes horizontally…smaller network, less public network…THIS DEPENDS ON HOW YOU SET UP YOUR NETWORK AND ERICA ACKNOWLEDGED THAT FACT.

Showing Edmodo talking about how this is a private network for students to practice the use of social networking.

• Conversations
• Online Grading
• Asynchronous – don’t have to be online for it to work, can come back in and check later and info is still there
• Discussing setting up classes/groups
• File Storage…replaces flash drives that could break or be lost

Blogging

• Class Blogmeister – set up by David Warlick…get the kids blogging, give them a  global view, start working on collaboration
• Speaking of History – social studies/history blog

RSS – Really Simple Syndication

• Google Reader
• Netvibes
• Bloglines

**Fresh blog content sent to you daily via RSS feeds.

Wikis

Wikipedia is not the only Wiki out there.  It’s a tool for collaboration. Multiple users can edit a single page and provide the information on the wiki. Showing a Wiki that was created in her school rather than creating a book that would sit on a shelf and never be looked at again.

Analyzed grades of 2 years worth of students work comparing wiki to books, and the wiki grades were higher. Students can work on from home, parents can see, gives a wider audience for student work, improving quality.

Showing Wikis in Plain English

Podcasts

Don’t need to have an iPod to listen

Wonderful things available in iTunes

Google Docs

Gives students access to:

• Document creation
• Spreadsheets
• Presentations

Online, no version questions, no worries about updates/upgrading…Mac/PC compatible…can be worked on simultaneously by multiple students.

Ning

Your own private MySpace.

Can be accessed from home and school.

Have kids create accounts based on characters or individuals they are studying in class.  Post avatar pictures as if you were that person.

Can be a member of many Nings

• Smart Board Revolution/ IWB Revolution
• MIDDLE SCHOOL PORTAL
• MIDDLETALK

Creative Content Creation

Students are engaged when they can put stuff together and CREATE:

• Glogster
• Wordle
• VoiceThread

CONTENT CREATION IS SUCH A HUGE THING…WE TEACH KIDS WHO WANT TO CREATE IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE…GIVING THEM MULTIPLE MEANS OF CREATING AND EXPRESSING THEMSELVES VIA TECH IS VITAL.  STILL NEED TO MOVE FURTHER TOWARD GETTING THE STUDENTS USING MULTIPLE TOOLS AT ONE TIME.  TOO MUCH FOCUS ON “OKAY, NOW THIS TOOL IN MY ROOM”.

THANKS FOR SHARING ERICA! GREAT STUFF…WE NEED MORE FOLKS DOING SESSIONS LIKE THIS TO HELP REACH THOSE IN THE CLASSROOM THAT AREN’T YET USING THE TOOLS.  THERE’S GREAT INTEREST IN ALL OF THIS FROM THE EDTECH FOLKS, BUT WE NEED MORE AND MORE IN THE TRENCHES ACTUALLY USING IT.  THANKS FOR BUILDING THAT GROUP!

Professional Learning Networks

Presenters: Shawn McGirr and Troy Patterson

Session Description: Networking is a basic tenet of education. Come and learn how you can create your own Personal Learning Network. Learn which tools you can use to develop a network that meets your needs. Learn the continuum of professional learning network development. Learn how to use podcasts, wikis, social networking (facebook, et. al.), social bookmarking (delicious, et. al), webinars, blogs, microblogs (Twitter), and more. This stuff isn’t just for your students anymore.

MY THOUGHTS IN ALL CAPS

LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS ONE…HOPING TO SHARE A LOT WITH YOU GUYS ON MSP2 AND THE BLOG…THOUGH MANY OF YOU READING IT ON THE BLOG ARE ALREADY FULLY ENGAGED IN PLNS…WILL BE WORKING FROM A TXT FILE AND UPLOADING TO MY BLOG LATER AS THERE’S NO INTERNET CONNECTION AT THE MOMENT FOR PARTICIPANTS

PRESENTATION WILL BE AVAILABLE AT WWW.MIDDLESCHOOLMATTERS.COM

Opened with an Animoto video by Jenny McAvoy-Anteau “PLNs”

Plugging the Middle School Matters Podcast, and the site where the presentation is already posted via slideshare.

PLN = Professional Learning Network, this is still in it’s infancy…still growing and changing, we don’t know the winners of the PLN race

Creating a PLN
There is so much info you can’t get arms around all of it at any one time. Get lots of info from many different places at one time.

PLN or PLC? PLC you don’t get to choose, it’s those in your district or building. A PLN is something YOU choose…who will I read, follow, learn from? If they’re valuable you keep going, if not, drop them.

Suggests creating fake email account to sign up for accounts to avoid Spam.
Second Life

Visited ISTE Island in Second Life to show Professional Development via virtual world. Jenny joining us from Alaska. Talking about the educators she has met via Second Life. “Found an incredible community of individuals with diverse learning needs” a “diverse community of individuals” who have helped her as a teacher and a person. Second Life offers real time chat, near face-to-face, where Twitter is “nearly now” not quite synchronous.

Another difference with Second Life is you can create objects that can be used to share files, etc.

Each PLN Tool fits different people’s needs…Find the one that fits what YOU need!

What do you need to get into Second Life?

• Computer
• Headset
• The Program

Using Second Life to work with Autistic students…recreate community…students create avatar and do the daily things they have to do in real life, in Second Life. Then help to wean them off of Second Life and into Real Life.

Showing Land of Lincoln in Second Life…Lincoln’s White House, Lincoln Library, and other things related to the Life of Lincoln.

Discussing Teen Second Life vs. Second Life…adults only allowed in after background check and then have limited access where teens have full access to Teen Second Life.

Podcasting
Use for Professional Development

Suggestions: Look for Regular Episodes, Search iTunes, iTunes also gives you suggestions for other podcasts.

Podcasts for Students
60 Second Civics Podcast for Social Studies
Grammar Girl for Language Arts

Internet Archive will host anything that is not copywritten for FREE!

Student creation of podcasts can focus on: Demonstration of Understanding, Sharing w/ Others, Summarization, Teaching

Social Networks

• MiddleTalk
• Facebook
• Nings – example: Classroom 2.0
• Virtual Environments: Second Life

GREAT SESSION GUYS…HIGHLY FOCUSED ON SECOND LIFE, AND THAT SEEMED TO BE AN INTEREST OF THE GROUP. A GREAT WAY TO DISCUSS PERSONAL LEARNING NETWORKS THAT IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED. THERE’S A TON TO COVER IN A SESSION OF THIS LENGTH. CHECK OUT THE PRESENTATION FILES ON MIDDLESCHOOLMATTERS.COM

Reaching and Teaching the Digital Learner

MY THOUGHTS IN ALL CAPS

MARZANO’S SESSION WAS FULL SO THIS WAS MY BACKUP FOR THIS TIME SLOT…MORE TECHNOLOGY THAN I REALLY WANTED TO TACKLE, BUT IT’S BETTER THAN NOTHING 🙂

Presenter: Dedra Stafford

Session Description: Learn how educators across the globe are using podcasting, blogging, wikis, and other Web 2.0 tools to teach students of today (our digital natives). Many educators have found that students that create content for real audiences are motivated to create better content. Why not tap into this “My Space” generation’s interests and skills? They will not only walk out of your classroom knowing the facts of your topic, but they will do so in a way that engages them.

1st thing that makes a good session is: Candy

2nd is finishing slightly early to get to the next session

3rd is Door Prizes

I LIKE WHERE THIS IS GOING 🙂

Checks first to see what level of Tech comfort teachers have: 1 to 10 rating. 1: Use computer because someone makes me…10 I could run this session…many people say they’re 9s and 10s, only a couple of under 4s…GOOD SIGN!!

Three things teachers look for:

• Is it Free?
• Is it Easy?
• Will it take a lot of time?

Goals:

1. Understand tech is part of world
2. We’re preparing them for world they will live in
3. Know that everyone starts somewhere, but everyone has to start
4. Have a little fun!

Must start from a classroom management and relationship standpoint first…then tech can really happen.

Digital Native vs. Digital Immigrant discussion…NOPE, STILL NOT GOING TO BUY IT…YES THERE IS A DIFFERENCE, YES WE HAVE TO TEACH DIFFERENTLY, HOWEVER THEY ARE STILL NOT PROFICIENT WITH THE “IDEA” OF TECH…MAYBE WITH A FEW OF THE TOOLS THAT THEY USE FOR THEIR PARTICULAR PURPOSES, BUT THEY STILL DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY AND WHEN TO SHOW THEIR KNOWLEDGE WITH TECH.

Kids do have to use tools/technology to be able to get jobs in our digital world…despite whether or not they have them in their homes.

NOW DISCUSSING DIFFERENCE IN WEB 1.0 AND 2.0…ARGH ARGH ARGH…*DEEP BREATH*

Again, our job is to teach them, and we have to use their tools to teach them.

Simple Sites

• www.spellingcity.com
• www.stixy.com
• www.xtranormal.com
• www.bighugelabs.com
• www.wordle.net
• www.toondoo.com
• www.kerpoof.com
• www.blabberize.com
• www.rememberize.com

Xtranormal is great for teaching punctuation, sentences don’t sound like conversation unless proper punctuation in included.

Discussing allowing students to evaluate others work via comments on a VoiceThread.

Offline alternatives to VoiceThread: Photostory…NOT A BAD SESSION, PROBABLY NOT MOVING A LOT OF FOLKS FORWARD, BUT I DO SEE MANY FOLKS JOTTING DOWN NOTES

Mentioning Zamzar for converting and saving in other file formats.

KickYouTube being discussed

Working toward an environment that moves away from the way we’ve been taught and toward the way our students learn.

Audacity being discussed as a PC source for podcast recording. Mentions Dan Schmidt: Kidcasting…Dedra Stafford made a foldable 🙂

Ning = a Wiki…WHAT?? NOT SO MUCH…SOMEONE DOESN’T SOUND FAMILIAR WITH THE TOOLS

Wiki means What I Know Is…UM, I’M THINKING THIS IS A BACKRONYM, NOT AN ACRONYM…SOUNDS GOOD, BUT STILL NOT BUYING IT…

DECENT SESSION…GOOD FOR NEW FOLKS…BUT NOT QUITE AS ACCURATE AS I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE SEEN FOR AN INTRO…SHE DID SAY THIS IS A DAY LONG COURSE CRAMMED INTO AN HOUR AND A HALF…BUT IT STILL DIDN’T QUITE HIT ME…AGAIN THE LACK OF AVAILABLE COMPUTERS WAS A PROBLEM.  GLAD I’LL HAVE THEM FOR MY SESSION ON SATURDAY.

NMSA: Teaching the Middle School Brain

MY THOUGHTS IN ALL CAPS

Presenter: Dr. Spencer Kagan

Session Description: In this active, hands-on, brains-on presentation, you will view active brain images and experience a range of brain-science based instructional strategies to meet the unique needs of middle school students. The strategies 1) dramatically enhance engagement and achievement; 2) improve peer relations; 3) increase liking for class and learning. The engaging strategies include Traveling Heads Together; Listen Right!; and Take Off, Touch Down. An extensive handout is provided.

LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS ONE…WIFE ATTENDED KAGAN TRAINING THIS SUMMER AND LOVED IT, HAVE THE BOOK OF STRUCTURES AT HOME ALREADY, WILL BE INTERESTING TO HEAR WHAT HE’S GOT TO SAY!

Brain is more engaged during social interaction. Not enough to say Talk to a Partner or “Work Together”

Student Selector Spinner used to get materials collectors for group.

Goals of the session:

1. 5 Principles of Brain Friendly Teaching
2. Align Instruction to How Brain Learns Best through Structures
3. Silly Sports & Goofy Games lead to Brain Friendly Classroom
4. Deepen our Understading of our 3 Pound Miracle

Quiet Signal – under 5 seconds, when you see the signal: Raise Hand, Focus Fully on teacher, Signal Others…Attention leads to Retention…Quiet Signal gets folks attention quickly…External/Novel Stimuli gives an Orienting Response in the brain…Brain designed for survival so novel stimuli engages this trait…

Pair Discussion – Why you came to this session, what you know about brain, what you hope to learn – not good cooperative learning…actually increases gap between higher and lower student…high students talk and learn, low student minds wander VERY INTERESTING…MAKES SENSE

Rally Robin – trade sentences with partner…GREAT IN CLASSROOM, BUT WOULD NEED LOTS OF PRACTICE…KIDS TOTALLY WOULDN’T BE USED TO THAT TYPE OF INTERACTION…Leads to Verbalization which leads to Retention.

Mirror Neurons – Contagion of Attention…When you look at someone performing something, our brain acts as if we are doing that…basis for empathy…look of disgust on someone’s face causes you to feel disgust…baby doesn’t even know it has a tongue, yet it sticks out in response to you sticking out your tongue. VERY COOL…

Take Off – TouchDown – Say something, if true, stand up, if not sit down…instead of raising hand, moves whole body…Leads to more glucose and oxygen in the brain than just raising hand…Better nourishment…Brain Craves Novelty…Mix up structures

Brain is only about 2 pounds but gets almost 20% of the glucose and oxygen and nutrients

Hand comparison of brain and neurons

Novelty leads to Attention which leads to Retention

Stand Up, hand up, pair up –

Students remember more of what they say than what we say…want high achievement? Stop TALKING!

Frequent Processing

• More energy for new learning – frequent processing lessens inhibiting responses which drain energy
• Clarify and refine thinking – fills in gaps
• Store in long-term memory
• Clear working memory – very limited capacity for working memory
• Engage multiple intelligences and multiple memory systems

Emotion helps lead to Retention

Celebrity Interview – Example questions: Where have you lived in your life? What would your friends say they like about you most? Each person makes two questions, 45 second round robin with each person answering whichever questions they choose.

Amygdalae starts firing it shuts down the pre-frontal cortex…stress shuts down real thinking and leads to only survival thinking.

Silly Sports and Goofy Games – Hagoo – game played by the Inuit…challenge is to make the other person smile or laugh…if you make them laugh yell I Got You! and the other person says I’ve Been Gotten. Find a new partner and continue.  Releases endorphins, lowers cortisol levels.

Brain is never more engaged than during social interaction.  Must decode their words, facial expressions, gestures, body language…activates mirror neurons…Encode my own thinking…

Social Interaction leads to Engagement leads to Retention

 

Books

Spark by John Ravey

MIRRORING PEOPLE  BY MARCO IACOBONI

Memory and Emotion by James McGaugh

Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman

GOOD SESSION…LOTS OF INFO…LOOKING FORWARD TO DIGGING INTO THE STRUCTURES FURTHER…GREAT WAYS TO ENGAGE IN CLASS, BRAIN BASED, SHOULD FIT RIGHT INTO MY CLASSROOM ALREADY, WITH SOME PRACTICE OF COURSE!

NMSA09: Extend Your Classroom with VoiceThread

MY THOUGHTS IN ALL CAPS

Presenters: Brent Anderson, Susanne Long

Session Description: Interested in being tech-savvy to handle your digital natives? Using VoiceThread allows students to have an authentic voice, learning with the world instead of about the world. VoiceThread activities are asynchronous activities that differentiate instruction and allow students to create and moderate instructional conversations. Today’s students have an unrelenting passion to interact, use this web-based tool to capture content knowledge, assess learning, and publish privately and globally.

http://www.voicethread.com

Picking up where Daniel Pink left off, VoiceThread should help you incorporate visual arts into the other classes.

Opens with:

Discussing features of VoiceThread

• Upload Image
• Leave Comments: via phone, webcam, text, audio only

• Doodle: allows you to markup the Image during the course of a comment

VoiceThread accounts are free for educators…economical for students…$1 per student account ACTUALLY UP TO 100 STUDENT ACCOUNTS FOR $60 A YEAR

K-12 PRICING INFORMATION

NOW HAVING A COMMENTING SESSION ON A VOICETHREAD CREATED BY THE PRESENTERS.  THOUGH THE THREAD HASN’T BEEN SHARED YET SO I CAN’T POST THE ID HERE OR COMMENT FROM MY OWN COMPUTER.

SESSION HANDOUTS UPLOADED BY @MRDOOLEY

Voice Thread Created for the Session

http://voicethread.com/share/720461/

GOOD INTRODUCTORY SESSION ABOUT VOICETHREAD…WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT IF EVERYONE IN HERE WAS ABLE TO JUMP INTO THE THREAD AND ADD THEIR OWN COMMENTS, BUT NOT EVERYONE HAS COMPUTERS AVAILABLE OR WIRELESS. SO MANY OF THESE TOOLS ARE BEST WHEN THEY ARE ACTUALLY USED, NOT TALKED ABOUT.

NMSA Day One Reflection

My first day at the National Middle School Association conference has been fantastic and extremely busy!  I attended two sessions, a keynote, and had two great work sessions with the MSP2 folks!

First thing, and one of the most amazing things was the number of folks I met for the first time in real life today:

• Mary Henton
• Bill Ivey
• Rebecca Lawson
• Susie Highley
• Shawn McGirr
• Troy Patterson
• Eric Biederbeck
• Tom Jenkins
• Karolee Smiley
• Kim Lightle
• Jessica Fries-Gaither
• Ross Burkhardt

I’m almost certain there were many others, but these were the primary folks I ran into throughout the day.  It was wonderful to put real faces and stories with some of these folks who I had only interacted with online in the past.  It was a special treat for me to meet Ross, who I consider one of my educational forefathers.  Ross worked with Chris Cummo at Chris’ first school, taught him many things, and in turn Chris was my cooperating teacher for student teaching 6 years ago.  Pretty amazing moment to make that connection!

Sessions

The sheer number of sessions available at NMSA09 is staggering!  The program book is like a phone book, with tons of things available at each concurrent session time.  The sessions I attended today were fast paced and informative.  My first session was supposed to be about Science lessons using Understanding By Design but when I arrived the session was already full.  I quickly browsed through the book and found The Digital Facelift as an alternate session.

The Digital Facelift session started off on a positive note with an excellent analogy about the Digital Tattoo.  That one moment that you may regret the  next day but is very hard to remove later.  However, the focus of the session continued to be primarily about “scrubbing” your online image and removing the offending pieces of your Digital Footprint.  I would have preferred a focus on controlling the quality of your Footprint up front.  The final 10 minutes of the session did get to the idea that the information you Supply about yourself is the key to having a positive online image.  For me, and the presenter even mentioned this, that is the overall key to building an online presence.  For only the last 10 minutes to be spent on that aspect of Digital Identity was a shame.  This came after the presenter made the statement that while scrubbing you should remove any image that identifies you from the Internet.  Even going as far as saying you should remove albums that are uploaded to Shutterfly or Snapfish for printing purposes.  If someone is going that far out of their way to find images of you to sabotage, aren’t they going to find them no matter what? I’m still having a hard time stomaching that discussion.

My second session was a whirlwind tour of information about building positive relationships and questioning techniques.  The two topics seemed to form a bit of a disjointed presentation because while I was still trying to process the Relationships piece, I suddenly realized we had shifted topics entirely.  Mark McLeod made excellent points in both parts of the session, but a singular focus would have worked better for me.  Each part of his presentation could have easily stood on its own.  The overriding theme of the Relationships piece was that of students’ Emotional Bank Accounts.  In order to make a withdrawal you must first make enough deposits so that the account doesn’t get closed.  This metaphor was extended throughout the session, and was extremely powerful. Overall this session was as much a life lesson, as an educational one.

Keynote

Daniel Pink’s keynote was a composite of information from “A Whole New Mind” and from his TED Talk on Motivation.  In fact, between the two, I felt like I had heard about 90% of the keynote already.  Of course, that did not make any of the information any less powerful, it just made it a bit of a rehash.  From the responses of the crowd, I could tell many had not read Pink’s book before and some may not have even been familiar with his ideas.  Overall the focus of the session was about 75% AWNM and the final portion was about Motivation and rewards.  Glad to know this information was taken in by a large group of folks and perhaps many more will examine the role of the Right Brain in their classrooms.

Overall, a successful first day. I’m looking forward to the sessions tomorrow and will continue to pound out blog post after blog post. Hope you can feel like you’re here without being here!

NMSA09: Daniel Pink Keynote

MY THOUGHTS IN ALL CAPS

Daniel Pink being introduced by two 8th grade students from here in Indiana who collectively speak 7 languages.

Dan is the father of a middle schooler and one heading into middle school next year.

Topic: Education and the Economy

Admits he is not an educator and offers thoughts as an outsider…THANK YOU

The purpose of public education in America is not to deliver employees to employers…it’s about ensuring everyone can participate in civic society, that every kid can move to become the best version of him/herself.

“We need to prepare kids for their future, not our past.” Dr. Richard Moniuszko

OUR PAST IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM OUR KIDS FUTURE…SADLY WE DON’T KNOW FOR SURE HOW IT WILL BE DIFFERENT…HOPEFULLY WE’RE SENDING THEM IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION (OR SET OF DIRECTIONS)

Pink: Graduated in the part of his law class that made the top 90% possible

GUESS THERE’S HOPE FOR EVERYONE…NOW MOVING INTO BRAIN DISCUSSION…

A lot of what you’ve heard about Left and Right brain is garbage…but the science is catching up.  Our brain is really complicated, but really efficient.

Left: Logical, linear, sequential, analysis

Right: All at once, context, synthesis

Left brain abilities are absolutely necessary, but they are no longer enough.

3 Causes of above (From A Whole New Mind)

1. Asia
2. Automation
3. Abundance

Asia – Outsourcing is woefully overhyped in the short run, but underhyped in the long run.  India has an advantage in global economy: 1 Billion people a small percentage of whom are ltalented enough and able to compete in global markets, let’s say 15%…that’s 150 Million people, there are about 139 Million working people in the US today.  FIVE months until India becomes the worlds largest English speaking country. ZERO is the cost of communication between India and the rest of the world.

Anything Routine is racing to whereever things can be done cheaper.  If it has a right answer it’s no longer valuable, just goes to where it can be done cheaper and faster.

Automation – Software is replacing our brain. At least the logical, linear, rule-based side.  TurboTax ($39.95) is the problem for accountants that charge $1000 for their services.  22 Million Americans  did their taxes via TurboTax last year.  CompleteCase.com, 3StepDivorce.com, 123DivorceMe.com…sites for uncontested divorce paperwork rather than hiring a lawyer.

Abundance – More automobiles than licensed driver in America today.  Color TVs in 98% of American’s homes.  Mobile phones in 90% of American households which has more computing power than existed 50 years ago.

In a world of abundance there’s power in giving people something they didn’t know they were missing (a la the iPod) That’s an Artistic principle.

GLAD I READ A WHOLE NEW MIND BEFORE COMING…SOME OF THIS WOULD LEAVE ME TOTALLY FLABBERGASTED IF NOT…WHOO HOO I FEEL PREPARED 🙂

Abilities that Matter Most Now:

• Design
• Story
• Symphony
• Empathy
• Play
• Meaning

1. Explore New Metrics – we must measure the right things…not IQ, SAT or Grades…JSPE lead to Clinical Empathy being taught in every Medical School

2. Get Real about STEM – Medical schools sending students to Art Museum for diagnostic training.  Software does certain diagnoses very well.  Too many answers for any doctor to be a vending machine of answers.  Leads to higher need for observation skills, like those of painters and sculptors.  Schools taking out arts, while real STEM world is adding them back.  What are Engineering employer’s looking for? Passion, Life long learning, Systems Thinking, Innovation, Multicultural Environment, Context, Ability to Change…NOT ROUTINE SKILLS.

3. Rethink Motivation – The Candle Problem. Incentivized group took longer than non-incentivized group to solve a problem (NO FURTHER REFERENCE?)

4. More Forest, Less Terrarium – What does creativity mean? Superintendents: Problem Solving, Employers: Problem Identification/Articulation

5. Infuse arts education into the curriculum – thinking like an artist, giving people something incredible…signature of our time.  Creative Arts are essential to achieving a competitive edge.

GREAT KEYNOTE TO OPEN THE CONFERENCE.  FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN’T SEEN IT, HERE’S THE TED TALK THAT COVERS SOME OF THE MOTIVATION DISCUSSION THAT DAN SHARED WITH US.  COMPUTER BATTERY DYING SO I’M GOING TO GIVE IT A REST FOR A WHILE AND WILL RECAP DAY ONE LATER THIS EVENING AFTER I HAVE SOME TIME TO PROCESS IT!