I just finished the book Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell and have to recommend it to others. This book looks hard at successful people and examines more than just there ambitious, hard-working nature. It was amazing to read about all of the factors (birth place and time, time for practicing, cultural background, socioeconomic background) that led to their success. Malcolm Gladwell does believe that successful individuals are talented, determined, and bright but has also uncovered many other factors in making those successful people more likely to rise to the top. I've also posted a link to his site. Read this book and you'll think differently about success.
www.gladwell.com
About Me
- A. Spohn
- I am currently teaching kindergarten at Lenawee Christian School in Adrian, Michigan!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
23 Things: Thing 19
Which podcasts did you find interesting? Identify one or two podcasts and describe how you would use them in your work. (Be sure to include links in your blog entry to the podcasts mentioned.)
I listened to a few of the podcasts by Grammar Girl. I liked that there were very short podcasts about specific English errors instead of long lessons about grammar. I think these would be useful for both students and adults who have questions about common (or uncommon) grammar errors. I would not use this site to correct your spouse's grammar! Ha!
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/default.aspx
I also listened to the State Superintendent Mike Flanagan's podcast (actually a v-cast) from June 11th. I think it's a great idea for those in Lansing, and others in legislative positions, to address the constituents through podcasting or v-casting. They can make themselves seem more human, reachable, and sensitive to the questions people may have. I think v-casting is even more effective in this forum because people are less likely to harshly criticize a legislator when there's a real face with the title. For the person posting the podcast, they have the advantage of time - time to have others review the podcast and time to revise and edit before posting. This is quite different from being on the spot for a newspaper, radio, or television interview. The legislator has time to think through the message and make his or her statements and position on an issue clear. I think for PD, podcasts could be a way to get teachers information they need in a format where they can pause, rewind, and have time to absorb information. Maybe this means recording parts of meetings and posting them as podcasts so people can revisit them when they've gone home or the next day or next year. Talk about a great way to keep the "Telephone" game out of education and keeping messages clear!
http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140-37818_45256---,00.html
I listened to a few of the podcasts by Grammar Girl. I liked that there were very short podcasts about specific English errors instead of long lessons about grammar. I think these would be useful for both students and adults who have questions about common (or uncommon) grammar errors. I would not use this site to correct your spouse's grammar! Ha!
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/default.aspx
I also listened to the State Superintendent Mike Flanagan's podcast (actually a v-cast) from June 11th. I think it's a great idea for those in Lansing, and others in legislative positions, to address the constituents through podcasting or v-casting. They can make themselves seem more human, reachable, and sensitive to the questions people may have. I think v-casting is even more effective in this forum because people are less likely to harshly criticize a legislator when there's a real face with the title. For the person posting the podcast, they have the advantage of time - time to have others review the podcast and time to revise and edit before posting. This is quite different from being on the spot for a newspaper, radio, or television interview. The legislator has time to think through the message and make his or her statements and position on an issue clear. I think for PD, podcasts could be a way to get teachers information they need in a format where they can pause, rewind, and have time to absorb information. Maybe this means recording parts of meetings and posting them as podcasts so people can revisit them when they've gone home or the next day or next year. Talk about a great way to keep the "Telephone" game out of education and keeping messages clear!
http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140-37818_45256---,00.html
23 Things: Thing 18 #2
I also chose to embed this presentation about Response to Intervention because it is something that we are working very closely with in our building. But, there are so many details to remember that this presentation could help me and others when we have questions about goals, tiers, etc.
23 Things: Thing 18 #1
What did you like about the presentation you embedded? How might Slideshare be useful in the classroom? out of the classroom?
I really liked that when you viewed a presentation that you were given suggestions for related presentations as well. Wow this could save a ton of time if you could find presentations that people have made instead of everyone recreating the wheel. I also love that you can upload files from Slideshare directly to a variety of other collaborative sites.
I chose two presentations to embed. The first is this one about multiplication which is a huge concept that third graders work on. I don't think that this presentation is particularly exciting but may at least be a great way to either begin a lesson or as a reinforcement and visual representation after I've already given some verbal introduction. We do know that all students, based on their age, have a limit to how long they can attend to instruction before they need a transition or change of materials or pace. These presentations could easily do that.
I really liked that when you viewed a presentation that you were given suggestions for related presentations as well. Wow this could save a ton of time if you could find presentations that people have made instead of everyone recreating the wheel. I also love that you can upload files from Slideshare directly to a variety of other collaborative sites.
I chose two presentations to embed. The first is this one about multiplication which is a huge concept that third graders work on. I don't think that this presentation is particularly exciting but may at least be a great way to either begin a lesson or as a reinforcement and visual representation after I've already given some verbal introduction. We do know that all students, based on their age, have a limit to how long they can attend to instruction before they need a transition or change of materials or pace. These presentations could easily do that.
23 Things: Thing 17
Give a review of the tool you explored - what worked, what didn't work, how might it be used in your personal or professional life?
I tried out the bubbl.us site and Remember the Milk. I like the collaborative nature of both of these sites. I think that students would enjoy using bubbl.us to collaborate on a variety of assignments either before the project begins to decide who takes which role or during a project to plan out where the project needs to go. Remember the Milk is a great way to create a to-do list. I saw this used at MACUL and how you can send and receive your to-do list by phone or email as well as checking the site. Pretty cool. This task list could also be used by groups of adults or students who are working together to complete a project and could eliminate the need for meetings that are simply used to check the status of the task list.
For students using these sites, we would definitely need to think about how to manage account creation. Would students each have their individual accounts or would there be a class login that everyone would use? Management of these things always takes some time to think about and try out before using with students. Even then, sometimes there are hiccups along the way. As long as student privacy and safety are addressed along with any necessary parent permission, then other issues are solely technical.
I tried out the bubbl.us site and Remember the Milk. I like the collaborative nature of both of these sites. I think that students would enjoy using bubbl.us to collaborate on a variety of assignments either before the project begins to decide who takes which role or during a project to plan out where the project needs to go. Remember the Milk is a great way to create a to-do list. I saw this used at MACUL and how you can send and receive your to-do list by phone or email as well as checking the site. Pretty cool. This task list could also be used by groups of adults or students who are working together to complete a project and could eliminate the need for meetings that are simply used to check the status of the task list.
For students using these sites, we would definitely need to think about how to manage account creation. Would students each have their individual accounts or would there be a class login that everyone would use? Management of these things always takes some time to think about and try out before using with students. Even then, sometimes there are hiccups along the way. As long as student privacy and safety are addressed along with any necessary parent permission, then other issues are solely technical.
23 Things: Thing 16
How might you use this tool in your personal and/or professional life? What issues come to mind about using this tool with students (ie, they need email addresses to log-in)?
I think Google docs is a great way for teams of teachers to collaborate on creating documents without having to give up valuable planning time. This could also be a way to brainstorm ideas for an event or lesson when time to meet runs low. This could also be a way to help with ideas for Tier 1 students who need intervention but a teacher is at a loss for ideas. When we try to meet as a grade level and discuss all of our Tier 1 students in 50 minutes, it's impossible. One issue would be to keep identifying information about students out of the documents. However, after seeing the presentation by Alan November, we tried as a grade level to work on some Google docs but had a very difficult time getting it to work correctly. I'm positive it was "user error" but would like some hands-on training about how to do it right because I see it as a very valuable tool.
Using Google docs with students, hmmm. I think, as with all things, if it was used appropriately and they didn't use this email account for other purposes we'd be fine. Also, in Google's terms and conditions it states that "You may not use the Services and may not accept the Terms if (a) you are not of legal age to form a binding contract with Google". I'm assuming that means that they do not want children having Google accounts. Is there still a way to use this service by creating a class email account that the teacher would monitor? This way students could log in at the same time and work on the document(s) without having individual accounts. Would that work?
I think Google docs is a great way for teams of teachers to collaborate on creating documents without having to give up valuable planning time. This could also be a way to brainstorm ideas for an event or lesson when time to meet runs low. This could also be a way to help with ideas for Tier 1 students who need intervention but a teacher is at a loss for ideas. When we try to meet as a grade level and discuss all of our Tier 1 students in 50 minutes, it's impossible. One issue would be to keep identifying information about students out of the documents. However, after seeing the presentation by Alan November, we tried as a grade level to work on some Google docs but had a very difficult time getting it to work correctly. I'm positive it was "user error" but would like some hands-on training about how to do it right because I see it as a very valuable tool.
Using Google docs with students, hmmm. I think, as with all things, if it was used appropriately and they didn't use this email account for other purposes we'd be fine. Also, in Google's terms and conditions it states that "You may not use the Services and may not accept the Terms if (a) you are not of legal age to form a binding contract with Google". I'm assuming that means that they do not want children having Google accounts. Is there still a way to use this service by creating a class email account that the teacher would monitor? This way students could log in at the same time and work on the document(s) without having individual accounts. Would that work?
23 Things: Thing 15
Is RSS becoming easier to understand? Do you recognize new benefits of using this tool? Do you remember to check your feeds regularly? Has it become a habit (or obsession!) yet?
I think revisiting RSS at this point was a good idea. Sometimes it's hard to digest too much information at once. I definitely like the idea of using RSS to collaborate with other educators or even family members and friends on a given topic. It can definitely save time when one member of a group can work on researching sites while other members work on different tasks. I have checked my feeds but not on a daily basis. However, for the news feeds, it is important for me to keep up since we do not subscribe to a newspaper and I don't usually watch much television. It's a good way to keep up with what's going on in the world whenever I have a minute to do so.
I think revisiting RSS at this point was a good idea. Sometimes it's hard to digest too much information at once. I definitely like the idea of using RSS to collaborate with other educators or even family members and friends on a given topic. It can definitely save time when one member of a group can work on researching sites while other members work on different tasks. I have checked my feeds but not on a daily basis. However, for the news feeds, it is important for me to keep up since we do not subscribe to a newspaper and I don't usually watch much television. It's a good way to keep up with what's going on in the world whenever I have a minute to do so.
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