Getting Educators involved with Web 2.0

While browsing Sue Waters' edublogger, I was pleasantly surprised to find a contest in which I might be able to win a year of supported blog hosting at edublogs.org.  All I have to do is post about a topic in which I am very interested: Getting Educators involved with Web 2.0 (more than just for checking email).  This topic has been on my mind a lot this week and I have been very nearly obsessed with adding technology to my own classroom, thereby having a positive impact on both my students and my colleagues.

Today at lunch, I was talking to some of my fellow science teachers about using wikis in the Science Classroom.  I was actually surprised at the amount of mocking and cynicism I encountered when I mentioned this.  Mishelleyb sent an article by Ruth Reynard, from campustechnology.com, which was extremely informative for a teacher (like myself) who is considering adding a wiki/blog project to the classroom.  I talked with the lunch bunch about it and got mixed reviews; everything from "You have way too much time on your hands" to "Why don't you send me the link for the article?"  I also heard questions like "what is a word cloud?" and "what's the difference between a wiki and a blog?" I was both annoyed and pleased.  Annoyed because some of my peers probably thought I was neglecting my school work and "goofing around on the 'net"; but pleased that there might be just the tiniest bit of jealousy that a newbie teacher might be making a bigger impact on students than the mature veteran teacher.

Because I want my colleagues to be able to succeed with today's digital natives, I ended up sending the link to every one of our science teachers.  All of the responses so far have been positive.  The majority of tit came from my department chair, a veteran teacher who is motivated to teach 21st century skills in his classroom.  He is excited about the new things we are learning together; we have begun to find good information that we constantly share with each other.  I told him I would be doing some research for my wiki/blog project over the weekend and would give a full update on Monday.

Just as a little side note, I am the only teacher at my school (as of my last check) who does any type of discussion board or asynchronous discussion outside of class.  I was asked to and did give a short presentation about what I do and what I think are the Top 10 Best Practices for using a discussion board  as part of the classroom environment. I gave this presentation to about 60 teachers in my building.  Since I am only a second year teacher, this was the first time I had ever spoken in front of my peers.  Imagine me, a lowly newbie, telling all of those master teachers about what I do in my classroom.  Why would they even care?

Speaking of caring, I have gotten some really positive comments this week from students.  One that stood out to me was this:

"So I have to say first off that you have been very influential to my learning experience. Although I might not always get what we are doing in class, its been a great environment and I really have learned a lot. I like that we're open in this class and it really has helped knowing more about you and people in the class. Thanks Bowie!"

My physics students seem to really enjoy the discussion board when I can provide them with a good topic.  If you are interested in seeing what our discussions are about, email me and I will provide you with a username and password so that you can access that part of our classrooom.

I would really be interested in what you have to say about using the web in your classroom.  Many teachers are considering this move towards technology immersion in their classes but just need a gentle nudge to push them over the edge.  It only took me attending two events in two weeks and hearing an excellent speaker on technology in the classroom.  What will it take for you?

thoughts about this week.

This week has been both exhilarating and exhausting.  I had the privilege of being invited down to the state capitol to attend Superintendent's Technology Day.  I was supposed to talk with legislators about how I use technology in my classroom.  That didn't really happen since my people were busy with other stuff.  Apparently they were considering how they can persecute a man who doesn't share their value system by voting to not accept his prayer.  I think that's just pitful, but this isn't the time or place for that I guess.  It reeks of religious persecution and I thought our country was founded in part to avoid that kind of stuff. I was able to meet a great guy from the OSDE, @ittosde.  He and I were able to talk some about the online learning environment from my classroom, eg. discussion boards, online homework, and a blogging project I am rolling around in my head for after spring break.

Today was especially exhausting just because I was teaching material that is both important and difficult conceptually to explain.  In physics 1 we have been talking about color, specifically light color, and today was about blue sky, cyan water, and red sunsets. It was great to do away with some long held misconceptions and actually explain and help kids understand phenomena that occur and can be observed on a regular basis.  I think I was just exhausted because both phys 1 blocks were crammed full of material and the kids asked good questions and were engaged and that can be a bit draining.  Very fulfilling though.  I love teaching what I teach.

The easy thing:  I must say that SNU impressed on me the need to make my content relevant to kids.  When you are teaching them observable phonemena that can be seen later in the day or immediately, its really hard not to connect it to everyday life.  Physics is just fun!  Students hopefully leave my class challenged and better informed about the natural world around them.  They used to call it natural philosophy and I am a firm believer there is a reason for that.  It was "knowing" "nature".  Pretty cool.

This post is a bit disconnected and you can probably tell I didn't do a lot of pre-writing; I'm sorry @mishelleyb.  I never was one to make an outline, first draft, and all that other writing stuff you teach in Comp 1.  Maybe you could have the paper resource center look this over and get back to me with some edits.

Thanks for reading.

I have been reinvigorated!

So I have been inspired this week. I feel as if a breath of fresh air has been breathed into my attitude. I was really struggling over the last month or so. While I was doing okay in class, I had been putting a lot of stress on myself to do better. I didn't feel like I was accomplishing much; but one day off at a technology conference was all I needed.

I heard a great speaker, about educational technology, named Will Richardson who really made a difference in how I was feeling about the current educational climate. It was very nearly a religious experience for me.  I learned about new products offered for educational technology and I heard a phrase for the first time. I am almost embarrassed to say this...21st century skills. Honestly, I haven't been a reader of educational blogs. Ever. Now I have seen that word more often than I care to admit. I even talked to the English Teacher about it. She said, "Yes, that is what you guys (the high school teachers) are supposed to be teaching them before they get to us (the college community)." I guess that goes to show how little she and I talk about technology in the classroom. I mean she helps me with writing assignments, critical thinking activities, and she is a great resource for online activities; but we don't specifically talk about 21st century skills. I guess its just never come up in conversation.

It has been a tiring, exciting, exhausting, exhilarating week. While I am glad its over, I hope to have many more like. Look out Oklahoma legislators, here I come!

Students leaving my class

I have worried about students who leave my class. I wonder if they are going to "embarrass" me by not knowing anything when they get to college. I wonder if they are going to go somewhere and talk about how they didn't learn anything in my class. I mean what if I am just the "fun class" and they only had fun but didn't actually take anything other than fun memories?

The English Teacher has helped me to realize that no matter what kids do in my class, no matter what grade they get, I know that I am grading them in a fair, objective manner and what they do after they leave my class doesn't matter. They achieved in my class, or not, and they earned what they earned. They go out of my class and reflect on themselves, not on me. My favorite quote of myself about kids is "I can lead those kids to the water, but I can't dunk their heads in it. I'm afraid if I did I would hold them under until the bubbles stop."

I did have a student who sent me a message today: JW is in Physics I at OU and he said "You really taught me how to properly view these problems and now its a breeze!!!! Just thought you should know you did an awesome job man!"

Just let it go Bowie, let it go.

A historic day

Wow. What a day. I have truly witnessed history today. I watched this nation's first african-american president inaugurated into the office of President. This just 40 very short years after the nation's witnessed the assassination of a great Civil Rights leader. I know there are many who are what I would call cynical about President Obama's views, but I am supportive of something different. My political views have definitely mellowed over the last several years and I think the previous administration had something to do with that. I still appreciate some of the views of the Republican party, but I am ready for things to be different than what they are right now. That might have happened with McCain, but I am not sad we are looking at a black man as our leader. Nothing at all wrong with that.

I am personally excited about our future. Let's enjoy this time of cooperation between all races while it lasts.

The other end of the spectrum

Today I was struck by the dichotomy of my freshman class from last semester and my AP Physics 2 class that I am teaching this semester. Every student in the Phys. II class is a former student of mine and the vast majority are seniors. Both of those facts contribute to positive classroom behavior. Students come to my class knowing what my rules are, and yet are willing to come anyway. We have covered more in last 3 days than I would cover in 3 weeks with the freshmen. (okay, I admit that may be an exaggeration, but not by much). There is a something to be said for teaching the oldest students at a school.

Basically, with a freshman physical science class, students have not been successful in math and science and that is why they are in that class. By the same token, students have enrolled in physics II because they have been successful in math and science. In fact, they are most likely going to major in one of those two subjects in college.

Also, it was so rewarding to read why most of the Physics 2 students took my class again this semester. Apparently, I have been able to impact many students from last semester where science is concerned. Even when I have a semester and I don't feel like I am making a difference, students come and tell me that I did something that made them think about the world in a new (for them) way and my faith in myself is restored.

This morning in physics...

Immediately following my previous blog post I saw this commercial. I mentioned to @mishelleyb that I found it interesting that there was no data given in the commercial. I found it remarkable that BK is so bold as to expect us to "swallow the Elephant whole". Burger King expects us to buy into the idea that 31 seconds of information is enough evidence to show that the Whopper "tastes" bettter than the Big Mac. My bias against the Big Mac notwithstanding, there is just not enough information in this short commercial to settle the issue. Besides, how do you measure taste anyway? BK's use of the commercial as a good argument against the Big Mac is something akin to using this rap video as a good argument to fund the LHC.

After watching the commercial, @mishelleyb came up with the brilliant idea of asking my students to analyze Burger King's experimental design. What was wrong with it? What was right with it? I also asked them to analyze the manner in which the data was presented. We had a very productive discussion during which my students found some flaws with Burger King's methods, in both design and presentation. We then went here and got some more information about their "cultural experiment" and revisited our tasks. We decided that while Burger King was not completely free from fault by serving us this ad, we at least got a view of a larger section of their data set and were able to mark a few of the issues we had with their methods off of the list.

It was very rewarding to collaborate with @mishelleyb, who teaches english, on a critical thinking assignment as well as discussing critical thinking with my students. As I told them, one of my goals in physics class is to make them better at analyzing evidence and sometimes just getting them to dig deep enough to find it. I'm afraid some of them may be dangerously close to being cynics and not accepting ANY evidence; but I do think I am at least pushing them towards "looking closer at evidence" before drawing a conclusion. Some of their cynical issues are mostly due to their maturity level; I think most of that will work itself out as they get older.

Overall, a rewarding day. Don't even get me started on Physical Science.