Google Earth project

The assignment:
The purpose of this project is to create a media-infused experience that gives your students the opportunity to develop their respectful and ethical minds. For this project you will select a topic or concept that you teach and develop a virtual field trip in Google Earth through which students will learn about various cultures, be exposed to different perspectives on a topic or engage in critical examination of a global challenge. Your project will integrate digital media assets from Discovery Education streaming including an assessment component.

Requirements and deliverables

1. Virtual Field Trip that includes all of the following:
   • Home Placemark
     • This placemark, which begins at your school or hometown, will include directions (text or audio) about the purpose of your virtual field trip
   • At least four additional placemarks that include:
     • Information about the topic or concept (combination of text and audio and/or links to websites)
     • One or more images related to the topic or concept
   • Intentional use of the Google Earth platform
   • At least one activity during your virtual field trip should take advantage of the affordances of Google Earth. For example, have the students use the ruler tool to measure distances or direct them to view additional layers for more information.
   • Assessment component developed using the Discovery Education streaming Builders
     • Assignment Builder, Quiz Builder or Writing Prompt Builder
2. Reflection Blog (300-500 words)
   • Talk about the instructional goals of your virtual field trip and comment on how your project provides students the opportunity to develop their respectful and ethical minds.
   • Also, upload and link your Google Earth project (kmz file) within your reflection blog post. 
    
    

NOTE: The link to the .kmz Google Earth document is HERE, as well as below. You then have to download the document. This is the project BEFORE I solved any problems. I will provide a link to the corrected document as soon as I figure out a way to fix it! If you have any problems, please let me know.

Hmm...this was definitely a challenge! My Google Earth project, Sports Around The World, was fun to research, and fun to compose, until I realized that all of the information I was putting into the "get info" field was not showing up in the balloons, but was still accessible in the "get info" field.   Off to Google support I went...found a semi-answer, and still don't understand what to do. So, I have all of my information in the project, I've created the virtual field trip, but...have not come up with a fix for this problem! Thus, this is a work in progress.


I also had trouble inserting an image. I tried to put the Mexican Flag into the Placemark balloon, and that didn't work. I tried to insert it as an image, but then it showed the image over the entire map. So, again, a work in progress.

One of the great tools in Google Earth is the layers. I decided to add an extra activity for the students. As they travel around the world, I want them to record where it is warmest, where it is coldest, and what the average temperature of all of the places they visit is. To do this, they need to use the Weather layer. This also will help with their measurement skills-something that our recent assessment data shows the 5th through 7th grade students are weak in.

I also made a decision regarding the assessment tools available in Discovery Education. I decided to go with a straight quiz format. The students have already watched the videos and react the articles, so it doesn't make much sense to have them watch them all over again, especially when they can refer back to them in the Google Earth project if they want. So, I decided to have a quiz that was composed of mostly multiple choice and true/false questions. I also would plan to have a class discussion regarding the project, not only to have an additional assessment of what the students have learned, but also feedback on the project: How can I make it better? What technical problems did you encounter? etc.

I liked getting my "hands dirty" with Google Earth. I have used it before, but have not created a project. I think this a tool that I can use in all grades, and in all ways-not just with a project, but with a research question, or just letting the students explore geography.

The Ethical Mind

THE ETHICAL MIND

The Respectful Mind (video blog)

THE RESPECTFUL MIND

next video blog post....THE ETHICAL MIND

The Creating Mind (video blog)

THE CREATING MIND

next video blog post....THE RESPECTFUL MIND

The Synthesizing Mind (video blog)

THE SYNTHESIZING MIND

next video blog post....THE CREATING MIND

The Disciplined Mind (video blog)

The assignment:


For your final blog post for the course you will create a video blog about the ways you will continue to develop your five minds.
Your video blog should touch upon all five minds we have discussed but be no more than two minutes in length. You will not be graded on video production or editing; rather, your grade will be based upon your oral communication skills and the content.

THE DISCIPLINED MIND 

next video blog post....THE SYNTHESIZING MIND

Respectful and Ethical Minds

The assignment:


Reflect on Julene Reed’s article and post a blog entry that presents an idea for using digital media as part of a project, activity or lesson in which you aim to develop students’ respectful and ethical minds. 

After reading the chapter on "The Ethical Mind" in Five Minds for the Future by Howard Gardner, and experiencing several disturbing incidents involving students this past week, I realized that students need some direction and education regarding the qualities and characteristics of friendship. I truly believe that to be a valid and valuable contributor to society in general, and the community in particular, a person needs to understand how to like themselves, and to make and maintain friendships built on respect and trust. This can lead to collaboration, which in turn leads to valuable input and change within the community and the student's world.

Although the lessons in the computer lab lately have been focused on bullying, I am still seeing bullying within the classroom, particularly with the younger grades. Part of this has to do with friendship, and students not knowing how a friend is defined. An incident in the fourth grade class made me think that this class should be targeted when starting lessons on friendship. Two female students who have been known to "not be nice" and "bully" in the past couple of years (and have received consequences because of their bullying), have been again named as the bullies in several teasing and harassing incidents. One girl thought that one of the aggressive girls was her "best friend", but realized she could not trust her when she told her that she liked a boy, and then the girl asked the boy to a dance instead. This girl (the victim) is frequently targeted by others in her class because of her size. She also does not like herself very much. She is constantly in tears when in my room because of these incidents, yet feels very comfortable confiding in me more than other adults at our school. Part of my solution was to invite her and several other girls who also were being harassed by the two to eat lunch in my room. To watch these six girls, who previously did not "hang out", laugh and talk during lunch was a true pleasure. It made me realize that these students don't know what a friend truly is. I feel like I need to work with this class on learning about the issue of friendship and self-esteem (being proud of who they are as a person).

I'll start by introducing a vocabulary list of words relating to friendship and also to bullying and harassment. Using a google doc, I'll have the students sort the words into positive or negative columns. I'll then encourage them to pair with a partner, and add more words to the positive and negative column. This will lead to a class discussion about the task. 

The next step will be for the students to complete a survey about their likes and dislikes,. I'll compose this survey using google docs/forms, and then collect the findings and share the results with the class. I'll then compose groups of three students who have the same likes in at least one of the fields, and their task will be to come up with a list of words that are complimentary to others, and that they would like to hear a friend use. Included in these lists would be "trust" and "loyal". I would have the students use Wordle as a collaborative effort, and publish the words. I would create a wiki for the class about friendship, listing quotes from the discussion, the results of the survey, and the Wordle pictures. I would hope this would at least get the students thinking abut the words they use with others, and show them that they have more in common with their classmates then just the same teacher. The Wordle posters would be posted in the hall, hopefully inspiring conversations in other classrooms.

An additional activity could be creating Wordle posters using their answers for the survey questions, or just descriptive words about themselves. This would also give them another chance to see that they have more in common with each other than they think, as well as get them thinking about the positive traits that they have as a person.

I'm anxious to try this with the class. I'm hoping I can do this in the next couple of weeks. Wish me luck! As long as I can affect just one life...

Project 2: Glog "Freedom of Speech"

The assignment: 

Description

The purpose of this project is to illustrate a powerful strategy for having students communicate their understanding of a concept or topic by tapping into their desire to create their own content. For this project you will select a topic or concept that you teach and model the creating mind for your student by developing a “glog” that can be used an instructional tool. You will use Glogster EDU, a free Web 2.0 tool, to complete this project. The project will integrate content from Discovery Education streaming via the assignment builder, quiz builder and/or writing prompt builder.

Requirements and Deliverables

A “glog” that includes all of the following:

• At least one Discovery Education streaming builder (Assignment, Quiz or Writing Prompt) that integrates video content. You will link to the builder from your glog.
• At least two hyperlinks to external websites.
• At least two still images (original or from a copyright-approved source)
• Credits/Citations

Reflection posted on your blog (300-500 words) that includes your Glog project (embedded or linked).
How can you use Glogster in your classroom this school year to foster the development of the creating mind? Elaborate on the instructional purpose and the standards you will address. 

The glog:  http://shawhollis.edu.glogster.com/speech

The process:

My first thought was what subject do I want to cover in the glog? Looking at the requirements for the project, and the content in Discovery Education, I realized that my first choices, Steve Jobs and the History of Computing, didn't have many resources to use within the Discovery site. So, I thought about what else I could use in my computer lab, and what students I would target.I decided to create an assignment that covers current events, and that the students could relate to within their own lives. The Occupy Together (Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Philadelphia, etc) protests would be a perfect starting point, and I could tie in a Civics lesson and the Constitution! Middle school would be the perfect students to assign this project. They always are testing the waters, and want to push the envelope with their speech. From this line of thought, I came up with the idea of a lesson on what Freedom of Speech means, and relating it to the protests of today.


This subject would synthesize several academic disciplines: Social Studies, Civics, and Literacy, as well as relating to their lives, whether comparing it to their economic status, or their rights as an individual to what they are allowed to say and protest. I wanted to allow the students to summarize their conclusions from the videos and articles in a creative setting, using their speech, so I came up with the idea of a Photobooth video. When I actually assign this to the students, I may also use some type of green screen for their background.


I'm excited to introduce this to the students! I can also relate this to the protests I have been involved in and the testimony I have given in regard to worker safety. Many of the middle school students know of my participation in worker safety advocacy, and I can channel this right into the free speech discussion we'll have in the classroom. Hopefully I can empower these students to want to speak their mind, want to stand up for their rights and want to make a difference in this world!


This also ties right in to the 6th grade Philadelphia School District Core Curriculum and Civics lessons. Social Studies standards being taught include:

(from Center for Civic Education)
  
What are the Roles of the Citizen in American Democracy?

1. What is citizenship?
2. What are the rights of citizens?
3. What are the responsibilities of citizens?
4. What dispositions or traits of character are important to the preservation and improvement of American constitutional democracy?
5. How can citizens take part in civic life?

Common Core Standards

ELA: Comprehension and Collaboration

• SL.6.1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
• Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.
• Follow rules for collegial discussions, set specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed.
• Pose and respond to specific questions with elaboration and detail by making comments that contribute to the topic, text, or issue under discussion.
• Review the key ideas expressed and demonstrate understanding of multiple perspectives through reflection and paraphrasing.
• SL.6.2. Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.
• SL.6.3. Delineate a speaker’s argument and specific claims, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not.

My worker safety advocacy resources:


Congressional testimony  April 2010 (start at 197:50)   written statement (pdf)
Congressional testimony  May 2004
Worker Memorial Day: Philadelphia (article)
Worker Memorial Day 2011 (video)
Philaposh
USMWF-a national family support group

Content Creation part 2

I continued my conversation with the students during lunchtime on Friday, and realized that creativity needs to be defined with them! I think everyone has a different vision and definition for what creativity means, but I also think we, as educators, hope that students see the broader picture, and understand that creativity encompasses all disciplines.

When I had the discussion with the students, I asked them point blank how we could be more creative in the classroom. Their answers were varied, from having  a less restricted schedule in the classroom to using the Promethean Board for more than just a screen. The last answer was one I jumped on. Finally-something I can change! Some teachers use the Promethean Board for interactive experiences. Some use it as a screen to watch educational videos. Some use it as a screen to show the assignments for the day. I need to change that! Students should be using the Board, not just teachers! Tuesday morning, when we return to school, I'm going to arrange a PD for my teachers so they can see all that can be accomplished with Promethean Boards, and how it can change the learning in their classroom! I'm excited! I'm ready for change!

Content Creation (part 1)

The assignment:

Have a discussion with one or more of your students about the role of creativity in the classroom.  What do they really value currently and/or what would they change about their learning environment when it comes to digital media and technology supporting creativity?

Post a blog entry that presents the findings from your discussion.


Hmm..so, I start a discussion about with some students today, and it breaks off into a discussion about Steve Jobs, and his creativity. I posted the following to the discussion "True Creativity in the Classroom":

In memory of Steve Jobs, an appropriate quote from him that relates to our readings and discussions..

"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they've had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people."
May we all have experiences that enable us to enlighten us to the enjoyment of life.

RIP Steve Jobs


The biggest problem that these students saw was that, although creativity is able to be expressed outside of school, in school, everything in the classroom is too scripted. The only classes that they felt they could even be themselves in was Computers and Art. Even writing restricted their creativity. They do not like the writing prompts, since most of them are Constructed Responses, usually related to a reading passage. We will be continuing the conversation tomorrow at lunchtime..so you can consider this part 1. I plan on reading them the quote from Steve Jobs, and asking what they think about it, and what they would like to be able to do in the classroom. It should be an interesting lunch!

Creativity in the Classroom

Assignment:  After watching the presentation by Sir Ken Robinson about the role of creativity in schools, post a blog in which you answer the following questions: “Do schools kill creativity? How can you use digital media to bring creativity alive in your classroom?”

 First and foremost-I loved Sir Robinson's talk! I agree with a lot of what he said, and am proud to say that my school fosters the arts for our students. We have dance, Clay Studio, drama, choir, and visual arts for our students. However, we also are bound to the School District fo Philadelphia scripted Core Curriculum, as well as the mandated instructional time for Reading and Math in the daily classroom. This ties our hands in many ways.

I feel lucky. I have a suggested curriculum as a computer teacher. I am able to use creativity in my lessons, and have the freedom to try different things with students. We can synthesize disciplines such as music, art, literacy, writing, science, and math in projects in the computer lab. But, we also are required to teach programs at the request of the principal, so our time is spent with First in Math, Study Island, and now, Achieve 3000 as well.

Fostering creativity can be a challenge when you are required to produce data through programs, and prepare students for the standardized tests. The advantage of the computer lab, is that students have access to a variety of tools to fit their learning style, and they can use these tools to not only create projects for themselves, but for others.

This year, I am going to have our older grades (6th through 8th) use Photobooth video to record commercials about First in Math and Study Island, targeting the younger students (grades 1-3). Glogster can be used to consolidate resources, as well as present themes and subjects in different ways by different students.

School district and state mandated curriculum may stifle creativity, but, there are ways to work with the curriculum and yet be creative with students, as well as teach students to "think outside the box". Life isn't just one list of things to learn to another, but adventures to experience, and thinking outside the box helps prepare students for these life lessons.

Media-infused Presentation or Learning Center

I finally finished my Prezi presentation! What an adventure! I created it to help the 7th and 8th grade students at my school navigate the high school application process. I've seen the looks of astonishment and confusion on the students' faces as they read over the high school literature. I've seen it with my own son when he went through the process two years ago. I wanted to create something that would capture the students' attention, help them understand the process, and have all of the information they need in one place.

I can't wait to use this with the students. As I created it, I realized how important the process of creating a presentation is. I think that the most challenging obstacle I encountered was trying to get some type of audio file to upload to Prezi. I realized I had to convert the file to a video file, and then to a .flv file. I could then upload it into the presentation. I am hoping that Prezi will make uploading a simple audio file a priority when they next upgrade the website.

I still haven't totally figured out how to change colors of shapes. Prezi definitely has the advantage of a web-based presentation, and is always viewed in a non-linear fashion. I'm not sure if I like it as a tool better than Glogster. I think you can do more with Glogster. You have to be conscious of who your audience is, and what your purpose of the presentation is. I teach Kindergarten through eighth grades, and I think Glogster would definitely be a better presentation tool for the early elementary grades. Prezi is a great resource and great tool for the middle and high school aged students. Both tools can help foster development of the disciplined mind, but I think Prezi definitely has the lead when it comes to a web 2.0 tool to help develop the synthesized mind. Adding different disciplines in different ways is a challenge, and is a great culmination and assessment to lessons and instruction that are designed for synthesizing a variety of subjects in the classroom.

I am anxious to try Prezi again, and will. I'm going to share it with the student teacher who I am mentoring. I think there is much more there then I have experienced so far.

If you'd like to see my Prezi presentation, click HERE.

Blog on Digital Media

The assignment:
Select a specific topic you teach, or will teach, and search Discovery Education for a digital asset (e.g., video segment, virtual lab, audio file, etc.) about that topic. Think about your goals for presenting content about the topic you selected as well as the different ways you can use digital media to present content in a variety of forms and from different angles. Post a blog entry that presents how using this digital media resource as a means of presenting content benefits students in terms of providing opportunities for increased engagement and addressing different learning styles.

 I have chosen Cyber bullying as the topic I am going to be teaching to my 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students. This is something I discuss with them all year, especially when it comes to social media such as Facebook and Twitter. I also discuss security settings on social media sites, and how that can deter others from using resources on fellow students' pages to cyber bully. My goal is to have all students aware of how to correctly use social media, and what to do if they become the victim of any type of online bullying or stalking.

I've chosen to present this topic in several ways. The first is to introduce it as a class discussion. I want to give the students a chance to share their experiences with social media and bullying.  I'll share the video from Discovery Education "7 Ways to Block a Cyberbully" and then break the students into groups. I'll assign a problem to the class, and each group will take the point of view of one of the characters (i.e. the bully, the parents, the teacher, the victim), and explain what they would do to stop the bullying. Students will present their ideas using a variety of formats (their choice), including Photobooth video, glogster, Microsoft Word, or creating a poster for the hallway. Students will present their finished projects, initiating another class discussion regarding the classes' solutions to bullying.

The Synthesizing Mind

The assignment:
Share a classroom strategy (e.g., project, activity) that incorporates the use of digital resources to help students synthesize information.
Or, provide a brief review of a digital resource, tool or website and then tell how you would use it to help foster the development of the synthesizing mind.
Use these sites to help identify a resource:
Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators - http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/edtools.htmlWeb2010 - http://web2010.discoveryeducation.com/web20tools.cfm
Edudemic - http://edudemic.com/2010/07/the-35-best-web-2-0-classroom-tools-chosen-by-you/


Hmmm.....I'm going to nominate glogster as the tool that I'm going to use within my computer lab to help students incorporate and organize digital information, as well as help them synthesize that information.

Although this is taking Howard Gardner's idea of disciplines and the arts quite literally, I am going to have my 7th grade students identify an art discipline, and then they will be researching it, and finding individuals and groups through videos, text, and audio that provide examples of that art discipline. This could be anything that the students have a passion for, whether it be dance, rap, visual arts, movies, or the spoken or written word. I am going to have them compose a glogster poster that celebrates the art, provides examples, and also asks questions of the viewer that would provide insight into the possibilities of the future of this art concept in digital form.

The school I teach at is devoted to the arts. We have dance and drumming classes, conducted by Master Artists. We have Artists-in Residence programs come to our school and work with classes. We have so many programs-Clay Studio, the Shakespeare Project, Singing City, Comic Creators...the list is added to every year. I want to be able to add to the arts through technology. I want to show students that art is not confined to an easel and paint, or a drum, or costume and dance. I think this would be a great way to introduce the students to this concept! I'm excited!!

EDIM 508: Introductory Blog: 728 Challenge

My assignment: 
Post an introductory blog that answers each of the following questions. The challenge, in the spirit of today’s concise, Twitter-driven forms of communication, is to answer each question in 104 characters or less (approximately 20-25 words).

1. Who are you and what do you do?
2. What is your primary goal for taking this course?
3. What is your philosophy of education?
4. What do you see as the greatest benefit of using technology and/or digital media in the classroom?
5. What is your biggest concern or challenge with using technology and/or digital media in the classroom?
6. Provide an example of how you currently use technology and/or digital media in the classroom.
7. How does your classroom today differ from when you were the same age as your students?

OK, here goes....

1. I am a counselor, facilitator, motivator, tech support, data analyst, and finally, teacher. I wear many hats, and love each one. I leave school and become a mother, a wife, and a student of life.

2. I want to become more versed in the digital language of this generation. I need to keep up-and I love the combination of computers and creativity!

3. Teach what you know, learn what you don't. Be enthusiastic, teach what interests the student, for that will keep the student enthusiastic about learning throughout their life. Never stop learning. (over 104 characters-but that one was HARD!)

4. So much access to so many resources makes the world smaller, and brings a real-life aspect to learning.

5. Lack of up-to-date technology, and lack of needed resources, because of budget cuts.

6. When teaching about Internet Safety, I walk students through Facebook security settings, using their account. This year, my older students will be making a glog about internet safety and social networking to share with younger students!

7. I'm kind of old..we didn't have computers in my classroom (back in the mid sixties)! Now, with the punch of a button, students can see speeches and video of historical events. We had filmstrips and record players.

OK..so I went over the 104 characters, but not by much!! Interesting questions, and definitely a challenge to answer! I'm looking forward to reading everyone else's blogs!


-HSH

Intro to my blog!

OK..so this is my first attempt at an educationally themed blog. I'm starting a course through Wilkes University and Discovery Education, and will be posting my thoughts here. 

Digital Media in the Classroom. 

to be continued.....