Literacy Now

In today’s world, the topic of using technology in the classroom can be intimidating. In this monthly column, join one teacher on a quest to discover the best way to meet the needs of her digital-age learners…moving beyond the technology tools to focusing on supporting each student’s learning.

With the adoption of Common Core, teachers have been inundated with the phrases like “career readiness” and “preparing students for their future.” Although these goals are lofty, they really are not new to the world of education. John Dewey stated, “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”  These words still ring true today.

p: Stuck in Customs via photopin cc

What has changed is the world in which our students live. As teachers, it is our obligation to adapt to meet the needs of our digital age learners.

How do we do that when many of us were not educated in a time when technology was an embedded part of our everyday lives like it is for our students? Many teachers express to me feeling overwhelmed and fearful, not just by the sheer quantity of tools we have at our fingertips, but in knowing how to educate our students in a way that is effective and safe.

Where do we begin?

When tackling those trepidations, like with any other teaching practice, I believe it is crucial to begin with setting the foundation upon which all other digital practices will rest. That first step to preparing our students for the digital world is establishing safe practices that become lifelong habits for our students, inside and outside of the classroom walls. The fact is that students are already a part of a global, digital community. Our responsibility is to help them develop these habits within the safety and guidance of our classrooms.

When teachers mention to me the challenges that they face with students making wise and safe choices online, I always inquire about the basic groundwork that was laid before the students every touched a device. No educator would expect their student to build a skyscraper without first giving them the knowledge and skills to use the basic tools. We cannot do that with our digital tools either. They must learn how to safely use them before embarking on their learning journey supported with these digital tools.

Let’s Begin

I spend the first couple of weeks laying this foundation for my students. There are several practices that I would like to share with you, that I hope will enhance the conversations you are having with your students at the beginning of this new school year.

Student survey: On the first day of school my students take an interest survey where I can glean all types of information about them as learners and as overall individuals. One part of the survey asks them about their use of online tools, their devices, their perceptions, and their knowledge of digital safety. This gives me an inside peek into what they already know and gives be a jumping off point when we begin our conversation.

A student interest survey can easily been done on paper or through a digital tool. I use Google Forms (in Google Drive), as it is a very user-friendly way to create a survey that collects the data into a spreadsheet for the user. To begin, one only needs to have a Google account. Your account does not even need to be a Gmail account; you can use an existing email account.

Creating the survey only takes a few minutes to design and a few minutes for the students to complete, yet I get a wealth of knowledge on my students. (I also have a parent survey that the parents take the first week of school where I can gather crucial information from them regarding any of their trepidations and their input on digital practices at home and online expectations at school.)

Conversations: After knowing what my students’ (and their parents) level of knowledge is on digital practices, then we begin the conversation. I start with a strategy called a Brain Drain. This is an activity where students each have a sticky note. They are given three minutes to write down everything that they know on a topic (in this case, safe digital practices). Then after three minutes, the students do a turn and talk with a partner for three minutes sharing their ideas. After those three minutes conclude, the pairs share their ideas with the entire class and stick their ideas on our Brain Drain board.

This sharing time is where many topics about cyberbullying, netiquette, digital safety, and effective practices emerge. Some students have never thought about the ramifications of a Facebook post, Twitter tweet, or blog comment made in anger or frustration. Other students have had discussions about safety before. By pulling together our collective set of knowledge, the students get to explore the choices they have made and evaluate how they could have done better in the past.

My role in these conversations is one of moderator. I probe for clarification or justification of the statements that they make in order to guide students into thinking beyond the “what” they are saying into the “why” and “how.” This makes the conversation personal for the students. Does this take time? Absolutely! However, these conversations pay large dividends in the future because this topic rarely has to be revisited because the foundation has been firmly grounded.

Role play: Before architects build a building, they have plenty of time to practice and refine their skills with the guidance and support of mentors. We need to do the same for our students. Now that they have an understanding of basic practices that will enhance and support their learning, they need time to practice. I introduce examples of previous blogs, tweets, or projects that other students have created. As small groups they analyze these examples and then write a paper version of a blog post or tweet in response to the choices that the student made. By giving them opportunity to objectively look at posts, whether the writer made wise choices or not, instills in students the importance of looking at it from an audience’s point of view. Could their words be misinterpreted?  Would someone be offended by what was said or feel intimidated? Does that post support the learning of the author and the audience? Would that post improve someone else’s life in a positive way?

Giving students the ability to synthesize what we have discussed, then analyze and evaluate other’s work helps them to see the power of their choices.

Expectations: After the conversations and the role-playing, students work together to form our class expectations for online behavior. Just like the conversations, it is important that students have the opportunity to make their practices their own. Our role is one of facilitator to ensure that the students think about every aspect of online behavior, from safety practices to learning expectations. Because this is the students’ list, they have ownership of it. They designed it. Therefore, they hold everyone in our online community to those standards. If a student makes a poor choice, their peers take the time to kindly remind them to make some corrections.

Before I began allowing students to set these expectations, I spent much of my time “policing” and redirecting their choices.  However, since I have been given students the power to set their own expectations, I do not have to do any “policing” or enforcing. The students do that, leaving me the important task of focusing on their individual learning.

So although tackling preparing our students for their lives is not a new concept, the reality is that their lives are different than the ones that many of us have had. But by beginning with a strong foundation in digital practices with our guidance and support, our students will be building skyscrapers before we know it.

Julie D. Ramsay is a Nationally Board Certified educator and the author of “CAN WE SKIP LUNCH AND KEEP WRITING?”: COLLABORATING IN CLASS & ONLINE, GRADES 3-8 (Stenhouse, 2011). She teaches ELA to sixth graders at Rock Quarry Middle School in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She also travels the country to speak, present, and facilitate workshops in applying technology to support authentic learning. Read her blog at juliedramsay.blogspot.com.

I have an incredible principal. I work in an urban district, and our school has struggled for years with AYP requirements, test scores, and the effects of poverty in our community. But every summer, when our staff comes back together and prepares for a new school year, our principal is ready and waiting for us. He never fails to find a positive outlook and an inspiring message to get us focused and motivated.

This year, his message to us was simple: "Bring it." These two little words are our motto, our mantra, our battle cry as we step into another year that is sure to bring both challenges and rewards. For the last couple weeks, "bring it" has echoed through our halls, our emails, and our social media messages—because I am also part of an incredible staff that has taken this phrase and decided not only to bring it, but to own it.

We have a lot of obstacles in front of us, but through those obstacles we have the opportunity to do great things. We must do whatever it takes to make our time at school an incredible and worthwhile experience for our students. It is time for us to push ourselves outside of our comfort zones, become innovative thinkers, and create a school and classroom environment that not only provides the necessary elements for success, but accepts nothing less.

This new slogan from my principal is perfectly timed. The introduction of the CCSS has prompted great change in schools, and we are not alone in the need to step up our game. Behind the new standards is the belief that students need to be better prepared for the real world. They need to be critical thinkers, capable of complex reasoning and independent problem-solving. In essence, our students need to be able to "bring it," too.  And if this is what we want our students to become, we not only need to model the behaviors for them, we must also give them the opportunity to develop the necessary skills. These abilities and experiences are the key to truly giving students the opportunity to invent their futures.

Technology plays a central role in this philosophy behind the CCSS. Technology skills are mentioned repeatedly throughout the standards, because they are imperative to functional literacy in today's world. But simply being able to use it is not enough. True digital literacy is being able to apply critical thinking abilities and manipulate technology to solve a problem or fill a need. So, how do we bring about the kind of learning that fosters the development of those skills?

On the surface, providing the necessary learning opportunities may seem incredibly difficult. But the truth is, these opportunities are everywhere if we just know what we are looking for.

Recently, registration opened for the Verizon Innovative App Challenge.  The challenge is for a group of up to five students at the middle or high school level, with the guidance of an advisor, to create a concept for an app. The app must incorporate STEM principles and fill a need in the school or the community of the kids who are creating the concept. The entries are judged based on the idea and the presentation, so the app doesn't actually have to be built and functional. This opens up the challenge to anyone, even those who don't have the detailed technical knowledge or resources required to create an app. The winners will receive up to $20,000 in grant money, tablets for the students involved, and the opportunity to work with experts to make the app a reality.  Proposals must be submitted by December 3, 2013.

Challenges such as this exist all over the Internet, and often don't require a lot of money to participate in. Such activities are an excellent method for pushing students to develop the skills they will need in the real world. It is imperative to give them the chance to become proficient in those skills by applying them to real-world problems. And yes, this also means giving them the freedom to struggle and fail before they get something right. 

By reaching outside the familiar world of our individual school or district and actively encouraging our students to be innovators in the wider world, we allow them the opportunity to strengthen and refine the necessary abilities to truly invent their futures and live their dreams. To me, that is what it really means to "bring it" in my classroom.

If you are interested in participating in the Verizon Innovative App Challenge, please visit the official website for the contest. You can also find other technology related contests on the Technology Student Association website.

Lindsey Fuller is a sixth grade teacher in Decatur, Illinois. Her interests are classroom technology integration, literacy instruction, and Common Core curriculum development and implementation. You can read more from Lindsey on these topics at her blog, Tales of a 6th Grade Classroom. 

Back to school time is upon us once again, and across the nation teachers are working overtime buying supplies, getting classrooms organized, attending beginning of the year meetings, and planning for the months ahead. As fall closes in, I encounter a mixture of emotions—a bittersweet longing for the freedom of summer, a bit of anxiety as I contemplate the changes that always accompany a new year, and excitement as I anticipate meeting my new students and putting into place all the plans I have spent the summer working on.

p: Photo Giddy via photopin cc

The weeks of summer tend to spin by at a dizzying pace, and many of us are still spending significant amounts of time working—teaching summer school, receiving professional development, or preparing for the coming school year. I take advantage of the time off to scour the Internet and interact with my online peers, looking for new ideas and resources. One of my discoveries this summer was the existence of a growing number of teaching magazines available in electronic format.

Electronic magazines (e-magazines) offer several advantages over traditional paper formats. Access to these resources is easy and immediate—no need to seek them out in a store, or go searching for back issues. All issues are at your fingertips, requiring no physical storage space, which solves the problem of untidy and disorganized stacks of magazines. Downloaded issues can usually be archived once the reader has finished with them, preventing the problem of taking up precious memory on devices.

In addition, most magazine apps are free of charge to download, and magazine subscriptions can often be acquired on a month-by-month basis, instead of having to commit to a full year of issues. This allows the reader to choose which issues to purchase based on content and avoid wasting money on issues that may not be particularly useful.

On top of all these benefits, most publishers are beginning to take advantage of the opportunity to use innovative publishing formats. E-magazines often boast clickable links, the ability to share articles and resources via email or social media, embedded videos, and other interactive content. Not only are these features incredibly handy, they are fun to use!

Education magazines are an excellent and inexpensive way for teachers to gain insights about their profession, read about new techniques and ideas, and learn about important resources that are constantly evolving in the ever-changing world of education. Here are a few of my favorite discoveries:

TEACHHUB (free; iPhone & iPad app)—If you frequently use the Internet to search for teaching-related content, you may be familiar with TeachHub. This site offers a wide variety of articles, discussions, and resources geared towards educators. TEACHHUB now offers a free monthly magazine in electronic format that boasts original content addressing Common Core State Standards topics, must-have apps, and even entertaining anecdotes that will remind teachers why they love their jobs.

EDUCATION MAGAZINE ($1.99/issue; iPhone & iPad app)—EDUCATION MAGAZINE is one of the most recent additions to the iTunes Store. It focuses on the use of technology in the classroom, and is a valuable source of product reviews, implementation ideas, and quality articles on all areas of educational technology. You can get a free trial of Education Magazine by downloading the app, which is an excellent opportunity to preview the content before committing to purchasing an issue.

TEACHING THE AVATAR GENERATION ($5.99/issue; iPad app)—TEACHING THE AVATAR GENERATION aims to keep teachers and parents informed about educational technology trends and topics. In each issue you will find articles, reviews, and resources, as well as a high level of interactivity that makes full use of the advantages of electronic formats.

TEACHING TOLERANCE (free to educators, iPhone & iPad app)—TEACHING TOLERANCE is published three times a year, and offers unique content geared towards teaching students to be respectful and accepting towards all their peers. In this publication you will find articles, lesson ideas, and resources for creating a classroom environment that promotes equality and justice for all students.

T.H.E. JOURNAL MAGAZINE (free; PDF & iPad app)—Geared towards both teachers and administrators, T.H.E. JOURNAL MAGAZINE contains articles on best practices, tutorials, and expert advice on all areas of educational technology and mobile learning. It is an excellent resource for K–12 professionals who are exploring the intersection of education and technology.

These are a few of my favorites from among the wide range of electronic magazines. They provide ideas and inspiration to teachers, not just as we return to the classroom but throughout the school year.

A side note: Many of these publications are new and are lacking ratings and reviews. If you find one you enjoy, please take the time to let the publishers know. Doing so ensures that quality educational content will continue to be available in the years to come, and that is something we can all appreciate!

Lindsey Fuller is a sixth grade teacher in Decatur, Illinois. Her interests are classroom technology integration, literacy instruction, and Common Core curriculum development and implementation. You can read more from Lindsey on these topics at her blog, Tales of a 6th Grade Classroom.

In today’s world, the topic of using technology in the classroom can be intimidating. In this monthly column, join one teacher on a quest to discover the best way to meet the needs of her digital-age learners…moving beyond the technology tools to focusing on supporting each student’s learning.

Last week marked the maiden voyage of the #IRAchat. Teachers from all areas of education and from diverse geographic locations joined in to discuss digital writing and publishing in the classroom. It was a fun-filled, fast-paced hour of learning connecting and sharing.

As we concluded, I had several thoughts I took away from this experience that I would like to share with you.

Writing is writing whether a student is using a technology tool or paper and pencil.

The writing process does not change just because the tool does. Some students may enjoy writing in a journal with colored pencils, using a combination of words, poetry, and images, while others thrive on creating an interactive book on iBooks Author.

Maybe @seymouresimon tweeted it best: “#IRAchat Some things [are] so obvious, it’s embarrassing saying them. Perhaps we say them anyway: Printed vs. eBooks=who cares? Reading= Yippee.” I think the same applies to writing, no matter the medium. We want our students to become reflective, intentional writers who find a way to share their voices with their global audience across different writing genres. Whether they do that digitally or with more traditional methods does not matter. It’s the depth of the learning that does.

Students need to have choice when deciding how to publish…but we need to remember that technology is just a tool.

There are so many options, and new ones are being created every day. It’s easy to lose sight of what is important: our students’ learning. I think there is a real danger for us as educators to fixate on all the cool tools and then make the tool fit the learning needs of our students. It should be the other way around. We learn our students, and then we look for a tool that fits their needs as writers.

I often hear teachers speak about technology as a mode of motivation to “trick” kids into writing. If we approach writing and publishing in that manner, we are setting our kids up for failure. The problem with thinking that technology tools will motivate our students to write is faulty. I call it the “Christmas Morning Syndrome.” Everything is bright, shiny and new when it first arrives, but after time passes, that new “Christmas toy” is broken, lost, or sitting in some closet gathering dust, leaving the recipient no better off than when it arrived. By focusing on how a tool can meet a specific learning need, we are putting the focus on the student and his/her growth as a writer regardless of the tool that is selected.

As mentioned previously, the students in our classrooms are diverse. No two are alike. Today’s students can be masters and commanders of their learning 24/7 with the devices in the palm of their hands. By having students focus on the writing first, then guiding them in selecting a tool that will amplify their voice to their audience, we are giving them that control in their learning journey—regardless of how they publish.

Amazing things are happening in classrooms all around the world.

Sometimes, I think we get caught up in all the negative publicity surrounding education and we begin to believe the press. As teachers, so often we are behind our classroom doors, fighting the good fight with our students. With our guidance, students are growing tremendously, not only as writers, but also as individuals.

And we are not alone. I know there are success stories out there; all of you graciously shared them during the chat. It was inspirational. As teachers, it is important that we open up those classroom doors and share our success stories. Every educator is in a different place in his or her professional learning journey. We have more stories than the media could handle. Because we live in a digital world, it is now easier than ever to write and share our students’ stories through tools like Twitter, blogs, online communities, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest.

You never know how much your story, no matter how small you feel it may be, will impact someone else. Give them encouragement. Be a model of a life-long writing to your students by sharing your voice with the educational community. Be the voice that inspires others to try new things with their students. (See Living Out Loud.)

We all have writing goals for our students, but we need to remember that the students should drive where their course takes them.

When the last question was asked in the chat last night, I was overwhelmed with ideas for answers. There are so many goals that I want for my students to reach during the next school year, while there are other practices or projects (Global Read Aloud, blogging, ePortfolios) that I would like to tweak in a different way. As I (quickly) pondered this question, the first response was that I wanted for my students to publish books and fill our classroom library and our digital library with their published books. This idea came from a keynote speech from Jane McGonigal who shared that 82% of Americans think that someday they will write a book. My thoughts quickly shifted as I realized that although that may be a draw for many of my students, it will not appeal to some of them.

Our goals are great. We all need them. However, I was reminded as I watched the answers coming through the chat, that although we do need a plan, our plans need to be flexible to meet the needs of our students. We will have students who are (initially) resistant to reading and writing. But, once we get to know them, their interests, their strengths, and their challenges, we will be able to guide them towards writing and publishing options that appeal to them. Where writing a book may cause complete shutdown for one student, writing a script and publishing a movie may send his/her motivation and enthusiasm through the roof.

This realization, and all of your wonderful comments, reminded me that the place we really need to begin is with our students. Once we know our students, then we can find the strategies and tools that will help us to propel them into the wonderful world of writing, giving them a voice in this crazy world of ours.

These were some of the insights that I gained from #IRAchat. I would love to hear your “take-aways.” If you weren’t able to join in the live chat, be sure to check out the Storify recap, and then add your thoughts in a comment here.

Best wishes on guiding your students into amazing writing and publishing activities in this next school year.

Julie D. Ramsay is a Nationally Board Certified educator and the author of “CAN WE SKIP LUNCH AND KEEP WRITING?”: COLLABORATING IN CLASS & ONLINE, GRADES 3-8 (Stenhouse, 2011). She teaches ELA to sixth graders at Rock Quarry Middle School in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She also travels the country to speak, present, and facilitate workshops in applying technology to support authentic learning. Read her blog at juliedramsay.blogspot.com.

Over and over, I am asked, "What are the advantages of a 1:1 school setting?" I find it a difficult question to answer—not because I can't come up with a response, but because the person who asked often gets much more than they bargained for. I love teaching in a 1:1 setting, and the opportunity to do so has altered my classroom and my approach to teaching in innumerable ways.

p: Global Partnership for Education via photopin cc

One of my favorite aspects of teaching with technology is the ability to go paperless, and the surprisingly far-reaching benefits of doing so. Completing, editing, and grading assignments electronically is a budgeting bonus, while also saving me from toting reams of paper between home and school. In the classroom, I no longer hear excuses about lost papers, hungry pets, or a lack of supplies. I have no need to haunt the front office begging for more paper or ink, and spending my own money on these materials is a thing of the past.

But amazingly, these advantages are only the tip of the iceberg. In finding ways to accomplish tasks electronically, my students and I wind up stretching our creativity and our problem-solving skills. When I am able to give up the illusion of control and admit that I don't have all the answers, my students find me more approachable and we communicate more effectively. I ask for their invaluable input when I am out of ideas or feeling frustrated, and I invite them to work with me rather than for me.

A digital classroom also provides the opportunity to reenergize established instructional techniques. Apps and web tools breathe new life into well-known tasks, giving them a fresh appeal and increasing student engagement exponentially.

iBrainstorm

A free app available for Apple devices, iBrainstorm is a mind-mapping tool that offers a flexible range of options for classroom use. With the ability to draw, type, or arrange sticky notes, I often used this with my students to brainstorm or to create timelines and story maps. One of the cool features is that multiple iPads can connect and work together on a single project. The iBrainstorm Companion is a supplementary app that, among other things, allows users on iPhones to communicate with an iPad running the iBrainstorm app and contribute ideas to a collaborative project, even if only a single iPad is available. My students and I never tried this approach, but it has the potential to give the iBrainstorm app remarkable adaptability.

Tools4Students and Tools4Students 2

This pair of language arts iPad apps are priced at $0.99 each. Each gem contains 25 reusable graphic organizers that students can fill in, save, and email. The organizers are generic enough to be useful for a range of literature, non-fiction, and content area lessons. They can also be projected and filled in collaboratively in classrooms with a single iPad.

Apps like these hold great value and undeniably enhance the learning experience in my classroom. Yet they are only a piece of the puzzle. Whatever my initial response might be when asked about the impact of technology in my classroom, it is inevitable that I will eventually land back on this specific aspect of my experience: Incorporating technology into my classroom has created a positive transformation that encompasses everything from the back-to-school supplies I purchase to the ways my students demonstrate learning.

All these pieces make up a whole that has brought me to the realization that the type of technology is of little consequence; it is how we approach the implementation of that technology that makes all the difference in the world.

Join us for a Twitter chat on "Digital Writing in the Classroom." The one-hour chat is happening today, July 18th at 8pm EST. Use #IRAchat to join the conversation.

Lindsey Fuller is a sixth grade teacher in Decatur, Illinois. Her interests are classroom technology integration, literacy instruction, and Common Core curriculum development and implementation. You can read more from Lindsey on these topics at her blog, Tales of a 6th Grade Classroom.