WICKED PROBLEM PROJECT

Students learning English as a Foreign Language often have little exposure to English outside of their time in class. In order to build fluency, they must have frequent opportunities to interact with the language. However teachers can have several large classes and fluency building print materials are limited.

Working with CBA, an EFL school in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, we decided to use the platform Quia.com to give students the opportunity to access additional materials, resources, and activities outside of class time. These materials are designed to build fluency in the English language learners.

Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK)
At CBA, in addition to the level tests, each student will be required to complete a certain number of timed readings successfully in order to advance to the next level of English at the institution. By using the Quia platform, students will be able to easily access a variety of timed reading materials which will help them to build fluency. Because the reading materials will be available online, the students will have access to them anytime they have access to the internet, not like a book or other material that must be used only in the classroom during school hours and shared with other students. This will allow them to complete the necessary number of timed readings to build their fluency and advance to the next level of English.

Technological Content Knowledge (TCK)
Students learning a foreign language need frequent exposure to that language outside of the classroom setting. In Bolivia, students learning English at CBA have little exposure to English apart from the 1.5 hours they spend in English class each day. By using the Quia platform, students will be able to access English reading materials at appropriate levels of difficulty any time they have access to the internet.

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK)
When students read L2 materials word by word, the larger meaning is often lost or forgotten as students decode each word. By using timed readings, students are “forced” to read at a more rapid pace. This pace allows the reader to read for better overall comprehension even if he is unable to decode each and every word. The readings available on the Quia platform have a timer built into the webpage. Students are able to see the timer and pace themselves accordingly. They are also given multiple opportunities to read each text combining the extensive reading (ER) and repeated reading (RR) methods for building fluency in L2 learners.

For more detailed information, please feel free to click on the following links:


DESCRIPTION OF NEED OR OPPORTUNITY
APPLICATION OF TPACK
IMPLEMENTATION
FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS

CEP 812 - Group Project

For our PD tutorial, we decided to teach others how to create a Mathcast using VoiceThread.  In order to create the final product, each of us recorded a screen cast of our part of the tutorial.  Rachel then used iMovie to mesh the parts into one video.  The additional slides were created using Keynote and added in iMovie.  We were originally planning to use Jing, but the free version did not allow us to save the video files in format compatible with iMovie.  Instead of Jing, we chose to use Screencast-O-Matic. 

I had never used Screencast-O-Matic, but I learned that it is an easy-to-use tool that opens up a world of possibilities in and out of the classroom.  If I ever do online teaching, I imagine it is something that will come in very handy.  That said, I also found that it was difficult to look at notes and manipulate what was happening on the screen at the same time.  I will need some more practice before it looks, sounds, and feels more natural.  I am also very thankful that my friend allowed me to use his desktop computer.  It would have been particularly difficult to record a screen cast on my little laptop.   

If I ever needed to do a project like this again, I would consider having just one person actually record the screencast to create a smoother final product.  It might also be useful to have more finished examples.  Another thing that could be included would be a link to written instructions that could be followed after watching the video.

CEP 812 - Professional Learning Plan

I chose to create my Professional Learning Plan using Prezi.  This is my first Prezi creation.  You can view my Prezi by clicking on the following link.

Tara's Prezi

WPP D - FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS

As planned, I created a trial account on Quia.com.  I created a class account for which students were given instructions on how to register.  I also created two timed reading activities and assigned them on the class page.  All students who registered for the class were able to see the assigned activities that they needed to complete.  At first, not many students registered and did the activities, but after discussing the issue with their teacher, he talked to the students again and was able to motivate more to participate. 

Because we are only in the middle of Phase 1 of this project (scheduled to end in June 2012), we really only wanted to determine if the website is something the students could and would access, the ease of use of the website for the students, the ease of use of the website for the teacher(s), and the effectiveness of the automatic evaluation of the activities.  I monitored the class webpage and found that a total of 16 students (out of 19) registered for the online class.  One student double registered, made evident by a repeated email address and similar name.  Of the 16 students who registered, 11 students completed both timed reading activities.  I believe that with enough encouragement, or perhaps the pressure of the activity being a requirement to graduate, a near 100% participation rate could be reached. 

Ideally, I would be able to interview each student to determine his/her reasons for registering or not registering and also to receive feedback about the website and the activities. However, distance works against me in this case and I decided to simply do a class survey.  As of the writing of this report, only six students have completed the survey.  I am hopeful that more students will complete the survey in the next two weeks.  From the survey responses, I found that the students had no trouble registering on or using the website.  The readings were just a little too easy for the level of the students and the allotted time for the readings was more than enough.  (Part of this is due to the fact that we originally planned to use an intermediate class for the trial run, but in the end chose an Advanced class to complete the trial run.  The readings were more appropriate for students at the Intermediate level.)  As Phase 1 continues and Phase 2 is implemented, I will increase the difficulty of the reading selections just slightly and decrease the amount of time to complete the readings to better accommodate the needs of the Advanced students participating in the trial run.  

One of the reading activities was followed by a series of true/false questions.  Overall, the students did quite well with this type of activity and the automated system accurately graded the activities and sent the results to the teacher.  The other reading was followed by a series of short response questions. In order to grade this type of activity, the teacher must create a series of possible answers to each question.  For example, for the question “Who told him the good news?” the possible answers could be “the New York City Police department,” “the New York City Police,” “New York City Police,” “the police in New York City,” etc.  Trying to determine EVERY possible correct answer that students may write is nearly impossible.  Though the system graded this activity automatically based on the responses I had created, I found that I had to go back and re-grade the activity because some answers were marked wrong because they did not exactly match the pre-determined answers that I had created even though they were actually correct.

For the continuation of this project and the implementation of the additional phases, I have decided to change from the Quia platform to the Canvas platform.  Canvas can do all that we need it to do, and there is no cost to the individual teachers nor the institution as a whole as there is with Quia.  The tech support for Canvas is great, and the overall platform has a cleaner look and feel to it.  Though Quia worked, I would recommend Canvas to others simply because of the cost factor.

After implementing this trial run, I believe that it would definitely be feasible for the CBA students to access and participate in online learning in order to increase their exposure to English outside of class time and build fluency by doing the timed readings and other activities.  I am excited to continue working toward a long-term solution as we continue to move forward on this project. 

Quia Gradebook

Survey

CEP882 - NDCE Top 10

10. - Compelling experiences begin with a PROPOSAL.  Sometimes it is the idea itself, and not the details, that  can be the hard part.  Once the idea comes, many times the details start falling into place.

9. - Compelling experiences are often PLANNED.  Perhaps we would like to think that they happen spontaneously, but many times experiences that move us have been planned to do just that.  For my WOA project, the storyboard was a great planning tool that I depended on heavily when it came to making the final version of my project.

8. - Compelling experiences follow a PATTERN.  There are certain forms one can follow to make a kind of experience more compelling.  For example, think about lighting, rule of thirds, and depth of field when taking a photograph to make it more compelling.  In time, the form will become second-nature (like driving a manual transmission), and the finesse of experience will come into play.

7. - Compelling experiences are PROGRESSIVE.  They are dynamic.  They change.  What was compelling yesterday may not necessarily be compelling tomorrow.  (Though there are some things that seem to remain compelling in spite of time that passes.)

6. - Compelling experiences are often formed under PRESSURE.  Sometimes time constraints, as unfair as they seem, can actually help in the creation of a compelling experience.  At times, my ideas would not start really flowing until just a couple days before an assignment due date.  It caused me major stress at times, but for whatever reason also helped me to create decent work.

5. - Compelling experiences can depend on one’s PERCEPTION.  I think about the video my classmate did about going for a walk.  The “compellingness” was there all along, but it wasn’t until she took the time to really observe her surroundings that the “compellingness” became apparent to her.

4. - Compelling experiences are PERTINENT.  Experiences are most often compelling when they are relevant to us in some way.  I think of the project another classmate did on the art of Chris Jordan.  The reason that his art is compelling is because it is pertinent to each of us in some way or another.

3. - Compelling experiences can depend on our POSITION in life.  By that I mean that circumstances can greatly affect what we may or may not find compelling.  I am going through one of the most difficult times in my life right now, a crisis if you will.  At times, I couldn’t see past the pain into the “compellingness.”

2. - Experiences are made compelling because of PASSION.  When we are passionate about something, we naturally give it our all.  It is easy to try to show and share the “compellingness” with others.

1. - Compelling experiences are PERSONAL.  No matter how great an idea, what is compelling to one person may not be compelling to the next.  We all have unique past experiences that have shaped us into who we are now.  We have individual styles and tastes, and these things play a huge role in what we do or don’t find compelling. 

CEP812 - Mobile Learning

I created a poll using Polleverywhere.com.  I posted my poll on Facebook since I am not currently teaching in the classroom.  Participation was low, but I can see how it would be interesting to use in a classroom setting. 

I also participated in one of the Classroom 2.0 conversations about cell phones in the classroom.  The website seems to have some good ideas and commentaries from many teachers. 

I spent some time looking at the website for iPads/iPods in education.  Admittedly, I am still quite divided on the issue of cell phones in the classroom.  I think they can be a great resource, and at the very same time, a huge distraction.  I think many of us as mature, working adults could admit to having used our cell phones in less than appropriate ways from time to time.  It would be unrealistic to think that by making the cell phone a learning tool all inappropriate use will suddenly disappear because the students are having so much fun learning.

Everything we teach our students in school should be preparing them for life after school.  This is going to require more than playing with a gimmicky new technology.  It will require a lot of thought and dedication to integrating the technology to serve a real and not invented purpose.   It should be the same with any educational tool. 

I spent some time looking at the e-readers.  I am not that old (just 32), but I guess I am “old-school” in many ways.  I like to read books, not computer screens.  When I read a book, I can remember where something is written, the color of ink used to highlight it, what side of the page it is on and how far into the book it is.  I can’t do that with a computer screen and even less so with a teeny tiny cell phone screen.  I like my smartphone, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not going to read any books on it anytime soon.  Of course I can see the advantage to have a plethora of current materials available on an iPad or Kindle.  That certainly would be better than 20-year old World Book Encyclopedias.  

We all learn differently and have different strengths and weaknesses.  Hopefully someday the whole system will change.  Education will hopefully become more individualized and students will be able to help choose what works best for them when it comes to learning.

IB - Fashion Module

I got so carried away with my WOA project that I completely forgot about this blog.  And not because I don't appreciate fashion :)  So for the last six years I worked in Bolivia at a secondary boarding school.  In Bolivia, all students in all schools wear uniforms.  There is no debate as there is here in the States, because it is simply what is done. On Independence Day parade all students from all schools march in the parades in their communities.  As the director of the school, I had a version of the school uniform that I wore on parade days.   It was the only time I put on that uniform.  The students loved it...and I loved it.  Since we all lived together at the boarding school, we already felt like a family, but there was something about wearing our uniforms in the parade in town that created a sense of pride and belonging like no other day.  There was just something about dressing up in fresh uniforms for parade day.  I think it is similar to the feelings I feel when I see a man in a Navy or Marine uniform.  My dad was in the Navy and my grandfather was a Marine.  I see a group of men in their dress blues and it actually makes me tear up.  I just don't think it would have the same effect, no matter how straight they were standing, if they were all wearing jeans and different t-shirts.  Some argue that uniforms take away individuality, but I think they create a sense of belonging and family.  It's amazing that something as simple as clothing can have that effect.

WPP C - IMPLEMENTATION

We've talked theory up until now.  This is where the "rubber meets the road."  Does theory work in practice?  Listen to find out!


WPP Part C - Implementation PODCAST

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Teacher Homepage in Quia

Assigned quizzes for CBA students

Quia grade book

Canvas platform

CEP812 - Part B - STORYBOARD AND SCRIPT

My group members and I each worked on our sections of the project as we had planned.  On Wednesday, we came together once again to put the pieces of the puzzle together.  We held a web conference using Vyew to communicate with one another, and worked on pulling our three storyboards into one Google Doc.  


Using Jing, each of us will record our part.  We will have them recorded and sent to Rachel by the 18th.  Rachel volunteered to combine the three recordings into one using iMovie.  We will meet again on the 25th to finalize the project.
Group 3 Storyboard and Script

WPP B - APPLICATION OF TPACK

Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK)
At CBA, in addition to the level tests, each student will be required to complete a certain number of timed readings successfully in order to advance to the next level of English at the institution.  By using the Quia platform, students will be able to easily access a variety of timed reading materials which will help them to build fluency.  Because the reading materials will be available online, the students will have access to them anytime they have access to the internet, not like a book or other material that must be used only in the classroom during school hours and shared with other students.  This will allow them to complete the necessary number of timed readings to build their fluency and advance to the next level of English.


Technological Content Knowledge (TCK)
Students learning a foreign language need frequent exposure to that language outside of the classroom setting.  In Bolivia, students learning English at CBA have little exposure to English apart from the 1.5 hours they spend in English class each day.  By using the Quia platform, students will be able to access English reading materials at appropriate levels of difficulty any time they have access to the internet.


Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK)
When students read L2 materials word by word, the larger meaning is often lost or forgotten as students decode each word.  By using timed readings, students are “forced” to read at a more rapid pace.  This pace allows the reader to read for better overall comprehension even if he is unable to decode each and every word.  The readings available on the Quia platform have a timer built into the webpage.  Students are able to see the timer and pace themselves accordingly.  They are also given multiple opportunities to read each text combining the extensive reading (ER) and repeated reading (RR) methods for building fluency in L2 learners.

CEP812 - Part A - BRAINSTORM SESSION

Our group met on Monday, April 2.  Since we are all from different areas, we would not have been able to meet in person even if we had wanted to.  We chose to use the web conferencing tool called Vyew, a free program available to anyone with an internet connection.  With Vyew, you can communicate via webcam (video conferencing), microphone (audio only), or chat (text only).  You can also use a combination of the three, which is what we did.  Before we actually met using Vyew, Christine created a Google Doc to brainstorm and share ideas in order to streamline our meeting.  We all created Vyew accounts and I created a room and invited each of my classmates to the room for our meeting.  It was easy and self-explanatory to create the invitations.  Since I was not on the receiving end of an invitation, I do not know how easy it was to respond to an invitation received. 

We took some screenshots of our meeting together and I recorded segments of our meeting using Jing, as we were unable to find any way to record the meeting using Vyew itself.  With Jing, I was only able to record 5-minute segments.  Only two segments recorded successfully.  Another disadvantage to using Jing to record the session seems to be that the only voice recorded during our session was my voice since I had earphones in to reduce the feedback with the microphone.  However, since we all seemed to have feedback issues with our microphones, we relied heavily on the chat area and the room’s page to share ideas and to communicate effectively.  Most of this is evident in the video segments.  Another disadvantage I noticed using Jing to record the session is that you not only see what is happening in our web conferencing room, but also my other actions (such as adjusting the microphone levels, etc.).  I have been back to the Vyew room to look for a way to record the session.  Upon reading the help section, I determined that Vyew does not have this feature built in and it must be done with third-party software.  Suggestions made on Vyew’s website include CamStudio, Camtasia, or Screencast-O-Matic.  We will have to look into one of these in order to record our next session.

During our web conference we decided to do our project on Math Casts using Voice Thread technology.  We also decided that we would record our project using Jing.  We divided the project into different parts.  Rachel will do an overview of a Math Cast.  I will show how to set up an account using Voice Thread.  Christine will show how to create a Math Cast on Voice Thread.  And, finally, Rachel will show options for sharing the final product.  We have each been working on storyboarding our section of the project.  We will be sharing our storyboards with each other at our next meeting scheduled for Wednesday, April 11^th.  At our next meeting will determine the timeline for the remainder of the project.


Video segments of our web conferencing can be seen here:

Group 1 Group 2

CEP812 - Web Conference

I met with my group members online using the platform Vyew.  Vyew is a internet-based, free web conferencing platform.  Online meetings are always interesting since they are completely dependent on the technology used.  And, as we all know, no matter how many successful trial runs we attempt, there are always little quirks when the “real” time comes.  This was no different.  Our microphones were very prone to feedback.  Even adjusting the settings and using earphones didn’t completely remedy the situation.  One of the three webcams didn’t want to function.  I’m hoping that we can work out these kinks to make the meeting more efficient next time around.  We mainly relied on typing in the chat area which was pretty effective.  We shared information via the main page.  Each of us used text boxes to add pertinent information to the page. We practiced sharing documents in the form of pictures.  This is something that we will be using more in our next meeting when we are sharing our storyboards with one another for the project.  Though I tried to find a way to “record” the conference (and I’m sure there is one), I never did see how to do it.  I resorted to doing video clips with Jing. 

I don’t currently teach, but I think that a program like this could be useful when I am conducting meetings with my friends and colleagues back in Bolivia.  If I am trying to introduce a new technology concept, I can see that screen sharing would be quite useful.  Rather than just trying to talk the person through what I am seeing, I can actually show them what I am seeing and using.

Screencasts of Web conference - http://www.screencast.com/t/st8Gqv1Drnw, http://www.screencast.com/t/4TN6xRTtx0lP

WPP A - DESCRIPTION OF NEED OR OPPORTUNITY

What is the important educational need that you are seeking to address?


The Centro Boliviano Americano (or CBA) is an EFL school in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Students enroll in before- or after-school classes that meet for 1.5 hours each day Monday through Friday. The English program is designed to complement the students’ regular schooling. The regular program is designed to take 3 years to complete and students are expected to be at an advanced level of English when they graduate from the program. Exceptional students have the opportunity to earn scholarships to study at universities in the United States.

Because Bolivia is a Spanish-speaking country, one problem is that the students have little or no exposure to anything in English outside of regular class time. While students have textbooks and workbooks, there is little opportunity for building fluency outside of the limited time in class. Classes are often large and teachers do not necessarily have the time to meet with and evaluate each student one-on-one. Thus students need a way to have more effective encounters with the English language that can be evaluated without creating more work for the teachers.

How you plan to address this educational issue with technology?  

One effective way to increase fluency in a language program is to provide a variety of timed reading and writing activities for students. Unfortunately, having these materials available in print for all the students and teachers would be nearly impossible in a school the size of CBA. It would also be difficult to fit these timed reading activities into the already limited class time that the teachers have with their students. However, all students in Santa Cruz do have access to the internet as internet cafes are abundant and the cost to use them is more than reasonable. With this in mind, I would like to create a platform, or modify an existing one, to provide students with the opportunity to access fluency building exercises via the internet.

I will use the website Quia.com to create a space for the students to access timed reading and writing materials. Students will be able to log in, access the materials specific to their level of fluency, and complete the activities.  As the students complete the activities, the activities will be evaluated automatically and the results will be available for the teachers to access in the Quia gradebook. This will allow the teachers to see which students have completed which activities.  It will also allow the teachers to determine each student's strengths and weaknesses based on the quiz results.  This solution will create the needed exposure to English outside of class time, it will not create a great deal of extra work for the teachers, and it is cost effective (subscription cost between $29 and $49 per teacher per year).

Logistics of solution:

After talking to the administration at CBA, we decided that we will start with a trial run, or Phase 1, beginning in April 2012 and ending in June 2012.  This will be done with one teacher and one of his/her intermediate English classes.  Only timed reading activities will be made available during Phase 1.  During Phase 1, we want to determine the following:

• Ease of use of website for students
• Ease of use of website for teacher
• Frequency of website access by students
• Effectiveness of evaluation of activities (in terms of students receiving feedback and teachers receiving the results)

Phase 2 will begin in June 2012 and will last until December 2012.  The purpose of Phase 2 will be to assess improvement of the fluency of the students.  In addition to the timed reading activities, timed writing activities will also be added to the website.  At the end of the 6-month period of Phase 2, we hope to see an increased fluency in the students who have used the website in comparison to those who did not use the website.

Phase 3 (dependent on results of Phase 2) will begin in January 2013.  Phase 3 will make the website accessible to all students working at the Intermediate level of English at CBA. 

Phase 4 will begin in June 2013.  Phase 4 will maintain the website for the intermediate students and make the website available to all students working at the advanced level of English at CBA. 

Relevant research and resources:

There are many ESL/EFL activities on the internet, but the majority of the activities are learning games. Very few activities seemed specifically designed to build fluency through timed readings or writings.

And yet, studies have shown that extensive reading (ER) and repeated reading (RR) are an effective way to develop reading fluency and comprehension for students learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in settings where there are limited sources for L2 input. ER is an approach in which readers choose from a collection of leveled materials with the goal of reaching specified target times of silent sustained reading (Taguchi, Takayasu-Maass, and Gorsuch, 2004).

Timed readings are especially beneficial for increasing comprehension. “If a reader reads too slowly (below 200 wpm), they may be reading word by word and forget what is being read, and the result is poor comprehension. To minimize the functional limitations of short-term memory in the reading process, a variety of strategies have been suggested, one of them being timed reading. Timed reading involves having students read under time pressure, the purpose of which is to improve reading speed to an optimal rate that supports comprehension rather than developing speedy readers.” (Chang and College, 2010).

There seems to be a number of platforms that would allow me to accomplish my goal. Blackboard, Angel, etc. have excellent platforms for doing online class work. However, these platforms are more complex than what I would like for the trial run of this project. Quia.com has the resources in place to create timed activities/quizzes for the students that are graded automatically, and the results sent to the teacher. It has everything we are looking for at this point.

When researching the website, I needed technical assistance. Tutorials were easy to find and helpful to use. The tech support team also responded to my inquiry within 24 hours. This is the kind of support that a teacher using Quia.com will appreciate.

A plan for the portion you will implement during this course and the portion you will implement after this course is completed.

During this class, I will be working on implementing Phase 1 of the project. At the end of the class, I will survey or interview the students to determine their thoughts on the new website. Because this will be done just a few weeks after the implementation of the project, I will plan to repeat the survey/interview process at the end of Phase 1 in June 2012.

How would you know you were successful?

I will have to measure my success at each step along the way. For this class, I will evaluate the responses of the student surveys/interviews. This will help me revise my plan and determine what changes need to be made for the rest of Phase 1 and the following phases.






Sources:

Taguchi, E., Takayasu-Maass, M., Gorsuch, G. (2004).  Developing Reading Fluency in EFL: How assisted repeated reading and extensive reading affect fluency development.  Reading in a Foreign Language [Online]. Available: http://www.nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl/October2004/taguchi/taguchi.html

Chang, A., College, H. (2010). The effect of a timed reading activity on EFL Learners: Speed, comprehension, and perceptions. Reading in a Foreign Language [Online]. Available: http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl/October2010/articles/chang.pdf

CEP882 - IB Music Module

I am now more convinced than ever before that compelling experiences are extremely personal.  Try to critique someone's music or musical genre and it is likely to turn ugly very quickly.  Fortunately all of our group members in our Facebook discussion stayed civil, but convincing one another of why a particular song was good or bad?  Not going to happen :)

I've actually studied music for a long time.  I started taking piano lessons when I was 7 years old. I stopped when I was 9.  I participated in five musicals, the first when I was just 5 years old.  I participated in choir for 6 years, show choir for 3 years, and sang in a trio with two of my classmates for 3 years.  I thoroughly enjoyed the music theory class I took, as well as the World Music class I took my first semester of undergrad soooo many years ago.  In Bolivia, I taught choir, handchimes, and piano.

I've always liked a wide variety of music, from classical, chorale pieces, and Broadway hits, to the top 40 records that you could hear on the radio every Sunday morning.  I enjoyed singing hymns in church and also dancing to club music at school dances hosted every week.  I listened to music at home, at work, and in the car.  I admit to singing in the shower.  Over the years, my tastes in music have changed.  I lived in a foreign country for 6 years.  The club scene really isn't me anymore, though sometimes I dance in my bedroom or my living room:)  But, at the end of the day, it is me who choose what music I like.  Others simply don't influence me.  Sometimes a simple "I like that," or "I don't like that" is all that is needed to keep listening or to turn it off.  Maybe it's a great song.  Maybe it's even a Grammy award winning song.  Maybe millions of people think it is just wonderful.  That doesn't mean that I will or that I have to.

In our classrooms, sometimes we can have a great hook, a technically good lesson, and all the right pieces to make an experience compelling. But some students just won't be compelled by it because it just doesn't speak to their souls. I think sometimes it really is that simple.

CEP882 - The Hook

I nearly forgot about blogging after having a couple weeks off:)  Like music that draws us in with a good hook, the classroom experiences we design need to have a hook to draw our students in.  Often times in education, we refer to the hook as something we can connect to from previous lessons or life in general.  The hook in a lesson tends to be something to which we can refer to get our students thinking about the topic at hand.  Though it is similar to the hook we have discussed this week in music, it isn't quite the same.  The hook in music is the part that catches us and holds us all the way through, not just something that grabs our attention in order to move us on to the next theme.  That said, maybe our classroom hooks should be more like music hooks.  Maybe they should be something that grabs our students' attention and holds it all the way through the lesson, something that is subtly repeated time and again so that our students can't shake it from their minds.  It is certainly something to think about :)

CEP812 - Funny Tech Moment

Tara's Funny Tech Moment

CEP 812 - Video Bio

My Way

This week we analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of open office spaces and cubicle office spaces.  What I found most interesting is how much personal preference factors in to how we view each type of space.  I really enjoyed reading people's comments on the class discussions and seeing how much of our personalities came out in our analyses. While I am a very social person, I tend to prefer working in private, small spaces if I need to get something done.  I do not like any noise at all, not music, not the hum of people talking, nothing.  I know others who work best when they are listening to music or when they have the opportunity to work with others.  I have noticed that teachers typically run their classrooms in the way in which they themselves best function.  If they work better as individuals, they tend to have a lot of independent work in their classrooms.  If they work best in silence, they tend to keep on task time very quiet.  If they work better with others, group work is typically highlighted.  If they work best with noise, there is a hum of student chatter or possibly music being played.  

One of our biggest challenges as educators is branching out and understanding that our way is not the only way.  The way we see things may not be the only way to see things.  The way we learn is not the only way people learn.  We must constantly seek to diversify the way we do things in our classrooms and not fall into a rut of "my way or the highway."

Retail Space Comparison

Tara's Presentation

Please click on the above link to watch my presentation.

Space, Light, Order

My high school experience took place in a one-story building that was spread over a large area and accommodated 1200 students each day.  Most of the classrooms were on the “inside” hallways of the building and were like little caves.  No windows.  White cement block walls.  Artificial lighting.  Recycled air.  Who designed this place and thought it would be a good place for student learning?  It was a fairly modern building.  I believe that the building was built in the late 60’s or early 70’s.  But even as a 15-year-old high school student, I thought it strange to have a building with classrooms closed in like that.  The few classes during the day that took place in the classrooms lucky enough to have windows were like a breath of fresh air, literally.  I have to ask myself, if correct use of space, light, and order can make a house more like home, what effect can they have on a learning environment?  Could it be that the way in which we arrange the desks, the lighting we choose, the way we use the windows, the colors we choose for the walls, and other things could have an effect on student learning?  Or maybe it simply affects the way a student feels walking into the environment we create in our classrooms.  Obviously, we are limited, in a way, to what is already there.  My teachers in my high school didn’t build the building and choose their classrooms with no windows.  It’s simply the hand they got dealt.  

I was fortunate enough to teach for 4 years in a very small private school in Lansing.  During that time, we were granted permission to do just about whatever we wanted with our classrooms.  My first year teaching, I just moved in my few belongings.  I didn’t have time to make any massive changes.  But, what stood out to me the most when I moved in was the color of the walls – pink.  And the trim work and bookshelves were a darker pink.  I hated it.  Immediately.  I’m biased.  I don’t like pink, but it was almost overwhelming.  I started putting together plans to change that for the next school year. 

During the summer after my first year teaching, a mother of one of my students and I painted the room a very light blue color.  The trim work and the bookshelves we painted slightly darker blue.  I bought an a blue area rug, some blue and white lawn chairs, and a modern floor lamp and created a reading corner.  I switched out the chalkboard for a 12-foot magnetic white board.  I decorated the bulletin boards with a sea/beach theme.  I noticed that my class dynamics changed.  I am sure that the design of the space, the color change, the decorations, etc. actually changed how my class acted.  You might say that the students were different, and that’s what created the change.  But I taught in a multi-grade classroom in which the majority of my students stayed the same.  One year later, the whole school changed from pink to blue.  

Clearly we have to work with what we have available.   But I think the way we use light, order, and space in our classrooms can actually have a real effect on our students’ learning experiences at school.

Director's Commentary

Click here for Tara's Video

I spent the majority of the last six years of my life teaching at a secondary boarding school in the middle of the jungle of northeastern Bolivia.  We started out with no running water and no electricity on our campus.  Our home didn’t even have a floor, windows, or doors.  Life was relatively slow.  We washed our laundry and our dishes in the river, cooked in the communal kitchen, and ate, played games, and read books by candlelight in the evenings when the sun went down. We didn’t carry cell phones because there wasn’t any signal.  We didn’t use computers unless we charged up our laptop in town to watch a movie at the school.  Life was slow. And connected.

During these same years, technology in the United States continued to change drastically.  When we left in 2005, flip phones were in, texting was not.  Internet was something you had on your computer, unless you were one of the techie few who had the newest products with the latest technology.  Now, netbooks, smartphones, and tablets are the “norm” for many people.  We carry the internet at our fingertips all the time.  We can email, post to Facebook, follow our people on Twitter, check our flights, Skype our friends overseas, text our contacts, take photos, record videos, get the latest news, check the current weather and the forecast, identify our exact GPS coordinates, and so much more just by pulling out our cell phone, that thing we used to use only to call people.  

When I returned to the States recently, I noticed that just about everyone I see carries a smartphone.  Admittedly, I also have a smartphone and use it all the time for almost everything except calling people.  I have a laptop that I am using in some form or another throughout most of the day.  I am connected, just like everyone else I know.  

One Saturday afternoon after lunch with some friends, I looked up from my computer and noticed that all nine adults in the room were using their computers, tablets, or smartphones.  We continued to talk a little and socialize a bit while everyone was glancing at their devices more than just periodically.  A few days later, as I talked with one of my friends, I noticed that she was texting and only half-listening to me.  A comic that I had seen suddenly came to mind in which a woman asks her husband if she can tape the phone to her forehead so that she can at least pretend that he is paying attention to her as she speaks.  All of a sudden the idea came to me.  We are more connected than ever by way of our high speed internet and our plethora of handy, pocket-sized devices.  And yet, it seems like as connected as we are, there is an amazing amount of disconnect in our society because we are all so busy being “connected.”

In the video “family bonding,” I wanted to show a group of friends and family doing an “exaggerated” version of what I had seen that Saturday afternoon. I don’t have a lot of technical equipment, so I didn’t focus much on lighting or awesome recording.  I mainly just focused on getting the idea across in an effective way.  I chose to record the scene in an authentic family room with most of the same people who were there that Saturday.  I wanted the groups of people to not interact with each other, just with their devices.  We were all actually using our own devices doing real activities during the video.  I included the captions to add to the “shallowness” of the “bonding.”  The small child with his statement was supposed to give a glimpse into the mind of a three-year old in today’s connected world.  “Fun” or “funny” used to be more than looking at videos and pictures on an iPad.  Even the dog is seeking attention from the computer world.  The iPhone-inspired statement that closes the video is intended to drive home the idea of disconnect in our highly connected world.   

I hope you enjoyed the video.

Video Module

These last two weeks really put me out of my comfort zone. I had a seriously hard time coming up with an idea for this video project. It was especially hard for me because the majority of that which is really compelling to me right now is in another hemisphere. I wracked my brain, knowing that what is compelling to me would not necessarily be compelling to my audience. Honestly, I didn’t come up with the idea until the middle of the second week of the module.  In the end it wasn’t the recording and editing that posed the greatest difficulty for me (although my computer did blue-screen twice in five minutes and I had to call in back up forces for technical difficulties), it was thinking of a good idea.

Often times, in our classrooms, it’s not the details of the lesson that are the most difficult to put together. It is coming up with the idea in the first place. It is coming up with something that will be meaningful to the audience and will communicate the idea that you wish to communicate in an effective way. That’s probably why there are so many idea books in the teacher store:) 

Making it Better

Many of the required readings this week had to do with editing a video.  Obviously editing is a huge part of any video production.  Anyone who has ever shot any footage of anything knows that there are usually 2 really good seconds out of about 30:)  Editing also has to take place when planning a great lesson or unit.  There is so much material available nowadays.  Between textbooks, teacher stores, websites, other materials available online, colleagues, etc., there is an overabundance of resources for just about any topic.  The teacher's job is to sit down and sift through that material to put together the stellar lesson.  It's not always the easiest thing to do and it definitely is not something to leave for the last minute.  Sometimes it takes a few "trial runs" in the classroom to see what works and what doesn't.  (Unfortunately, to get a really good feel for if a lesson will work or not, you have to test it out on real students in a real classroom.  And, at times, you have to wait a whole year to get a chance at "take two.") 

Passion

I am not a writer.  Nor a photographer.  Though I appreciate both good writing and good photography.  Sometimes inspiration simply does not come, and yet, the deadline approaches. 

This week I left the country that has been my home for six years.  Bittersweet.  My mind is, perhaps, more focused on my tropical past than my frigid present. 

I am not currently teaching classes.  I taught 3^rd-4^th grades in a private school in Lansing, Michigan for 4 years.  After that, we moved to Bolivia and I taught math and music to secondary students in a jungle boarding school for six years.  I moved from the jungle to Santa Cruz in October.   I was on the verge of signing a contract to teach at an English school when a series of events…compelling experiences, if you will…threw me on a fast track back to the United States.  

So, here I sit thinking about the relationship between photography and teaching.  While reading “How to Make Great Photographs” on www.kenrockwell.com, I particularly resonated with the idea of passion in a photograph.  “Photography is the art of communicating passion. You need to be passionate about whatever it is that you photograph. If you are passionate you'll get great results, if you don't care, you won't.”  Is it not the same with teaching?  We, as educators, must all admit that there have been days when we have been less than passionate about what we were teaching.  I remember being in my Elementary Math Methods class during my undergraduate experience.  I was in the class with about 15 or 20 other elementary education majors.  The professor asked us how many of us liked math.  I was the only one in my class that raised her hand.  The only one.  Many scowled and groaned indicating that the only reason they would even teach math in their elementary school classrooms was because it was a requirement.  I would imagine that this is not uncommon among the elementary education majors even today.  If our elementary teachers have no passion for math, how will they communicate a love of math to their students.  And with no passion, no great results can be expected,  just like in photography.