School Board Presentation: the ACES program

We have been very busy getting the program started this year. This is a presentation I put together for our school board to explain the ACES program. So far, things have gone really well - though, of course, there are many things we need to develop.

Adobe Youth Voices and Problem Based Learning

Adobe has a set of curricula to help teachers connect with their students through problem based learning and the use of music, print, video, and animation. The site, Adobe Youth Voices, promises to be a great resource for teachers.

In addition to fully developed curricula, the site includes teacher stories centered around lessons educators have learned through embracing this approach.  Gregg Witkin, a teacher from Boynton High School in San Jose, California wrote about the importance of cultivating a connection with students as an essential element to becoming an effecting teacher.  This really jibes with the direction we have been trying to take with our high school students in the ACES program.

Over the past several weeks we have, unfortunately, had our attention drawn away from moving forward with developing a problem/project based approach to learning.  Essential administrative tasks swallowed up a lot of our time.  Now, I am hoping we are going to be able to start developing the problem/project based aspect of the program.

We are using a product - a Photo Story 3 slide show - as a means of allowing my Government students to display their understanding of the Bill of Rights.  This also gave me a chance to introduce dig.ccmixter.com as a site for downloadable music they can import into their slide show if they wish.  Students also learned how to create music within the free Photo Story 3 application.  One result of my experience in the Full Sail EMDT masters program has been an increased commitment to honoring the intellectual property of others - and to teaching my students to do the same.

This week I intend, finally, to get them journaling, by way of their blogs.  I will have to accelerate the rest of our course somewhat because of the things that hindered us at the start of the year.  However, I also discovered Blackboard offers a free version of their application online!  I started building an online version of my Government course using their Course Sites.  I was glad to find this, because Blackboard is so widely used, but I had only been able to use Moodle and Schoology up to this point.

At this point I need to make a couple of media assets - tutorials - to help my students through their Photo Story projects.  Then it is the downhill rush to the Christmas break!  Well, they say that a car has to be moving before you can steer it - so I'd say things are good.  We are certainly moving!  Now let's see if we can steer things in the right direction.

Well, that was bracing!

Many of the sources that describe using Project Based Learning (PBL) also testify to the fact that implementing it (or any approach that is radically different from traditional methods) can take us out of our comfort zone.
Putting ourselves in uncomfortable positions is hard to do. I think it is even more challenging in the absence of a mentor who has traveled the path before you. Still, I believe our journey to blend PBL with the other approaches used in our program is well worthwhile.
We got our program underway last week and presented the concept of PBL to our students; however, we are just laying the groundwork. We have not actually engaged in PBL yet. Our first task is to create a foundation - to make sure students have basic skills needed to carry out projects of their own. Their first projects will be guided and supported. As students (and the teachers) progress, the students will initiate their own projects.
One "bump in the road" was the decision by the district to transfer our math/science teacher to the high school, leaving our program without a qualified math or science teacher. Ouch! It also left a program with a very small staff to begin with diminished by one third. Double ouch! Oh, yes, and this happened during the first week of school. Yikes! We knew our friend was going to be part-time at the high school, but having him totally gone was a shock.
I have no doubt we will still press forward and successfully implement PBL in our program. We have great leadership in a director and district superintendent who are vested in seeing our program succeed. It will be quite a challenge, though. I look forward to looking back at the end of the year with the satisfaction of those who have worked hard to overcome obstacles and achieved a worthwhile goal.

PBL Ground Zero

Be still my constructivist heart! Seriously, there is such cool stuff out there about project-based or expeditionary learning. I also discovered a company called Project Foundry, which offers an LMS that helps teachers take students through a project-based approach, tying the planned project to standards, and assisting teachers to manage the whole process, including the awarding of credit.

What I am doing now is looking for a way to present this to our "alternative" high school students. In one video, the classrooms were like offices, with low dividers and work stations for kids that looked an awful lot like an office. The adult leading the kids was called an "advisor" rather than a "teacher." This may seem like a petty shift in semantics, but when students have built up a paradigm for what they think a "teacher" is, they can be helpful in moving students away from that mold.

Our journey to being a truly project-based/problem-based school is just beginning. Our first steps might still be a little like a traditional classroom. As the year progresses, I expect our team to learn more about how to be advisors. We'll be shifting our paradigm right along with the students. Cool.

See More Myst IV Revelation Various at IGN.com

Why a picture from Myst IV Revelation? We are starting the year with a focus on relationships. As part of that, we are having students decorate their lockers as a way of telling others about themselves. The logical parallel to this is for each of the teachers to decorate their doors with the same intent. So, I have been on a search for images to help inspire my door design.

Mrs. Reed's door is a big sunshine, green grass, blue water and sky. I laughed and told her I would decorate my door (which is directly across the hall) in Goth style and we could see which door attracts which kids. Just kidding. Actually, I am going to go for steampunk on my door, maybe with the addition of a dragon or two.

Building a friendly yet professional relationship has got to be a foundation for our whole year, and the doors and lockers are intended to function as a springboard for getting to know one another a little better. It is also fun. Setting the right emotional tone is important too!

I will update this post with pictures of our doors once we are all done decorating them next week.

Seek and ye shall find

Reaching the iGeneration requires a shift in teacher thinking!

Amazing site!  If you are interested in using project based learning effectively, but have little or no experience with PBL, you need to check out Project Based Learning online. This site has an excellent set of resources to help teachers plan their PBL units.  There are also videos with great examples of schools using PBL effectively.

Maybe I've been around too long, but  when I read statements about things that can go wrong, I get it. Been there, done that! I definitely know about things going wrong!

I also know first-hand how much more time and effort goes into constructing really effective PBL than is needed for a more traditional approach.  Our team is well aware that we will be putting in many, many extra hours this year.  Sites like the Project Based Learning are so valuable in helping us to think about all of the details of planning and carrying off this approach successfully.  Not only do I find myself nodding in agreement as I read their web site, but I also can tell that these people get it - they know what they are talking about.

The planning process the PBL-online site describes echoes instructional design principles I learned in the Education Media Design Technology masters program through Full Sail University.  The site also offers an opportunity for collaboration, as teachers can share their own PBL plans and outcomes with other educators.

Like anything else, PBL can be implemented well or poorly.  The research I've been reading, including articles posted on the BIE site, confirm again the value of learning to effectively use PBL with our high school students.  But there is the caveat - effectively implement - that makes a great deal of difference between having the ideal outcomes PBL is capable of, and creating a big project with no particular positive impact on learning.

I think most people who've been in education for a few years have seen the monster improperly designed attempts at PBL can create.  That is why I keep going back and looking again at resources and research to help guide my practice.  It helps keep me on the right track.  The many videos and reports of success also are very encouraging.  They let me know that, if our team keeps working on using PBL, we will refine and improve our use of this approach with the effect of creating a dynamic, engaging learning environment for our students. 

21st Century Challenge

I was doing some back-up research about 21st Century skills and ran across this wonderful video on the Partnership for 21st Century Skills site.  The video was written by children’s book author/illustrator Peter H. Reynolds and created in collaboration with the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and FableVision.

I had 21st Century skills on the checklist I created for planning my courses.  I have spent so much of the past six years learning about 21st Century skills, that I had to think for a moment when I was asked where I got the idea to include them in my planning.  I went back and made a more detailed listing, including 21st Century literacies, so that I could be more precise in addressing this element of the courses I'm creating.

The planning tools I've created are really for my own benefit, to help me keep track of the many threads I need to weave together to produce a truly well-balanced set of courses for our high school program (no longer "alternative", we are now "accelerated"!  Cool!).  It occurred to me, though, that the tools I created will also help me answer questions when I'm asked how my courses meet state standards, and how I know students are having the kinds of learning experiences they need.  Questions are good - they make me rethink and remember what my reasoning was, how I arrived at a certain conclusion.

Only three weeks until school starts! So much to do...

Putting the Pieces Together

A little A-Team music, please!  Yes, we love it when a plan comes together.  Today Brenda and I are meeting to go over grading and some of the specifics of our planning, now that we actually know when school starts and stops.

The Wordle is a reflection of some of the things we are trying to juggle (hence the drawing).  We have spoken of keeping student work in a cumulative portfolio that will give evidence of their mastery of the skills and concepts expected of high school graduates.  I found a good article on graduate portfolios that I think will be a great starting point for a conversation about a different kind of portfolio than the students have created in the past. 

We plan to have students demonstrate these skills over the course of multiple assignments.  For example, perhaps their first writing will focus on a good, well-written paragraph about a topic.  As students progress, the writing will become more sophisticated.  We intend to introduce MLA style, respect of copyright, documenting sources correctly, and tools for planning a written product (like webbing and outlining).  Assignments throughout different courses and different levels of courses will have students use these skills again and again, so that they will become fluent and proficient in them. 

How often are students introduced to a skill, only to have a great deal of time pass before they are asked to use that skill again?  Of course, they forget.  Asking students to use the same skill across subject areas, and to do it through each level of a course, will help reinforce the skill.  The same is true of our approach to tech and Web 2.0 tools.  There are a million of them.  Rather than continually introducing new Web 2.0 tools to students, we are choosing a number of them as a base and using them over and over again until students are able to use them independently and with a reasonable degree of proficiency.  Of course, we can introduce other tools as individual students master the foundational set we will use in classes. 

For example, each level may require some sort of presentation to allow the student to demonstrate mastery of a set of concepts.  In the beginning they will have learned how to find copyright free music (digccmixter, etc) and bring it into Audacity, if needed. They might use Prezi or PhotoStory3 to combine images, words, and music to present their topic. They will create storyboards to plan their presentations. Their final product will be embedded into their blogs with their reflection about what they learned in a given unit or level.  As students progress through each course, a presentation will be part of their demonstration of understanding the content. 

Students who are more adept at using technology will have a chance to expand the range of tools they use, but everyone will develop fluency and proficiency at using at least two modes of presentation. 

Drawing by Patricia Ort

Why? 

I expect each of our students to go on to some sort of post-secondary education.  Statistics support the reality that, at some point in their future, our students will need to be able to manage their learning for additional training that will be presented to them - whether it be tech school, college, or on-the-job training provided by an employer.  The higher level thinking skills they will hone through the process I described above will stand them in good stead when they are in a different setting, without, perhaps, the kind of support they will be getting in our classrooms.  They will be independent, confident, and equipped to take whatever they have learned and share it with others in a way that is clear and demonstrates good understanding of what they have learned.

This should serve them well, no matter what venue they find themselves in. It should give them the foundation to be life-long learners.

What makes our alternative high school program unique?

I appreciated the comments of another blogger as I gave thought to this question. Rob Barton shared his thoughts on the differences between pedagogy and andragogy (a word I became aware of this year).  I liked best his comment about there not necessarily being a set age line between pedagogy (a teacher-centered approach of teaching commonly used with younger children) and andragogy (a student-directed approach for adult learners).

While I have a responsibility to be the person "behind the curtain," making sure students are involved in learning that reflects state and national standards, many of the things identified as principles of adult learning seem very appropriate for my alternative ed students.

The principles of adult learning (most often credited to Malcom Knowles) are:

• Self-directed, autonomous learning.
• Students bring life experiences and knowledge to the learning situation.
• Learners are goal-oriented.
• The learning needs to be relevant to the learner.
• The learner is practical.  They want to know stuff they can see a use for.
• They need to be shown respect.

Well, yeah.

What about this list wouldn't apply to my high school students?  It is true that there are different levels of maturity among my students that make some more ready to be self-directed than others.  I think that is a matter of experience.  If we create scaffolding for students to give them the opportunity to develop skills which support them as self-directed learners, then those who have not quite gotten to that point can be enabled.  Those who are already able to direct their own learning will simply be able to engage in self-directed learning more quickly, while those who need to have this modeled will be given plenty of help.

I think this is where setting every student up with an iGoogle account, and having them create tabs within that account as part of creating their own Personal Learning Environment (PLE) fits in.  It is also where setting up a blog and using it to journal about their learning experiences comes into play.  Later, when our students move on to post-secondary education, whether it be a college, trade school, certificate program, or some other setting, they will have the tools to manage their own learning.

Our plan to use project-based and problem-based learning situations also fits very well with these principles.  We know our students are not blank slates to be written on.  They have their own experiences and knowledge to bring to the table.  Remembering that they are still teens, we can invite them to use the knowledge they already have while helping them to gain the knowledge and skills they will need as adults.

Each time we approach the standards and topics that are part of a high school education, we will also look for the ways in which they are relevant to our students.  If they can see they are not just doing rote learning, but are discovering things that make a difference in their lives, they will be more engaged and motivated to master new concepts and skills. In this way, also, we intend to help students to see the practical use of the content they will be mastering.

As for showing respect - well, of course.  Kids know if you are talking down to them.  I think this goes beyond just presenting lesson content.  I think it also goes to not gossiping about the kids and not letting them gossip about one another.  The idea of "respecting the absent" is shared in the book Top 20 Teachers by Bernabei, Cody, Sweeney, Cole, and Cole.  They advocate being a problem solver instead of a problem bringer.  What they meant by this had to do with those conversations teachers often have about students...where they complain and criticize the student but bring no solution to the table.

That made sense to me.  It is easy to become frustrated with a particular person or situation and to engage in conversations where you are really just venting about the person.  You might really care about the person - but you feel so frustrated that your conversation isn't about finding a solution, but about complaining. 

So,

• Self-directed, autonomous learning.
• Students bring life experiences and knowledge to the learning situation.
• Learners are goal-oriented.
• The learning needs to be relevant to the learner.
• The learner is practical.  They want to know stuff they can see a use for.
• They need to be shown respect.

These are some of the things that make our program unique.  They are not just principles to be applied to the 20-somethings and older group.  They also have their place in the alternative high school setting.

Finally, I have to share this video!  In my search for more information about adult learning principles, I ran across a project a fellow Full Sail University student produced for the Musical Theory and Educational Applications class.  I just had to laugh - been there, done that!  Not quite ready for prime time, but the content was good and I just had to empathize with a fellow EMDT student!

Progress Happens

Courtesy Creative Commons

Things are starting to fall into place.  We are using a problem solving/project based approach this year, which requires a lot of groundwork!  Today we set themes for the year, which  gives us a framework to build the rest of our learning experiences around.

Most themes run for four weeks.  We are collaborating -  creating whole group learning experiences, which we will team teach. We will also divide the students up into smaller groups to do explicit, direct teach lessons which are aimed at specific learning outcomes drawn from National and State standards.  The schedule is flexible, allowing us to give more time on any given day to a learning experience that requires more time. For example, if Bryan is doing a lab to help students understand plant biology, we can allow him that time, while adjusting time spent on other lessons.  Students who did not need to earn a biology credit would work with Brenda and I in English or social studies.

We previously created a crosswalk from National and State standards and are using those results to create checklists for each of our courses.  We have evaluated the different technology and Web 2.0 tools we would like to use, and today posted an introductory survey we will use at the beginning of the year to start learning about our students.  Our first focus is on relationship building.  The survey will be one piece of that. Feedback from each person will tell us how they see themselves as students and help us in planning lessons.

I am duplicating my courses in Moodle.  This will allow students with attendance problems to keep up.  I have also found my students really like this kind of structure. They like to have a place where they can see what the learning tasks are, what level of performance is required to earn credit, and when things are due. Grades are also posted on the Moodle.  As our program comes together, Moodle will also be a tool for allowing advanced students to finish courses a little faster.  I am drawing from my e-learning and game design courses as I structure these new Moodle versions of the social studies courses I teach.  There will also be one Moodle which will serve as a resource for all students, with tutorials and step-by-step instructions for projects and assignments.  Students who may be working on a project at home could refer to the Moodle if they had forgotten how to use Audacity or Photostory 3, for example.  Or if they wanted to see the rubric for a major assignment, they could pull it up on Moodle from any computer linked to the Internet.

We are also looking at opportunities to integrate reading and writing standards across the curriculum.  The goal is to have students practice and demonstrate mastery of literacy skills essential to future success beyond high school. 

 I am breaking my social studies courses up into levels, with repeated elements in each level.  For example, each level in the history classes will have a vocabulary and a geography piece, as well as core content which students will need to demonstrate mastery of.  There will be increasing levels of sophistication required as students move through a course. 

We created a web as part of our initial planning.  The web was a good starting place for seeing how the English, math, social studies, and science courses overlap.  I am now working on a sort of web/flow chart to describe how we will be integrating all of our courses.  We also need to identify stories we want to use to introduce each new theme.  Storytelling is a great way to draw students in and capture their interest. They are also a great launching point for researching.

I also would like to see our students creating their own stories, as a way of sharing what they've learned.

Authentic Assessment and Blended Learning Edutopia Resources

Edutopia offers great support for teachers interested in authentic assessment and blended learning. I have been browsing through their site, getting ideas about what other teachers are doing. There are some very good resources there.

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto

As the teachers at my school have started getting together to plan this coming year, one thing that has become clear. We have a vision for the program, but figuring out how to get from where we are now to the fulfillment of that vision can be overwhelming.  I believe we can do it, but we will have to break it down and work on it step-by-step. One resource I read suggested planning by identifying what the end result is that you are shooting for, then working backward. I think that is a very good idea.

We have already gotten a good start.  For one thing, we have to allow for students who have attendance problems as well as for those who can move quickly through the curriculum.  I want assessments to go beyond multiple choice, True False kinds of tests.  That might be okay for some basic things, but we need to create authentic assessments - where students create a product that demonstrates they have mastered the course content/concepts.  It isn't just about course content - it is about helping our students to become master learners.  The tools we use are designed to empower students to be able to go on to whatever post-secondary education they choose and succeed. 

Now it's time to use what I've learned...

Sturgis Central Commons, home of the Community Ed program.

The time has come to put all the things I learned in the Education Media Design Technology Masters program to work.  This year is a year of opportunity for our alternative high school program. We've been given a chance to design a completely different type of approach - at least for us.

There are three of us: the English teacher, the math/science teacher, and myself (social studies).  Using State of Michigan and National standards, we are collaborating to create an approach that incorporates problem based, project based, and blended instruction. 

We have been analyzing the standards and course content for each of the classes we will be teaching, and are collaborating on joint lessons that incorporate standards from all of our disciplines. Since we will also be using a blended approach, I have begun to revamp my Moodle courses to fit our new curriculum.  I am also incorporating the concepts I learned about game design in creating both live and online coursework.

Much of the research I've read over the last year underscored the efficacy of using digital storytelling to support literacy and address 21st century skills. Last year I looked at digital storytelling only in terms of student engagement. This year I want to explore whether we can increase our students' literacy skills through the use of digital storytelling as part of our instruction. 

I plan to use this blog to journal about our experience this year.  We are all well-qualified, but turning theory into reality is a great challenge.  It is going to take many hours of work and great teamwork to create the program we envision.  At the end of the year I want to be able to say our students mastered the knowledge and skills needed for their diplomas - but more than that, I want to see students who are empowered to manage their own learning beyond high school. 

Fait Accompli

Holly, Thomas, myself, and Zoe - Team Digital Horizon rocks!

After a year of rigorous online instruction, we finally reached our goal - graduation. Well, really there is more to it than that.  Each of us has things we want to do with all of the skills and knowledge we gained during the Education Media Design Technology masters program through Full Sail University.

Holly's position at her school has been expanded to allow her time for teacher training. She is sorting out which professional development to do first!  She is the consummate researcher and will do an excellent job of assessing the needs of the teachers at her school and devising training opportunities for them.

Thomas also had a positive impact at his school and will be able to build next year upon the research he did in the EMDT program. I loved the commercial he made to introduce his high school English students to their unit on Gothic writing. Eventually I think he will end up back in his beloved Hawaii. He will have a lot to offer them when he does take that step.

Zoe is our world traveler. After a visit with family in England she will be off to Turkey. She has been invited to present at a conference in Malta in a year or so.  I knew her interactive e-book was a winner, but her research really illustrated its impact on kids. They loved it! Maybe Holly and I can go see her in person in Malta!

As for myself, I really want to use the experience and training I have in educational technology in a larger setting. It is true that at my current school we are designing a project-based program for next year that will also use a blended approach - mixing live classes and online learning opportunities. The teaching staff in my program is great and we really became a team last year. Still - I'd like to have the opportunity to show other teachers how to integrate technology into their classrooms. We'll have to see where that leads me.

 After working our tails off for a year, I could hardly let graduation go by without attending in person!  Part of our visit involved a tour of Full Sail University.  My original undergrad degree in Speech featured an emphasis in theater, so you can imagine how much I enjoyed seeing the tech at Full Sail. This photo is of an area where set pieces are built. Yes, when I was 19, I was doing that sort of thing. The smell of fresh pine really brought me back to NMU and Forest Roberts Theater.

  And yes, when we got to visit the studios used for filming various types of programs, I was really geeking out.  Lighting is my favorite thing, of course. I wouldn't mind learning to run one of those cameras, either!

Ok, so I am not skilled at running a sound board, but that doesn't mean I can't covet this one! Too bad I can't be two people and leave one of my selves at Full Sail for awhile.






Was it worth it? Yes.  There was so much - I will be re-reading my books on using game design to create classroom instruction. I will even be going back over ADDIE!  I intend to audit some of the courses in the future, so that I can improve my skills and keep up with changes in technology. Filmmaking, the Flash course, and game design are 3 I will revisit for sure!
That's the cool thing about Full Sail. We can audit classes in the program for free for the rest of our lives. Awesome!

In the meantime, I have also been looking into PhD programs.  If I want to instruct teachers in ways of integrating technology into their classrooms, and do it at a university, I have to have a PhD. Other opportunities may also present themselves. I would love to work as a Director of Educational Technology for a school district.  Before Full Sail I was already using the Learning Management System, Moodle, doing digital storytelling, and showing my students how to create their own blogs. I want to take the next step, including teaching students how to create their own Personal Learning Environments online with iGoogle.  It will be interesting over the next few months to see where this will lead me.

Congratulations to my fellow Full Sail graduates!  I look forward to seeing what you do, as well. It is bound to be awesome.

My Action Research Video Presentation

For more information about my Action Research project, please use the link on the right hand side of this web page.

Reflecting on my Literature Review

As part of our month 12 finalization of our Action Research Web page, I turned my literature review into a Wordle. Fascinating. Use the link in the right-hand column to read my reflection and other thoughts about my ARP.

Wk 4 Presentation of Leadership

Original drawing by Patricia Ort

I believe I would prefer to present the results of my Action Research Project rather than simply publish a paper because I prefer the dynamic, interactive nature inherent in giving a live presentation. I a way, it would be easier to share my findings on paper.  I involved my students in digital storytelling.  It seems appropriate that I would share my findings in a similar format.

Those who have followed my Action Research blog entries, as well as my entries on this blog, will be aware that some very unusual circumstances made carrying out the project a challenge.  It seems to me that if I was still able to get such positive feedback from the students, despite the very erratic attendance (including the addition of students to my class list, far into the grading period), then these techniques would yield even more impressive results in a stable environment.

This is worth knowing, and worth sharing. I have identified Edutopia and ISTE as two possible venues for presenting my findings; however, I believe any venue where I would be sharing directly with educators who are serving in K-12 classrooms, would be good.  I think they would be best able to appreciate and use what I have learned.  In fact, I think they would be able to achieve even better results than I did.

Week 4 Publishing Leadership Project Part 2 of 2

Students playing along with Renaissance music. 

In part 1 of my Publishing/Leadership blog entry I said Edutopia was one place I would consider publishing or presenting the results of my research. I believe the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) would be the second place I would approach to share the results of my Action Research Project.

  ISTE serves educators and education leaders who want to improve teaching and learning by promoting the effective use of technology in PK–12 and teacher education.  That exactly matches where I am now.  I spoke just yesterday to the woman who directs the finances for my school district, and part of the conversation centered around the excellent teacher training offered to our staff by the Technology Director. Despite this, many workshops have very low attendance. There have been several times a workshop I signed up for was cancelled because not enough people signed up. Workshops only need three people!  I am certainly interested in sharing with educators things that worked in my classroom, as well as learning more about what other people are doing.

  As an unintended consequence of my Action Research Project, the English teacher I work with used the green screen I build for a video tribute to Edgar Allen Poe. We also had a student recite the poem "The Raven" in front of the green screen, then laid in pictures suitable to the reading as a background for his reading.  The movie project I did with my world history class really produced two movies. The segment about Beowulf was so long, it warranted its own movie.  One of my world history students was with me for multimedia studies during our last trimester, continuing to sharpen his movie making skills by filming a science class field trip and turning it into a short movie.

  While this year's effort was challenging because of attendance issues, it really laid a groundwork for the use of videography, iMovie and Moviemaker, Audacity and Garage Band, and the use of digital storytelling in future endeavors.

I can also say that each time students participated in tasks directly related to our digital storytelling class, they were engaged.  I had personally thought that increased engagement might lead to better attendance, however, there were too many other variables at play among my alternative high school students for their increased engagement to significantly impact attendance.

  I believe this is the sort of thing members of ISTE and those who attend ISTE's conferences would be interested in hearing about.  I also believe that this experience has given me skills that would make my use of digital storytelling in the classroom more effective in the future.

To read part 1 of my Publishing/Leadership blog entry where I talk about my choice of Edutopia as one venue for presenting my research, please use this link: Patricia Ort Publishing Leadership blog entry 1

 A copy of the presentation I would share at an ISTE, or similar, conference can be viewed at the link below. 

Patricia Ort Leadership Project Presentation

Literature Review  Use this link to read my literature review about the effectiveness of digital storytelling when used in the K-12 classroom.

Week 4 Response to Joanna Puello

Photo by Patricia Ort

Joanna,

   The Zander’s book must be especially meaningful to you as you share their love of music and art. You must relate really well, too, to the relationship they have with each other.  Will finishing your EMDT masters impact the conversation you and your husband have been having about the life-changing decisions you mentioned?  I can relate with your quandary about how to get “from here to there.”  I really love working with technology in the classroom and would love to train teachers in this area, but there are always considerations about what path to take. There is also the balancing of what I think is best for my family with what might be best for my career.  You have shown a lot of energy and creativity throughout your ARP. I am sure you will be able to avoid that downward spiral and make the most of the possibilities that present themselves to you.

Joanna wrote:

My husband is an amazingly talented artist in many realms. He paints, draws, sings professionally, writes his own music, and gives seminars. He’s also his own boss. I’m an artist of a different sort. I write, play two instruments, act, and love to make my physical environment an inspirational place to be. We’ve been “self-employed” for years, and we’ve also been “self-UNemployed” many of times. Because we often have to pursue opportunities for income, it’s easy to feel frustrated and loose passion about the big vision. Or sometimes it’s easy to get so caught up in the big vision that we can’t see the next step. My husband has encountered endless obstacles in his musical career, and during the past two years, we have butted heads many times over what his long-term goals should be. My biggest desire for him is for him to be able to use his talents and abilities in their maximum expression. Obviously, he wants this, too. The question is how to get from here to there. In my opinion, the discussion and conflict that has revolved around this topic has been very healthy for both of us (even when it’s been hard). We’re still working through the details on some life-changing decisions, so I was extremely inspired when I read this remarkable quote in Chapter 11: Creating Frameworks for Possibility: “The foremost challenge for leaders today…is to maintain the clarity to stand confidently…no matter how fierce the competition, no matter how stark the necessity to go for the short-term goal, no matter how fearful people are, and no matter how urgently the wolf may appear to howl at the door. It is to have the courage and persistence to distinguish the downward spiral from the radiant realm of possibility in the face of any challenge.” (Zander, p. 163)

Week 4 Response to LeVonda Vickery

Photo Courtesy iStockphoto

LeVonda,

I am glad Zander’s book has been such an encouragement to you. It has also encouraged me and the other two teachers on our very small staff.  I can really relate to your comments about being happiest when creating new things. I think it is really great that you can apply the Zander’s practices to your situation. I think you must be an optimistic person to start with, but perhaps The Art of Possibility just fanned that spark of optimism again. With that attitude, things are bound to fall into place for you.   

LeVonda wrote:

I loved Zander's words in Chapter 9 about us having the "infinite capacity to light a spark of possibility" right at our fingertips and that "passion, rather than fear, is the igniting force."  Oh how true those words ring.  That not only should we ignite a spark in others, but be willing to catch any sparks they may throw at us as well.  I must say that reading Chapter 11: Creating Frameworks for Possibility was right up my creative alley so to speak.  I know that I am the happiest whenever I am creating new things or even watching that creative spark in both of my daughters.  My 15 year old is able to do things with video that I only wish I had been able to do at her age or to have even had the opportunity to learn with the tools and technology she has available to her.  

I loved the story of the teacher who shaved her head because of the student who underwent chemotherapy and the other students were making fun of her baldness.  What a great way to take charge of a situation instead of letting it get out of hand and head into that downward spiral Zander speaks of.  I have a dream to teach and believe that dream is well within my "arena of possibility."  Zander made a really good point about how a vision does not require one to win, but merely to play into the possibility.  His words on how a personal crisis can lead to the creation of a vision that turns a life of possibility sang out to me about the past year or so of my life and how I have taken the my job loss and divorce not as a sign of failure, but rather as a sign to have a new beginning full of possibilities and dreams.  This book has helped me to realize that all the negativity about not having a job and never even being called for a job interview to teach does not define who I am.  My thinking either positive or negative is what defines me and my actions allowing me to choose to explore my own world of possibilities in order to move forward in my life and ignite that spark in others around me.

Week 4 Reflection on Chapters 9-13 of The Art of Possibility

Photo by Patricia Ort

Of all of the Zander's ideas, I think the concept of not blaming others, or yourself, for things that don't go the way you'd like is probably the most challenging.  I don't know if it is a cultural thing or just a human thing to assign blame, however, we seem to start doing it pretty young.  The fine difference in thinking that Ben Zander speaks of when he says we should be the board, not the chess piece, takes some practice.

As always, the Zanders made me really think about how a person could change their mindset in this way. When Ben Zander speaks of apologizing, he does it in a completely different way than I, at least, am used to.  I think it is a good idea to apologize to others when we've offended or hurt them.  But Ben's approach also includes not blaming himself. In the letter he wrote where he gave himself an A, he admitted his faults but didn't really say he was sorry to the violinist directly.  He also didn't ask her to come back to the orchestra, although she did.

As usual, I spent some time thinking about how this might apply to working with the at-risk teens in our program. If, as Zander says, this approach allows you to turn relationships into effective partnerships, how might that work at our alternative high school?  Right now, we are planning a totally different concept for next year. Rather than teaching in our own little boxes, the English teacher, the math/science teacher, and I (social studies/computers teacher), are going to team teach using a project based learning model.  We are especially interested in building relationships with the teens who enroll in our program.  Reading Zander's thoughts about "being the board" really fits the conversation about how to build good relationships with our new students.

I'm a creative person, so I really liked the thrust of Chapter 11.  I think most people are happiest when they are creating. There is a special energy that fills you up when you are working in synergy with others, making something new and different and exciting.  I think my colleagues and I feel that way, when we are not being distracted by things that seem to have gone wrong at school or are trying to find someone to blame for the situation. Hmmmm.  I am glad we are reading this book at school.  I think a shift in a positive direction would be very good right about now.

Wk 4 Publishing Leadership Project Part 1 of 2

Students analyze Garage Band loops

Of the possible sites for publication shared with us by Dr. Bedard,  Edutopia seems most compatible with the kind of research I did.  While my research centered around using digital storytelling to teach world history, it is also very project-based in nature. In fact, given the very unusual enrollment and attendance issues I had to deal with throughout the project, I believe my results say more about project-based learning than they do about digital storytelling.

 Did students participate more fully when I used hands-on lessons and simulations? Yes. Did students complete tasks, and do them well, when they were part of creating the class documentary movie? Yes. Did students express positive feelings about the way we approached learning world history? Yes. Were there times students were reluctant to leave, or when we forgot the time because they were so engaged? Yes.

Having said that, carrying out this project has been one of the most frustrating things I have ever done because of two issues: enrollment and attendance.

My Cycle I actually started during our second trimester, but the project was interrupted by Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, and the beginning of the second trimester, which also brought with it a change in enrollment.  Our enrollment this year has been the most unstable it has ever been in the history of our Community Ed program.  After the Thanksgiving break, I lost two of the six students who were with me at the beginning of Cycle I.  Then, during the wrap-up of Cycle I and the implementation of Cycle II, the enrollment and attendance in my class fluctuated in the extreme.

I started the second trimester with four of my original six students.  Nine days into the trimester, four more students were enrolled, which was good because it gave me a bigger group to work with. However, these students had not gone through the foundational experiences I had used to create a background with.  This background was meant to be a springboard, allowing students to relate the experience of people at the fall of the Roman Empire with modern catastrophes.  I found myself repeating and backtracking to some extent in order to bring these new students up to speed.

Three and a half to four weeks into our 12-week trimester, three more students were added, and in the fifth week of the trimester, two more names were added to my roster.  Half way through week seven another new student was added, and in week nine yet another.  Although, technically, I eventually had 15 people on my class roster, I had one who attended five classes then moved away. I had one who attended once, two who came three times, and one who never came at all.

Of the students still on my roster at the end of the second trimester, I had the following attendance:
Days missed     Days enrolled
     27                        44
     10                        38
     10                        62
     16                        53
     17                        62
       4                        62
     25                        62
     17                        44
       4                        45
     32                        53
       7                        22

Two students eventually switched over to the GED program.  One moved to Mexico because her boyfriend was deported, so she moved to be with him. A couple had transportation issues related to not having money for gas to get to school.  A couple quit coming for no known reason.  It may be that after they missed so much, they knew they wouldn't get full credit and dropped out without officially dropping out.

In any case, it was maddening to try to accomplish anything, let alone the digital storytelling project, when I didn't know on any given day who would be there, and when people entered and left  my class at such random times.

On the up-side, even the students with poor attendance completed the main tasks associated with the digital storytelling project. All of the eleven listed above did research and created a storyboard based on their research.  Each of them also found copyright free images to use in their part of the movie. Most went onto ccMixter and found music they could use. All but one of them turned their research and storyboards into a script for the narration of their part of the movie. If you visit my action research web site, you will see there were some encouraging results. 

I do not know if I will be able to share my results on the Edutopia site.  I did send the following request, however.

As a student in the Education Media Design and Technology masters degree program through Full Sail University, I recently completed an action research project designed to discover if involving at-risk high school students in a digital storytelling project would enhance engagement.  Students participated in researching, planning, and carrying out a movie intended to be a documentary about the Middle Ages.

My target audience would be high school social studies teachers. I would like to share examples of the hands-on experiences students participated in throughout the project, with student feedback and examples.

I currently teach alternative high school students through the Sturgis Public Schools Adult/Community Ed program. This is my 21st year in the classroom. I hold a BS in Speech with an emphasis in theater and a minor in history. I also hold an MS in Reading (Reading Specialist).  Over the past six years I have immersed myself in the study of ways of integrating technology in my classroom, culminating in my pending completion of my Education Media Design Technology masters.

This would be my first piece for publication on another site, although I do maintain a blog of my own at www.edubabel.blogspot.com.  My Facebook URL is www.facebook.com/patricia.ort2 , however the best way to reach me is through my Google account at trishaweb2.0@gmail.com.

Week 3 Wimba Response

By Margaret Riel (http://cadres.pepperdine.edu/ccar) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Frankly, I have been sidetracked by last-minute demands at school.  This week's Wimba was a chance to get back on track and remember what I need to be doing for my month 11 presentation.  I am still a little bit at a loss about what to do with my presentation, and I'm not sure where I would present my findings.  The good news is I focused on engagement - which I can document. The bad news is that the poor and erratic attendance among students in my program really ground things to a halt toward the end of things and I am now limping along with three or four students to finish the movie - which was the culminating activity for the world history class.

I would love to try this again next year with a focus on increased literacy skills; however, right now I just need to wrap the ARP up. How do I sum up the whole project in 120 words? I'm sure I'm not the only one who has pondered that question.  The directions (again) in Wimba about how to structure the abstract were a good reminder.  I finally finished helping my team here at school create intake documents for the fall, so now I am going to focus completely on the task at hand. 

I need to clarify a couple of things, too.  I discovered that on my Blogger blog I can create separate pages with their own URL. I don't know if I can post Keynote there, though. And if I use my Mobile Me account, I will need to go over how to do that again. I appreciate my teammates in that respect. Although we no longer officially have teams, the friends I have made in previous team endeavors are the people I can rely on now when I am trying to figure something out.  Actually, a Keynote will be much easier to do than an iMovie.  But I'm a little rusty...

I am looking forward to seeing other people's ARP presentations.  I am sharing on Wednesday, which is one of the nights I don't have to teach.  Tonight I will probably go back through the first part of the Wimba to make sure I have all my ducks in a row. I have been a little distracted by changes that are going on with my program, but I can't afford to allow that to happen. Now is the time for that second wind people talk about!

 

Screen shot from Week 3 Wimba

 

Week 3 Response to Zoe Marlowe

Photo by Patricia Ort, glass art by Dale Chihuly

Zoe-

They say the best way to teach is through stories – so, I guess the Zanders got it right when they chose to share their discoveries in this way.  I also treacted to the comment in the book about making a group lively and engaged. As you know, student engagement has been the focus of my ARP.  The answer to that question is not always easy to find!

Using the white sheet of paper would be a real paradigm shift in the classroom, wouldn’t it?  I mean, college level teachers are used to doing a survey at the end of their classes, but most of us don’t get that kind of feedback. I’m not sure most teachers are brave enough to try that.  It takes a shift in seeing what your role is.

Thanks for reminding me of that quote about change resulting from grabbing whatever you love and giving it everything.  I’d say you are doing that right now, yourself. You finished your bachelor’s, went straight into your masters –where you have been a high achiever – and now you have the possibility of publishing your book, speaking at a conference, and, of course, travelling to England and Turkey. Seems like this is advice no one needed to give you J

Perhaps I will take some inspiration from you (and the Zanders) and see where it leads!

Zoe wrote:

Once again, Ben and Roz Zander’s book filled my mind with all sorts of revelations about myself as I read the chapters 5 through 8. It was interesting really because chapter 5 was very ‘ground breaking’ for me to read, and then chapter 8 capped everything in-between off with it’s BTFI concept. This was all a bit ‘Von Restorff” for me as the first and last chapters stuck with me the most in this section of assigned reading. As I mentioned last week in my blog, this book is one of the most interesting ‘textbooks’ I have ever read. It really is just a collection of interesting stories told by Ben and Roz about the different happenings in both their lives as an orchestra conductor and music teacher, and psychologist, respectively. I am enjoying both of their stories so much as I read each chapter, in fact I really have a hard time stopping reading and going onto something else because I want to keep reading MORE!

In the “Leading from any chair” chapter, I loved the question Ben asked himself which made him become a much better instructor and conductor. This question “What makes a group lively and engaged?” is really a marvelous question for teachers to ask themselves. It made me think of teachers asking themselves this, because just asking the question would make that teacher much more open to finding out how their students respond to the teaching methodology that was currently being used, and what changes could be made to get the student interest higher, thus making them more lively and engaged.

I loved that Zander placed a sheet of paper on each music stand for the purpose of obtaining comments from the orchestra players. The ‘white sheet’ idea could be used in so many areas of teaching, in order to allow comments to the instructor. I think this method could be used in college courses anyway, not necessarily high school, but it could work there as well.

Another ‘take away’ from my reading of chapter five was a quote from one of Ben’s students at the school he teaches at: “Things change when you care enough to grab whatever you love, and give it everything.” Amanda Burr, student, Walnut Hill School.
What a lovely, insightful statement, and I can agree with it wholeheartedly.

Chapters 6 and 7 both had lots of interesting stories and wisdom, but perhaps chapter 8 sticks with me the most because of the BTFI concept, and the reason for this, is the fact that I am living proof of the BTFI factor in my own life because of choosing to complete this degree at Full Sail, and instead of locking myself into what I had originally planned to do after graduation, which was quickly get accepted into a PhD program, I decided to say “heck with that, I want to have fun and discover the world,” and now I am getting ready to embark upon the trip of a lifetime in Europe and the Middle East. I would never have done this ‘normally,’ but something changed in me as a result of this Master’s program at Full Sail, and with that, I let myself go and throw caution to the wind, and let my passion for photography and film (plus a few other factors) inspire me to take a whirlwind trip to discover what else is ‘out there’ for me to experience. I feel like this chapter of Zander’s book is dedicated to me and my transformation from who I was before Full Sail, to who I will be after Full Sail! Talk about everything just ‘falling into place”… oh my goodness more true words were never uttered!

Week 3 Response to Meghan Bassett

Photo Courtesy of iStockphoto

Meghan – Your mother must be a very patient and on-top-of-things kind of person. I guess the principal was afraid of losing face.  He was thinking with that survival mentality the Zanders speak of.  I agree with you about taking the opportunity to praise students.  I have to remind myself about that.  I naturally praise them when they complete a task well, but sometimes I think I miss out on opportunities to boost their spirits.

Have you taken the time to talk to the person who broke your confidence? I am glad you are allowing the negative emotions this caused you to help stretch you emotional muscles.  Still, once you’ve reached a place of being able to see things as they are, will moving on just mean letting it go? Or would you be able to have a quiet, sincere conversation with the person in question? Interesting insight, that if you didn’t want anyone to know you would have said it in the first place. I’m sure that when people share a confidence, it doesn’t mean they really want it to become public.

What would you say your passion is?  You spoke of the waves and the ocean (which sounded very nice), of music and painting.  If you could spend your life doing something that fills you with passion, what would it be?

My first passion is the theater – especially the tech side. I loved running the lights when I was in college.  But I have to say, filmmaking and animation are now a passion for me, as well.  I really just came to realize that this year.

Meghan wrote:

In the first chapter Leading From Any Chair, I couldn’t help think about my mother. She works in a school as the secretary to the principal. The principal received an email last week that a report needed to be ran. He never told my mother or the person that was supposed to run the report, but my mom found out from another school. When she brought it up that he may have missed an email, he said he never received it. A few hours later, after going back to him again, he forwarded the email and said he had just gotten it (which we all know, emails are time stamped). Instead of admitting his own mistake, he, like the conductors, tried to let it slide and hoped no one noticed.
The mere act of kindness and acknowledging that other people help you do a job is severely under-used. If you give ANY kind of praise to people who are helping you, or even say thank you to them, it brings up esteem and also encourages people to continue to work hard for you. I guess we could all work on this in different ways. I personally could work on always encouraging my students in ways that they are doing well. I can be sarcastic, which doesn’t work well with all of my students.
The next Chapter, the Rule number 6, took a more person attack on a way I’ve been feeling for a week now. I was very betrayed by someone I thought I could trust. A friend of mine told another friend of mine something very personal, and very atomic. I knew that the word had spread, and I wasn’t sure of where it had started. I found out and instead of confronting the issue, I recoiled and hid from everyone. Here, I need to follow Rule number 6, and stop taking myself so seriously. People talk, and say things that aren’t theirs to say, and sometimes there are things that get said that we don’t want said. It’s a part of human nature, and if I really didn’t want anyone to know, I wouldn’t have said it in the first place. I’m still hurt, but I’m letting it go in my own time.
The Way Things Are…I’ve always tried to see the cloud with a silver lining, and look on the bright side of things. A much easier said than done thing to accomplish. I’m one of those people, once I start feeling negative, everything that’s negative seems to find me. I’m sure that has everything to do with the way I am looking at things, rather than the world being out to get me. If we can laugh and play with the bad things that happen to us, a much more light hearted attitude would be had by everyone around us!
I would love to give way to passion more. Sometimes we are so stuck in living life day to day we forget to give in to the natural flow of life an energy. I try to recognize the energy around me, but I’ll be honest…the only real times I feel a surge of energy run through me are when I’m by the ocean watching the waves, or listening to music and painting. Then I can truly let passion run through me and I feel at one with everything around me.

Week3 Discussion: Reflection on Ch. 5-8 of The Art of Possibility

Photo by Patricia Ort

This is good timing for this book.  Since my co-worker is also reading the book, I have had the chance to talk about the Zander's ideas with her, as well blog about it.  The concept of dealing with negative feelings by sticking with them and using them as a form of exercise to enable us to be able to handle and rise above greater challenges we will face in the future was novel.  It was also empowering. A fellow teacher who was given a difficult assignment used to say, "It is what it is." Not quite the same thing, but the idea of acknowledging the way things are, then moving on made me think.  I wonder if my way of giving way to passion and getting out of a survival mind set would be to take the leap of leaving my current position and looking for an opportunity to work in a really creative environment that embraces the use of technology in education. 

If so, what would that be? What am I most passionate about? The book has made me ponder these questions.  I also have revisited the ideas in the book and challenged them.  What gives the Zanders the authority to make these claims? Why do they resonate with me and with my colleagues? Is it because we recognize the innate truth in them, or because we want them to be true?

I also appreciated the bit about not taking ones self so seriously. Funny, but good advice. The discussion of leading from every chair is relevant to me because there is a parallel to teaching. Enabling musicians to be their best is really a lot like enabling students to achieve academically. The idea of giving the students a chance to lead is appealing, too. I have done that from time to time, but certainly not enough. I was reminded to make a point of giving students more opportunities to "be the teacher."  I know they really like to do that and it builds up their self-confidence.

I am looking forward to reading the rest of the book.  It has certainly encouraged me and given me a lot to think about.

Week 3_Discussion Board Quickie 1

Courtesy iStockphoto

 Topic #1: Briefly share any experiences you’ve had when you’ve had a part in introducing a new program or a new way to do things at your job site. Please share any triumphs or frustrations you’ve had trying to improve the system or when you’ve pioneered or piloted some outside the norm.

  Twelve years ago our district decided to run an expulsion program for middle school students.  I live in a rural county, so the number of students who were in the program was small, even though we admitted students from other towns. Because the students had been expelled, they could not attend classes on campus.  Instead, we rented a large room in the local Youth for Christ building and ran our program there.  There were no guidelines or instructions, beyond the general mandate to provide courses appropriate to middle school.

  I fell back on my first teaching experiences in rural Nebraska schools for my model.  Another teacher and I split the subjects.  I gathered appropriate materials from among those our Community Ed program already had, along with a few extra purchased items. Over the course of three semesters, we provided a good education for our students, and included them in outside events like the Alcohol Awareness Program sponsored at our local ISD.  We did as many hands-on things as we could and were pleased with the progress our students made. The state auditors came to our district during the second year of our program and were very impressed with the program we were carrying out.  The district decided not to continue the program due to financial concerns, however.

  Today we are being asked to put together a school-within-a-school program.  Two other teachers and I are creating intake documents, working on suggestions for revising a handbook, and have been asked to create a crosswalk between Michigan’s Core curriculum and a basic curriculum for high school students, which needs to be ready by June 8. We have then been tasked with working on curriculum within each of our subject areas.

  I would consider the great teamwork my colleagues have developed during this year a triumph. I believe we can be very dynamic and creative. But frustrations abound.  One principle FSO has reinforced for me is the need to research and plan ahead before putting together an educational program (or class).  This is totally “throw something together so we have something.” We’ve been encouraged to take bits and pieces of other programs, to Google it.  Is that any way to put together a serious program truly intended to be effective with kids who are at risk of not graduating?

  Today I went to look at the rooms we will be using at the high school. I also talked to the tech director about the technology we will want for our rooms.  They are already equipped with data projectors and Elmo projectors.   I’d chalk this up to the plus side, as it would give us the ability to use tablets and do one-to-one with them in the classes.  I would consider that a triumph.

But I also learned that they are thinking about having us work 80% of our time in the high school during the day, and 20% at night in the Community Ed program. I guess they must think that because they were able to force us into similar hours this year, they can do it indefinitely.  No extra planning time was included for the nighttime classes this year, so I expect the same would be true next year.  Working both day and night made it very hard to pursue my own professional development. Every time a Wimba was on a Tuesday or Thursday, I had to watch it in the archive. Tuesdays and Thursdays were a wash for getting work done, too, so I had to try to stay ahead in order to make deadlines. Definitely a frustration.

  If there really is serious interest in developing a dynamic program to get kids on track to graduate, there should also be an understanding that it takes time to do this sort of thing.  I am sure we would each spend many hours after school working on different aspects of the program.  Assigning us to teach a couple of nights per week makes me step back and ask what our role really is.  Is there a serious desire to create a cutting-edge program at the high school? Or is this something else?

  Of course, I tried to consider this in the light of The Art of Possibility by Rosamund and Benjamin Zanders. I have shared this book with my two colleagues, and it has proven to be very encouraging.  I don’t know yet if this situation will end in triumph, but I appreciated what the Zanders had to say about being present in the way things are.  I think I shall take their advice about leaving behind the struggle to come to terms with what is in front of me, and then move on.  It is what it is. Okay. So where do I go from here?