Ways to protect kids using the internet:
•According to SafeSurf.com, a free Safe Surf Rating File can be download and used to choose levels of tagged content the browser will be allowed to display.
•Parents can review "Social Web Tips for Teens" at www.connectsafely.org. It recommends not harassing one's peers, not talking about sex with strangers, not meeting in-person, etc.
•Instead of situating computers in kids' rooms, put in high traffic area to monitor time spent on-line and content.
•Non-confrontational discussions with one's children about sexting: Have they heard of it? What do they think about it?
•Have your children use Facebook privacy settings to limit who sees their info.
•Go over "How to recognize grooming" at www.connectsafely.org. Lists specific tactics/lines "predators" use to exploit kids.
At my school, computers exist in the library which is heavily blocked and in a new lab which presumably has the same safety blocks.
I intend to use the 10 Safety Tips for Video-Sharing at www.connectsafely.org to educate my 10th graders about ethical issues regarding video-making, in order to protect their subjects from humiliation, etc., and themselves and the school from lawsuits. There have been a few dicey incidents involving insensitive footage.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Thoughts on Shawn's McKinsey blog
Shawn,
You make such great points, especially that:
-- teachers should get paid sabbaticals
-- GOOD administrators need to be a priority, not just good teachers (I experienced a principal who observed me on the last day of school for five minutes, standing in the doorway, and then expected me to sign off on his evaluation.)
-- students suffer when teachers are granted unconditional tenure (every year, when I assign a characterization, the same social studies teacher gets parodied "anonymously", of course)
-- observing a variety of classrooms, not just within one's subject area, as you did as a WASC member, is invaluable. I'm a BTSA mentor and learn as much if not more from my mentees as they learn from me.
-- class size is crucial. Our freshman English classes are capped at 20, making risk taking, participation and conferencing about writing much easier. I like your "tipping point" of 25. The dynamics really change -- feels much less safe and there's much less accountability -- over 25.
You sound like a sharp, dynamic teacher! Have a great time in Argentina! Dina
You make such great points, especially that:
-- teachers should get paid sabbaticals
-- GOOD administrators need to be a priority, not just good teachers (I experienced a principal who observed me on the last day of school for five minutes, standing in the doorway, and then expected me to sign off on his evaluation.)
-- students suffer when teachers are granted unconditional tenure (every year, when I assign a characterization, the same social studies teacher gets parodied "anonymously", of course)
-- observing a variety of classrooms, not just within one's subject area, as you did as a WASC member, is invaluable. I'm a BTSA mentor and learn as much if not more from my mentees as they learn from me.
-- class size is crucial. Our freshman English classes are capped at 20, making risk taking, participation and conferencing about writing much easier. I like your "tipping point" of 25. The dynamics really change -- feels much less safe and there's much less accountability -- over 25.
You sound like a sharp, dynamic teacher! Have a great time in Argentina! Dina
Monday, June 15, 2009
NETS Blog
What I've done to date with technology:
--The freshman I-Search Project includes researching on-line (Standard 3), evaluating websites' credibility and writing an MLA style bibliography (Standard 5). Students have imported graphics throughout their final 15-25 page written project. (1, 6) Students are required to conduct a survey and in the future, I'd have them use the internet to write and possibly distribute the poll. Many have created graphs online, of their poll results.
--A colleague and I applied for a grant for six digital video cameras to teach documentary making. (1-6) Until yesterday, I had no experience with i-movie and could not help students execute their films. However, using John Golden's book on "reading" films as literature, I did construct a great unit in which students analyzed film clips before making their own films. This unit would be a lot better if our school had more Macs and more students had access to i- movie.
In the future . . .
I'd like to find a Jeopardy game to help students review before tests. (1, 2) I'd also like to use podcasts for the 1920's group research project. I'm still not sure I want to respond to student writing digitally. Although I may be out-of-touch with current trends, I like the idea of them e-mailing me drafts and then sitting down with them to review them. I would, though, like students to respond to each other's writing on-line. Christina, is there a program for this or do they just blog?
I'm sure other ideas will occur to me when I return to the classroom.
--The freshman I-Search Project includes researching on-line (Standard 3), evaluating websites' credibility and writing an MLA style bibliography (Standard 5). Students have imported graphics throughout their final 15-25 page written project. (1, 6) Students are required to conduct a survey and in the future, I'd have them use the internet to write and possibly distribute the poll. Many have created graphs online, of their poll results.
--A colleague and I applied for a grant for six digital video cameras to teach documentary making. (1-6) Until yesterday, I had no experience with i-movie and could not help students execute their films. However, using John Golden's book on "reading" films as literature, I did construct a great unit in which students analyzed film clips before making their own films. This unit would be a lot better if our school had more Macs and more students had access to i- movie.
In the future . . .
I'd like to find a Jeopardy game to help students review before tests. (1, 2) I'd also like to use podcasts for the 1920's group research project. I'm still not sure I want to respond to student writing digitally. Although I may be out-of-touch with current trends, I like the idea of them e-mailing me drafts and then sitting down with them to review them. I would, though, like students to respond to each other's writing on-line. Christina, is there a program for this or do they just blog?
I'm sure other ideas will occur to me when I return to the classroom.
FINAL DRAFT: Ignore 1st posting of McKinsey Report
Honestly, as a teacher I have become disheartened with the over-emphasis on standards, students' Machiavellian approach to learning, lack of substantive staff development time, and, at my school, primitive technology.
While the standards themselves are honorable, making them the crux of my coaching of new teachers as a mentor, has proved counter-intuitive and counter-productive. New teachers are trying to survive day to day and need help shaping lessons, reflecting on those lessons and moving to the next step. In my opinion, while teachers need to set goals, expecting new teachers to use compartmentalized standards as a starting place, is unnatural. As a BTSA mentor for several years, I have felt like a burden to my mentees, coaxing them to fill out copious paperwork. It would, as one guest on Forum noted, be helpful if mentors and mentees had more time to meet, and not mainly around meeting standards. Sadly, there may be no need for mentors next year as many of the newer teachers have been let go due to budget cuts.
Another over-application of standards involves administrators using them as the sole basis of teacher evaluations. Instead of the observant letters we used to receive with notes like "You motivated me to re-read Beloved", evaluators go through a perfunctory checklist. Two of the best teachers at my school received "Needs improvement" on numerous counts and overall, this year. When the two teachers compared their written evaluations, they discovered that 80% of the text was identical. They highlighted the duplications and brought them to the principal. That the administrator took this illegal shortcut is really disillusioning.
Speaking of shortcuts . . . I'm having a hard time with students' (and parents') emphasis on grades and extracurrilar activities and community service for the purpose of grooming one's resume for college admission. Kids know better than to haggle with me over grades, but some do it habitually with other teachers. Still, I'm not immune. When I asked a freshman to help me move a table during a class party, she asked (albeit sheepishly) for extra credit. Ditto when I asked a boy to erase the white board. Students don't seem to be genuinely connected with themselves or what they're doing; there's a "let's get this over with this" malaise. That's why interactive, dynamic projects like documentary making and the Web 2.0 projects are so important. Students need real-life projects that they can invest in. Also, more than ever, students need to be talking about their real feelings as they are bombarded with rubrics and hoops to jump through often without any joy in learning for its own sake. That's why cutting the Social Psychology class and eliminating the Wellness Center where kids get emotional counseling (not just academic), a real threat in this economic climate, would be devastating.
Another negative is that most staff development days are devoted to so-called motivational speakers not to training teachers in technology or teacher-led workshops highlighting what's working. Because our school only has two Macs and one computer lab, there's no ostensible reason to offer technology workshops. The only one I recall introduced the standardized grading program that students and parents can access any time (the emphasis, as always, on grades and averting lawsuits). I really like Japan's "lesson study" concept described by the Mills professor, on Forum. Teachers definitely need release time to observe other teachers. I've observed three teachers -- and many mentees -- all of whom taught me so much.
I agree with Carlos Garcia's advocacy of teacher individuality versus curricular standardization. Different texts inspire different teachers. Different teachers gravitate to different grading policies. That's life. But we're always bracing against the parent who says, "Well, if my daughter had so-and-so, she'd have gotten an A".
I naturally agree teachers shouldn't have to pay for staff development trainings. However, given the economic crisis, especially in California, the McKinsey recommendations, while sound, seem more pie-in-the-sky than they may have two years ago.
Finally, though I am at a high caliber school where almost every teacher is terrific, technology is remarkably antiquated, making innovation difficult. Still, we are privileged in that the community can afford to pass ballot initiatives that channel tax dollars to our school. Most communities don't have this luxury.
While the standards themselves are honorable, making them the crux of my coaching of new teachers as a mentor, has proved counter-intuitive and counter-productive. New teachers are trying to survive day to day and need help shaping lessons, reflecting on those lessons and moving to the next step. In my opinion, while teachers need to set goals, expecting new teachers to use compartmentalized standards as a starting place, is unnatural. As a BTSA mentor for several years, I have felt like a burden to my mentees, coaxing them to fill out copious paperwork. It would, as one guest on Forum noted, be helpful if mentors and mentees had more time to meet, and not mainly around meeting standards. Sadly, there may be no need for mentors next year as many of the newer teachers have been let go due to budget cuts.
Another over-application of standards involves administrators using them as the sole basis of teacher evaluations. Instead of the observant letters we used to receive with notes like "You motivated me to re-read Beloved", evaluators go through a perfunctory checklist. Two of the best teachers at my school received "Needs improvement" on numerous counts and overall, this year. When the two teachers compared their written evaluations, they discovered that 80% of the text was identical. They highlighted the duplications and brought them to the principal. That the administrator took this illegal shortcut is really disillusioning.
Speaking of shortcuts . . . I'm having a hard time with students' (and parents') emphasis on grades and extracurrilar activities and community service for the purpose of grooming one's resume for college admission. Kids know better than to haggle with me over grades, but some do it habitually with other teachers. Still, I'm not immune. When I asked a freshman to help me move a table during a class party, she asked (albeit sheepishly) for extra credit. Ditto when I asked a boy to erase the white board. Students don't seem to be genuinely connected with themselves or what they're doing; there's a "let's get this over with this" malaise. That's why interactive, dynamic projects like documentary making and the Web 2.0 projects are so important. Students need real-life projects that they can invest in. Also, more than ever, students need to be talking about their real feelings as they are bombarded with rubrics and hoops to jump through often without any joy in learning for its own sake. That's why cutting the Social Psychology class and eliminating the Wellness Center where kids get emotional counseling (not just academic), a real threat in this economic climate, would be devastating.
Another negative is that most staff development days are devoted to so-called motivational speakers not to training teachers in technology or teacher-led workshops highlighting what's working. Because our school only has two Macs and one computer lab, there's no ostensible reason to offer technology workshops. The only one I recall introduced the standardized grading program that students and parents can access any time (the emphasis, as always, on grades and averting lawsuits). I really like Japan's "lesson study" concept described by the Mills professor, on Forum. Teachers definitely need release time to observe other teachers. I've observed three teachers -- and many mentees -- all of whom taught me so much.
I agree with Carlos Garcia's advocacy of teacher individuality versus curricular standardization. Different texts inspire different teachers. Different teachers gravitate to different grading policies. That's life. But we're always bracing against the parent who says, "Well, if my daughter had so-and-so, she'd have gotten an A".
I naturally agree teachers shouldn't have to pay for staff development trainings. However, given the economic crisis, especially in California, the McKinsey recommendations, while sound, seem more pie-in-the-sky than they may have two years ago.
Finally, though I am at a high caliber school where almost every teacher is terrific, technology is remarkably antiquated, making innovation difficult. Still, we are privileged in that the community can afford to pass ballot initiatives that channel tax dollars to our school. Most communities don't have this luxury.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Dina's Copyright blog
Here's a list of points that stood out to me on the three sites I visited. I am confused about whether it's legal to screen rented videos or taped television shows, in my classroom. I got several of the quiz questions wrong without understanding why.
--Fair use guidelines are "rules of thumb" rather than laws.
--Multiple copies of a play or book, even if it's no longer published, are copyright infringements.
--Fair use only applies to non-profits, including education.
--J.D. Salinger has a good case against the European whose writing a sequel to Catcher in the Rye.
--Copying workbooks and standardized tests is prohibited.
--Copies have to be made at educational site, not at commercial venue like Kinkos which lost a major lawsuit for copying anthologies.
--Fair use limits the amount one can copy.
--Teachers can share their multimedia projects at educator conventions and in their job portfolios.
--No infringement as long as multimedia is sent to secure remote sites where only enrolled students have access to transmission.
--Libraries can only have one copy of, say, a DVD, not a copy and a backup copy.
--Newspapers and news periodicals and NOT limited to 9 copies per semester. As a journalism teacher, this is good to know.
--It's infringement when you copy from one format to another without permission.
--Teachers can only show films in line with curricular objectives. Can't show non-educational films even as a reward or show films in extracurricular settings.
--Fair use guidelines are "rules of thumb" rather than laws.
--Multiple copies of a play or book, even if it's no longer published, are copyright infringements.
--Fair use only applies to non-profits, including education.
--J.D. Salinger has a good case against the European whose writing a sequel to Catcher in the Rye.
--Copying workbooks and standardized tests is prohibited.
--Copies have to be made at educational site, not at commercial venue like Kinkos which lost a major lawsuit for copying anthologies.
--Fair use limits the amount one can copy.
--Teachers can share their multimedia projects at educator conventions and in their job portfolios.
--No infringement as long as multimedia is sent to secure remote sites where only enrolled students have access to transmission.
--Libraries can only have one copy of, say, a DVD, not a copy and a backup copy.
--Newspapers and news periodicals and NOT limited to 9 copies per semester. As a journalism teacher, this is good to know.
--It's infringement when you copy from one format to another without permission.
--Teachers can only show films in line with curricular objectives. Can't show non-educational films even as a reward or show films in extracurricular settings.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Dina's Podcast Reviews
For my educational podcast, I listened to a NPR Fresh Air interview of Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. It's written from the perspective of a high functioning autistic boy bent on figuring out who killed his neighbor's dog. My students generally love this book. Host Terri Gross hooks listeners by asking the British author to read the book's opening paragraph when the boy describes encountering the dead dog. The podcast highlights Gross' wonderful interviewing techniques. First, she never misses a good follow-up question. For example, when Haddon says that he was careful not to use the words "autism" or "Asberger's Syndrome", she asks "Why not?" Haddon explains that every one of his narrator's oddities was taken from someone he knows who does NOT have this diagnosis, who is considered "normal". Gross' questions always impress me, and this show was no exception. Her question about what scares the boy, elicited interesting specifics. She also asked what part of the boy Haddon most identifies with, which surprisingly turns out to be his love of math. Finally, Gross astutely notes a paradox, namely the author's efforts to empathize with a boy incapable of empathy. Haddon then mentions another paradox: while vowing never to lie, the narrator never quite gets the truth right and is therefore highly unreliable. Also, because his narrator is entirely unaware of his audience, he never adequately explains things. Since my own students are often unaware of what information their readers need, an excerpt from this book might be instructive.
A "foodie", I also listened to "The Splendid Table" produced by American Public Media. The host interacts with various guests including restaurant critics, cookbook writers and sommeliers. What I found frustrating about the first episode I listened to was that it promised to be about Kitchen designs but instead flitted from twinkies, to sardines, to wine. The second episode led me to believe it would explore noodles of Japan, which interests me, and then Indian breads, which doesn't. However, it reversed the order and there was no way to fast forward. Both episodes I began with food writers Jane and Michael Stern teasing us with tantalizing descriptions of the chocolate espresso twinkie, two layer lemon bars and eggnog waffles at Bette's Diner in Berkeley and the milkshakes mixed with banana cream pie slices somewhere in Minnesota. There are annoyingly long song transitions between short segments, some of which are relevant (such as the boogie about baked goods), and others which lack any clear connection to the show's content. The other mixed bag is that the host and guests rattle off recipes, many of which don't appear on the show's website.
Finally, I tried to track down Chris Rock's "Never Scared" video to use in conjunction with The Great Gatsby, but all I could access were HBO clips of one Chris Rock show.
A "foodie", I also listened to "The Splendid Table" produced by American Public Media. The host interacts with various guests including restaurant critics, cookbook writers and sommeliers. What I found frustrating about the first episode I listened to was that it promised to be about Kitchen designs but instead flitted from twinkies, to sardines, to wine. The second episode led me to believe it would explore noodles of Japan, which interests me, and then Indian breads, which doesn't. However, it reversed the order and there was no way to fast forward. Both episodes I began with food writers Jane and Michael Stern teasing us with tantalizing descriptions of the chocolate espresso twinkie, two layer lemon bars and eggnog waffles at Bette's Diner in Berkeley and the milkshakes mixed with banana cream pie slices somewhere in Minnesota. There are annoyingly long song transitions between short segments, some of which are relevant (such as the boogie about baked goods), and others which lack any clear connection to the show's content. The other mixed bag is that the host and guests rattle off recipes, many of which don't appear on the show's website.
Finally, I tried to track down Chris Rock's "Never Scared" video to use in conjunction with The Great Gatsby, but all I could access were HBO clips of one Chris Rock show.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Podcast Blog
Podcasts are a terrific way for my students to access television and radio broadcasts about themes that dovetail with what I'm teaching. For example, I teach a war literature unit around All Quiet on the Western Front. The podcast "Wired for War", featuring Terri Gross' interview with an author about his book on robots used in battle, relates to the theme of dehumanization of the enemy. Strategists in Nevada are guiding manless missles towards human targets, entirely distanced from the damage they inflict. Seinfeld episodes are another podcast treasure. In the past, I have waited to tape a re-run of a particular Seinfeld episode illustrating, say, dramatic irony. It would obviously be much more convenient if podcasts of Seinfeld exist. Last year I extended the teaching of Lord of the Flies with a unit on human nature and human behavior. Students wrote on the implications of several experiments about human nature including the Milgram experiment, the Zimbardo prison experiment, and the "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" experiment. If podcasts of these (or more recent experiments) exist, I wouldn't need to continue ordering DVD's from Facing History and Ourselves and Netflix. Plus, students could repeatedly view the experiments about which they're writing.
In addition to finding podcasts on relevant themes, I can see having my freshmen journalism students "syndicate" their writings via podcasts. I'm not sure how this differs, though, from distributing their writings via blogs. I could also have students listen to podcasts of masterful interviewers like Oprah, Charlie Rose, and Terri Gross, to hone their own interviewing skills. When it comes to writing opinion pieces (or simply assessing if the media is balanced), it might be useful to listen to a podcast of a debate like the one I heard today about the criminalization of HIV.
Another advantage of podcasts is that students can access them on their own outside class time. Or, if they're working on their I-Search Project in the library, for example, they can access podcasts relevant to their particular topic.
Two last brainstorms: students could, use GarageBand to make their own podcast 1920's projects about Prohibition, automobiles, fashion, fads, etc, all of which could include narration, music and artwork (photos and possibly statistical graphs?) Finally, students could listen to stories read by professional actors, on Selected Shorts podcasts. I used to take students to these readings in New York City, having studied the stories ahead of time.
In addition to finding podcasts on relevant themes, I can see having my freshmen journalism students "syndicate" their writings via podcasts. I'm not sure how this differs, though, from distributing their writings via blogs. I could also have students listen to podcasts of masterful interviewers like Oprah, Charlie Rose, and Terri Gross, to hone their own interviewing skills. When it comes to writing opinion pieces (or simply assessing if the media is balanced), it might be useful to listen to a podcast of a debate like the one I heard today about the criminalization of HIV.
Another advantage of podcasts is that students can access them on their own outside class time. Or, if they're working on their I-Search Project in the library, for example, they can access podcasts relevant to their particular topic.
Two last brainstorms: students could, use GarageBand to make their own podcast 1920's projects about Prohibition, automobiles, fashion, fads, etc, all of which could include narration, music and artwork (photos and possibly statistical graphs?) Finally, students could listen to stories read by professional actors, on Selected Shorts podcasts. I used to take students to these readings in New York City, having studied the stories ahead of time.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
I would choose Stevie Wonder as my Vice Presidential running mate because he is the public person I've always wanted to spend time with. I've sung gospel music with a gospel choir for years, and he is my favorite composer/singer in every way. I also think his message of love being "in need of love today" would be a welcome antidote to the warmongering and demonization of others characteristic of national politics.
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