Final Project Update

My final project is to use VoiceThread to have my middle school students (grades 7 and 8) perform book talks and add comments to classmates' book talks. The overarching purpose is to encourage students to read a variety of books independently and talk about the books they have read. Some benefits along the way along the way are that students will be using reading, writing, and speaking skills to plan and perform their book talks. In the process of creating their book talks students will be practicing literacy skills that will help them meet standards. Reading skills come into play as they select key events to summarize and main characters to introduce. In order to entice readers to try this book, students will use knowledge plot elements to impart enough of the story to draw classmates in without giving away the crucial points. The writing process is the tool students will use to create the spoken text for each image they post. Students will use speaking and fluency to perform reading their text as they record their voices. They will make revisions of text and voice inflection in the process of recording. VoiceThread makes it easy to replay and re-record so that revising seems natural. When the book talk is polished, a student will publish by posting and sharing the final product. An authentic audience is built in as they are creating these book talks as a resource for each other. Students will be collaborating by adding their own impressions about books that are presented that they have already read, or adding comments later if they are inspired by a talk and then read the featured book. There is potential for a wider audience on the web, for instance another class within the school or at another school, broadening the potential for collaboration beyond the classroom.
I have created my own book talk, about a book from their summer reading list, to serve as an introduction to this project. I will expect my students to create their own VoiceThread "show" to give a synopsis about a book they have read recently that will provide their classmates with ideas for new books to read. I will also expect students to add comments to classmates' talks. My intent is to replace more traditional book reports or projects with continuing the VoiceThread book talks throughout the year, as long as the process remains fresh and interesting. I think there is plenty of room for creativity within this medium, and I am wondering what my students will come up with.
After showing students my sample VoiceThread book talk, I will show them a basic rubric, with categories established, that is blank or partially filled in and invite them to collaborate with me to build the criteria for an excellent book talk. I will revise the rubric as needed and bring my changes to them within a day or two. There are many resources online for rubrics on different topics and sites for building your own rubrics: Rubistar, Recipes 4Success's Rubric Maker, Teachnology Teacher Rubric Makers, and Kathy Schrock's Listing of Assessment Rubrics are some examples.The next step is for the students to select a book to read independently. A class period in the library with munchies and some book suggestions from our librarian will be the inspiration for this step. During the time period that the students are reading their books outside of class, we will take a couple of class periods to learn the basics of using VoiceThread. Students will open a VoiceThread account and create their avatar and pseudonym. Another route I can go is to add the students on my VoiceThread account under "switching identities". I plan to discuss the level of security needed with our technology people. This seems like a good opportunity to model identity protection. Once established, the students will create a quick sample project with just one image to practice and post comments on classmates' projects. The stage will be set for the students to create their book talks. The first time through I will provide a couple of class periods with support in the computer lab for students to work on their projects. We will review the rubric we created and make any last minute revisions before they start. The finished book talks will be viewed together as a class. I may ask students to give each other feedback through the rubric. I will require each student to post comments on at least 3 book talks. How to make a constructive comment is another lesson to teach!
After the class has been through one cycle of making book talks on VoiceThread with guidance and support, I will assign the next one as more independent work. I am not sure yet whether I will give them any class time for the subsequent reports. Students will be expected to produce 2 book talks per trimester that will be assessed using the rubric. Differentiation can be built in by adjusting reading level to fit the students' needs on an individual basis.
My hope is that students will read more and talk with each other about their reading on VoiceThread and in person. I think that this book talk project may take on a life of its own and inspire us to connect with other people beyond our school. Who knows what will happen!

Reflection

There has been so much to learn and digest this week that I could easily have become totally overwhelmed. Knowing enough to know how little I knew about technology was just as overwhelming. Now I know what some of the new terminology means and I have some strategies to narrow the exponentially increasing stream of information that is trying to drown us all. I felt empowered to pick and choose what new technology tools I wanted to try out and adopt from the huge "all you can eat" buffet that Alice put before us. I learned the most about blogs and wikis this week. I never really understood what true blogging is, and I was surprised to learn that "blog" comes from "web-log". Suddenly blogs make a lot more sense! This class has given me enough knowledge to feel comfortable deciding when I look at a blog whether it is any good or of any interest to me.
Since my school already has a management system for posting classwork, I probably will not use wikis right away. I do plan to try out blogging with my science classes, Voicethread with my English classes, and RSS for myself. Though I am a dedicated npr listener, I am excited about consuming news from more different sources. I love the idea of reading a little from the New York Times and the Washington Post along with the Lewiston Sun Journal and npr. As for Voicethread, I feel a sense of conquest. A dedicated technology teacher tried to help me understand Voicethread several years ago, and I was a rebellious resister. I can't wait to get my students using this tool, and I am looking forward to understanding more about how Voicethread can become an integral part of other web 2.0 projects.
It has been a long week, and I won't lie, there have been a few tears. However, I am sure I am many steps ahead of where I was on Monday! I know that I have gained significant ground because I have a whole new set of questions to ask our technology teachers at school and I am eager to play with the new tools and learn more.

My RSS Revolution

My first project with the RSS feed is to take Will Richardson's advice (p. 75, 3rd paragraph) and get into the habit of checking my Google Reader daily to scan for information that interests me. I might have to tie this to my morning coffee to make it a part of my routine. This is big for me! Following some of the blogs about all the 2.0 technology will help me keep up and give me ideas to try as I get more comfortable with different tools. I imagine that I will bring RSS into my classroom by getting my students started with establishing their own Google Readers focused on a few particular topics. At the very least, this will transform their Science Fair research.

Project Plan

I am planning to use Voicethread for student book talks or book shares in 7th & 8th grade English. My purpose is to encourage independent reading and get students talking about the books they read more. I hope that they will be motivated to add comments about books they have already read to enrich their classmates' talks. I will also explore developing a rubric with the students for what these book talks need to include, and I see some sites to explore in 21 Ways to Engage 21st Century Learners that are all about developing rubrics.

Comments on Two Blogs

I have to admit that I find many of the blogs I looked at either very confusing because I had no context for the topic or very mundane because the author includes petty details of their everyday life. One blog that was good and pulled me in was "Extreme Biology", by Miss Baker, whoever she is. The blog has a bright, inviting header and the 2 columns make the format straightforward, not overly busy. The blog also has big bold photos and a good video of students performing a dissection. There was a great link to an educational module sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The topics are clear and the links work without sending me to an ad. Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne, is the other blog that I found user friendly and useful. It is very professional looking though a bit busy. Each post is clearly on one subject and I can see quickly if it is something I am interested in. I viewed one of a set of short videos about a national park through a link. Richard provided some useful information about the length of the videos. He has clearly looked at the material he is posting and gives hints so that I can check it out without wasting a lot of time. Having the left side contain just resources makes lots of information available without being overwhelming. Kudos to Miss baker and Richard Byrne!

Take a look at this video about Endangered Species

NETS Standards for Teachers

The first NETS standard focuses on inspiring student learning and creativity. This concept fits right in with a class I just took about teaching literacy through the arts. The essential question for the class was "How do we reframe our learning environment to foster student creativity, imagination, and innovation?" In that class we were using photographs, movement, collage, theater, and poetry to explore many topics. I hope to learn in this class how to blend the approach of teaching through the arts with using technology as a tool to create and share the students' creations with authentic audiences. I am sure that my students will be very motivated!

In particular I am thinking about how students could do a project about themselves in the style of the novel The House on Mango Street and use a combination of technology and the arts.

A great start for me would be to have the students' projects recorded/saved digitally and made available to a wider audience beyond out classroom. I also imagine giving students choices about the format and media used for their presentations. I need to work in the collaborative piece.