Gladly Would I Teach

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Despite having had the seasonal flu shot and the H1N1 flu shot and doing my best to stay away from sick students, I contracted a bad cold a couple of weeks ago. Unlike most colds that go away after three or four days, this cold apparently loved living in my body and stayed around to torment me for 10 very long and miserable days.

I took a day off from school when I was really ill and then returned to work the next day. In the span of a couple of hours, I felt just as bad as I had the previous day. But, like so many teachers who keep reporting to school despite their illnesses, I kept on working. Finally, I awoke one morning and determined that there was no way I could drive myself to work and called for a substitute.

Normally it isn’t difficult to create a lesson plan that students can complete without me, but I had three students scheduled for speeches in each class. Since delivering speeches makes some students really nervous, I knew it might cause problems if they had to reschedule their speeches after they had already worried and prepared for the speeches. Unfortunately, however, there was nothing I could do. I had to cancel the speeches.

As I climbed back into bed, my thoughts drifted to that tiny little video camera asleep in my top desk drawer.  Perfect!  I sent an email to my department chair and asked him to obtain the camera and have a student videotape the speeches.

It worked!

Now, instead of grading speeches as students deliver them, this weekend I am staring into my computer screen and viewing and grading speeches. I actually graded one speech today as I went to the park and stared into the very tiny camera screen as I ate lunch.

I love technology!

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Edie Parrott

Technology is wonderful when it works. When it malfunctions, however, it can cause more trouble than we ever thought.

Each week my students have the option to participate in an online discussion that takes place on our class Facebook page. I introduce the topic on Sunday afternoons. Students then must respond to my post by  midnight on Friday and respond to one other student by noon on Sunday.

Last Wednesday a student sent me a message that he was unable to respond on Facebook because he kept getting a message to try again. For the next two days, many students sent me the same message, sometimes attaching the response that they were unable to post.

Instead of sitting back and simply monitoring the discussion, I had to post replies and field student complaints and concerns.  A couple of hours ago I closed the week’s discussion and posted the new discussion topic.

I sure hope this week’s discussion goes smoothly. We are discussing our favorite and our least favorite Super Bowl commercials.

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Edie Parrott

Here’s the final student-created Public Service Announcement I’m going to post. The assignment was wide-open. Students had to choose a topic and create a 30 second to 1 minute video to convince students to do something (or not to do something). The video had to exhibit two types of appeals (ethos, pathos, logos).

I’m always amazed by the creativity of students. Here’s a funny PSA. This time I posted it on Schooltube so it can bypass my school’s Internet filters.

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Edie Parrott

Over my long career, I have been astounded by how much technology has advanced and enhanced my ability to teach.

For example, when I first started teaching in 1977, it took an hour to read through a huge catalogue and select a movie to show to my class, another hour to complete the proper form and mail it, and weeks before the movie arrived in the mail. When it arrived, I usually had two days to show the movie before I had to pack it back up and return it. I don’t even want to describe the frustration of learning how to thread the movie through the projector and create the proper loop so the movie would not pop throughout the viewing like a “silent” movie in the 1920s.

Years later, VCRs and video cassettes replaced movie projectors.

Years later, DVD players and disks replaced VCRS.

Now, we have moved on to digital downloads. Who knows what will be next?

No aid, device, or piece of technology, however, has made my job easier than a course website that contains information about my class, due dates, information for parents, links to websites that provide additional help, and most of the assignments that students must complete in my class.

I created my first course website about 8 years ago and suffered through learning FrontPage. Today, I use a blogging platform (WordPress) that allows me to add information through pages. This process allows me to post updates and add new information in only minutes.

As the years go on, I keep adding and refining what I have on my website. When students needed more examples, I started posting papers from previous students (with their permission). When I create new assignments, I add a new page and show the assignment. When I stop using an assignment, instead of removing it from the website, I simply type the note “We will not complete this assignment this month.”

Many teachers who look at my website express the idea that they do not have the time or the skills to create a comparable site. What they may not understand, however, is that I built my site a little at a time over the years.

Today, as I prepare for a new semester, all I will have to do is update my syllabus and due dates and make the changes on my website.  I will then direct students to the website, teach them how to use it, and explain that they will need to print assignments when we get to them. I save myself hours simply by reducing the number of assignments I have to duplicate for students,

If you don’t have a website for your class, it’s an idea you might want to consider. Course websites increase communication between teachers and students, teachers and parents, and teachers and other teachers. Each week I receive one or two emails from new teachers who ask permission to use my assignments or who just express thanks. We are all accustomed to sharing ideas with the teacher down the hall. Course websites allow us to share ideas with teachers across the globe.

Here’s the link to my AP English Language & Composition website:

Parrott\’s AP English Language and Composition

I’m reading a new book about today’s students and how they learn as well as how schools need to change in order to prepare students for the future. While it’s an exciting time, I wonder if it is truly possible for us to make such extensive changes in our existing school settings.

For example, Kelly, McCain, and Jukes advocate greater usage of online collaboration among students. While many teachers try to do this, popular online sites that encourage collaboration (Facebook, Twitter, for example) are blocked by most school systems because we want to protect students from inappropriate or even dangerous material or online predators. When we incorporate the use of approved websites, however, students must spend more of their time learning a new online platform instead of investigating the topic we have assigned.

In the opening chapter of the book, the authors propose changes in instructional techniques that schools must take to help prepare students.

1. Shift from lecture formats to discovery learning.
2. Shift from text materials to more visual sources (photos, videos, etc).
3. Include use of hyperlinked sources students access randomly.
4. Allow students more time to colloborate and network, including with experts and individuals outside the school

As with any needed changes in education, most of us probably start worrying as  soon as we see lists of things we need to do and worry that we need to revamp our programs overnight. Long standing and effective changes, however, usually happen gradually.  As I look at this list of changes, I realize that in the past few years I have included these shifts if my instruction, but I probably just need to do more. At the same time, I think the changes we make also depend on the subjects we teach. For example, as an English teacher, I believe all of these shifts are important, but I will never shift totally away from written texts, and I don’t think anyone would suggest that I should.

If you want a good book to read, I would strongly recommend Teaching the Digital Generation. If you want a rationale for reading such a book and making changes in education, take a look at this popular video.

“My Access” Helps Students Write

I have my doubts about this new program that reviews student writing and offers suggestions for revision, but I really hope it works. Imagine how much help such a program would be for English teachers who drown under stacks of essays. Although I have my doubts, an English teacher interviewed in the article states:

“It’s important that teachers go back and explain that the score is not necessarily reflective of their overall writing,” said Warren, who teaches advanced placement and honor students. “As far as the mechanics go, it’s dead-on with the spelling and grammatical errors.”

Actually, if the program can check and teach grammatical and mechanical errors so teachers can narrow their focus to teaching the content of papers, I would be ecstatic.

I just wish I had the money to give “My Access” a try!

The Creator of Wikipedia Turns to Education Videos

Although this is a new video site with a limited number of videos, I suspect it will become a treasure trove for teachers and students in the next few years.

Sunday’s New York Times included an article that asked whether it is wrong for teachers to sell materials that they create.

Selling Lesson Plans Online Raises Questions and Cash

The article highlights the successes of many teachers who now sell their items on Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT). I have written about TpT previously because I think it offers teachers an outstanding opportunity to make money that they can use for their own classrooms or for their personal benefit.

Within the article, Joseph McDonald, professor at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University, states:

“Teachers swapping ideas with one another, that’s a great thing. But somebody asking 75 cents for a word puzzle reduces the power of the learning community and is ultimately destructive to the profession.”

I am perplexed that some people find it unethical or unprofessional for teachers to sell materials which they create on their own time. Do we consider it unethical for college professors to write books and sell them? Why is it different for K-12 teachers to reap benefits from plans and materials they have created?

Several times during the week when I walk into the workroom where I teach, I find the copy machine spitting out lessons, tests, quizzes, and materials that I created years ago, activities that I may not have used for years, but activities that other teachers in my department now use. I believe in sharing materials with my colleagues; however, why is it wrong for me to charge a small fee in order to share my materials with teachers around the globe?

I have had a class website for seven or eight years, and I am accustomed to responding to three or four emails each week from teachers who need help or need activities. I always respond. Before TpT came along and allowed me to sell items online, I spent way too much time sending materials to teachers because I had to type explanations and directions. Now, I can enter all of that information in TpT, and teachers can gain access to much of what I have for only a few dollars. (The most expensive item I have on TpT is $9.) As far as I am concerned, selling items for nominal fees on TpT or similar websites is a win-win situation. Teachers who need materials obtain them for very little money as teachers who have created materials make a little money.

In my early years of teaching, I spent way too much money purchasing published activity or assignment books. Today, teachers can buy better materials for a much cheaper price online. I just wish Teachers Pay Teachers had been around when I first started teaching.

Teachers Pay Teachers

Mention the word "research" to most teachers, and we all think of research papers. We know we need to require our students to complete more research activities, but there is a limit to how many research papers we can actually grade. (Can you tell I spent the majority of my weekend grading research papers?)

I designed an extensive group research project several years ago that is one of my favorite assignments for students. Working in groups of 3 or 4, students must research both sides of a controversial issue and then create a portfolio of the research that they find and deliver a 20-minute presentation to the class. The purpose of the assignment is for students to complete extensive research, to annotate at least 20 sources, and to deliver an interesting and informative presentation over the information they learned.

Although I designed the assignment for accelerated high school seniors, the project could be altered and used with younger students or maybe even used as is so long as the teacher prepares students for each facet of the project.

The portfolio contains

• Printed copy of the PowerPoint for the presentation
• Printed copy of a brochure that students create for distribution
• Copy and analysis of a survey that students must administer online
• Copy of all sources students find
• Annotated bibliography of at least 20 sources
• One case study
• One editorial cartoon about the topic
• One photograph related to the topic
• A work log for members of the group
• Self-evaluation of each group member
• For AP courses students are also required to create an AP synthesis question on their topic.

While this group project requires hours and hours of work from students, most students enjoy working on the project because they are allowed to select their own topics and read and discuss the research with their peers. In essence, they do their best to become experts on their topic so they can teach the class. The assignment is valuable because it requires students to read critically, research, prepare an oral presentation, annotate sources, integrate technology, create visual aids (PowerPoint and brochure), work together as a group, and field questions from members of the class.

If you are interested in assigning a similar assignment, my course website includes the handouts and rubrics I use:

Panel Presentation Group Assignment

Education Week: Policies Target Teacher-Student Cyber Talk

"Teachers in Louisiana may soon think twice before sending a text message or e-mail to a student from a personal electronic device.

"A new state law requires all Louisiana districts to implement policies requiring documentation of every electronic interaction between teachers and students through a nonschool-issued device, such as a personal cellphone or e-mail account, by Nov.15. Parents also have the option of forbidding any communication between teachers and their child through personal electronic devices."

Like many educators, a few years ago I was reluctant to contact students through social-networking sites and relied on school district e-mail. Teenagers, however, rarely check their e-mail. If I send an email to students, I know they will generally respond in a few days and a handful of students will never respond. If I send a Facebook message, however, students respond in a matter of minutes or certainly within a couple of hours. It may appear to be more professional for teachers to only use district-supervised email, but that doesn't mean that students will actually respond to those emails.

In a staff development meeting about technology that I attended last year, the leader stated, "We have to meet kids where they are, not where we want them to be." She then went on to explain that because our students are so technologically savvy that we needed to spend more time working on emails, blogs, and websites. A few teachers laughed. If you want to work with teenagers online today, Facebook is the place, not blogs, emails, and other websites.

Should we ban communication between teachers and students? Certainly, many systems have done this, but at what cost? Because of interaction between teachers and students on Facebook, many teachers forge strong professional relationships with students and become excellent mentors. While there is always the chance that unethical teachers can take advantage of kids while using such technology, wouldn't those same terrible teachers do the same thing with other forms of technology if districts prohibited the use of Facebook and other social-networking sites?

While systems do indeed need to establish guidelines for communication through technology, those guidelines must only be established after thoughtful discussions with students, teachers, and parents.

If I had to fill out a form each time I contacted a student outside of my school email, I would rarely contact students, and that would greatly curtail how often I mentor students.