Smile - You Are Out of the Box!

This note went out from a teacher at one of my project schools to another one this past Friday:
"To realize what happened with the kids during this project is awesome. Now I understand - the light has dawned. I did less work and kids did more work without complaining and learned more than I would have ever dreamed possible - on so many levels. Okay; now I am hooked - teach me how to use this stuff."

I was so lucky to see this unfold in her classes on Thursday. Students (Junior Classes) were presenting their projects, and while I was enjoying seeing their demonstrations of learning (which were quite phenomenal, BTW), what really made me excited was watching this teacher as she watched the students! You could see the light bulbs literally going off for her. She would nod to herself, smile a little, look between the students and the screen, and I just knew that she had it. Her first true "Out of the Box Experience". No stopping this teacher now. She has become a true believer in student-led, project-based, REAL Learning!

Nothing makes me smile more than this! I T - it's ALL about the LEARNING!

Pecha What?

I was told about the most incredible discussion among sixth graders today. A teacher friend asked some of his students if they were willing to try out a new project: "Pecha Kucha" projects in PowerPoint. (If you're not familiar with this, check out the wikipedia explanation. These are not your typical PowerPoint presentations!)

We had discussed these Pecha Kucha projects in our last team meeting, and wondered how students would react to creating these. Well, the answer to our wondering is, with LEARNING!

Student pairs are working together to create projects over World History assignments, and instead of the typical cut and paste, bullet points, cool backgrounds, etc. we are getting students having heated discussions that go something like this:

"Why did you put that slide before this one? Didn't this person influence that to happen? And so the slide with the picture of him should be first; we should discuss his impact first!"

And, "Which event caused the other one to take place? Which one is more important? Why? I think this event caused the revolt, but you think the revolt caused this event..." And so on....

Listening in to students who were given minimal instructions discuss this - WOW! IT really is ALL about the LEARNING!

Voki - Virtual Characters

I just created a 'Voki', an animated character of myself that I've posted here. Fun stuff. I expect I ought to change her comment from time to time in order to test the water and see if it is useful for learning. But I guess, since I've learned something new, that it is!
Try one for yourself! You don't have to post it to create it - just sign up and follow the easy directions. I used the 'Text to Speech' feature rather than recording my own voice in order to test that option. Next time, I'll replace it with a recording of my own voice recording a tech tip.
:) cheers for learning!
L.

Stuck?

The Grumpy Old Teacher Blog on August 16, 2007, mentions a motto he has posted on his classroom wall:

"Are you stuck? Good, now you can get down to some REAL learning!"

In today's school environment, all learners, students and teachers alike, often just want the answers. We don't like to take the time to struggle with information, to search out deep answers, to try to figure things out on our own. We want it the first time through, spelled out, with complete, detailed directions. Problem solving? We want the steps! We are sometimes the victims of our 'gold-star' past, when as good little students we earned the gold stars on all of our papers.

"If at first you don't succeed..." What? Ask for better directions? Heaven forbid if we ask others to "Try, Try Again!" I sometimes find myself frustrated with others who want students to become independent learners, but want detailed, step-by-step directions before trying something new themselves.

So, are you stuck? Good! Now YOU can get down to some REAL LEARNING!

:) L.

Commenting on Comments!

I've had trouble with this blog since I set it up. Since I was a novice, I was a little scared, I admit; putting my opinions out there and worried how inexperienced I would sound! So I started out without comments 'enabled' and now I can't seem to get the blog setting correct so I can get comments. I have two other blog sites, also on Blogger, that do allow comments and I have not had any problems with them. The setting are the same on all three sites. Go figure...
So, for those of you out there who wish they could give me their opinion on this blog, here's an e-mail address you can use:
lloutback@gmail.com
If I ever get this figured out, I'll delete this blog entry!
:) L.L.

The More Things Change . . .

The inevitable - Change.
Change is a sign of progress and the future. Change can also be a sign of the past.
Watch this video clip, and then reflect on the changes we've seen in just the past few years as we've worked to integrate technology into learning. What is your reaction to change?

"Funny Teacher Rant" from:
www.wavelengthinc.com/conference.htm
Found on YouTube!

Does it count as IT?

Maybe. I love learning something new, so now I’m trying out geocaching. My husband and I purchased a Magellan eXplorist 500LE this weekend, installed an SD card and after several fits and starts, I finally have a folder of about a dozen caches located within ten miles from home loaded up. Going to take a short tour of the area this evening and try our luck at following coordinates and tiny onscreen maps. We decided to try this during the time of year that we are unlikely to have small people (the grandkids) joining us with their thousand and one questions! So maybe, just maybe, by the time they come for stayovers again, we might have a clue what we’re doing!
Looks to be fun! What have you tried out lately that was new to you? Take up the challenge – discover a new way to use technology in your “real” life, not just your school/work life!