Empower Digital Citizenship Action

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by HoangP: http://flickr.com/photos/miniprince/8096432123/

When the stars aligned this week and my next Flat Classroom Teacher Certification assignment matched with a meeting I planned a week ago I celebrated.  While everything I have learned so far is already changing the face of my classroom, it has all been in addition to my usual load and this was a nice albeit brief reprieve.  

This week in discussing Digital Citizenship we were supposed to reach out to administration and work on a plan to integrate 'reverse mentoring' into our curriculum thus staying current with the topic and empowering our students.  At ASM we are currently discussing our Middle School electives.  I proposed quite a few new options including a Global Project elective.  I was not able to sell that as easily as the programming, robotics, digital art, movie making and Global Connections (described my last post) but we did think of a few places to start this type of initiative.  The first and most logical, which is why I'd prefer to do it somewhere else, would be in the Global Connections course.  The second could be in my programming course (potential Flat Classroom project idea) but the other and the one I like the best is for me to join the 8th grade project team.  Every 8th grader in our school will be required to do a semester long project and this could be a wonderful component.

There are many players involved in this discussion and as the newbie at the school I'm just trying to figure out how I fit in.  That always plays a factor in the travelling International Teacher's cultural transition to a new school but this is the first time I feel like I need to push the fast forward button and hurry up my integration into the teams that are already in place.

I am proud of a project our 6th graders did this year in Global Connections which did require them to be the leaders of the global citizenship discussion.  It is a video with their promises that they created to be positive digital citizens.  I cannot yet share it as two students were filmed whose parents did not sign the release form and we are in the middle of retaking those scenes.  Can't wait to share it with the entire school community.

What project with 'reverse mentoring' have you done that empowered students into action?  Share in the comments below.

Feelin' Those Net Vibrations

cc licensed ( BY NC ) flickr photo by patriziasoliani: 

http://flickr.com/photos/55524309@N05/5378314176/

This is my first year at ASM where I teach 9th grade math, movie making, digital art and Global Connections.  Global Connections is a class that the school requires all 6th graders and new middle school students to take for one semester.  By far one of my favorite teaching experiences to date has been the Global Connections class.  Why?  First of all my co-teacher, Carrie Zimmer.  I appreciated her enthusiasm, flexibility and commitment to digital citizenship (especially photo credits) but most of all her collaborative spirit.  We were able to model a partnership for our students and together design a course aligned with our school values: Empowerment, Accountability and Respect.

Our students were little sponges.  They could not get enough of the technology and were willing to discuss, debate and develop appropriate uses.  I did not realize how successful that class was until I started teaching a Digital Art course which has 6th, 7th and 8th graders together.  We use Google Docs to collaborate and students post their artistic process on their Digital Art blogs.  And who leads the way through these projects? Our 6th graders.  A group of them led the discussion on how to comment appropriately on other blogs while in another class it was the 6th graders who reminded students of good naming and password practices.  

And for next year I have added two pieces to the curriculum (so far) that have been influenced by the Flat Classroom Certified Teacher course I am currently enrolled in.  The first is incorporating a global project which in-spite of the name of the course, we did not do this year and the second is teaching the kids about pulling information.  After creating a Classroom Monitoring Portal (CMP) on Netvibes for my digital art class, I realize the power of the portal.  It is a time saver, a guaranteed way to stay on task (almost) - a one stop shop (again, almost because I can't find a way to include Pinterest).  

Here are the screen shots from the page since I created it on a private page and have yet to figure out how to copy it to my public page.  It will be exciting to create these pages with my students in the future.  We just studied Optical Art but I plan to do this with a unit later on to teach them the skills.

Getting Organized page with all links students can put in
for themselves: Gmail, to-do list, calendar, favorite links,
link to class website and RSS feed from class updates

Optical Art in the News

Optical Art in Video

Op Art on Twitter

Image search for Featured Artist Bridget Riley

I was pretty satisfied with Google Reader until I played with Netvibes.  Anyone have a preference?  Share the links to your classroom CMP below in comments.

Badge + Gadget = Badget

Scroll down, look to the right and you will notice that I have discovered badgets.  I am proud to be a new member of the Flat Classroom Ning.  This wonderful group of educators are committed to harnessing the power of technology to engage and guide our children, into and through a Global, flattened world.  To teach them about respect, kindness, commitment, independence, time management, good grammar...and I'm only on chapter 5!

I also added Shelfari to my site (scroll down).  Do you have other favorite gadgets that you suggest?

iPhone Art - Kinotopic

After the success we had with The Chihuly App I wasn't sure we would find something as interactive and unique to the phone but, we did.  Really though, this time I knew what I was looking for.  A few weeks ago I happened on a website called Cinemagraphs.  A cinemagraph is a still photograph with a moving part so that it comes to life in some way.  I was looking for an app that would allow my middle school digital art students a way to take photos and turn them into Cinemagraphs.  We found Kinotopic which is an app that allows users to do just that.

The app allows you to take a 3 second video.  You can then apply a special effect to color it, a frame, select the area you want to move and decide if you want to loop it.

The blue line is the area
that will move
repeatedly

Pros:  free, easy to follow opening photo instructions, erase tool, variety of effects
Cons:  need to make an account, using a fingertip for delicate details is clumsy

After some fiddling my son declared that the lines you draw over the area need to be much wider than I drew mine on the lamp.  Below is his fish Kino.

I found a few other apps that might allow my students to try making cinemagraphs.  Maybe I'll let them be real consumers and test a few only for this one they will have to use my account.  Do you have any favorites?

iPhone Art - Blowing Glass

In completing Challenge #5 for my Flat Classroom Teacher Certification program I scoured the iTunes app store on a quest to find an educational way the iPhone can be used.  I enlisted my 11-year-old son as he is an expert on my husband's iPhone 3GS and well, there was no way he was missing out on a legit project on the phone.

I teach a middle school digital art class and was looking for ideas that wouldn't necessarily be doable on a laptop or with a traditional camera.  We first came across Buddypoke, a 3D colorful, trendy mini-me avatar creator, but I really wanted to try something more interactive with the phone.

It didn't take long for us to discover, The Chihuly App.  This free app was released as an interactive part of Dale Chihuly's glass exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.  And what does this app do?  It allows the user to 'blow' glass by blowing into the microphone of your phone.  You can select from three different basic shapes, blow your glass and then color it and create effects.

I didn't believe it would work but my son was so excited about blowing into the phone that we downloaded it.  Here are the screen shots from our adventure:

I like the idea of my students hearing about his inspiration.

We picked maccia shape.

Blowing resulted in this shape and color.

Named it and it became part of the searchable collection.

This will be a great project for my students to do when we study transparency or sculpture.

• Pros: students don't need to register, free, user friendly, tie to real artist and installation
• Cons: not much variation in personalization options, cannot share unless register

My son's observations: that was awesome, it did what I wanted it to do, do you think blowing glass is that hard?  In true kid fashion he took over the phone and figured out he could put shapes together and do multiple glass pieces on one installation.  Here is an example:

Found in the archives (another pro).

Do you have any favorite and unique iPhone apps I could use for my digital art class?

Bridging time zones

As part of my Flattening Classroom Certified Teacher course I was introduced to TimeBridge but only as a user.  So for our challenge of setting up a collaborative calendar I ventured in as a planner.

Quad blogging is exactly what it sounds like - 4 of us are going to write a blog post together.  This will be quite a challenge given that when two of us are starting our evenings, one is beginning the following day and I am smack in the middle, crawling into bed.  Therefore I'm sure we will do most of the work together asynchronously (probably via Google docs) but I thought I'd set up a TimeBridge group anyway to possibly have a synchronous chat.

I created a group using the emails of my partners.They will receive an email asking them to join the group.I also sent an email (though TimeBridge) asking them toshare their calendar with me.

A bit ahead of myself I proposed 4 meeting options.In theory I should have waited until they shared theircalendars with me.  Lesson learned.

So far, so good.  I can't figure out how to change the duration of the meetings I suggested.  Going to have to play around or send an SOS email out to my #flatclass group.

Anyone use an online appointment scheduling service they would recommend instead of Timebridge?  Be sure to write why as I'm not sure what TimeBridge is missing (my only comparison is Google Calendar).

Communication with a new tool and an old tool in a new way

cc licensed ( BY NC SA )
 flickr photo by David Basanta:
 http://flickr.com/photos/dbasanta/3283908600/

This week in our Flatten Classroom Teacher Certification course we are discussing asynchronous and synchronous communication.  The last time I thought about those words I think I was studying for the SATs but they are so important in how we plan our Global Connections.

For my asynchronous (communication that does not happen at the same time) challenge I created a Google Forum for my Digital Art students.   In keeping with our current school-wide policy to protect their privacy, I created it so that only those invited and with our domain extension can see and participate in the Forum.  After too much time wasted trying to embed it in both my website and our Digital Art Blog, I decided to put the link as a new page on the Digital Art blog and also a link on my website.  I sent out group emails from Gmail inviting them to join but will have to update you all later on how it goes as we are currently on school holiday.

Admittedly, synchronous (live virtual meetings) are not my favorite but chatting on the phone before internet and live webcams wasn't really my thing either.  I did a live FB chat with a colleague of mine from my old school regarding World Maths Day and possibly connecting our high school math classes in the spring when studying statistics.  Certainly, doing more synchronous communication should go on my goals list.  And I do realize how important it is as stated on page 68 of Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds, synchronous communication often "humanizes those on the other side of technology".

The points from the chapter that really struck me with regards to communication are;

1. K-12 should be ad-free
2. online behavior has offline consequences
3. consistent online project leaders have constant habits of connecting online
4. synchronous and asynchronous blended leads to less burnout
5. fairness is brought into the group project equation - it is called USER ID
6. plan, plan, plan to respect global time frames
7. schools need to allow for flexible planning hours if teachers are going to plan globally
8. bring pull technologies in with a CMP and PLN for students (need to look into this further)
9. good teachers in these environments are coaches
10. build a network of trust and accountability
11. if there is not a reason to meet, there should not be a meeting AMEN
12. start with a good handshake and get students connected immediately
13. IM speak can be exclusive and rude

I am looking for examples of CMPs and student PLNs.  Please add your examples and suggestions in comments below.

Pin to Pinterest straight from Google Reader

There are some incredible programmers out there who have heard the cry of those of us new to pull-technologies and connected some of these tools.  Not opening windows and copying and pasting is going to save me tons of time.  I found this bookmarklet that lets you take an image you are looking at in Google Reader and pin it directly to Pinterest (as long as you are logged into both at the same time).  One stop shopping!  Thanks Arlo Rose.

Do you have favorite tricks for one stop pulling?  Please share in the comments.

Pulling #tags into Google Reader

cc licensed (BY NC SA) flickr photo
by crossley: http://flickr.com/photos/
crossley/54500745/

Working on pulling twitter feeds into Google Reader and realized that the solution Google posts on their help page is no longer relevant.  Easy 3-step work-around:

1. Paste the following into the text box:
   http://search.twitter.com/search.atom?q=%23xxxxxxxxxx
2. Replace the xxxxxxxxxx with the tag (no #)
3. Click add

Example: for #edtech paste http://search.twitter.com/search.atom?q=%23edtech

If you have an easier way or other suggestions for maximizing the PULL of Google Reader please share in the comments.

5 of the 6 C's

Today I met with my digital art students with new excitement and it wasn't because we had a very unexpected snow day yesterday.  It was because of the reading and learning I got to do calmly on that unexpected snow day.  I also decide to make a demo blog for my digital art course as most of my students have never blogged before.

Journaling is an important part of the art process at ASM.  I really wanted to use Jux for my students to document their creative processes but with the age of my students being below 13 and our AUP not up and running yet, I settled for them creating personal blogs.  Their blogs are blossoming as we speak.  To help them remember the essentials for blogging I made this Cool Blogging poster from the suggestions my students made during class after looking at some great blogs.

Today we talked about commenting and they put their ideas on a Google Doc for what good citizenship looks like when commenting on blogs.  What blew me away was that the discussion was led by the 6th graders who have just completed our mandatory Global Connections course.  Even the 8th graders were asking them, where  they learned about that and telling them they had good ideas.  This is the moment I reflect back on the 6 months we spent teaching digital citizenship and literacy and realize how the impact is not just on those who go through the class but all those they encounter in the future.  Top of their list when commenting:  Golden Rule: Treat someone like you want to be treated.

Why the post on this topic?  I had a moment of panic and then broke out in the giggles while I was facilitating this process.  I suddenly realized that in my previous blog posts, I hadn't actually followed my own rule.  I left off a question at the end of my posts to encourage comments. I owned up to the students who wanted to know if I had a rubric to follow like they did.  When I told them I didn't, they said it was ok for me to forget it but I should go back and update my posts.  

These are the moments I treasure.  Realizing my students are becoming confident in their skills and their voice.

Do you have a rubric for blogging that you and your students created?  Please share it in the comments below.

Be a Joiner

Challenge 3: Connect and Reflect
Been reading and underlining chapter 3 in Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds and thinking and thinking.  In the taxonomy of Global Connection I am at a Level 1 with my students.  Tsk tsk.  I did however score quite well on the Self-Assessment survey with regards to my personal learning network, level of confidence and ability to employ connection strategies.  So what better way to figure out the next steps but to spend some time looking at some of the projects that utilize the Flat Classroom Framework.

"The use of Facebook by students around the world to communicate with one another does more harm than good." 
This is the current topic for Eracism Project 2013-1.  Students will research, debate asynchronously (blogs, wikis) and synchronously (live virtual meeting) then reflect on this topic.  It is a project designed collaboratively by Eva Brown, Bernajean Porter, Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis.  When and where do they find the time?  I am now subscribed to their blogs and follow them on twitter and hope some of their magic will rub off on me.  I decided to volunteer to support the Eracism Project as it will give me a glimpse into the inner-workings of a Flat Classroom Project.  

The other project I looked at struck me as something I could jump right into with my students.  Life 'Round Here was started to encourage students to share about their lives and learn about others their same age.  I have been dragging my feet because I was trying to find a controversial topic for my math students to join in on that would not take too much time away from their math learning but this would support my goals for them to learn about themselves and make learning targets.  After reading the section of Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds on page 54 that talks about other diversities to care about I had one of those AH-HA moments.  I do not need to make race, culture and religion the project focus, the differences will come out anyway.  I think that it would be fantastic for my struggling 9th grade math students to realize there are others out there just like them or to gain insight from students who excel and enjoy math for math's sake.  Here too the project structure is clear with deadlines, research, asynchronous, synchronous and reflecting opportunities.  I have emailed them hoping that if they revive it, I can participate.

Pull, don't push!

cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo shared by HeyThereSpaceman.

Challenge 1: Set up your RSS Reader

SELF:

I started using iGoogle ages ago but then they decided it would be phased out.  Instead of finding a replacement and slowly migrating over, I made lots of bookmarks and in hindsight, spent too much time pushing instead of pulling.  So this week, our first assignment towards becoming a Flat Classroom Certified Teacher was to create an RSS Reader - to become pullers of information.  I tried out Feedly but settle on Google Reader.  Netvibes came recommended during our first virtual meeting but I'll have to revisit it if the need arises.  I managed to make folders for the blogs I follow and did some much needed spring cleaning as some had not been updated since 2009 and others I'm just not interested in anymore.  I even made and saved searches for tweet #flatclass or #math or #edchat.

SCHOOL:

"When used efficiently by a school, technologies operate in an ecosystem with one another both culturally and systematically." The examples list ways that a school can support itself leveraging the desires of students to help, share and be part of the bigger whole.  I'd like to find ways for my students to become invested in their own schooling and to share this type of connection with my colleagues.  Given that this is my first year at ASM, I am doing what I learned early on when entering a new school culture...observe and quietly do your thing.  Others will take notice. 

STUDENTS:

I have got to get my students to become pullers.  What this means is that they spend most of their time pushing buttons or clicking on links to find information - most of the time the first link that a Google search finds for them.  While this can be slowly and painfully productive, it has led them straight to the websites that simply answer their question.  They don't need to read, comprehend, distill or even compose their responses.  Someone has done that for them somewhere already.  Of course asking questions that cannot be easily searched is a new skills teachers must develop - engaging higher level thinking skills.  However, I am thinking how powerful it would be for my students to be able to pull information specific to their learning - how much less time they will waste looking and how much more time they will spend learning.

Embarking on blogging

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by julie gibbons

To be honest, I'm blogging because someone has told me I have to.  There is irony in this as I have become a strong advocate of classroom blogging and failed to walk-the-talk, what I am usually most proud of in my classroom.  Our 6th graders set up blogs to track their progress through our Global Connections course and now my digital art students are using blogs to journal their creative process.  I did start a blog for teachers at our school this year with technology tidbits but it was put on hold when our IT department said they were developing an intranet.  I'm still waiting.  I do have a demo blog going for my art students but it is a place I show best practices as many of them have never blogged before.

Last week I woke up at 3am to join a webinar for my first ever Flat Classroom experience.  I am enrolled in their course to become and certified Flat Classroom Teacher. Waking up at 3am, such old school thinking, but I was just so excited.  It does however back up what I have known for awhile (and what prompted me to take this course on) which is that I am using technology to replace my old 'acoustic' ways but my actual teaching practices have been slower to develop.  I am proud of the digital presence in my classrooms but not satisfied with the slower evolution to connection, collaboration and self discovery that my students would benefit from.

Welcome as I journey through the course which will hopefully not end with the last assignment but  propel me further in my teaching from then on.