Collaborating on Cultivation: Our Journey Through Discovering Our PLNs

Callie and I got together to reflect upon our learning over the semester as we cultivated our PLNs. We had a lot of fun creating this presentation and hope you enjoy it, too!

Popplet's for Everything! (A Visual Representation of Sir Ken Robinson's "The World We Explore"

I created a Popplet (my new favorite technology tool) to organize and share a visual representation of my thoughts while watching Sir Ken Robinson's talk entitled "The World We Explore". I hope it makes sense to more than just my brain.... Enjoy!

http://popplet.com/app/#/979613

(I know, I know, providing a link is way less cool than embedding the actual popplet into this post, but the embed code provided wouldn't work.... the "joy" of technology)

Oh wait... I think it worked!!!

Geometry Popplet Scavenger Hunt

This week, we have started our geometry unit in math. I wanted to design an activity that would get the students engaged and also provide an introduction to much of the academic vocabulary that comes with geometry.

Using their pre-assessments, I designed an appropriate scavenger hunt for each of my small groups. After explaining how to use popplet, I sent them on their way to search for geometry in "real-life". They were completely engaged and we were all disappointed when we ran out of time and had to cut the scavenger hunt short on the first day. Tomorrow I will give them more time to complete their scavenger hunt. However, one of the downfalls of having popplet lite is that their popplets were not able to be saved. To bypass this, I had them save and email the work that they had completed to me to compile into a separate document. When completed,  I will print and distribute this document to each member of the group to use as a resource guide for the remainder of the unit.

Listed below are the two checklists:

Popplet Geometry Scavenger Hunt

Angles:

___ Right Angle

___ Acute Angle

___ Obtuse Angle

___ Reflex Angle

___ Complementary Angles

___ Supplementary Angles

___ Adjacent Angles

___ Vertical Angles

___ Angle Bisector

Triangles:

___ Scalene Triangle

___ Isosceles Triangle

___ Equilateral Triangle

*Challenge: Can you label these triangles according to their sides AND angles?

___ Right Triangle

___ Acute Triangle

___ Obtuse Triangle

___ Equiangular Triangle

Quadrilaterals:

___ Rhombus

___ Trapezoid

Figures:

___ Similar Figures

___ Congruent Figures

Popplet Geometry Scavenger Hunt

Lines:

___ Intersecting Lines

___ Perpendicular Lines

___ Parallel Lines

Angles:

___ Right Angle

___ Acute Angle

___ Obtuse Angle

___ Straight Angle

Quadrilaterals:

___ Square

___ Rectangle

___ Parallelogram

___ Rhombus

___ Trapezoid

. . .



ACTIVITY UPDATE
A few days later...
The compilation of their emailed popplets did not work well. I decided to purchase the real version of popplet on my iPad and allow them to collaborate as a group on the scavenger hunt activity. This created a better finished product that will be a great resource guide for them throughout the unit, however, it was not ideal, from an engagement standpoint, to have 5 students working on 1 iPad.... I will continue to think about how to best utilize this resource but for now they did make 2 very cool finished products! I have printed them out for them to use throughout the rest of the unit.

Here they are!
(well almost... they will be, as soon as I figure out how to embed PDFs into this blog...)

Here they are (really this time)!

Look for the Helpers

As I was driving to school Tuesday morning, mindlessly flipping through the radio stations, distracted by thoughts of the terrible event in Boston the day before, wondering how my friends and family were coping with a tragedy too close to home, and questioning whether I should/would, and, if I did, how I should/would discuss the event with the students in my classroom, I heard something on the radio that has really stuck with me. 

"Look for the helpers," said the radio announcer.

He continued to explain that even as a positive person, it is often extremely difficult to find the positive in such a shocking and tragic situation. His emphasis on looking for the helpers- focusing on all of the people who responded with bravery, kindness, and empathy was exactly the perspective I needed to make some sense out of such a senseless act.

What can often be found is that the "helpers" greatly outnumber those few who unfortunately chose to enact violence and cause suffering. First responders were at the scene in minutes, courageously helping everyone they could, Boston blood banks overflowed with people's generous donations, and social media was able to aid in providing a means of communication when other methods were not working... just to name a few.  

And it is the small acts of kindness, the ones that will never make it to the news, but will be talked about at the dinner tables, and office meetings, and among friends and family that should also be celebrated.  These acts, not the violence, are the part of the event that should be focused on and communicated. Although Marathon Monday will never be quite the same, and my whole heart goes out to each and every person who has or still is suffering from the terrible event, we must find the positive and always remember to look for the helpers. 

At the Bruins game last night, the entire building reverberated with everyone in the TD Banknorth Garden singing the national anthem and the overall feelings of solidarity within a city that will not accept nor be defeated by such senseless acts are incredible. 

#bostonstrong 

When technology truly is amazing...

Oops! So I wrote this the other night before our virtual class and forgot to post it... better late than never I suppose!

When technology is truly amazing...

As I wait for the google hangout to begin that will be our learning and technology class, I am thinking about how truly connected technology has made us. Currently, I am sitting in my mom's living room on Plum Island in Massachusetts. My class, normally held in Mother Rosalie Hill Hall at the University of San Diego, San Diego, California, is virtual tonight. Without this, I would either 1. not be able to enjoy a special dinner with my mom after class or 2. have to miss class to be able to have a special dinner. For me, tonight, technology has made both of these things possible and I am so grateful!

Action Research Tagxedo

So I'm obsessed with tagxedo. It is such a cool visual representation of ideas! I took my Action Research Introduction and created one...

I love the words that really stand out! Makes me think (or at least feel like) I'm on the right track with the direction of my inquiry project!

Tagxedo Creations in the Classroom

Every two weeks, the students have the opportunity to explore a Junior Scholastic magazine. Often, on the first day it is presented, we choose one article to focus on. In this issue, there was an article on the economic promise of multiple African countries. This aligned perfectly with the culmination of the students' global journey research projects on a chosen African country. 

After reading the article together, answering some questions, and discussing different parts, I asked the students to form five small groups. Their task within their group, was to create a word splat (brainstormed list of words) that related to the article as a google doc. This could include words from the actual article, reactions to the article, feelings around aspects of the article, etc. I explained tagxedo (unfortunately I wasn't able to show them/create it right there because of incompatible software for the iPad and school computers) and what these words that they were brainstorming would be used to create. I had them share their google docs with me and that evening I created the tagxedo shown! 

I projected the image the next day during their time to work on their global journey projects and they all loved it! I will definitely use this tool again! I found it to be a fun and effective way to get students to think about a certain topic and what words are important. It presents the student produced information in an extremely interesting and visual way. Now if I could only get it to work at school for the students to do themselves...

Cultivating My PLN: Midpoint Thoughts and Reflections

WOW! I cannot believe this is truly the mid-point in our semester! How fast the time does go when it seems that every minute, of every day is filled! When considering the development of my personal learning network thus far I think I am on the right track, although definitely not exceeding expectations. I have never been an online resident, more of a visitor (to quote the ideas of Dr. White and his continuum of internet users). Unfortunately, I do not find myself naturally using all of the resources connecting individuals and spreading ideas as a resident. For example, when I find something really interesting, I am much more inclined to share it with the person sitting next to me than immediately thinking to tweet it or write a blog post about it... this is something I am still working towards.

Although I have adopted blogging as a way to communicate my thoughts and ideas within my PLN, I do not find myself really enjoying it. As a child, and to this day, I don't really enjoy keeping a journal or diary. To me, blogging is very similar. However, I do understand the importance and necessity of writing about my thoughts and ideas as I cultivate a PLN. Because I don't necessarily enjoy blogging, or automatically find myself gravitating towards doing it, I do believe it is something I need to work on.

Thought of the moment: Maybe by creating more of a visual blog I would enjoy it more. At this point we have been provided with SO MANY incredible tools to exhibit ideas: dropcanvas, storify, edcanvas, etc. (Thank you Professor Heil!) Maybe if I tried out some of these as a way of blogging I would find it more enjoyable? I'll have to try it! (any suggestions?)

Within that same context, I do enjoy reading the blogs of my classmates and others. I love hearing about the new ideas people have and reading about their passions and reflections; especially those of my classmates. As I'm writing this I'm realizing how unfair it is to only enjoy others while not enjoying contributing my own. I think this returns to the idea of online residents and visitors and I am still closer to the visitor end of the continuum. I think I am doing a fair job of commenting and collaborating with others and the development of their PLN's, however, I do also see room for improvement.


Tweeting is something I need to work on. I have attempted to tweet things that are of interest to me and also have tried to tweet things that I think will be of interest to others. But I'm not sure if I'm really doing it right. It seems like tweeting has it's own language and it's own rules and I'm not sure if I am completely up to speed on full twitter etiquette. When do you retweet something vs replying to a tweet vs favoriting a tweet? How do you say thank you to someone for tweeting something to you? When retweeting something, is it bad to remove the @____? I am still working to develop my tweeting skills but do believe that it is something that I will learn by doing. (...any suggestions are also welcome)


I have really adopted the use of Learnist, which seems to fit my learning style of visually exciting as well as providing useful information. I have created multiple boards and recently connected one of them to my blog (thanks for the idea Bernice!) :)... and even wrote some code to make it look extra cool (thanks Professor Heil!) I plan to continue using Learnist as my way to organize a "library" of information. This platform is serving and will continue to serve as a place to read, archive, and grow my PLN.

Plan for the Future:
- Continue to use Learnist as my major platform to organize and archive information.
- Use other tools (edcanvas, .....) to attempt to make blogging more enjoyable - and in turn, increase my blogging habits. 
- Continue to comment on my peers blogs with room for improvement about being more active.
- Use twitter more to get more comfortable (tweet at least 10 times/week)
- Explore more! Cultivating an exceptional PLN requires exploration - this is something I love to do in the world, hopefully I can translate this into the online world. This will also automatically lend itself to cultivating a PLN with more depth and diversity.
- Don't get overwhelmed by ALL that is out there! (continuously need to give myself this reminder)

Character Education as a Way of Running a Classroom

I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to attend the class my cooperating teacher is teaching at USD. The class is Children's Literature and I was able to attend the session that focused on Character Education. Along with a multitude of incredible ideas to incorporate character education into a classroom, she also provided a piece of insight that really stuck out to me: character education should not be thought of as a subject, but rather a way of running a classroom. Just as we do not turn on and off who we are as compassionate, thoughtful, empathetic people throughout the day (although there may be times when these characteristics may be more or less apparent) it should be the same in our classroom. By fostering an environment of character education throughout the school day, integrating it into all subject areas and designing the "feel" of the room around ultimate respect and caring for others, we will be more successful at giving our students the opportunity to flourish as they continuously grow.  Rather than thinking about character education as a subject that is taught at a certain time, in a certain way, the view needs to be shifted to thinking about how we can cultivate and model empathy, compassion, and kindness (to name a few).

Here are some incredible ideas on how this can be done from my cooperating teacher:

1. The first and foremost rule of the classroom that is always being thought about:
TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER

2.  Provide students with numerous examples of caring and people who make a difference. Hopefully, one or more of these people/actions will speak to one or multiple students and inspire them to get involved.

• Ryan's Well Foundation
• Spirit Bear Youth Coalition
• UNICEF
• World Children's Prize

3. Highlight important characteristics through inspirational quotes each day of the first couple weeks of school.

4. Picture Books (with kids as the main characters)
The Teddy Bear
One Smile (This benefits the Pay it Forward Foundation)
Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed (related to math/counting)
Boxes for Katje
Alex and the Amazing Lemonade Stand
The Lemonade Club by Patricia Polacco (Patricia Polacco has written many stories, often based on true stories like this one, that have a very powerful meaning)

5. Think about a year long program that you might want to start within the classroom. For example, in this classroom, we do random acts of kindness. Each week the students write the random acts of kindness they performed that week on strips of paper. Each month, the strips are connected as a chain and onto the previous month's chain. The (very long) chain is displayed in the classroom- reminding us to perform random acts of kindness.

Loving Learnist!

This is really cool! I am really enjoying using Learnist as a tool to add to my PLN! I have created a few boards and am really enjoying exploring ALL of the resources available! I am still a little overwhelmed by the inifite amount of prospective information, however, it has made it easier to stick with one tool of exploration. It was also extremely special to be able to participate in the live discussion with Farb. This has made the tool that much more personalized and relevant!

As a very visual person, I love the pictures and the layout of the tool. I am finding very interesting boards that include articles that relate to so many of my interests!

Along with my boards that organize and contain all of the educationally related articles I am interested in, I have also created a board on Raku Pottery. Raku is an exciting method of firing pottery that involves removing red hot pieces from a kiln and placing them into a barrel of combustible materials. I absolutely love the unpredictability that Raku produces! I have also participated in pit firings (as seen in the picture) which are a little more controlled but still produce the same unpredictable results. Since moving to California and starting this program, I have not had time to find or even really think about pottery. Through Learnist I have rekindled (...fire reference) some of this creativity and spirit! I am looking forward to continuing to explore!

Filling the pit at sunset. Seapoint Beach, Kittery, Maine.

Let it burn!

Retrieving the pieces from the pit the following morning.

We had amazing results!

My First Attempt at Storify: Tribes

Pursuing Passions

In terms of education, one of my major passions is children’s literature. It is all too often that I have found myself in the children’s section of a bookstore or library with hours passing. It is also a rare occasion that I can get off Amazon with only textbooks in my cart- if there aren’t already a couple of children’s books in there from the last time searching- some mysteriously end up there before I hit “Continue to Checkout.” I passionately believe that the key to a successful Language Arts curriculum is developing a love of reading within students. In order to truly foster this love, students need to be surrounded by books and be exposed to everything a book can provide- adventures to times and places, emotions, knowledge about a specific topic, etc. 

I was introduced to an incredibly passionate teacher last semester and am currently student teaching in her classroom. The love of reading and books that she possesses is exponentially expanded to each of her students. They are constantly reading, talking, and thinking about books. They are each SO excited that leading book discussions is truly about finding the rhythm of the group and keeping them in their seats (literally- often they cannot control themselves because they are so excited to tell the group something from the book).

The students are incredible critical thinkers and are constantly making connections to their own lives, other books they’ve read, and the world around them. It is so inspiring and exciting to watch.  I am so thankful to have a chance to be a part of it and learn from an incredible teacher who has fostered such an amazing environment of passionate learners!

Recently, I have also found that character education is something that I am really passionate about, as well. I truly believe that school is not only a place for students’ to find knowledge in the form of content, but that it is also a place to foster and develop important traits as human beings.

The classroom I am currently student teaching in is part of an incredible program in which character education is woven throughout the curriculum from kindergarten through sixth grade. The students in my classroom are incredibly empathetic, caring, and conscientious human beings. They are constantly thinking about and talking about how they can be better citizens and serve the community. While community service is a piece, it is also a philosophy of being a respectful, kind, and mindful person. How do we want to act everyday and relate to the people around us? I think this is something that all of us as human beings, no matter what age or walk of life, should truly consider. In doing so, our world has potential to become a very different place.

Visitor Resident Continuum

Reflect on where you are on the Visitor-Resident Continuum and how you see your future on the Internet:

In imagining the continuum of the Visitor-Resident principle as described in the video, I currently view myself somewhere in the middle leaning towards resident. I would say that I do have somewhat of an online identity, however, that persona is somewhat stagnant at the moment. Through this course, I am definitely enhancing my online identity, but before that it was more of a shell rather than an interactive persona.

I would consider myself a communal resident, but I have not yet explored being truly collaborative. I enjoy being a part of certain online communities, however, I am not very active. This course is providing more of the spaces necessary and forcing me to become more collaborative. I see the Internet as a very positive area to engage in relationships of sharing knowledge and ideas, however, I am often overwhelmed by the possibilities. I think that because the infinite possibilities provided by the Internet overwhelm me, it is hard to narrow down (or have the time to narrow down) and make using the Internet as a space effective. In this way, I often use it more like a visitor, as a tool that I pick up when I need it and then put it down.

I really liked when Dr. White said, “It isn’t about just knowing how to use technology, but one must be able to integrate it appropriately to make it effective.” I completely agree with this statement and believe that I am still learning not only how to use technology but also more importantly, when to use it so that it is effective.

A Whole New Mind (Part I)

A Whole New Mind (Part 1)

1. What is L-Directed and R-Directed Thinking? Does my subject require more of one than the other? How could I try and reach a balance?

L-Directed thinking                                 R-Directed thinking 

                     what is said                      NOT SEPARATE!       how things are said        

                  Sequential                                                                      Simultaneous

                 Text                                   VERY MUCH NEED              Context

              Analyzes details              EACH OTHER TO BE                Synthesizes the big

                                                                SUCCESSFUL!                                  picture

             Logical, analytical                                                                   Recognizes patterns,           

                                                          WORK AS ONE WITH              synthesizes information

                                                      DUAL STRENGTHS

In elementary school, I strongly believe (very much supported in this book) that both “ways” of thinking need to be promoted. Students need to be provided with opportunities to construct, develop, and practice both L-directed and R-directed thinking strategies (separate and in conjunction with one another).

2. How do Abundance, Asia, and Automation affect the dominance of L-Directed thinking in business and schools?

            Abundance, Asia, and Automation are reducing the necessity of dominant L-Directed thinking in business and schools. Abundance has created a necessity of creativity to stand apart from the competition- the analytical, simple engineering of a product that performs the desired task is not enough. It needs to perform the task while also setting itself apart from the incredible amount of alternate options that also perform the same task; requiring not only L-directed thinking to develop the product, but also R-directed thinking to creatively set it apart from the others.

Through education and training, Asia has produced a multitude of workers who excel at L-directed thinking. Companies are able to outsource their L-directed thinking (analytical and concrete tasks) to these countries for much less money. This has reduced the number of jobs available in this country requiring solely L-directed thinking.

Automation, or the use of computers, has extremely reduced the dominance of L-directed thinking. Computers can be programmed to exponentially outperform humans in many L-directed thinking tasks.  This has also reduced the need for dominant L-directed thinking.

3. What is High Concept and High Touch. What is the impact of this on my teaching?

According to Pink, “High concept involves the capacity to detect patterns and opportunities, to create artistic and emotional beauty, to craft a satisfying narrative, and to combine seemingly unrelated ideas into something new” (p. 2)

“High touch involves the ability to empathize with others, to understand the subtleties of human interaction, to find joy in one’s self and to elicit it in others, and to stretch beyond the quotidian in pursuit of purpose and meaning” (p. 3)

In essence, high concept is the ability think, act, and recognize creative and expressive actions involving objects or ideas. In relation to this, high touch connects to the emotional and relational actions and feelings involving oneself and others. These concepts connect and strongly support the need to foster a warm, caring and supportive environment within the classroom. In doing this, high touch will be attainable, supporting the ability for students to engage effectively in high concept.

4. What are the flaws of an education system that only values IQ? Is there also a role for EQ in education?

An education system that only values IQ is extremely flawed. For one, IQ is measured in an extremely L-directed thinking manner (as described by Pink). This not only excludes and disvalues people with extremely valuable talents and ideas, but also disregards the importance for all people to strive to have balance in both ways of thinking. Secondly, as argued by Pink, the demand in our society is moving away from L-directed thinking skills and toward more R-directed thinking skills. Therefore, why should we propel an education system that only tests and values the standard definition of IQ (extremely L-directed)? However, this does not mean that I do not support or value IQ. I believe that an educational system needs to strive to achieve a balance between valuing IQ and EQ. This will support a balance of L-directed and R-directed thinking, and instead of valuing one way as better than the other, we can instead value individuals for their true strengths. 

As we learn together...

What is our domain, community, and practice for this course and beyond?

The domain for this course is you and me. WE are the group of people, who possess and are committed to our shared interest in technology within education and to promote learning. In order to be fully effective, each of us must value one another and passionately pursue our shared interest. Although we will become the core of OUR community of practice, we will have the opportunity to join and meld with other communities of practice engaged in similar passions.

            The community for this course will be made up of our time in the classroom as well as shared through our personal learning networks. This will help us to “engage in joint activities and discussions, help each other, and share information” (Wenger, 2006). This is where we will build our relationships.

            The practice will include our work of incorporating technology into the realm of education and our teaching practices. As we try new things or practice old techniques in the classroom, we must share the implications (successes and failures) with one another in order to foster and allow our community to expand and develop.

            The concepts and ideas of a community of practice and situated learning are extremely relevant as I consciously develop my personal learning network. In order to foster, flourish, and contribute successfully to a community of learners, as an individual I must develop a comprehensive personal learning network. In doing this, I will be able to both pursue information relevant to the community and effectively communicate my practice. My individual personal learning network will become the tool or forum necessary to participate effectively in our community of practice.

... 

In contrast, the following article disagrees and argues against many aspects of the concept of situated learning:

Anderson, J.R.; Reder, L.M.; Simon, H.A. (1996). "Situated learning and

education". Educational Researcher 25 (4): 5–11.

Accessed online at: http://people.ucsc.edu/~gwells/Files/Courses_Folder/ED%20261%20Papers/Anderson,%20Reder_Pt1.pdf