I was introduced to the idea of the Six Word Story during the digital storytelling topic in #ETMOOC. For those who do not know, there is a legend that Ernest Hemingway once composed a six word story in order to win a bet. His winning story: For sale: baby shoes, never used. Today, there is at least one website and a Twitter stream dedicated to the creation of this type of story. I tried my hand at posting a couple of my own six word stories on Google+ and Twitter. Interestingly, people commented with – what else?! – a six word story! I then found myself composing a reply with another six words to continue the conversation. And the conversation did continue… it was actually kind of fun and very creative.

That brings me to: can this be used in the elementary grades?

I don’t see young kids getting involved with the above linked website or Twitter stream as there is no filter or content restrictions; however, I do see the concept of the six word story being used to teach students what the key points of a story are. What words can be chosen to hook a reader and make him/her want to know more? It also can make students think about what elements will elicit emotion. Perhaps, the six word story could be a challenge to report/summarize something that they have learned or an event that has taken place. In six words, retell the chapter that you have read. In six words, give feedback about how you are doing with a task or skill.

Of course, this type of writing can be extremely low tech or even no tech at all. Six word stories just can be written on an index card or a sheet of paper. However, what I enjoyed most beyond the challenge of writing a six word story was sharing it with others and getting a response. Maybe, this is a great way to do some paper blogging? Writing one six word story on a sheet of paper and having students put post-its on it.

Getting back to the tech, I certainly can see students writing six word story blog posts, and as a part of the assignment, visiting each other’s posts and commenting. The comments could ask questions or make observations (in the six word style or not- depending on how challenging you want to make the activity). The post author could respond (in six words or not?) to continue the flow of the conversation. Perhaps, adding another six words to the story based on the audience’s inquiries or comments. Or, maybe, the comments would serve purely as peer writing feedback, and the post author would now write a more developed story in its entirety. The six words served as an outline or plan. Moreover, it could be a ploy: the words were a teaser to get the audience wanting to know the entire tale.

I could go on about how the six words could inspire photographs or drawings to be created and shared. Furthermore, the teacher could prompt students with an image and ask students to compose a six word story about it. The six word stories could be made into a slideshow with any number of software applications.

Six words do not seem like much. Yet, they can be very powerful, depending on how they are used.

Teacher prompts. Students think. Learning happens.

You’ve set up a classroom blog. It has an eye-catching theme, and you’ve included tons of pages to help the students and parents know the expectations of the classroom. You even write a post updating the latest happenings. Maybe, you have your students writing posts, too. So how come no one is reading it?

I’d like to share a couple of ideas that I picked up during Sue Waters‘ #ETMOOC Blogging with Students session. Plus, I’ll throw in a few of my own.

• Have a blog launch party. Invite students and parents into the classroom either during or after school for a live demonstration of the blog. Kids love a party, and what better way to build excitement and curiosity about the blog! It is the perfect opportunity to go over how to access the blog and give a tour. Also, expectations for posting and commenting can be explained and clarified. (Thanks to #ETMOOCer, Michelle Cordy, who suggested the party idea during Sue’s session!)
• Make a detailed direction sheet (with screen shots) about how to find the class blog. On this sheet, also explain guidelines and expectations for using the blog at home.
• Make a QR code for your blog address. Typing in a long email address from a flyer can be frustrating. By making a QR code for your blog address, parents/guardians with QR readers on devices such as SmartPhones, iPod Touches and iPads quickly can scan the code and jump right to your blog. This code can go right on the direction sheet as well as on business cards or any paper that is sent home. Why not tape the code to the inside cover of a homework agenda book?
• Add a subscription by email option to your blog. At Edublogs, this is a widget that easily can be added to your blog. What happens is when a person visits your blog, s/he can choose to supply an email address and then will receive a notification when there have been changes made to the blog.
• Sign up for a Twitter account for your class. Let parents/guardians know so that they may follow your class. (Please see a previous post that explains a little more.) Essentially, when there is a new post or update to the class blog,  you would tweet it out. That way caregivers will receive notice in real time on devices. Perhaps, accessing and reading your blog will be a good use of time while in line at the grocery store?
• Use the #comments4kids hashtag if your students are writing posts. What will this do? It sends out a tweet to people who are interested in leaving comments for students. (Read a previous post about how this works. Interested in being added to the #comments4kids list, go here.)
• Choose a month to be family blogging month. During this time, have students invite specific family members to visit the blog and comment. Here is a link that was shared during the #ETMOOC session about how one class took this approach to getting more people involved in their blog.
• Get a buddy class. We comment on yours; you comment on ours. Start a partnership to increase readership. This could be another class in your own school or town, or you could find one via another network such as the Student Blogging Challenge or the Global Classroom Project.

For more ideas and inspiration, check out Activity 6 of the Edublogs Teacher Challenges on Blogging with Students and/or watch the archived #ETMOOC Blogging with Students session.

I took a risk and participated in a crowdsourced lip dub for #ETMOOC.

What did I take away from this experience?

• Teamwork: I was just one of the many people who signed up. I worked hard to get my section right (following the guidelines) and submitted on time, but then I had to rely on others to do their part for the whole thing to come together.
• Partnership: There truly is safety in numbers. I enlisted my son as I honestly felt a little self-conscious going about the task alone. It was great to see that I was not the only one who used the buddy system.
• Awe: I have admiration for those brave souls who performed solo!
• Appreciation: Everyone’s own interpretation and approach to the task are valued. I love the creativity and individualism that shines in the finished product.
• Pride: I was a part of a great project.

Abbot School’s Community goal is for all members to have a sense of significance, belonging and fun. This project certainly achieved that goal for me as I’m sure it would many of our students. Thanks, #ETMOOC, for modeling connected learning!

Oh, and if you haven’t seen the video yet, here it is… Can you find me?

I am a Responsive Classroom teacher. Sometimes that gets the reputation of being “touchy-feely”. However, anyone who knows me would not describe me or my teaching that way. I have high expectations for student behavior and work that coincides with one of  the core principles of RC: the social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum. I feel that the #ETMOOC (that I am participating in) is really justifying that belief.

In last night’s #ETMOOC session “An Introduction to Rhizomatic Learning“, a thought by Dave Cormier rang true for me and all Responsive Classroom teachers: ‘ We need to make students responsible for their own learning (and the learning of others).’

Students have to take ownership. Today, there are so many opportunities to connect with people and make exchanges beyond the classroom walls. Knowing how to interact in this kind of online environment is crucial. Guidelines have to be established. A list of rules generated by the teachers/ adults are not going to keep students safe. Students taking responsibility will. But how will a student know what a responsible connected person looks like? From his/her role models, of course.

Tonight, I attended an #ETMOOC session on Becoming a Networked Educational Leader led by George Couros. The message was clear: if you want to understand social media, you have to use it yourself. And a very important part of using it yourself also is demonstrating character. Show students that you choose your words carefully in your tweets. Write blog posts the way that you would want students to blog, expressing thoughts with well thought out ideas and connections that invite conversation. Encourage by commenting on peers’ and students’ posts, giving detailed feedback and posing questions. In other words, walk the walk.

In Responsive Classroom, asking students to be active observers and participants in classroom role plays is called Interactive Modeling. By playing out scenarios and giving students an opportunity to practice situations, it gets them thinking about expected, respectful behaviors. From these observations and interactions, clear guidelines are defined with student input. Alas, we know that if students are a part of the process of rule making, then they will see the value and need for the rules. This is how we should be guiding students in social media, giving them opportunities to observe us as well as practice authentic online connections.

I want to close with a quote shown during Dean Shareski‘s #ETMOOC session from last week on sharing:

‘I wish we could stop using the word “accountable” and instead talk about “responsible”. It would make all the difference.’

What do you think?

Recently, I attended an #ETMOOC session on connected learning. (To find out about more about this course, please read this previous post.) Below are my thoughts as well as a project proposal for Abbot School.

In today’s world, if you want to know how to do something, you don’t have to wait. The answer is probably only a Google Search and/or YouTube video away. Anyone, including students, easily can seek out the answers to their questions or curiosities. Usually the results are with pictures, audio and even video instruction. Likewise, the seeker also can return the favor by offering advice or answers to someone else using these same online networks and methods. This practice of being connected in your learning is extremely empowering and, honestly, a little scary, if you work with younger students.

Growing up, I was taught that if I had a question, I should ask my teacher. Now, the classroom teacher is no longer the sole purveyor of knowledge. Sharing knowledge is not limited to a select few. Conversations begin soon after only a few keystrokes or an upload of a video. I believe that students need to exert independence and take risks, so I’m fine with classrooms not being teacher-centered, but rather student-centered. However, in this age of mass contribution, we need to be thinking about digital literacy along with the three R’s. In this case, we need to remember what every librarian has always stressed: is the source reliable? Where is the information coming from? Is it biased? I don’t think we should stop students from pursuing their interests and making/gathering connections with a global community. Students just need to be guided. Teachers as tour guides… I think I like that.

This brings me to my proposal for Abbot School. I want to our staff to create a video via the method of crowdsourcing. At the beginning of each week, students recite the Abbot School Pledge in unison with the morning announcements. To show community belief in these words, I would like to ask the staff to video record themselves reading the Pledge and Code of Conduct. This is a great opportunity to model reading with expression and fluency. I will take the recordings submitted, cut a clip from each and make them into one cohesive reading of the Pledge and Code of Conduct to be shared with students and parents. I think this activity will demonstrate how the adults work together and believe in/expect these community guidelines that have been established. Each staff member’s contribution is individual and personal; yet, an important part in making up Abbot School.

Let’s start the tour… I will send out a specific email to staff about how to participate, and I hope this also gets people thinking about how students could create similar collaborate projects in the curriculum.

Always wanting to learn and connect with others in the field of technology integration, I joined a MOOC yesterday.

(I would expect a lot of raised eyebrows at this point wondering what I am talking about…)

What is a MOOC? It stands for Massive Open Online Course. And I’m one of about 1400 people worldwide who (most likely) saw  this free educational technology and media course being tweeted, and without too much hesitation signed up wanting to get in on the sharing and conversations.

This MOOC can be found on Twitter with the #ETMOOC hashtag. Also, it is on Google+. Within hours of me signing up, I couldn’t believe the conversations that were piling up in my Gmail inbox. It was a little overwhelming, and I admit that I turned off notifications as over a thousand people’s posts is a bit much to digest. (Of course, now I will need to visit the Google+ page on my own to see what’s going on.) I know a lot of you are thinking who has the time for checking all this out? I’m even thinking that, too. However, I’m curious about this network of what seems to be very enthusiastic educators that has been created. What kinds of good stuff will be shared and discussed? Can I bring any of this back to my school, students and colleagues?

So this is my new adventure and intro video… I’m going to be MOOCing things up a bit, I guess.

(Disclaimer- I am NOT an artist, and this was a risk trying out Doodlecast Pro for the first time which I’m still on the fence about…)

Want to join us? There’s always room for one more. Check out last night’s archived session and visit #ETMOOC site for more information.

Twenty-three movies that demonstrate how to solve fraction problems were developed by fourth grade students recently.

Please click here to learn more about this project as well as view the finished products. All of the movies were created using the iMovie app on iPod Touches.

What I really like about this project is that it put the tools into the direct hands of the students. Students were their own videographers. With a few pointers, it is incredibly fast and easy to make a video using the iMovie app. It also is motivating. Students were excited to develop these movies and post them on a wiki/blog to share with an audience. Even better is that this project is coming full circle because students now are attempting each other’s math problems and then accessing the videos for answers as well as help with strategies. It’s almost a mini Kahn Academy.

Please let me know if you have any questions and/or inspirational ideas about using this tool to meet your curriculum needs.

Looking to try something new in 2013?

How about getting your students out and about with a QR Code Treasure Hunt (a.k.a. Scavenger Hunt)?

First off, you may be wondering what a QR Code is? You probably have seen QR Codes on flyers or in stores. Simply put, it is a type of barcode. When the barcode is scanned (with, for example, a smart phone), the device will be directed to a website where a message, picture, audio file or even coupon awaits you.

How can this technology be used in the classroom?

Here’s the gist:

1. Come up with questions (and answers) on any subject.
2. Make the questions into QR Codes.
3. Put the codes around the school.
4. Students find the codes, and using a device such as an iPod Touch (with the Scan app), students will “read” the codes a.k.a. questions. Students then will answer the questions via paper and pencil or even email the answers to the teacher from the device before proceeding to the next code.

What a great way to hook students into reviewing for a benchmark! Or perhaps, even at the beginning of the school year, going on a hunt in order to take a tour of the building while creating teamwork.

Intrigued? Here is a generator from ClassTools.net to get you thinking and designing your own hunt. And of course, let me know if you would like to collaborate.

I have been thinking a lot about student blogging recently. And by thinking, I really mean reading what others are saying about it.

Here are some blog posts that I hope will inspire you to continue or even start blogging with your students:

Pernille Ripp‘s Ideas for Integrating a Student Blog in Your Curriculum & What Does Student Blogging Exactly Do?

My favorite line from Pernille Ripp: ‘Students don’t need more work, they need more authenticity in their educational experience.’ Blogging should not be an add-on to the curriculum. One should consider where it fits naturally. After reading her list, I am beginning to wonder if we can afford not to have students blogging?

Edna Sackson ‘s 10 20 ways to think about your class blog

The reflective questions on this post got me wondering about the importance of meaningful conversations. We always are moving on to the next topic to meet curriculum demands. Unfortunately, that kind of pace leaves us with many missed opportunities for deeper understandings.

Silvia Tolisano ‘s Student Blogs: Learning to Write in Digital Spaces

A great take away from this post is the “Take Another Look At Your Blog Post” checklist that emphasizes quality writing. I like how it focuses on “voice” and includes such things as ‘makes the reader curious’ while keeping the expectation of proper spelling and grammar. It even challenges us to consider embedding multimedia. These are essential components in order to reach an audience effectively.

With all of this in mind, I’m excited to help our school librarian get her Have You Read Anything Good Lately? Blog going once again in 2013. I’m hoping the students will be as well.

To finish off my App-tober posts, here is a sample of an iMovie app project.

In Grade 5, students are being asked to write sentences using key vocabulary words from their reading. Every other week, the students are working in groups to make these sentences into movies. The movies are being created right in iMovie on the iPod Touches using the built-in cameras. Motivation to make these movies is very high. I have witnessed groups of students who are usually not excited about vocabulary actively participating in the work and conversations necessary to show what they know about the vocabulary words. This project certainly appeals to different learning styles: visual (picture taking) and verbal/auditory (voice recording the sentences) that are not addressed with the traditional paper and pencil vocab sentence submission. The teacher’s end goal is for students to develop more content rich sentences. I think we’re heading in the right direction.

Want to revisit, the App-tober posts?

App-tober #1

App-tober #2

App-tober #3

App-tober #4