I'm a teacher!

My hard work has paid off! I was one of 148 applicants for a 10th grade English teaching position at Lawrence School in Sagamore Hills, Ohio and I got the job! It's been an exhausting month so far, but I love it. One of these days, I'm determined to get back to blogging. For now, I'm finding it difficult to formulate a sentence, and I have to find the energy to teach that concept! It's going to be a long, but fulfilling year. More to come...

There's more to this than I thought!

I've spent the better part of the past two weeks developing my OLE for my Strategies for Online Teaching and Learning class. What has amazed me about preparing an OLE is the amount of work involved in developing instructions so that the learners can easily navigate through the site understanding the expectations placed on them. It makes me think of a discussion assignment I had last semester in my Instructional Design class where we were asked to choose a procedural analysis and explain how doing the task analysis impacted our instruction. I chose to imagine I was teaching one of my children how to wash a load of clothes. As I began to think about all of the steps involved and all of the things I needed to teach before they even put their first item of clothing in the washing machine, I was blown away.

I had the same feeling this week. Before the students can even be expected to learn about figurative language (which is the topic of my OLE), they need to know how the website is set up, what they are expected to know before and after completing each learning module, how to navigate through the website, how to locate the discussion board, how to log in to Glogster, how to use a Google Spreadsheet, how to open up an attachment, etc. So much of my work so far as been “prep work.”

It is important to complete this prep work well in order for an online class to run smoothly. I knew there was a lot involved, but I took a lot of it for granted. I have a new level of respect for online teachers.

I am probably 75% of the way done with my prep work and am looking forward to finally putting my metaphorical “load of clothes in the washing machine.” I am excited about the content I have found to include in my OLE. I only wish I had a group of students I could test it out on. Until that time comes, I will continue to admire and strive to emulate the effective online teachers I have been blessed with in the past year here at The University of Akron.

Is it possible for my head to explode?

In addition to reading the majority of the close to 300 posts from this week’s discussion board, I’ve also read another half dozen articles about online teaching while brainstorming and researching ways to develop an OLE of my own. I’ve learned so much this week that my head might explode! As much as I like the idea of completing a class in 5 weeks, I just don’t feel like I can possibly absorb as much as I would like in such a short amount of time. I’ve been giving it my best shot though. Since time seems to be so limited, the article entitled “Time Management Strategies for Online Teaching” stuck out to me. I referred to it several times as I began to draw out a plan for my OLE.

I’ve been amazed at how much time it takes to simply gather materials and come up with adequate assessments. I realize it would likely be easier if I had a classroom of my own. I would have more resources available to me and would be able to pick a concept that I had more experience teaching. Just gathering resources for 3 short modules has taken the better part of 10 hours. I can’t even imagine developing an OLE for an entire semester all at once. It seems like an insurmountable task for a first year teacher.

I decided to create a Google Site for my OLE. I’ve been wanting to learn more about Google Sites and believe that it will fit my needs and the needs of my learners for this particular project. I found some tutorials, webinars and PowerPoints to help me navigate my way through. One of the PowerPoints suggested that I layout the site using a flowchart before I begin to create. That is proving to be a very useful piece of advice.

I am currently in the process of deciding how I want to design my site. I’m doing a lot of brainstorming and concept mapping. I created a practice sandbox Google Site today so that I can experiment a little before I actually create my final site for my OLE. I will continue to absorb as much as I can from my readings, tutorials and discussion board postings so that I can incorporate the new ideas into my own OLE both for now and for the students I hope to one day teach.

Learning Through Failure

This week, I began to brainstorm ideas for my Online Learning Environment (OLE) and and read chapter 8 of Theory and Practice of Online Learning entitled, “Developing Team Skills and Accomplishing Team Projects Online” by Hurst and Thomas. I also read “Learning Together in Community: Collaboration Online” by Palloff and Pratt.

The theme that seemed to stick out to me this week was that of learning through our failures. This theme hits home with me for two reasons: first because I am in the process of reinventing myself after a failed marriage and second because I’m a perfectionist and failure is a “bad” word to me.

Attempting new things can be very intimidating to a perfectionist because of our fear of failure. Hurst and Thomas emphasize the importance of failure as a learning tool while working through simulations in online learning environments. They point out that students can preserve their dignity when working online because their failures are not made public to others. I would like to create an OLE that allows students to feel comfortable making mistakes and learning from those mistakes.

However, the thought of even attempting to create such an environment is so intimidating to me because of my own fear of failure. It is almost debilitating. I don’t know where to begin. Palloff and Pratt helped me put things into perspective with this quote: “We should never be afraid to try new and innovative ways of creating collaboration. Even if we fail, we learn from that failure and that learning informs and enhances our teaching the next time around.”

I realize that this is easier said than done, however, I would like to commit to experimenting (and failing) more with different online tools in the next week so that I can learn from my mistakes. I cannot continue to be immobilized by my fear of failure.

I would also like to begin thinking of ways that I can eventually create an OLE that focuses on writing and allows my students to make mistakes that they can learn from. I envision a tool that sees patterns in the mistakes that an individual student makes. These patterns will then guide the technology in providing teachable moments and exercises for that student in order for him/her to master the concepts that he/she is struggling with (like ending sentences with a preposition:). See! I can make mistakes!

What teachers make

My "Ah-Ha" moment

I am finding that teaching is a lot like parenting. First of all, it is an art. There are some general guidelines, but every teacher has his or her own style. Second, and more importantly though, it is a field in which all people are exposed and in which most will regularly critique. I will be the first to admit that I have looked down on plenty of parents and teachers who didn’t measure up to my standards.

In fact, we are all likely guilty of judging the frazzled mother of a screaming toddler as she desperately pleads and compromises with her unruly child while bribing him with a piece of candy if he will simply behave long enough for her to get through the checkout line at the grocery store.

“My child will never act like that” I would always say with confidence, “because I would handle that situation so much better.”

Since becoming a mother however, I have come to realize that despite my best intentions, I don’t always handle every situation the way I had once anticipated. In the same way, I am quickly learning that I don’t have all the answers to every situation a teacher encounters in the classroom.

I have to admit that I initially took this position because I knew that it would look good on my resume and help me in my quest to secure a teaching position within the next year. I entered the classroom confident that I could successfully do anything I put my mind to and that I could certainly do a better job than those “other” teachers I’ve seen.

I’ve spent hours planning out objectives, preparing my assessment, and then designing my lessons so I don’t fall into the trap of giving busy work like those “other” teachers do. I comment, grade and record all assignments within 24 hours of them being turned in. I dress professionally. I come in early and stay late. I do my job the best I can.

But they’re still not learning. They still don’t care. They still act out. They still question my authority and disrespect me.

What more do they want from me? I’ve sacrificed time with my family and friends for a low-paying substitute job with no benefits! Don’t they realize I’m worthy of their respect?

NO MICHELLE! THEY DON’T! BECAUSE YOU HAVEN’T SHOWN THAT YOU CARE ABOUT THEM! THIS HAS ALL BEEN ABOUT YOU! It’s about your resume, your time, your sacrifice, your dedication, your foot in the door.

Guilty.

What was I thinking? I’ve never embraced them as “my students.” Instead, I’ve distanced myself from them and the other teachers because this is just a stepping stone for me.

Did I really think they couldn’t see through that? They don’t care how much time I spend on the lessons or how much curriculum I cover in the 12 weeks I’m with them. They won’t likely remember my well-thought out demonstrations or my timely grading practices. In fact, if I don’t care about them, I will just become yet another adult who has stepped in and out of their lives.

They need adults who care about them – not ones that are using them to get where they need to be. I am guilty of being the latter. I vow to become the former.

One Step at a Time

I came across an amazing website this week called Teacher Training Videos. It provide step by step guides for using Blogs, Backchannel tools, Twitter, Jing, Itunes, Vocaroo, Mailvu and more.

There’s another site I found last month that provides how-to videos as well. It’s called Learn it in 5. It has a library of how-to videos, produced by technology teachers, for the purpose of helping teachers and students navigate through these tools. The step-by-step how-to videos demonstrate how to use Web 2.0 applications like blogs, social networks, podcasts, interactive videos, wikis, slidesharing and much more. Both of these sites give laggards like myself the training and motivation we need to learn Web 2.0 tools.

I recently met with a professor at The University of Akron who said that she needs someone to walk her through different technologies and then provide her with a guide so that she can follow the steps when no one is there to show her. Sites like this are perfect for people like that…people like us.

I’ve been very frustrated in my new classroom though because there’s simply no real innovative way to use a blackboard or an overhead projector. I so desperately want to be trying these new tools in my classroom. My students are bored out of their minds with bookwork and worksheets. I hate teaching like that.

With no opportunity to practice using these tools, it makes it very difficult and unmotivating to learn them. I can watch these how-to videos til I’m blue in the face, but I’ll never truly learn them if I have no platform for using them.

So maybe I was wearing rose-colored glasses...

I just read over my last post and realized that I didn’t follow through with my initial objective which was to get the classroom under control before attempting to teach. I found myself at a loss, not knowing what to do with them in order to get them under control. I was so excited to teach that I practically dove right in.

On my third day, I sent a student to the office who refused to sit in his seat and do any work, was disruptive and disrespectful and acted like he was shooting at me while I was trying to teach a subject in which I have no prior knowledge (6th grade science). Within 30 minutes, this student was back in my classroom behaving in the same way. I asked another student to go to the office and he told me he wouldn’t go unless I escorted him there. I couldn’t leave 10 other students unsupervised, so I had no other choice but to allow him to stay in the class.

I want to see this through. However, I cannot afford to sacrifice my sanity and time with my own children to work in an environment that drains every bit of energy from me due to lack of support from staff and administration. I am trying to learn 2 different grade levels of Science and Language Arts in order to be an effective teacher. I’ve been given some PowerPoints, Smartboard presentations and other materials from different teachers, but I don’t even have a projector or a Smartboard to display the information for my students and the “class activities” I’ve been given are hardly possible with a group that refuses to cooperate.

I’m quickly finding that instead of teaching, I am babysitting for students who seem to have no real rules. From what I can tell, they get the same consequence regardless if they are talking or being completely disrespectful, disruptive and noncompliant – they get a “clip” moved. It’s simply not possible to “mark” every bad behavior while trying to teach. Instead, they are threatened all day long about getting their clip moved and most of the time (from what I have seen) there is little follow through and very little consequence. Instead, candy, prizes and parties are dangled in front of them to try to get them to cooperate. Why are we rewarding students with less instructional time when they are behind academically? This is not how I teach. This goes against everything I know to be right about education.

In just 12 school days, I have been humbled to the point of tears and have been questioning every educational philosophy I’ve ever had.

New Classroom, New Teacher, Old Technology

I was just hired in as a long-term sub at a local middle school. I’m teaching Language Arts and Science to 6th and 7th graders who have behavioral, academic and emotional issues. It’s proving to be quite the challenge. They had a sub in the position for just under a week so now the students have to adjust to yet another change. It’s certainly not the ideal situation for any of us, but I’m determined to make the best of it.

I just spent the entire weekend planning out my lessons for the week. I realize that no one is expecting me to come in and do a whole lot more than give them busy work, but I just can’t do that. It goes against my grain.

I was given a list of “Things to cover,” but nothing in the way of concrete objectives. I don’t have any idea what these students have learned so far and from what I have seen in the first two days, I’m starting to think I’m going to have to go back to some basics including capitalization and punctuation.

I was disappointed to learn the technology in the classroom consists of one computer and a finicky overhead projector that requires a Popsicle stick shoved into the side to get it to stay on. I brought my laptop in along with a projector in hopes that I could connect to the school’s Wifi and find some interesting Web 2.0 tools to use with the class. I just found out there is no Wifi. I’m determined to find a way to integrate technology into this classroom. These kids are bored out of their minds. They hate school and find everything to be completely irrelevant to their lives. Due to their social and behavioral issues, group work is extremely difficult.

Inspired by Harry Wong, I am going into class tomorrow equipped with procedures and routines. I have to get the classroom under control before I can expect anyone to learn much of anything.
I’ll be keeping my blog up to date on my progress.

Embedding Prezi Presentations and More

I've been trying to teach myself new Web 2.0 tools by watching online tutorials and playing around with the different features of each website. The best part of it is that I have a 10 year old daughter who loves to experiment with me. Last weekend, we went on Prezi.com to make a presentation. We spent a little over an hour playing around with it and came up with a simple presentation. There's certainly so much more that this website is capable of. I see a lot of potential with the classroom. It was certainly much more fun than making a powerpoint. The best way to use Prezi would be to have a big picture idea in mind and then go into the details one thing at a time.

I've embedded her presentation on my blog because I'm still trying to get practice with that. I went to a 2 day technology seminar a couple weeks ago and one of the sessions talked about embedding different things in your blog. There's even a way to upload photos and video to your blog from your phone. I still have a long way to go in getting the hang of all this, but I can say with confidence that I'm so much further along than I was a year ago, 6 months ago and even last week.

Serena's Prezi

hey, do you know me? on Prezi

Google Docs and Spreadsheets and Forms~Oh my!

I’m still in the infant stages of learning about this incredible resource, but I am thoroughly impressed with Google Docs and all it has to offer.  I’ve been using the spreadsheets for collaborating with a group of reunion planners while we try to locate classmates.  There’s no “reply to all” emails filling up my inbox.  When a change is made by one member, it is automatically reflected on the spreadsheet for all of us to see.

I’ve used the documents for collaborating with others in my group from school.  The past two weeks, we’ve have been assigned to write a paper as a group.  This is no easy task, but it is much simpler with Google Docs.  We’ve been able to assign each of us a color so that all of our contributions can be easily seen. 

I can see huge potential with this in the classroom when assigning group projects.  The students can submit all of their contributions on one page.  It’s a win-win.  They get to learn from each other while developing their collaboration skills and I get to grade one paper instead of many.

I am anxious for the opportunity to use Google forms.  I’ve browsed through the templates and see the endless possibilities for my future classroom.  The best part about forms is that all of the responses are put into spreadsheet form so that I can see everyone’s answers on the same page.

Hello Smartphone! Where have you been all my life?

 I recently read an article entitled 10 Ways to Get the Most out of Technology and it motivated me to back up my words with action.  I can't preach "Technology in the Schools" and certainly not "1:1 Handheld Devices for all Students" if I'm not using the very technology I claim to support. I finally broke down and got myself a smartphone last weekend.  WHAT TOOK ME SO LONG?  I don't know how I ever lived without it! 

I continually find myself resistant to change and clinging to my old ways of doing things.  I waited until 2005 to get a cell phone and it was late 2008 before I sent my first text.  I had convinced myself that I didn't need them because I had lived without them my entire life.  That's ridiculous!  I realize this is normal, but I'm frustrating myself.  Technology is amazing and I'm not being as productive as an individual or as useful as an educator if I don't break this pattern. 

I recently discovered dropbox.com.  Another piece of technology I can't believe I ever lived without.  It allows me to have important documents and other files on any device - including my new phone!  Once I begin teaching, I hope to have technology be such a huge part of the teaching and learning that occurs in my classroom that I will ask, "How did schools function without it?"