That's All Folks!

I learned that while I am quite the indolent writer; if I have set goals in place (with a reminder), it’s not really that hard to keep a blog updated. I also learned that I enjoy publishing an entry and I’d like to continue doing this personally. I learned that being a member of a digital writing community is an engaging way to share writings with one another. I know that I will integrate blogging into my classroom. I will choose a test class period to start with; in order to work out any bugs initially. Once they are off and running, I can will incorporate blogging in my other classes. This is an engaging method to get (even the most reluctant writer-me!) to write. I look forward to asking students for recommendations for post topics at the start of next year. My greatest challenge blogging was commenting on more than a couple of posts. It is easy to convince yourself that you will return to respond further; in spite of the fact, that you likely will not, I know didn’t.

“This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.”

― Walt Whitman

Teaching Argument Writing

I selected Teaching Argument Writing by George Hillocks, Jr. for my literature circle reading. I knew that this book was geared toward middle school students; however, it is the gold standard in argument strategies; I knew I had to read it. I have had many takeaways from this text. I have closely read the text and these are passages that gave me pause, inspired me, and you should ponder.

TEN QUOTES TO PONDER

1. “If kids are to be engaged in their writing, they have to write what they care about. Teachers can create interest… students do not have to be interested in the topic before one begins to teach it” (xi).

2. “When teachers talk, student experience is necessary limited to listening or daydreaming, or simply messing around” (6).

 3. “Csikszentmihalyi’s idea of flow experience is clearly related to far more experience than the passivity of listening to a teacher talk. The experience of optimum learning and flow must be active, most of the time” (6).

4. “Poorly conceptualized objectives undermine the entire process of teaching and lead to poor learning or nonlearning”(6).

5. “Small-group discussions make for powerful learning environments when they are carefully planned and monitored”(65).

6. “Socrates and the Stoic philosophers believed that all people have the capacity for practical reason but tend to lead somnolent lives accepting traditions, norms and beliefs learned from infancy without questions, without taking charge of their own thinking” (103).

7. “Common Core Standards state that students should ‘not simply adopt other points of view as their own but rather evaluate them critically and constructively’” (103).

8. “Units of instruction nearly always benefit by problematizing the concept with which they deal”  (143).

9. “Students who have learned to think through the criteria for making judgments are less likely to jump to conclusions; they consider their ideas more carefully” (172).

10. “In short, if we want to help students become strong inferential readers we must provide the knowledge, experience, and practice that will allow them to do so. And that knowledge and experience must be developed incrementally…” (179).

Wordless Wednesday

Six Things to Consider

I spend a good deal of my life online. I am always on my phone; its like a gameboy for adults. I use technology in my classroom from time to time; I am not afraid of using it, but I am technically challenged for certain so I don't use it as much as some teachers do. I started going to college in the nineties so my range of professors is pretty broad in terms of their digital lives. I try to defend my technology challenges citing that I am in fact a digital immigrant. However, I know many teachers my own age or older who are extremely proficient in using technology in their classrooms. I hope to be better at using technology with each passing year.

I love using Socrative in my classroom as an alternative to Kahoot. I must admit, the Kahoot music makes me want to stick my head in a freezer. I use Socrative most often for quizzes that are multiple choice, true or false, or short responses. I can put up a question and students can answer, see one another’s answers while safely anonymous. Conversely, I can give them a quiz and they are unable to see any other answers. Socrative is easy to use and students do not need to download an app. Brilliantly convenient, once you make a quiz you can easily share it using the import option or receive one from another educator.

The benefits of using online sources for writing begins with engagement. For example, in my class students were asked to research a processed food item and report about it using an infographic. For many of my students who loathe art projects, Pictochart is a godsend. Easy to use and share documents can be made by students using Pictochart. The risks are that my district does not provide technology to all students; this makes using technology in the classroom a challenge.

I notice that the rest of the world is integrating technology in the classroom. I like the Remind service that allows a teacher to communicate with the class in a group message or individually.

As teachers integrate technology, it is important that teachers consider scaffolding from lower level thinking to higher order thinking when selecting digital sources e.g. evaluation and analysis.

Lastly, I’d like to learn to use Screen-Cast-O-Matic to provide tutorials for my visual and audio learners. Many of my students could benefit from having my directions recorded for them. I am familiar with Padlet, but I’d like to be proficient in the application.

Creative People Create Things

“My ambition is handicapped by laziness”  ― Charles Bukowski, Factotum

As a Libra, I've always had a penchant for artistic expression. Unable to master my own right hand into doing my bidding, when it comes to art, I am an appreciator, and not an artist. When I turned 30, there was a decoupage craze that empowered me to be creative. With a foam sponge in one hand and a bottle of Mod Podge in the other, I was ready to create collages of my favorite visuals on everything I could get my hands on. I covered the children's furniture in Tarot Cards when my sons outgrew them; the possibilities were endless. My children are lucky I didn't decoupage them. I then decided that I would become a master decoupage artist and try my hand at mixed media. Mixed media provided a palate that a person with little artistic talent could work with successfully for a few years. These days I don't create as much as I use to although the fundraiser my club sponsored has provided me opportunities to be creative in baking and packaging items for NOW Club presents: TREAT YO SELF where every baked good comes with a self-love affirmation because YOU deserve it! 

“Spring is the time of plans and projects.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Springtime is the best time in Florida to me, as I am not one for the heat of summer. I’m a list maker and that’s for sure so I will list what I like to do in spring aside from school and work.

When I do go to the beach, I prefer Cape Canaveral in New Smyrna in spring. I love the privacy, and yes there is a nude beach there but I choose the fully clothed area of the beach; it’s truly best for all parties involved. 

Feel rich for a whole weekend. #taxreturn #makeupcounter

Attend both the Mount Dora and Winter Park art festivals.

Pick blueberries in Lake County at Lake Catherine. I highly recommend; I go every year. http://www.lakecatherineblueberries.com

This spring the feminist club I sponsor will host a spoken word/Slam fest during lunch to celebrate Poetry Month.

This spring I will graduate with my master’s in teaching. Woo hoo!