Teachers are the number one factor in determining the successes of our students and as Penny said today, quoting Nancie Atwell, that we leave our fingerprints on their learning. What kind of fingerprints would you be able to identify if given a magnifying glass?
Also...what do you think about this idea of blogging? What do you notice that is different about this media? How could you forsee using such a forum with your students. I think it is hard to get an overall sense of it in just one week, but I do believe it is a good first taste. What do you think?
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One fingerprint that I see in my schooling is the way I design essays. I always follow basically the same format to begin one: a broad statement, a smaller statement, and a thesis statement, which the paper follows perfectly, and a conclusion that inverts the opening paragraph. Now, since Mrs. Cronin’s 10th grade English class, I have continued to use this format for all of my writing. I am sure there are millions, but that is one that stands out.
ReplyDeleteI think blogging has certain pro’s and cons. In schools where some students may not have a computer, you would have to make sure you students have time provided for Internet access. What I think is a pro is it is a more informal type of media, where thoughts and ideas can come out. I think students associate this type of writing with informality more than they do writing in journals because it is so much more a part of their lives. They write informally about their lives though different media on the Internet. I think using this forum with your students could go well if it is presented as something different and informal, and if you communicate back with the students actively. I can see another con with the reaction of the principal to the use of the forum. I understand the concern, and certain ground rules should come with the forum, but getting rid of it completely does not make any sense.
The fingerprint that I leave most often is one of love and respect given to and accepted from my students. In order for students to take risks in their learning, they need to feel safe. A positive, safe and warm classroom community is necessary to foster learning beyond the basics. If we want to develop deep thinking, we must start at a place where all thoughts are valued.
ReplyDeleteI can understand how blogging would be a great tool for use in upper grade classrooms. It is a natural hook for kids and already such a big part of their lives. Great motivator! It is too bad that the project was shut down for one mistake. Kids can be taught how to use the internet safely and there will always be kids that will push the boundaries in any situation. On the other hand, kids have to know how important internet safety is and honor those safeguards in place. I was trying to think about how I could use this with my kids(first grade). We could start small and involve parents. All of my students do not have access to computers at home and hopefully my classroom will be all set with wireless connection in the fall. Soooo, I am thinking about it but do not have a firm idea for application at this point in time.
A fingerprint that I feel I leave on my students is my knack for making Shakespeare fun and approachable. At my first teaching job, I taught Hamlet to my class of eleventh graders. Many of the students I taught were at my school because they had not been successful academically in their other schools. Due to this lack of personal success in their previous academic life, most of my students felt as if there was no hope for them to find success or understand something as complex as a Shakespearean play. On student of mine who was severely dyslexic and had several learning issues told me after taking my class, “I now love Shakespeare, because you made it interesting and helped me figure out how to understand it.” It felt so wonderful to hear that special comment from her, because I knew I had been successful in transferring my passion for Shakespeare on to my students.
ReplyDeleteAs for blogging, I have mixed feelings. Perhaps because I am not part of a generation of “technology natives”, I am uncomfortable with the idea that my words are out in internet-land forever! What if I write something that I feel strongly about now, but then my thinking changes in the future? My previous words will continue to float in internet-land and I can’t fully eliminate them. The permanent nature of it is a bit unsettling.
On the other hand, I love the idea! You have to meet kids where they are and make learning accessible to them. If the students don’t see blogging as “work” and they are more apt to do it, then I say go for it. The responses they post at night can be the start of the discussion the next day. Students are truly writing more than ever, but they are writing in different forums. These new forums are where I need to go as a teacher. Perhaps I should create a twitter page that has the class assignment for the day. The possibilities are endless. I am seriously thinking about how to create and use a blog in my classes next year.
I think the big fingerprint that I would be able to see is how their writing and/or reading has (hopefully) improved over the course of the year. If I were to look back at writing from the begining of the year and see a change, no matter how simple, I think that is my fingerprint. My students know of what interests me and what I am passionate about. They don't always know what they are passionate about. If, by the end of the year, they can find that, my fingerprint has been imprinted.
ReplyDeleteI also hope to leave a fingerprint of respect. I try and emphasize in my classroom that we are a community. If students have grown in this aspect toward the end of the year, I have done my job.
Blogging seems like a really useful tool. I would like to try and use it. I think the demands on it could be more than I anticipate with so many students. I think I would like to try it out with my reading class first. I have a new class each marking period. I am thinking about maybe having them respond to what they read on the blog by prompting them with a certain question or link they have to connect the reading to.
The fingerprints I've left are messy but distinct, I think. The whorls and patterns are smudged and smeared, but unlike many others left around my school building. Sadly, I think the current administration at my school regards its role as the Windex that erases such fingerprints, but that's another issue entirely.
ReplyDeleteI'm a somewhat polarizing figure. Many--students, parents, administrators, and other teachers--love me, many hate me, and few are neutral regarding me. I've known this for years, but I discovered something knew recently.
Last semester a student in my study hall, one who had taken only one class with me before, a half-year course last fall, asked me if I would make some photocopies for her. I found this odd, because the student didn't like me or my class, and wasn't too quiet about that fact. When I asked what it was, she sheepishly admitted that she wanted thirty-odd copies of invitations to a surprise birthday party she was throwing for a friend that weekend. I shrugged, asked a neighboring teacher to watch my study hall for a minute, then went and made the copies (not because I'm that dedicated, but because I knew that if I didn't do it immediately, the task would have swirled down the drain of my ADD and I would have forgotten it entirely).
Later the student admitted that she had asked her favorite teacher to make the copies earlier, but refused because the copies "weren't for school business." She asked me because, even though she personally disliked me--and knew that I was no fan of her--she knew that I would see doing something nice for a friend as very much school business, and that when faced with a choice between school rules and the happiness of my students, it wouldn't be a choice at all. A loud and sarcastic educator with delusions of iconoclasty couldn't have asked for a better compliment.
As for blogging, I'm a fan. I started a blog (nealism.blogspot.com) just over a year ago as a combination thought experiment and medium to express political opinions during an exciting presidential race. I love the tools available at blogspot.
ReplyDeleteSadly, I've not posted to my blog in months, but a quick perusal of some of my older postings show how versatile blogspot is. I can embed video and audio files, and post pictures and cartoons to my heart's content. What I like best, though, is how easy it is to set up hyperlinks to the sources I cite, letting readers check the context of my references, as well as examine the source material, without disrupting the flow of the prose with cumbersome URLs (the lack of this tool, for the record, is my biggest complaint against posting quick writes to comments sections, rather than to distinct blogs).
For what I think is a pretty good example of this, go here: http://nealism.blogspot.com/2008/12/jesus-is-black.html
(See how obnoxious that URL is? Wouldn't it be better to just have a blue "here" to click on?)
In this post, I was able to put up a fantastic video about Proposition 8, as well as a political attack on it, then critique both. While the essay could have been written in a more traditional way, the lack of the source videos, as well as the easy access to my citations, would have been cumbersome at best, completely absent at worst.
The possibilities for student research are legion. Last year I gave my AP students the option to post their essays to blogspot, which a couple of them did. What I found was that, when they knew other people besides me would be able to read them, my students took more care to not sound like idiots than they ever did on drafts they gave me on paper.
Next year I'm taking over our journalism classes, which are honestly in their death throws due to our loss of a great teacher, and the subsequent attentions of her less-than-great replacement. I intend to drop our old publication of a print school "newspaper" in favor of a more contemporary web site and blog. We'll see how it goes . . .
What fingerprint do I leave on children? I'm considered a tough teacher and that's ok. The fingerprint that most children walk away with is: "I didn't think I could do that!" I like that! I don't want to set the bar low, I want the bar a little out of their reach and during the year have them touch it, hold on to it, or go over it. I feel kids are afraid of what is asked of them in class, but I share my story of failure, (I repeated 6th grade and teach 6th now), but with work you can over come it. I share the analogy of success in life as running into a wall that stops you from getting from where you are to where you want to be. Why is it there? Maybe you're not supposed to be successful at something right now and need to work harder on it, get the foundation more solid, and mature more. Maybe you need to look around and think of another way to go around the wall - you won't achieve by just climbing over. What is it that you'll encounter by going around? It's not the fastest, but there's something there you must see and learn. I hope my children leave with hope for the future and earned respect for themselves and hard work. Success comes from hard work - it isn't given - you know--earned!
ReplyDeleteBlogging: Oh, help me!
I thought the article was great. I loved the part about the servicemen writing back. Fabulous. My problem with the hold thing is ME. I don't know how to handle that many computers at once. I don't know how to have writing going on and then run around and put out computer fires. One of our teachers does all his work with his classroom blog. It's amazing. Guess, I like paper. I like writing on it and not staring at a screen all day - wears on my eyes. Part of me thinks that children will be ok if they have me and we write notes to each other on paper but will also have a more technological experience in another class. I'm sleazing out! My nephew is heading back to Afghanistan and I'm sending him there with a couple of classroom novels so we can communicate to his boys. It's always awkward to write letters to servicemen because you need to be careful what you say, but this gives everyone a save topic.
Fingerprints I see are: icy morning orange juice and tattooed bananas, lots of hysterical laughter, something different every day, depth-charge learning (it creeps up when you aren't looking), cut-throat games of "Authors", acting out Wilson reading sentences,the knowledge that somebody is on their side and cares what they want to learn, a sense that I expect them to get things wrong, an appreciation of their unique personalities, and at least a tolerance for reading.
ReplyDeleteBlogs, schmogs..I feel more self-conscious writing here. People I don't even know can sneak in here and read my innermost thoughts. It stays here forever. My attempts at profound thoughts sound trite. Other than that, I love blogs. (Or it could be that one Aleve pill I took last night. Confusion and depression are two of the side-effects listed on the Internet. Never read those.)
Hello all, I hope your evening/morning (or whatever time you are reading this) is a pleasant one... My fingerprints on traditional students are not yet discernible, but I have been a facilitator in many different capacities for Project LEAD at UNH. What I think and what I hope that people get from me is that I am a very passionate person who believes apathy is really founded in fear--fear of failure and/or disappointment, and that I also believe we should not be afraid. We should live daringly and be ready to meet our failures and successes with all the joy living and loving fully requires. I hope my decision to live openly and passionately allows the participants I've had and the students I will have to share with the world their own unique fingerprints.
ReplyDeleteAs for blogging, I feel it is a less intimidating and a much more accessible medium for students. Blogging allows for reflection, and distances the speaker from the audience. I think it is a great way to engage students, but I do feel that something is lost once the immediacy of the audience is gone. Also, there are the issues of whether or not students will be able to use the internet and concerns for safety.
I hope I would find fingerprints of enthusiasm for what they have created. Fingerprints that show that my students dared to take risks and were supported by me in their exploration of new ideas in a calm, positive environment. Working with mistakes without being afraid of them can be daunting, continuing a piece without starting over takes courage. I know because that can be hard for me. I hope those fingerprints show a spirit of adventure as well as joy in the process.
ReplyDeleteI have never blogged before. I also usually write ,then type. This week I have written directly while blogging. A new risk for me. Elementary students love using the computers especially my fifth graders. I could see students blogging about works of art and artists that we study.
I am not surprised that the sudent in the article felt that writing on the computer was vastly different from writing in school. I feel that this is because the computer holds so much more interest and information that a student can access, which in turn, makes it more fun and secretive. The author said it perfectly, "What was it about posting personal writing on an online blog that was so different from the writing in my class?" THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE! Kids believe there is a difference because posting on a blog or submiting work in a different medium is usually not encouraged. The best memories I have from teaching this year was when the students were building their thoughts off of one another - expanding their ideas and beliefs- referencing other student's ideas- and questioning and challenging their cohort's thoughts and statements. It is just the greatest feeling in the world, and I truly believe that this is what blogging will allow our students to do daily.
ReplyDeleteWe must come to terms that computers are here to stay! They literally run our world - scary thought! Providing the opportunity, such as Talkback Project, will open up endless possibilities for our students. What I challenge is - "How can we ensure parents that it will be safe and that students won't experience cyber bullying or face inappropriate situations?" Personally, I think it comes down to creating a strong and respectful community of learners and sharers where ALL are accepted and invited to join. If our students demand relevance, they need to show us they can handle it.
I believe my fingerprint that I leave on my students is one of caring and mutual respect. I get involved in the students' lives, and I engage them outside of class as well as in.
I haven’t had much teaching experience yet, but the fingerprint I do hope to leave with my students is that I care about them and their success, and that I believe they can achieve any success they desire with hard work and determination. Things don’t always come easy, so a teacher it is part of my job to help my students learn this and learn how to work through the difficult things. I also hope I take my students out of their comfort zone a little. My favorite teacher in high school left this exact fingerprint on me, so I hope to pass this along to future generations of students.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely see the concerns with blogging. There is a lot of liability for a school by having student work posted on the internet. However, I think if set up correctly and monitored closely, it can be great learning tool for teachers to use. A lot of times there is so much to do in one class period that students never really get to hear and respond to their peers writing. Also, since blogging is viewed as informal, it allows students to write more freely than they would on, for example, a term paper. Blogging can take off some of the pressure that comes along with writing formally and it can even make some students start to enjoy writing. I also like the idea that blogging can bring family and friend connection because it is just another way of helping students, parents, teachers, friends, and children to communicate.
I like the idea of blogging and how it gives students a more interesting and accessible format for self expression. I’d like to think I would set up a blog for my students maybe discussing books like in the article. But my fear is the computer. I don’t trust it. When a computer can be more like a car and I can jump in and drive, count me in. I know I sound like an old poop but I keep trying nonetheless. It’s mostly a lesson in patience and perseverance for me. So blogging as a concept, yes, as a practical application right now, not so much. Surprise, I am having technical difficulties posting this.
ReplyDeleteAs for fingerprints left behind, I think it is poetry. It is simple but complex, accessible for its brevity but long in its layers. My love of the written word and the craftsmanship of each word’s placement on a page as well as the thoughts they provoke, always thrills me. I love to share poetry with my students.
Hey there! I left Penny's presentation today with a tear in my eye and smile on my lips. Interesting paradox. I think this is the way I'm feeling in general about my own teaching. I struggle with this weird, involuntary pull towards more traditional instructional approaches and fulfilling the role of the tough, firm, teacher who doesn't "smile until December." (As if kindness is some kind of weakness!) I do feel that without a certain degree of focus on conventional approaches to writing, many of my students will be unprepared once they leave high school. And while Penny's individualized approach to reading and writing instruction is appealing, I'd argue that students must be able to come together as a group and weigh in on the same piece of literature at some point in their education-for better or for worse.
ReplyDeleteThe stoic teacher I sometimes try to be does not suit me at all. I like to play, joke, listen to loud music, and dance to oblivion. I hope(and sometimes fear) that much of this seeps into my classroom. I can't help it. When I'm in a social situation I want people around me to be happy, and I hope to bring them along if they're not. What I want most is for everyone to feel like they're a part of the group, no matter who the group is comprised of. I want kids to feel welcomed and loved and challenged. This is where things with my teaching get tricky. Adhering to some of the "rules" that I've been taught about teaching may seem like rigor, but it does not feel like a celebration or an invitation to all kids. But it's almost as if I feel like if we're having too much fun, we're not really accomplishing anything. Maybe I need to admit that one can do both: have fun while doing some meaningful learning. I honestly feel like we've done that in this course this week.
The challenge that I face at the beginning of each year, in true Libra form, is how to strike that balance between innovation and tradition. One of my goals as a teacher is to find that balance and feel comfortable in it. With a balanced approach to teaching, I hope that the impression I'll leave on students(or fingerprint, if you will) is that adults aren't all as old as some act, and that they can relate to young people. I believe my students know I care about their wellbeing above all else. And I hope that they will bring some kindness, passion, and a little bit of "wildness" into the world once they leave my classroom.
As I write this, I hope I can remember my goals and beliefs once I hit the second week in September when I'm bogged down by meetings before and afterschool and during my prep. periods four out of five days in a week, when I have a ridiculous amount of meaningless, extra paperwork, too many phone calls home, numerous emails to answer,and I'm battling the clock to get a hundred drafts(full of my lengthy, written comments)back to students before the end of the week. Because the reality of teaching right now is often so much more difficult than I ever expected.
Blogging...I almost forgot. I sheepishly admit that this is my first time, and I like it. I plan to use it as a feedback mechanism between students in my Advanced Writing class next year. I will also use it in my media analysis course as I have students respond to clips and articles I post. It's a handy and tidy way of having everyone weigh in and react to one another. Aha! Meaningful collaborative "conversation" on a common text that might be fun!
A common sentiment expressed by students that come back to see me is how hard they worked in my class(es)…but they usually say it with a smile. I guess I have earned the reputation of a “tough teacher” in some sense of the word, but beyond setting the bar high, I work really hard to know my students so that I might care for and support them in all that they do as individuals to not only reach that bar but even jump over it. Without that relationship and the safe environment and sense of community I try to cultivate, students are not nearly as likely or as well-equipped to strive for those “lofty” goals; however, with those “fingerprints,” they grow in ways they never expected and achieve much of which they can be proud.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, I like to have fun in class. In fact, I once got “You seem like one of us” on an end-of-the-year evaluation, and while many would say that was not a desired way to be seen by students, I took it as a compliment (especially given the nature of the other comments he wrote). I love to laugh with my students, and when that joy is there for me, I can feel it coming back at me as I look around the circle at my students’ faces. I do want to challenge them, but I do not want them to lose the pleasure that comes from a good story, a beautiful poem, or any experience shared in a learning community for that matter. I believe that when you maintain that careful balance of high expectations and a good sense of humor, you will not only serve your students well and but also find true happiness in teaching, encouraging others around you to do the same on their own chosen paths. It may seem oversimplified, but I want my students to be thoughtful, good, happy people in this world.
I am pretty much convinced that I am going to try blogging with at least one class next year (most likely one of my literature classes). I’m always looking for new ways to bring technology and other mediums into the curriculum and have entertained activities like having students create Facebook pages for characters (gotta get that one in there this year) so I’m definitely open to the idea. These are places where our kids can be found on a daily basis so why not meet them there?
I found the article interesting and informative because it provided a good play-by-play of one particular case, but more importantly, I have enjoyed actually trying my hand at blogging for the first time this week! I think the benefits far outweigh the costs or risks that such a venture might entail, and with some good planning in advance, you can avoid a lot of them. I just love the potential for dialogue between students where the teacher is not “present.” It’s also easier for a student to disagree with or question what someone else says when they are not face-to face. In that way, there might be more controversy that develops which could lead to more interesting discussion in class the next day. Hopefully then more students will find the confidence to step up the plate having already put their voice into the mix on the blog. With this groundwork, the class might dig even further into a text and make even more meaningful connections.
OK – enough from me – see you all in the morning!
I was not able to attend Penny's talk today. But I love the idea of examining my fingerprint. I am beginning to experience a wave of former students who are becoming teachers, and in their celebration of the decision, or their first job, or surviving their first year, they get back in touch. Invariably, they say "Remember the time in our class when..." And after 20 years of teaching in 3 disciplines, I rarely remember what they do from those years. But invariably, kids remember a time when we belly laughed. One young woman, Mandee Adams now teaching French and Spanish at Grafton (Ma) Middle School credits me with her career choice. She wrote a paper about me in college, and gave it to me. I was not anticipating some kind of "Oh Captain, My Captain" scene, but wasn't prepared for what I read. Instead of an insightful analysis of my pedagogical prowess, her paper was a descriptive narrative of a day I face-planted (agroof?)in the front of the classroom. Teaching is so incredibly humbling.
ReplyDeleteI am enjoying the blog, although like all things in the crucible of UNH in the summer, it is intense. Like the performance methods we work with in class, we learn by doing, by developing an opinion based in practice not theory.
If I really think about it I would have to say the fingerprints I leave center around my students finding their love of reading and knowing that I respect them. This past year, my students had to write an evaluation of me, their teacher. I did not give them this assignment and I was not even there for it. One of my more challenging students wrote "she respects us". I was deeply touched by his statement, because I do. While I am the teacher, I feel like I don't play the traditional "teacher" role. I would like to think that I have a very good rapport with my students which I believe allows me to leave many fingerprints on their learning and my students as individual people.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to blogging, I am still toying with the idea of how I could work this into my fifth grade classroom. There is a definite frustration with posting and losing everything you wrote, but what a valuable experience for students. It would be a perfect chance for problem solving and sharing. I could see somehow incorporating it into their homework sometimes, but wonder what the reaction would be of the students and parents. Also, for me, blogging is very freeing because I can just let my thoughts flow. However, I know this is not the case for all. I don't want my students to feel like this is work, but rather a chance to express oneself freely, to get their thinking out there, knowing that their thinking can and at times will change. As I write this, I'm seeing blogging as that "wait time" or "turn and talk" time that is so valuable and gives students a chance to collect or share their thoughts before having to contribute to a larger group. While I am still not sure how or if I will incorporate blogging this year I have definitely been left with a lot to think about.
Blogging seems to me as an easy way to integrate technology into the classroom since it is usually the one of the main pieces teachers have a hard time incorporating. This problem usually occurs because the teachers have a lack of time, materials or knowledge to bring this into the classroom.
ReplyDeleteAfter thinking about the students I had this year I can think of many of them who would have benefited from having keys to type on rather than a pencil to hold. Some students benefit from the tactile feeling of the keys more so than the harsh wooden pencil. However, I know that in my school the ability of having the access to the computer cart was difficult, so we let the students, sometime, used markers instead to suit their needs.
I believe that setting up blogging in a classroom needs to be taken on by an open mind by the students and the teacher. It may not be the easiest to set-up but I think it could be very beneficial for all. The biggest benefit would be that it allows students to share with everyone their feeling about the topic at hand. It allows everyone to have a voice all the time.