Okay. Stop. Take a deep breath. Let it out.
I just read a blog post on Tech and Learning about “cyberbullying.” I’m afraid it reflects the breathless, borderline hysteric attitude I see often about the “perils” of new technology. The author, Scott Meech, says that “While traditional bullying is a difficult issue, Cyberbullying is a much more difficult problem,” because cyber bullies try to remain anonymous and can reach a larger audience. I disagree. The method of bullying changes some things, but I don’t see that it is more difficult to handle. My high school experience tells me that traditional bullying is almost always done in secret, away from the eyes of teachers, and can only be proven through a he-said, she-said game that the downtrodden targets of bullying often fail at. Cyberbullying, on the other hand, leaves an electronic trail that can be chased down and dealt with. This usually makes anonymity for the bully more difficult.
Meech pulls out the example of the “Star Wars Kid,” and says that he will be forever scarred by his ordeal. Really? As a teacher, I was intensely interested in this incident when it occurred. The original students that posted the video on Kazaa were, no doubt, bullies, but the resulting online phenomena was something different. The comments on various Internet message boards were not mocking the Kid, they were empathizing and celebrating. Proud, self-described “nerds” commented one after the other that they had all grabbed a stick of some sort and turned it into a lightsaber in front of the camera at some point in their lives. People were laughing at The Star Wars Kid not to bully him, but because they saw themselves in him. Fundraisers sprang up to buy the Kid an iPod, a custom lightsaber replica and other cool toys. A petition was even signed by 83,000 people to secure the Kid a walk-on role in the final Star Wars movie. Of course all this stopped when the parents decided to get litigious and sued everyone involved.
In the final analysis, we should always work to stop bullying when we see it, but it’s difficult to stop bullying by focusing on the bullies. Instead, we need to create kids who are bully proof. A child with strong self esteem, a close and trusting relationship with parents, and consistent rules for online behavior will know how to react when they are made fun of online or offline.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
improving teacher evaluations
I just read this article from Edweek about Education Secretary Arne Duncan talking about how states need to improve teacher evaluations. I posted this response:
A lot needs to be done to improve teacher evaluations. I agree with Secretary Duncan on that. What does worry me is that it seems the way he wants to "improve" evaluations is to tie them to standardized tests.
All this will do is show you which teachers are best at teaching kids how to score well on a memorize-and-regurgitate, one-shot multiple-choice test. That's a recipe for disaster.
If you want to know what skills will be needed for future jobs, ask someone from Google what they think of multiple-choice tests.
What we need is an evaluation system where we look at how teachers interact with their students, how well their students can reason and solve problems, and how much improvement a child makes from the time they enter a teacher's class until the time they leave. This kind of evaluation system will require multiple, in-depth, unannounced observations by administrators and other master teachers. It will also require reflective analysis by the teacher being observed. It may require technology, such video blogs where students film themselves reading aloud and monitoring their improvement over the year. It will also require a willingness on the part of unions to recognize that many of our teachers are very good at what they do, but that many others are not. The teachers that aren't getting the job done need help to get better, or need a way to exit gracefully.
A lot needs to be done to improve teacher evaluations. I agree with Secretary Duncan on that. What does worry me is that it seems the way he wants to "improve" evaluations is to tie them to standardized tests.
All this will do is show you which teachers are best at teaching kids how to score well on a memorize-and-regurgitate, one-shot multiple-choice test. That's a recipe for disaster.
If you want to know what skills will be needed for future jobs, ask someone from Google what they think of multiple-choice tests.
What we need is an evaluation system where we look at how teachers interact with their students, how well their students can reason and solve problems, and how much improvement a child makes from the time they enter a teacher's class until the time they leave. This kind of evaluation system will require multiple, in-depth, unannounced observations by administrators and other master teachers. It will also require reflective analysis by the teacher being observed. It may require technology, such video blogs where students film themselves reading aloud and monitoring their improvement over the year. It will also require a willingness on the part of unions to recognize that many of our teachers are very good at what they do, but that many others are not. The teachers that aren't getting the job done need help to get better, or need a way to exit gracefully.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Way cool use of a game
I'm watching another presentation. This one is really cool. The teachers had kids studying animal adaptations. They started by using the free version of Spore, the creature creator. The students created a creature and then had to describe how it works. If it has big eyes, it was nocturnal. How does it defend itself? What is it's habitat?
After this, they used model magic clay to build and color their creatures.
What a great idea.
They planned to use the tech4learning program "frames" to make stop motion videos of their creatures, complete with cardboard painted backgrounds.
I googled "free stop motion software" and found a few other alternatives, so in theory, you could do this for free.
Another thing they did that was cool was to take screen shots of the creatures and then put them into a card template on publisher. This made collectible cards for the kids, which should be popular.
One thing they would need to do was ask the students "can you make that?"
This is cool. We should do it. They will be putting up details on the conference wiki.
After this, they used model magic clay to build and color their creatures.
What a great idea.
They planned to use the tech4learning program "frames" to make stop motion videos of their creatures, complete with cardboard painted backgrounds.
I googled "free stop motion software" and found a few other alternatives, so in theory, you could do this for free.
Another thing they did that was cool was to take screen shots of the creatures and then put them into a card template on publisher. This made collectible cards for the kids, which should be popular.
One thing they would need to do was ask the students "can you make that?"
This is cool. We should do it. They will be putting up details on the conference wiki.
Liveblogging David Warlick at NCTIES
I'm at NCTIES in Raleigh and im about to start a session by David Warlick on "A Foundational Structure for Web 2.0" We'll be getting started shortly.
STarts with a cool quote
"I'm a learner. I try to be a master learner."
Teachers should be master learners and should exemplify that in their classrooms every day.
This gives you permission to learn from your students, your experiences, your world.
He says this will be an odd session and it's the first time he has given it.
What are the qualities of the native information experience and what does this mean for the classroom
- is responsive
- measures accomplishment
- values safely made mistakes
- demands personal investment
- values personal experience and identiy
- rewards with audience and attention
- provokes communication
- is fuled by questions
By the way, he is using a fantastic presentation tool called prezi.com It has everything on one page and zooms in to the area you are working on.
Safely made mistakes. "It's like art."
"These kids want to invest themselves in their information experiences." The value of these experiences is cumulative.
He describes a conversation he overheard his son and friends have where they had an in-depth discussion about the plot and character development. He remarked that this is the conversation that English teachers try and fail to get their students to have about Shakespeare. The message? Kids are accustomed to being together, to having an audience. Audience is a commodity.
He described dropping his son off at college. He kept texting his friends. He carries his friends with him.
Fueled by questions. Searching for "How do I" on twitter reveals tons of stuff.
Teachers who have their students blog realize that it quickly stops being a writing assignment and becomes a communication exercise. Students write expecting feedback.
"It's not technology to them."
"Technology is anything that was invented after you were born."
The technology will not bring them in. Collaboration, communication will bring them in.
Projects alone won't do it. We need to find out why projects get students engaged and why it connects with what they are enjoying outside of class.
STarts with a cool quote
"I'm a learner. I try to be a master learner."
Teachers should be master learners and should exemplify that in their classrooms every day.
This gives you permission to learn from your students, your experiences, your world.
He says this will be an odd session and it's the first time he has given it.
What are the qualities of the native information experience and what does this mean for the classroom
- is responsive
- measures accomplishment
- values safely made mistakes
- demands personal investment
- values personal experience and identiy
- rewards with audience and attention
- provokes communication
- is fuled by questions
By the way, he is using a fantastic presentation tool called prezi.com It has everything on one page and zooms in to the area you are working on.
Safely made mistakes. "It's like art."
"These kids want to invest themselves in their information experiences." The value of these experiences is cumulative.
He describes a conversation he overheard his son and friends have where they had an in-depth discussion about the plot and character development. He remarked that this is the conversation that English teachers try and fail to get their students to have about Shakespeare. The message? Kids are accustomed to being together, to having an audience. Audience is a commodity.
He described dropping his son off at college. He kept texting his friends. He carries his friends with him.
Fueled by questions. Searching for "How do I" on twitter reveals tons of stuff.
Teachers who have their students blog realize that it quickly stops being a writing assignment and becomes a communication exercise. Students write expecting feedback.
"It's not technology to them."
"Technology is anything that was invented after you were born."
The technology will not bring them in. Collaboration, communication will bring them in.
Projects alone won't do it. We need to find out why projects get students engaged and why it connects with what they are enjoying outside of class.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Software review - WebcamMax
With time off for the baby, I’ve got some time to look at new software packages.
A few months ago I started looking for something to help out one of my schools. They want to do a student news broadcast, but they have very little infrastructure. Unlike a lot of my schools they don’t have a central broadcast system that will broadcast over the school TVs. Luckily they do have a lot of LCD projectors hooked up to classroom computers. I decided one way to try a broadcast would be to use a service like Ustream that allows you to live broadcast to a specific URL. This means that all teachers would have to do is crank up their projector and tune in to the proper URL. The teachers liked the idea, but the only problem is that they wanted to record the show ahead of time and edit it for broadcast.
Enter WebcamMax. I found this neat little application and realized it would do exactly what I wanted and more. It allows you to essentially flip your web cam backwards and broadcast anything you want through it. WebcamMax allows you to stream a picture of your monitor or a video off your machine. It also has some other neat features that kids and teachers might find useful. One feature allows the user to superimpose a graphic over their face. The picture, usually a face, follows you as you move. I could easily see kids doing a report on Abe Lincoln or Rosa Parks while “wearing” their face. A built-in recording feature means that teachers can record the news show in WebcamMax without worrying about using another program.
The only problems I found when using WebcamMax is that my machine sometimes got confused as to which web cam software it should be using. The software I installed with the camera sometimes took over, leading WebcamMax to give me a “main source error.” Overall, this wasn’t a big problem to overcome, and I’m sure if I uninstall the other web cam software, the problem would go away. It wasn’t really needed anymore as WebcamMax does everything that software did and more.
I plan to recommend WebcamMax to any of my schools that want to do a news broadcast or do any simple video projects. The lifetime license of $49.95 is very reasonable. Schools that aren’t sure if they want it forever can opt for cheaper licenses that last six months to two years. In fact, the thing that struck me the most is that with this software and a decent webcam, schools can broadcast globally for an investment of under $100.
Overall, it’s a great product and I look forward to finding plenty of uses for it.
To try the product and learn more, go to WebcamMax.
Note: Full disclosure. By doing this review I will get a free copy of the software. Still, it’s well worth it and I honestly recommend it.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Election Day
I'm suffering through more NCwise training. Again, not the fault of the trainers, but its a lot of information to cover that is not all particulary relevant to me. Add to that my chair is very hard and my rear is getting numb.
Anyway, it's election day and that means I can finally stop fretting about my signs. Since the primary campaign I have had at least 15 Obama signs stolen. I say "at least" because I lost count at 15.
Most of the signs have been stolen from my front yard, usually at night. That's a comforting thought. Even after I added a few other Democratic signs they still only kept stealing the Obama signs. Take that for what you will.
Ironically, the signs are not free. In fact, my wife and I donated a few bucks per sign. Which means that every idiot that stole a sign was actually causing me to donate money to Obama. Oh well.
On the night before election day, we had a few extras, so I scattered them across the medians and polling places in Pumpkin Center. One was stolen within about 3 hours. The others all seem to still be there. I suppose people didn't see them until daybreak and felt some slight concern about stealing them in broad daylight. Maybe they have just given up.
Anyway, we'll see if it worked tonight.
Anyway, it's election day and that means I can finally stop fretting about my signs. Since the primary campaign I have had at least 15 Obama signs stolen. I say "at least" because I lost count at 15.
Most of the signs have been stolen from my front yard, usually at night. That's a comforting thought. Even after I added a few other Democratic signs they still only kept stealing the Obama signs. Take that for what you will.
Ironically, the signs are not free. In fact, my wife and I donated a few bucks per sign. Which means that every idiot that stole a sign was actually causing me to donate money to Obama. Oh well.
On the night before election day, we had a few extras, so I scattered them across the medians and polling places in Pumpkin Center. One was stolen within about 3 hours. The others all seem to still be there. I suppose people didn't see them until daybreak and felt some slight concern about stealing them in broad daylight. Maybe they have just given up.
Anyway, we'll see if it worked tonight.
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