Invisible Children Screening

What an amazing experience! I am glad we were given the opportunity to read our poems before the screening. I like to think that the combined forces of the Campus Poetry Society and Poets Anonymous added to the event. However, I was changed by the documentary. I've been to Uganda, and I never realized how bad it was in the displacement camps. I also was unaware that the Ugandan government had forced people to move to the camps. Anyone left in the villages was considered a rebel.

Anyone who doesn't believe that activism can help change the world needs to learn about the story of a group of Americans who helped convince the U.S. goverment to pressure Uganda to end its 21 year war. Peace talks are happening now.

www.invisiblechildren.com

Real Time at Bright Ideas 2008

I thought it would be interesting to keep a conference log - and to try to do it as close to real time as possible. It may look a little bit like notes, because that's largely what it will be.






9:00-9-50. Get to Know Chris Crutcher.
Chris Crutcher is an YA author. He has a website: Author, Chris Crutcher

I thought the introduction was very unique. Rather than the traditional introduction where an authority goes through a litany of accolades, an Okemos high school teacher and two of her students created a short kit based on a scene from Sarah Byrns. After the skit, they discussed what they liked about his Crutcher's books, and finally introduced him.

I haven't read any of Crutcher's books, but I now feel I should get to it. His stories actually come from his own experiences, although his young self usually plays minor roles.

10:00-10:50. Authentic Writing in a Digital World. Christina Helsel, MSU; Michelle Rafferty, MSU; Daniel Babcock, MSU.

They have a website for the presentation: Authentic Writing in a Digital World.

The need to give students a real purpose and a real audience for their writing. One way to meet this need is via digital means.
Problems: getting students to recognize when to use formal and informal writing.

The identity of a writer is separate from the physical self (like an avatar). On-line writers are not necessarily the same as the person writing.

Pros

• Authentic audience and purpose


• Intertextuality


• Greater risk-taking in writing


• Continued communication in academic environment outside school boundaries


• Potential increase in reflection


• Connection with student interests


• Content standard requirement
  

Cons

• New boundaries between student and teacher


• Inequity in technology


• Time-consuming nature


• Potential threats to privacy and propriety


• Technological difficulties


• Programatic backfires

Using Blogs

Helsel used blogs as a method of peer review. It forces students to learn a holisitic approach to peer review since they can't just mark up a paper for mechanical errors.

Helsel found students were excited to see their work published. Students already are used to interacting online. Students did, indeed, learn to use a holistic approach to peer review. Not all ths students enjoyed blogging, however.

Using Message Boards

Can be formatted and customized to meet needs of teacher and classroom. Can use filters for language. Boards can named and customized for various instructional purposes.

The teacher created two boards: one for academic discussion and on for general discussion.

The students engaged in authentic discussion. They re-identifiied themselves outside of the class walls as class members.

Students were asked to post twice a week. The teacher is able to maintain communication with the students outside of class.

Flaws: Requires prior experience with the message board. Requires about two hours per week of maintenance.

11:00-11:50. Social Networking, Teacher Education, and English Language Arts. Robert Rozema, GVSU; Troy Hicks, CMU.

Rozema opened with a short video about social networking and how teachers can use it especially since it is so transparent and allows everyone to view your activities.

Use group to allow you to communicate with your students through Facebook.

We were instructed to jot down an observation or question.

How creepy is it when professors are on Facebook? Can we create both an academic and a private identity?

Facebook was created for students, not faculty. If faculty uses it, we need to monitor how we use it. One suggestion, don't befriend current students. Another, use caution when posting.

Teachers should be up to date with what students are doing, but we need to use balance.

At a secondary level - how to use it even if you're not willing to use it.
Character study. Teachers have students create a paper-based "Facebook profile" for characters in literature you are studying. Rozema gave us an example from a class that was reading Much Ado about Nothing.

Another option would be to use Ning.com to create a private social network for students in a class. You can create networks across institutions, and you still own your work, unlike institution-run networks and sites.

Hicks provided a link to his wiki page on social networking for educational purposes: Social Networking, Teacher Education, and English Language Arts. It has a ton of links you can check out if you're considering using a social networking tool in your classroom.

Teaching with Technology

Feeling frustrated at having to repost this right now.... My own fault....


The purpose of today's class was to get everyone a little more comfortable with using technology in teaching English. I wanted to go beyond Gilmore's use of technology in the revision process. Instead, I wanted to show that technology can be used creatively by Language Arts instructors. I can't stress enough that these technologies do not require a "dumbing down" of the curriculum. In fact, using these technologies actually emcompass more state standards than traditional writing instruction.

You're already familiar with wikis and blogs, so I will leave those out of this discussion.

Digital Storytelling
Digital storytelling is a multimodal (multimedia?) production using a combination of text, images, voice narration, perhaps video, and usually music to tell a story. Digital storytelling has become a very popular way for pre-interns to explain why they went into teaching. However, digital storytelling can be a powerful took in the language arts classroom because of its dual role of presentation and production. Students can use digital storytelling to present poetry, biographies, autobiographies, book reports, ethnographies, and even research projects.

Center for Digital Storytelling
Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling
Digital Storytelling at Electronic Portfolio.org


Podcasting
Podcasts are video or audio productions meant to be uploaded to a portable device on demand. Much like digital storytelling, podcasts are a creative way for students to express themselves. Even the common book report is more interesting when done as a podcast.

Examples of student podcasts at MSU
Amphitheater High School podcasts
Marion Beat


e-Portfolios
E-Portfolios allow students to maintain and organize their work over the course of a semester, a year, or even their high school careers. The advantage that e-portfolios have over hard copy portfolios is the ease of incorporating multimedia content. Students can include essays, yes, but also podcasts, pictures, videos, and hypertext poetry.

Electronic Portfolios.Org
ePortfolios Portal
Beacon Charter High School for the Arts


A good place to start is Allen Webb's Techno English Blog. It was based on his Teaching with Technology class.

Registration form for Linda Christensen Conference

I don't think we can upload files to Blogger. (If I'm wrong, please let me know how to do it.)

However, I have uploaded the registration form to our E-Learning site (check under content) and our Wikispace (Teaching Writing in Grades 7-12).

Please remember that attendance at the scholarly talk on Thursday, March 20th and the miniconference Friday, March 21st is mandatory. You will not have to pay to attend, however. We have money in our lab fund to cover your attendance.

If you cannot attend one or both of the conference events because of another class, please let me know so we can come up with an alternative plan.

This is me nearly every day

It's nice to know that I am not the only bad grad student out there.

At least there is one fictional cartoon character who knows my daily plight:

And I'm doing it again right now.

Poetry in Kalamazoo

It was requested of me that I post information about some local poetry events in case any of you would like to attend some.

Here you are:


A local website that has all the information you need about local poetry events is: PAKZOO.org
You can start there. There is a calendar function to keep track of shows.

Here are some locations

Every Monday from 8:00 to 10:00 PM
Papa Pete's Coffee Bar
502 South Burdick Street (corner of Cedar)
Poetry Slam and Open Mic with various hosts

The third Monday of the month from 7:00 to 9:00 PM
Papa Pete's Coffee Bar
502 South Burdick Street
Youth Poetry Slam with Chris Bullmer

The first Wednesday of the month from 8:00 to 10:00 PM
Dino's Coffee Lounge
773 West Michigan Street
Poetry Slam and Open Mic with Todd Bannon

The first Friday of the month
Fire
1249 Portage Street
Open Mic and Feature Poet
Website: Fire

ACT sample essays

I stole this from the ACT Writing Test Site. I'll probably take it down for legal reasons.

ACT Writing Test: Sample Essays

Here is their sample prompt:

Educators debate extending high school to five years because of increasing demands on students from employers and colleges to participate in extracurricular activities and community service in addition to having high grades. Some educators support extending high school to five years because they think students need more time to achieve all that is expected of them. Other educators do not support extending high school to five years because they think students would lose interest in school and attendance would drop in the fifth year. In your opinion, should high school be extended to five years?

In your essay, take a position on this question. You may write about either one of the two points of view given, or you may present a different point of view on this question. Use specific reasons and examples to support your position.

How would you score the following essays on a 1-6 rubric?

SAMPLE A:

SAMPLE B

SAMPLE C