The+Good+-+Value+Added

21st Century Learning **How have lessons changed as a result of technology?**

1- 1 has expanded the classroom. In the past study skills have been a key part in the course. They are still present and the boys can help each other with instant examples of work, and work together using wikis to review and create study guides. The course has also expanded allowing the boys to research information on the spot, factually as well as visually. The boys have been working on research and bias with information and original documents. Moving the boys to active learners instead of passive receptors.
 * 6th History**

Value added the boys are blogging and sharing a wiki with a class in Florida. The boys have become the teachers and are motivated to research information to share.

- English: immediate access to student work, allowing quick feedback, easy monitoring of homework, checking of understanding. Students can share with one another and proofread and comment on one another’s writing.
 * 6th English**

 - English: All the grammar quizzes have the option of taking them on-line and getting immediate feedback for students and easier grading for teachers. Students know when they make their errors much more quickly and can correct their understanding right away. Absent students can take quizzes at home or even on the road.

 - English: We already used Google Docs, but now that the students are using Docs and Apps with their other teachers, the teaching time is much less because the skills are familiar. Making the playlist wiki took MUCH less time as a result.

- students use spreadsheet to convert fractions to decimals INSTEAD OF using a calculator or paper/pencil ADDED BENEFIT more practice with formulas and formatting a spreadsheet and ability to better identify patterns, shows more uses of a spreadsheet and links to stock project
 * 6th Math**

 - students had more access to their Big World and Stock Projects INSTEAD OF having to go to the lab ADDED BENEFIT saves time

- Each student in the science class is creating a graph for their lab reports. Last year with computers, I think most times one student would be the graph maker and everyone else in the group would just take a printed copy of the graph. They are actually learning the skill of graphing on a computer. Students are learning to save a graph as an image and then insert it into a document. Students are focusing on the process and learning skills, rather than simply being product driven.
 * 6th Grade Science**

- I find when I am grading and making comments about my students, I can go directly to my Google docs folder. I can find all their lab reports and study the progress through the year. I make more helpful and useful feedback to the students so they can revise and edit their work. The focus on the assignment becomes more about learning the skills (making a graph, writing a topic sentence, or writing a conclusion) rather than simply a grade. The teacher has a better understanding of the process of each student's work.

 - I have been using a different wiki page for each topic during the year. The wiki page encourages the boys to actively interact with their learning and helps them create useful study guides. Students can embed movies, text, pictures, notes, etc.

 - I have taken a survey at the end of each unit of study. Asking students their different study strategies, opinions of the class and technology. over 85% of students find the wiki page helpful to review for the tests in the class. Over 65% of students find the netbook helps them write better lab reports and learn in science. Most students find they are using the netbooks just the right amount (not too much, not too little)



__Reading__ : Our class blog. http://myblog.readforfun.org/Teaching/
 * 6th Reading**


 * Podcasts (also on iTunes under "Always Learning") of students telling the stories they prepared in the fall.
 * We reading mythology books in groups, and every group has a space on the blog. Go to the "groups" tab to see the list.

 This is enriching the learning in and out of class...  *It's an extension of our class beyond our two periods available (though it's slow getting the boys to realize that they should be checking in periodically during the week). In class, the boys have time to read and then go to the group when they’re ready.  *The conversations online allow for me to see what is happening in each group, they give quieter boys a chance to "speak up" and they allow for boys to read at their own pace and still participate in a discussion  *It isn't replacing face-to-face conversations (which are sometimes happening simultaneously)...it's an added bonus. I also get to respond to each group, each boy. It's like reader response journals without my needing to lug around 70-some copybooks ( I tried that once ), and allows boys to respond to each other's comments as well.  *The boys are learning how to participate in an online learning environment. We spent part of a class period talking about what kinds of comments are appropriate, how to respond to each other, etc. (E.g., you can disagree someone but you must explain WHY.)

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Art ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- I am constantly looking for ways to connect my art classes to the content, specifically literature, in other classes. For example the 6th graders study poetry in their English class. Poetry is a perfect connection point. Both poetry and visual art function primarily through the use of metaphor. Furthermore, their English teacher uses a critique format to evaluate poetry recitals. These entry points were vital when I began to produce poetry videos with them. It also has become much more streamlined since the boys began using Google Docs. Now the boys can pull up their poems, essays, evaluations, and work directly from their own content when making video in the multi-media lab. It used to be that I would have to re-create the wheel with every group for every project. Now it is like I am picking up where the English teacher left off.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I have followed a similar model for the 7th grade and their focus on literature in English class. We were even able to work in traditional charcoal drawing, by using animation as the entry point to analyze and interpret a piece of lit.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">

__Comment from faculty:__

__ 6th English __ __ Once a month, each of my students memorizes and recites a poem. I have one of the other students videotape him with the Flip camera, and (usually before the end of the day), I transfer the movie to my computer and e-mail a link to the movie to the student so he can evaluate his performance. The boys really get into watching themselves, and often say they can't write their self-evaluation unless they've seen their videos. __

__ --Delia __ __ 1. The current writing unit in 6th grade English is the playlist wiki site. The boys generate a list of songs that belong to a particular theme. Then they write an introductory paragraph and a separate paragraph describing each song. Right now, they're in the process of adding their list and paragraphs to their own wiki page (The wiki is on Google Apps and I'll share with all the teachers once it's in readable state), and then they will add links to videos, lyrics, mp3 music files, band websites, and other resources. The boys read one another's wiki pages and follow the links to find out more about their music. Meanwhile, I follow all the site changes so I can monitor when the boys are updating and what kind of work they're doing. Some boys are already commenting on one another's pages--and it's not silly stuff. For instance, William Russell just now commented on Jack Brown's page: __

__// Jack, //__ __// I looked up the videos on youtube but it took a long time for me to find them. can you please paste a link? //__

__ 2. As you know, I use Google Docs extensively when working on writing. Now that all the boys are on Google Apps, and now that everyone is familiar with the interface, I require boys to do their written homework and in-class assignments on Google Docs and share editing rights with me. Writing things out by hand is really only a "Plan B" option (I never want them to be made helpless when their technology doesn't work). When we do it this way, I can comment on their writing right away. When they arrive in class, I've already checked their homework! As I was writing this e-mail, Robert Samuels logged on to write his poem recital paragraph, and when I opened the document to see what he had written, he wrote "Hi, Dr. T!" and I wrote "Hi, Robert!" back to him, right in his document. This way, the boys know I'm reading their work, not just collecting it. It strengthens our relationship. __

__ --Delia __

__6th math__ __ I'm assuming you've inlcuded the stock project and BWP. We also have the youtube channel which highlights the ability for us to teach them anytime, anywhere and reach an even wider audience than the boys that we teach. __

__ 7th grader Math __ __ I have **Numbers in Your Neighborhood project.** Boys use Flickr to post three pictures of where they see math in their community. They then, pose three questions and answer them in the comments section. The idea behind this project is for boys to see that math is all around them. __

__ Fantasy Football Project - Boys gain a better understanding of statistics and see how formulas are used when playing fantasy sports. Again, they are seeing a real-world application of math. __

__Nick__

__ Hi Tracy, __

__ I'd say that one 21st century learning tool is our class blog. __ http://myblog.readforfun.org/Teaching/ __ On it you will find some podcasts (also on iTunes under "Always Learning") of students telling the stories they prepared in the fall. Also, we are reading mythology books in groups, and every group has a space on the blog. Go to the "groups" tab to see the list.

This is enriching the learning in //and// out of class... As you know, we don't meet frequently so it's an extension of our class beyond our two periods available (though it's slow getting the boys to realize that they should be checking in periodically during the week). In class, the boys have time to read and then go to the group. The conversations online allow for me to see what is happening in each group, they give quieter boys a chance to "speak up" (I've heard much more from Jacob Wertheimer recently!), and they allow for boys to read at their own pace and jump into the conversation when ready. It isn't replacing face-to-face conversations (which are sometimes happening simultaneously)...it's an added bonus. I also get to respond to each group, each boy. It's like reader response journals without my needing to lug around 70-some copybooks ( I tried that once ), and allows boys to respond to each other's comments as well. Plus, they are learning how to participate in an online learning environment. We just spent part of a class period talking about what kinds of comments are appropriate, how to respond to each other, etc. (E.g., you can disagree someone but you must explain WHY.) Karen

Technology and it's impact on Prima Lingua. Prima Lingua has an online site which students can use to study, retrieve their workbook or play games. Having the netbooks readily accessible have allowed students to interact online more frequently.

Having a projector has also allowed me to involve the students more actively and invite them to not only come up to the board, but also follow along doing the work themselves in their netbooks so that everyone is participating and not just one is up and trying to solve the problem. I have tried testing online and that still poses some issues in terms of monitoring, but the boys seems to perform better and enjoy the interaction that it provides vs. paper. However, I have noticed that they have difficulty transferring information from the computer to paper but less so viceversa. It is very interesting and I am not sure why that is yet.

In terms of what I am doing differently- I feel more connected with each kid and I feel like the class is more engaging and requires each of them to participate as they have the resources in front of them for them to test and participate in.