Monday, July 27, 2009

Zoller45 (a new digital classroom)

I've just added a feed to my new classroom blog (http://Zoller45.blogspot.com). I am looking forward to getting this up and running in the fall with my new sixth grade classroom. We're going to be completely wired, with a classroom blog, Twitter account, and a school-wide wiki. I can 't wait to see how the students react, and how this influences their learning in the coming year. It's time for my classroom to move completely into the Web 2.0 technology that I have been familiar with for some time. It should be awesome!

Policing the Digital Domain

Over the last few weeks, I've had the opportunity to present some technology workshops to fellow teachers in my school district. Last week, I was part of a workshop on blogging and an interesting discussion came up. We were talking about how we would like to see the students not only become exposed to blogs (and Twitter), but also become creators of personal blogs or contributors to classroom blogs. In the midst of the discussion, a few teachers expressed concerns about how one might "police" the students' posts to make sure that nothing inappropriate was posted to a public classroom domain.

The concerns of the teachers were very real, and spoke to a larger issue when incorporating technology into classroom learning. These teachers' main concern was that they might get in trouble because of something a student posts to a classroom blog. And we didn't really come to an answer for that issue so much as developing an understanding: in the digital classroom, teachers are going to have to relinquish some control and allow for the students' self-expression. Yes, this does create a tenuous situation, especially if one is dealing with a student who wants to create a problem and doesn't care about the repercussions.

However, I can't help but see this as a teachable moment that will begin to define what digital classrooms will look like. For decades, teachers were taught to control every situation and ensure that nothing went in a direction that was unexpected or potentially inappropriate. But with the modern social construct, students are going to be communicating whether we want them to or not. It is best to guide them and explain the ramifications of destructive actions in a public domain. And teachers must also be able to rely on their school districts to back them up and recognize the need for these forms of communication to move forward for the benefit of the whole student population.

Eventually, we made it clear that most blogs or websites allow users to control who can view the site, who can post to the site, and whether the content is appropriate and will remain. The tools are there to censor, if needed, and to privatize the site if one doesn't want it to be universally available. I hope, though, that these tools will not be overused, because a major part of classrooms in the digital age will be that they are student-centered in both focus and in creation of content; the voices of the students will be the ultimate key, and while that might require a shift of control away from the teacher, it's an exciting notion that I can't wait to see play out.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Yes, TV can teach you something!

In the simulated classroom on the set of "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader", a contestant tonight made the exact same error that dozens of my students have habitually made throughout the years - she didn't read the question! I'm not a normal watcher of the show (though my students constantly beg me to throw my hat in the ring), but I had it on in the background as I painted a living room tonight. (As an aside, I tend to use home improvement as my means to refresh in the first weeks of summer).

Anyway, I was painting away and listening to the first contestant (the hot-dog eating champion of the world) do quite well but not know the name of the person who developed the immunization for small pox. I didn't know it either - Edward Jenner for those keeping track - and realized that I, too, would have lost on that question. There was enough time in the hour for another contestant, and she breezed through the first couple questions. Then, she chose a math category (pointing out that she's pretty good at math), listened to the question, said, "This is like taking candy from a baby", and proceeded to give the wrong answer. The question was: if four shelves out of five are filled with six dolls each, and then the final shelf holds only three dolls, how many total dolls are there? The contestant firmly and confidently answered "nine", at which point Jeff Foxworthy (the host) took on his best teacher voice and asked her to read the question out loud - something I've done thousands of times myself. She immediately found her error, then queasily withstood the next couple moments as she realized that she had just lost $25,000 for her mistake.

I might not watch this game show again any time soon, but I saw something there tonight that made me think about my own practices with my students. So many times they read too quickly and are confident about what ends up being the wrong response. The problem is not, of course, their math abilities, but rather the ability to understand what a question means. It's a tricky thing to teach - self-critique, that is - but it is essential. I will definitely be using this example in the fall, not as a way to bring an old teacher saying to life, but rather as a means to start examining the situations in which a person should allow themselves doubt, even when confidence abounds. We might not all lose $25,000 on the deal, but it's a valuable lesson nonetheless!