Writing Outside of English Class

Something amazing happened yesterday - something that you'd think would happen all the time, but rarely does. The science teacher on my team conducted a writing lesson during class.

I think it's every English teacher's dream to get the other content areas to buy in to the standards and the guidelines that we set forth for our students' writing. However, the reality is that other subject areas focus on their content and rarely think about matching their writing expectations to ours.

Yesterday, though, Mr. Musselman did just that. Earlier in the week, he approached me about doing a writing lesson, and after a brief conversation in which we actually talked about standards, guidelines, and expectations for writing, he was off planning. Two days later he followed up the assignment with a peer review activity complete with rubrics and FCAs.

After, we talked about how it went, and (thankfully) how easy it seemed to go for him in class - how the students bought into the idea that writing for one class should be the same as writing for another class. Then came my big question...

"Do you think you could do an activity or assignment like this at least once a month?"

With a look of disbelief he said it wasn't even a question. Of course he could. It should be happening all the time.

MassCUE: One Year Later

Sitting here at my second MassCUE conference, I can't help but think back to a year ago when I was walking the halls of the Sturbridge absorbing as much new information as is humanly possible in just two short days. Now, a year later I'm thinking about all that's changed for me professionally.

Since the '08 MassCUE conference, I've:

• become a regular user of Twitter.


• created a valuable PLN of educators from all over the world.


• used Skype to link my classroom to other classrooms across the country.


• become a regular (for the most part) blogger.


• created a classroom blog that is predominately driven by student content.


• set up all of my students on blogs.


• begun to manage and assess more than 50% of my students work virtually.


• created movies and have posted them online.


• allowed students to use cell phones in class.


• provided students opportunities to collaborate online to create new content for Wikipedia.


• done a lot more than I can think of right now...

My first pass at the '09 MassCUE program guide left me feeling like there wasn't much new that I didn't already know about or that I hadn't already explored to some extent. At first I felt pretty proud of myself and my colleagues. Relative to the rest of the education world, we're ahead of the technological curve. But, then I realized that just because I know about something doesn't mean that I've fully explored how to use it -- especially in the classroom.

So, for the past 36 hours, I've spent this conference attending sessions hosted by really smart people and picking their brains -- asking questions about how to use all these new tools more efficiently. While last year I felt overwhelmed by everything new, this year I feel focused and even more determined to make technology a seamless part of my classroom.

More Than Words

I did something I don't normally do yesterday - something so simple, yet something that often eludes me in my regular business of teaching and interacting with kids. Something so light and casual, but yet something that carries so much weight and seriousness.

I told a student, "Good job."

I know, right? Me? The one who has adopted the motto, "Fail. Try again. Fail better." The one who will not accept a writing unless it's nearly perfect and will return it over and over again until it is. The one who goes out of his way NOT to give a student a high five or a fist bump in the hallway. Me?

I continued. "I love reading everything that you write. Keep up the good work."

It was brief and to the point. A quick exchange as she came into class from the hallway. I caught her a little off guard, and I think she thought she might have been in trouble. And then, a funny thing happened. Something that I imagined might happen, but perhaps wasn't entirely prepared for.

She smiled.

And, as she walked away, I thought that maybe I had caught myself a little off guard, too. Like when the Grinch hears singing rising up from the valley below, I was suddenly surprised at how important it is to actually compliment a student face to face. How their efforts need to be acknowledged by more than a note at the bottom of the page or an exclamation point after a grade at the top.

Later, the student stopped by my room at the end of the day. "Thanks for the compliment. That was really nice. It made my day."

When Our Students Go Public

I've been following the conversation going on at Wes Fryer's blog, Moving at the Speed of Creativity, for a few days now, ever since his daughter's video response to President Obama's education speech was posted on YouTube. It has created quite a stir, and as it approaches 100,000 views, it makes me think that as I keep encouraging my students to publicize their work, one day soon we'll be facing the same kinds of issues and questions.


One of the most important is managing comments. Many of us understand that inviting comments is a necessary part of the writing process -- that simply publishing work is not the end of the process, but only a step. And, most of us understand that it is important to moderate those comments is necessary to filter out the spam, the vulgarity, and those that seek to vandalize. However, as Wes is finding out, that when a video or a blog post goes "viral," moderating the comments and protecting the younger students from obscenity and disparaging remarks can easily become a full time job.

I'm suddenly thinking about my students and their Edublog accounts that we'll be setting up in the next few days. As the class administrator, I'll take on the responsibility of moderating the comments for everyone -- one, to help teach them all how to comment effectively, and two, to protect them from things that maybe they aren't ready to deal with yet. At four full classes of students, it's a lot of comment moderating, and I'm not sure how I'll even begin to manage.

However, the point is that I'm going to try. Like Wes and Sarah have done, we need to put the work out there and learn from what comes next. Sitting back and wondering "what if" will not help us or our students. If things don't work out, I'll go back and rethink my goals. But, if things go well, then...I don't know. It'll be great, I'm sure.

Summer as Prewriting

This week President Barack Obama is starting his family vacation in Martha's Vineyard, just a week after we finished our own little family vacation on the Cape. And, while it was pretty impressive to see the Secret Service helicopters cruising down Route 28, it made me imagine that just like us teachers, the President is never really "on vacation." If you're the one of the most powerful leaders in the world, can you seriously take a break and tune out? I know that when I'm away from my classroom, I never really stop thinking about it. I can only imagine what it's like for the President.

As always, this summer for me has been about thinking, planning, and brainstorming -- even though some would say that I've just been on vacation. Just like we tell our students to make time to activate their thinking before a project or a writing, we teachers need to set aside time to assess the previous year and contemplate how to adjust for the upcoming year. It's an ongoing process, but one that is necessary to improve our instruction.

Aside from reading a whole bunch of YA novels, attending a training or two, keeping up with my PLN, reading a lot of professional articles and blogs, and crunching some student data, here are five things I've been thinking about this summer:

Using Student Blogging as a Regular Activity -- One theme that will be guiding much of the work in our building this year is to help students reach an audience greater than themselves. Blogging seems like a natural path to this end. Allowing students to write for each other and for people outside of their classroom community seems much more important and authentic than just writing for me or for themselves. My concern is how to manage and provide guidance and feedback for 100 student blogs. I'd like to think it's no different from a stack of papers, but I know differently.

Getting Students to Read More -- It's been a long time coming, but I'm finally getting around to losing the idea that I have to direct everything that students read in class. Giving students choices and helping them make informed decisions about what they read seems a lot more appealing lately. Ultimately, this is about differentiating instruction to meet each student's individual needs, but the reality is that I need to read a whole lot more in order to be a more effective guide to learning.

Helping Other Content Area Teachers Incorporate More Writing Activities and Projects -- It drives me crazy when a student's writing in my class looks vastly different than in someone else's class. We should all be on the same page -- teachers and students included. A student shouldn't expect to write differently in a science class, and a science teacher shouldn't accept lower standards. "This isn't English" and "I'm not a writing teacher" aren't excuses.

Working With Half the Time -- This year will be the first time in eight years that I won't be teaching a double block. I admit it will be quite a challenge to work in just 50 minutes, and I'm a little worried that I'll lose a lot of that one-to-one time that I have with individual students and groups during an activity. And, what about that buffer time to troubleshoot when technology goes awry...

Empowering Students -- I've never been one for doling out classroom "jobs," but I'm thinking that this year will be different. I've read a lot about using social media to open up the classroom to the outside world this summer, and I think that there is a lot of great learning potential there. So, my "baby step" into this is to develop at least two classroom jobs. One student will be the classroom blogger, who will summarize the day's lesson and post it to the classroom blog. The other job will be a classroom microblogger, who will be responsible for posting live updates of the class to Twitter. With hope, these will take off and provide students, parents, and other teachers, additional resources to their learning.

Of course, these are only a few of the things that are swirling around in my head right now. Still, they are the ones that are rising to prominence. And, like any good prewriting session, I know that the next step, the first draft, means to jump in and get messy. Throughout the year I'll continue to revise and edit, and in June I'm sure I'll have a more perfect draft.

Taking Off the Training Wheels

We live on an amazing cul-de-sac in a quiet neighborhood teeming with elementary school aged children. On most days there are about a half dozen kids out riding bikes, playing pick-up hockey, or just doing goofy kid stuff. But last October when my then four-year-old son had his feelings hurt by another boy from down the street, I went into protective daddy mode.

You see five months earlier I bought him his first training-wheeled bike. It was a little big, though, and he had trouble putting both feet on the ground while sitting on it. Still, I thought, it would be ok because he'd have the whole summer to get used to riding with training wheels, and by next spring, when he'd grown a little, I'd take them off.

Well, he "went to town" on his bike. The first day alone he rode for nearly four hours straight - without a break for lunch or the potty, and he continued to ride it every day, faster and better each time. He learned how to pedal standing up, how to make a long skid, and by the end of summer, how to go over a small jump - all on his training wheels. Neighborhood parents kept asking me, "He's doing real well. When are those training wheels coming off?" Each time I stuck to my rationalization about safety, and his feet touching the ground, and not wanting to rush him.

That all changed in those weeks leading up to Halloween when another little boy (also four and NOT on training wheels) blocked the ramp and declared, as only preschoolers can, that boys who were on training wheels were not allowed to go over jumps. My son cried for an hour.

The next day I took off the training wheels.

Much to my surprise, he just started riding. He didn't fall. He hardly even wobbled. It took exactly three minutes for him to learn to ride a real two-wheeled bike. Within thirty minutes, he was racing another girl, standing up on the pedals and skidding to a stop across the imaginary finish line.

Clearly he was ready to ride on two wheels, and apparently had been ready for quite some time. I was the one who was nervous and had been holding him back.

I called my wife and told her to hurry home to bear witness to the new milestone that had been reached. Of course he crashed into her car as soon as she pulled into the driveway. But, he got right back up, and with a slight nudge in the right direction, he was back to riding, and he hasn't stopped since.

For me, and my guess is probably for a lot of you, this past year has also been about taking off those training wheels - exploring the world with a new sense of freedom and opportunity, and providing students with new and exciting ways for them grow and learn. And, as my son proved to me, we've been ready for quite a while.

Video Killed the Middle School Star

I've known that feeling. The same kind of feeling I have when I press "publish post," or when I have to present in front of a large group of teachers, or when my wife drags me out to an empty dance floor, or when I had poison ivy on my face on the first day of middle school...

I hadn't considered that sensation would be something the students would have felt, too. Nothing like a Skype video conference to stir the pot.

For the past few weeks, my classes have been reading Red Scarf Girl, a memoir of the Cultural Revolution in China that began in 1966. During that time I set up many different activities to help them comprehend the novel and make meaning from it. Students read and discussed in small groups -- both student led and teacher directed. They used reflective writing exercises to ask questions and explore themes, and they connected the story's events and ideas to experiences in their own lives and to other novels.

Along the way we hooked up with another 6th grade teacher (thank you Twitter) and her classes from Cary, NC for a project in which we uploaded new content to the book's page on Wikipedia. For the most part our classes worked indpendently from each other and never really interacted. Certainly, the students were aware they were writing for a larger, more public audience, but the activity didn't seem much different than anything else we had done throughout the year. Probably the greatest amount of collaboration and interaction between the schools was between us teachers who were setting it up.

Skype changed all that.

As a culminating activity we set up a video class discussion via Skype. That morning things started our as planned. At 8:15am we popped up the feeds, and instantly our classes, one in Massachusetts and one in North Carolina, were staring face to face.

Without warning, my kids froze.

One of the most talkative students couldn't say the name of our school or where we are located. Another student, one of the most boisterous, reverted to speech so babyish, it would have made my toddler blush. The best adjective that another student could come up with to describe our community was "ghetto." Not what I would have ever dreamed would come out of the mouth of the one student in class who's done missionary work overseas. There was nervous chatter and laughter from some, while others simply became silent. It was as if my entire class had been reborn from giant alien space pods straight out of a 1950s B movie.



Now, of course looking back at the video, I'll admit that in general things went really well. Several of my students stepped up with some very thoughtful and interesting points, carrying our side of the discussion, and making it more than a worthwhile endeavor. And, I guess in the bigger picture, I'd go so far as to say it was wildly successful. We were able to do many of those things we always talk about -- use the web to remove classroom walls, engage in meaningful discussion across great distances, participate in authentic learning experiences. Still though, I had much higher expectations for my students' participation, and I couldn't help but wonder why such academic stars failed to shine as I know they can.

It was that nervousness. They didn't want to look silly. They thought that the other class used "big words" and was really smart. They didn't want to be perceived as not knowing what they were talking about, and so they clung tightly to old adage, "better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." Really? Is that all it takes to shake a student's confidence? A video feed?

It makes me believe that these kinds of authentic interactions are even more important than ever. Students need opportunities to practice communicating not only with their peers, not only in publishable writing activities, but in ways that foster discussion, collaboration, and communication that stretches students into unfamiliar territory to places where their status quo might be disrupted. They need to become comfortable with the consquenses of publishing their posts, to speak their minds in face to face conversations, and to be the first ones out on the dance floor.

Rewriting the Plan

Today was one of those days when technology threatened to undermine a whole lot of thinking and planning.

"What are we going to do now, Mr. Olivo?" one student whined predictably.

"Everyone back to the classroom. We'll rearrange the room and set up our conversations in groups," I responded while quickly rewriting my lesson plans in my head.

"You mean like the old way?"

Exactly.

I've been thinking and reading a lot lately about teaching and learning - well, more than usual, that is, and with everything I've come across, there is one common thread. We are in the middle of a shift from an old way of doing things to a new way of delivering instruction and providing access to the curriculum for students. And, clearly technology is an important component.

I think many teachers and principals, and schools and districts are more than aware of the need to start including more current technology in their schools. However, many seem to be caught up in a frenzy to upgrade our classrooms and schools by latching on to the latest technological trends without really understanding exactly how things will be different or better.

Think about this statement from Will Richardson in his blog post "So What is the Future of Schools?".

"We have to first change our understanding of what it means to teach in this moment. That doesn’t mean than we throw out all of the good pedagogy that we’ve developed over the years and make everything about technology. But it does mean, I think, that technology has to be a part of the way we do our learning business these days."

Read Evan Abby's post about common pitfalls with technology professional development, the 21st century schools report from the Ontario Public Schools, or the many comments from a host of blog posts out there -- "Open Letter to a 21st Century School" and Scott McLeod's "Help Wanted - Building a New Secondary School" to name a few. There is a common theme to all of them.

It's about changing the way that we teach rather than adding technology to what we do.

Schools not only believe that they need the latest and greatest instructional technology, but they also believe that it must be distributed equitably among the classrooms. This is another trap. Wes Fryer writes:

As educational leaders, we often want and strive for systemic, scalable change across entire organizations. Educational technology innovation generally tends to take place in isolated pockets, however...
ISTEConnects.org "Focusing on Classrooms Rather Than Schools"

His article also cites a post from Clarence Fisher about the dangers of spending thousands of dollars on technology to create uniform classrooms where teachers are forced to adapt to the new technology that is available to them rather than allow teachers to individualize their own presentation styles and methods. The majority of comments in a Ben Grey post support this idea, as well.

Again, it's about changing the way that we teach rather than adding technology to what we do.

It's a Really Expensive Piece of Equipment, Fred

Since the end of the election season last fall, I've been missing the SNL political sketches. In a word -- hysterical. Amy Poehler shooting a moose dead in front of the real Sarah Palin? Fred Armisen as Barack Obama engaging a miniature, imaginary Joe the Plumber during one of the debates? Tina Fey? Are you kidding me? As the kids say, "lol!"

One particular episode highlighted a segment that made fun of the growing trend of using Smartboards as part of network and cable news coverage. It pointed out how mesmerized everyone has become by the technology, and how we seem to have forgotten that it's the content that matters. It made me think about how we use technology here in schools.



Lately, just like the news networks, we've also been installing Smartboards to enhance our deliveries, but I have to say, I'm not a big fan. It's not because I don't think they're a great tool - they are. It's just that in a school setting, they're often not really used to their potential. In fact, I'd bet in most cases, teachers are using their Smartboards as fancy $3000 screens to project a PowerPoint, show a video clip, or surf through a few web sites. That's not Smartboard technology - that's projector technology. What are people doing with their Smartboards that they can't already do with a notebook computer and a projector?

In my classroom, I opted to go with an Avervision 280 document camera and an NEC projector. Pointed down at my teaching table, the document camera shows whatever I put underneath - text from a handout or a book, notes that I write, student work that I want to share, or demonstrations that students make. In that sense it works like a combination of an overhead and an opaque projector. It also has VGA inputs so I can plug in my laptop and show what's on my screen - the Internet, Word documents, pictures, video - what have you. I have a VCR and a DVD connected to the projector so that I can show film clips, instructional videos, live television, and video feeds from the library. I can easily move between all of these with the press of a button, and I can do it at roughly one quarter of the cost of a Smartboard. Tell me I can't do anything with this setup that someone can do with a Smartboard - except maybe draw a green cat on the screen with my finger.

Fun With Ustream.tv

I'm finding it harder and harder to make time for the day-to-day activities of school with all these cool tools and gadgets out there. Honestly, it's the end of the day, and it's sunny and warm out. Why would I want to grade when I can play around with my latest distraction -- Ustream.

Ustream is a great site that lets you stream live video over the internet. More than that, though, it also provides a chat feature so that you can facilitate a discussion about what is being filmed. There are a host of other great features to it as well, but for now, I think it's just great to be able to open up the classroom to a worldwide audience.

So, after a few practice runs, I finally tried it out with my students for real. Each year during our Greek mythology and Ulysses unit, my classes put together plays as a culminating activity. Sometimes, if there is enough time, they are able to write their own missing chapter to The Adventures of Ulysses. However, other times, like this year, they work in small groups of five and six to prepare short one-act myths from a book I have. The students prepare costumes and props, memorize their lines, and do just about everything short of selling tickets to their performances. At show time, on the day before vacation, we invite the entire team to watch the productions, and each year it goes really well.

However, this year, I decided to use Ustream to broadcast the performances live so that parents could also enjoy the plays. And, I have to say that aside from a few sound issues, it went really well -- especially considering that I was filming with a $40 webcam instead of a proper video camera. Here they are below:



So, the next day was even more fun. Our district hosted a Blue Ribbon Conference for teaching and learning, and many of us participated in Ustream backchannels. This one in particular was a question and answer session hosted by Will Richardson. The feed allowed people from all over the world to tune in and join the conversation. Another feed allowed me to sit in one session and watch and participate in another simultaneously.

If harnessed appropriately, this type of technology set up in a classroom environment can open up a tremendous amount of possibilities. Students could learn from the conversations in the room and they could learn from each other with the chat feature. Parents and other classrooms could watch and join in on the conversations to extend the discussion beyond the classroom walls making for a wider perspective and richer discussion.

If any of you out there have experimented with Ustream or are regularly using it as a classroom tool, let me know how it's working.

Back Away From the Cul-de-Sac

Now that my son has turned five and is preparing for kindergarten, I'm finding myself engaged in more and more in conversations with other parents about schools. They've been taking place in the usual locations - the end of the cul-de-sac, the grocery store, birthday parties, and as one might imagine, they often take a turn down perilous paths for the public school teacher.

Such was the case this week when I found myself having to stand up for our local district's third grade math curriculum. Mind you, I'm not a math teacher, I don't teach elementary school, and the only experience I've had with this district so far is the kindergarten registration night. However, because I am a teacher, I was expected to know the exact reasoning behind teaching geometry to third graders and why everyone (those on our street) did so poorly on a quiz.

I did my best to negotiate the divide between parent and teacher, but when the discussion turned to expectations that elementary school children should know and be able to use PowerPoint, I knew I was in serious trouble.

"I don't even know how to use PowerPoint. How can you expect an eight-year-old to use it?" one neighbor said.

My first instinct was to ask why would you use PowerPoint when you can use Photostory, VoiceThread, or something else equally more interesting and useful than PowerPoint. Then, my second thought was to let my neighborhood parent friends know that this was only the start of their kids using technology of which they'll most likely always be steps behind. But, I thought better of it and decided that my safest bet was just to back away from the cul-de-sac.

On later reflection it occurred to me how far ahead of the curve we are in both the district in which I teach and the district in which I live in terms of instructional technology and using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. Often, I feel like there is so much out there that I'm not using or not even aware of. I look at my colleagues and wish that I could be doing a lot of the kinds of things they are doing and scheming ways to carve out more time to try them out. And, with my PLN, I definitely feel like the constant newbie, wondering if they are secretly chuckling at my seemingly naïve updates and postings.

Yet, little exchanges like the one with the neighborhood parents remind me that a lot of what I'm constantly thinking about and much of what I'm implementing in my classroom is so far beyond the experiences of many parents, students, and teachers. It makes me feel thankful that I am surrounded by colleagues, both face-to-face and online, who help create a culture that is constantly trying to push the traditional boundaries of teaching and learning.

The Tale of Antman

Walking around MassCue last November, I couldn't help but feel a little bit like a celebrity - and not just because of my movie star looks and rock star swagger (part Lovitz, part Popper). And, it wasn't because two of my middle school teachers from nearly thirty years ago were there. In fact it had everything to do with the plastic name badge draped around my neck. You see, my name just happens to be my father's name as well, and in MassCue land, Steve Olivo is a somebody.

My dad has been affiliated with MassCue for close to a decade now. Early on he was a teacher trying to learn something new, but more recently, since his retirement, he's been working with their On Cue publication and helping out with the Pathfinders Awards. At the conference he seemed to be everywhere. In one moment he might have been the one handing Marcia Grant one of her two door prizes, and in another moment he might have been introducing two educators "that really need to meet." I'm pretty sure he tracked down everyone who made it in from Reading, and he certainly made sure to point me out to everyone he knew (‘cause that's what dads do, I guess).

You might say that he was one of the innovators that was there at the beginning. When email was just becoming popular in the late 1990s, my dad, who was near the end of his teaching career at Chicopee High School, started getting involved in something called Learning Circles. Back then they were pen pal projects with overseas schools, but instead of mailing the work through the post office, they used email. As a writing teacher, he loved that the feedback was nearly instantaneous and the audiences were authentic, and learning circles soon became a focus for his class. Today learning circles are one of the more popular projects found at iEARN (the International Education and Resource Network).

Later, as my dad became more interested in using technology for teaching writing, he learned about VHS, the Virtual High School, and soon after wrote and developed his own course (using Lotus, no less). There he expanded his student clients to all over the United States, and expanded his learning circle partners to all over the world. Literally, he was doing the things we're all talking about right now in our little class.

Now here's the greatest part of this story. My father, Steve Olivo, knows nothing about technology. He is one of those heavy typers who often has trouble moving the cursor on the screen because he's run out of space on the table to move his mouse. He had a cell phone for six years before he figured out how to pick up his voice mail. He still has not figured out how to program in phone numbers. To him a bookmark is something that goes in a book, and a favorite is either something good on TV or something yummy to eat. He makes fun of George Bush for saying "the Google," but I'm not so sure he wasn't guilty of it until someone on FOX pointed it out as a faux pas.

And that brings me to the moral of this story. There is no reason for any of us not to be innovative in this 21st Century environment, and a lack of technology proficiency should never be used for an excuse to say, "I can't." There are enough people around who can help implement any idea you can dream up. All you have to do is commit to doing it because a good idea will always work.

And if you still don't believe me after hearing the tale of the real Steve Olivo, let me introduce you to Dave Williams, who this year has at least four students who are the children of former students. Mr. Williams will be the first to tell you that he doesn't know a lot about technology, but just today he gave an amazing presentation on blogging, something he's done for almost a year now. Check it out, and then repeat after me. "If it's not happening, it's because you're not doing it."

Lettin' 'Em Run

My daughter is running around the house naked again. Thankfully, she's two and not 22. Apparently, now that she's learned to remove her diaper by herself, she's enjoying a new sense of freedom and accomplishment. It's a new thing she's taken to and has run with...literally.

I bring this up because I've just recently introduced this year's students to MassONE, and so far, it's been great. It's something that they too have taken to and have run with. Among other things, MassONE allows you to post discussion threads to which the kids can respond. These can spark some really great conversations with the students that you wouldn't necessarily get in class. More importantly, because it's web-based, these conversations can happen outside of class.

Currently, we're reading The Revealers in advance of Doug Wilhelm's visit next week, but we've been discussing a lot of it online - actually, I should say the kids have been discussing it because I haven't had to do much facilitating. They're doing it completely on their own without the expectation of credit or a grade, mind you. All I've had to do is post a question or a topic and they have at it.

Here's an example:

Mr. O: Why do you think Russell and Richie are the way they are?

Peter: I think Russell has no friends because he doesn't really try. Once he makes a fool of himself, he doesn't try to cover it up. He just gives up after his first try. I think the same thing happened to Richie, but in a different way, and with different results. With Richie, nobody liked him, perhaps for the same reason as Russell, or for a different one. Then, when nobody wanted to be friends with him, instead of becoming shy like Russell, he became mean. If either of them thought they could make friends with intimidation or shyness, they were both wrong.

Mary: I think Russell doesn't have any friends from when they all left him because he doesn't try making any new friends. Richie doesn't have any friends because he is too mean and he doesn't want any friends. Richie is really independent.

Peter: I agree. Russell's friends met new kids and made new friends, but Russell just gave up. He didn't stick with his old friends, nor did he try to make new ones.

Jason: I agree but I think that Russell is afraid to make friends because he might say the wrong thing.

It goes on, but what's really impressive is the richness of the conversation coupled with the degree of interest. The kids are doing everything you'd want from a classroom discussion, and they're doing it independently. And, not just a few students are participating. Last night alone, more than 50% of my students were on discussing the book - purely on their own!

But wait, there's more. Many of the students who are logging on each night are those that you'd never hear from in class - the quiet introverts who have a lot to contribute, but for some reason never do. (Coincidently, that's a theme in the book, as well) Right there, that's the real success story. This online setting finally gives those students the voice they've been missing in the regular classroom setting. Like my daughter in a full sprint, they too are experiencing a new found sense of freedom and accomplishment.

Holy Blogs, Batman!

I originally wrote this in October 2008 just a few weeks into my introduction to blogging. Then, blogging was a component to a district cohort class about 21st century education. I think this post still holds up pretty well six months later.

After a month of writing, I think it's time to step back and take a look at this whole "blogging thing." I've noticed a lot of good and not-so-good things about the postings that are flooding our little community here. I call them the 7 Habits of an Effective Blog.

Formatting Counts - If I can't easily read someone's post, I skip right on by. I need a reasonable font, proper spacing, and, demanding as this may be, paragraphs. There's a curious little clipboard icon with a W on it in the message composing box. Clicking on that after copying from Word allows you to post into your blog while still maintaining your formatting from Word. Everyone should take a look.

A Good Title Goes a Long Way - A few days ago, I was scrolling through the list of unread items, and I gotta tell you, there were few that I had any interest in looking at, let alone reading. I kept being drawn to the same titles over and again, even though I was quite sure I had read and reread them. Why? It's all about the titles, baby. Be creative and you shall win comments galore!

Find an Angle - Ok. So there are what, like 36 of us here? I'm sure there are lots of times when we're going to be writing about the same thing, and let me tell you. As an ELA teacher I read a lot of the same thing over and over. The ones that stand out are the ones that come at a topic with an interesting angle - that don't just rehash what fifteen others have already written. Need proof? Read those "World is Flat" assignments all at once.

Be Brief - This is practical on many levels. First, a short blog is much easier to write and when you have to knock one out late Saturday night, keeping is short is by far the way to go. Along the same lines, when looking for a post to comment on, you don't have to scroll far, far, far...far, far, far down the page to read an entire post. If I have to click more than one or two times in the scrolling bar, then I instantly check out.

Pictures - I'm as guilty as the next person (though not Connie, who is sitting next to me) for not including pictures in my blog. However, I recognize that it's really important. It gives a sense of reference and personality - dare I say voice?

Links - Along the same lines, I think embedded links are vital to an effective blog. Actually, I think that it was the original intention of a blog to create a system of links to important articles and such. If we don't include links to outside sources of interest, then what are we really saying about our thoughts and ideas? ...and yes, there are no links in this post. :-)

Post Regularly - I like the once a week mandate for this class. It keeps me regular, like a good bowl of broccoli. Honestly though, a boring blog is one that is not current and doesn't update frequently. Daily would be great, but that would require another paycheck from some sort of publisher.

I'd Like to Thank the Academy...

More than anything, this year has been about trying out new technologies to use in my teaching. So, it only made sense that when it came time to report on what I've learned, I did so by learning something new -- iMovie, Flip cameras, and digital recorders.



The goal was to make a fifteen minute documentary-style film to demonstrate all that we (I and two other colleagues) have learned this year and how it has impacted our professional lives. I wanted the works -- moving images, stills, interviews, voiceovers, music -- basically everything you'd expect to see in a documentary. Mostly, though, I didn't want to stand up in front of my peers and talk a lot.

Ultimately, it turns out that everything about this project was really very simple and painless. As a group we worked well together, quickly separating the project into manageable parts that we could all work on individually and piece together later. We did all of our recording individually -- each of us armed with a Flip camera and a digital recorder, both of which turned out to be more than easy to use. Turn them on, press a button to record, and press a button to stop. In fact, with a little practice, I was able to record on each one-handed without even looking at the device. (Very important if you've looked at the video already.) Both the camera and the digital recorder can plug directly into the USB port, so downloading was equally simple.



Using iMovie was a little more complicated (especially since I haven't been on a Mac in a decade), but it was important to use since Windows Movie Maker doesn't allow for layering sound. We wanted to include voiceovers on top of the recorded audio from the camera, as well as a background music track. In total, I think it took about eight hours to edit our 15 minute video, but that also allowed for our learning curve. At my best, I could complete a two minute segment in about 15-20 minutes. What was especially great about iMovie was how easy it was to drag in the video, audio, and music clips. Everything we filmed imported directly to the project, and everything we recorded was held in an iTunes folder. There were also many, many music jingles which we were able to drag into the movie without worry about breaking any copyright laws.

In the end I felt really satisfied with the movie. It accomplished all of the goals we set at the beginning - especially the one about not wanting to speak at our presentation. I especially loved how when we started the movie, everyone looked up from their laptops and stopped typing. It held everyone's attention (at least for a little while), and on a day of "Look at me! Look what I did!", I guess that's the best you can hope for.

Game On, Kiddos!

Since introducing my two pre-elementary school children to college basketball this year, it seems to be all they ever talk about lately. My five-year-old is very interested in who each team is, where they are from, and which team I'd like to win. His first question most mornings is, "Who won the game?" Lately, his newest question is, "Who does Barack Obama like?"

My two-year-old is all about Tigers and Wildcats. She likes to growl a lot.

So now that I've set them up with a desktop computer, and because ESPN makes it so easy and cool, I thought it would be fun for the three of us to sit down and fill out our brackets together online - also, I thought it would be a nice way to introduce them to an online activity other than something on PBS and Nick Jr. There was no expectation that they'd have any idea what they were doing, but once we were finished, I realized that their two brackets had as much of a chance as mine did. Suddenly, bragging rights in the Olivo household were up for grabs. Game on, Kiddos!

Yes, I realize that I'm more than five times their combined ages...

Selecting winners of each game went something like this: After some initial picking (I had to choose some obvious ones for him. Was I really going to let him choose Binghamton over Duke, even though green Bearcats are much more interesting than Blue Devils?), we started going through the team names and locations. I'd ask if they wanted the team from Texas or the team from Minnesota, and they'd choose. Then I'd ask bulldogs or tigers, and they'd choose. Sometimes I provided the choice by school colors and uniforms.

In the end my two-year-old daughter picked North Carolina, my son picked Connecticut, and I ended up with Louisville. Oh it's on like Donkey Kong!

Now aside from the obvious spirit of competition in our household, I found that this turned out to be a great activity for the three of us. First, we were able to talk about the different teams and where they are located - It turns out my son loves geography and we had a map up on a different browser tab so that I could show him the difference between the UConn Huskies and the Washington Huskies (we all chose UConn). We were able to look at the flow of the brackets and see how 64 teams could be narrowed down to one by removing half of them each round.

Most importantly (and especially thanks to Barack Obama) we were able to see how the web can be used to bring people together around one activity where everyone can participate. Looking at other people's brackets has really opened up my son's eyes that the web is much more than a bunch of Curious George games and Wordgirl video clips. It is a way for people to connect to the rest of the world. Now that the games have begun, we can start checking in on other people and see how our selections stack up, and suddenly, this activity becomes much greater than the sum of our own little household.

First Day of the Rest of Forever

This is my first post on my new site. Thanks, Blogger! I'm fairly excited to begin, and after six months of posting on the November Learning site, it's nice to be off on my own. My own little island as it were -- complete with my own name in my domain. I guess I am master of my domain.

Anyway, over the next few months, I'll be reposting a lot of what I've written previously, mostly because it's so hard to let go. I certainly can't imagine that anyone is depending on my archived posts to get them through the work week. But, you never know.

The link above will take you to my old site. You can also find it on the toolbar on the right in the Blog Roll.