Social Presence Project (PGP) - 07/22/10

07/22/10

1. What specific goals do you have between now and next summer in your teaching practice?  2. How specifically do you plan to accomplish these?

Pedagogically, I have learned a lot about teaching from reading A whole New Mind by Daniel Pink. According to several studies, we are more likely to retain information delivered through story. The reason this is such a powerful teaching tool is that it addresses personal relevance and context first. In the age of "information overload" (spoken from the perspective of digital immigrant), I feel my students need to understand WHY they are making an effort to understand something more than ever. If there is nothing about a topic that appeals to you on a personal level, it is difficult to motivate to learn it. Stories make information personal and provides context. I think people thrive on connecting with other people, understanding each other, having a common ground and even expanding that ground by making further connections to different people, different cultures, and information that triggers connections between what you know and what you learn. Nobody can learn in a vacuum because all things human are connected. 

In my TPACK challenge I talked about a book on my curriculum few of my students liked because they found the language difficult to decode - in essence they were unable to see why the work was personally relevant to them because they were unable to connect to the story. The language was the obstacle. That's why I will focus on addressing each literary work with my students' own stories in their own language first: What they already know; their own experience which they will be building on to relate to another story, the one we'll be reading. Then we will look at the language they used to tell their stories, see if they use any metaphors or other imagery, and explore ways to relate the story through such use of imagery or metaphor. Once familiar with expressing their own story in this way, will we begin reading Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Over time, by exploring works by authors expressing themselves in different ways, telling a story set in a different culture, place or time, we expand our understanding of the works we study and the characters in it and the world we live in. My hope is that through this process, we will learn and grow by making many more personal connections. 

In A whole New Mind, Daniel Pink uses an example of a drawing teacher, Brian Bomeisler, who repeated the same key phrase "Drawing is largely about relationships" throughout the semester. By doing this, the teacher refocused the students attention on the main idea - relationship, how things go together. How parts make a whole. In his presentation on Wednesday, Punya Mishra talked about a science class where the teacher similarly used a key phrase that connected the human being to protein using different complimentary visuals throughout the semester. I want to incorporate such key ideas and phrases into the curriculum of all my classes, whether it is my Theory of Knowledge class, my Global Issues class or my literature classes. And that brings me to my technology goals and how my pedagogical goals work in unison with my pedagogical goals:

My students come from all over the world so on the first day of class they all have many different experiences and ways of knowing and learning. This sets the stage for making personal and intellectual connections across cultures and continents but it also requires differentiated learning tools in the classroom because their experiences and learning styles have often developed very differently. Technologically, I want to explore tools that facilitate such differentiated learning because I hope to engage all of my students. One thing my students all have in common is that they are more tech-savvy than I am. They are all familiar with social networking interfaces, games and other digital media. I intend to use a Wiki for each of my classes to organize information, upload images, presentations and for student to student and student to teacher communication. The reason I think a Wiki will be the best way for communicating and organizing information are as follows;

- The familiar interface will enable easy access to information

- Some students feel more comfortable expressing themselves in writing via chat (and if they don't they can still raise their hands :-)

- Visuals can more easily be incorporated for visual learners

- Presentations, focus group work and other relevant information can easily be shared and stored in a common "cloud"

- Students sharing a common experience have a central place to connect, ask questions and collaborate

3. Which goals do you think you can accomplish on your own, which do you need help with, and where might that help come from?

In the spirit of learning, making personal connections and expanding my own understanding, I need to set aside time to reflect - to maintain perspective. 

What is my purpose here? Why is this worth understanding? Why am I teaching this? What is the larger context? What is the main idea? The metaphor "I can't see the forest for the trees" comes to mind. When I am busy I can easily loose track of what is most important and as a teacher my job is to help make connections, to help build upon what my students already know. Starting from what we know is essential. Learning through experience is essential. 

Only I can be honest with myself about whether a lesson worked or not. I can discuss why it worked or didn't work with my peers and ask for suggestions about how I may go about it differently next time if it didn't work well. As Punya Mishra stated, the best part about being a teacher is that we are always learning. That is indeed why I love teaching. I can share what has worked with my peers and I can learn from them. I will definitely stay in touch with my MAET cohorts to exchange teaching and technological experiences as we try out our new tools and teaching strategies in our classrooms over the next year. 

Storybook in Five Items

Vodcast

De-Motivation

By Paul, Candace & Birgitte

TPACK challenge (Phew!)

TPACK Problem description

Students often have difficulty relating to the Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Meaning is derived from extensive use of imagery and it can be difficult to distinguish the storyline from the similes, personifications, metaphors and symbolism that characterizes the language.

Content Components

Understanding imagery, simile, personification and metaphor as literary devices, distinguishing one from another and understanding the tone and feeling this language creates.

Pedagogical Components

Differentiated learning, multiple strategies addressing personal relevance.

1. What is the Pedagogical Content Knowledge for the solution? (i.e., how specifically do your pedagogical choices make the content in your problem more intellectually accessible? Be sure to think about how the student will experience the content given these instructional strategies.

In order for the students to want to understand The Heart of Darkness they need to see why the work is personally relevant to them. My students are not sailors in the early 18th century, but on a human level, they can relate to the tone and feelings expressed in the work. They have also been children with a sense of adventure and by breaking down the use of imagery in the language into simple literary terms, the story will unlock a tale full of mystery and adventure.

a) Perhaps I would bring in a movie scene of sitting around the camp fire telling scary stories, such as the film Now and Then or Stand by Me because they contain scenarios similar to the introduction to Heart of Darkness. Marlow and the sailors are sitting on the boat telling a story while they wait for the tide to come in. My students respond well to film and they will be more likely to make the connection between the two scenarios. Next I would begin by asking them if they liked to read fairy tales or adventure tales when they were younger or if they told each other scary stories when camping or on sleepovers. Then I would ask them to take 5 minutes to think about and write down a time that they were on a journey, when they felt that they were afraid or in an unsafe place and what images came to mind when they thought about this. I would then ask them to write down and post in our wiki chat what images came to mind. By doing this, they will use their own words to describe an image, much in the same way Joseph Conrad uses imagery in the Heart of Darkness.

b) Then we would begin the book by reading the first scene out loud. This is the scene where the main character Marlow tells the sailors about his adventures on the Kongo river. This portion of the book is relatively easy to read and it sets the reader up for the story to come.

c) For the next lesson I would ask them to read the assigned pages and write down at least 5 uses of imagery in the Heart of Darkness. The next class I will ask them to bring the images they wrote down on 5 separate pieces of paper or sticky notes and work in groups of 4-5 to sort the imagery into categories – similes, personification, metaphors, etc. Then I would ask them to choose one of the images from the Heart of Darkness and take 5 minutes to think about how they could use it to describe their own experiences that they wrote about in the wiki chat the previous class.

2. What is the TP knowledge for the solution? (i.e., how does the technology you have chosen support the teaching strategies and methods you have chosen?)

The most important technology I will use to approach Heart of Darkness is the Wiki we will use consistently throughout the class. The reason for using this piece of technology is that my students are very familiar with this type of social networking and it would be a natural extension for them to bring this type of technology into the classroom to address the literature they are reading. We may use Edmodo because it has a simple interface that allows chat and a lot of teacher control in an enclosed environment. This Wiki will be used to post important links (to reliable sources for reference materials and resources, an agenda, materials covered, weekly assignments and a log of what we have covered. The assignments posted to the wiki will include:

a) Writing (or speaking) from the voice of one of the characters.

b) Writing a passage in the literary style of the author

c) A personal responses to Marlows’ view of the natives and linking this type of cultural thinking to similar scenarios in their own lives today (this should be relatively simple for my students since they are in an international environment where cultural misunderstandings and prejudices are somewhat familiar)

d) Student posting images they feel represent the mood, landscape or characters in the Heart of Darkness to create a visual library that represents the book.

Again because my students often relate more easily to the feelings expressed in a movie, I would bring in a key scene from Apocalypse Now, (which is based on the book Heart of Darkness) in the second or third lesson, using http://handbrake.com/. I will search for my film clips at http://movieclips.com/

3. What is the TC knowledge for the solution? (i.e., how specifically does this technology make the content in your problem more intellectually accessible? Be sure to think about representation.)

Using several technological approaches to access the Heart of Darkness will make the material accessible to more students. Posting assignments and responses questions in a wiki is a better way to communicate for some students who may be too shy to participate in a class discussion or ask questions about the work. For most it will be familiar setting for communication and a natural extension of the classroom. Uploading images to a central location and using visuals, such as film or images, to represent feelings and emotions may help make the language of the Heart of Darkness more accessible to many students.

Vodcast

Vodcast

Podcast topics

1. Learning through narrative story telling: How we learn new material through anecdotes, narrative story and visual images. 

2. Personal relevance: Why it is so important to understand why we are learning what we are learning.

3. Learning in context: Connecting what we are learning to "the bigger picture". 

Social Presence Project (PGP) - 07/16/10 note

07/16/10

What I've learned this week: Maintaining perspective is a challenge in and of itself. My head is spinning and expanding and I have to let it be so. As excited as I am to have a plan for the fall, this plan will keep evolving and changing until I'm done here. Before I go back to New York and meet my students with all this new information and perspective, I need to sit down, breathe and take a day or three to review all that I have learned and then I will have a better idea of the practical applications of all I have learned. 

Wiki TPACK Final

TPACK Problem description
Students often have difficulty relating to the Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Meaning is derived from extensive use of imagery and it can be difficult to distinguish the storyline from the similes, personifications, metaphors and symbolism that characterizes the language.
Content Components
Understanding imagery, simile, personification and metaphor as literary devices, distinguishing one from another and understanding the tone and feeling this language creates.
Pedagogical Components
Differentiated learning, multiple strategies addressing personal relevance.

1. What is the Pedagogical Content Knowledge for the solution? (i.e., how specifically do your pedagogical choices make the content in your problem more intellectually accessible? Be sure to think about how the student will experience the content given these instructional strategies.


In order for the students to want to understand The Heart of Darkness they need to see why the work is personally relevant to them. My students are not sailors in the early 18th century, but on a human level, they can relate to the tone and feelings expressed in the work. They have also been children with a sense of adventure and by breaking down the use of imagery in the language into simple literary terms, the story will unlock a tale full of mystery and adventure.
a) Perhaps I would bring in a movie scene of sitting around the camp fire telling scary stories, such as the film Now and Then or Stand by Me because they contain scenarios similar to the introduction to Heart of Darkness. Marlow and the sailors are sitting on the boat telling a story while they wait for the tide to come in. My students respond well to film and they will be more likely to make the connection between the two scenarios. Next I would begin by asking them if they liked to read fairy tales or adventure tales when they were younger or if they told each other scary stories when camping or on sleepovers. Then I would ask them to take 5 minutes to think about and write down a time that they were on a journey, when they felt that they were afraid or in an unsafe place and what images came to mind when they thought about this. I would then ask them to write down and post in our wiki chat what images came to mind. By doing this, they will use their own words to describe an image, much in the same way Joseph Conrad uses imagery in the Heart of Darkness.
b) Then we would begin the book by reading the first scene out loud. This is the scene where the main character Marlow tells the sailors about his adventures on the Kongo river. This portion of the book is relatively easy to read and it sets the reader up for the story to come.
c) For the next lesson I would ask them to read the assigned pages and write down at least 5 uses of imagery in the Heart of Darkness. The next class I will ask them to bring the images they wrote down on 5 separate pieces of paper or sticky notes and work in groups of 4-5 to sort the imagery into categories – similes, personification, metaphors, etc. Then I would ask them to choose one of the images from the Heart of Darkness and take 5 minutes to think about how they could use it to describe their own experiences that they wrote about in the wiki chat the previous class.

2. What is the TP knowledge for the solution? (i.e., how does the technology you have chosen support the teaching strategies and methods you have chosen?)


The most important technology I will use to approach Heart of Darkness is the Wiki we will use consistently throughout the class. The reason for using this piece of technology is that my students are very familiar with this type of social networking and it would be a natural extension for them to bring this type of technology into the classroom to address the literature they are reading. We may use Edmodo because it has a simple interface that allows chat and a lot of teacher control in an enclosed environment. This Wiki will be used to post important links (to reliable sources for reference materials and resources, an agenda, materials covered, weekly assignments and a log of what we have covered. The assignments posted to the wiki will include:
a) Writing (or speaking) from the voice of one of the characters.
b) Writing a passage in the literary style of the author
c) A personal responses to Marlows’ view of the natives and linking this type of cultural thinking to similar scenarios in their own lives today (this should be relatively simple for my students since they are in an international environment where cultural misunderstandings and prejudices are somewhat familiar)
d) Student posting images they feel represent the mood, landscape or characters in the Heart of Darkness to create a visual library that represents the book.
Again because my students often relate more easily to the feelings expressed in a movie, I would bring in a key scene from Apocalypse Now, (which is based on the book Heart of Darkness) in the second or third lesson, using http://handbrake.com/. I will search for my film clips at http://movieclips.com/

3. What is the TC knowledge for the solution? (i.e., how specifically does this technology make the content in your problem more intellectually accessible? Be sure to think about representation.)


Using several technological approaches to access the Heart of Darkness will make the material accessible to more students. Posting assignments and responses questions in a wiki is a better way to communicate for some students who may be too shy to participate in a class discussion or ask questions about the work. For most it will be familiar setting for communication and a natural extension of the classroom. Uploading images to a central location and using visuals, such as film or images, to represent feelings and emotions may help make the language of the Heart of Darkness more accessible to many students.

Giverny Social Challenge Project

Giverny Social Challenge Project

Jing Link

Giverny Social Challenge Project

monetgiverny

See more presentations by birgittenyc | Upload your own PowerPoint presentations

My favorite picture from Giverny: Digital Natives in their habitat

Three paragraphs on my personal TPACK

Three Paragraphs on your personal TPACK

TPACK Problem description

Students often have a hard time understanding Joseph Conrad’s style of writing in Heart of Darkness. Meaning is derived from extensive use of imagery, simile, personification and metaphor.

Content Components

Understanding imagery, simile, personification and metaphor as literary devices, distinguishing one from another and understanding the tone and mood this language creates.

Pedagogical Components

Differentiated learning

A.    What is the TP knowledge for the solution?  (i.e., how does the technology you have chosen support the teaching strategies and methods you have chosen?)

The use of imagery in the Heart of Darkness creates a mood, tone and feeling I would like my students to understand. One approach is to present a scene from Apocalypse Now (which is based on the book Heart of Darkness) because it shows the feeling and emotion the language is trying to convey in a medium my students can easily relate to. The curriculum requires that my students write a paper about the work and in preparation for this, my students will make weekly journal entries in response to guiding questions about the sections they are reading via a Wiki. Some of these assignments will include writing a journal entry in the language and style of Joseph Conrad, or writing a journal entry from the perspective of one of the characters in the novella.

B.    What is the TC knowledge for the solution? (i.e., how specifically does this technology make the content in your problem more intellectually accessible?  Be sure to think about representation.)

I would use Handbrake to extract a scene from the movie Apocalypse now, because as mentioned before, many of my students can more easily relate to the feelings and emotions portrayed in a film. I would also use Edmodo for my students to have a safe and enclosed environment where they can access assignments and resources, upload journal entries and maintain a dialogue with me and fellow students.

C.   What is the PC knowledge for the solution? (i.e., how specifically do your pedagogical choices make the content in your problem more intellectually accessible? Be sure to think about how the student will experience the content given these instructional strategies.

We would start with a close reading of a key passage, perhaps the first few pages of first chapter that sets the stage for the story and in the language that conveys the mood. This is also one of the easier passages to read. Because some of my students are familiar with the use of imagery at this point in my course, I would solicit examples of these. Then I would use a tool Cherice showed us in the Un-class: 

1. I would give my students 5 minutes to find as many uses of imagery as they could in different sections of a passage and write them down them on sticky notes. 
2. I would ask them to bring all their notes in groups of 6 and sort them under types of imagery categories: simile, metaphor, personification, symbolism, etc.

This is an easy way for them to identify literary features particular to Conrad as well as experience the tone, mode and feeling this language creates in the reader.

Merlot project link

Merlot project link

Repurposing project

Link to Patricia's repurposing play dough project







Link to Patricia's blog on repurposing play dough

Digital Immigrant - that's me!

Social Presence Project PGP-Part 2

07/08/10

When asked what my professional passions are, I would like to say teaching but that is not always the case. I love teaching when I do it well and sometimes I do it very well. Other times not. When my students do not respond to a lesson, I try to reflect on which part of the lesson did not work or how I can enhance the lesson, or restructure the lesson next time. When my students do respond to a lesson, I try to reflect on what it was about the lesson that worked. Teaching is just as much a learning process for me as it is for my students. I am just a guide and the magic happens in the process.

My background is in film production and my favorite part of making movies was writing the script and editing the film. In essence, this is creating the story. I feel my goal in literature is that my students relate to the characters and the story first - that is the "hook". If they can relate to the characters and story they will read the book and have things to say about it.

Over the course of the last year, it has become painfully evident to me that my students learn differently than I did when I grew up. This illustrates the problem well:


The two last readings we have covered in class today and last night at home have been very inspiring in terms of my educational goals: "Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants" and the teaching observations described in Jere Brophy's "Teaching" publication.  I would have to say that as a 70's child I am a digital immigrant and my own daughter and the students I teach are digial natives. Anyone who has seen a small child operate an iphone for the first time knows what I am talking about. Children who grew up in my time learned differently than the children I teach today and I need to find a way to appeal to their learning style. This brings up a lot of interesting questions. For example, is there a connection between the sudden rise of ADD and the sudden rise of multi-tasking and technology? Can I, as a digital immigrant, adapt my teaching strategies to better meet my digital-age kids?

I am very excited about all of this and so and here are my thoughts on the areas of content, structure, pedagogy and my own classroom:

Content:
As a literature teacher in the IB program I am required to teach my students how to analyze a book via a New Criticism approach. My students tend to connect to the works by relating to the characters in the works. This personal response to the works is invaluable to the process of appreciating and understanding literature, yet we have to cover a lot of material over a short amount of time as required by the IB. Rather than assuring that my students have read the works by asking pointed questions about content, I have two new ideas for how to run my class in the fall:
a) I want to start a Wiki in which my students post personal responses to the works in conjunction with the new criticism tools I am required to teach.
b) I want to keep a blog in which students update notes on what was covered in class that all can access.

Structure:
I intend to incorporate a separate Wiki for each of my classes. The pedagogical reason for this is that my students will have easy access to all the materials covered in class at all times. There can also be easy-access polls and missing or students will be better informed when they return to class. I also find that many of my students learn best using tools they are familiar with. In the age of Face Book, Twitter and You Tube, such tools and many others can enhance the classroom learning experience. They respond well to games and often timed exercises work well with teenagers. Stopwatch.com may enhance this experience. Most kids want to know what their classmates think about certain topics and for this we can use the Intel Visual Ranking Tool with the touch of a button. All of these tools have the potential to increase efficiency and focused learning.

Pedagogy:
I aspire to always be a teacher that is approachable, providing a safe and engaging environment in which my students can feel free to share work in progress (much like here at MSU in Rouen :) The outcome depends on the process and the process is organic and sometimes hard to define. What is exciting about this generation is that my students can easily incorporate new media in presentations and engage in interactive activities using online tools. I don't want to go too much in depth about how pedagogy and technology will merge in my classroom yet but I do know that I want to limit the programs I will use to a certain number of tools so that I will know these tools well and that I can use them efficiently in and out of the classroom.

My Classroom:
My school has limited technological resources but with the technologies we have learned here, I don't need fancy equipment. I will elaborate on this point in more detail at a later time.

MAETvideolab-JENSEN.mov

Image Lab: a) Photoshot b) Sumo: PNG c) Picnik: JPG

Photoshot: JPG

Picnik: JPG

Sumo: PNG

Link to reading / specific tools for teaching world languages

In additional to reflecting on the role of the teacher I think it is important to address specific topic-related suggestions: I found some useful information on teaching world languages in this link:

http://worldlanguages.merlot.org/teach.html

What life depends on

This is pic one

This is pic 2

this is pic 3

this is picture 4

Social Presence Project - Personal Growth Plan

Social Presence Project

06/29/10 Homework

List of social networks that I am using:

Flickr               Birgittemetoo (@yahoo.com)

Facebook         Birgitte Jensen

Twitter             Birgittenyc

Delicious         Birgittemetoo (did not work when I tried to log in Tuesday)

Blogger           Birgittenyc.blogspot.com

Reader            Birgittenyc

Edmodo          Birgittenyc

Answer to question 1:

I have not yet separated my personal and professional persona online. Although I never post anything I’m worried about sharing, my network is growing and I have had several students send friend requests on Facebook. I have allowed some former students to become my facebook friends but to keep my personal life separate from my professional, the most prudent route would be to create a separate professional persona online.  My reluctance stems from having to entertain yet another social presence online. 

Answer to question 2:

I would like to connect with other educators with whom I can exchange ideas and acquire technical skills to best manage digital media in the classroom and simplify homework assignments and class requirements by incorporating shared online workspace or a blog.

Answer to question 3:

My former career was in film production and I have an eye for visual elements and editing, and good knowledge about features and documentaries. 

01/07/10

The picture that comes to mind, when I reflect on my experience so far in this program, is my first Labrador’s introduction to swimming in the open sea. She was just a puppy when she slipped off the deck of our sailboat, fell into the water with a big splash and voila’! She was a natural born swimmer. Not me J …but I have faith that I will get my head above water soon. Which brings me to my number one strength - and weakness: Attitude.

My attitude is within my control. What helps my attitude towards learning new technology is to be patient and mindful of the fact that I don’t have to understand everything all at once. It is more fruitful for me to explore what I can at my own pace. If I fail to maintain a positive attitude towards my learning experience, that’s okay too. I can hold myself to a high standard but I must give myself room to make mistakes because that is part of the learning process too. If I can maintain this attitude most of the time, I will set my goals on a solution rather than fret over what I don’t get and don’t understand. I’ll be able to take what I need and leave the rest.

I am not a “techie” and the reason I wanted to pursue this degree is that I want to make the most out of the classroom experience for myself and my kids. I have large classes, I have small classes, I have students of every stripe and color from all over the world and the one thing they have in common is that they’re more tech-savvy than me J

02/07/10

What a mind-bogglingly amazing opportunity! Already in this first week I have learned so much about new technologies that I can bring into my classroom. So far, the most ingenious ice-breaker and perfect intro to my “Global Issues” course, my Theory of Knowledge course and for introducing prepositions in my ESL class: The Marshmallow project.

Ø  Edmudo Wow!

Ø  Pecha Kucha, yay!

Ø  Google Suite – who knew?! (Not me L)

Ø  Screenshot – Grab that slide!

Ø  Intel visual ranking tool

Ø  And so much more…

How am I ever going to keep track of all these tools? I don’t have to.

My 1^st goal is to go home with a working knowledge of the top 10 that best fit my purposes at the moment and try them out when I go back in the fall semester. If I have learned anything from the last 19 years that I have owned a computer it is this: Technology will keep changing and rapidly too. I am not a “techie” by any standard but I don’t want to be remembered by my students as “That Ms. Jensen, what an old dinosaur she was!”.

My 2^nd and more long-term goal is to make my classes more interesting, more interactive, more diversified, more efficient, more enriching - there are many more adjectives I could add but the point is this: I want to do all of this WITHOUT increasing class prep, feedback and grading time. I think it can be done. If I get it right, I hope to get a lot more efficient.

Links to stuff I'll need

http://www.google.fr/reader/view/?tab=my#stream/feed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fservices%2Fxml%2Frss%2Fnyt%2FEducation.xml