Integrating RTI With Cognative Neuropsychology: A Scientific Approach to Reading - CHAPTER 1

I really wish scientists would come up with better titles. As a side note, I'm sick at home today, and the upside about being sick is that you can write. So - let's look at Chapter 1, "Cognitive Neuropsychology and Five Dirty Words." Now that's a better title.These are well used words that describe behavior and achievement in ways that are entirely nonproductive. But they're easy to remember and everyone gets an iconic image of what's being expressed. They are nonproductive because they're too general. They don't relay information that can help solve the problem. Understand that while I summarize what the authors, Feifer and Toffalo, are saying, I'm also adding my own reactions to the information. That said, the words are:

1. Over-Achievement. You'd think that would be an asset. We understand it to mean someone who is achieving beyond what is expected. But it can be used to explain away discrepancies in test scores, which brings us to a dirty little secret of SPED. Students taken into special education programs have to pass specific guidelines set by congress. Basically, they are discrepancy numbers between IQ and academic scores. That means, there has to be a significant difference (pretty much 15%) between what a student's IQ number is and what his school work is scored at. The dirty little secret is that all educators know that an IQ test measures only some of the many areas of intelligences of which the human being is capable. Also, the overall score gives a very vague measure of the limited areas of intelligence measured, and often neglects to provide sufficient information was to why a student has scored at that level. In other words, this is extremely limited information that can determine a child's ability to receive much needed help. So what happens if your child's IQ score is low and he's scoring normally in academic testing? Then he's an over-achiever, and probably not qualified for services, even if he's struggling. This is another example of the problem of high stakes testing. A critical area of human intelligence that IQ and academic tests typically miss is in the area referred to as "executive functioning." The intelligence that allows a person to "perceive stimuli, respond adaptively, flexibly change directions, anticipate future goals, consider consequences....." or what we would call "common sense." Feifer and Taffalo go on to point out that the person administering the test is performing all of these functions: what, where and how will the test be performed, what are the time constraints, and what will be measured. Yet executive functioning is critical to success. It can compensate for problems in academic learning. It can also destroy a student's ability to function even when academic functioning is good.
2. Potential: the IQ test is supposed to measure a person's potential. Cognitive psychology is an attempt to synthesize information from neurology, psychology, education, and medicine to produce a study of how the brain functions. Intelligence, again, is many faceted, To best intervene, to help a struggling student, we need to understand specific problems that may be the result of physical, emotional, or environmental causes. We simply can't measure (or pigeon hole) a student's potential based on test scores.
3. Discrepancy: repeat item one. Congress has mandated, and most state comply, with a discrepancy model to identify students who need intervention. Establish the IQ, compare it with academic testing scores, and the students who rank sufficiently below their IQ will get help. Problems outside of academics are also tested (emotional problems especially), but those problems have to affect academics in order to receive extra support. The authors point out that younger students may not score low enough for services, and must therefore wait for future retesting before intervention can occur. The wait and fail model means further damage (both academically and emotionally) and will require greater effort to correct later. I have personally seen students who have reached a point where they will no longer respond to help, they are so withdrawn and hostile.
4. Lazy: an easy way to blame the student. It lets a teacher off the hook. I've fallen into this trap myself if I can't get a student to respond to my efforts. But lazy is a behavioral term and therefore should respond to behavioral intervention. Why can't or won't the student respond? Is it a processing speed problem? Is it an inability to organize thought and stay on task? Is it a knowledge gap? Motivational? Distractability? Inability to initiate work? It is the authors' view that labeling a student lazy should really just open up a whole new set of why's.
5. Manipulative: my favorite. We are all manipulative. We all try to change our environment to suit us, interpret information to support our views, use the system to get what we want, and try to convince others we are justified. We all manipulate to survive by control. The student who is overtly manipulative feels a greater need to control. Many of these students don't recognize when reinterpreting information is lying. They don't understand cheating is wrong or prolonged debate is arguing. Only by understanding the underlying cause and then helping the student develop socially acceptable limits on manipulation can we help a student become successful.
There was also great information on brain function and specific regions that control areas of executive functioning. All in all - a very interesting chapter. 

Integrating RTI With Cognative Neuropsychology: A Scientific Approach to Reading

I spent a good deal of last summer reading up on comprehension strategies and disabilities specific to reading. Some of those books I reviewed on a previous blog, which was again posted here. It seems appropriate that I should spend some of my Christmas break doing the same thing. After all, my technology classes are on hiatus and I need to blog about something, right? This book was lent to me by our school psychologist. The authors are Steven G. Feifer, D.Ed. and Douglas A. Della Toffalo, PH.D. Turns out, it covered some very interesting research.

That said, I've hesitated tackling it because first, it's written in scientific jargon, which just takes longer to plow through. And second, it seems like every chapter had some very intense information. Frankly, I was a little overwhelmed. So this is what I propose: a series of blogs covering each chapter. That's probably a better way for me to digest the thing.

So first, let's attack the title. RTI, for you uninitiated, stands for "response to intervention" and is the current, all popular catch phrase for working with high risk kids. In this case, of course, that includes any struggling reader you may have in your classroom. Remember, reading disabilities are especially insidious. Problems in reading affect every other area in school and most of life. So information on how to interrupt this cycle of reading failure is critical. Forgive my bias. I am a reading teacher, of course.

Each chapter systematically covers specific aspects of reading instruction. First is a general discussion of Cognitive Neuropsychology. The second covers RTI. Chapter three concentrates on phonological processing. Four, orthographic processing. Chapter 5 looks at dyslexia (which I'm coming to suspect is far more common than we would like to believe). Chapter 6 ties everything to comprehension. Chapters 7 through 9 then discuss cases and application.

As a teacher, of course, application is the key. I hope that by reviewing each chapter individually I can ponder possible application of said materials. So, patience, dear readers, and I think we'll discuss some interesting stuff. The book was first published in 2007. But it takes a while to move from research into the classroom. A cursory review, which I did last month, excited me.

I hope you find it exciting, too.

Creativity in Education

by Jodee Steffensen on 07/08/11

What do teachers do all summer? Most of us sleep in, take classes, research, and heal our wounds. The classes and research often help the healing process by inspiring us with new ideas. The first book I read this summer helped ignite my badly dimished flame. "Out of Our Minds," by Ken Robinson, challenges the traditional "assembly line" educational model. He maintains that the future demands creativity, which is mostly decimated in today's classroom.
Any well intended teacher will argue that creativity in the classroom is severely compromised by increasingly pervasive core standards, district directed curriculum, severe time constraints, and high stakes testing. We've all been taught that creativity in the classroom is more engaging and results in greater understanding and retention. Yet most of us struggle to apply it.
Ken (I'll call him Ken because his writer's tone is that inviting) offers several recommendations I can't help but support: flexible schedules, greater student choice, differentiated curriculum, emphasis on social interaction and problem solving, and an explicit focus on brainstorming, research, evaluation, application, analysis, and re-evaluation strategies. Okay, these are my words (teacher speak), but the concepts he presents are familiar. And okay, I have no control over scheduling and student choice. But I'm trying to incorporate the rest into my classroom, and find his endorsement of those efforts reassuring.
No, he didn't forget to mention relevance of subject matter, recommending service  projects to develop community awareness. Nor did he neglect the importance of risk taking and learning from trial and error. "Creativity is not about generating ideas; it involves making judgements about them. The process includes elaboring on the initial ideas, testing and refining them and even rejecting them, in favor of others that emerge during the process." (pg 153)
So how do we explicitly teach this process? How do we do it in a way that enhances student confidence by rewarding risk taking? And how do we do it within the constraints of our current, over loaded, under resourced system? Fortunately, Ken also pointed out that creativity doesn't grow out of unrestricted chaos. It's best developed when supported by a firm frramework of requirements and limitations. "The internal challenge is to evolve structures and processes that are supple and responsive." (pg 237)
Bottom line - this is a great book which I highly recommend. I'm planning to pursue implementation and would love to hear from anyone out there who might have experience and/or ideas. Comments please?

Comments (0)     

TRACK THE ENEMY - BY USING YOUR PLANNER

by Jodee Steffensen on 11/26/10

The first critical step in any military maneuver is knowing your enemy.You can't hope to have the advantage until you know exactly what you're dealing with.
THAT'S WHAT A PLANNER IS FOR!
But often you get one and have no instruction as to how to use it. So you carry it around for a while until it falls apart and then you chuck it.
Look on the organization page and watch the planner power point for specific step by step instructions on how to use this critical asset. To get you prepared, make sure you:
1. List all assignments and tests, along with any other information that may affect your schedule.
2. Check off each assignment as you complete it (yes, even if you finish it that day in class).
3. Cross off each assignment as you hand it in (ditto above). Acknowledge that sense of power that surges through you as you cross an item off. That's one of the great reasons for using a planner. That's why you list even the small assignments and go through the process. LET IT EMPOWER YOU!!!

Questions? Comments? Let me hear from you!!!

DROP BOX PART 2

Okay - free storage, accessible to any device from anywhere. I gotta' get this one down! Tried a little with google docs., had formatting issues. So I'm curious to see if this works better. We actually covered this briefly in a faculty meeting and it looked intriguing. Now let's see if I can actually use it.

1. Good news, files can be transferred from PC's to Macs. The whole point is to make sure everything is filed exactly from device to device.
2. It's the perfect backup because it's not dependent on a specific device.
3. Go to www.dropbox.com to create an account and download the software.
4. Enter email and password to create an account. It will also recognize more than one email.
5. There's a tutorial on the dropbox site that will guide you through the installation process.
6.  Storage is limited to 2 gigs of free space. You can invite someone new to join dropbox, and if they use the link you end them, you get more storage space. You can also pay for more storage.
7. Once on your computer, you can do a search (finder for Mac), look for the "Home" (little house on the Mac) or look under documents, or dropbox.
8. You click and drag items you want to put into the box. You can transfer entire folders in one stroke.
9. A huge advantage to dropbox is the share option where anyone you designate can get into your drop box for documents, pictures, etc.
10. This is great for transferring movie files because they're typically too large to email.
11. You can organize your material within dropbox by creating any number of folders. There are the usual defaults.
12, Be aware that you uploading formatting, also. So if you upload a doc in .pgs, a word program wouldn't recognize it. It will still be in the box, it's just you need to have the right software to read it.
13. When you share, you select which folders they have access to. Be cautious, because guests can control the content of that folder.
14. Your invitations have to be accepted, either by email or through dropbox.
         *****OTHER OPTIONS*******
15. www.box.net is another application that allows for storage and sharing, but restricts control of contents to the user.
16. Icloud is also available through Itunes.
17. There's also a service that's available for backing up data "into the cloud" but it's automatic and you don't control the organization of backed up files.

SO, simple and straight forward. I think it's pretty easy to use and certainly opens tons of options!

Check it out!!!

Social Media

Today we're looking at Facebook and other social media. Which is good, because I have a Facebook account that I never use. AND, I keep getting invites and postings from friends who obviously do!
So here goes....
RULES (DISTRICT) AND SUGGESTIONS REGARDING USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA:
-How to use Facebook in the class room? - First, don't friend students, create a fan page for them. Exception, Canyons District policy says you can friend student after high school.
-Check security options on Facebook to see who can access your information.
-Always preview and approve youtube videos.
-When you find someone who posts good stuff on youtube - subscribe.
-Create your own channel on youtube to upload your own videos, then refer to just the link in websites and blogs.
-Check on permission slips for students.
- The challenge is to make sure the use of technology is two way. I'm learning to use youtube in the classroom. I also know how to film and edit. I need to become efficient at posting student presentations on the youtube site.
-Twitter -144 characters only. A good way to get students to identify the main idea of any communication.
-tweetdeck - an application that helps you organize tweets.
-twhistory - a site that creates historical versions of tweets (i.e. the sinking of the Titanic).  This would be a fun way for kids to get into a story or historical event. The site has a "How to Create" tutorial that would allow the classroom to create it.
-Doorman - lets you list passwords, secured by another password, so you don't forget them over the summer when you're away from school.
-Skype - Computer to computer telephone. Used for chatting, voice and video. But you need to know the user name at the other end. It can handle up to ten people at the same time. All of this can happen simultaneously. So you can have a meeting with several people, individual chatting and others are chatting. 


Well, class is ending so I'll sign off. I look through these and they seem ragged. I'm getting sloppy. I'm not even editing before I post. So sorry. I probably should blog some full out thoughts. Forgive me if this irritates you. I'll get better.

INSPIRATION

Today we explored Inspiration, a program designed to make it easy to create flowcharts which result in outlines. But the flowcharts aren't limited to planning. They can be applied to any kinds of brain storming activity to help organize information for essays, stories, presentations, etc.

• It's easy to navigate between the flowchart and the outline.
• It's easier to change or adjust information when in the outline mode.
• It's easier to add in the flowchart mode.
• There's a library of pictures that can replace the bubbles of the flowchart.
• There is also a variety of bubble types.
• There are hundreds of templates that can be used and are categories by subject content.
• There is access to more templates online.

This would be a great tool for helping student understand how outlines works.

More on Podcasting

Today's class was a little of a repeat. I've been taking two series of classes simultaneously. But it did reinforce what I'd learned for podcasting.

This class focused on iTunes and got me into the site. I finally got into iTunes University. It was fun just seeing what was available. There're entire college educations available. It may take me some time, though, to figure out how to negotiate the site.

We also worked to story board our project. I'm part way through a digital story I was working on for the Jordan River Parkway Bike route, so I worked with that. We also worked more with garage band, which seems very popular among elementary teachers! So, choose the podcast option, create a file, and you're ready to go! You know, it's probably good I''m going through this again...I'd forgotten a lot!

A few extra tips for Garage Band:

1. Command Z is the undo button.
2. To select more than one item, hold the shift key down as you select the items.
3. The I in the corner of o the I, you can get into other effects that will apply to your voice tracks (mouse voice, helium, etc.)
4. Audacity is a program for PC that's free and very much like Garage Band.

Sorry readers, I'm really tired tonight. I think I have to sign off with just this short entry.

Google Docs - more than just Documents

Thursday we looked at the many applications you can access through google docs. I've been aware of google docs because we use them at school to manage teacher lists (enrichment, testing schedules, concept mastery, etc.). This features allows you access use spreadsheets, word documents, calendars and presentations which are then shared by several people. You can also identify who you'd like to share the docs with, perfect for our faculty.

However, when you get a chance, click on the option "other" and even "more stuff" further in. You'll find a huge list of possible applications that are free to anyone who has a gmail account. I tried google voice, which allows me to view my voice mail from my mail account. And I tried the blog search program, which is very promising since I'm perfecting my blogging skills.

That's What a Planner is For

First posted on 11/26/10 in "Homeworkwarriors.com"

The first critical step in any military maneuver is knowing your enemy. You can't hope to have the advantage until you know exactly what you're dealing with.

THAT'S WHAT A PLANNER IS FOR!

But often you get one and have no instruction as to how to use it. So you carry it around for a while until it falls apart and then you chuck it.

Explicit steps:

1. List all assignments and tests, along with any other information that may affect your schedule.
2. Check off each assignment as you complete it (yes, even if you finish it that day in class).
3. Cross of each assignment as you hand it in (ditto above). Acknolwedge that sense of power that surges through you as you cross an item off. That's one of the great reasons for using a planner. That's why you list even the small assignments and go through the process.

LET IT EMPOWER YOU!!!

Creativity in Education

First Published 7/8/11

What do teachers do all summer? Most of us sleep in, take classes, research, and heal our wounds. The classes and research often help the healing process by inspiring us with new ideas. The first book I read this summer helped ignite my badly diminished flame. "Out of Our Minds," by Ken Robinson, challenges the tranditional "assembly line" educational model. He maintains that the future demands creativity, which is mostly decimated in today's classroom.

Any well intended teacher will argue that creativity in the classroom is severely compromised by increasingly pervasive core standards, district directed curriculum, severe time constraints, and high stakes testing. We've all been taught that creativity in the classroom is more engaging and results in greater understanding and retention. yet most of us struggle to apply it.

Ken (I'll call him Ken because his writer's tone is that inviting) offers several recommendations I can't help but support: flexible schedules, greater student choice, differentiated curriculum, emphasis on social interaction and problem solving, and an explicit focus on brainstorming, research, evaluation, application, analysis, and re-evaluation strategies. Okay, these are my words (teacher speak), but the concepts he presents are familiar. And okay, I have no control over scheduling and student choice. But I'm trying to incorporate the rest into my classroom, and find his endorsement of those efforts reassuring.

No, he didn't forget to mention relevance of subject matter, recommending service projects to develop community awareness. Nor did he neglect the importance of risk taking and learning from trial and error. "Creativity is not about generating ideas; it involves making judgements about them. The process includes elaborating on the initial ideas, testing and refining them and even rejecting them, in favor of others that emerge during the process." (pg 153)

So how do we explicitly teach this process? How do we do it in a way that enhances student confidence by rewarding risk taking? And how do we do it within the constraints of our current, over loaded, under resourced system? Fortunately, Ken also pointed out that creativity doesn't grow out of unrestricted chaos. It's best developed when supported by a firm framework of requirements and limitations,. "The internal challenge is to evolve structures and processes that are supple and responsive." (pg 237)

Bottom line - this is a great book which I highly recommend. I'm planing to pursue implementation and would love to hear from anyone out there who might have experience and/or ideas. Comments please?

THE GIFT OF DYSLEXIA by Ronald D Davis

First published 7/12/11

I'm fortunate in that the second book I chose to read this summer was "The gift of Dyslexia," by Ronald Davis. Having served a number of dyslexic students, I have a great respect for the complexity of this disability. My students who suffer from dyslexia are bright, creative, and I know their inability to conquer reading is not through any lack of effort or intelligence. Yet all the phonetically based programs I've used, which have been successful with about three quarters of my students, have failed these amazing individuals. In some cases, I wonder if it's made the problem worse.

The insights revealed by Ronald Davis are profound and all encompassing. Dyslexia, he proposes, results from the tendency of the brain to think in 3D pictures, meaning they visualize what an object looks like from all angles. He defines dyslexia as the unconscious use of disorientation to bring about multidimensional perception. In layman's terms, that means a baby draws from all sensory perception, then adds his/her ability to see things three dimensionally to identify new objects. This process is called disorientation. Because the brain is unable to distinguish the difference between what is real and what is perceived (imagined), it registers both sources of information, imagined and experienced directly through the senses, as real experience.

Dyslexic brains work faster, Mr. Davis contends, because pictures convey so much more information than verbal, sequential expression. Therefore, when you think in pictures, you're very likely to find intuitive solutions without being able to verbalize the process. Because our phonetic reading system depends on symbols that represent sounds, which are then combined sequentially into words and eventually into meaning, the visual brains hesitates or stalls. There are no concrete pictures for phonemes. Therefore, the dyslexic brain cannot retain or process the information. Because the first defense such a brain is to use disorientation (think of it as moving information around in space) letters actually begin to move. Concentration only heightens the process, and robs the brain of precious processing room to construct meaning.

The result is that the student cannot successfully piece together the symbolic bits that make words. Some dyslexics can't even keep the letters seated on the page. After trying unsuccessfully  year after year he/she becomes frustrated and/or angry. He/she may fidget, exhibit avoidance behaviors, lose confidence, or find ways to have others read for them. I've had students shut down entirely and refuse to do anything for me that might involve reading.

The symptoms that result from this situation also describe students who are ADD, ADHD, some autisms, and many learning disabilities. Teaching students to identify when they are using disorientation, and then helping them control this potentially valuable skill (gift) often solves the problem.

How can this not be exciting! I did a little research and found this by Abigail Marshal (2003) at http://www.dyslexia.com/science/different_pathways.htm. "Teaching methods based on intensive or systemic drill in phonemic awareness or phonic decoding strategies may actually be harmful to dyslexic children. Such teaching might simply emphasize reliance on mental strategies that are as likely to diminish reading ability for dyslexic children as they are to improve it, increasing both the frustration and impairment level of dyslexic students." ("Brain Scans show Dyslexics Read Better with Alternative Strategies," 2003) The article went on to specifically note learning strategies using clay were effective. I later learned that Ms. Marshall has become associated with the Davis Dyslexia Association.

There is some controversy involved with using this technique in that it has to been fully tested. The Davis Dyslexia Association, which offers training to parents and teachers, is asking for results to be submitted from those they've authorized to use the program. "The Gift of Dyslexia" describes how to test for and implement core aspects of the program. The negatives I found associated with this approach were examples of unresearched skepticism, and answered well by the DD. I, for one, am planning to study it out further and try it on my few students for whom nothing else seems to work.

VISUAL SPATIAL LEARNERS by Alexandra Shires Golon

Published 7/28/11

I am particularly excited by the information in this book because it greatly simplifies my approach to teaching. Yes, all teachers know about Gardner's multiple intelligences. Yes, we're trained for three learning styles (audio, visual, kinesthetic). Yes, we all agree that the material we present needs to be leveled for our students. Yes, we're on the lookout for further accommodations that help students achieve. Teachers are desperately trying to reach all students. BUT IT'S COMPLICATED AND CLASSROOM TIME IS SO SHORT!

Ms. Golon focuses on two types of learners: Auditory-Sequential and Visual-Spatial. Unfortunately, auditory-sequential strategies are entrenched in the classroom. According to her research, "more than one third of the study group (750 students) strongly preferred an visual-spatial learning style, whereas one four of the group strongly preferred an auditory-sequential style." Even more exciting, her research indicates that "more than 90% of the special education students...were visual-spatial learners."

Characteristics of the visual-spatial include difficulty in reading, intuitive responses (when the student doesn't know how they got the answer), figiting, inability to focus, disorganization, creativity, and a tendency to take things apart. They ask a lot of questions, often take extra time to respond, and have a well developed sense of humor.

As I read this, I see these "symptoms" describe my ADD, ADHD, Dyslexic, many of my Autistic, and my Learning Disabled students.

M. Golon presented several specific strategies that would help these students. Designed to charge the right hemisphere, they include color coding for comprehension and organization, strict classroom procedures, picture note taking, doodling, oral responses, focus on prediction, free movement, several class games, role playing, rubrics, and even recommended room colors and temperatures.

In addition to supporting my previous reading, Ms. Golon's practical approach to supporting these students inspires me to review my teaching practices and to further implement relevant strategies. The chapters focusing on reading and spelling will be particularly useful for my frustrated readers. This is the kind of material I look forward to reading in the summer. Armed with new tools, I can look forward to another year on the battle field.

Learning Opportunity

(first published 8/2/11)

School's starting in two weeks. Next week is full of classes and previewing school files. So this is really my last week of summer vacation. I'd hoped to review the various books I've read, and post them on this blog for future reference. But I fell behind in the blogging for trying to finish up the reading. Today was different. Today I conducted an experiment in learning.

I feed birds. I love watching them. In June I noticed one small chickadee with a bad leg. I didn't even know he was a chickadee when I first saw him. I just knew he was really cute and began hoping he'd survive the summer. I think he sensed my goodwill and appeared regularly from then on. I'd wake and listen for his unique chirp each morning. I'd stop anything I was doing to watch him freed throughout the day.

One evening  my cat caught him. Pounced right on him as he was flopping around on the concrete patio, eating the seed other birds had scattered from the feeder. Fortunately, I immediately pounced on the cat and managed to pry the little guy from the cat's mouth.

I cuddled the stunned bird in my hands until he came to, and held him gently until he finally flew away. But his flying was erratic. Bad leg was now second to the bad wing he'd just receive. I worried. I schemed. A plot hatched in my head.

This morning I bought the cheapest bird cage I could find. I wanted to get the bird into a protected area where I could be sure he was fed and safe. But how could I stress the little guy by catching him and locking him up? He is a wild thing, after all, despite his disabilities. So I set the cage up beside the scattered seed on my patio. I kept the door open and the feeders in the cage filled. And then I watched, hoping he would come to accept the cage, maybe even volunteer to enter it himself.

It took a while, but soon I had all kinds of birds hoping in and out of the cage. As I watched, I was surprised at how many had a hard time finding their way back out. There was a lot of fruitless batting of wings against the bars. Then there was trial and error as some searched for the opening. Surprisingly, once the first two birds figured it out, the rest followed.

Curiosity - and the reward of seed. That's what brought them into the cage. That's my key. Even something designed to imprison birds, something they should be afraid of, was attractive enough to entice them to enter. They figured out how to get in and out without me. This is good stuff for a teacher to observe.

Maybe tomorrow my little chickadee will enter. Maybe eventually I can keep him in the cage to try to help him survive through the winter.

Maybe this year I can find a way to entice my students. Trap their curiosiities and tap into their creativity. Figure out how to get them to learn.

Worth hoping for.

* (11/14/11 Side note)  The cat caught my chickadee the day after this post. I rescued him again and put him in the cage. He was dead within twelve hours. I wrapped him in tissue and buried him in a spot in my garden. I mourned that little wild bird for two weeks. A rock marks his resting place and I still think of him.

How quickly and securely my SPED students work their way into my heart. Most of the time I feel successful in helping them. Occasionally they don't receive what I want so desperately to give. But somehow I put aside the pain I feel when they reject me and try again. And when the lost bird comes back into my room years later to let me know he somehow learned how to fly - those are days of sweet, tearful joy indeed.

School Begins!

(Originally posted 9/11/11)

It's another year and school started out with a bang. Most students may not realize that their teachers go back to school a full week or two before the students arrive. I had classes for one week and then meetings the next. I put my room together in the few free moments around our other commitments. We had parents the night before the students arrived this year. That was interesting.

The next two weeks are a blur. The students arrive. We teach rules and procedures, learn  new names, more meetings, share cope and sequences, try to decipher the new "Common Core," and after all of that, we teach. Most of us mourn the loss of focus on teaching. So much time is spent planning, reviewing, assessing, and corroborating that working with the students is pushed out of the otp spot on our priority lists.

I love my job. I love the students. And this year I have new toys to use. We were given Promethean boards, projectors, DVD/VCR projectors, and "clickers" which promise to make testing students fun for them and for us. I still have to learn to use the clickers, but the rest on of it has been wonderful. I can now project anything I can put on my computer screen. The students are eager to use the Promethean board and many know better than I how to use it.

2011/12 - Here we go!

A Student's Greatest Empowerment Comes Through Organization

Our district has two days off during the fall. Both teachers and students look forward to the break. It tends to come at the end of the quarter so, prompted me to reflect on the year so far, my thoughts turned toward the biggest issues I see working against my own homeworkwarriors' success.

I've confirmed this year that students who struggle the most are those who are unorganized. The reason is many fold. First, it takes a lot longer to do homework when you're having to plow through piles of unrelated assignments to find the one you want to work on. If this happens every time you sit down to complete something, that five to ten minutes of wasted time adds up and homework seem never ending.  Second is the increased probability that the same disorganized pile with eat your homework so you won't be able to find it to turn it in on time.

This week I looked through several backpacks to find two and three copies of the same half done assignment that will now be turned in for fewer points. That's a lot of wasted time and effort! I don't understand why these same students don't take that five minutes up front and organize (check out my website "www.homeworkwarriors.com" under the BOOT CAMP section for the 'Planner" and "Ultimate Organizer" system).

The third and most important problem disorganization creates is decreasing confidence. If you're constantly putting in the effort and getting no payback, you tend to doubt yourself. Who wants to try and then not succeed time after time? It's deflating. It's frustrating. It's infuriating! No wonder students begin avoiding the whole thing, which makes it even worse. Parents get mad. Teachers stop caring. Who can bglame the students that end up hating school.

But you're in control! You can organize yourself.

Try it for three weeks. I promise you'll find yourself energized. And getting work in on time will boost your confident, improve your student image and help your grades soar! Realize that students who can't complete assignments before the applicable tests are always at a disadvantage. They are constnatly runing behinid the crowd. This single, simple step will help you surge to the front!

Why go into battle without the proper equipment!

Digital Storytelling

Digital Tools to help create a richer experience with stories.

1. Digital stories contained video clips, voice, music, etc.
2. Digital stories should still maintain elements of good story telling (character, plot, etc.).
3. Excellent for helping students engage.
4. Personal story telling can be particularly effective and can include historical references in all media.
5. Important components to consider when planning a project:

• Encourages Research - I've found that students who struggle with reading/writing are much more responsible to using digital media, which doesn't have to include many words.
• Incorporate personal voice - encourage students to explore the narrative form.
• Can project present an opportunity to explore point of view/perspective (paint brush perspective)
• Try to establish a dramatic question which will hold the viewer's attention (distinguishes story from a travel log)
• Include emotional content.
• Use a soundtrack. Help students see how music may enhance story, or interfere with the story.
• Economy - help students filter effective components and not overwhelm the story with too much. Teach simplicity.
• Discuss pacing. Is it monotonous? Overwhelmingly fast? Is there good variety of action speeds.

6. Helps students retain knowledge.

7. Increases communication skills.

8. Helps students understand that school is connected to the outside world.

9. Encourages creativity.

10. Promotes digital literacy (and literacy through researching and writing)

11. Specific steps in creating a digital story:

• Script or outline of project - planning always makes it better 
• Capture images with video camera, scan photos into computer
• Create story board *This step may be more efficient if it follow the script so you know exactly what images you need.
• Put images together in a movie or slideshow (iMovie, Garage Band, Power Point, lots of possible platforms).
• Add sound.
• Compress product for web.

12. Good for collaborating with tech teacher who can support process by teaching editing tools.

Personal reflection. WOW, so many possibilities! I can think of applications personally and in the classroom.

So now I have to stop to come up with the assignment....

Hmmmmm.           POSSIBLE DIGITAL STORIES:

1. Mom and Dad’s life for the anniversary party.
2. Short story of my favorite bike ride.
3. Exploration in the classroom of the history of Thanksgiving (good research topic and study of sequence and list describe text structures).
4. Study of development of technology through my life – how I’m living the space age in my old age. Contrast compare what I expected with what actually happened.

Other ideas I may want to steal:

“Idioms of everyday life” illustration

EASIEST ONE TO DO IN CLASS RIGHT NOW –

Thanksgiving!

Origins in Europe and throughout the world of harvest celebration.

First Thanksgiving in America – Pilgrims story in Plymouth  (post 1660) vs the Virginian story (first recorded in 1607 and then codified in 1619).

Why should we be thankful?

Thanksgiving as celebrated by my family.

 USE COMIC LIFE STORY BOARD FOR CREATING STORYBOARD. OR VIDEO STORYBOARD. CAN BE ACCESS FROM WEBSITE.

ASSIGNMENT: Explore components that will help you create a digital story. Check out Digistories. 

Assignments:
1. Create a script and storyboard for your own digital story and bring it with you to next week's class.
2. Bring digital media (photos, video, music) to class next week that go along with your storyboard.
3. Explore the online resources for digital storytelling listed on the class website.
4. Comment on this post. Include ways you could use digital storytelling with your students, something you learned in class, or thoughts about a digital storytelling resource you explored.

Wordle and Weebly

Wordle is a cute program that allows you to create random representations of a series of words. Found at www.wordle.net, you just type in a series of words representing a student, a subject, vocabulary words before or after study, etc.. The program then produces a image of the words on the list, the most frequent words showing up as the larges.
1. You can cut and past passages into the program to create word clouds for specific text.
2. Be sure you copy each passage before processing (by hitting the word "go" so you can return, paste, and add more words to manipulate the cloud.
3. You can adjust the color and fonts. Icons are located at the taps at the top.
4. Fun and easy to use.
5. A list of similar programs is also listed on the Canyons IT site.

Next is Weebly.com

This service is free and it's easy to sign up. This is a free website service!!!

I'm using jodeesteffensen.weebly.com and I created a "Jodee's Corner of Random Thoughts"

This site has everything you need to build a website.

1. Several themes available, favorites and by category.
2. Pages are unlimited
3. Commercial applications are available for a small charge
4. Design is user friendly and intuitive.
5. Can be linked to existing blogs and websites, along with youtube accounts, etc.
6. If you do accidentally drop in a "Pro" element, just delete it with the red top right hand corner button X.

iMovie

There a Film Festival coming up with a due date of 2/2/12 due date. Teacher category - no theme.

Interesting projects presented in class:
Take a folder of pictures (jpegs) and drop them into iphoto for editting, then drop into iMovie and it will create the movie.

Features:

• The camera icon gives you access to all photos
• Use Events icon to let you drag and drop entire folders of pictures.
• The program will instantly create a project for you, which you can then edit, delete, etc.
• You can add Music text (with alignment, font, placement, effects).
• Frames tell you the running time, allow you to adjust cropping, and other adjustments.
• You can also add movement to stills (pull out, dolly in, pan, etc.)
• Click the edge of the frame to add sound, which can recorded off the computer microphone.
• You can also adjust the time of each section. 
• You can also add maps.

Sorry guys - it's about now that I got a massive headache. There was so much to cover and I couldn't fully concentrate on anything and still blog. So I'm afraid this blog is less than clear. Maybe I'll get a chance to clean it up next week when we do iMovie II.

Social Bookmarking

Today we're working on social bookmarking - organizing your stuff on the internet. It also creates a networking opportunity to help you locate resources. Oh, make that organize, share, collect and link information either publically or privately.

We'll use delicious.com (but check out the "common craft" site for fun, simple presentations).

This will allow you to consolidate all your favorite sites and then access them from any computer! This could be way cool! Here are some interesting top sites links:

http://bluesearchmarketing.com/social-bookmarking-sites-list/   lists top 100 bookmarking sites

http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/social-bookmarking-websites   lists top 15 bookmarking sites

• The more popular the site, the greater the potential for networking. 
• I'm going with www.delicious.com. My user ID is Jodee_Steffensen.  
• Once in, you'll be prompted to "create stacks."
• Settings are located in the top right hand corner. It's a drop down from your name (put curser over your name).
• Next, start adding friends, which is easy if you know what their usernames are. Once you get some in, you can "follow" them...the beginning of your network! Just click "follow."
• To tag websites, click on "save on delicious" and complete the description box.
• To "stack" related information, click on the stack button (you can run the tutorial on the delicious site).
• Yes, you can save video clips!

NOW, to attach OVERLY LONG WEBSITE ADDRESSES! The following services can rename an overlong URL address to something more easily remembered. They're all cut and past, then rename.

• Bit.ly
• CanURL
• Diigo
• MooURL – web’s cutest URL shortening service
• Tinyurl
  The next group of really interesting websites:
  http://www.43things.com/   Create and share goals
  http://www.wefeelfine.org/   Explore emotions expressed on the web
  http://pinterest.com/  Gather and create all those images you get sent through email
  http://www.seomoz.org/web2.0/short  Share ranked categories of information
  
  
  All in all - an excellent class. I think this is really going to help me organize. Also - apologies to any readers out there. I'm not sure how to make the note taking more personal and engaging. It's selfish really - I think this information is primarily for me right now...
  
  
  
  

Reading Academy Pt. 2

The district continues to support three basic reading programs:

• Six Minute Solution (which increases fluency). They are now recommending students A read twice then B takes his turn for two reads. Other ideas:
• Summary of passage at day 1
• Preview of challenge words (students list words over 8 letters long) day 1 also
• Continued recommendation the Six Minute be used as starter three days per week
• Rewards (Decoding for 1st 12 lessons, Fluency and Comprehension Lesson 13-20)
• They recommend this be broken down to two twenty minute lessons.
• There is also a Rewards Science and a Rewards Social Studies *need to order!
• Sticky notes - let the kids use them to make notes (partner/group work). Lets you see that they're on task.
• Signature Reading
• Consider adjusting the results graph to two columns: 1st column for personal score, 2nd column for Vocabulary, Strategy and Comprehension scores ***
• Can I create a presentation project from these articles?
• Barnes & Noble has classics that are lexiled at 4th grade level
• Try to include a writing prompt with each activity 

Aims Web -

• User name first.last (password was emailed within the past 24 hours)
• Individual progress monitoring schedules included on site (district testing team will complete benchmark testing)
• Choose your students, list, and you'll be able to access all scores for that student
• Choose monitoring schedule (weekly, monthly, quarterly)
• SLA - Survey Level Assessment
• Recommended Instructional level is based on 25% to 50% level
• Reports 
• If students leave, please transfer data to either new school or District pool *
• Piper is available for F2F instruction on how to use Aimsweb
• Wait until after testing team has been to your school

NEXT DEVELOPMENT - PEER COACHING

• Hoping to use "flip" cameras to record classroom presentations
• Peer coach will be assigned to provide feedback
• Observation should happen at least once per quarter
• Stipend available!!!
• My choices: Katrina Tuckfield (she's already a member of my new date team and will be using Corrective Reading) and Eva Bellistan (eva.bellistan@canyonsdistrict.org) who is developing relay games.
• Evaluation form needs to be submitted. 
• Observations need to go at least 15 to 20 minutes.
• Because of the short observation period, recommended pre-conference be very specific for goals of observation
• Video tapes are available if F2F observations are not possible

Reading Academy

TED 9-2009 - "WHY" (Puget Sound)  Why do some succeed when other don't? www.ted.com

" The Golden Circle" Why? How? What?

Most know what they do. Some know how. But few know why they do something. Why do you exist. Why should you care?

Successful leaders act from the inside out - from the why. In marketing, always start with why. People will do business with people who believe what they believe. People respond most strongly to feelings. Feelings control behavior.
The law of diffusion of emanation.  Innovators (ready to by anything new just because it's new 2.5% of the market) - adopters (people who love to try new things they've heard about and are 13.5%) - !early majority (who won't try something until someone else tries it - but represent the 30% part of the market) - cynical majority (won't buy anything until it's proven and represent another 30%) -laggers (those who won't buy 16%).

APPLICATION TO MY READING CLASSES (Worksheet)
WHY? I teach reading to empower students. Good readers can access any and all information the world has to offer. They can learn anything. If they can also write (the other side), then can control the world.
HOW? Using researched based (proven) reading methods.
WHAT? Right now it's Rewards, 6 Minutes, Signatures (recommended by district) and AIMS. I also add text structure study through Scholastic and National Geographic Magazines, reader's theatre. I try to incorporate debates, question/answer activities, presentations and research projects to help them learn to manipulate information. I'm focusing on informational text this year because of the new core.
I NEED time and consistency.
I WILL let my students know the why.

APPLICATION of our district programs:

1. Add summary component to 6 Minutes Solution.
2. Check out "Reading Reasons" which addresses the why. They take about ten minutes at the beginning of class (starters?). Demonstrator gave students a driver's license test? ***
3. "The Book Whisperer" Change reading requirement to number of books instead of minutes?
4. Relay games: Prefix: begin with roots and add affixes; Power Generation? - could I use comprehension strategies with this? Maybe completing graphic organizers? **** Also, sentence completion?
5. Yoga balls? (one teacher had five) and Magnetic Letters (three packages?)

Explicit Vocabulary Instruction - including Promethean Instruction

Requirements for a strong school-wise vocabulary development program:

1. Wide reading across all subject areas.
2. Researched based instruction across all subject areas.
3. Balance instruction in content area classes.
4. Balanced Instruction in English L.A.
5. Narrow reading of informational text. 
6. Development of word knowledge using affixes and meaning in context.
7. Develop context analytic skills, including rereading sections if the word seems important to understand.

Which words?

1. High incidence word using Latin prefixes and suffixes
2. High Incidence acadmeic word families

How?

1. Structured opportunities to use new words in speaking and writing (used throughout several classes)
2. Meaningful frequent assessments
3. Productive study systems
4. Appropriate dictionaries
5. Accountability for explicit instruction
6. Work Rich Environment
• Word walls
• Encourage word usage
• Homework
• Word Wizard Competitions
• Word Detectives
• Word Collections
• Free Rice (computerized vocabulary game)
• Vacab Journal Entries

Homework:

1. Make a list of five high incidence words in your content area
2. Introduce words in TA - have students record them in their planners
3. Teachers explicitly teach those words in class
4. Have a Vocabulary Bee at the end of the year

PROMETHEAN BOARD (pulled off of Promethean Planet)

• Hidden word game (hidden by color of text, background color, or object).

VOCABULARY ASSESSMENT

Vocabulary gurus - Feldman and Archer

Always teach the format of the test to the students before testing.

• Assessment that uses beginning of sentences and student completes the sentence in a way that shows he know the meaning of the word.
• Provide an example sentence using the vocabulary word and have the students identify whether or not it is correct and if incorrect, how to correct it.
• Cloze or Maze assessment where vocabulary words are missing (fill in the blank).

EBL (Evidenced Based Grading) or Skills Testing

So far Eastmont has achieved the following "Fixes:" These are established in "15 Fixes for Standard Based Grading" though the numbers assigned do not correlate to those used in the book.

1. Accept Late work without penalty.
2. No Extra Credit
3. No academic dishonesty
4. No attendance
5. No Group Scores
6. Grades organized by Categories as stated in standard
7. Appropriate and clear performance expectations (rubrics, "I Can... Statements")
8. Grades assigned based on preset standards rather than comparing students to each other

Goals for this year:

• Don't include student behaviors in the academic grade.
• Attendance/tardies are addressed in the citizenship grade. 
• Teachers have little control over attendance. Parents often excuse excessive absences. But we can control tardies, so is it wise to put attendance into the citizenship grade mix?
• Also, attendance is the number one indicator of how students will achieve in school.
• Excessive absences are also relative to a student - to a point. Some students can recover from a week of absences where another may suffer from a day or two throughout the quarter.
• There's a recommended rubric that grades behaviors which includes organization, Assignments, Participation, and attendance. This is recommended for "grading" these items in the citizenship grade.
• Students should complete the behavior rubric throughout the year for purposes of responsibility and understanding how such behaviors affect grades.
• I'd like to include these rubrics in their portfolios that would be presented to parents at parent/teachers conference.
• Group recommended marking rubrics twice - once at midterms and once at the end of the quarter.
• The question that needs to be answered, though, is should we include 16 point rubric as participation on grades so parents can see results.
• This year's experiment: use different methods based on grade level teams, see how each method works, and then chose one method for next year.
• Rely on evidence gathered from quality and differentiated assessments. How do we address Bias and distortion.
• Barriers students bring with them:
• Language, emotions, health, handicaps, peers, motivation, anxiety, testing ability, etc.
• These are very difficult for teacher to compensate for.
• Barriers that the act of assessment brings:
• Noise, lighting, comfort (too hot/cold), lack of rapport with teacher, cultural insensitivity, lack of proper equipment (no pencils, computer, etc.)
• We can compensate for these.
• Barriers that the assessment alone brings:
• Bad questions, missing information, poor directions, confusing format, technology issues.
• These teachers should be able to compensate for.
• These are especially aided with teacher collaboration, where peer can identify test problems in advance.
• Stages in Assessment Development:
• Plan: use, targets and method.
• Develop: sample and size, select tasks and scoring method
• Critique: 
• Does assessment meet targets previously set?
• Is the weight appropriate?
• Administer
• Revise
• Did you get sufficient information?
• Was it weighted properly?
• Were there errors that needed correcting?
• Types of Assessments

• Short Answer, multiple choice, True/False, Matching, Short answer & Fill in the blank.
• Pros: Easy to score, efficient
• Cons: Information may be limited
• Extended Writing
• Essay
• Pros: More information
• Cons: Hard to grade
• Performance - portfolios, recitals, etc.
• Pros: Authentic, gives good information
• Cons: Individualized and can be hard to deliver, may also not be cost effective.
• Personal Communication - interacting with individuals or small groups
• Pros: Good for oral responders and those who have difficult time responding to larger assessments.
• Cons: Very difficult to give to a group, requires huge organization (may be impossible with larger groups
• Don't summarize evidence accumulated over time when learning is developmental. Emphasize recent achievement
• Allow students to retake tests and take the final grade
• Provide students with the best assessment that gives student information on mastery
• Does that mean we allow students to chose assessment methods?
• Can I use concept mastery time to do this?

AYP - Faculty Meeting

Today's blog will probably be written in three chunks. We're having a faculty meeting looking at our school stats for AYP. In Utah, CRT scores form the basis for AYP progress. For the uninitiated - AYP stands for Annual Yearly Progress - and determines whether our school is considered successful.

• Our demographics have taken a hit over all the last few years, with a slight increase this year. Our Hispanic group, which represents just under 5%, has pulled our stats down. So there's been a determined effort to work with these students to get their scores up. Our "free school lunch" numbers have also increased dramatically to just over 26%. Increased poverty means increased stress in the home. Meaning we have to work even harder to make sure the kids feel safe and productive here in school.

• Mobility rates are estimated to be over 27%. Those account for students that move during the year. This means that over a quarter of our test scores are based on students who haven't been here the whole year. These students are especially at risk for failure, having missed instruction. Attendance, we have discovered, is the greatest determiner of successful students. 

• The next factor we cover is the school permit report. These are students who are attending students outside of their boundaries. That means students that have deliberately transferred here, and those whom we've lost to other schools. Our numbers are in general moving up. We've become quite popular, which I consider to be the results of our efforts over the last several years to improve service. Jan just said that about 20% of our students are here on permit. This is remarkable, considering we can offer transportation.
• Grades - After extensive programs to help students complete assignments (ZAP, Concept Mastery, Enrichment, ASD, Friday School, etc.), our scores are improving and we now have just over 2% "F's." We have almost 50% of our students earning "A's." The bad news is that our grades indicate greater success in our students than CRT scores indicate. We speculate that CRT factors are very narrow in what they measure, and that we want to develop a broader range of skills. The CRT is also "college ready," and the skills measured should prepare them for the SAT. *Side note - my research last night on evolving education indicates that emphasis on SAT scores for college entrance is being gradually replaced with digital portfolios. I hope this is true. That would eliminate the problem with narrow academic expectations. Unfortunately, this school will continue to find ways to help students increase their CRT scores. But without "teaching to the test." Ha ha...   ** Another side note for SPED students. My scores are partly based on IEP goals, which are adjusted to the reality of student ability. 
• AYP - where do we stand. First, AYP measures L.A. and Math only. Results can be modified based on participation (attendance) and are measured by 10 different demographic groups (minorities, ESL, SPED, and economically disadvantaged). Our school has a particularly high SPED populations. We have four clusters (severe SPED) and a good resource department, so parents are bring students to us with permits. Schools with a high ESL population will likely fail because they can't understand the language well enough to test well. Remember, we're supposed to make ALL students college ready by 2014. We've increased nearly every year, but there are simply some factors we can't affect. Add to the confusion, the new core is now changing what we're told to teach and what is being tested. The only schools that will be able to pull off the objective are those that can select their students (skim the top scorers of the top and exclude the rest). Also, the state statistics take in grade levels 9-12, and by the time you have students in the 12th grade taking easier classes you know you're working with strugglers. On the other hand, if you offer those same classes in 9th grade and pull in the higher functioning students, you'll get higher scores.
• We did well last year. We'll see what we can pull of this year.
• Summary of my frustration over AYP:

• Limited skills tested
• Little or No adjustment made for struggling students (ESL, SPED, "free lunch")
• No adjustment made for school willing to take struggling students
• No adjustments made for teaching required new core
• Broad stats that may result from factors that aren't recognized (change of core, shift is population tested, economic and familiar issues).

Teaching SPED

This is my 7th year as a SPED teacher. Through the years I've experienced the huge emotional swings that come from teaching these students. Sometimes I wonder if my swings are more extreme, given the sometimes exaggerated behaviors I encounter each day. But honestly, I know that all teachers face this in the classroom. As a teacher, you're typically already the type that invests heavily in relationships. That makes you vulnerable. And children are especially good at recognizing vulnerability.

Does that mean I don't like teaching? Or that I don't like SPED teaching?

On the contrary. I have found this to be one of the most challenging, interesting, engaging, and rewarding experience anyone can have in a chosen career. Sure, sometimes I have students that drive me crazy or make me wonder why I ever became a teacher. But I have to say, as the years pass, some of these students come back to visit. They grow up. I run into them as adults. And I see what amazing adults they have become. 

They validate me. It's taken time, but I no longer question my investment of time and anguish. 

They are worth it.

If you are considering becoming a SPED teacher, know that you will need patience, endurance, an ability to outwit and out think surprising nimble students. Expect they to reach into your chest and seize your heart, and then some will rip it out and laugh. But many more will enlarge your understanding of the world, and of our role in it. 

If you can survive the first three years, if you can make it to that point where you feel almost competent, and if you can learn to laugh and let go - you will love your job.

Here's a general video from Utah State explaining some of the SPED career options. I'm a resource teacher, meaning I teach academics. I have friends and great respect for those who work in clusters. Because I'm resource, I get to work closely with both my mainstream teacher buddies and my cluster teachers. Most of my students are competent and even excelled in lots of areas. I help them work on developing specific skills and strategies. College is a realistic goal. I get them ready. It's a great place to be.

Blogs Part II

So, Thursday night (9/20/11) and back in class. Today we hope to learn how to add the bells and whistles to blogs. I'm fortunate in that I seem able to access my account immediately. My poor neighbors can get through their front door.
1. The Stats setting will allow you to track visitors.
2. I've already learned I can change the color of my fish by clicking on the icon in the lower right hand corner. That was fun!
3. I also learned about labels. So hopefully future enthusiasts will navigate my blog notes more easily.
4. Personality in font. Hmmm... Sometimes I find that very irritating. So I may use that occasionally.
5. Links. Click on links, then enter the web address - pretty user friendly. www.brainpop.com (beware, this site charges).
6. We're also practicing editing posts.

www.homeworkwarriors.com

7. Upload images, use picture icon next to link. Here's a picture from my website, www.homeworkwarriors.com. Fun, huh?
8. Images can be adjusted by simply clicking on the picture and a row of icons appear that allows you to size, justify, and add captions. 

9. Here's a cute youtube.  So that came from the movie icon, which allowed me to go straight into  youtube.

10. You can also add numbers and bullets - just like Word allows.
11. The icon " will automatically indent quotes. Handy if you're in essay format.
12. The page break will just add lines that can separate text or pictures into separate section.
13. Labels. MssBluntBlog.blogspot.com - great blog on technology. I want to remember this one. Helps me aspire.BTW, if you use commas, you can separate the labels and archive the same blog to plural archived subjects.
14. New feature would be to add your location.
15. Post options will let you allow or not allow comments.
16. Also note that posting options will allow you to preset blogging dates. Very handy if you're trying to go on vacation and don't really want to post every day.

Comic Life

Today marks the first day of what I hope will be a productive series of blogs. I'm taking classroom technology classes and it was recommended we use a blog to keep notes.
What a concept!
Today we're studying Comic Life. I know nothing, at this point, of what that is.
Canyons has only Comic Life 1
First go to Google, search Comic Life from Plasq. We worked with the deluxe version
Canyons has licenses on every computer in the district - so it should be on all the student computers.
Basic Steps:
1. Drag template onto the workspace. iPhoto will open automatically and can be found at the bottom of the workspace.
2. You will need pictures, which can be uploaded from any source or captured through iPhoto. For my notes, there is also a list of "safe" picture sources on the Professional Development website.
3. Once you have pictures placed into the frames, you can begin to add balloon elements (found at the bottom of the workspace) by clicking and dragging to the element.
4. You can also add text, and when you highlight a text box, you'll see the usual text choices (fonts, size, etc.)
5. Style (at the top of the workspace) allows you to add colors. Caution here - considering printing and ink costs of lots of intense color. Be aware that options include shapes, including circles, which can be template pictures (i.e. snowman, turkey, wreath, etc.)
6. While you're up at the top, notice font choices, along with bigger and smaller font.
7. More information can be found at www.canyonsdistrict.org; link to departments; link to professional development; link to Technology Tools and Applications and then link to Comic Life.
8. You can "lock" templates by pulling up the information on the template, look for "more information" and then checking the "locked" option.
*We were lucky in that they gave us a file of templates to use.
9. Samples of uses showed autobiograhical graphic novels, cause and effect illustrations, science projects, and class projects.  You can also create cards and announcements.
10. Not also a "front" "back" option at the top of the workspace. that will allow you to layer your images.
11. If you want your students to access the photo, choose "stationary page" instead of locked. Otherwise, only one student can use it at a time.
So - first time blogging notes - reflection. I'm going to have to work on organization. Seemed the delivery was a little random, so I'll have to experiment with formatting. But all in all - I'm intrigued.