Bud the Teacher

    Okay — last post for the night.  It’s been real feast or famine around here lately, hasn’t it?   anyway, it’s only fair to report, since I ranted a little about this yesterday, that I received word today that things are slowly starting to move forward in regards to the classroom laptops for my school.  That’s good news — it means that I can see blogging on the horizon for some of my classes for third quarter. 
    That’s appropriate — I became a blogger during the third quarter of last school year — so it’s fitting that, by my first blogday, I’ll be blogging with many more students than during our pilot course.
    I’m starting to ramble, so let me get to the point.  In the quote for the laptops that I saw, I noticed that each machine was priced with a nylon carrying case.  That doesn’t seem like a good thing to me — I think they should be stored in one central place — and I know I’ve seen laptop carts that are made for storage and charging.  Won’t the nylon bags get in the way, both practically and financially?
    Also — while I’ve seen plenty of laptop carts online and in catalogs, I’m curious to know what those of you who are already working with mobile computer labs are using.
    Mind sharing a bit?

Steve’s back.  It’s good to have him, too.  The drive home had a warm, good ol’ days feel about it.  Pretty funny since I only started listening to him earlier this year.   If you’re not familiar with his podcast/blog — well, it’s time you check it out.
    Anyway, Steve — we’re tickled to have you back. 

    Tomorrow, my literature class is off the the local book store to purchase our independent novels for this quarter.  Whenever I teach a literature class, I like to combine the job of librarian and teacher and ask my students to help me select the books that they wish to read and to use to stock the school library.   
    I use some of our school’s library budget to pay for our trip, and after my class, all of the books I’ll be buying for students will go into our school’s library.  Everybody wins.
    First, the class selects several topics that we’d like to read about.  I call them theme topics, but that’s a fairly arbitrary phrase.  One of the advantages of selecting topics like this is that they tend to be open-ended or broad enough that lots and lots of books will fit.  Here are a few of this quarter’s:

• Death
• Good vs. Evil
• Culture

    Once the class selects topics, we head to the store.  We spent today in class discussing possible titles that students have read that might meet the particular categories, and I tried to pepper the conversation with several titles that I knew about or had read that might fit. 
    I really get a kick out of teaching literature because so many of the students at my school say that they have never finished a book before they come to our program.  When I provide them with choices and show them how to navigate a book store,  I’m attempting to help them discover some of what it is that readers do.  Creating readers is pretty important school work.  (And, yes, I want them to be digitally literate, too.  But sometimes a good novel and some conversation are just the prescription for learning to think critically.)
    Once books are chosen, we return to the classroom, dig in to our books, and work on some reading and note-taking strategies.  The topics groups will meet once a week in a modified Book Club format.  In a few weeks, we’ll trade books and start in new groups.
    How do you provide opportunities for meaningful choices in your classroom?  Do you value student choices? 
Here’s a much more immediate question — Any suggestions for books for me for tomorrow?  I’ll be picking something, too — and I’d like to read a good vs. evil story.  The only rule I give my students is that we’re going to be reading novels — got any ideas?

Anne posted today on some guidelines she’s been thinking about.  The guidelines are great, but I really like the philosophy behind them:

What got me really
thinking though was that most of the guidelines focused on what NOT to
do like…….
 

• not use last names
• not plagiarize
• not post personal info like addresses or phone numbers
• not use profanity
• not use destructive criticism

It got me thinking about a
class I took years OK. The speaker was talking about all our NOT rules
and how that makes the students focus on what NOT to do.  I agree. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with
these NOTS but I think we are missing the boat. We need to focus on the
possibilities. I know. Here I go again on the possibilities but that is
the heart of it all for me. I really think blogs could be a platform to
redefine education. I want that redefining to include the voices of
students. Students really need to be engaging in this type of thinking.
I’ve found that many of them don’t know how to reflect and talk about
their learning experiences. Why would they? We haven’t really given
them much time for this type of writing. We haven’t given them much
time to talk about how they learn; it’s mainly about what they learn.
We need to change that. We need to talk more with our students and
really listen. We need to help them with learning how to express their
thoughts and help us understand the changing learning arena.

    She is so right on.  One spin that I like to make in my classes when students ask if they have to do something is that I remind them that they get to do that thing that I’ve asked them to do.  Some students roll their eyes when I say that, but I really do think such shifts in language can make a difference.  This positive approach is a very Shel Silverstein-esque way of thinking.  I like that.  Hope you do.
    Anne suggests several guidelines:

For students:
 

• practice writing their thoughts about what they
  are learning, what they understand and don’t understand, why it is
  meaningful or not
• making connections to their learning by exploring what others have written about it on the web
• contributing their ideas on how our schools could
  be restructured to have them excited about and believing that they will
  actually use the information they have acquired in school. What’s
  relevant to them and what and why do they need to learn?
• striving to improve your writing and take risks
  with expressing your ideas and bouncing those ideas off of a much
  larger audience
• providing a good model of blogging that will convince others that you are thinking and learning (and improving your writing)
• developing a distinct voice that will make a difference
• striving for writing that matters
• expressing your opinion but backing it up with well thought out reasons
• learning to collaborate
• asking questions that will make a reader think and want to comment
• realizing that inappropriate comments can be handled in such a way that negates their impact

I started this list with students in mind but it works for us, too. Another guideline to go along with the blogging:
 

• having face-to-face communication and discussions between teachers and students.

    Anne also asks for suggestions.  I’d suggest that somewhere on the list should be a statement about asking students to protect themselves when online, something like, "Respecting the need for safety for yourself and others."  But I don’t love that particular wording. 
    If Anne consents, I think I’ll add these guidelines, and those that follow from her comments, to my materials for new bloggers.  You should go and visit Anne and share your ideas, too.

    I missed the post by about two months, but Doug has some really good questions/points about filtering and CIPA.
    Better late than never, right?